Garden Reflections

I am beginning to dream of summer. Barefoot muddy children running wild, the heat of the sun on my bare arms, and green things growing everywhere. I received the first of many seed catalogs this garden dreaming season - and it is a Fedco! I'm not ready for it to be summer yet, not ready to work that hard. I'm still enjoying last summers potatoes, onions and garlic. I still have a couple winter squash, lots of frozen tomato sauce, canned green beans, frozen broccoli, leeks, kale, beets, carrots and lots of frozen vegetable soups.

Looking back at last summers garden, there are a few things I would have done differently and will remember for this coming garden season. Not having enough mild summer greens early enough in the season haunts me still. I was too preoccupied getting a head start on more exciting vegetables like tomatoes and squash, that I somehow missed the early salad green boat. Having crisp and tender greens when all that is really ready is greens is essential. I planted way to much bitter greens and hardy greens such as endive, escarole, swiss chard, radiccio, tatsoi and other mustard greens, arugula, as well as too much spinach. I do succession plant greens, probably three times over the course of the summer. This past summer I got too early of a start on the final planting. So by late September, early October, my late hardy greens were flowering and too bitter to
enjoy.

Everything else seems minor after dropping the ball on early salad greens. This was my first summer eating beets and carrots by the end of June. We enjoyed carrots so much all summer that by the end of September there were not a lot left. Carrots and beets have got to be our favorite winter vegetables. So, this summer I'm going to sow beets and carrots in early May, and then again in early June. The early harvest for summer eating, the late sowing for winter storage.

We love peas. I planted thirty feet of peas and between snacking on them and eating peas fresh for dinner, none made it into the freezer. I'd like to grow enough to have some frozen. I can't imagine ever having too many peas.

There are some things I plant because they do well, but we don't eat them, like turnips, rutabagas, radishes and to an extent, bitter greens. I love that they thrive in our cool climate. Radishes are the jewels of the garden, red, pink, purple and black. Once washed they glisten and shine. And yet, once they are in the fridge I avoid them. I like them occasionally when they are young and tender. We braise them a couple times a summer with butter, onions and greens. For the most part, I plant way too many of them. So, unless I plan on shredding them for the goats, which I never get around to the shredding part, way less radishes, turnips and rutabagas.

We had a moose eat several cabbage heads, a goat eat several cauliflower plants. So I think fencing might actually take priority this year.

Leeks, onions and shallots took up a lot of room this year. As much as I adore leeks and shallots, I may resist the urge the order them this year. I planted three sets of Copra storage onion, and they didn't get bigger than golf balls before they stopped growing and stood at a standstill for a couple months before I pulled them. Looking for a different storage onion this year.

Some vegetables we had just the right amount of for once, enough for eating our hearts out plus enough for preserving or winter storage. I planted to four by six raised beds of green beans and planted provider and bountiful along with just a few others for variety. I also sowed them earlier than usual and covered them with plastic while they germinated, they were up before June 1st. I planted ten pounds of potatoes and still have quite a bit. I mostly planted Yukon Gods and German Butter Balls, both great all purpose potatoes. We don't eat a lot of potatoes. I planted about two dozen heads of broccoli, including Romanesco, and that was about perfect. We mostly just eat it fresh all summer, although I freeze a small amount for soups. I planted at least six different types and the main advantage was that I started them all at the same time, but had a staggered harvest from June to September.

I didn't realize till the end of summer that I hadn't grown enough thyme, basil and oregano. After harvesting and drying the last of the basil and oregano I had less than a pint of each. Not sure how that happened.

Those are my main thoughts as far as what to plant more or less of. We had a nice early start on just about everything but squash. I'd like to build a couple more covered beds, hot frames or cold frames for squash and cucumbers. You might recognize some of these photos from this past summer. I couldn't help pulling them up again as I dream of summer days to come.

 Lunch in the garden

I can almost see the warmth hanging in the air. The night I took these last to shots was right around solstice. It was one of the balmiest nights of the summer, low eighties. Just perfect. Avery took a bath in the garden, after trying to catch a chicken. We looked for raspberries. I can't remember if there were a few ripe by then or not. 

As far as looking forward, I am eager to pick our first ripe strawberry. This fall Becca and I dug up and transplanted established Toklat perennial strawberries from a friend's garden. We planted a three foot by maybe twelve foot row. Eventually I'd like to have a strawberry plot four times this size. I also planted a row of Boyne raspberry canes, which didn't look like much going into fall, but I have high hopes that we'll at least get a few ripe berries this summer, in addition to our wild raspberries that already grow all over the property.

What changes are you going to make to your garden this summer? What are you most looking forward too?

Feels like Fall

I've gotten a lot of cooking and cleaning done the last couple days, and I guess that's how I know summer is coming to an end. The days have been overcast, the air; crisp and almost shockingly cool. The temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties, which shouldn't feel so cold, except that there is that fall feel to the air, as if it is blowing from the north or off a frozen glacier. I expect the cooler air this time of August - I brace for it - I don't welcome it. I loathe to see the end of the hot days.

