Asleep but not sleeping

the garden is to bed at last. the mid-November relief, the mulch is in place, pumpkin smashing day went smashingly for the nitrogen layer under the leaves, the beets, parsnips, and carrots are nestled in and the chard is loud and proud, boasting its wonderful color, texture, and availability during these cool weather days. in the protected cove of my garden the spinach, cool lettuce, cilantro, and flowers are still thriving, cautiously awaiting the first real freeze.

this week brought one of my favourite autumn events ~ garlic planting day. it is my humble opinion that you can never have enough garlic in the garden. not only great for the kitchen and pantry, stores well and easy to grow but is also a benenfical insect attractant as well as deterrant for larger pests such as deer, moles, and rabbits.

in visiting whidbey island this summer i visited a wonderful farmer’s market and stumbled upon a fantastic garlic grower who imparted on me not only the secrets of the garlic on the table but a tasting of the sweet, the acidic, nutty, and spicy differences between each variety. it was a wonderful singular event that will remain in my gardening memory file as a cherished chance meeting.

it is time my friends. if you haven’t done it yet, plant your garlic! 4 inches down, a good layer of mulch, lots of organic matter and friable soil will lend to happy heads of garlic. plant it in vegetable beds and at entry points, integrate it in ornamental beds or planters, garlic is a versatile, wonderful addition to any garden.

A Two-canner Kind of Month

pressure canner and waterbath canner going strong

I always look forward to October, it is by far my favourite month of the year. I love the change in the air, the colors, even the rain. One of the things I most look forward to is the winding down of canning season. Although I adore preserving food enough is enough and I have drawn the line at 395+ lbs of tomatoes. I just can’t can anymore. I will do a round of applesauce and apple juice, cure and store the winter squashes but the two-canner days are behind me for 2009.

Although the site and smell of a tomato puts me over the edge right now I look forward to those dark January and February days when the memory of a tomato is the glow of 9ft. plants inthe garden.

I know that this time of year is difficult in the garden but do yourself the favor of cleaning it up: composting, mulching, planting cover crops. Taking the time now means that 9ft. tomatoes and high yields, with the grace of mother nature, are in the future for 2010.

Wonderful September

pat and the tomatoes

It is September. There is that hint of autumn in the air in the morning. A whisper, a brief moment that carries the scent of rain, falling leaves, shorter days, and all of the other wonderful things that autumn brings. September is that month of transition, from summer to autumn, warm weather to cool, tomatoes and cucumbers to squash and apples.

But the transition has not occured yet and the tomatoes are in prime season, i picked more than 50 lbs of tomatoes today with my friend pat who is the young and refreshing age of 79. we spent the morning seeding, coring, peeling, and chopping peppers, tomatoes, onions, and herbs for salsa, pat’s first time. it was a wonderful morning filled with talk of days past and days to come.

in spending the morning with pat i thought about toree and her family’s life transition right now. how we have built a wonderful company together and have enjoyed our partnership. but all things in life change, especially when least expected, and UFS is experiencing it’s first true growing pain. i will miss the day to day happenings with toree but am excited to still contract with her and to watch what UFS will become during this time of change. things seem to be more beautiful, resistant, and strong when they are forced to endure difficulty and that is my hope for UFS in the coming months and year; a stronger company that is able to serve the public need better while remaining affordable and timely.

here is to transition and all the wonderful, frightening, strong things it provides. i embrace it fully.

Summer Reminders

from the august garden

i always forget the obscene pleasure of garden salsa ~ tomatoes and peppers still warm from the sun, onions cured in the basement, cilantro and oregano freshly picked, garlic biting and pure . . . until i make it each year and savor the worthwhile hours of garden fretfulness.

i am deeply spirited by color, the combinations set by nature and those we impose ourselves. salsa each year is a test, a lesson, a flick-of-the-wrist of kitchen artistry to make fresh salsa beautiful, the canned salsa more-so, as it is the harbinger of hope in the darkest days of winter. and so the first foray of salsa-making this season lended itself beautifully to that summer color palette ~

purple bell peppers
lime green anaheim peppers
deep, full green jalapenos
purple-striped garlic
the yellow blush of walla walla onions
the reds of stupice and manitoba tomatoes
and the full, clear yellow of garden peach tomatoes

the house smelled spicy, sweet, and biting all afternoon as i chopped, seeded, peeled and prepped mountains of garden produce for salsa as my daughter cleaned, snapped, and froze 4 quarts of green beans. it was a long afternoon, sometimes tedious, definitely time consuming in these days of everything-ripe-at-the-same-time, phone ringing, last days of summerness.

in the end what matters most is that one fleeting moment my daughter closed her eyes and slowly smiled, whispering, “this is sooooooo good.”

Girls Only

the girls on the way to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Toree and I took our daughters on a “Girls Only” camping trip and had the most fantastic time! 75 degree weather at the Washington Coast, lighthouses, beach walking, shooting stars, swimming, and good food. I look forward to next year’s camping trip as we all started talking about the next one before the first was even over!

