I spent the morning making seed balls as a promo for Sugar Snaps and Strawberries. The plan is to give them out at various events as little vegetal thank yous. Because the book is all about edibles, I used veggie, herb, and edible flower seeds rather than my usual crimson clover/wildflower mix. I chose cool-season […]
Veggies & Edibles
Making quince liquor
Vodka + shredded quince = quince liquor. What could be easier? I love growing unusual fruits, herbs and vegetables. The more obscure, the better. Bonus points if someone says, “I’ve never heard of that.” Enter quince. A pome fruit related to the pear and apple, quince has been imbued with some pretty weighty symbolism throughout […]
Now Harvesting: late November
This cabbageworm-chewed bunch of ‘Lacinato’ (Tuscan) kale may very well be the last thing I eat from my garden for months. It’s been incredibly — record-breakingly — cold here in Vancouver, and even my cool-season edibles have succumbed. But not the kale, bless it. Hardy, and delicious to boot. What are you harvesting now?
Now Harvesting: early November
Tomatoes and basil? What is this, August? California? Nope. Just proof that sometimes, green tomatoes will ripen on the vine if you leave them long enough, even if it is nearly freezing out and all the other heat-lovers have given up the ghost. What are you harvesting now?
Now Harvesting: mid-October
The theme song for this week could have been “Here Comes the Rain Again.” Hello autumn in Vancouver. On the upside, it’s time to break out the cute rain boots. And on the upper upside, here come the greens again. After an absence of many months, I’m once again harvesting arugula, Tuscan (lacinato) kale, broccoli […]
Now Harvesting: Early October (plus reflections on the Three Sisters)
Before you scoff at my teeny corn, let me explain. This corn almost didn’t make it. At each turn, my crop was beset by terrible weather and thieves. The remaining six baby cobs almost didn’t get harvested, and thus, almost didn’t make it onto our dinner plates last week. Which would have been a gross […]
Simple oven-dried tomatoes
If, for some reason, you’ve reached your saturation point for tomato-bocconcini-basil salad/bruschetta/tomato bisque/insert-name-of-favourite-tomato-recipe-here, you may be wondering what to do with all those ripe tomatoes sitting on your counter. Last week I reached that point, and, rather than let the fruit flies carry off my ‘maters, I decided to oven dry them. Following the basic […]
Now Harvesting: late September
The garden is entering its period of slow decline. And while I really love perennial gardens in the fall, with their russet tones and funky seed heads, a veggie garden that’s slowed production just reinforces the fact that winter—and it’s imported produce—is right around the corner. There’s winter gardening, of course, and soon I hope […]