AYankeeCat...nice fig! Seeing them always reminds me of friends whose parents and grandparents lived on Wooster Street in New Haven. They came from southern Italy, Sicily in particular, and the patriarch of the family had to have his fig tree. Their kids tell some stories of what their father did to keep his fig tree going (I guess this was before the hardy strains we have now were well known).
Edibles - '08 - Part 2
Very nice, Cat. I guess I'll find a spot to plant it. I already have too many things to come in. David, same in Astoria, Queens, where I'm from. Many Italians had them and would cover with burlap, etc.
Victor....that's what I heard. Very involved procedure sometimes. They sure know food. I get asked to an Italian meal and I'm there....
That's for sure! My grandmother was a great cook and she taught my Irish mother most of the good recipes.
Huh. Your grandmother was Italian and your mother was Irish?
Paternal grandmother (and grandfather).
So you are Italian-Irish. Well American of course.
My grandmother used to get so mad when I asked her what I was - you are 100% American and don't you forget it!
French actually.
I've seen this digging and replanting process of how one Italian family overwintered their figs. They pruned their trees to allow only four limbs, so it was tall and slender. In the fall before a frost, they wrapped it with burlap and trussed the limbs together with rope, so that it looked like an arborvitae under wraps. I'm thinking it was about 8' tall in total. The soil around the roots was beautiful loam from years of composting and digging and replanting. They laid the burlapped tree in a trench, insulated with leaves and burlap on top and tied down so wind couldn't dislodge the pile. It looked like a long grave. Then in spring, they just reversed the process. I wish I could remember where I saw this. I think it was on public TV on Mary Ann Esposito's Ciao Italia cooking show.
I saw it too. Can't remember where. I seem to remember it was in Canada - but the figs were heirlooms from the old country.
My mom is actually only half Irish, though she really looks Irish. The other half is English and German.
Squash have been hiding out under leaves and getting too big so...its off to the grill for them...
Yummy! I'll be doing that this week.
I failed to notice a cucumber growing this weekend. Just picked it now. It's 11 inches! I hope it still tastes good.
I just got home from vacation to find a 5" cataloupe and a 4" butternut squash, and tons of blueberries and raspberries!
Lots of tomatoes getting big too. I guess they really love this humidity - it's killing me and the dog though.
That was a sneaky cucumber.
Harper, I did the same with a zucchini. I swear those things grow while you watch!
Zuchinni was the featured item on Iron Chef America last night. They made everything out of it, from appetizers to dessert. They had more varieties than I've seen.
I make a mean bread out of zucchini, it's called 'Spicey Pinapple Zucchini Bread'.
I like it breaded and baked or grilled.
My cucumbers taste bitter - any idea what I've done worng. Gee I hope the ones I gave the neighbors weren't bitter!
My cukes are very yellow? Don't know if they are bitter as I haven't tasted them yet. Also when can you pick spaghetti squash or tell when it is ready. DH not happy as he remembers hating it back in the hippie days. Patti
yank, when you cut the ends of the cuke , do you rub it several times? My Mom & DGM always said you cut off 1/4" and rub it against the cuke you just cut. Do this in a circular motion and you will see a yellow residue. They told me this helps take the bitterness out. Not sure if it really works but I still do it with every cucumber! LOL Also, lack of water makes for a bitter cuke.
Patti, the summer squash can be any size..I like them small so i can use them in a stir fry. Some people like them bigger with bigger seeds....not me!
Pixie, it is spaghetti squash that I am needing harvesting information about. I never heard about rubbing cukes to get out the bitterness. I just scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Patti
Wow - never heard that one, Celeste. I'd probably start a fire.
Patti, your squash will be ready to harvest when the stem dries up and, if you poke it with your fingernail, the skin is a hard shell. Try to get a few inches if dried stem with the squash by cutting with pruners. It will store longer. If you harvest before it hardens off it will taste watery and bland. Since they take between 100-120 days it will probably be a while until yours are ready. We leave most of ours in the garden until the vines die back.
