Food

February 10, 2009

11 Comments

Getting My Seeds Lined Up in a Row

It feels like I’m going to be able to be more forthcoming with the garden projects I’ve got going on this year so I thought I would take advantage of the freedom by posting all the seeds I buy or acquire by trade, gifts, etc.

When I bought bean seeds the other day I also purchased some assorted vegetable seed but decided against posting about them there to keep the post on topic. In the meantime a pack of Gourmet Mesclun Asian Baby Leaf (Phew that was a mouthful) seeds arrived in a press packet from Renee’s Garden. Packets of lettuce and greens never go to waste around here! I’ve had “Get some greens started on the windowsill” on my to-do list for over a week now. It’s way too early to get them going outdoors around here just yet, but there should be enough sunlight to pull off a crop of micro-greens.

When I think about it, it’s kind of amazing that I’ve managed to acquire this many seeds so early without having given barely a thought to what I will be doing in the garden this year. Perhaps this garden season will take inspiration from my trip to Cuba and just be about going with the flow.

What I Got:

‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’ Tomato – This is a classic, super prolific and easy to grow wild variety. I’m fairly certain I’ve been growing these in my community garden plot where I inherited a crop of tomatoes that self-seed every year. This is most likely the plant I have permanently tattooed on my arm so I figured it was time to try and solve the mystery once and for all. I could have easily acquired these in trade if I’d had the patience to wait half a second, but…. I don’t. So I didn’t.
‘Sparkler’ Radish – I’m always on the lookout for a good radish contender for container growing and figured this round ‘French Breakfast’ alike might just fit the bill. And since I’m a fan of that elegant two-tone variety it was hard to pass up a rounded version.
‘Golden Detroit’ Beet – I generally don’t grow beets since we can get them cheaply enough at the farmer’s market but how could I pass up a variety with such a glam rock vibe about it? Come to think about it, these last two plants could fit into a disco theme seed collection. Anyways, this variety is golden with golden veining. It kind of reminds me of ‘Golden’ Swiss Chard, another beauty.

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February 9, 2009

27 Comments

Land Share

If what’s on television is any indicator The Brits are clearly more progressive than us when it comes to gardening. Here in North America broadcasters like HGTV are still fumbling around in the dark trying to figure out the “garden” in Home and Garden, often deciding to just forgo the garden part entirely. Apparently, garden equals slabs of expensive stone pavers, a fancy seating area with loads of pillows that can’t be left outside or they’ll be moldy and gross before lunch, with some kind of no-work coniferous bush slapped in here and there.

Meanwhile, over in the UK they are making some relevant garden programming that people like me can actually almost, sort-of relate to. A few months back I was asked who I looked up to in British gardening and the first person that jumped to mind is Charlie Dimmock. I know she thinks too much has been made of the fact that she often didn’t wear a bra on Ground Force, but, HELLO, that would NEVER be allowed on TV here. It is a big deal! And a woman getting down and dirty in the rain and mud with the guys. Another big deal. It shouldn’t be, because after all, women go bra-less and work as hard as men in home gardens everywhere, everyday, all of the time. Sadly, this is not the reality North American television presents us with. Nope, instead we are force-fed a gaggle of women gardeners with perfect teeth who look like they smell fresher than roses, and are somehow able to maintain pristine French tip manicures while hosting a garden show.

PLEASE.

Further case in point: this spin-off project, LandShare, from a food program called River Cottage. Landshare doesn’t seem to be working quite yet but will eventually hook up would-be gardeners looking for space to grow with people who have surplus space that they are willing to share. Because, OH MY GOD, there are people who want to grow but don’t have the space to do it in. Who knew?

We need something like this here. When you get on that please put me on the list as a grower looking for space.

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November 10, 2008

15 Comments

Local Food Trees

Photo by Gayla Trail All Rights Reserved
Butternuts

I’d like to think I’ve accumulated a lot of plant knowledge over the years, but my tree knowledge is embarrassingly thin. It’s all down to the fact that I don’t have anywhere to plant and grow one. I’ve grown small fruit-producing trees from pits, limes and kumquats, and the odd houseplant tree in pots but what I know about real, outdoor trees could fit in the palm of my hand.

