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~ All things botanical in photos and words—in my West Seattle garden and elsewhere; seeing and creating art and assorted musings.

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Category Archives: Harvest

NOT EXACTLY CANNING…

07 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, EAT!, Gardening, Harvest, Vegetable garden, Winter

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Tags

cauliflower plants, fermented cauliflower, fermenting, pickling, Romanesco cauliflower, Veronica Cauliflower, Weir Seal, Western Stoneware crock

My heirloom preserving crock

My heirloom preserving crock

IN MY PREVIOUS POST I SAID no more canning for awhile. While strictly true, I seem to have to much of a good thing in my vegetable garden. And that would be several Romanesco type cauliflower plants in various stages of growth and at least two needed immediate harvesting. I have pickled and canned cauliflower in the past and since I am decidedly not in the mood to pickle and can in the usual sense, I am having a go at fermented cauliflower pickle. This will certainly be something different and I hope, tasty.

Romanesco cauliflower 'Veronica'

Romanesco cauliflower ‘Veronica’

I don’t know how much this large head weighed but it was about seven inches across. A second, smaller one was more conical and not as flat as the one pictured above. I really like this type of cauliflower for its unique color, flavor, texture, and of course the showy form. The plants are quite robust, with stalks that top out around 2-3 feet high and here at least, need staking against winter wind.

The Western Stoneware with Weir Seal

The Western Stoneware with Weir Seal (any relationship to the meaning of a weir dam?)

I have a lovely and cherished, old heirloom crock that belonged to my wonderful, late mother-in-law who taught me to can and helped me plant my first vegetable garden many, many, years ago. The crock is Western Stoneware and proudly proclaims its maker, provenance and Weir Seal on its lid. I have a feeling that the crock originally belonged to her mother; her brother’s initials, JFM, are scrawled on the bottom of the crock with a grease pencil. The Mahoney family had a farm along the Willamette River in Gervais, Oregon, where my mother-in-law, Helen, grew up. I came into possession of it after she passed away in 1999. I think the capacity is not quite a gallon. I have used it for fermenting as well as making fruit infused vinegars. Just one more thing that reminds me of her generosity and love when I use it.

Not ready to pick, but soon!

Not ready to pick, but soon!

I layered the cauliflower florets and peeled, sliced stems with a few small carrots (from the garden too), garlic (homegrown), onion and a couple of dried ancho chiles, some typical pickling spices and a 5% brine solution.

Ready to go!

Ready to go!

Fermenting is kind of exciting because the results are always a surprise. It is also an exercise in patience and diligence.

The homemade plastic 'seal'

The homemade plastic ‘seal’

This is my version of a ‘seal’ to keep the contents of the jar submerged. I saw something like this on someone’s website several years ago and it works great. If your ingredients still want to bob-up, a brine filled plastic bag will sit neatly on top. Cut up any plastic lid that is slightly larger than the mouth of the vessel; cut a slit from one edge to the center, fold to a cone shape and place over the contents and push down until the liquid covers the plastic and it is seated. The ‘seal’ is reusable or cut a new one next time.

Now I wait; will it be five days, seven days, or as long as two weeks for results? Darn! I’ll report back.

 

 

 

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SAVING SEEDS FOR THE NEXT SEASON

05 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by backyardnotes in Fun in the Garden, Gardening, Harvest, Plant Crazy, Tomatoes, Vegetable garden

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Tags

bean seed, onion seed, planting, saving, Saving seeds, Seeds, tomato seed, tomato seeds

Dried Lazy Housewife pole bean seed

Dried Lazy Housewife pole bean seed

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

AS ANOTHER YEAR ROLLS IN there is no better time to begin dreaming about and planning this year’s vegetable garden. Seed saving for me started about twenty-two years ago. Even though the seeds were some type of F1 hybrid (called La Roma) and unlikely to come true, I saved them anyway. The plants from the saved seed were just fine and the tomatoes were successively better each year, farther away from the parent. I still grow these tomatoes, although I no longer am using the original saved seeds.

