Berries, Berries...and More Berries

It is berry season in the Northwest and I could not be more thrilled. After a long winter and early spring that felt like it consisted of way too many apples, pears and citrus, it is now time for a little fruit fun. Don't get me wrong, I like apples, pears and citrus. But, after several months of the same thing, one does start to dream of the fruits of spring and summer. And, since Dan and I like to eat seasonally and locally as much as possible, we will be making the most of this summer's fruit bounty. I have already baked a couple of buckle cakes. One was a mix of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries and the other was strawberry rhubarb. So far, I have only baked one berry crisp but I am sure that there will be a few more. One of the things that I am most looking forward to, is trying out some of jam recipes from a new cookbook that I picked up last month called The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders. Before strawberry season is over (which probably just has another couple of weeks), I want to make a batch of the Strawberry Jam with Aged Balsamic & Black Pepper recipe. It will be a lovely way to preserve the flavor of summer so that it can be savored in the depths of a cold and wet Portland winter.

Goodbye Winter...Hello Spring

Amazingly enough, I have some how made it through my first Portland winter in over 25 years. I did not breakdown in tears and I don't think I bitched too much about the rain and cold. I have a new found appreciation for wool socks and gloves plus the importance of layers that goes beyond the typical fashion approach. 

Spring is slowly starting to make her presence felt though we did have receive a light dusting of snow just a couple of evenings ago. The snow was very pretty but I am happy to see it go. And, there are supposed to be a few dry days ahead of us. If we're lucky, we may even get a few sunbreaks. I am looking forward to the weather getting warmer and being able to shed a layer or two.

The Darling Buds of May

April showers do bring May flowers. Even with the wetter and cooler than usual weather this year (or so I am told), the flowers and trees are definitely in bloom here in Portland. It's not that spring isn't and wasn't lovely in Los Angeles but it's different than it is here. And, part of my fascination with it is that I don't, as of yet, have a clue what most of the plants are. I do know that there is a photo of a Wisteria, a Rhododendron, a Lilac, a Dogwood and may be Blue Bells (but I'm not sure of that one). The others, I have not a clue about. And, not knowing is kinda nice since it gives me yet another thing to learn about my new home.

Spring in the Garden - Part III

It's still spring but just barely. In just a couple of more weeks, the solstice will bring us the beginning of summer. But, for now, we are still enjoying the spring weather. We have June gloom. It's overcast and cool in the morning and then gets sunny and warm in the afternoon. And, this weekend we are even experiencing a bit of heat wave with temps in this part of Los Angeles up into the high 80s and low 90s. The veggies are loving it. We have harvested our first little bunch of bush beans. It wasn't that many so we combined them some from the farmer's market to make a full side dish for last night's dinner.

Oh, that's not a bush bean. It's a shelling bean. Or we hope it will be shelling beans. They are Jacob's Gold. They are supposed to taste similar to Pinto Beans. We are cautiously optimistic that the plants will produce enough so that we can actually use them for chili at the end of the summer.

Our Dwarf Meyer Lemon has started producing fruit again. I've counted 10 of them so far. And, we are hoping for a few more. Unfortunately, they won't be ready to harvest till late fall or early winter but it is fun watching them grow.

And, last but not least, we are trying to grow at least 9 tomato plants this year. We did end up ordering seedlings since the ones that we have been trying to start from seed were not doing so well. So, this is a photo of an Isis Candy plant that I picked up at the farmer's market. Isis Candy is a yellow-gold cherry tomato with red marbling. They are supposed to be rich tasting and sweet. They are an indeterminate variety, so we are hoping it will produce well all season long.

And, I have good news about some our little starter seedlings, a few of them look like they are going to survive. I may even be able to start transplanting them next week. The more tomatoes the better! I dream of being able to can some my own homegrown ones.

