Tomato Love

Ironically today feels more like Fall than the last week of Spring, but I just had my first bite of home grown tomato- just now- and it was fabulous! I love how the cherries burst when you bite into them and this little garden hero did not disappoint. Sungold, you have earned a permanent place in my garden. The months of living with a seed station in the bedroom, more hours of light than dark, constant watering, and bi-weekly feedings has finally paid off with a June tomato. Life is good.

Got Crumble?

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble:

Melt 1 stick butter for topping; In a med. bowl whisk together the following:
1 1/3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 C plus 2 T sugar
pinch of salt
Add melted butter and pinch together with fingers until crumbly (want some larger chunks); set aside, can be chilled while preparing filling.

Approx 1 quart (or 3 Cups) quartered washed strawberries
Approx 1 1/2 C rhubarb (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
1/2 C sugar
pinch of ground cloves
1 T Gran Gala or other orange liquor
1-2 tsp lemon juice
pinch of salt
1/4 C corn starch
Mix cornstarch, sugar, salt, cloves together and toss with berries and rhubarb.

Spray shallow baking dish or pie plate with non-stick spray, add filling and drop topping over until evenly covered. Bake on cookie sheet until bubbly and browned, about 35-45 minutes at 375 degrees. If top gets too brown cover with foil for last 10 minutes bake time.
We ate this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, ENJOY!

Garden Notes

Garden Notes: I am terribly close to picking my first tomato, the Sungold cherry is starting to get a deep orange tint. That little pepper is 'Carmen', a sweet Italian variety from Johnny's Seeds which should be amazing when big, red, and roasted. I have lost the ability to distinguish between the 3 pea varieties growing which stinks because one is consistently much better than the rest. I put a stocking over my big beef today, that sucker is so big the nylon just fits.....only two tomatoes growing so far though. (Do the larger slicing tomato varieties typically produce fewer fruits than the smaller cherries and plums?) Potatoes beginning to flower; something is mowing down the muskmelon seedlings; pH in correct range on potatoes and blueberries; alpine strawberries almost ready for picking.

Back To The Farm

We all headed back to the farm today hoping they would have the pesto and strawberries I went home without earlier in the week and this time I remembered my camera. The kids got to say hello to all of their farm friends again and I got my hands on some lemon basil pesto, strawberries, 2 dahlia tubers for the kitchen garden and some rhubarb among other less glamorous things. I got quite a kick out of the lionhead rabbit (pictured), could anything be any cuter? And for anyone who has never seen a Peacock shakin' his tail feathers for his lady below is a peak: all party in the front, business in the back. (Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble was on the dessert menu for the evening, I will post a photo and the recipe soon. I had never had rhubarb before so wasn't sure what to expect. I am a new fan and my little guy said "this is AWESOME!". We will be making it again soon.)

For the Birds

We visited Alderbrook Farm yesterday to pick up some veggies for dinner and take a walk around to visit all of the animals. The Peacock was was showing off his plumage for his Peahen, but of coarse my camera was at home. What a majestic bird, I see him display every year but still want to stare at him for an hour.....the kids of course don't. They are more interested in watching the sheep poop and visiting the chicken coop. No rhyming intentions there, sorry.

I spied this bird house and just had to have it. Not only do I love bird houses and anything with copper, but I have many fond memories of my childhood in the mid-west, especially of a vacation to beautiful Lake Michigan. Triple score, had to have it, now I must decide where to put it so I can admire it from afar.

Bye-Bye Beets and a Biodynamics Intro

What is Biodynamic Agriculture? Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association
Posted using ShareThis. A very interesting topic for sure. I like the idea of trying to make our food as nourishing as possible. To learn a little about this fascinating form of agriculture click on the title in purple text above.

I treated myself to a couple of new books this weekend:

Farmer John's Cookbook, The Real Dirt On Vegetables- tales and recipes from a CSA
http://www.angelicorganics.com/ao/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=130&Itemid=180 I am IN LOVE with this book though I have only sneaked a peak here and there and am really looking forward to reading it from cover to cover. This book also touches on Biodynamic practices a bit.


Jerry baker's Terrific Tomatoes, Sensational Spuds, and Mouthwatering Melons- this book is full of growing tips written by a man who learned about gardening from his Grandmother during the war, and is full of "Grandma Putt's old-fashioned grow-how".
http://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Terrific-Tomatoes-Sensational-Mouth-Watering/dp/0922433925
I yanked my pathetic chioggia beets this weekend, they are just not growing as they should. I think I need to modify the soil before trying them again for fall. They had lots of organic matter, maybe too much. That darn horse farm compost again, very heavy and we loaded that bed full of it. From Jerry: "Even small beets send their roots a long, long way into the ground. If they have to struggle through heavy soil or bump up against underground obstacles, they won't develop the way you want them to." These suckers were put out in the coldframe way back in March. I have wasted enough time on them and will be devoting their plot to a more successful crop of bush beans.

