Sunchokes

I missed the boat last year on my sunchoke harvest. I wasn't going to let that happen a second year in a row. Since I was making a butternut squash soup for Thanksgiving dinner and used it as the perfect opportunity to serve them as a garnish.

I headed out with my favorite spading tool to hunt for sunchokes. I just cut them back since they were looking ratty. Imagine what a sunflower would look like at this time of year in the Pacific Northwest. Not pretty at all.

Sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes, are in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). They are not from Jerusalem--native to Eastern North America--nor are they artichokes. They grow from corm-like tubers. I've had them in purees and fried like potato chips.

I spotted a small tuber most likely partially dug up by a squirrel next to Cerinthe seedlings. I started digging around cringing at the crunching sounds underneath my spade.

 Whoa! Who knew they got this big?! My next thought was, "Great. Now I have to wash this thing."

Here they are in my sink. Mostly clean. Pretty knarly looking! I hope they taste better than they look. I peeled them into a more round shape, smoothing out the knobs. I used a vegetable peeler as well to make the slices for frying. I sliced them to about 1/8". Thin enough to see through them.

My fry station. I think my culinary expert husband Eldon would be impressed. Yes, the baking soda made it out in time, too! I was waiting for the thermometer to reach 375 F.

Sunchoke frying up in canola oil. Bubbles!

The oil was too hot. This batch was tossed. Note baking soda for grease fire which was not needed.

 Ah...golden brown frying perfection!

I'm hoping my cousin took pictures of the served up soup. I was too busy eating and talking sunchokes to get my camera out! Oh, and taking pictures of their lovely cat Evie (short for Evelyn).



 Yum! Happy Thanksgiving!

Figgy Pudding

I was surprised to have figs on my tree this summer despite the hard pruning I gave it last winter. Unfortunately, the fruits were a month late which led to an entire crop of unripened fruit.

Not a single fig came close to being ripe. I can stomach a few taste tests towards the end of summer, and I usually manage eating three figs before the starlings devour them. They too will test out the fruits to see how ripe they are. I had only one round of starlings visit this fall. We can both agree that this year's figs were disappointing.

So it looks like no figgy pudding. Not that I've ever tried making it. I really prefer to eat figs fresh from the tree. But, maybe one of these winters I'll find an excuse to make the traditional dessert. Any dessert that calls for flambé is worth trying at least once!
 

One lonely eggplant

I felt pretty on top of it this spring with getting my starts going. But there was one day when I realized I had missed the date for sowing my eggplant seeds by a whole month. WHAT?! What happened? Where did the time go? I'm sure it will be fine, I told myself. Summer usually arrives late anyway, so it shouldn't matter.

Well, as my tomatoes were taking off and thriving (even though I do always freak out that I'm behind with them, too), the eggplant were not. Temperatures were in the 50s at night and our days were relatively warm so not to worry right? Wrong. That whole month when they could have taken advantage of indoor heat to increase in size and vigor was missed. Meaning I produced only one eggplant this season. And it formed in September so it won't be tasty.

Here's a picture of the loneliest eggplant in my garden...and maybe in all of Columbia City. A least the afternoon sunlight makes it look pretty.

Lesson learned. Start your eggplant in March...

 

Sprouts

I had a great crop of golden beets this summer. Here's a sample of the Touchstone Gold. Beautiful!

 

I intended to do a round of succession planting which is when you sow another round of seed after harvest. I was poking around my stash of small tools and other miscellaneous gardening stuff when I found them...

...seeds that had already sprouted in the package. Both the rutabaga (my son's request) and some left over 'Kamoulini 2' beet seeds had germinated. It's pretty late in the season to be sowing these, but why not give them a shot? I'll let you know what happens.

I did manage to plant my garlic on time. Our last neighborhood farmers' market was last week. I bought two heads from Let Us Farm (and yes, they grow the most amazing lettuce). Cecelia asked if it was for planting or eating. I said "One for each!" I am looking forward to garlic scapes in the spring.

Here Comes the Rain Again

What a contrast in weather compared to last week. I didn't mind what seemed like an endless summer, but I knew the party would end sometime soon. We're finally getting some light drizzle and my garden is trying to soak it all up.

