Seeds Ordered!

Time almost got away from me, but I managed to order seeds at the last minute. I love Fedco's cover this year featuring a female gardening superhero. Little did I know much this would mean when it arrived in December given all the recent events. There was even a coloring contest with cash prizes (it ended last week). No digital images were accepted--all original entries had to be mailed directly to Fedco in Maine!

I also enjoy reading the list of new varieties; each with a one-liner description like "Kaori green shiso: a thrilla of a perilla!" or "Latte hybrid sweet corn: What do coffee and corn have in common?" followed by "Cappuccino hybrid sweet corn: We have no idea!" I didn't let them distract me from my order which is mostly fall and winter crops--two types of kale plus 'Jack Be Little' pumpkins and 'Autumn Wings' gourds. Jack Be Little are so easy to grow with so many fruit on the vine. I've not grown the gourds before but hoping they will be as easy as the mini pumpkins. Plus, I'm a sucker for these at the pumpkin patch.

And then there's my other go-to seed catalog--Kitazawa specializing in mostly Asian seed varieties. I decided to skip the Odoriko tomatoes this year since I am promised a round of starts from some old seed. Sow what you have first before buying more! And with my limited space, I couldn't justify a fifth tomato variety. I did opt for the Kurume Long eggplant in addition to the Money Maker I usually buy. Let's see how it compares as Money Maker has never let me down. I'm hoping the shishito peppers are better this year. I was surprised that they did so poorly, but maybe our mild summer had something to do with it. I threw in Purple Vienna kohlrabi and Armenian striped cucumber as well.

Quince

As the Columbia City Farmers' Market was wrapping up this season, I saw many stands selling quince. One of my favorite vendors, Let Us Farm (get it--Let us? Lettuce?), had some wonderfully voluptuous fruits on display. I was remembering my days as a gardener at Filoli in Woodside, Ca where they have a very large shrub. Nostalgia with these golden yellow fruits in front of me, I couldn't pass them up.

Quince are covered in fuzz which must be washed off to prepare for cooking. The skin is much more waxy than their pear and apple relatives making them ideal for adding pectin to jams and jellies. There are recipes out there that suggest adding quince to applesauce. The word marmalade was originally from quince jam, as the Portuguese refer to this fruit a marmelo.

A little more history, according to Lynn Rosetta Casper's The Spendid Table, it may have been quince and not an apple that was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. And it may have been the start of the Trojan War when Helen of Troy bribed Paris to give Aphrodite a quince for the prize in a beauty contest.

I found a recipe for quince membrillo which is essentially a paste. To cook the quince, I peeled and cored them, placing the pieces in a cheesecloth. I then diced the fruit, put everything in a large saucepan with a cup of sugar and just enough water to cover everything. I brought it up to a simmer on low heat and cooked it until everything was soft (1-2 hours).

I discarded the cheesecoth and pureed everything in the food processor. I took the mixture and spread it in a small bread pan then stuck it in the oven at 175 for 15 hours. This can be done over a couple of days.

I removed the golden paste from the pan, sliced it into small pieces and served with water crackers and manchego cheese. The taste is more floral and fruity; with hints of citron in the background.

Just add friends and enjoy!

Apple Socks

It's true what they say about seeing more of your neighbors in summertime. We're out in our gardens, weeding, setting out sprinklers, adjusting tomatoes on their trellises; people walking by say hello and may ask "What is that plant? The bees are loving it." And I tell them, "It's honeywort--super easy to grow. Help yourself to seed."

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and order an entire box of footies. An already tedious task of wrapping each apple, it was worth saving some time and headache cutting up several pairs of pantyhose to have pre-made "socks." I couldn't procrastinate any longer--there were several apples that had frass at the blossom end and along their sides--evidence that coddling moth had already done its damage. I brought out my box of footies and got to work. As I diligently slipped a sock around each apple, trying not to knock them off the tree, people walked by. I'd look up and say hello, but realized they avoided eye contact with me and didn't respond. Others quicken their step which made me think.

