Archive for July, 2010
Right now my garden is alight with the fiery glow of crocosmia–the smaller orange ‘Emberglow’ and the taller red ‘Lucifer’. I’ve planted the of the corms in clumps around the back patio, bordering the back of the front potager, and interspersed wherever I find a space that needs some cheering up.
Crocosmia also puts on quite a show when it’s in bloom, attracting a constant stream of bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies to entertain you. It is such a prolific perennial that some gardeners shy away from it. I just enjoy the many blooms and when they are through, I’ll give a clump to a neighbour or friend. And if you want to thin them out a bit, well, they make great cut flowers as well.
For more detailed information on crocosmia click here.
July 30 2010 | Flowers | 10 Comments »
This week the first slicer tomatoes ripened suddenly. I grow these Siletz organic seeds because they are dependably early on the coast and will withstand cooler temperatures so they can be set out in April. They are nice tidy shrubs with about 8-12 large tomatoes each ripening right now, and hopefully a long and productive season ahead. I have 3 plants at the house and one at the community garden plot.
The toms were amazing with fresh basil and some olive sourdough I made from my starter.
There are many peppers ready to be eaten green (or purple as with the Filius Blue peppers), some are picked to encourage more flowers, and the others will get left to allow the peppers to turn red and spicy.
There are still lots of blueberries on the shrubs out front, and now that I have divided my yellow alpine strawberries into a lot more room, I’m getting heaps of those as well (thanks for the advice, Laura!) And with all the kale growing at the community garden, I just had to have more kale chips.
I thinned out a bunch of small beets this week for both the sauteed greens and the roots. I’m growing at least 4 types this year: Detroit Supreme, Red Ace, Chioggia, and Golden.
It has also been a big week for flower harvests. With so many cutting blooms growing, my house is filled with colour both inside and out. The crocosmia below is one of my favourites – both the firey orange crocosmia and the larger upright lucifer crocosmia look just a good indoors as outside from my hammock.
July 26 2010 | Growing Food and Harvest and Photography | 16 Comments »
How could I have so quickly forgotten in my Harvest Monday post this week about my Green Globe artichoke?! Sorry old friend, you deserve much better.
And “old friend” is certainly appropriate. I started 6 plants from seed in January 2009 and this year just one of the 2 remaining plants gave me an artichoke. I watched it for weeks nervous that someone would take my prize from the community garden (theft is unfortunately a problem there) and just when I couldn’t stand the suspense for one more second, out came the clippers and I snatched it myself.
I brought my green gardening trophy and gave it a good rinse in the sink. Then I cooked it for about 45 minutes in a steam basket.
Then late on a summer evening, I enjoyed it with a Caper Mayo Dip. To make the dip, blend a 1/4 cup mayo with 1 tbsp drained capers, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp lemon zest and add olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste in a mini food processor. Serve immediately with prized steamed artichokes and, of course, enjoy! I did.
July 22 2010 | Growing Food and Harvest and Photography | 14 Comments »
This July I have been harvesting all sorts of things. I wish I had the time to post weekly like so many of the others that list at Daphne’s Dandelions but at least I’m getting something posted! In the beginning of July I pulled up my garlic from the community garden plot and it looked great despite the rust. I think there was definitely an effect on the size but there are still some fair sized heads there and it should last us for a few months at least.
Also in the beginning of July I harvested the rest of the peas and composted the vines. It’s good because I needed the room. But I did plant a bunch more Mammoth Melting Sugar snow peas at the community garden for fall.
I harvested some kale from the garden plot as well this month as it is doing fantabulous. I have many bunches of green onions ready to eat and I harvested a head of raddichio this evening. I also had some rainbow chard from my home vegetable beds tonight and expect that I will be eating that nightly for a week or so.
All month now I have been snacking on blueberries. I have 5 bushes located in the front potager / perennial garden and 4 of the 5 shrubs are new as of last year so really I’m only eating berries off of one. But so far it has produced more ripe berries than I can pick and eat fresh so it’s just right and I still have plenty to ripen still. I eat them in salad and of course on pound cake and whipped cream. mmmmm.
My yellow alpine strawberries are producing berries but I think that perhaps I put too many (5) plants in the small planter on my patio as they are small and turn brown and hard quickly. the leaves are yellowing a but to despite my regular watering, full sun, and fertilizing. I’d happily accept any advice on improving these plants as this is my first year growing them.
Here are 2 of the ripe ones with a red thrown in for comparison. They have a unique strawberry favour that I can only describe as strong strawberry with a hint of banana. They also have the texture of a cooked banana – some what starchy and mushy – but the texture is not off-putting, it’s more “melt in your mouth”.
Finally – lettuce lettuce lettuce! I have been eating Super Gourmet Salad blend since March from seeds I planted in January. The heads are just now starting to bolt but I’m hoping I’ll keep them going until at least August.
July 19 2010 | Growing Food and Harvest | 11 Comments »
Here is what’s blooming in my garden this July. Hover over a photo to see the name or click the thumbnail for a larger pic. Enjoy!
July 15 2010 | Flowers and Gardening and Photography | 12 Comments »
Oh, the strawberries this year. While the cool wet weather this May and June kept many of the strawberries watery and bland, somewhere in California an organic grower got it right : the berries, just at the peak of ripeness, were deep red with a rich sweetness that reminded me of strawberry molasses. Given that my berries, as lovely as they were, were affected by the raincoast weather, I picked up a steal on 27 pints of those organic berries from Cali.
What does one do with 27 pints of strawberries? Well, first I made up the Strawberry Coconut Torte I just posted and served it with champagne and strawberries. I froze a bunch in freezer bags for future berry goodness and made some into Perfect No-Cook Strawberry Ice Cream and Strawberry Rhubarb Compote. And then I made jam two ways: Strawberry Jam and Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves.
Organic Strawberry Jam
I started with a basic recipe for light jam:
- 6 cups crushed strawberries
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 box Certo Light Pectin
Directions:
- Hull berries and process in a food processor – pulse only 3 times per batch so it is the consistency of fresh salsa not mush.
- In a large stock pot heat strawberries until they start to release juices – add water is you need some.
- Combine fruit pectin crystals with 1/4 cup (50 mL) of measured sugar and add pectin mixture into fruit on the stove.
- Stir over high heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Add remaining sugar (I know, it’s a lot of sugar but it does really need it to bring out the bright strawberry flavour). Continue to cook and stir over high heat until mixture comes to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Wipe off hot spatters from boiling jam off your arms, the stove, the floor, etc. Prevent burns by keeping a wet cloth near you this is dangerous stuff, folks.
- Remove from heat and keep stirring. You can skim off the foam now as well.
- At this point I canned 2/3 of my batch as strawberry jam—ladle into warm, sterilized jars filling up to 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) from rim and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes / pint or as required for your altitude. Use the remaining 1/3 of the batch for Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves in Part 2.
July 13 2010 | Canning and Harvest | 4 Comments »
Strawberry Balsamic & Black Pepper Preserves
(adapted from this recipe from Canadian Living)
Using the remaining 1/3 of the Organic Strawberry Jam batch and add:
- 4 more cups crushed strawberries
- ½ cup cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp coarsely cracked black pepper or to taste
Directions: Bring this mixture to a boil again – a hard boil for 1 minute stirring constantly– and then can just like the strawberry jam. Voila! Strawberry Jam Two Ways.
July 13 2010 | Canning and Harvest and Recipes | 13 Comments »
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