I'm glad I took on harvesting every last tomato last week. It ended up being a larger project than I anticipated. I so many tomatoes a friend told me I should quit my job and become a tomato farmer. Not sure if that's in my future at the moment. As I picked tomatoes, I removed the plants from the beds getting them ready for winter. Here's a look at the harvest.

Grappoli d'Inverno--great for sauce and confit

Yellow Estonian Cherry--sunny cirtus flavored fruits good in salads

I hope you enjoyed these. Bookmark this page when you need a little sunshine this winter!

Green Tomato Pie

It's an annual tradition for me to make green tomato pie from unripe fruit. I usually have a bumper crop of green tomatoes. This year I had just enough for one pie.

Green tomatoes have a tart flavor very close to apples with a slight hint of a ripe tomato undertone. Where tastes and smells can resemble each other, the undertone is a hint of how the tomato leaf smells to me. Tomatoes are also known as pomme d'amour or "love apples" since they were thought to be an aphrodisiac. A little fruit history digression for you.

Back to the pie. For the filling, the tomatoes must be green without any hint of ripening. Don't use fruit that lacks shine in their skin. Since I grow mostly cherry-size tomatoes, I cut mine into quarters and toss into a 2 quart saucepan with honey or sugar or other favorite sweetener. I like to use a mixture of brown sugar, granulated (white) sugar, and cinnamon as my base. I squeeze a little lemon into it, finely grated fresh ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg. Rummaging through my spice drawer, I rediscovered "grains of paradise" and added a few pinches as well. Grains of paradise are the seeds from Aframomum melegueta,a plant in the ginger family. The ground seeds resemble black peppercorns in appearance and taste with a slight hint of citrus. Heat the mixture over medium heat. The tomatoes will lose their bright green color as they cook. Adjust the seasonings to taste once the tomatoes are fully cooked.

I used Thomas Keller's basic pie crust recipe from ad hoc which I like to call his "do-able" cookbook. While I am more than happy to enjoy the food made from the French Laundry cookbook (or better yet, in person at the French Laundry), I don't have the patience for even attempting the recipes myself. I'll leave that to my husband. There's no need to have two of us cooking like that. Anyway, here's a quote from the recipe.

...I believe that feeling comfortable making a pie dough is one of those essential skills any cook should have...

Well, my dough wasn't a disaster but it wasn't going to wow anyone either. Not that I'm making an excuses, but my 3 year old did help with the dough. He couldn't help holding the dough when we pulled it from the fridge. The crust is his favorite part of the pie--who wouldn't agree?! I brushed on a light egg wash just before it finished baking.

The final product. Green tomato pie...a farewell to summer.

Tomato Harvest

When life gives you tomatoes, make tomato sauce.

This is a look at the tomatoes from my front yard before I disposed of my tomato plants for the season. The weather had been very mild for this time of year with no sign of rain in the near future. But, the nights are getting chilly...below 50 degrees. I wanted to get the most out my harvest before the plants start to slime out and the tomatoes start to split and overripen.

I'm pretty happy with the amount of tomatoes I have this year. I seem to always worry in July that nothing is happening with my plants, that they're just flowering and I'll have nothing to enjoy from my garden. This season, I have almost too much to keep up. I halved them and froze them in 1/2 gallon bags. When I'm missing summer in a few months, I'll thaw out a bag and make some marinara sauce. So much more flavorful than canned tomatoes from the store. Speaking of cans, you're probably wondering why I'm not canning my tomatoes. It's all about time. Cutting these tomatoes in half and sticking them into a bag destined for the freezer is much less time consuming than the involved canning process. Even the slicing the tomatoes took me awhile. I have tomatoes from the back yard to deal with as well. Stay tuned for that...

And stay tuned for the reason why I harvested green tomatoes. There's pie involved...

Collecting Seed

I let my parsnips go to seed this year. The inflorescences reached 10 feet tall and the flowers are like Queen Anne's Lace--both are in the carrot family. It was a lovely site in my early spring garden and soon the seeds started to set.

But with early spring came rain and wind. The stalks were constantly blowing over and crashing into my other plants. At this rate, I wouldn't have any seed to collect. And now the pressure was on. My neighbor at first thought I was growing dill. But when he found out it was parsnip I was letting go to seed, he asked for some. I'm always willing to share.



