Tomato Starts in My Kitchen

I have aspirations to grow great tomatoes, thick heirloom slicers and rich San Marzanos for canning. To date, my greatest success has been the small cherry tomatoes, sadly, not a favorite of my home-sharing posse. Thanks to a gift subscription to Mother Earth News from my mother-in-law, I read a great article in the January 2013 issue, "Best Tips for Starting Seeds Indoors" and put the tips to the test. The result is a lovely crop of tomato starts: San Marzanos; the heirlooms: Persimmon, deep orange and reportedly sweet; Black Krim, a "black" tomato from the Russian Black Sea area; & Costoluto, a traditional red slicer from Italy. I will transplant these into larger containers, let them recuperate, then harden them off before planting them outside.

Glancing at my notebook, I found this passage written on 1.19.13, when I first planted the seeds, a collection from Renee's Seeds called Heirloom Summer Feast:

I love the description Heirloom Summer Feast. I imagine a deliciously hot summer, the heat breaking in the early evening, perhaps salty skin recently returned home from the beach. Smiles. Lethargic limbs happily made tired from an ocean swim. A pitcher of lemonade, ice clanking on the sides, fresh mint swirling. A plate of tomatoes, the orange persimmons, the beefy red of the Costoluto and the dark purple of the Black Krim, sliced evenly on a plate, a drizzle of olive oil, crunchy salt flakes and a bit of pepper.

Please grow.

Artichoked

The tale of artichokes at our compound is a twisted story with great highs and desperate gopher devoured lows. This season is yet another tale of woe. I relied on the fruits of the Altadena farmer's market for the delectable pictured above. The artichoke is so delicious, that even when I say that's it! No more. I give up. I taste the meaty heart dipped in a lemon and olive oil dressing, raise my head like Scarlett O'Hara and proclaim, "As God is my witness, I will grow artichokes again!"

Watch out gophers, I got my eye on you, and although I am a vegetarian, I might not be above a gopher stew with the small skulls torn from carrion and placed on sticks surrounding my artichoke plants, the journey to my own heart of darkness.

But before that, I think best to try again with wire baskets and Exhart gopher repellers and perhaps record my guitar practice and pipe it under ground to drive the artichoke eating thieves crazy.

Late Summer Corn

Just in time for Labor Day birthday celebrations. The introductions: Corn, Grill. Grill, Corn. A fine how do you do.

Preserving Lemons

Our little lemon tree is full of beautiful ripe lemons right now. I took advantage of the harvest and made a batch of preserved salty lemons. I love this stuff. Again I used Hunter Angler Gardner Cook as a guide and added a cinnamon stick and a couple of cloves before I sealed it up to let it cure for three weeks.

The basic protocol is: wash & dry the lemons thoroughly (more emphasis on the wash). Slice the lemons in quarters, stopping before slicing all the way through. Put in a quart jar and mash down releasing the juice. Add just under a tablespoon of salt (I used Redmond's & yes, that is tablespoon not teaspoon) on top of each lemon. Repeat until you fill the jar. I added the juice of about two lemons to cover the preserves, but it's not necessary. I also took some time to remove the seeds this time, gently pulling open the lemons careful not to break the wedges off.

At a winter bake sale/fundraiser for my oldest son's school, I had a revelation that I should donate a few batches of preserved lemons and/or cultured vegetables. Although I'm not one to put aside an opportunity for baked goods gluttony (witness my weekend baking spree), I realized both these items would be great for the some of the foodie families at the school and offer a bit of diversity at the table.

My mind is flashing forward to the upcoming preschool Carnival in May. The preschool has some seriously talented bakers, both professional and amateur, and the bake sale table is not to be missed. Last year, one of the pros made an almond macaroon-esque cookie with a chocolate coconut milk ganache filling. I bought one to give me a bit of a sugar boost to fill my sails. As I sat down on the grass with loud bouncy houses all around and a dunk tank directly behind me, I took a bite. The creaminess of the ganache melted slowly in my mouth, the taste of a subtle rich almond met the chocolate and feel madly in love. Bouncy houses slipped away, overly tired kids teetering on cranky seemed silent. I returned to the bake sale and bought the entire box. I really truly hope she makes more. Note to self: begin campaign of fandom requesting those cookies.

Silent But Busy

Although these pages have been silent, Camp Ramshackle kept a steady buzz of activity. The small, the fantastic (for the young ones doing the creating), the mundane. This weekend, I dealt with a Halloween fairytale pumpkin. I bought it from my youngest son's preschool fundraiser with the intent of eventually baking it. Two weeks ago, I stuck the whole thing in the oven after cutting the top & removing the seeds for roasting.

I've never baked an entire pumpkin by shoving it in the oven like an uncarved jack-o-lantern before. Usually, I use smaller pumpkins and cut them in halves or smaller. But the method worked well although it took hours to cook. After it cooled, I pulled off the skin and stored it.

This weekend, I pureed the bejezus out of a mountain of pumpkin and scoured recipes.