However, if I did have a backyard or a piece of land I would be all over looking for food-producing trees to grow. In my land-owning fantasies I imagine growing my own apples, pears, plumes, peaches, apricots and most especially cherries. And until recently I hadn’t thought too much past these obvious options because I assumed they were pretty much the standard food trees suited to this region. But this year my fantasies have been expanded by the wild foods supplier at my local farmers market. They’ve been selling fruit and nuts from locally grown trees this past autumn and it has been a real shock to discover what will grow here. For example, just this past week alone I bought persimmons, butternuts (Juglans cinerea), sweet chestnuts, and my new favorite, hickory nuts (Carya). They were selling paw paws but I didn’t get to the market in time. I knew paw paws grew in parts of the southern US but had no idea there were trees growing around Toronto! I bought hazelnuts a few weeks back and walnuts at a local corner shop about a month back.

The hazelnuts were amazing — I did not buy enough. I love that I can make tasty, roasted chestnuts that aren’t imported all the way from China. And the hickory nuts have a fresh pecan-like flavor that finally makes me less jealous of southerners who can just pick up and eat pecans straight off the ground. It doesn’t matter that the walnuts were terrible, the persimmons coated my mouth with a strange film, or that the butternuts are delicious but physically impossible to open — I’m just excited to know they will grow here and that when and if my fantasies become reality, I’ll have far more choices then I ever imagined possible.

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October 1, 2008

25 Comments

The Hairy ‘Red Rocoto’ Hot Pepper

Last winter while digging through seed catalogues for new plants to buy I came across a hot pepper variety that I could not resist trying. Actually, I came upon several irresistible hot pepper varieties. As someone who doesn’t actually eat hot peppers I sure do grow a lot of them. As an edible plant they’re just so captivating with countless options to choose from. And because hot peppers have a historically significant human connection, having been important to cultures around the world for thousands of years, they often come with a good story attached. I can not resist a good story.

I particularly lean towards plants with variegated foliage since they are attractive all season long, adding colour and interest when tucked in among plain ole’ green basil and lettuce varieties.

Growing hot peppers is a challenge I’ve had a lot of success with, a plant whose code I’ve mostly cracked. When I find one that is a bit different I can’t resist the need to experience it firsthand. I have to know! How will it grow in a container? What size container does it need? What kind of yield can I get? On and on and on. There are lots of questions. It’s the work involved in finding answers to mostly geeky questions that keeps me hooked on gardening and most especially hooked on growing edibles I won’t eat myself. Well, one of the reasons anyways.

Back to the story. The new (to me) hot pepper I found is called ‘Red Rocoto’ (Capsicum pubescens), a South American hot pepper originating from Boliva or Peru that is quite unlike any hot pepper I have ever seen. I am growing a red type but they also come in yellow and orange. But wait. Before I go on describing the peppers and plant let’s just pause for a moment. In case you didn’t catch it, the botanical name is Capsicum pubescens. PUBESCENS. Aka “Hairy Pepper.” Wow. The 12 year old in me is snickering and fondly recalling that time in grade five science class when the teacher, Mr. Whatshisface said the word, “period” while demonstrating a pendulum and the class erupted into a fit of nervous giggles. Ah youth.

Anypuberty, as with most botanical names, the unique characteristics of this plant are clearly identified by the species name “pubescens”. Unlike any pepper plant, hot or not that I have ever grown, this one has hairy leaves! And even stranger, the small peppers have thick walls just like a bell pepper. Except it’s not a bell pepper, it’s a hot pepper. I have tasted one and it really does have that bell pepper flavor but with a hot pepper kick. And the flowers…. the flowers are beautiful. Mine were a light purple with little yellow spots but I have also seen darker purple. So lovely.

I grew two plants this year, both in pots although one was slightly larger than the other. The biggest was about a foot and half deep and the smaller about 11″ or so. I do this to see how they will differ. There is no point in growing two plants identically unless I have prior experience with them and am not messing about. I tend to grow most of my peppers, especially the hot ones in containers on the roof where they get the most sun and I can better control the amount of water they receive. This was the wettest summer on record in Toronto so the containers proved to be especially important. All of my roof peppers did very well while the plants at the community garden had to fight an onslaught of slugs. I curse you slugs!!

