Winter Bounty

Today I uncovered the beds, as we have temps in the 50’s and rain is coming. When the row covers are on, I can’t really see how the plants are doing. When I need something, I undo a small portion of the cover and pick it - some kale, say, or some romaine lettuce (and with this romaine recall, it sure has been nice to have our own supply!). So I don’t really get to see the big picture until they are all uncovered, and then whoa. I realize they’ve grown and look beautiful!

Last year we didn’t use row covers because we did that cover crop of winter wheat. I’d forgotten what a pain it is to cover and uncover the beds. I can uncover them by myself, but I need a friend to cover them properly again. So it’s all a juggle, really. Most of the time the nighttime temps are in the 30’s so the beds have to stay covered. It’s rare that I get to open them, so it’s not like I’m doing it every day, and thank goodness. You know, probably most of what I’m growing can be out in the 30’s as well. Not the potatoes - but brassicas, carrots, beets, leeks, parsnips - all of it can withstand temps just above freezing. I guess I’m just acting with an abundance of caution.

Winter greens are so pretty, with their varying shades of green and highlights of purple. I have discovered that the chickens prefer their greens torn into small pieces. They don’t particularly like it when I throw them whole leaves. Though one clever hen has figured out how to step on one end and tear pieces off the other.

Over time, I have learned that anything that doesn’t get eaten by the chickens, will get eaten by nighttime creatures. The opossum that lives under Adam’s train shed likes rotting things. If the leftovers don’t get eaten, I collect them and put them in the compost pile at the corner of the chicken run. Nothing is wasted.

I found a bag of jalapeños in the freezer and defrosted them, then roasted them. Today I am drying them in the dehydrator to make dried chipotles for a gift. They smell really good as they dry! I am glad I thought ahead to freeze a bunch as well as hang many strings in our house to dry over time. We use them all. A classmate just gave me some seeds for a perennial hot pepper; I’m anxious to try them in the summer. I’ll plant them in pots, so I can put them in the greenhouse over the winter. Honestly I’ve read that you can do this with any pepper - they are all perennial if cut back severely and kept in a warm place during the cold months. Right now, all I have in the greenhouse is a brugmansia and some portalucas that I decided to start for the pallet planter. The brugmansia is one I originally planted in a pot, then into the ground. It freezes every winter and has to start again in the spring, so I never get blooms. This year I decided, on the advice of yet another classmate, to cut off a large portion of the stem, stick it in dirt, put in the greenhouse, and it would root and be ready to plant out in the spring. We shall see! It’s looking promising! The portalucas (moss roses) will be great in the pallet planter because they require great drainage.

Competing with the spicy roasted pepper smell are these cookies. Adam asked for white chocolate/macadamia nut cookies, which I’ve never made before - and may I say - YUM. They are truly delicious. I love wintertime baking. :)

I’d love to hear about your baking and cooking adventures, as well as what you’re harvesting out of your gardens. Do you use cold frames? Low tunnels? Greenhouses? or do you let the ground rest over the wintertime?

Yeah, That's Me

A classmate shared this with me. When I showed it to my family, they howled. I have to confess: Yeah. That’s me. One time when I was ID’ing plants during a walk Kate said, exasperatedly, “Ok, Mom, we all know you’re really smart.” Ouch. I try hard not to do it anymore, at least not out loud, but of course it happens in my head.

Can you see my not-so-little friend below?

An adult Cooper’s Hawk, checking out the chickens. Or, more likely, checking out the little sparrows that search for the chicken’s leftovers. Cooper’s Hawks are magnificent raptors and keep the ‘LBB’s’ (Little Brown Birds) in check. I have nothing against the LBB’s. I love them. But it’s that old predator/prey balance that is so important.

Doesn’t my garden look wintery with it’s white covers? Almost like snow. It has been chilly but not that chilly thank goodness. We’ve had a brief spate of something called ‘Tule Fog’ which is fog that comes, not from the Pacific, but from the Sacramento River Delta, though not usually this far west. It happens in the rainy season, when the ground is wet and the air cools rapidly at night - a radiation fog. It’s due to a temperature inversion which is something I hope to learn more about when I take my weather classes for my Environmental Studies degree.

On these chilly days, the chickens move with the light. Can you see them huddled in the corner of their coop, in that little patch of sun? It seems to me that we all crave the sun, on cold days even more. We get about an egg a week, how I wish I had ordered new chickens in the fall like I meant to. It’ll have to wait until spring, now, and I plan to get four more point-of-lay chickens, or slightly younger.

