Plants Play!

According to plant neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso plants not only communicate, eat, sleep and adapt to environmental challenges but they also play! 

Don't you just love this concept? Watch his wonderful talk on the roots of plant intelligence at Ted Talks.

Hoop Dreams

An eyesore to some, a thing of beauty to others. Seven hoop houses constructed in a flash before an unexpected late night cold snap. 

I used PVC, 6 mil plastic (construction grade) and binder clips. I merely shoved the PVC into the soil, as deep as it would go. Bent it to the other side of the bed and repeated. Draped the plastic over, cut it with scissors and secured plastic to PVC with large binder clips. That way, I can deconstruct them just as quickly for higher daytime temperatures. Clip, clip and the plastic's off. I have 65 tomatoes ripening (not including the ever-flourishing cherry tomato bush.) There's now a second crop of lettuces. Tons of arugala (below), raspberries, strawberries, tomatillos, peas, beans and various and sundry root crops and herbs. A few green peppers have small fruits on the plants too.

Meanwhile, inside, on the kitchen windowsill... the TPS (true potato seeds) from this year's abundant crop of potato berries are now happy seedlings. I hope to have success growing them inside in pots this winter. It's an experiment. I have faith though. The store bought potatoes just don't hold a candle to homegrown.

I would love to have a huge rambling greenhouse. Two. No, three! But this will do for now. Baby steps.

Dining Al Fresco

A fall harvest meal on the lawns just seems so right, doesn't it? The grass under your feet reminds you there's no hurry. It's okay to linger at the table as the conversation follows its course. The food satisfies. The wine warms. The companionship relaxes.

Tomatillos, Turnips and Tatton

I've enjoyed a really beautiful crop of tomatillos this season. Tiny, but tender and flavorful.

There's not been a chance to make a single batch of green salsa though, because they are so delicious they are devoured whole within moments of being picked! What sweet, crunchy little morsels of heaven tomatillos are. I will plant more next season.

It's that time of the season to take an accounting of how your garden fared and how well you used the bounty. I'm making decisions now about how to structure next season's garden. Tomatillos are a definite increase, as is cabbage, potatoes, beans and peas. Next year, squashes will go in earlier, and lettuce will take up less space, since it grows so quickly. I'll also add more turnips.

Seems like I planted the turnip seeds only weeks ago. Surely it is longer since I've already been able to harvest greens that went into a stew Tuesday, and a few baby turnips to eat raw as a treat. My first introduction to the turnip was as a raw snack. I was playing with the children next door, and their mother handed me a raw turnip to eat along with her kids. The others munched happily on them, like apples. I'd never even seen a turnip before, purple and white and mysterious. It looked like a very pale beet. But I was instantly enamored of the peppery, crunchy, full bodied flavor. To me, it was exotic. I've loved them raw, ever since. Turnip greens came to me later in life. I find when eating them raw you can detect a slight hint of seaweed. The greens are just loaded with calcium. A healthy choice for the lactose intolerant.

GARDENING PODCASTS

I listen to podcasts daily. Mostly literature podcasts, but also some gardening ones. Gardening Tips From Tatton Park is a video podcast which I enjoy a great deal. They tend to run approximately five minutes, It's like a calming little interlude in the day. I've learned a ton from Head Gardener Sam Youd. Here's the link to the RSS feed. I subscribe to his twice monthly video podcast on iTunes and encourage you to do the same. Enjoy.

Paste this into your browser or click on the link below:

http://rss.splashbroadcast.com/podcast/tatton/tatton.xml

Tatton Park Podcast - Gardening Tips

Ode to the Northern Spy

Northern Spy

For the perfect pie. Slice up eight Northern Spy.

These apples are poetry in a pie shell. The Northern Spy still tops the charts as one of the best pie apples. I'd have an orchard full if I could, and with that in mind, saved every single seed from the apples I peeled. The apple grower at the orchard where I purchased these beauties told me that Spys produce a bumper crop one year and a meager one the next. Perhaps that is why you don't see them on every growers' top ten list. But isn't that just the way with heirlooms. They resist being common. I'm wondering if staggering your plantings could balance the harvest out.