I made a variation of Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Bread, which received a thumbs up rating from Eric and my oldest son. I am recuperating from a noxious cold that stole my taste buds, so I couldn't tell, although it baked beautifully. I used a conventional oven (the linked recipe is for a bread machine) and baked it for 55 minutes. All worked well. I will make again and again and again until the pumpkin supply runs out or everyone in the house screams "NO MORE".

And another loaf of the fantastic Flying Apron Bakery house bread. I was happy to see Jennifer Katzinger has a new cookbook. Evidently, it's been out since August, but I've been living under a rock since then. Two loaves of bread did nothing to my mountain of pumpkin puree (as expected), so I froze them in 1/3 cup measured scoops, since my favorite recipe with pumpkin (see above) uses 1/3 cup portions.

The delicious carrots keep growing.

As do my boys, both very interested in sculptures small...

...and large. Built quite spontaneously by my youngest son. I love his design and style. He has been building sculptures since he could move. Watching his work change as he grows older is such a treat. I make an effort to photograph them, although it is hard to keep up.

And I have been sewing shelters. This one is for a silent auction at my youngest son's preschool. Eric has been tackling some much-appreciated work around the house too. I plan to share some projects of home improvement in the upcoming days...not weeks.

Growing

Purple Cosmos

Encelia californica & lemons

A Welcome Return

Extremely grateful that the artichoke has come back. Two plants so far.

Fall Brings Pomegranates

Camp Ramshackle anticipates the ripe pomegranate all year. We have one large tree that typically yields a hearty harvest, enough to juice and enjoy until December if not longer, and two small trees. My sons have been eyeing the pomegranates as they grow. My youngest harvested the reddest one he could find on the small tree.

When my oldest returned home from school, his first stop was for his share of the harvested fruit.

We all enjoyed a few bites, but I think we'll let the other fruit ripen just a bit more. The late season pomegranate with it's sweet ruby fruits is a taste sensation decidedly worth the wait.

Previously:

Garden Developments

Pomegranate Season

Pomegranates Are Coming In

Fresh Squeezed Pomegranate Juice

Harvesting Pomegranates

Strawberry Harvest is On

In a word: yum. We planted some new Sequoia strawberry plants earlier in the season. Our older plant still produces but at a much slower rate.

I read that strawberry plants typically reach the end of their productive years after two years. I'm glad we added more plants. Delicious.

Another Shiitake Mushroom Harvest

Eric's shiitake log continues to produce beautiful mushrooms. Check out those gills. These tasty spores went into a homemade pho (or a scrumptious interpretation). Ever since trying Happy Pho, I've been obsessed with the Vietnamese noodle, hitting up local restaurants and hoping that Happy Pho is soon distributed in Southern California.

Don't be fooled by the box, Happy Pho is no top ramen. It is the ground work for a really yummy meal. Throw in a few homegrown shiitake mushrooms, spinach, scallions and mint...I might just have to make it twice in one week.

Verdict on the Lemon Preserves

In late January, I made some lemon preserves with lemons harvested from our tree. I let them sit for a few weeks and popped one jar open.

The verdict: d e l i c i o u s

Tangy with a salty kick. A little goes a long way and I think I've already gone through two cups. I love taking a quarter wedge of lemon, slicing it thinly and putting it on beans and rice. I also like adding a small portion of diced preserves on my salad. I made two quart jars. One plain lemons and salt, the other lemons, salt and spices. I've only opened the jar of plain salt and lemons. I look forward to opening the jar with spices after this one is empty.

I followed Hunter Angler Gardener Cook's recipe. In the future, I think I would use a trifle less salt.

Shiitake Log

I got this fantastic log for my birthday. It's sugar gum (at least I'm pretty sure that's what they said it was in the paper that came with it). Normally shiitake grow on oak but it's illegal to ship oak limbs into California for fear of importing some pestilence that we don't currently suffer.

To get it to bloom you shock the log by submersing it in ice cold water over night which makes the fungus think spring has sprung once it is removed and warms back up. Sometimes with a new log it takes two shocks before it's ready to bloom. Mine did. And the first bloom is often small which you can see, mine was.


Now that the mushrooms have been harvested (they were delicious by the way) the log needs to be kept moist while it rests in darkness for about a month. When I shock it again it should produce a more bountiful crop.

They look a little like pancakes and in some of the pictures they look like a shelf fungus because the cap is so big and they pushed up against the vertical bark of the log. Next time I might try to tip the log a bit so that the caps might clear the log and fully form. I can't wait.

Lemon Preserves

After tasting the most delicious lemon preserves made by Homegrown Neighbor and Full Circle Gardening proprietress Lora Hall, I was inspired to make some with the fruit of our prolific lemon tree. Instead of a sweet spread, the lemon preserves were tangy and salty and fantastically delicious over beans and quinoa.

I plucked a hoard of lemons from our tree and followed Hunter Angler Gardener Cook's recipe. The recipe calls for an enormous amount of salt. Frankly, a horrifying amount a salt. Enough salt to make me think that the results will be unpalatable. I've put them aside to cure until early February. I'm looking forward to trying them when they are ready.