Here Begins the Garden Carnage

I think my shallots are rotting from being too wet. I did find a small worm in one but not sure if this is the cause or just an effect of the bulbs breaking down. I must be over watering them and the soil seems to not be draining as well as I would like. The compost I got from the horse farm is still quite coarse and seems to be holding water. Yellow tips on alliums can imply over watering. Below top are the plants I pulled with brown withered leaves; bottom shows yellow tips on remaining plants.

Here is a picture of the worm, I have ruled out the onion maggot:

How My Garden Grows, June 2009

(Click photo to enlarge) Bush beans, squash blossom, dwarf snap peas, fuzzy baby plum tomatoes, cuke blossom, strawberries in hanging bags, straw bales for planting, seedlings in whiskey barrel, bean sprout emerging.

Fruit Plantings

After doing some work to the house we were left with one mess of a side-yard. My husband was hoping to avoid having to mow the slope and I was hoping for some fruit to pick so we came upon the idea of doing some edible landscaping. Luckily this is a popular topic these days or we may have ended up with more hydrangeas and the dreaded grass. This has been a fly by the seat of our pants thing and getting the proper hours of sun required for these fruits is questionable. So far we have planted 2 dwarf apple trees and a variety of small fruits. I have noted the varieties below along with a few links to help me through out the season, I already can't remember what is what. We hope to have a ground cover of strawberries and a blackberry/raspberry bramble hedge when all is grown in. (Shown above: alpine strawberry, our progress in the side yard to date, blackberry flowers)

GROWING and VARIETY NOTES:

Canadice Red Seedless Grape - site preparation, pruning & trellising:

(trellis on the garden 'to do' list)

• ensure good drainage (sandy loam best)
• grapes prefer Southern Exposure
• pH 5.5-6.5
• amend planting site with bone meal or rock phosphate
• pruning determines vine health
• http://extension.unh.edu/resources/representation/Resource000576_Rep598.pdf
• http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Resources/PDFs/CIS0790.pdf
• http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2003-12-01/Sensational-Seedless-Grapes.aspx

Growing Blackberries:

• fruit is ripe when it goes from glossy to dull
• tip erect canes back mid-summer
• primocane varieties fruit on first year canes
  

FRUIT VARIETIES 2009

Dwarf Liberty Apple on pajam/M-9

Dwarf Spitzenburg Apple (Thomas Jefferson's reported favorite) on pajam/M-9

Apache Blackberry

Ebony King Blackberry

Navaho Thornless Blackberry- prune to 6 feet; upright, mid-summer fruit; good flavor & yield

Heritage Red Raspberry

Jewel Black Raspberry (2)

(?) Latham Red Raspberry

"Mounding" Strawberry (17)

Honeoye Strawberry (25)- has been called a 'foolproof' strawberry plant, great freezing qualities; early-mid season producer; best flavor occurs in med.-light soil.

Cabot Strawberry (25)- huge, excellent flavored mid-season berries, first fruits may split or be rough; may space closely, less likely to run

Alpine Strawberry (3)

Jersey Blueberry (2)

Toro Blueberry (2)

Bluecrop Blueberry (2)

Canadice red Grape

The Ground Cherry

I seem to have a faint memory of eating these out of someone's garden as a child. They were on my wish list for next year but I decided to throw caution to the wind and order some seeds up before it was too late........now I have to find a spot to plant my 'Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry' keeping in mind they are part of the Nightshade family. The seeds got a late start and have just sprouted. They hopefully will be well on their way to producing some tasty fruit for us this fall.

These small fruits are said to be a nice addition to fruit salads and ice cream but the hands down favorite seems to be pie. I have never had any myself but I am looking forward to trying one of the recipes below:

Amish Ground Cherry Pie- 2 C ground cherries, 1 C water, 1tsp salt, 1 C sugar, 4 T cornstarch,
1 T real lemon juice, additional C water, nutmeg, pastry for a 2 crust pie. Bring cherries, salt & water to a boil. Blend together sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, water, and nutmeg to taste; add to cherry mixture and allow to cool. Put in unbaked shell and top with crust. Bake until browned (no oven temp. given).

Ground-Cherry-Pie-II- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ground-Cherry-Pie-II/Detail.aspx

Also, the fruits can be dipped in chocolate or caramel using the peeled back husk as a handle. If not allowed to fully ripen they may have an off flavor and parts of the plant are poisonous, more on this below:

From Mother Earth News- "Expect this garden crop—which prefers medium-dry
soil—to sprout early and grow rapidly. It quickly puts out yellow flowers with
brown or purple centers, and will continue to bloom and bear until the first
frost. Around July, the fruit (which develops in a husk) will begin to drop to
the ground and—even though it's not fully ripe when it does so—you should gather
the cherries as they fall, since they're favorites of many animals and
birds."
"Inside the husk, you'll find a small berry—about half an inch in
diameter—with a tomatolike skin and, when ripe, a sweet flavor similar to that
of a strawberry. The color of the mature cherry will vary from species to
species: It may be yellow, red, purple, or brown. And (again, according to the
species in question) it can be poisonous when green . . . so be sure to let the
fruit ripen in the husk until it's soft and sweet. (I have often stored the
unhusked cherries for months. In fact, I was once able to prepare a fresh
ground-cherry pie for Christmas dinner!) "