Huh...this is odd. No one will talk to me. Why is that? Could it be they think what I'm doing is crazy?

Honeycrisp

Well, no matter. After losing a majority of my apples over various seasons, it's worth spending a couple of summer evenings to prevent those moths from tunneling through my fruit. The task slows me down, allowing me to appreciate the late setting July sun as I think about the crisp delicious Honeycrisp and Nittany apples to come this fall.

Nittany

Figs!

My tree has three ripe figs--quite early for this time of year. As tomatoes have stalled with the normal cool of Pacific Northwest summers, I was surprised to see a ripe fig just a few weeks ago. I wanted to harvest it earlier, but hesitated as the dogwood next to it housed a family of robins. I didn't want to disturb them and they flew the nest a couple of weeks ago and hopefully survived.

The tree is a suckering mess after a hard pruning last fall. I'm selecting new leaders and removing ones I had saved to reduce the aesthetic shock of the heading cuts. Though it looks harsh, the hard pruning must be done every so often to keep the tree in check within the tight space next to the house.

But back to those three figs. They were amazing! I tasted the most ripe of the three first and it was almost approaching dried-fig status. I moved on to the next one and it was perfectly sweet with a light pink color inside. The third, though small in size, was just has good.

Like honey

Earlier today I was discussing with friends how we're all in the midst of the summer frenzy; cramming in every single activity before the weather turns. Little did I know I'd be enjoying the nod to fall this soon--figs to me signify the end of summer. Thank goodness we still have some time for the weather to creep back above 70 degrees, enjoy our flip flops and watch (or hope and pray!) our tomatoes ripen in the coming weeks.

This fig though on the top rung did not lose its balance

Losing Track

I've let six months go by without posting a single entry. I was completely consumed by school for 10 weeks last fall where in every spare moment, I was studying. The holidays came and went. The seed catalogs filled my mailbox making me pause and realize "I better get my orders in!" My seeds are now on their way to growing into starts that will be ready to plant in a couple of months.

I also managed to make it to Seattle Tilth's early spring plant sale a couple of weeks ago held at the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands. I bought two blueberry shrubs and a persimmon tree to replace the one I lost two summers back. A wonderfully sunny day signaling spring has arrived!

I am looking forward to trying a few favorites from last year: Espresso Bicolor corn, Honeydrop cherry tomato and my favorite pink variety 'Odoriko' which is from the Japanese seed company Kitazawa.

Sunny days like today can fool us into thinking winter is over, but we're not out of the woods yet. According to Dave's Garden, April 6th is when we should expect out last frost date. You can search based on your zip code here.

This weekend, I'll be clearing out weeds and figuring out where to plant the first fava beans and snap peas. I have a couple of  plants to rearrange as well to make sure my blueberries are easy to water this summer.

In the meantime, I'll reflect on the great harvest we had at the end of last season.

So many good things to look forward to in 2016! 

Baby Fruit

I love a good challenge. A gardener friend of mine tried growing corn awhile back (she wasn't successful) and ever since I wanted to give it a try. I looked at my go-to source for cooler growing, short season varieties: Fedco. I grew Espresso Bi-Color. I was super excited to have two whole ears! And this was a decent season for my first attempt given how warm it was.

Corn!

I also grew Charentais melons again. This time the Alvaro type from Fedco. Considered one of the "sure bets" for short growing seasons, I thought why not? I had several promising fruits. I'm not sure I started them early enough or have them in the hottest spot possible to ensure a decent crop. But these babies are the best I've done yet. Not to be discouraged I'm willing to try again next year. It will be so rewarding once I get it right!

Melon Baby!

Next post will be the start of the harvest and summer review as I start to put the garden to rest.

Annual Green Tomato Pie

The chilly fall air is already here. With that first sign, I knew it was time to to cut my losses with my Odoriko tomatoes. The plants were healthy and huge and the fruits looked promising. But I tried a new place to grow them that didn't take full advantage of the afternoon sun. Disappointing given the amazingly warm summer we've had.