North Head Lighthouse

Really Big Veg

now that's a head of cabbage

Apparently, we have the knack.

Really big veg.

Seriously, REALLY big veg.

Cabbage this year weighing in at:
Head One: 3.5 lbs
Head Two: 5.0 lbs
Head Three: 4.5 lbs
Head Four: 5.5 lbs
Head Five: Waiting for harvest but the biggest of the bunch

Cauliflower ~
Head One: 2.5 lbs
Head Two 3.0 lbs

lillie's broccoli

Broccoli ~
Lillie planned and planted her first garden this year and the girl can grow BROCCOLI. I have never, ever, in my many years of gardening seen a head of broccoli this big, weighing in at just under 3 lbs. I’m so proud of her.

And the greens keep coming, and the peas won’t stop, and the herbs just produce and produce and produce. At the end of strawberries and neck deep in first-year raspberries. It’s a beautiful thing really.

Hey, friends! REMEMBER to water consistently this time of year so you don’t shock your plants. They’ll produce better and longer if you water them on a regular basis.

Year of the . . . Placenta?

lemons, lemons, lemons!

The annual limoncello party was a regular laugh riot and somehow the conversation kept coming around to placentas and their various uses; don’t ask me how it happened but I haven’t laughed that hard for that long in a very, very long time.

let the zesting commence!

The 2009 limoncello is in the pantry, the lemonade base, lemon curd, and lemon juice are in the freezer and we have officially begun the summer preserving season!

The menu was a hit as follows:
Appetizer:
grilled quesadilla with cucumber salsa
almonds three ways
lemon/strawberry mojitos
strawberry lemonade
limoncello lemonade

Dinner:
black bean enchiladas with matt’s salsa, cilantro, & sour cream
spinach salad with strawberried, baby peas, & mustard/cilantro vinaigrette
grilled asparagus with lime and salt

Dessert:
lemon curd tart with whipping cream
coffee and tea

naked lemons

cheers! Here is to a wonderful summer, a bountiful harvest, and good friends to you all!

confessions

i just love this sign.

there are things i don’t like or do that i feel somewhat guilty about. last night while perusing my brassicas for cabbage loopers i thought of the level of guilt i find in pleasures that aren’t that pleasurable for all involved . . . and so a short list of confessions came to mind so i can cleanse my soiled gardeners soul.

i like squishing cabbage loopers or better yet watching my chickens devour them.

cutting a slug in half and watching the two ends ooze squishy grey goo brings joy to my heart and a little song of “die, sluggy, die” to the voice inside my head.

watching robins play tug-o-war with a worm in moist soil brings never-ending entertainment value . . . pull, rest, pull, rest, pull, pull, pull, yank, tug, fly away with limp worm in beak.

hearing the crunch of snail shells makes me giddy.

feeling the “pop!” of aphids under my fingers and finding the residual exoskeletons on the rose bushes assures justness in my little world.

watching a living plant wither and die in the sun, it’s root exposed to air and light, so it doesn’t invade and choke out the things i purposely planted and will eat, brings a happy little sigh to the lips.

sending my dog after the neighbor’s cats and the chaos that follows provides such pure satisfaction that cleaning out the garden beds of cat POOP almost makes it worth it. Almost.

witnessing the battle royale of hummingbirds as they knock, jab, poke, scream at, and otherwise are CRUEL to one another to get to the human-made nectar makes for a pleasant evening’s entertainment on the porch.

and so it is with great solace that i confess these transgressions and wander off now to absolve my sins in beds of weeding, soaker hose dragging, and garden path maintaining.

a quote

fresh, tender, glowing spinach

“He who controls your breadbasket controls your destiny.”

~ Abu Talib, Bronx Taqwa Community Farm

it’s all coming together

hayrake tines, my grandfather is rolling in the grave

i finally don’t hate my garden.

YEAH!

for mother’s day my family dedicated themselves to whatever tasks i wanted. and they made breakfast and dinner.

no fancy mother’s day brunch in stuffy clothes
no trip
no traffic congestion, waiting in line, or being polite to strangers
no fussy packages
no over-the-top gifts or expenditures

just soil, sun, a nice breeze, and nowhere to be.

it was glorious.

and the garden is taking shape; as my daughter said “it used to just look like yuck, now it looks yummy.”

broccoli, oh, broccoli

i put in the new hayrake tines i got at the camas sale this weekend, cleaned a garden bed i haven’t touched since we moved in (that’s 18 months gone by people), and planted a whole assortment of thises and thats that i have been sitting along the back fence. lillie planted her sunflowers, sweet peas, and lettuce and transplanted her broccoli and cauliflower (“i can do it myself, mom”) and the big guy moved, cut, tilled, edged, lifted, and acted as chef for the day.

chives under the blueberries

it couldn’t have been better if i planned it myself. and i really like to plan things.