My next experiment will be to cut the plants back and bring them indoors to over-winter in a south-facing window. You can see that they have already begun to grow new stems and leaves. I have read that Rocoto peppers do well indoors and can be kept as a houseplant for several years. They grow tall and vine-like. Pretty cool don’t you think? I plan to repot mine into much larger containers next spring to see how they develop in a second season with more space.

Oddly enough I looked in my seed collection in order to recall where I got the seeds and pass that onto you but I can’t find the packet nor can I recall where I got them! However, I just checked with Seed Savers and they have them listed under ‘Red Ricota.’ Let that massive memory void be a lesson to you in what happens to a person when they acquire too many seeds. Too many names. Too many packets. Best not to assume that gap is the result of too much growing old aka The Aging.

If you’re looking for seeds in your area be sure to check under other names including: Manzano, Locoto, Rocoto, and Ricota.

Related:

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September 25, 2008

9 Comments

Saving Seeds and Making Pickles

Greetings from the hermit’s nest where I am working feverishly, both figuratively and unfortunately quite literally through what I can only describe as a marathon of deadlines. This summer has revolved 100% around gardening and food, a focus that promises to continue through the fall and well into winter. Actually I’ll still be at, although hopefully not quite at this pace, come spring. When I’m not in a garden taking pictures, I am sitting at a computer writing about gardening or I am in the kitchen cooking. When I am not doing any of those things I am thinking about doing those things, or rather, freaking out about NOT doing those things.

The irony of all of this is that it is pushing me further and further away from my own actual gardens. I’m in them more as an observer then as a gardener. I’ve been able to accomplish the bare minimum and have had to let the rest fall to the wayside. Boo.

Anyways, all complaints aside, I have managed to find a minute here and there to get in touch with the happenings that are taking place on the roof and in the community plot. I’m still harvesting some of the straggling late summer crops and if the weather holds I should have another crop of late tomatoes coming through soon. My ‘Green Grape’ plant has been producing non-stop. I fell in love with that variety last year causing a complete turn around on a long-standing distaste for green tomato varieties. I grew it in a larger container this year to see how it would perform and it has been outstanding. I’ve added ‘Green Grape’ to my list of varieties worth growing in a garbage bin.

Seed saving season is in full swing and I’ve been taking some time here and there to collect for next year while also harvesting seeds such as dill and coriander for eating rather than growing.

2008 can best be described as The Year of Dill out on the roof. At least a hundred dill seedlings sprung up in the spring and proceeded to flourish due to a record-breaking wet growing season. I honestly can’t keep up with the amount of dill seed that is maturing right now and have had to find a few stolen moments to process seeds in order to avoid being buried alive underneath the masses of seed heads that are collected nearly ever day. Keeping them under control now also means less seedlings to contend with come spring. We’ve had our fill of dill and I am guessing that it will be years before we can appreciate the flavour of fresh dill with our meals again. Yep. Sure is tough having so much bounty!

Still, the timing for dill seed perfectly coincides with pickle season. 2008 was a terrible year for cucumbers so I’ve decided to focus on making mixed vegetable pickles. They’re turning out great. We consumed a whole jar in only a few days. It didn’t even get a chance to mature into its full flavour. I can’t wait to taste this batch in a month. My favourite new vegetable to pickle is ‘Black Radish.’ ‘Black Radish’ is a large radish that is black on the outside and white on the inside. It reminds me of a cross between a radish and a turnip but without the turnip flavour. They’re quite spicy raw, however the hot water processing cooked the radish slices slightly making them soft and succulent. I plan to grow lots next year now that I know how good they are…. Next year…. what a joke. Gotta make it through this one first!

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You Grow Girl™

Books by Gayla Trail

Getting My Seeds Lined Up in a Row

Land Share

Local Food Trees

The Hairy ‘Red Rocoto’ Hot Pepper

Saving Seeds and Making Pickles