So turning my lemons into lemonade, I made pie. When I first looked for a recipe I expected a savory pie; a kind of twist on fried green tomatoes. But when green tomatoes are super green and haven't even thought about ripening, they are crunchy and tart. I dare you to bite into one! The recipes were not far off from a regular apple pie. I like to add lemon juice and zest, cinnamon, clove, cardamom and a dash of ginger powder. I use a "1, 2, 3" pie dough using all butter, no shortening. I also use an egg wash sprinkled with lime sugar.

I shared it with coworkers who were willing to try it and pleasantly surprised. It was fun to watch their reactions. I almost didn't want to tell them what the filling was because of the expectation of how it would taste.

Half eaten in the lunchroom

Until next year and another green tomato pie...

Birthday Dinner

Despite a blown out fridge and temperatures in the 90's, I managed to pull off a decent birthday dinner. The basil for my pesto, the eggplant I slow roasted in the convection oven and the fresh tomatoes all came from my garden.

Though I do enjoy eating out, I was reaching my limit. It was satisfying to cook and enjoy friends' company and share what I've been growing.

Roasted Eggplant in the Cast Iron Pan

Buccatini Pesto with Sun drop Cherry Tomatoes

Apples!

Last year I opted not to cover my apples for two reasons. 1) To see if my apples would actually get codling moth or apple maggot and 2) shear laziness. Apples trees have an alternate bearing cycle where every other year is a low yield. Since last year was the "off year" for my trees, I thought it was a good time to try out my experiment. Sure enough, I ended up with a lot of wormy apples.

I finally got around to covering my apples last week...after seeing this sign from City Fruit about covering your apples. I'm hoping for better late than not doing it at all. I make my own barriers out of cheap nylon stockings I found at the dollar store.

I cut 2-3" long sections and tie a knot at one end. Then I wrap it around the apple and tie a double knot at the stem end.

Before



After


 

I noticed some apples did have a mealy frass-like substance at the bottom or blossom end. I gleaned those and tossed them into the yard waste. I also gleaned any fruit that was small or if the clusters seemed crowded. I wanted to give the others that are further along enough space to grow to their full size.

I think next time I'll start even sooner. It looks like City Fruit gives away free fruit barriers. I'll be sure to contact them next year!
                                                                            


                              

Community

I'll be frank...the use of the word "community" can be overused. But this last week, I've regained faith in it during two separate events that happened as I prepared to attend my grandpa's funeral.

The first was on my way to the light rail station headed to the airport. I realized I was strolling through the farmers' market set-up. My favorite farmers, Jim and Carmella from Little Wing Farm, were at least two weeks early given the unseasonably warm weather. Jim gave me a hug and I explained my suitcase, sorry that I was missing their first appearance of the season. They insisted I take a handful of cherries and apricots which I promised to pay when I see them again. Sweet, warm cherries most likely picked that morning. Such a small gesture yet was such welcome comfort food as I waited for the train to arrive.

A handful of cherries from Little Wing Farm

 



The second event was who I will call My Rescue Hero Watering Friends! It hasn't just been a little warm. It's been as my friend says "stupid hot." We've been at least 10-15 degrees warmer that usual for at least a month (sorry...I'm not fact checking this right now!). I couldn't just abandon my tomatoes, eggplant, corn, fava beans, beets, cucumbers, squash, melons, Shishito peppers, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting; all planted in my garden. When I asked for the favor to water while I was away, there was no hesitation. So thank you, thank you, thank you friends...for keeping my veggies alive during some of the hottest days on record.

I am forever grateful to have this community. It kept me going and lifted my spirits during this time.



 

Spring Get Away April Fool!

I'm usually much better at keeping up with posting entries. My goal is at least one per month, yet it's been almost three months since my last one.

I blame the weather...

We've had an incredible winter. It's been super mild which isn't great for our snow pack and water supply. But, it's been great for gardening. I even took the risk of seeding my lawn a few weeks ago. A bit of seasonal denial. I am fully aware at any moment we could enter a cold snap as we haven't passed our frost free date yet. And if we do freeze, I worry about every plant out there that is blooming or finished and leafing out as though it's May!