This is my final week for this term and also in the Horticulture department. It’s bittersweet. I’ve really loved learning from my professors and getting to know my fellow students. But I’m looking forward to powering through the other classes I need, so I can transfer to the local CSU in 2020. It’s been a little confusing, given my school history. Let me just say it’s been very handy to have a college administrator in the house. It makes me appreciate how hard it must be for folks who don’t have that resource. It’s not as straightforward as you’d think it might be. Thank heavens for good school counselors and advisors.

apparently Kate’s not too old to make snowflakes!

Concert season is in full swing and we’ve been to see several of Adam’s performances at the Conservatory and several at his school, as well as a church concert my Dad participated in. We have one more lined up, I think. Nothing says ‘holiday’ to me like music, so it’s been super fun (though busy!).

I’m curious to know what sorts of garden supplies/tools are on your holiday wish list. I have seeds on mine (natch) but also a hula hoe. Have you ever used one? I fell in love with it when I had to weed the greenhouses during my internship at school. It really works and doesn’t disturb the soil. Let me know what you are asking Santa for!

Pressing Fresh Cider

My friend Nils invited us over this past weekend, to press fresh apples in his cider press and taste the resulting juice. This was a very interesting experience!

First, Nils had to cut out any wormy bits. He collects apples from his own trees, from neighbor’s trees, and also buys some from the farmers market. This full steel pot of apples (probably 8-ish gallons?) made about 1 gallon of juice.

The next step is to feed the apples into the grinder, which is operated by someone turning a sideways wheel quite fast. The inner cylinder with sharp teeth makes short work of the apples, turning them into pulp below in a lined wooden basket.

Then a wooden disc is applied to the apple mash and the top screw is turned, to press the juice. It runs out the bottom into a tray, and then into the bowl of your choice.

The bowl is emptied several times during the pressing, and the screw is turned ever tighter, pressing the mash further down into the basket. The leftover mash is ideal for the compost bin (or livestock), and the juice is either drunk straightaway or warmed up for hot cider. Or, of course, you could freeze it, can it, or ferment it for hard cider (and then again for vinegar). We just tasted the fresh, cold juice, and let me tell you - it was one of the best things I’ve ever had.

I don’t know why, but it tastes completely different from what you can buy in the store. It’s lighter somehow, and very refreshing. Unpasteurized of course. And I suppose the flavor changes depending on what kind of apples you press. We pressed mostly Granny Smith, and it was so incredibly tasty. I could have drunk a pitcher by myself.

So of course on the way home Tom and I were angling for a press - how could we get one of our own? Nils had found his on Craigslist or some such, and refurbished it. I looked online and found new ones for about $300 or so. That’s too pricey for something we won’t use often. But I’m thinking that maybe we could rent Nils’ for an afternoon next year. We have neighbors who always bring us lots of apples and I’m sure we could find more. It would be great to pay a fee for an afternoon’s press use, and have our own cider to do with as we pleased. Something like the ‘village mill’ that would grind everyone’s grains, or the ‘village bakery’ which would bake everyone’s bread. I love this idea.

Something about this process was very familiar, and it made me wonder if I had done this as a child back in Maryland.

Do any of you own a press, or know someone who does? Is this a tradition in your house? If so, I’d love to hear your stories about it.

December Wreath

My last wreath of the year! This one is made from Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), a California native shrub/small tree. Toyon is a great addition to the garden. Once established, it needs no supplemental irrigation; is evergreen, even in those hot summer months; has lovely tiny white flowers which bees love; and either red or orange berries to celebrate December holidays (and keep the birds happy in cold weather). What’s not to love? I took cuttings from several bushes at a local open space park for this wreath. Because it’s such a hardy plant, this wreath will look as good at the end of the month as it does now.

This monthly wreath project was super fun for me and I am working on something for 2019 that will follow the same spirit. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, if you want to see all the wreaths from this past year, I’ve made a little photo display below.

Several things have been keeping me from writing here lately. One is simply that it is the end of the school term, and all my writing skills and brain power have been used to finish term papers. (Ok, I’m still not finished, but will be by the end of the weekend.) We did visit that local dairy I mentioned last post - they make primarily cheese and it was fun to visit and taste, but I was overwhelmed by what it takes to keep a large operation like this one running (450 dairy cows). I wasn’t entirely on board with some of their practices, but recognize that some things need to be ditched in the name of efficiency. I guess, more than anything, it made me want to have a small dairy herd for my own use; for milk, butter, cream, and cheese. That isn’t possible here of course, and so some compromises have to be made. I’m still wrestling with that one so haven’t felt compelled to write about it just yet.