As mentioned in previous posts, I often let some lettuces, herbs, leeks, and other greens go to seed, then shake the seed around the vegetable garden; the seeds come up on their own schedule; when the new plants are large enough I thin and transplant them into vegetable beds (except for cilantro and dill, which do not like to be disturbed).

Rattlesnake pole bean, green stage

Rattlesnake pole bean, green stage

I have been saving some bean seed the last few years, mostly pole beans. I really like Lazy Housewife, a great pole bean that was from Seed Savers (found at flower and garden show several years back). I also have become fond of Rattlesnake, a good green snap bean and shell-bean. This year I let a lot of beans go to dry seed stage rather than pull them out when the vines started to die back.

 

Rattlesnake beans drying on the vine

Rattlesnake beans drying on the vine

The last stage of harvesting

The last stage of harvesting

Rattlesnakebeans_2

 

Leek seedhead

Leek seedhead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pollination in action!

Pollination in action! Walla Walla onion seed to follow!

I have always let some leeks go to seed as the seed stalks are tall and the seed heads large and showy, an easy ornamental as well as a tasty vegetable! I also like growing my own Walla Walla sweet onions, but had never saved the seed. In the fall of 2013 I reset some small, unharvested onions so they would set seed the following summer.

Dried seedheads

Dried seedheads

When the onions had ‘bloomed’ and set seed I left the seed heads to mature then cut the tops and set them in a cool, dry and shady spot until the seeds separated easily from their husks. Not very scientific but it worked just fine.

Walla Walla onion seed

Walla Walla onion seed

I was rewarded with more seed than I could possibly plant in my small, limited space garden and I shared some seed with my neighbors. Walla Walla’s are long-day onions, perfectly suited to our long, Northwest summer days and suggested planting is late August. The seedlings were up within two weeks of sowing and are perfectly hardy through our normally temperate weather and sporadic freezing we often have around here; I usually transplant the seedlings in mid-to late February and harvest onions in June and July.

Lots of onion seed and plenty to share!

Lots of onion seed and plenty to share!

BACK TO THE TOMATO SEEDS. In the 1990’s Taunton Press published Kitchen Garden magazine, to which I subscribed until they unfortunately ceased publication. However, in one issue there was an article about saving tomato seed and I have followed the procedure ever since and with good success; the method goes like this:
Remove the seeds from the ‘jelly’ that holds them in place. Place in a shallow container and cover with water. Let the seeds stand until they start to ferment and the water acquires a moldy top layer.

The fermenting, moldy seed

The fermenting, moldy seed

At that point, gently pour off the water and layer of mold; most of the ‘jelly’ has now loosened and separated from the seed; all of the good seeds will stay at the bottom of the container and everything else slips out. Add clean water, gently drain once more and add more water to cover the seed; let stand another day or two then rinse and drain off the water leaving the seeds to dry in the container.

After fermentation

After fermentation

The fermented and dried tomato seeds

The fermented and dried tomato seeds

I may be leaving out something here, and I don’t recall the reason for the fermentation or know the science behind it, but I do know that I have successfully saved tomato seed this way for a very long time. I wish I had saved the article; it is one of the few things not to be found in the vast depths of the internet. But I have thought that tomato seeds that end up in the compost heap go through a similar kind of fermentation and there is never a lack of volunteer tomatoes in my garden beds.

Finished seed for next year

Finished seed for next year

Tomatoseeds_2

At least a few new varieties to save every year

As the seed catalogs begin to arrive, my thoughts are turning to spring planting and the promise of juicy tomatoes, sweet onions and the first pickings of snap beans.

 

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CHARRED & JARRED—CHILE PEPPERS

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Growing, Harvest, Peppers

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Tags

Anaheim peppers, canned chile peppers, Chile peppers, how to roast chile peppers, marinated peppers, roasting peppers

Ripening Anaheim chiles

Ripening Anaheim chiles

OUR LONG, WARM SUMMER TRAIPSED RIGHT INTO OCTOBER. That meant that the Anaheim peppers that rarely ripen around here did so–more than half of them turned red. I ended up with about seven pounds of them to put away for later use. Several years ago when I had a bumper crop, the thought of placing lots of peppers on the gas burners in my kitchen seemed daunting until I had a bit of a brainstorm!