I found my invoice and letter from CR Lawn of Fedco Seeds, one of my favorite seed companies. His letter analyzed seed orders as of January 19, 2015. While seed orders have been slow, they had an increase of their tree orders (sorry, you have to be local in Maine to take advantage) by 20%. His reasoning is that people think long term and there is an increase in permaculture resulting in more tree sales.

Their biggest seller is Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' followed by cilantro 'Caribe'. CR Lawn can't but help make a political jab connecting a poor selling spinach 'Donkey' to the GOP's motives.

This is the first year Fedco designated codes for their seed sources. It was too early to tell at the time of the letter, but it will be interesting to see if the codes affect the seed sales.

I realized today, it being the last day of March, I better get on to sowing! And...oh...wait! I forgot to place my order with Kitazawa! Argh! Maybe this is a good thing given my eyes are always bigger than my garden. It will help me narrow down my choices. Do I want to try again with winged beans and edamame? Probably not. Should I try something new like corn? Go back to growing kohlrabi? Yes and yes! I love broccoli raab but have struggled with bolting so I'm thinking of trying 'Zamboni'. Oh and of course our beloved 'Odoriko' tomato.

Hope you're all taking advantage of this weather...seasonal denial or otherwise!
 

Seed Catalog Time!

Nothing like being gone over the holidays and having a mail dump of seed catalogs waiting for me when I got home!

 

 



My usual suspects of John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds, Baker Creek, Fedco, Territorial, Jung Seeds (who signed me up for that one?) arrived along with a new one for me this year: R.H. Shumway's.  

Usually late in the game, John Scheepers was early. In past years, I have received this one long after I've placed my orders.

Baker Creek is a usual favorite, but I have to be careful not to get carried away zonal denial given they are based in Missouri and California. It's easy to do with their lovely pictures tempting me with seeds they've collected around the world in much hotter places.

I'll get back to Fedco in a bit, and I'm going to skip Territorial since they have a reputation already in this region.

Jung Seeds looks like a combo of your usual seed offerings plus other edibles from vine, tree and shrub. Plus perennials and even ornamental colocasia and allocasia--which are not hardy here.

R.H.Shumway's is a new one I requested for this year. It's got an "old timey" catalog look to it so much so I'm expecting to find offers for soap or men's shave cream and brushes. I'm not sure I'll actually order from them unless there is something I must have and can't find elsewhere. They are offering a selection of new annuals like the African Sunset petunia and Candy Showers trailing snapdragon.

I left my favorite for last--Fedco. I have always been impressed with their quality and since they are based in Maine, their growing season is on par with Seattle. I also appreciate their conscientious, mindful outlook on where their seeds are coming from. Over the past several years, CR Lawn has expressed the company's dilemma of calling themselves sustainable while offering seeds from Bayer and Syngenta. While the seed is not treated, these two companies produce neonicotinoids ("neonics" for short) and Atrazine. Neonics have recently been linked as a possible cause in bee colony collapse and are being banned in Europe and the US. CR Lawn went to great lengths designating the seeds source leaving it up to the consumer to make the choice. There is also the reality if they don't offer these varieties, their customers will find them elsewhere. I know I can't imagine my small garden without Sungolds or Masai haricot vert. A dilemma indeed.

Baby Veggies

I just picked a handful of "baby veggies" reminiscent of spring veggies. They are small but since it's officially fall fall (hello, rain!), calling them "spring veggies" is totally wrong and "fall veggies" conjures up visions of kale and acorn squash; so "baby veggies" will have to do.

I was lucky my 'Spineless Beauty' zucchini crop didn't get out of hand--yay me for my laziness and procrastination! I had a manageable amount with my five plants that went into the ground in early July. The vines are done, but I wouldn't say I'm cutting my loses. I had the perfect amount of snappy, crisp young zukes to go along side with my pesto the other night. "Spineless" refers to the lack of hairs on the zucchini, not a reference to it lacking a backbone or being like jello (gross).