Spring in the Garden - Part II

All of the lovely spring rains are making the garden flourish. And, in case you were not aware, not all of our garden is edibles, we have a lot of plants that are not. Over the last couple of years, we have been planting more and more California natives. Above is an image of a flower stock from one of our Coral Bells. We have a shaded area behind our garage/carriage house thing and it desperately needed some sprucing up with some vegetation. The only thing back there is a 70 foot Ash tree but the ground around it was barren. So, last year we started planting some natives. Some took and a few died but the Coral Bells have been doing great. Though this is the first flower stock that we have seen off of any of them.

More natives, this is an Indian Mallow (Abutilon Palmeri). This is located in our front yard. It took about a year for it to really come into its own but it's doing great now and can really handle the hot afternoon sun in the summer. It's drought tolerant and it loved by native hummingbirds and butterflies. It should continue to bloom all spring.

Back to the edibles, these are part of our new arugula crop.  We have two 4' long rows of these. Hoping that we will finally be able to harvest some by mid-May.

Well, our bush beans have really taken off. We have four containers of them. Our friend Beth named our first little sprout Timmy. Well, as you can see Timmy has a lot of friends. Sadly, we cannot remember which one is actually Timmy or may be...they can all be Timmy.

This is what happens when you think that your lettuce is really pretty and you cannot bear to harvest it. Instead, it bolts, starts to go to seed and looks like a tree. When gardening books say that bolted lettuce tastes bitter, they are not joking. It was nasty. So, lesson learned...harvest edibles when they ready. Or, like us, you will end up with lettuce for our compost instead of your dinner. 

Spring in the Garden - Part I

Spring has finally arrived and there are plenty of chores to do in the garden. One of the first things is harvesting some of our lettuce (Little Gem and Oak Leaf above). Then, we need to find a place to relocate the lettuce so that we can use that raised bed for tomatoes once the seedlings are ready to be transplanted. We're thinking of a railing box outside the back door. Might be our best option since it gets morning sun and will be protected from the afternoon heat.

I have been trying to keep up with succession planting of the veggies that we want to keep growing. These are some of the little sprouts for our next batch of arugula. We are also keeping the radishes, carrots (damn these take forever to grow), beets and chard.

Sure, they look like empty planters but looks can be deceiving. Hiding under all that nice soil and compost are seeds for some bush beans (Blue Lake and Roc d'Or). They should be germinating any day now. I have fantasies about growing enough of these beans so that I can pickle them. Learning to can is our next homesteading activity.

These are some of our soon to be seedlings for our tomatoes (9 varieties) and peppers (4 varieties). These should germinate within the next week or so. I am hoping to start transplanting them at the end of April so that we can have our first tomatoes in June.

Next up, finding a place to grow our squashes (summer and winter). We are thinking of tearing out the roses in the front yard and using that bed. Our only concern is the neighbors. We're hoping that they won't start helping themselves to veggies.

Some Early Signs of Spring

February is ending and March has yet to begin but there are more signs of spring showing up in the garden every day. The French Lavender that is in the front yard is bursting with blooms and covered in bees.

The fig tree that is in the backyard is just starting to show its first leaves. Oh, and I didn't say what kind of fig tree it is because we are not really sure. Might be Black Mission or it could be Brown Turkey. It's really hard to tell. All I can say is that the figs are really really tasty but you have to get to them quickly before the squirrels do...little bastards.

And, finally, our plum tree has started to produce a few blossoms. Though I expect that there will be an explosion of flowers on it within the next week or two. Then, we can look forward to plums in May and June. That is if the neighbors don't steal all of them first. Which is a problem when your two plum tress are planted in a parkway strip and they are fair game for the neighborhood.

Spring Has Sprung?

Has spring come early to SoCal? We had rain and cool temps last month and even this month. But, in the last several days, there has been a high pressure system over the west so now we have unusually warm weather. It's hard to complain too much about gloriously warm days (70s and 80s) and sunny skies when the east coast has been blanketed with snow, but the plants are confused. And, the most confused seem to be our apple trees. They are blooming and it's mid-February. This is not normal. March, yes. February, no. They look beautiful though and are a buzz with bees. But, I worry about how they will fare when the weather gets cool again and rains return...which should be later this week. But, for now, we are enjoying the show.