We grill summer squash by cutting it the long way. Much easier to manage on the grill. Also makes a nice fit between sliced rustic bread with grilled eggplants, peppers, onions and aioli. If you grill a bunch of vegetables and have them in the fridge, save the liquid that weeps. It has wonderful uses such as making rice or tossing with pasta, herbs and olive oil.
Laurel
We picked our early blueberry and got some lovely berries off it - first time of picking as it's a young bush. Just starting to get zucchini and cucumbers, but there are plenty of flowers on the squash and pumpkins. Broad beans were a bit of a disaster though - some mysterious black stuff on the leaves and a poorish crop. Broccoli seemed to bolt early, but I cut the bolting heads off and left the side shoots and they are now growing. Spinach and beets have been a total wipe-out, but lettuce and fennel and carrots and parsnip are all doing OK.
WHEN can I do a second planting of shell peas?
Pixie, I was just thinking about zuchinni bread. Can you give the recipe? It sounds wonderful with pineapple.
Here's one of them Pam....I have a few. LOL
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup salad oil
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups coarsely shredded, unpeeled zucchini (about 2 medium)
1 can (8 1/4 ounce) well-drained, crushed pineapple
3 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted (half of which can be whole wheat)
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts (finely)
Instructions:
In a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. Continue beating until mixture is thick and foamy.
Stir in zucchini and pineapple (gently).
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts.
Stir gently into zucchini mixture until just blended.
Spoon batter into 2 greased and flour-dusted loaf pans.
Bake in a 350º oven for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean.
Let cool in pans 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely.
Enjoy!
Had to put another level of bamboo on the tomato cages today. Garden is really popping now....
Plan is to go to up ten feet, then span the area between the two rows with a bamboo and mesh roof the tomatoes can sprawl on. Be a tunnel of tomatoes if things work out....
David_Paul, That is beyond cool. I can't wait to show DH. Patti
WOW, I don't think I've seen tomato plants that tall before!
Flowerjen...yeah...getting a little out of hand here. Had to hire a HS student today to help me put up another layer of bamboo. Amazing how fast these plants grow. I thought I was being a little silly or over optimistic when I put in those tall vertical poles. Here is a photo taken of the garden on June 1st.
I see you and my honey went to the same classes... he always uses ground stakes & zip ties my poles to them... amazing plants for sure!
onewish...in my case it was the "doing the dumb thing first" class which made it clear the need for steel ground stakes. Digging holes and trying to tamp soil around bamboo poles doesn't work. Not at all. I do try to not use as many zip-ties I would like in the spring (they are so easy to use!) because I know in the fall they are going to be a bother to collect. Hemp twine is great as it rots. Most of the cages are held together by that.
Patti...thinking of a larger tomato patch next year? Did the math and the average yield in the USA is just over 1lb per sq ft. Highest commerical producers get about 2lbs per sq ft. And they grow mainly determinates which have a flush of tomatoes and then stop. Doesn't take a lot of space to crank out a hundred lbs of tomatoes.
Wow - fantastic, David. Do you can the tomatoes for winter or just give them away. There are re-usable cable ties and similar clamps that you can use.
David_Paul, You have me thinking. I ordered some of the big grow bags to try out for around the veggie bed next year. We use to put up lots of tomato sauce for the winter, but that stopped about 15 years ago when we had a second life in Vt and were not here to care for a big garden. Now that we are here more being mostly retired I have time to garden.
This year I should have plenty to do a fair amount again unless that dreaded hornworm shows up. But more would be better. We do have this nice little bricked area on the south side of the house that I could use with the grow bags to up the production. I could maybe do some sun dried ones which is a major love in my house. I would still have plenty of room for the big BBQ smoker and a couple of chairs. Easy to water as I could set up drip hoses. Mind is spinning. Patti
I have shown my husband David_Pauls set up. I am not going to do what I did this year again. A whole row of cauli, broc, spinich bla bla bla. Next year it is going to be TOMATOS TOMATOS AND TOMATOS. OK I will put in a couple of cauli, broc and spinich in a very small area with Tomatos tomatos and tomatoes!