FORAGING THE DECEMBER VEGETABLE GARDEN

31 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by backyardnotes in Cooking & Eating, December, EAT!, Fun in the Garden, Winter

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Foraging, lacianto kale, mixed greens, mustard greens, radicchio, Rubine brussels sprouts, salad dressing, treviso, Winter salads, winter vegetable garden

The vegetable garden at partial rest on the last day of 2013

EARLIER THIS MONTH we had some decidedly cold weather for these parts–a week of temperatures in the low-to-mid 20’s overnight and not much above freezing during the daytime. Some of the more winter hardy vegetables are rebounding and shedding leaves that have turned to mush. Often at this time of year there are slim pickings for salads, but who doesn’t love a challenge?

Treviso type radicchio

Late yesterday I went foraging for salad material. I was able to collect some small, barely heading radicchio, lots of parsley, some Mibuna type mustard greens, cilantro, lacinato kale, small leaves from Rosalind broccoli, and some Rubine brussels sprouts; all hardy, hearty and strong greens.

Mixed, washed greens

Small lacinato kale leaves

Shaved Rubine brussels sprouts

Now, to put together the right dressing, equally hearty with flavors to stand up to and compliment the bitterness and ‘greeness’ of some of the greens.

The salad dressing

My favorite salad bowl was probably made for proofing bread dough once-upon-a-time. My grandma Aggie always had it filled with unshelled nuts, especially from Thanksgiving to Christmas and I never saw bread dough in it. I have owned it for 40 plus years and it is well seasoned by now. I mashed 2 cloves of garlic with some coarse salt into a paste; mashed 2 anchovy filets into a paste as well. To the garlic and anchovies, I whisked in 1 1⁄2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, two teaspoons Dijon mustard and three tablespoons of grassy olive oil. About a tablespoon or so of capers added some extra punch.

The dressed greens

I added the greens, a little sliced celery and sweet slices of pear, the last one from our tree; tossed all together, sprinkled on some pomegranate seeds and a few grinds of pepper.

It was a fantastic salad, with bright and biting flavors. It may be on the menu tonight too!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has stumbled upon this blog and paused to read one of my posts, and to those of you who subscribe. This is my 151st post since I began the blog in 2009. This year posts were kind of sporadic and I took a two month break; I might still have something left to say in 2014.

May you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR IN 2014!

PLANTING THE FALL VEGETABLE GARDEN

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by backyardnotes in Planting, Vegetable garden

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Buttercup squash, food, lettuce seed, mustard greens, plants, radish, Rescue Pear, seedlings, solarizing soil, Spartan Apple, vegetable garden, vegetable seeds, volunteer seedlings

ANTICIPATION IS SOWN WITH EACH SEED THAT GOES INTO THE GROUND. With the first sign of germination is the hope that success and sustenance may be in the offing. No seeds deliver like those of the radish family, pushing up through the soil within three days of planting. Carrots, onions and celery on the other hand come with hand wringing and second-guessing since they can take up to 21 or more days to pop through the soil.

MY vacation from gardening now effectively over, soil prep and direct seeding began the first week of August as there is plenty of time here for late fall-early winter harvesting of many vegetables and many overwinter nicely around here.

When I put the garden to bed before our long trip I used heavy black plastic to keep the weeds from taking over. And so far, the only unwanted seeds that have sprouted are squash, melon and tomato seeds from the compost that I laid down for the fall garden. Weeds are blessedly absent!

Although it is really late in the season to see any productivity from these volunteers, I have left a few of the squash (melon? cucumber?) seedlings to see what develops.

The volunteer(s) 28 days later and still an unknown.

Arugula seedlings, like radishes up quick!

Carrot seedlings, germinating over a period of 8 to 21 days

Direct seeded: Beets (3 types), turnips ((2), carrots (3), radishes (5), fennel (2), kohlrabi, kale (3), chard (3), arugula, dill, Chinese/Napa type cabbage (2), radicchio, Asian type mustard greens (3), Walla Walla onion (for transplanting in February), and a big mix of a lot of lettuce seed that is anywhere between 10 and 2 years old (kind of my own mesclun mix to see what actually germinates.) In my experience lettuce seed seems to have the shortest viability of all vegetable seed.