 

Sautéed with garlic--YUM!

 

'Tromboncino' was the other summer squash I tried this season. They germinated quickly but then sat around for awhile until a few weeks ago with the last blasts of summer heat. It climbed up the spent cardoon flower stalks. Had I known it was going to take off, I would have trellised them earlier. According to Fedco Seeds, they are great as both a summer and winter squash. I harvested them at 4-6" rather than the 8-10" they recommend. They also can be left to grow longer and change color to greenish-tan as a winter squash. 60 days to maturity for summer harvest and 90 days for winter harvest.

 

I'm leaving my vines in for a bit longer (can we say "seasonal denial"?) to see if I can get anything else out of them. Regardless, they were great combined with the Spineless Beauty zukes with my pasta. But next year, I will plant them in as starts in June rather than sowing directly in July. In the meantime, I'll be dreaming of the wonderful dishes I'll use them in next year: gnocchi, ravioli, sliced fresh in salads...Mangia! Mangia!

 







My Garden is a Mess

I could feel my garden getting away from me in August. I blame the "summer crush" where we Seattle-ites double and triple booked ourselves with end-of-summer activities. All I could manage was collect zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, Shishitos, and Asian pears. Not exactly a bad problem to have, but really I needed to at least pull a few weeds once in awhile. And not neglect the beans which seems to happen every year as well.

My vines were taking over. I had grown Delicata winter squash before, but not Jack-be-Little pumpkins. I was skeptical if I'd even get one single jack-o-lantern out of the 8 or so starts I planted. They were super stressed so I more or less wrote them off. Boy did they take off! They climbed over everything and anything--my roses, the fence, the echinacea.

A crazy mess

 

I evaluate everything I grow as to whether it's worth growing again. Sometimes I'm willing to wait a year or two before repeating a variety like with tomatoes since there are so many out there to try. With other varieties that fail, I feel the challenge to try again. And for those that do really well and need some refining, like with these oh-so-cute little pumpkins. I'm going to try half the number of starts and a more extensive trellis that keep them from running away from me.

 

I'm a sucker for these little pumpkins

 

Finally, this last weekend I decided to pull the plug on the vines. Real estate is scarce in my garden and I needed room for my winter veggie starts. I'm hoping I'm on time getting them into the ground! More on those later...

 





Tomatoes: 2 out of 3

Out of the three varieties of tomatoes I grew this season, two will make a return appearance next summer: Sungold and Odoriko.

I don't have to say much for those who have grown Sungolds before. After several years' resistance for not growing them--in general I avoid jumping on the bandwagon-- I caved last year and will never look back. Sungolds will always have a spot in my garden. They easily ripen and continue ripening even while temperatures drop as fall approaches.

Tasty Sungold!

I generally stick with varieties with 65 days to maturity. I was skeptical of the Odoriko since they were quite large and very green. But then they turned a slight red-orange color and quickly ripened with a pink tinge. They are super flavorful and great for slicing on burgers or tossing into pasta dishes. I just made a eggplant dip that called for diced tomatoes and used the Odorikos. Their sweet yet tangy flavor were a great balance to the garlic and eggplant's earthiness.

Odoriko: technically a "pink-fleshed tomato"

 

The one tomato that I was super excited to grow and was such a bust was the Indigo Blueberry. I had the regular Indigo Blue which are deep purple to almost black with a true red underside that carries over inside the fruit. First disappointment was they take forever to ripen. The Sungolds were in full swing as the Indigos were just starting to redden. Second disappointment, it lacked the concentrated flavor that cherry tomatoes should have. Overall the flavor was "meh." The third disappointment was their texture. The fruits were watery and combined with a watered-down flavor; leaving a lot to be desired. I removed a robust plant, full of fruit, from my backyard because it just wasn't worth the space it was taking.

 

 Bummer...those fruits should be red!

 

 

Next season, I'm going to stick with the "tried-and-true-two": Sungold and Odoriko. And I'll add one more variety to mix it up and try something new.

 



 

Persimmon update

My mom texted me a couple weeks ago asking me how my persimmon tree was doing.

After a month of trying to revive my persimmon tree, I faced the reality it wasn't going to make it. Disappointed, I gave it a proper burial in the yard waste bin.

I learned two lessons. One is to re-evaluate where I plant larger specimen trees. While I like the look of espalier, against the house isn't ideal. I still want to try growing persimmons. I think they have great looking foliage. And their orange fruit would brighten up the garden in the fall as it enters winter dormancy.

The second lesson is more of humbling truth. I have been able to salvage many plants over the years; rehabilitating them back to life. It's moments like this that show me I can't save everything, especially when I'm deliberately taking a chance moving it under the worst conditions: actively growing and on the first hottest day of the season.

When I told my mom the tree died. She said "Oh, too bad," but I admitted it was to be expected.

So I start again. Looking for a new persimmon this winter and scoping out the best place for it in my garden.
 

Zucchini

And so it begins...the great zucchini harvest!

 

Zucchini #1

 

 

 

 

Zucchini #2...and more on the way!

 

 

 

 

Cilantro

Cilantro is such an easy herb to grow. Within days of sowing it in a shallow pot in my garden, I had tiny little seedlings ready for thinning out.

Instead of tossing the seedlings into the compost heap, I used them--this time in my guacamole. I took about 10 seedlings, cut off the roots, and finely chopped the sprouts. They are super flavorful and the perfect size since I'm only using leaves The little stems at this point are so small it doesn't effect the texture of the guacamole. The seedlings should have one to two feathery-looking leaves.

Super cute seedlings ready to be chopped!

 

There's nothing like freshly made guacamole in the summer. Now if I could only grow avocadoes...



Persimmon mishap

When I decided to acquire my persimmon tree, I had a grand vision of an espaliered specimen against by backyard cottage. I ignored the fact that eventually, the cottage would need to be painted.

I have no one to blame but myself for choosing a) the worst place to plant a tree and b) the time for transplanting my persimmon tree. I knew I had to move it to another place in the garden or at least temporarily pot it up while my house was being painted. So why did I decide this weekend to move it? I know better to take on such a task when the tree is dormant; not when it's fully leafed out in sunny weather.

Part of me didn't give the persimmon a chance. I bought it as a whip from Swason's on clearance towards the end of fruit-tree-planting season. It's been in the ground for 5 years; the first of which I didn't think it survived the winter. It's faithfully leafed out yearly since, but fruiting was another issue. I started to doubt it would ever happen. Even though I know it takes most fruit trees 7 years to reach maturity and produce fruit. So I put off the transplanting project until now--a week out from said painting project.

As I start to dig out the root ball, I notice these little things along the branches. I can't believe it, or actually, I can. Of course, this is the year it fruits...when it's slated to be moved.

You can see four small fruits just starting to grow: two towards the lower right of the photo and two on the upper left.

I did manage to dig it out and pot it up, but it's understandably going through transplant shock. I'm hoping it will be ok and currently scoping out a new location for it in the garden altogether. I still like the idea of an espalier and probably am committed to it since it's been trained as such early on.

I'm doing all I can now to save this tree. I've certainly learned my lesson...


  

Bay Laurel

I was surprised to see my bay laurel in flower a few weeks ago. I've actually never seen the culinary laurel, Laurus nobilis, flowering.

.

This plant is "dioecious," meaning "two houses," where there are separate plants with either male or female flowers. This plant in my garden is female.

Enough with the botany lesson...

I love this slow growing shrub in my garden. It's right next to my front steps and easily accessible for a few leaves when I'm making marinara sauce or I need a sachet. Such sachets of a couple bay leaves, smashed garlic cloves, and whole peppercorns wrapped in cheesecloth are popular in Thomas Keller's stock recipes.

Even if you don't use the leaves in your kitchen, it's still a handsome must-have plant for your garden or in a container on your patio.