a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: How Things Grow

  • The Last Of …

    TheLastOfTheApplesA

    We picked the last of the apples today. Once these and the other bucket of apples we picked recently are gone, that is the last of the fresh apples. These days, hardly anyone thinks about there being a first and a last picking of a fruit or a vegetable. No one expects to go to a store and see a sign saying, “No more apples until next fall.”

    Large growers can store apples in controlled atmosphere (CA) storage, keeping apples edible for many months. By reducing the amount of oxygen the apples have, it is possible to slow down their respiration and keep them relatively fresh.

    Still, no matter how they are stored, apples lose firmness over time. That just-off-the-tree crunch just isn’t there. On the other hand, since so few ever experience eating an apple picked off the tree, there are very few customers who demand such freshness. Though, once you enjoy a whole season of eating apples right off the tree, there is less joy biting into an apple that has come out of storage. You look forward to next fall, when you can once again, enjoy that just-off-the-tree crunch.

    TheLastOfTheApplesB
    TheLastOfTheApplesC

  • Celebrating Greens

    PickingGreens141023A

    Picking fresh greens so others can enjoy them is something I look forward to. Today’s picking starts with Ruby Streaks. The dark, red mustard leaves liven any salad. Mustards, like Ruby Streaks, provide benefits besides making exciting salads. Eventually, I’ll till the Ruby Streaks into the ground, and they will become a natural biofumigant, help control weeds, and pests (Mustard as a Cover Crop).

    PickingGreens141023B
    PickingGreens141023C

    After adding a variety of lettuces, I top the pickings with big, leafy arugula. After a good washing and spinning, all these fresh salad greens are off to Tweets Cafe where they’ll become lovely salads, enjoyed by many this weekend.

    PickingGreens141023D

    While delivering the greens, I spotted this splash of sunshine, blooming in Edison, in front of Slough Food. The world is bursting with beauty and wonderful things happening all the time. Listen to the news for just a few minutes, and you get the impression that we are all doomed and on the verge of an apocalypse. But nature can’t stop bestowing our lives with splendor. All you have to do is stop and enjoy it. Rush around too much, and you’ll miss it.

    PickingGreens141023E

  • Rain is for Chard

    ChardPatch

    The Swiss Chard thrives in the cool, fall drizzle. It’s one of those productive vegetables, which keeps sending up luscious leaves, no matter how many times you cut it. A ten foot row of Swiss Chard will feed a family all season.

    A few days ago, I read a Washington Post article titled Why quirky Portland is winning the battle for young college grads. The article starts with these paragraphs:

    Of all the Very Portland things that exist in Portland, there is a plot of land next to City Hall, right outside the building’s front portico, where the city is growing its own Swiss chard.
    “And on a place that used to be a parking lot!” exclaims Mayor Charlie Hales, adding a detail that actually makes this story even more Portland.

    Sounds very sane to me. It’s actually sad that it’s considered quirky for a city to grow chard next to city hall. Chard is such a beautiful vegetable, and so easy to grow, so productive, that it would be insane for cities not to grow it on city land. Someday, reporters will visit a city, whose city hall isn’t surrounded by vegetable gardens, and wonder what is wrong with that city.

    ChardUpClose

  • Mossland

    NanzenJiMossGarden

    I don’t need to travel all the way to Nanzen-ji to view a beautiful garden. I found an exquisite moss garden much closer to home. The moss is soft and plump from the cool autumn rains. This time of year, the Skagit River Valley turns into mossland.

    MossGardenA
    MossGardenB
    MossGardnC
    MossGardnD

    And where was this exquisite moss garden? I discovered it alongside the road on the way home from the post office. Maybe there are beautiful gardens alongside the roads you travel. Sometimes, all it takes is for you to stop to see them.

    MossGardenBicycle

  • Importance of Dirt

    ImportanceOfDirtA

    When you’re picking beans or leafy greens or fruit from a tree, it’s easy to forget the importance of dirt. You can’t escape dirt when you’re digging up potatoes. Digging up potatoes on a wet, windy day can be downright dirty. You have to overcome your fear and disdain of touching dirt and mud.

    ImportanceOfDirtB

    Potatoes clean up easily. I recommend washing off all the dirt and mud outside. It also gives you a chance to give bits and pieces, you don’t want to bother with, to your chickens. Freshly dug potatoes are full of starch and you can make some great, chewy dishes with them. Let the potatoes sit too long, and the starch turns to sugars, changing the texture and flavor of your potatoes.

    ImportanceOfDirtC

    Not too long ago I watched a show on some interesting dishes you can make with new potatoes. Sorry, but the show was in Japanese 新ジャガ！感動５連発　常識破り調理で新食感. One dish they showed, and you must use new potatoes, was a mochi. Usually, mochi is made by pounding steamed sticky rice until it becomes a sticky, gluey mass. You then shape it into balls and eat it while it is still warm and soft, or let it dry out, and later cut it up and add it to soups or broil it. You can make something similar with new potatoes. You first peel and quarter them. Wash them and boil them for 30 to 40 minutes. Then you let them cool until they are room temperature. This is a critical step. Once they are cool, drain them, and pound them. It can take a fair amount of muscle as the potatoes get very gluey as you pound them. You will end up with a gluey mass which you can then shape into balls.

    One thing I learned from the show was that no country eats more potatoes per person than Belarus: over 400 pounds per person each year (185 kilos). In the USA, even with all the French fries consumed, the amount is a paltry 119 pounds (54.2 kilos). There are more than 300 potato dishes in the cuisine of Belarus. Here is one for Belarussian Potato Babka.