Gingered Green Tomato Spread

An abundance of green tomatoes, about 15 lbs. forced me to look for green tomato recipes.  On my recent visit to Apple Hill, I picked up a tomato cookbook that had about 10 recipes for green tomatoes. One of those recipes was for Gingered Tomato Preserves.

Ingredients: Green Tomatoes, Red Tomatoes, Fresh Ginger, Sugar, Salt, Ground Cloves, Nutmeg, Sliced Lemons, Fruit Pectin

We haven't tasted this yet as it takes approximately 2 weeks to set.

Putting It Away

The biggest pleasure and sometimes hardest work is putting away the fruits of your garden labor.  I spent the weekend canning all of the green tomatoes that were left over on the plants before the weather change.  In the past I'd bring the tomatoes in and let them ripen in the house.  This year I decided to use the green tomatoes to make a variety of recipes I had heard about.

I made Piccadilli, which is a pickled tomato concoction used as a southern food condiment and dill green tomato pickles.

Ingredients:  Shredded cabbage, chopped green tomatoes, green and red bell peppers and onions.

Veggies brined overnight

Rinsed after brining

Pickled with Vinegar, Salt, Brown Sugar Mustard Seed .  Dill Green Tomato Pickles

The Rain Is Finally Here

The fall rain has finally come and just in time to save me from my damaged drip system.  While happily preparing my beds for my winter garden that wasn't supposed to happen, I accidentally damaged a couple of the lines and have been too lazy to fix them.  So, I've resorted to the dreaded hand watering with the hose.

Broccoli and Russian Kale

My fall plants have been attacked by what I believe could be considered to be the non-biblical equivalent to locust.  Green caterpillar like worms have devoured everything.  They are a smaller version on the horn worm with the same destructive nature. CABBAGE WORMS.

Red Pak Choi - Before

Red Pak Choi - After

Cabbage Worms dumped in soapy water

Ok, I've tried hand picking them off every day, but geez I'm pulling 10-15 off a day.  So, I think I might need to take drastic measures and find a chemical agent.  Yes, I know I  was staying organic and chemical free, but what good is organic or chemical free if there are no plants left?

The lovely (not) creatures come from those pretty white butterflies you see flitting around your garden.  They lay their eggs on your plants and then those plant eating worms devour your garden.  Bacillus thurigienis (Bt) powder or spray supposedly kills these buggers in their caterpillar stage.

Cauliflower -Before

Cauliflower - After

ose pretty white butterflies

Fall Planting - Created 9/13/10 Late Post

I think it's safe to say that Fall is here in Sacatomatoes.  We've had mild days in the mid 80's and I think the triple digits are done for the year.  A couple of weeks ago I did a mass clean-up of the garden and removed most of the green beans and squash.  I double dug the raised beds they were occupying and added a mixture of chicken and cow manure, compost, blood and bone meal.  Of course after that I had to keep the scavenging dogs out of the garden. I swear it's guaranteed if it smells (stinky) they want to eat it.  Earlier this week I had forgotten about the dogs appetite for blood meal and planted one of the Collard Trees outside the garden in what I thought was a perfect spot with the usual side dressing of blood meal.  I came home that evening and my husband had mowed the the lawn (which was great).  He commented on my usual lack of pulling weeds and then asked why I was digging holes in the yard instead of pulling weeds.  "What hole?"!!!!.  There where my precious Collard Tree (the one I had waited 4 weeks to be delivered from Bountiful Gardens) was a huge hole.  Not a small hole, but a hole about the depth and diameter to plant a 5 gallon bush in.  The Collard Tree cutting was only about the size of a pencil.  I must admit, I did briefly consider dogslaughter and various types of torture techniques.  Amongst the pile of dirt I found my poor little cutting actually unharmed (unlike those two heathen dogs when I got my hands on them).  Moral of the story...don't forget about your garden predators even in the "off" planting season.

So, back to the Collard Trees.  I had been hearing about these trees from my family for the last year and thought I'd try them out when I received a notice from one of my nurseries that they had them in.  I received 3 cuttings in the mail wrapped in damp newspaper.  Very unimpressive to say the least.  I wasn't quite sure where I was going to plant these so I put them in water in a window.  After a few days they began to sprout leaves and I realized I'd need to move pretty quickly to find a home for these.  My sister asked that I give one to her, so I placed this one in a small pot.  The others, I planted on eastern side of the house in a pretty shaded area.  It is my understanding that these guys are not overly fond on scorching sun.  I also staked them for added security.  So we'll see how they come along.

The last time I posted, I was going back and forth on whether or not I'd have a fall/winter garden.  I've got a lot of things going on right now and the last thing I needed to do was add something else to my plate.  So, of course I started a new garden, lol.  Ok, what had happened was...

I was driving along Sunrise Blvd. minding my own business, when I came across a Capitol Nursery.  We had one near our old house in Elk Grove, but I didn't realize there was one close to us here in Orangevale.  I decided to look in and have a looksy, just a peek.  I didn't even grab a basket.  I needed some fertilizer for the plum tree anyway.  I slowly strolled along the rows of flowering shrubs, bushes and trees (you know everything that's usually in a nursery) and way in the back I found the veggie and herb section, which I expected to be pretty bare.  But no, they've got rows of lettuces, greens, artichokes, cauliflower, broccoli and much much and they were all so happy and healthy looking.  As I perused this bounty, a winter garden began to seem appealing again, so...

Ha, you thought I went crazy and bought up the place didn't you?  Well I didn't.  I had all of these seeds at home and would plant them instead of purchasing the plants.  Amazingly enough I walked out with only my fertilizer.  Proud of myself in fact.

Ok, so I did go and buy the plants.  Yeah  yeah I know, don't judge me.  Anyyyyyway...So, yes I planted a fall garden and yes I did buy the plants instead of starting them from seed. So sue me.  I justify both by saying I am making sure my family has healthy food while saving myself time by buying the plants.

The fall garden line up:

Pac Choi

Curly Kale

Red Pak Choi

Russian Kale

Oregon Sugar Snap Peas

Broccoli Raab

Red and Green Chard

Green Comet Broccoli