My Cup Runneth Over - Tomatoes and Other Stuff

I woke up this morning and couldn’t even make it through the second half of that incredible designer granola I’ve been touting.

My stomach was so stuffed from yesterday - when I devoured homegrown tomatoes, stuffed with fresh  tuna salad, and accompanied by a warm baguette of French bread. I had to eat it all when it was still warm and fresh, right?  

Then a little later that day there was the caprese salad with, again, fresh homegrown tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. This was, of course, the first course to a very delicious brined rosemary smoked chicken and then followed by blackberry pie ala mode.  I think the operative word to use here is “epic”! And it was. 

You may have notice a theme.  Fresh, fresh, and fresh – without a doubt September is the month when we are so overwhelmed with homegrown produce that we live in guilt ridden fear of watching it rot, knowing that we will never, never ever again, until next summer, eat homegrown tomatoes that taste this good or enjoy a warm fresh blackberry pie topped liberally with vanilla ice cream.  Which is true.

But there are other things to do with this stuff besides coming up with a new way to eat it now.  Especially the tomatoes.  They can be canned whole, made into sauce, paste, ketchup, conserve, salsa, pickled, dried, or frozen.  Did I overlook anything here? 

Having received a bounty of assorted tomatoes this week, I thought the easiest way to deal with my windfall was to blanch them, remove the skins, then dice and stuff them into plastic quart bags before popping them into the freezer.  

All of this, of course, took up much more time than I had thought when I started and requires many more bowls, pots, pans, and counter space.  Nevertheless - it’s all worth it – I put in a good days work, pacified my guilt and my glutinous tendencies, didn’t let them rot, and I have a freezer full of fresh tomatoes to use this Winter.

 

I still have some Roma's that I'll slice and dry in the oven, drizzled with garlic, olive oil and balsamic.  These guys are perfectly wonderful inside a panini or plan old grilled cheese sandwich, or incorporated in a salad, pasta and the list goes on and on.

But for tonight - it's pretty hot outside - the perfect evening for a salad with fresh flavorful tomatoes, a cool cucumber, colorful pungent red onion, kalamata olives and a little goat cheese.  Better enjoy them while their here!

My Asian Garden

Portland Japanese Garden, Portland Chinese Garden, Asian Garden
Three years ago I had this little patch of ground hidden away in the back of the property and decided to turn it into my own Asian garden.  With few financial resources to use on this project and even less skill or knowledge about landscaping the stylized Asian look, I was on a real mission and a real challenge.

Fortunately I was physically able to do the hard work like dig out what remaining grass was growing, build a couple of berms, and slope the area to achieve a pleasing vertical and horizontal perspective.  I searched through the used book store and found many books on Japanese garden design and did a lot of research on the web.  I kept my eye out at nurseries and garden centers for plant materials (on sale) that would fit into my design, lugged them into the backyard, dug, amended soil, and re-dug and amended soil until I placed them were I thought they should be to achieve the Asian look.

Although I was pleased with the initial results, I quickly realized that it would take several years of a dedicated maintenance regime for the garden to look like a beautiful Asian garden. Since that time I have worked and watched the garden mature, from the moss floor spreading out into a full green carpet, to the ferns, azaleas, pines, and  bamboo filling out.

 

The garden isn't truly emblematic of the basic structure and philosophy that a traditional Asian garden requires, but I think I did accomplish the desired result which imparts a sense of peace, harmony, and tranquility and the feeling of being a part of nature.  And although the garden, as with all gardens, will continue to grow and be amended again and again, I’m happy with it as it is now. Most importantly, the garden reminds me that it’s the journey not the destination that teaches and inspires.

 

If you are interested in learning more about the Asian style of garden design or just visiting an authentic Asian garden, there are two internationally acclaimed gardens in Portland.  Both of these gardens have informed, inspired and delighted me, and they are well worth the trip and the admission fee.  

The Portland Japanese Garden is thought to be the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and is truly a haven of tranquil beauty.  









On Monday, November 12, you can visit the garden free of admission.  For more information follow link above to their website.  This Saturday, October 27,  from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm the Friends of the Garden will have their annual Maple Plant Sale.  More information about this event is also on their website.

Also, offering a glimpse of Chinese culture, beauty, and harmony is the Lan Su Chinese Garden located near Chinatown in downtown Portland. Inside the garden is an authentic teahouse such as can be found during the Ming Dynasty. Light meals and snacks are offered along with numerous varieties of tea to suit every mood and season. Live performances range from Chinese er-hu music to song and poetry.

Life is good - bye for now.  Evelyn

Lady in Red - Cabbage Revisited

We're having another wave of surplus cabbage in the garden.  If you remember last month when I harvested the Savoy cabbage  and made one (which turned out OK) and then a second batch of sauerkraut. Well the second batch is percolating along just fine, in fact it’s fantastic – what an improvement over the first batch - way too much salt.

The last of the cabbage is ripening in the garden and giving us a magnificent harvest of blushing red beauties.  And tasty - much better than the Savoy which we let grow too long.

Obviously sauerkraut success has gone to my head.   With my first attempts turning out so well, I thought what the heck, lets see what red cabbage will do.

Success again - this time with a nice tinge of ruby.

I’m amazed at how easy making sauerkraut has been, practically the easiest thing I’ve attempted yet as far as letting beneficial bacteria grow and ferment. 

I guess we’ll be eating lots of brats and sauerkraut this winter. If I get really ambitious choucourte garni.  Seriously though, easy or not, I've got to stop making this stuff or I'll be forced to give it away, kind of like zucchini.