One batch roasting on the BBQ.

All four pounds roasting on the BBQ.

How about utilizing the gas grill/bbq? I can roast/blister/char all of them at one time, outside instead of in the house, with no smoky odors lingering for hours. To roast all of the peppers this way takes about seven-twelve minutes! On Monday I dispatched 4 1⁄2 pounds of peppers, from roasting to in-the-jar-and-finished in just about two hours.

Make a small slit in the shoulder of the  pepper so the peppers don't steam from the inside.

Make a small slit in the shoulder of the pepper (so the peppers don’t steam from the inside) before roasting.

Charred and ready to rest

Once charred, place in a large bowl, cover and rest about 15 minutes.

Easy peeling.

Easy peeling.

Once the peppers have rested and steamed a bit they are ready to peel. The more mature the pepper, the thicker the flesh and skin; steam is created between the skin and flesh and the skin separates easily. Thinner walled peppers have thinner skins and need scraping in my experience.

Four pounds of peppers ready for canning.

Four pounds of peppers ready for canning.

Well Preserved by Eugenia Bone

Well Preserved by Eugenia Bone.

In her book Well Preserved, Eugenia Bone has a recipe that she attributes to Michigan State Extension, for Marinated Peppers. She call for red bell peppers but I have found it works just as well for Anaheim and other home grown sweet/hot peppers. (Since I do not have permission to reprint the recipe here I will leave it to you to find it online; like here for example.)

The finished product.

The finished product.

I choose to put up my peppers in half-pint jars as there are only two of us in this household, so more convenient for me. I also add just a bit more garlic than called for, leave the peppers whole (to use for chiles rellenos should the urge strike); using four pounds as called for in the recipe, I usually end up with about half of the brine left over. These are really delicious in the middle of winter, when like tomatoes, the taste of good summer produce is hard to come by. The total yield for seven pounds of peppers was twelve half-pints.

Happy canning!

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A SCHOOL BUS & RADISH TOPS

20 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in Cooking & Eating, Creative, EAT!, Flowers, Harvest, Inspriation, Vegetable garden

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Tags

Asparagus, pesto, Radish tops, Radishes, school bus, school bus planter, Sockeye salmon, toy school bus

LindaBus_4

A FRIEND OF OURS IS RETIRING FROM SCHOOL BUS DRIVING TODAY. I wanted to find a little toy school bus at Goodwill. What the groundskeeper found instead was a BIG school bus toy with an open top that I immediately saw as a planter! After a few holes were drilled in the bottom for drainage, I added window screen mesh on the inside to keep the soil in. I added a few homemade stickers and plants and here it is. I think it’s adorable and I think our friend will too.

LindaBus_5

 

Our friend is a dog lover who fosters dogs.

Our friend is a dog lover who fosters dogs.

ABOUT THE RADISH TOPS. I had intended to make this post yesterday after a prolonged hiatus of from the blog (too many other projects to deal with), but that bus planter was just too darn cute to leave out.

I picked some very nice radishes on Wednesday and the tops were too nice to toss into the compost. They had a slightly tart flavor and I thought they would make a nice ‘pesto’ type sauce.

grwingradishes

I combined the radish tops with some aspargus spears and four or five garlic scapes in the food processor.

Garlic scapes and aparagus

Garlic scapes and aparagus

Ready to purée

Ready to purée

radishpesto_1

Add some olive oil and a little salt, pepper, and purée until smooth. Taste for seasoning. At this point it can be put up in small jars, topped with a little  olive oil and frozen for later use or top with oil and store in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Cheese can be added just before using if you plan to use it on pasta in a more traditional pesto style.

I managed to fill a pint jar

I managed to fill a pint jar

We cooked a piece of Alaska sockeye salmon on the grill adding some of the sauce near the end of cooking.

Sockeye salmon with radish top pesto

Sockeye salmon with radish top pesto

Radish greens

Radish greens

Using radish tops was new for me. I knew they were not much different from most mustard greens other than the leaves being a bit fuzzy, so I thought: Why Not? It’s nice to figure out ways to get the maximum out of what I harvest from the garden. Maybe carrot tops will be next! How do you maximize your harvest?