Daily I've found myself pausing to scan the trees for signs of yellow leafs. So far the Birch are looking droopy and tired, their leaves dried out like paper. The woods have taken on a lighter green shade, no longer the lush vibrant green of mid summer. The only yellow I see are on dying trees. Not long though, maybe a week before there are several splashes of yellow throughout the trees. Maybe two weeks before leaves start falling and covering the ground. We usually have lovely sunny September days, but they are cooler, not as much sandles and a lot more sweatshirts, ah.... I've still been doing chores most days wearing sandles and a skirt, and I'm already missing these days.

In the last couple days I've canned smoked salmon and green beans from the garden. I cleaned out the pantry to make room for all the new canned goods. I've been cooking and baking more than usual. Yesterday I made a lemon pie, a broccoli bacon salad and a white bean soup with garden veggies and bacon- (bacon = fall cooking). I dehydrated some scallions yesterday as I have more than I can eat fresh. I'm going to do my dehydrating this year, more vegetables and not just berries and fruit leather. The garden just needs harvested. Everything is just getting bigger, nothing has needed water except the greenhouse. The tomatoes are slowly ripening, we've been picking just enough cherry tomatoes for snacking and enough full sized tomatoes for sandwiches. I just put a batch of freshly made kimchee into the fridge and started a batch of lacto-fermented dill green beans.

I need to start blanching and freezing herbs and kale. We should be eating green salads and stirfry every night so as to use up all the greens, but instead we've been eating peas, zucchini, green beans and broccoli just about nightly. I don't really like any of these things frozen or canned- green beans are about it for canning, unless I have enough tomatoes for sauce. I don't find that snap peas, snow peas or green beans freeze well and I don't usually use frozen broccoli either. I will shred and freeze some zucchini. My favorite way to preserve summer vegetables is in soup form. I make a lot of big batches of soup to freeze, pesto garden veggie soup, green soups, blended veggie and bean and veggie soups. Last year I probably froze forty to fifty quarts of veggie soups that we pulled out for dinners through the winter.

I suppose if I were trying to go without buying vegetables in the winter then I would freeze and can more vegetables, but as long as I can buy them fresh, yes with all those fossil fuel miles packed in, I will. Usually we go without buying many vegetables till mid winter. We'll have enough garlic, onions, potatoes, beets, rutabagas, turnips and carrots to last till spring if we can store them that long. The tomatoes will continue to ripen slowly indoors until November. We'll be eating fresh out of the garden till the end of September, maybe some greens will keep in the garden through October with row covers. For now, I'm making the most of eating what I like fresh while it is fresh, lightly and simply cooked. What are you enjoying while it is fresh?

Harvest meals

I love how simple meal planning and cooking dinner are this time of year. I could pretty much eat fresh vegetables in various combinations steamed with butter or stir fried, sprinkle with salt and pepper, garnish with fresh herbs, maybe some cheese. Serve with rice, noodles or bread and that's dinner.

Dustin came back from Chitina with twenty-three Copper River Red Salmon. He could have gotten up to forty fish but the water level rose drastically the night he arrived making it difficult to catch the fish. He held out a day, the water level went back down, he was finally catching fish, but had to get back for work the next morning. Twenty-three salmon is a nice number, plenty for us for the year. Wednesday night we processed fish, vacuum sealing and freezing most of it. We saved out several fillets to eat fresh within a few days and I set aside enough for about four batches of smoked salmon. In past years we have frozen fish whole wrapped in saran wrap and freezer paper. This year we filleted them all as we eat salmon more often when it is more convenient.

The only parts of the salmon thrown away were the guts. We froze all the row to feed to the chickens throughout the year. We put the whole carcasses in the bottom of a freshly dug trench and planted raspberry canes on top. We scraped all the extra meat off the carcass and froze eight quarts of salmon strips and pieces to make chowder and salmon cakes with. Today I'm either going to start canning smoked salmon or go blueberry picking depending on the weather and the kids.

A perfect meal, fresh baked salon with olive oil, garlic and fresh dill. Freshly shelled peas from the garden, cooked briefly over high heat with butter and a little salt. Tasty, simple and nutritious. I love summer meals.

How does my garden grow?

Better than ever. Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks.

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Here is a picture of a daily harvest - about as much as I'm carrying down to the house daily. The peas and beans are in full force. Getting a couple zucchini daily. Been thinning onions and pulling the ones that get flatened in the rain. Dug the first potatoes yesterday and made potato salad. I wish that dinners were this easy all year, just cooking up whatever looks good that day. 

Been spending time picking wild blueberries. Picked about eight pounds the other day and froze most of them. Dustin is in Chitina right now, hopefully coming back today with forty Copper River Red Salmon. I've got the brine ready, the smoker and chips pulled out as well as the vacuum sealer and freezer paper. Just need to sharpen some knives. Its harvest time, not just for vegetables but berries and fish too. I feel so wealthy this time of year, rich with an abundance of healthy and tasty food.