I had planned on a trip to the county fair with my cohorts this weekend but a rather spectacular tumble down the stairs headfirst put the kibosh on that. There was no way I could wade through crowds with a sprained ankle and wrenched knee, no matter how badly I wanted to see the prize pigs and preserves. As it stood, it was a happy decision to bail, because instead I took a drive into the country alone, gloriously alone, to buy some freshly picked apples. There I was surrounded by the best of nature. Vibrant foliage, fresh air and the sounds of wind in the trees, not the rumbling masses.

I let my car carry me down unfamiliar winding roads, brilliant with colorful foliage, stopping only when I felt inclined. A winery, a farmer's corn roast, at two separate pick-your-own-apples orchards and a farmer's yard for fresh eggs. On my travels I had face time with all the goats, rabbits, chickens, pigs, sheep and turkeys I wanted.

I came home with bushels of crisp Macintosh, Spy, ears of peaches and cream corn, farm fresh eggs and bags of rhubarb and black raspberries. Happiness.

MacIntosh

Random Acts of Green

I love Lehman's. They sell all the wonderful old fashioned goodies and appliances I adore. I can easily wile away an evening perusing their online catalog.

The more I seek ways to reduce energy use and green my life, the more I find myself looking at the old appliances I grew up with as a child. The energy those appliances utilized were human energy, not manufactured energy purchased from suppliers at increasingly exorbitant costs.

The solar backlash to this gouging by energy companies was bound to happen, but the companies are already preparing to counteract it via clever marketing strategies that convince you to tie-in your personal energy production to their grid on the promise of a buy back of your excess, unwanted energy. Unwanted energy? Really? You would have to have a seriously major setup to ever get to that point given energy hogs such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Check out this online Average Daily Loads estimator to see what I mean. It helps estimate a home's wattage needs based on your existing appliances. Right now an 80 watt solar panel at one of my local retailers is going for $700 (before installation). It's pretty doubtful the average homeowner will have a ton of extra power to sell back via a tie-in.

The carrot of a potential buy back is a brilliant maneuver on the part of energy companies. They keep you connected and dependent. The consumer also assumes 100% of the financial investment - hardware, installation and maintenance of solar and wind energy generators - and the energy company reaps the benefit. I am imagining all those taxes and mysterious fees that are bound to whittle down one's "potential profits."

Personally, I don't see the wisdom of this arrangement. If you are creating your own energy, why do you need a middle man to use it? How will you ever audit your energy output and compute their cut? Isn't it smarter to install excess battery backups to store your energy for overcast days rather than to remain connected to a system that you already feel at the mercy of? If one really becomes a personal power plant of note there is always the option of sharing your excess with your neighbors in a random act of greening. 

Lehman's offers some useful solar primers and sustainable gardening books that are a handy reference for beginners. Lehman's also has a Country Life Blog now. Today's post is by writer, Mary Jane Butters, who writes about Random Acts of Green. One innovative act of recycling is called Book Crossing, where books are passed on to total strangers and the trail the book travels is followed on a website. Interesting concept. Maybe some solar power books are out there circulating right now. Click here to read her article. 

Break It Up You Guys

This is what comes from not thinning carrot seedlings. My seeds always go into the ground at the correct intervals, yet seem to stray once planted. Perhaps it is the over-exuberant watering.

I have a problem with thinning and I suspect I am not alone in this. Choosing one seedling over another is like Sophie's Choice to me. I love my seedlings like a doting mother. Picking the stronger over the weaker is so arbitrary a thing anyway. Who is to say which will be the stronger in the long run? Plants are like people in so many ways.

A good part of this day was spent using up the perishables before they went to waste. I made grape juice from grapes that were not going to be eaten. Applesauce and a pie from the remainder of the apples and another coleslaw from a red cabbage that needed to be harvested. Between these tasks I spent hours on the Internet researching sustainable energy sources and reading up on the exploits of other gardeners and urban farmers who are making strides toward self sufficiency. I'm starting to become absolutely militant about front yard edible gardens. Grass is a water hog, a time waster to keep and an expense that doesn't feed anybody. It's a waste of land. There are some very beautiful front yard vegetable gardens out there. We have to rethink what true beauty is in home design.

The recent salmonella egg outbreak (half a billion eggs recalled!!) is one reason why. Our food source has become so industrialized that these contamination episodes are going to continue. It's a wake up call for everyone to start taking charge of their own food. I think we have to do this for energy too. The grid is taxed and we are gobbling up energy like there is no tomorrow. So many people are much farther ahead of me on this, but I am determined to catch up, and to spread the word that we all need to do the same. My garden is entirely solar lit, but that commitment to solar power needs to go inside as well.

After living in California for over 20 years and watching a manipulated energy crisis nearly bankrupt the state (and consumers) I knew that solar and wind power was not just a wise eco-choice, but a sound financial one. Now, as I read about more and more off-the-grid pioneers, I am starting to wonder if we'll all be living the Amish lifestyle in the end as a means to survival. For many years I had $800 DWP bills. That's just plain unsustainable. I stopped heating the pool, using the jacuzzi, turned off lights constantly, unplugged all appliances that weren't in use and cut back my other energy use drastically and still the energy bills increased. I knew there had to be another way. So now I'm learning about bio-diesel generators, inverters, turbines and copper coils. The prospect of creating one's own personal power plant is invigorating.

This Sustainable House offers an online virtual tour of an experimental home room by room. The basement is worth a look. I found it interesting to learn about how they are recapturing heat from showers, laundry and dishwashers to preheat water in the water heater.

Berries Never Get Old

This morning's breakfast pick.

 

The roofer was here yesterday to shingle and made his way into the garden, as all visitors tend to do. He paused to marvel at the cache of strawberries and raspberries that are thriving, "Hey Jimmy, come look at these berries!" he called out to his worker. "That's unnatural," he said. "Those strawberries are supposed to be done in July, and look at those raspberries." 

I wish I could say that I had something to do with this lovely crop, but I really can't. Other than watering and regular weeding, I've done nothing special to them. I added only a smidgen of compost to the holes I dug when I planted the canes and seedlings. Perhaps the soil was already perfect for them, or maybe it's the global warming. I don't believe these are ever-bearing. All I can say is, no one ever gets tired of berries.

Extending The Season

Began work on getting some hoops up today. Need to hit Home Depot for some more PVC and heavier duty plastic sheeting. My hoop houses are pretty makeshift. I've dabbled with different designs, but since they are temporary structures, I don't go full on carpenter with them. They work quite well though. I started my garden a good 6 weeks earlier than any of my other neighbors this year and hope to extend just as long thanks to the hoop houses. The tomatoes are already beginning to lose their flavor. They need the encouragement of added protection from the cool nights (and likely soil amendments).

The watermelon is certainly loving it. He doubled in size in a day. I've also started to move some container vegetables inside. These potted carrots are the first.

Along with the tomato seedlings I've been nursing (born from TPS - true potato seeds).

I would love to get a crop of winter potatoes from these. Wouldn't that be cool?

Speaking of cool. On one of my book crawls today I found this lovely book, Landscaping with Fruit
 
by Lee Reich, Storey Publishing. This just seems like such a nobrainer to me. Why aren't we all doing this?

Sundays

Sunday morning usually starts this way.

KCRW on the radio, tea and hot bread from the oven. It's how I ease into the day. I'm going to need that ease today because I have a rather large gift to deal with. Yes, it's the mother of all white Zucchinis, and there are three of them.

My good neighbor has bestowed these gifts on me, and I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. So what to do... minestrone (not a fan), Zucchini bread (also not a favorite), stuffed Zucchini (yuck). Okay, the simple truth is, I've never much liked Zucchini. That's why none was planted in my garden this season, or last, or the season prior. But darned if I haven't been given the chance to learn to like it. I welcome all inventive recipes.

~~~

UPDATE

~~~~

Well, I took on the task of tackling the torpedo-sized zucchinis, getting them at least to the prep stage for baking breads. (That's only half of one zucchini in that picture. I don't how how he got them to this size, we don't live anywhere near a nuclear power plant.)

 

There's something very centering about spending hours preparing food you have no interest in. In the end, the effort was satisfying... if only for the fact that you could once again see counter top.

Besides, I had an exceptional Burrata cheese from Italy and slices of Parma Proscuitto to keep me company in the endeavour. Killer delicious. There's always a way through.

The finished product:

Never give up. Never give up. Never ever, ever give up!

Winston Churchill's motto... and mine. Apparently it's my garden's as well. I was mourning the demise of a beautiful watermelon that had rotted mysteriously before maturing, when I saw that this little fella had stepped in to take its place and give it another shot. It may be late in the season (he's the size of a tomato) but hope springs eternal.

Meanwhile, the harvest continues. Steady as ever. A daily cornucopia of delights.

I finally harvested the rose hips this week. Bit of a chore, but nothing like the peeling and seeding I have ahead of me. These particular rose hips have scant flesh and tons of seeds inside, all of which must be removed before processing. Each seed is surrounded by these nasty little hairs that resemble fibreglass. Eating them is tres unpleasant. The rose hips, however, are subtly delicious. I plan on making jelly and candy. 

I'd like to share a book I've been reading this week that is informative for planning your plots. Small plot, high yield gardening. Authors: Sal Gilbertie and Larry Sheehan. Published by Ten Speed Press. It provides layouts and even cost analysis with seed to bounty ratios. Quite useful. 

So is this website: Gardener's Supply Kitchen Garden Planner. This site allows you to design a plot right online for free, and will even set up your prep and instruction guide and allow you to print it. You can set your plot size, pick your veggies or use a pre-planned garden plot plan. They offer 8, with names such as All American, Salad Bar, Cook's Choice, High Yield, or Plant It and Forget It, for those who don't enjoy the work of gardening. Something for everyone. There's even a Vegetable Encyclopedia. Fantastic!

I've also been cruising through You Tube visiting the video diaries of other urban farmers and gardeners. This really is a movement. It's exciting to see so many people interested in tilling land and replacing grass lawns with vegetable gardens that will feed their families.

If you don't ask...

My latest acquisition is this fantastic compost bin, the "Earth Machine," which was lying in pieces in a neighbors' yard, overgrown with weeds. I had my eye on it for months, then finally offered to buy it, and was delighted to have it gifted to me instead. Repayment will come in jars of elderberry jelly, ripe tomatoes and basil, which I have in abundance!

The other three compost bins are full to brimming. And while I've had this bin for only ten days, it's now half full too. Kitchen waste and trimmed yard clippings are next year's garden vitamins. 

Compost is teaming with nutrients. Every bed I enriched with compost this year did amazing. I love it when waste goes into production instead of into a landfill. Check out this YouTube video on how to feed your compost bin.

These old fence boards (below) are going to use as well. After reading another "urban farmer's" blog I learned that people were repurposing old fence rails to build raised beds. 

The boards already have a new home. And the new owner is even picking them up! I save money on gas, dump fees and my trash is someone else's recycled treasure.

On the harvest front: Tying the tomatillo bush up on a trellis did the trick. In only 12 days, yellow flowers have turned into beautiful papery green cocoons. Inside, the tomatillos are growing.

Patience, patience... I must resist harvesting them until they at least quadruple in size from this. I absolutely adore tomatillos.

Unfortunately, I didn't exercise any patience with the carrots. 

Sometimes the temptation is just too great. But thankfully I held my enthusiasm down to only five.

Fishing in Slippers

Finally took a few days off to head up to the lake for some R&R. I didn't even have to hit the grocers first. I shopped in my own larder, retrieving jars of gazpacho, beets, fresh potatoes, cukes, onions, tomatoes and more from the garden. 

Even at the cottage, sustainable living can be achieved... provided that there is edible fish to harvest. It's imperative that we keep our waterways free of pollutants.

The bass in this lake are still edible, but acid rain has killed off entire fish populations in some lakes with pH levels equivalent to that of lemon juice.

I learned of this while conducting research for a screenplay several years ago.

Stands of maple trees along the eastern seaboard have succumbed to dieback (dying from the tops down) due to acid rain.

I think about that every time I pay $9 for a bottle of maple syrup. Is it any wonder that most pancake houses serve up the ubiquitous corn syrup instead?

The effect on wildlife and our natural resources is devastating. Reducing your carbon footprint has never been more crucial.

I'm happy to say that I'm meeting new people every day who are taking steps to reduce their energy use. Some, even attempting to get off the grid completely. Trendsetters are installing wind, solar energy and geothermal heating systems in their homes. Rain barrels and dug wells are being used to help water sustainable home gardens. Solar ovens are fashionable alternatives for the slow cooking movement.  People are even hanging laundry on lines again. It's finally hip to be green.

If you don't have the land to plant a sustainable garden, CSAs and local farmer's markets are de rigueur. CSAs (Community Shared Agriculture) are programs where you prepay for fresh foods right off the farm. CSAs provide everything from meat, poultry, dairy, fruit and produce to herbs, crafts, honey, flowers, fibers and soaps. Each week you pick up your carton at a drop off point.  Local Harvest.org is a great source to locate a CSA in your city.

But don't forget that you can also garden inside. All you need is a pot, soil and good light. We should all start rethinking the design of our homes. Interior greenery could be hanging pots of cascading strawberries, window boxes of pretty mesclun lettuce and containers of cooking herbs instead of philodendrons and ivy.

Flowers, Fennel and Fall

This morning, dew drops on the chaise. First sign of fall approaching. I will miss the roses. The plants seem already to know. Everything has been rushing to complete its cycle, then going to seed.

But at the same time, I see shoots for new snow peas rising from the soil.

While harvesting the fennel, I also spotted a couple of baby fennel seedlings just arriving to join the party. That's what my garden has seemed like this season. A swinging, colorful party. I have loved every plant, herb and vegetable that graced my beds.

So even though some leaves are showing age spots, there are still cukes on the vines and newcomers in the wings.

Several herbs are just reaching their prime too. The sage in particular is full and fragrant. Just brushing past it can bring up the aroma of turkey stuffing and memories of Thanksgivings past. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. It's still only August.

Authentic living

I was snapping a photo of food for this blog and was asked why I didn't get out a fancy plate and design a pretty shot. Well, that's not the sort of blog this is. The photos here are grabbed on the fly, in the middle of actual cooking or gardening. Nothing is set up to create a false impression of what it was like, or should be. If there's a dribble of sauce on a tea towel, that's the mess I created when the food was prepared. I could take the time to set up perfect lighting, interesting depth of field and later Photoshop a picture into submission. I just don't choose to. I'm more focussed on living life than creating a fake reenactment of it. 

Last night's roast chicken. Photo taken when I remembered, after the bird had already been ravaged,

There is a lot of personal documenting on social media that is purely PR. I know people with Facebook accounts who update minute by minute reports of their glamorous activities. One wonders with all the time taken to broadcast blurbs about their exciting lives, if they ever truly experience them. 


This blog is about authenticity. About being comfortable with who you really are. Cutting the cord to the fake and ostentatious and getting real again. In Gardening in Slippers I enjoy good food that I've grown from the soil and I share that self-nurturance with you because I want you to experience that same wonderful, nurturing connection to the earth. 


Ask yourself: How do you nurture? With delicious food, lovingly prepared and served with an open heart or with boxed takeout that requires no effort and makes no muss of your state-of-the-art show kitchen? This may be harsh, but here's the down and dirty truth. If you've spent tens of thousands on the design of a sterile kitchen that's "just for show," then you are a show off. You're not impressing anyone.


So get your hands dirty, mess up your counters and fill your pantries. Because true nurturance is something that you not only feel but also hear, see, smell, touch and taste. Those of us who have gotten a friendly wink from a grandmother in an apron dusted with flour, know this.

Last night's chicken (pictured above) was  full of fresh garden produce. A recipe of Julia Child's, from Food and Wine Magazine Jan. 1997. Absolutely mouth watering. The chicken was stuffed with fresh vegetables harvested that very day - carrots, celery, onions and fresh thyme. The bird was surrounded by shallots, carrots and baby potato tots harvested off the potato roots.

Remainders seen here below.

The starter for the meal was Julia's Vichyssoise. (Yes, more potatoes!)

Vichyssoise is a cold soup made with leeks, potatoes, fresh parsley (all harvested from the garden) and heavy cream. So very satisfying. A meal in itself.

Side dishes were garden beets drizzled with balsamic vinegar, beet greens cooked with garden garlic and pancetta, and sliced beefsteak tomatoes. 

A side of elderberry jelly (canned 10 days ago) added a tart sweetness to the plate.

For dessert, a simple dish of raspberries from the garden.

This wasn't a special meal, or fancy meal. It was a regular meal. Made mostly with garden produce and fruit. But seriously, could anything be more nurturing?