November 22, 2008

radish taste test

I have three types of radish in my fridge now, so we did a side-by-side taste test. From left: my home-grown salad radish (var. Easter egg mix), Daikon radish (CSA grown) and the pink is also CSA grown – a winter radish called Misato rose. The lower photos are both the winter rose radish. Winter radish are larger and slower growing than the standard salad varieties. And they keep longer. Our taste test results: they all taste like …. well, radish. The salad radish has the sharpest flavor, Daikon a…

November 22, 2008

TGIF

Ahhhh….. This is a nice one. A winter radish, variety Misato Rose. It was grown at my local CSA farm. A variety I’ve never heard of and would like to try in my garden next year. It tastes like a regular radish, but milder, crispier and much more colorful. Really nice when it freezes in the cold gin. Topic: martini

November 21, 2008

greens with potatoes and onions

I made a terrific casserole yesterday. All veggies from my garden or my recent CSA distribution: collard and beet greens, celeriac, potatoes and onions. Next time I’ll make more, as this is really good the next day too. Its a good warm dish for a freezing cold night. Its about 20°F outside now. I’m doing my best to avoid going out at all but the warmest times of the day. Bbbrrrr! The recipe is adapted from my basic vegetable cooking resource: Marion Morash’s Victory Garden Cookbook. Greens with Potatoes and…

November 20, 2008

rusty old garden tools

I came across some abandoned garden tools yesterday. A cultivator, a hoe, two edging tools and a nice shovel. Looks like they’ve seen better days, but these will be great for my community plot. And nothing like free tools. I found these tips on-line for refurbishing rusted tools and will give it a try some day this winter: # Remove rust by securing the tool in a clamp and then cleaning with a wire brush, sandpaper and steel wool. Penetrating oil will help with the more stubborn spots. # Sand…

November 20, 2008

“slow gardening”

I didn’t know slow gardening was a new movement. My problem is I leave to go to my garden and say “back in half an hour”. Two hours later I come home. And no one’s surprised I took longer than I said. I always do. Its hard to know all the garden chores that need to be done until you are in the garden. Weeds can grow surprisingly fast. Tomatoes all of a sudden need staking or basil flowers need picking. Harvesting and washing a nice big crop takes time.…

November 18, 2008

2009 seeds already

Yesterday I found a box of seed packets at my door step. New seed packets for spring 2009 already! How exciting. I didn’t know next year’s seeds were available already. The seeds are from one of my favorite companies, Botanical Interests. They sent a selection for me to try. The varieties are: carrot carnival blend (a mix of purple, red, orange, yellow and white carrots), pumpkin Jarrahdale (an heirloom ribbed gray with 6-12 lb fruit), a red mesclun lettuce mix called Valentine that includes 6 different varieties, hyacinth bean vine,…

November 18, 2008

drab fall colors at the community gardens

The light is dimming and the colors are drab at the gardens now. The leaves are off the trees. Not much left growing. My lettuce is gone – the last few heads were killed by the cold. Today I harvested escarole, arugula, beets and radish. In the next few days our temperatures are forecast to plummet to the mid 20’s (F) at night. Bbrrr. Skippy and I had a nice walk today after gardening. We met a super playful, 9 mo old golden – Australian Shepard mix (Cassie) and her…

November 15, 2008

happy fall

I received this lovely hand made card in the mail the other day. A stamped pick up full of pumpkins with button wheels and autumn colors. It has fall greetings inside. Thanks Barbara Ann for the great card!

November 12, 2008

March to November 2008

November 11, 2008

krinkly kale leaves

I’ve been admiring the krinkles and colors of my kale leaves. They seem to get prettier by the day. Hard to choose between kale soup and more kale photos. As they say: you can’t have your kale and eat it too … (I do actually have enough for both.) The varieties here are Tuscan kale (thin blue leaves with dinosaur like krinkles), red Russian kale (giant ruffled leaves with purple/pink stems) and winterbor kale (very very curly blueish leaves). Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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