As planting season approached for summer veggies, I had to start pulling out my parsnip patch. I wasn't sure I would have seed for next year as this rate. I managed to save a couple of plants next to one of my roses. That way if the rain and wind continued, they'd have support. Luckily they were only about five feet tall.

Seed stalks!

A few days ago I harvested the seed and placed them in envelopes. I slipped one into my neighbor's mailbox. I hope they get a good crop. I know I'm looking forward to planting parsnips again!

Artichoke

I didn't think it was possible to grow artichokes in the Pacific Northwest. There's always the threat of summer never arriving. The weather gets warm but just not enough for ripe tomatoes, eggplant, etc, etc. Why would I want to grow artichokes if all I'll get is a spiky bunch of leaves? And a marginally hardy bunch of leaves that may end up dying.

I'm always up for a challenge so this year I thought, "Why not?" I was able to get some Imperial Star plants going from Territorial Seed. I chose Imperial Star since most likely won't be able to overwinter artichokes here and will end up growing them as an annual. I always have more starts than I know what to do with and shared some with friends. I was shocked while at their house a few weeks later. They already had an artichoke. What?! How did they do that?! Will my little bunches of leaves ever amount to anything?

Let's just say I was a little green with envy...

I kept checking my plants doing well in the ground but not exactly showing any signs of promise. Not one hint of a little green globe of goodness. Two things that were growing: my envy and curiosity. I know it's silly, but I couldn't shake it. So I finally asked how was it that they already had an artichoke so soon?

"That plant is pretty old. It's not from the starts you gave us."

Oh what a relief! And so I've gone about my business in the garden, harvesting red ripe and yellow tomatoes, making sure everything is staying relatively happy with the lack of rain. Until I was walking up to my house a couple of weeks ago, and something caught my eye...

...a little green globe of goodness!

Happy Accident

This is my first year growing winter squash. I didn't think much about providing a support for the Delicata vines to climb on. I thought if I just provided enough space for them to scramble along, I'd be fine. I also thought that the squash would be too heavy to need support. Wouldn't they'd be better on the grround?

Well, as you can see, the vines found my fennel. You can see it against the blue-green stems of the infloresence (fancy botany speak for flower stalk).

I saw it flowering a few weeks ago, but didn't really pay much attention until this caught my eye while watering yesterday...

Whoa! When did that happen?! Amazing. Well, it looks like next year, I'll provide better support for the Delicata squash. Maybe a tee-pee trellis. I may have a bumper crop this year so lock your car doors everyone. This squash doesn't store well so I'll be giving them away.

More tomatoes

All my worrying over my tomato crop was for nothing. I'm happy to say that I have a decent amount this year even though it's September. Better late than never!

I tried several new types this year including Estonian Yellow Cherry (EYC) and the Columbianum Wild Form (CWF). I found these through Adaptive Seeds.

The EYC have a sunny yellow color and have almost a citrus undertone to their flavor. After enjoying Sun Golds during lunch today, these lack depth in tomato flavor.

I gathered at least 30 of the CWF's. My son was helping me and said "We have enough tomatoes!" Unfortunately, I sliced and roasted them before I remembered to take their picture. Hey...I was hungry and it was dinner time! Straight off the vine, these are a tad mealy. It may be that I have skimped on water, but I've been stingy with watering other tomatoes before (ie: Black Cherry) and haven't had a problem. I acutally like stressing out tomatoes because it brings out their flavor.

Of course, I'm already thinking about what tomatoes I'll grow next year. I've enjoyed the Indigo Rose tomato from Let Us Farm. They grow the most gorgeous lettuce you've ever seen and have amazing tomatoes, too.

And it's been brought to my attention (and I should had known this--thank you readers!) that Sun Gold are a hybrid so the seed from the tomatoes will not come true. Read more on this forum. That's all the convincing I needed to gobble up all the ripe ones off the vine earlier today. Yum!

Sun Gold

Over the years I've been asking myself what the big deal is about 'Sun Gold' tomatoes. Why does everyone grow them around here? Why would I chose these over the really unusual varieties that I can start from seed?

Well, I'm now eating crow with a side of Sun Gold tomatoes.

I came across an extra plant at work and placed it in a hot sunny spot. Cherry-sized golden tomatoes were ripe before mine at home were flowering. And the balance of acidity and sweetness is just about perfect. Their flavor is even more intense if picked in the heat of the afternoon sun.