Life is good – bye for now.

Evelyn

REMEMBER - Buy Local When You Can

Blackberries v.1 (and I’m not talking phones)

There were two good reasons I went out picking blackberries the other morning; to make good on a promise to my niece, and because there’s really nothing better in the jam world than blackberry jam (OK, raspberry’s pretty good too). 

A jar of homemade blackberry jam should go into the category of “priceless”. You can’t go out and buy it, not the kind that you make from the berries that grow just about everywhere in Oregon. And they really do grow everywhere -  in the city, on the highway, in the backyard, in the woods, and all over the countryside.  

They have huge threatening thorns and little stickers, and because they are a giant invasive weed they usually have thistles and itchy poison oak growing in and around them.  Did I mention the spiders and other crawling creatures you might encounter?  So although they are delicious, abundant and “free”, there is a price to pay.

Nevertheless, since I was out at my friend’s farm tending to the garden, I thought I'd take a look at the blackberry patch down by the pond.  The berries were there - plentiful, ripe for picking and it didn’t take long to get enough for a batch of jam. 

 

And what a day it was out in the countryside - very quite and serene. It was one of those days to just sit around and watch the world go by.  That being the case, I thought if I was really quite I would slowly make my way down to the pond with my camera and possibly get a good picture of the Red-wing Blackbirds that were so abundant earlier in the summer or a good shot of the Great Blue Heron I saw lift off the pond just the other day. 

So I sat very quietly on the edge of the rock wall that serves as a dam on the edge of the pond.  I sat for 15 minutes - nothing appeared – nothing -  and I thought that being a wildlife photographer was rather boring, but I continued to wait quietly. 

What a delight when I got a visit from Betty the farm cat who needed a little company herself and so we waited together. 

As sometimes happens, it turned into a not so productive but very pleasant moment for both Betty and me. 

And I do have the blackberries.

Stay tuned for Blackberries v.2 - Jam.

Life is good - bye for now.  

Evelyn

Remember:  Buy local when you can!

Garden Time

This spring a friend and I decided to put in a vegetable garden on her place in the country. 

This has worked out well for both of us, being single women of a certain age we have been able to depend on each other to care for the garden during the summer. 

At this time my friend is away on vacation so I''m sending her this garden update.  

Dear Juds, Since you been away the garden has done quite well, although there have been a few discouraging developments with the gopher.    

As soon as you left he took care of the remaining beets and when I last visited the garden our number one gourmet cipollini onions growing next to the green beans have disappeared completely. 

I've actually taken to flooding his tunnels just for fun, although I know I'm making little impact on his life.  He's probably enjoying the water in this hot weather. 

For now we're going to have a bumper chop with the green beans on the purple trellis- the tomatoes - of course the zucchini - unbelievably the eggplant - the purple cabbage is gorgeous, and the sunflowers are the sentinels of the garden - pleasingly garish.  I guess I got carried away with those seeds.  The chard is still with us and the kale that you planted is coming on nicely. And we still have savoy cabbage! I tried to make sauerkraut and I think it worked!

The tomatoes are coming on like gang busters and I expect to get lots of ripe ones by the end of the week. In fact, one of the heirlooms (Brandywine) ripened and yes I eat it - it was the most delicious tomato I've eaten in a long time (childhood comes to mind)

I cleaned up the spinach, arugula, and lettuce that was bolting and was hoping to put in another crop of lettuce. Now that it's so hot I'll wait awhile.  Hopefully I can do it and there would be a nice little crop when you return.

The squash growing back of the greenhouse are struggling (the soil is too thin) but I'm determined that we will have a crop and haven't given up on they - yet!  

Betty is always hanging around the house and follows me out to the garden loyally.  She's a sweetie.  The old yellow cat is always stealing her food, along with the Blue Jay.

Today, she didn't come out to greet me right away.  I was a little concerned until I found her under the house where it's cool.

Given your absence, she's probably wondering what's going on in her world!  

Say good-bye Betty.  

See you soon.

Evelyn

REMEMBER:  Buy Local When You Can!

Fantastic Fern Fotos

One of the main reasons I live in the WV is because plants grow phenomenally.  I’m not saying it’s the only reason, but if you love to grow things this is a big consideration.  At about the end of February the WV comes alive and by May it’s a veritable Jurassic park.  I have a back yard, which I call my woodland garden, enveloped in shade and dabbled sunlight.  It is the perfect place for a fern garden, which thrive and multiply without much effort from me.

There are at least fourteen species of Pacific Northwest fern here in Oregon.  From tough sword ferns to delicate maidenhairs, ferns flourish on our moist, shady forest floor.  The toughest of these, the Western Sword Fern, grows vigoriously, in sun or shade, as ground cover on woodland slopes, bogs, and throughout the wetland.  This evergreen beauty is long lived, hearty, and massive sometimes reaching three feet tall and five feet wide.

Although I appreciate the Sword Fern and rely on it to luxuriously cover my hillside, my favorite is the pretty little Maidenhair Fern.  This one is very delicate and refined with jewel green foliage and contrasting black stems.
Although the Western Maidenhead is very hearty, the one I adore is the florist variety which is a little more picky about the cold.  But I keep coming back for more so she must be worth it.

Today I was inspired to catch the graceful elegance of this plant through my camera lens.  All of these ferns are growing someplace in the garden on my property and make it through our temperate, though chilly winters.

Enjoy the summer!

Life is good - Bye for now.  E

 

REMEMBER:  buy local is you can!