Friday, July 31, 2009

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly


Plucked from the garden just this morning - 3½ pounds of heirloom tomatoes and a few other goodies. Beginning from right of the lens cap: 1 pink brandywine, a bunch of french marmandes off to the side, hot peppers, a couple of black krims at the bottom, 1 round pugliese cucumber just under the lens cap, and the zukes. At this stage in summer, I'll take whatever vegetables (toms especially) that come my way, blemishes and all.

Yesterday's high: 29°C / 84°F
Today's average daytime temperature: 25°C / 77°F

Friday, July 17, 2009

Mirabelles for a rainy day


There was no telling at 7:30 this morning, but by 11, the heavens parted to let the light shine through. The first thing I check each morning, almost to the point of becoming an obsession, is the weather forecast. Case in point: yesterday we picked mirabelle plums looked to be ripe enough, even if the color wasn't dark yellow color. I was already sick to my stomach at the thought of the plums getting hit with more hail, so I told my husband, it's plum pickin' time! Heck, I knew that it wouldn't be more than a couple of handfuls.


It was a celebratory event of sorts as we were told that it would be a wait of 2-3 years before the tree was ready to bear fruit. We purchased this Mirabelle de Nancy plum tree in 2007 (at a nursery in Milan) after having discovered them in Alsace one summer. They are very sweet and juicy, in the shape and size of a cherry, and I've read somewhere that the flavor is similiar to greengages.


Not supermarket perfect, but 100% organic nevertheless. The color is more chartreuse...probaby a few days shy from obtaining the deep yellow like we had seen in France. We tasted a few and they were so delicious even with a hint of tartness. The rest were pitted, quartered, and baked in a short pastry crust with sugar. With softly whipped cream they were simply sublime!


Yesterdays high: 29°C / 84°F
Today's average: 25°C / 77°F

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

After all that rain

Complete turnaround in weather today, and thankfully not much damage to speak of. It amazes me that some plants come through quite well even in the worst conditions, but I was definitely surprised that the Black Aztec corn was still standing.



Lau's leaf lettuce and Black Aztec corn

Average daytime temperature: 24°C / 75°F

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

I can just imagine how Noah must have felt...


And the hail too. Looks like it'll be another day spent indoors with the dogs.

Average daytime temperature: 18°C / 64°F

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Baker Creek brightens up the day and more rat-tails


After another soggy weekend with more wretched hail, receiving my order from Baker Creek earlier than I had expected was like the fairy godmother come to visit. Of course the harmless act of buying seeds for next year is that you end up visiting a couple more of your favorite sites and getting more stuff to grow in a garden where you have only so much space.

I'm glad to report that this time around, the delivery time took only a mere 17 days! Customs must already know about the crazy american gardener who thinks she can grow anything in tough mountain soil, so I hope that they're wishing me the best instead of laughing at my foolishness. Well actually, at least I can say that I am VERY successful at growing podding radish. That's 26 ounces in the bowl below, and if I sold them for a dollar a branch like I had read somewhere in a gardening forum, I'd be laughing all the way to the bank. There are hundreds of branches out back, and it's a tedious work to harvest the pods from the tangled mess. The real dilemma has been finding different ways to cook them, and pickling was a success. I have also experimented with freezing them by blanching for one minute in boiling water, then plunging them into an ice bath before draining and freezing in 1 quart ziploc bags. Come this winter we shall see if they do mighty alrighty in a hearty gumbo or stew.


Average daytime temperature: 25°C / 77°F