It will be hard to resist eating every single last one of these tomatoes. I'm going to let the ripe ones go to seed. I'm definitely growing this reliable variety next year! 

Broccoli

I would like to say I thoroughly enjoy growing vegetables of any type. Well, for the first time, I have met one that I do not like growing. Broccoli.

I love eating broccoli and any member of the mustard family (except the overly used choy sum in Chinese restaurants--it never looks or tastes good). So why is it that I would be fine never growing it again? From each plant, I don't get much bang for my buck. Aesthetically, they are boring with a plant smaller than kale with a clump of flowers in the middle that's for harvesting. Once they are harvested, they look odd with the middle head clipped out and side shoots start to grow.

I didn't yank them out of the ground yet. "That would be wasteful!" as I'm constantly telling my 3-year old when it comes to tossing out food. I made a second round of broccoli harvests this evening for my curry. Oliver followed me out into the garden asking if he could try some. I gave him a little side shoot bouquet while trying not to show my utter suprise given he's always asking me to take out the "green things" from his plate. It didn't last long, but hey it was an attempt!

Back to dinner, I chopped these up including the ends of the stems. The side shoot ends were still tender, but anything below of the main stalk was too woody for cooking.

My curry is super easy. I use Patak's mild curry paste and add a spoonful or two to a large pot over medium high heat with chopped onions (1 medium) and carrots (3 peeled and diced). Stir until the carrots and onion are coated with the curry paste then add one can of coconut milk. Add cubed potatoes once the carrots are just tender. If you want to add either diced chicken or shrimp tails, hold off on adding broccoli (or green beans, corn, etc) until the meat is thoroughly done. When I'm making a vegetarian version with tofu, I'll add the veggies at the same time. Serve with quinoa, rice, or pasta (preferrably penne or bowties).

Yum! Curry is my ultimate comfort food in any season.

Magnolia Sugar Snap Pea

I absolutely love the look of this sugar snap pea. A sucker for anything purple, when I read in the Adaptive Seeds catalogue that the pods were purple, I had to grow them and see for myself.

The flowers are sweet too. I'm usually not a fan of pink, but I like the two shades of pink here. The banner (that's the top part of the flower) is a light blush. The wings (the two petals underneath the banner) are a dark dusty rose hue. And the keel (the 5th petal in between the wings) is a bluish purple which you can see in the flower on the left.

The pods are longer and not as fat as the Cascadia variety. But I do like how nutty the flavor is. Maybe a little more water on the irrigation front will help.

I'm super excited these came through for me. I can't wait to include them in a summery Asian noodle salad. Yum!

Hurry up and grow!

Right after the 4th of July, I start to panic over how well my veggies are growing. Mainly, I am freaking out that the plants aren't big enough nor do they seem to be growing vigorously either. Melodrama kicks in and I'm ruling out producing a single tomato this summer.

I fall into this pattern every year, and somehow I end up with a decent amount of veggies to pick from the garden. Although, I am still a little worried about the tomatoes.

I was relieved to finally see the Kew Blue pole beans and the Sugar Magnolia snap peas are twirling and twining up their bamboo trellises.

 

Looking at my tomatoes, I noticed my Estonian Yellow Cherry has tiny fruits starting. Yay! I still have a ton more floweres, but hopefully the warmer weather this week will help. 

Green but promising!

I harvested some Apollo broccoli last week and missed one. I snapped it off, leaving a long stem on it. I'm always a little intimidated by eating raw broccoli since it is usually tasteless (from the grocery store) or way too bitter (waiting too long to pick it). It was so sweeet! The ends are great snacking and the florets--the little flowers we eat--had just the right amount of spice.

Sorry this is blurry, but I polished it off right after I took the photo. Oops!

The next post I'm planning is all about cucubits--cucumbers and squash...  

Kohlrabi Part II

Summer has finally arrived in Seattle! Nothing says summer more than grilling in the warm evening sun.

We had kalbi from Bob's--our butcher down the street. Kalbi is Korean marinated short ribs and the ones from Bob's are quite good.