The Artichokes Keep Coming

Camp Ramshackle tallies three artichokes returning from dormancy.

They emerge so small. Each time I find one, I let out a yell to notify everyone, so thrilled to see the delicate green leaves peeking out of the brown mulch.

The first plant to return is growing well so far.

Not-O-Matic Lemonade

With a just a bit of summer left I juiced enough lemons to make about 3 gallons of homemade lemonade.

Our hand juicer was inherited from Julia's grandmother. While using it to juice several pounds of lemons I thought about how well made the juicer is. It's very simple but it needs to withstand quite a bit of pressure. I thought about how many gallons of juice this press must have squeezed out. Then I noticed the raised lettering on the front of the press which were almost completely worn off from the friction of pressers palms riding the top piece down in order to steady it at each pressing: "Juice-O-Matic." There is nothing automatic about this press as the name would suggest. It's all manual. The only way it could be more manual is with a reamer or if you simply squeezed the fruit with your hand.

It took some time, but it was the kind of repetitive task that allowed my mind to wander. II felt connected in some way with Julia's grandmother and imagined her making lemonade at the end of some other late-summer's day with the same press, her hand imperceptibly rubbing away the incongruous label embossed beneath it.

My recipe is 1 part honey, 2 parts lemon juice, roughly 16 parts water. This makes a fairly mild, not too sweet lemonade which is how I like it on a hot day. Julia likes hers with a little more bite but so she would probably up the lemon juice to about 2 1/2 parts. One tip is to save some lemon juice for the end in case you need to make it more tart and to mix the honey into the room temperature lemon juice - it's a bear to get it to dissolve if the water or juice is cold.

Our Neighborhood Adventure in Pursuit of Figs

Over the weekend, I saw a post on our local freecycle offering pick-your-own figs. I think this is the best offer I've ever seen on freecylce. The owner of the tree, a few miles from our house, said we could come over on Monday.

Baskets in hand, the boys and I marched to our car only to remember the car seats were in Eric's car. We modified our plans and took the Dash bus. The Dash small bus local transit system is the jewel in the crown of Los Angeles' public transportation program. They run every twenty minutes. We're lucky to live a few blocks away from a stop. And the figs growing on our new found freecycle friend's tree were within easy walking distance from a stop.

The boys loved riding without being strapped into a car seat. Our small adventure seemed quite grand to them. We acquired some delicious figs from a small tree.

And made a pit stop at Café de Leche for drinks and cookies.

Then we headed homeward.

At home, I cleaned the figs and embarked on my maiden solo jam making experience (without grandma or my sister). I loosely followed the recipe from www.pickyourown.org. Seven cups of sugar seemed excessive, especially for the very sweet fig, so I only added four cups and about a 1/4 cup of inadvertently added apple juice (I thought I was adding the fresh squeezed lemon juice rather than my youngest son's beverage.) The results are unbelievably delicious. Fig jam is where it's at.

Nasturtium Seeds

Our prolific season of nasturtium is still strong but definitely on the wane. My youngest son started harvesting some of the seeds. The plant does a wonderful job of self-seeding and returning the following year. I'm pulling these to share with others.

A Full Plate

On Eric's plate: homegrown potato frittata (upper left going clockwise); homegrown fava beans with cilantro, lime and rice; and delicious oranges grown by a friend of my mom accompanied by roasted pignoli, diced red onion and cilantro.

Homegrown Potatoes

In mid-February, my oldest son and I planted some potatoes in some boxes made by Eric and inspected by my youngest son. I've read in many of my gardening books that the best place to store potatoes is in the ground. So as I was preparing a dinner potato frittata inspired by the Big Sur Bakery (a soak in one of their tubs overlooking the Pacific sounds just about perfect right now), I realized I was a few potatoes short of a full skillet.

I marched myself down to the garden, pitchforked myself a few potatoes from the beautiful boxes in which they rest. And, oh my, they were delicious. Delicate skins that peeled off so easily and the fine sliced potatoes that roasted so crisply. All I really want now is a hot tub overlooking the Pacific.

More Delicious Honey

I am way behind on our hive maintenance, I wouldn't be surprised if they swarm soon - might not be the worst thing to get a new queen in there anyway. I do like honey but am certainly not taking the effort to maximize our honey production at the moment. I am more than happy as long as the hive is healthy and happy, and we get a few quarts of honey every couple of months.

That said, I feel pretty guilty about not staying on top of the apiary duties a little better. Specifically, I need to add a box to the brood area and sort out the mix of medium and deep frames that are filling two medium boxes down there. This weekend I stole a half an hour and took two frames out before my smoker went out and I ended the endeavor on high note. The two frames won't really free up much space for all of the new nectar coming in but I imagine every little bit helps.

The two frames of honey especially helped make our breakfast the next morning better. For me there are few things better than natural, chem-free honey on home baked whole grain toast. the 56 ounces of honey also made a nice center piece.