• About
  • ART CARDS
  • THE DRAWING ROOM
  • DESIGN WORK
  • GALLERY I
    • GALLERY II
    • GALLERY III
    • GALLERY IV: THE ANCIENT PALETTE
  • Label Design

Backyardnotes

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

Backyardnotes

Category Archives: Vegetable garden

NOT EXACTLY CANNING…

07 Saturday Feb 2015

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

≈ Leave a comment

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.

 

 

 

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

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

≈ Leave a comment

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.

 

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

THE MUSE WENT ON VACATION

04 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in At the beach, Camping, Clouds, Ephemera, Flowers, Fun in the Garden, Growing, Photography, Vegetable garden

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

blues festival, Garden seating, hiking, Ice Caves, Musings, vegetables, wildfires

A late summer afternoon walk on the beach.

A late summer afternoon walk on the beach.

IT HAS BEEN A GOOD LONG WHILE SINCE MY LAST POST.  At some point I felt like I had run out of topics to write about. The muse went on vacation. How many times can I write about the same plants in the same place in my garden with continued enthusiasm? If it is tiresome for me what about you, the reader? Best to take some time off and gather some new experiences, tackle some small projects, do some canning (a bumper crop of snap beans and apples), do a little local traveling and connect with the people and things I love. So here, is a short review in words and pictures.

Big Four Mountain and waterfalls

Big Four Mountain; waterfalls, and snowfield

In July I had a birthday and it was my wish to do the short hike to the Ice Caves at Big Four, about 90 minutes northeast of Seattle, with our grandchildren. The snow slides off of the shear, vertical face of Big Four mountain and piles up at the base over the winter. As summer comes along, the snow at the top of the mountain melts, water cascades down the faces creating numerous waterfalls that undermine the piles of snow. The snow mounds melt from the inside-out creating caves. They are cool to stand in front of on a hot summer day, but notoriously unstable and known to collapse, so going into them is a bad idea. IceCaves_v   IceCaves_1

One of many Winthrop area fires seen from the fesival grounds.

One of many Winthrop area fires seen from the fesival grounds.

A week later we were off to the Winthrop Blues Festival where we heard great muscic (Charlie Musslewhite; Shemekia Copeland, Homemade Jamz, Too Slim & the Taildraggers) and watched fires burning in the Methow Valley; that part was strange. For a couple of days the only route to and from the area was Hwy 20 through the North Cascades. Scores of people lost their homes and the fire burned up 300,000+ acres.

Fire and smoke influenced the sunsets.

Fire and smoke influenced the sunsets.

A member of Homemade Jamz playing his Muffler Guitar! (They were great.)

A member of Homemade Jamz playing his Muffler Guitar! (They were great.)

BACK ON THE HOME FRONT…

A quiet spot in the garden to sit and reflect

A quiet spot in the garden to sit and reflect

Back in April I shared a post about the redwood tree rounds that were saved from the cutting of our neighbor’s 60 year old redwood. In August I made a visit to my sister (RedClothespin) in Long Beach, WA and she sewed up the covers for the seat top cushions; she is a whiz with a sewing machine.

Weather resistant Sunbrella fabric. Only one drawback–they are under the canopy of a large pine and susceptible to pitch drips.

Weather resistant Sunbrella fabric. Only one drawback–they are under the canopy of a large pine and susceptible to pitch drips.

The view into the vegetable garden from the redwood seating.

The view into the vegetable garden from the redwood seating.

I finished the second of the Steelcase chairs. I haven’t quite decided where in the garden they will take up residence. For now they are mobile.

Steelcase chair #2

Steelcase chair #2

ChilipepperChair

Hibiscus hybrid "Cranberry Crush"

Hibiscus hybrid “Cranberry Crush”

Two years ago I purchased a new perennial, this Hibiscus/Rose Mallow. It bloomed in August for the first time. It was spectacular. I was SO excited, I ran into the house to get the groundskeeper!

Hibiscus_Cranberry

Too bad the flower lasts only one day. However, there were a total of five blooms. I am hoping for more next year. The plant should reach 3-4 feet in height at maturity; currently is it at about 24 inches.

The fall planting of snow and snap peas.

The fall planting of snow and snap peas.

A late blooming poppy.

A late blooming poppy.

Lady's Eardrops, hardy fucshia.

Lady’s Eardrops, hardy fucshia.

Dahlia "Awe Shucks"

Dahlia “Awe Shucks”

Akane apples.

Akane apples.

The muse is slowly returning. More later.

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

A SCHOOL BUS & RADISH TOPS

20 Friday Jun 2014

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

≈ Leave a comment

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?

 

 

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

BEAUTIFUL BRUSSELS SPROUTS

18 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by backyardnotes in Growing, Inspriation, Ornamentals, Vegetable garden, Winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

brussels sprouts, Brussels Sprouts Bubbles, Brussels Sprouts Rubine, cabbage

 

AROUND THIS TIME OF YEAR, Brussels sprout plants want to complete their journey to flower and set seed. The crown of the plant begins to open up and resembles a cabbage of sorts. I find them incredibly beautiful in both form and color, especially in the light of late afternoon sun. The varieties shown here are Rubine and Bubbles.