I peeled and sliced them and tossed them in  a few shakes of Old Bay seasoning (I would have used Lawry's season salt--one of my guilty pleasures). I grilled them for about 5 minutes on each side to keep their crunchy quality.

Here are the two side by side on the grill. Tasty!

I'm at the point now where we need to finish the kohlrabi patch so I can plant something else. I'm looking forward to planting eggplant and cucumbers now that the heat of summer is here to stay for awhile. I plan on letting a couple of kohlrabi go to seed out of curiosity. I did that with parnips (which has been quite the adventure!). More on that later... 

Lettuce Link

I have been offering up my lettuce to friends who have the same problem I do. Too much lettuce and not enough meals in the day to have salad. I contemplated sneaking it onto my friends' doorsteps, but it would take them less than three guesses who it came from. Not a risk I was willing to take.

What should I do with 15 extra heads of lettuce? I had heard of Lettuce Link who encourages p-patchers and home gardeners to grow an extra row for food banks and meal programs. Since my eyes are bigger than my garden and stomach, I never seem to have a problem growing more.

Under the frequently asked questions, I found a link to where I could take my lettuce. The table showed what food bank takes what type of produce and the hours they are open. The Food Bank at St. Mary's is close to me and they take lettuce. And they are open daily for donations. When I arrived, they were busy sorting food and eagerly took the lettuce off my hands. They asked what p-patch it came from, and I was proud to say it was from home!

So, if you're in the same boat as me. Don't be sneaky--whether it be lettuce or zucchini (really, no one wants that on their doorstep baking in the sun--especially a south facing one like mine!). Harvest it, wash it, and bag it up for someone who will truly appreciate it.

Dilly dally

My dill 'Tetra' was pretty slow to start this season. My impatience got the better of me at the farmers' market and couldn't resist picking up a mini pack of pickling dill seedlings from Stoney Plains. Plus, I was able to share them with friends--the perfect excuse.

Now as these seedlings are starting to bolt, the 'Tetra' is ready. Plus, I have another random crop from a seed packet I picked up at Floriade (check out my other blog here). Plenty of dill to go around!

Herbs are an easy way to break into kitchen gardening. They don't require a lot of space or maintenance. And they're a great way to brighten up your recipes.

My sandwich with Loki lox and cream cheese garnished with freshly picked dill. Simple, easy, delish!

Kohlrabi 'Kolibri'

This was my first year growing kohlrabi. I chose 'Kolibri' for it's flatter shape and purple bulb. I had no idea what to expect, but figured I'd give it a shot. One misconception I had was I thought the edible part grew underground like a turnip. I thought I had to sink the starts way down deep as I do if my kale starts are too big. I wasn't able to plant them that way. The starts were more stubborn than me so I let them have their way and hoped for the best. Once they were in the ground, I didn't have to do much to them except make sure the soil stayed moist. I real no fuss crop!

I was pleased to see attractive kohlrabi is. I like how the purple globes and midribs play off the Allium cristophii. I planted this batch furthest away from the house and out of view from the rest of the garden. Next year I will plant them closer to my purple sage.

I harvested my first round from the plot a couple of nights ago. What a beauty! As I carried them into the house, my neighbor warned me about them getting pithy and if they aren't adequately watered, they'll have a more concentrated mustard taste. I asked how he likes to eat them. "Raw with mustard!" he replied with a smile. Not exactly the flavor I was after. I wanted a crunchy refreshing side dish to my fish tacos.

Only having had green kohlrabi in a local Vietnamese restaurant a few times, I wasn't sure how quickly it would cook or how well it soaks up flavors. I peeled and diced it, sauteed it my cast iron pan with olive oil, ground cumin, salt, and pepper. I halved some grape tomatoes and smashed them with my hands before adding them to the mix. I added some cilantro ('Standby' from my garden as well!) to the pan at the very end. The whole dish start to finish took about ten minutes.

Easy growing! Easy cooking!

Gutter Gardens

I was super lucky to experience Floriade last month. Floriade is the World Horticulture Expo and happens once every 10 years in the Netherlands. This time Venlo is the host city; located within the Linburg province and close to the German border. The festivities go through October.

I know the Netherlands has a reputation for horticulture excellence, but I had no idea until I arrived in person.

This expo goes well beyond tulips and daffodils. Everything from whimsical spaces with fire breathing dragons to voices in the forest to gardens showcasing edibles. And cultural experiences from countries all over the world from Chile to China.

There's a trend to maximize growing space by going vertical called "gutter gardening."The idea was well executed at the Floriade by mixing wall sculptures with rustic troughs.

I really like this look. Some of the troughs have a small wall behind them while others are more "see through." Though this garden featured succulents and grasses, this concept can be used for lettuces, micro greens, strawberries, and herbs.

They've even included a wood burning fireplace for cooking. The ultimate dream of taking your veggies straight from the garden and grilling within minutes of harvesting. Fresh!

Dino Kale

We've been lucky with our weather lately. Unusual for Memorial Day weekend in Seattle! It's been feeling like summer is almost here the last couple of days. With that came the urge to not cook dinner. And then I started to feel guilty.

I made up for it by gathering fresh dino kale from the garden to saute as a side dish to our BBQ. With a little olive oil, garlic and a sprinkle of kosher salt in the cast iron pan, it was super sweet. There wasn't a hint of mustard-y heat that it can get when it's about to bolt.

Though the leaves may be too bitter to eat, I am looking forward to my kale bolting soon. I'd like to saute the flower stalks just before they open. I'm ready to delve into my lettuces for salads. It will also free some space for more summer veggies. Tomatoes are waiting in the wings!

Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Finally! My Early Sprouting Purple Broccoli produced something edible. After having it in the ground for at least a year now and constantly battling with it encroaching along the path, I managed to actually eat it. I'm not sure I will grow this one again. Or maybe I'll start it later in the fall for the following spring. Then it will truly live up to its name.

A Welcome Weed

Cerinthe major, also known as honeywort, is a what I call a welcome weed in my garden. I planted it several years ago and never fails to reseeds itself in the fall. While everything is losing its leaves and going dormant for winter, this plant shows some promise and fills in empty spaces.

Even after snow and frost, honeywort is not phased and continues to grow. These are my first flowers of spring, blooming along side my daffodils and pansies.

I planted them close to my espaliered apples. Bees love them and it's possible having them in close proximity to each other helps with pollination. I had such a great apple crop last year.

I'm not sure if I have the plain species or the 'Purpurescens' variety. There is also C. retorta that has a yellow throat peeking out from the purple bracts. I would love to get my hands on some seed!

I highly recommend this annual. Plant it near your fruit trees and hopefully they'll help with pollination as they have with me!

The Biggest Parsnip Ever

I left some parsnips to overwinter. I couldn't keep up with eating them last fall, and was curious to see what would happen to them.

The greens were not affected by snow or cold--although it was a relatively mild winter. Plus, my back garden has great western exposure so whenever the sun is shining, it feels warmer than the rest of the yard.


Look! The sun is shining on them right now. It was so warm on Saturday, I was able to wear a short-sleeve shirt. Not bad for the end of March.

Parsnip greens look very similar to Italian parsley. They both belong to the carrot family (Apiaceae). I am leaving this small bunch to flower and see what they will look like. I'm sure the flowers will attract bees or other pollinators.

While I was removing the other parsnips from the bed, I came upon a doozie. This parsnip was so big, it took a small excavation to extract it from the ground. I managed to pull out the entire thing in one piece.


Check that out. Pretty impressive! It was about three feet long. My son thought so too and was thrilled to carry it into the house. I didn't bother to cook it up. Just took its picture to show all of you!

Fava Beans!

We've been lucky to have a few relatively balmy days this last week. I took advantage of the weather to plant out my fava beans. Finally!



The first to be planted from Adaptive Seeds. I chose the variety Ianto's Return for their purple color. I think the pods themselves will be green, but I'm hoping to make some purple fava "hummus." Last year I added fava beans to my pesto to extend the amount and give it a little more depth. At $4 per pound at the farmer's market, I decided I should grow my own this year.


Since the fava beans are quite large, I used a dandelion weeder to plant each one at the base of the wire trellis.


Ianto's Return is said to be big with many tillers and this wire trellis will support the big plants. I really like its rustic look. I don't know where it came from, but I found it right before it was about to be thrown out. It worked well with my pole beans bean last year, and I can't wait to see how the favas do on it.

Yes, that's sun shining on the newly planted seeds. Looking forward to seeing them sprout soon!