Red cabbage start from the nursery

I also started a number of brassicas, some chicories (endive, escarole, etc), and a few lettuces in six-packs just now ready for transplanting. Thankfully mornings are cool this time of year, perfect for transplanting. I also purchased a six-pack each of purple cauliflower and red cabbage a couple weeks ago that had a big head start on my starts.

Buttercup squash

I planted some squash seeds when I set out the tomato plants and this buttercup squash is the only one to have germinated and survived in our absence. It is happily crawling up the tomato trellis and there are three squash so far. And the half-dozen tomato plants have produced tomatoes in spite of the lack of regular water and pruning for seven weeks. Hurray, all is not lost.

The vegetable garden, week five–anticipation rewarded!

Rescue Pear

The pears are lovely and large again this year even without thinning. The Akane apples are a total loss due to the apple maggot but we have lucked out with the Spartans which are sweet-tart, crisp and picture perfect!

Now all that’s left to do is harvest some tomatoes, apples and pears and plant garlic and fava beans next month.

THE TOMATO STATUS REPORT

16 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by backyardnotes in Canning & Preserving, Harvest, Jellies & Preserves, Peppers, Tomatoes, Vegetable garden

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banana peppers, brussels sprouts, canning, canning rack, delicata squash, Italian plums, Japanese eggplant, mangoes, mustard greens, pears, pink icicle tomatoes, red plastic mulch, tomatoes

AS YOU SEE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF TOMATOES. Mostly green yet. I’m not convinced that the red plastic mulch is a big improvement to aid ripening. Seems normal to me, even taking our meager summer weather into consideration. I think Ill skip the red plastic next year. We have had our share or ripe ones to eat, so not a big complaint.

Yellow flame tomatotes

Always a few crazily shaped ones.

Pink Icicle. I may save seed from this one.

THE REST OF THE VEGETABLE GARDEN is humming along.

Delicata Squash

Anaheim peppers

Japanese eggplant

Banana peppers

I planted a section of mixed mustard greens to use up old seeds: Osaka Purple, Gold & Ruby Streaks, Mizuna, and Ho Mi Z. Makes for a zesty salad mix when young and it looks pretty too.

Brussels sprouts are forming nicely and should be ready for Thanksgiving dinner!

THIS WEEK’S CANNING REPORT

Gingered Pear Preserves with a splash of cognac made on Wednesday are the first of the pear larder. They are a mix of Bartletts and Rescue. A little over four pounds yielded seven half-pints.

Daughter #2 has an Italian Plum tree and we picked about 4.4 pounds on Tuesday.

I kept out one pound for eating, split and pitted the remaining plums, and slipped them into freezer bags for later use. Straight out of the freezer and onto cake batter for plum cake. An easy and tasty winter treat.

Today another two pounds of pears teamed up two large mangoes for Pear-Mango Preserves. This one is my own combination. A little sweet and a little tart from the lime juice.

Pear-Mango Preserves Yield about 6-7 half-pints

2 large mangoes cubed to make 3-4 cups

2 lbs. pears, cubed (about 4 cups)

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

3 c./ 1.5 lbs sugar

8 oz. apple or pear cider (regular, sparkling or hard)

One 4″ cinnamon stick

about 8 basil leaves bundled and tied.

Combine pears, mangoes, lime juice, cider and half the sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to boil, add cinnamon stick and basil. Reduce heat to medium and cook 15 minutes. Add remaining sugar and cook over med-low until thickened. Turn off heat and let stand one hour.

Sterilize jars and heat lids. Check thickness of preserves. If too thick add a bit more cider or water; remove cinnamon stick and basil and reheat. Fill jars and process 10 minutes full rolling boil. Remove canner lid and let jars stand 5 minutes before removing.

ONE LAST thing. I hate the canning rack that comes with the big enameled canners. They are awkward to handle with jars. There are many jars that don’t fit the racks. I have a 12″ diameter cooling rack that fits perfectly and any size or shape jar sits flat without tipping. Additionally, if I flip the rack upside down, I can squeak the quart jars into the canner. I saw this post on Northwest Edible Life and thought it a quite ingenious solution.

Today at Outdoor Emporium I saw a really sweet aluminum stock pot with a nice rack; it would easily accommodate quart jars and was $32.00. It was very much like this one. It is tempting as my old enamel canner is starting to rust after 35+ years.

Enough canning and harvesting for a while, I hear Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons calling…