 

 

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A LITTLE PEAR TREE YIELDS BIG

25 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Growing, Harvest, Jellies & Preserves

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Tags

Bartlett pears, canning, comice pears, Dessert, Pear preserves, Pear Semifreddo, pears, preserving, Rescue pears, vanilla bean

Our espaliered pear tree

Our espaliered pear tree

WE PLANTED THIS PEAR TREE in 1996 or 1997. It has three varieties grafted on dwarf root stock. The tree is supported against a split rail fence, 32 inches tall and 8 feet wide. The varieties are Comice, Rescue and Bartlett. By the fourth year it began producing a reliable crop of pears and this year I harvested a whopping 72 pounds!!!

A cluster of Rescue pears

A cluster of Rescue pears

Some of the branches we so heavy with fruit we had to brace them to keep from breaking under the weight. The groundskeeper thinned the tree twice after fruit was set and the tree still produced a bumper crop.

Bartletts

Bartletts

I started picking the Bartlett’s in early September; a little earlier than usual, but then we had a much warmer than normal summer. Each time I picked pears I weighed the harvest. The last bunch (Comice) were picked last week.

So far, I have processed 6 half-pints of Pear-Thyme Conserve (Well Preserved); 4 half-pints Pear-Ginger Preserves; 6 pints Pears Poached in Wine; 7 pints plain canned pear quarters; 4 half-pints Pear Preserves with dried cherries. I gave pears to friend, neighbors and relatives. Yesterday I put up 5 1/2 half-pints of Pear Preserves with Vanilla and Thyme.

I started with six pounds of pears. I peeled, cored and diced the pears, then layered them in a large saucepan with 17 ounces (2 1/3 cups) sugar, 4 large sprigs of thyme and one six inch vanilla bean cut into four pieces.

Peeled and ready to process

Peeled and ready to process

Sugar, thyme sprigs and vanilla bean

Sugar, thyme sprigs and vanilla bean

Layer one; diced pears, thyme, vanilla, and sugar

Layer one; diced pears, thyme, vanilla, and sugar

Why do I always start with a pan that is too small?

The right sized pot!

The right sized pot!

I let the pears and sugar macerate for six hours to draw out the juices. I brought the fruit and its juice to a gentle boil over medium high heat for five minutes then reduced to a simmer (barely bubbling) and continued cooking for about 4 hours until the pears were soft, translucent and thickened.

Pears after about 2 hours.

Pears after about 2 hours.

After two hours, remove all of the thyme sprigs. Continue cooking until the pears look like this:

After 4 hours–the once full pot is now a quarter full!

After 4 hours–the once full pot is now a quarter full!

At this point when the pears are thickened, taste for sweetness. I found them too sweet for my liking so added 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. I removed the vanilla bean pieces and used an immersion blender to slightly puree a small portion to add thickness/texture. If all is to your liking at this point, bring to a boil, turn off heat (Optional add: 1 1/2 tablespoons cognac once heat is turned off) and fill prepared jars; seal and process 10 minutes. Additional Note: Once the pears were substantially reduced and thickened, I removed the pears from the heat and let stand overnight and checked the set next day. The big yield for 6 pounds of pears: 5 1/2 half-pints.

The finished preserves

The finished preserves, flecked with thyme leaves and vanilla bean seeds, were perfect on my morning toast.

I still have about twelve+ pounds left in the refrigerator. At this point they are mostly Rescue and Comice. Still to come is a standout dessert from an October 1998 issue of Gourmet magazine: Pear, Muscat, and Almond Semifreddo; a recipe by Paul Bertolli. Layers of sliced, poached pears, vanilla pastry cream, crushed amaretti cookies and spongecake moistened with the syrup used to poach the pears. Unbelievably delicious. Unfortunately, I cannot locate the recipe online for a link and it is too long to copy here.

Pear, Muscat, and Almond Semifreddo (photo scanned from Gourmet mag)

Pear, Muscat, and Almond Semifreddo (photo scanned from Gourmet mag)

What will next year bring? I have a feeling the tree may have to rest next year and the harvest will be smaller.

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