I’m also feeling completely knocked down by the scary news in the recent climate reports, but they do present a LOT of new opportunities and challenges for those of us that want to make a difference. I am trying to figure out my place in all that. I find myself wanting to write more and more about these issues, but this space began as a place to share gardening ideas on smaller urban/suburban plots, and I recognize that many of my readers are here for that, and that only. So I am struggling with where to take this space in the future. Your comments appreciated.

Meanwhile, we’re enjoying frequent, steady rains which make the winter garden pop with good things to eat. I’ve picked our olives and have started the leaching process, and in a couple of weeks will begin the brining process. I’ve started the annual leaf-haul to both the chicken coop and the walkways. As our trees lose leaves I can start to better calculate what needs pruning and shaping, which is a major winter project. We pick greens daily for salads and sautés, and I eat fresh peas every time I walk through the garden. Winter citrus is starting to come in from the neighbors, and Adam made the first batch of lemon bars yesterday. We crave hearty meals, which I’m happy to cook this time of year. I’m re-reading ‘My Antonia’ by Willa Cather and am struck by how much those Nebraska pioneers had to eat in order to stay warm (descriptions of daily pie baking, yum!), and though we don’t work nearly as hard, something in our DNA tells us to fill up the bellies!

I’d love to hear what’s happening in your own gardens, and what you’re cooking and eating. I’m off to work on those term papers some more, at least until the sun shines - and then it’ll be back to work outdoors.

Below is the slideshow - just click to work your way through it.

January - Cotoneaster, Pyracantha, Toyon

February - Acacia

March - Rosemary

April - Western Redbud

May - Love-in-a-Mist

June - Fennel

July - Wild Cherry Plum

August - California Pepper, Salvia clevlandii

September - Germander, Monarda

October - California Bay Laurel

November - Olive

December - Toyon

Today I Turned the Irrigation Off...

… For the first time since April. Gosh, it felt good to do it. We are expecting rain. Hopefully it will do a lot of good for the fires that are still burning (without causing landslides in the burn scars), it will prevent further fires, and it will clear out this horrible smoky air we’ve been living under for two weeks.

An aside: I was extremely glad not to have small children during this smoky period. We all had to stay indoors - and everyone was out of school - and honestly I was a little crazy, so it’s good that my kids are in the self-sufficient age.

Today the air was merely ‘unhealthy’ rather than ‘very unhealthy,’ so I decided to prepare for the rain and spent the entire day outdoors. I may have overdone it, especially considering I have a cold. However I got so much done. First I turned off the irrigation system and said a little ‘hooray’ to myself. Then I made sure the rain barrels were clean and ready to be filled. I took all the floating row cover down too. It’ll be around 50 at night, so the plants will be fine, and everything will benefit from a nice soak. Above you can see the north garden, which has greens, shallots, garlic, and two beds of chard that I just replanted.

Above is the south garden, which has all kinds of kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, potatoes, peas, fava beans, carrots, leeks, and parsnips.

Then I spent the rest of my day clearing out the pollinator gardens. All the summer flowers had turned black with frost, so it was time to put them in the compost. This took a LONG time. Having a full and glorious flower garden means a lot of plants, and I got slower and slower removing them as the day went on. At least the compost pile is overflowing with biomass. And it was fun to uncover bulbs coming up (the narcissus are already blooming, it gets earlier and earlier each year), and surprises I didn’t know about, like a huge tomato vine that had sprouted underneath all the zinnias. It even had five large fruits on it.

After the beds were cleared and raked, I took all the spring seeds out of cold storage and sowed them with some compost; lupines, poppies, echinacea, flax, delphiniums, and phacelia. This rain will water them in and start the process for them to grow and bloom in spring. I need way more seeds though. I don’t have any clarkias, or tidy tips, and that just won’t do!

I’m sure you’re all looking forward to and planning for Thanksgiving. I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with all kinds of family, good food, and good friends. On Friday, we are spending the day in Pt Reyes visiting a large cow farm and exploring their milk and cheese operation. We’ll be sure to take our boots as we’ll likely be touring in the rain (another cheer!). I’ll write on Saturday about what we experience and learn there. My first born turned 17 this week and he adores cheese, so this is his birthday celebration. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!