BS_Rubine_top3 BS_crop BS_Rubine_top4

Bubbles

Bubbles

Rubine # 2

Rubine # 2

Rubine #1

Rubine #1

Share this:

  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

Archives

Recent Posts

  • OUT WITH THE OLD POND, IN WITH THE NEW WATER FEATURE
  • WINNING SUBMISSION AND NEW DIRECTIONS
  • WHISPERS OF SPRING
  • NOT EXACTLY CANNING…
  • A GIFT OF WINTER APPLES

Art

  • ABC Typography
  • Annerose Georgeson
  • ArtPlantae Today
  • Drawing in Color
  • Fonts
  • Gage Academy of Art
  • Kapitza
  • Kathleen McKeehen
  • Katie Lee
  • Late Start Studio
  • New York Central Art Supply
  • Painting of the day
  • PastelPointers blog
  • The Postman's Knock
  • Wagonized
  • Wordle

Birds

  • Bird Note

Blogroll

  • A Gardener's Table
  • A Way to Garden
  • Annerose Georgeson
  • Backyardnotes\’s Blog
  • cold climate gardening
  • Homeward Bounty
  • The Fresh Loaf
  • West Seattle Blog
  • West Seattle Herald
  • WordPress.com
  • WordPress.org

Bugs!

  • BugGuide
  • What's that bug?

Butterflies

  • North American Butterfly Association

Canning & Preserving

  • A Gardener's Table
  • Canning Across America
  • Fermentista
  • Food in Jars
  • National Center for Home Food Preservation
  • Phickle.com
  • Well Preserved

Creative & Handmade

  • Aunt Peaches
  • BackyardDesigns
  • RedClothespin
  • Whirlygig Fashion

Design

  • ABC Typography
  • Before and After Magazine
  • Clients from Hell
  • Communication Arts
  • Font Bros.
  • Fonts
  • Kapitza
  • My Fonts
  • The Graphics Fairy
  • The Postman's Knock
  • Typographica.org
  • Wordle

Font Love!

  • Emigre
  • Font Bros.
  • Fonts
  • Hoefler & Co. Typography
  • Kapitza
  • My Fonts
  • The Postman's Knock
  • Typographica.org
  • Wordle

Food & Drink

  • David Lebovitz
  • Indian Simmer
  • Jeffrey Morgenthaler
  • Punk Domestics
  • Rose Levy Beranbaum
  • Serious Eats
  • Tapas Bonitas
  • The British Larder

Gardening

  • A Gardener's Table
  • cold climate gardening
  • Cornell Plant Pathology Vegetable Disease Web Page
  • Hellebores
  • Hosta library
  • Johnny's Seeds
  • Naylor Creek Gardens
  • North American Butterfly Association
  • Not Dabbling In Normal
  • Territorial Seed Company
  • Wells Medina Nursery
  • West Seattle Nursery
  • What's that bug?

Inspiration

  • Toom-ah? What Stinkin' toomah?

It's About Life

  • Toom-ah? What Stinkin' toomah?

Let's Eat!

  • Anson Mills
  • Five and Spice
  • food52
  • Northwest Sourdough
  • The Artisan
  • The British Larder
  • The Cook's Thesaurus
  • The Fresh Loaf
  • Wild Yeast

Painting & Drawing

  • Annerose Georgeson
  • ArtPlantae Today
  • Draw a stickman
  • Drawing in Color
  • Gage Academy of Art
  • Kathleen McKeehen
  • Katie Lee
  • Painting of the day
  • PastelPointers blog
  • Wagonized

Plant love

  • Flower World
  • Hellebores
  • Hosta library
  • Naylor Creek Gardens
  • USDA Plants database
  • Wells Medina Nursery
  • West Seattle Nursery

Shops

  • BackyardDesigns
  • RedClothespin
  • Whirlygig Fashion

Vegetables

  • Johnny's Seeds
  • Territorial Seed Company

West Seattle

  • West Seattle Blog
  • West Seattle Herald

Categories

Blogs I Follow

  • grow it cook it can it
  • Red Road Diaries
  • A Gardener's Table
  • Backyardnotes
  • WordPress.com

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 64 other subscribers

apples Art birds black radish brussels sprouts cabbage camelias camping canning clematis compost cranberries crocus dahlias Daikon radish Death Valley desert Drawing fall fava beans food friendship gardening Gardening garlic hamamelis harvest hellebores herbs hiking hostas iris lavender mangoes mixed media mustard greens narcissus nature New Orleans nicandra painting pears peas peonies peppers pesto Pickled asparagus pickles pickling planting plants poetry poetry exchange poppies preserving Radishes rain roses Sandhill Cranes seedlings Sisters snow Spring Spring flowers sunshine tetons tomatoes Travel trillium tulips vegetable garden volunteer plants volunteer seedlings wildflowers winter cyclamen winter flowers

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 64 other subscribers

April flowers Art Canning & Preserving Cooking & Eating Fall Flowers Fun in the Garden Growing Harvest Inspriation Jellies & Preserves March flowers Spring Spring bulbs Spring flowers Summer! Tomatoes Travel tulips Uncategorized Vegetable garden Weather West Seattle garden Winter Winter flowers

No Instagram images were found.

BYN_IG

No Instagram images were found.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

grow it cook it can it

Red Road Diaries

Musings from the back roads

A Gardener's Table

Celebrating the Harvest

Backyardnotes

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

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the best place for your personal blog or business site.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Backyardnotes
    • Join 64 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Backyardnotes
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: