Innies and Outies... and Hidden Treasures....

Zucchini as prolific as they can be, sometimes aren't.... as i pointed out in Pollination for the Nation , so very frustrating if they decide to not produce male and female flowers at the same time.. my friend so cutely calls them Innies and Outies and it's a great way for kids and forgetful people like myself, to remember which is which!

Innies (female)



Outies (male)

this morning was a watering morning and i discovered some hidden treasures...

my Marion berries, which are not native to here, and i'm hoping will do well with our colder winters have blessed me with several small bunches of berries... i've sadly neglected them over the summer and i was shocked to see berries on them.. the actual plants (only 2 of them) are only about 2 ft high at best and hidden behind the volunteer potatoes and choi which were lurking in the compost that i used for the new bed...

a very beautiful and delicate eggplant flower, i'm sure much too late for any fruiting, but nonetheless a treasure...

the first fall raspberries!! i'm very glad that the picture turned out because i promptly picked them, thanked Creator, and popped them in my mouth!

a Tansy Ragwort with a guest.. i don't know my moths but it's was a beautiful white with black markings... Tansy Ragwort is on the invasive plant list but it's one of the least invasive in my yard... each year i only have one or 2 plants which usually shrivel up and die long before they produce seeds...

Pearly Everlasting, i missed taking pictures when they were at the height of their blooming and this poor little one is struggling with no water for a long time...

Plums and MORE Plums....

daughter and i got lucky! A friend phoned and said come and pick some plums... she wasn't kidding.. the tree was overflowing and she'd already done her jam and canning and giving away... and still we got about 50 lbs of yellow plums.. YUM YUM!! so that afternoon we cooked them up and in the freezer is enough plum 'puree' to make 12 batches of jam.. and here at my house i cooked up the remainder and made some tomato plum barbeque sauce and so far 2 batches of plum jam..

just some of the jars i put up this morning...

some of the 'tools of the trade' that make my life much easier when canning are my food mill which has been used forever.. its just the handiest item for making applesauce, plum puree and excellent for making puree for fruit leathers..

my 2 sets of tongs, one for jars, one for lids, my funnel for pouring product into the jars, 1 cup measuring cup and i also like to use a 2 cup plastic measuring cup for pouring jams etc., into the jars...(incase your wondering, i like the plastic 2 cup measuring cup, it's because it won't break when i scoop the jam out of the pot and it's flexible if i'm pouring something like relish, i can squish the sides a bit, so the relish doesn't end up on the counter instead of the jar)

i use 3 pots, besides my pressure cooker, 1 for sterilizing the jars, 1 for cooking and 1 for simmering the lids in

and last but not least.. my wooden spoon... it's got holes in it and slanted with a flat bottom... it's awesome for stirring jams or jellies, as it scraps the bottom of the pot so nothing gets stuck on the bottom to burn...

Dog days of August...

Already things have that 'fallish' feeling, warm days, cool nights... some leaves already fallen and crisp when you step on them, crickets chirping and giant Dragonflies flitting about... the good thing is i've not seen any wooly bears yet, they are a signal of impending autumn.. and always a childs delight at they creepy crawl across their hands, only to curl in a ball when frightened..

my garden was having a bit of a break with the cooler weather, but unfortunately the temperature popped back up.. the fortunate part is the days are getting shorter so it's not doing quite as much damage, and the garden isn't drying out as quickly...
our unusual heat spell really did a lot of damage, so many trees have died from the lack of water and many more have been distressed severely, their leaves have shrivelled, turned brown and fallen... my poor little fruit trees have done okay, but only because i packed water to them.. not a lot of water but enough to keep them from wilting and drying up entirely... all the fruit i had on them fell off, not such a bad thing because they are young and a few years of no fruit will allow them to establish and grow longer taproots.... two of my cherry trees didn't make it.. within the first year, their leaves shrivelled, turned brown, the branches crisped and that was it... i was so upset because none of the other trees were dying, only two cherry trees... later i found out that often the nurseries will 'dig' up the young trees and cut off the taproot too short... and apparently cherry trees need a longer one in order to survive.... anyways in place of the two cherry trees are two Quince trees... two different varieties.. this was their first summer with me and are looking pretty good! they were covered in blooms and i'd hoped for at least 1 fruit but alas they all fell off with the heat... no matter... i can't wait until they get big enough to produce some fruit and then i can 'produce' some Quince preserve and or jelly!!

i'm going to Oregon for a few days.. so my garden will be left alone.....the temp is supposed to drop much lower and daughter will water a couple of times for me... i'll pick all the ripe tomatoes and beans and give her the cucumber that's waiting for a 'home' and the zucchini i think will be large but usable when i get back...i planted the wee fall lettuce and kale, hopefully they'll do okay while i'm gone... its a bit like leaving your children, can't wait to go but worry something will happen...i'm not sure of my internet down there, so if able to, i'll post, if not.. see you when i get back.. cool winds, lots of beach, the smell of the ocean.. ahhh can't wait!

Pollination for the Nation...

i'm sure someone else has come up with that slogan.. but during the Zucchini season "ain't that the truth" hand pollination is required when there isn't a lot of plants.. this year i only planted two of them... Mistake!!! They've only produced female flowers for weeks now, i've even had to 'borrow' male flowers from my garden buddy and lately i've had a couple of male squash flowers that i've used in the hopes that it would pollinate the female Zucchini... note for next year.. plant at least three zucchini plants!!

The Fennel (Herb variety, not bulb one) is a delicious dinner for this rather large Swallowtail larva...



today's batch of tomatoes from the garden..





my one lonely Scarlet Runner bean... there are some very tiny ones just setting now.. not sure why the poor production but at least they're starting to produce!! the vine has started to really grow.. right into my Leek flower...

Jelly Jelly who's made the jelly......

MMMMMgood... eldest daughter and i made 17 pints of blackberry jelly.... took 2 days and some work but all done.. i'd post a picture but it's at her house, setting and 'relaxing'... can't wait to put it on the shelves.. there is something so rewarding about having shelves lined with homemade preserves, pickles, jams and jellies, veggies... mmm makes my mouth water... i'm a foodaholic i guess, with a survivalist mentality and a mild case of hoarding... actually i think my obsession with canning/preserving etc., goes back to my childhood... my parents were settlers, we lived in a remote area of coastal British Columbia, where access to anything was by boat, no power abet a generator that they ran 1 hour a day, enough to supply simple lights... a kerosene fridge, a wood cookstove.. and the list goes on... was a wonderful life for a child... sometime i'll tell you 'some stories'... wintertime, when the gardening is done, a cup of hot chocolate in hand..

anyways... fast forward back to 2009...

more jelly..... Red Pepper Jelly..... i had a find at the the local farmer's market, a big bag of sweet red peppers, they are semi local, within 100 miles and mixed with mine.. made enough for 3 batches or 12 pints! the first batch was an 'oops' i only put in 1 pkg of pectin, so will be syrup for glazing but the other 2 batches worked out fine... i have 8 pints of mild spice and 4 pints of FIRE... sometimes one just has to have a kick in life...

the recipe i got from Fast Recipes because i couldn't find mine .. i liked the recipe because it measured the liquid and then you added the ground peppers to make 4 cups... so it was a no brainer of how many peppers to use..

Red Pepper Jelly

5 To 6 red bell peppers
1 c Cider vinegar
1/2 Lemon juice
5 1/2 c Sugar
1 ts Salt
1 ts Chili powder ( i used my hot peppers with seeds)
6 oz Liquid pectin

DirectionsWash and seed peppers; chop in food processor or grind in blender or meat grinder. Add enough pepper pulp to the vinegar and lemon juice to make four cups. Mix in a large kettle with sugar, salt, and chili powder. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add liquid pectin. Return to heat and boil hard for 1 minute; turn heat down to simmer. Stir and skim off foam for 5 minutes more as mixture boils gently. Pack in hot sterilized 8-ounce jars; seal and let cool on counter top. Store in refrigerator up to 1 year.
Makes eight eight-oz. jars. (8 half pints)

also at the farmer's market i got a watermelon.. just the cutest little thing...i was skeptical to its flavour, but when i cut it open last night... absolutely delicious.. and grown within 100 miles... since we have a cooler climate i was amazed at it's flavour... i'm going back there to see what variety it was and will post it...

My Ginger Boy...

i just HAD to show you this piece of ginger... it's sitting in my colander of veggies and caught my eye... a face and torso.. complete with bellybutton!!! Anyways.. the ginger will become a delicious jar of pickled ginger..



using my mandolin slicer, thin slices of ginger packed with flavourful goodness.. this is my own recipe... daughter and i were craving pickled ginger and it's a fortune to buy... i didn't have the rice vinegar so 'made do', my ingredients are approximate, subject to change depending on what i have on hand... it's not 'traditional' pickled sushi ginger, but very tasty...

Pickled Ginger and Cranberries

Slice thinly

1/2 lb. fresh ginger ( good 'hunk' of ginger will do)

in a small saucepan heat until simmering

1/3 of a cup of white vinegar
1/3 of a cup of cider vinegar
1/3 of a cup of red wine vinegar
1/4 c. sugar (or to taste) (i used Agave syrup)
kosher or sea salt to taste

a 'DASH' of Chili (could be a few thin slices of Chili pepper or a few seeds or even dried chili)
Dried Cranberries (enough to satisfy your cranberry needs) (i used approx 1/3 of a cup)

put ginger and cranberries into the saucepan, let the vinegar mixture infuse with the ginger and cranberries until cooled... pour into sterilized jar... refrigerate...
the pickled ginger cranberry will be tangy.. but my daughter who is a pickled ginger 'holic' loves it... it's a sweet pickled punch!!
I found this article on growing Ginger, my climate isn't for growing it, but perhaps someone else's is and it's just an interesting read if nothing else... Growing Ginger Root
Zingiber Officinale (True Ginger)

Next to the ginger boy (in photo) is one of my 2 eggplants i've gotten... yummy yummy... but i do wonder if it was all worth it, for only 2... just for the satisfaction of saying i could grow them, and the satisfaction of taking a bite and KNOWING that i grew it myself, on the coast where the weather is usually not conducive to growing eggplants outdoors....

Now for something i'm truly excited about..the first Elephant garlic bulb that i've dug up this year... MMMMM i can't wait to use it... this particular one has a knobby on it.. its a baby!!! YAY... there was another one, but had already separated and fell off when i went to clean the bulb...


I found this treasure at my local thrift store.. will 'donate' it to my littlest granddaughter who LOVES bugs... encouraging a love for insects is a good thing.. perhaps a budding entomologist is in the works... working towards a harmonious world where insects and humans co-exist?? whew such a dream huh!!!

an update on my disasterous Bread... it made a not to bad 'toast', but un'sliceable', it must be 'cut' (no sawing) and flakes off.. the other loaf that i couldn't salvage is now a pile of crumbs... the flavour is actually very good, the texture, not so good... just my cooking i'm sure... will attempt it again sometime in the future...

Flying and Fennel....

it's Swallowtail larvae time!! Throughout the years i've tried to let the garden grow, all of it, including insects and in my 'world' it's full circle, i try to stay out of the affairs of the inhabitants and let nature take it's course... today i found 3 Swallowtail larvae happily munching away on my Bronze Fennel.. the new seedlings, not my older well established Bronze Fennel.. and no i did not plant them... they 'appeared' in the garden this year, so i left them, only pulling out or transplanting those that got in the way of my Tomatoes or Leeks.. my theory on gardening is that it's only a weed if in the wrong place... most plants are valuable and if they should decide to grow in a certain spot, then it must be the right place! i'm afraid my garden isn't the wonderous rows of particular veggies or herbs, but i have a pretty diverse group of plants in a fairly small area!

mmmm pickles!!!! Refrigerator pickles to be exact... i already have quite a few jars of bread and butter pickles in my 'larder' so i really don't need to go out of my way to make more, but i had 4 very long cucumbers to use up... so i got out my Messermeister Gourmet Selection Mandoline Slicer which i bought at Judith's Kitchen Tools in Yachats Oregon... was one of my better kitchen gadgets that i've bought over the years!! i added a hot red pepper and seeds to the pickles to give it a kick.. already tried one of the slices with a seed.. WHEEEEE my mouth suddenly had a warm fuzzy kick... yum yum!!

Refrigerator pickles

4 cups sugar

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. tumeric

1 tsp. celery seed

1 tbsp. pickling salt or Kosher salt

1 onion ( i used a sweet onion)

1 or more peppers ( i used 2 of my green peppers and 1 one red hot pepper)

and enough cucumbers to make an ice cream bucket worth (about 8 cups )

mix the sugar, vinegar, tumeric, celery seed and salt... pour over the veggies and stir gently...

put in ice cream bucket or glass jars ( i used one of my gallon jars)

put in refrigerator and let sit for at least 24hrs... will keep in refrigerator for a LONG time... yum yum!!

my next 'job' is to preserve my gallon of blackberries myself and a friend picked yesterday... she has a 'bluff' behind her house, a wire fence at the top, and all the blackberries one could ever need, behind the fence and falling over the fence... fortunately we picked yesterday as it's raining this morning.. YAY!!! supposed to clear and warm up this afternoon... the garden will be happy happy.....