Hop to it

The hops have really taken off this year.  We gave a plant a nice sunny spot last year, but it only grew about 40 cm long and didn't climb the wall.  This year, however, the plant is already about 2.5 meters high!  It seems to grow about an inch or two every day.  Bitter hops are good for balancing the sweetness of malt in beer.  I'm going to try them in tea, as it's suppose to have a calming effect.  I've also heard of hops being used as an anti-bacterial agent in deoderant.  But my big beer hopes for hops will have to wait until I can find the space to grow some barley, and a little wheat and rye.

A Place for Beauty

Lilacs in Bloom.

Pansies spring up from last year's seeds/roots.   While pansies are edible and we've added a couple to our salads this year...I prefer to eat them with my eyes.

The dogwood in the front yard is gorgeous at this time of year!

We added a flower bed to the front yard lawn.  I needed a space to grow all my dalias rescued from my father's acreage.  These will grow big and tall and will require leaning support (ground stake at a some point).  Who doesn't love fresh cut flowers all summer long?

Our little bistro set, a new addition to our garden. Something of beauty to visit in the garden.  We picked this up on Craigslist for $60 (not bad I say).    I wouldn't mind also adding a 'gnome' here and there just for fun!   

And then there was life....

Onions, onions, oo oo ooo....  There was actually a song I learned in elementary school that went something like that and this..  "I don't like snakes or toads or frogs, or strange things living under logs, but ooooooo, I love onions... Onions, onions, ooo ooo ooo.. a root a toot toot, a root a toot toot toot".  I have yet to find anyone that has come across this song.  But let me tell you... it gets stuck in my head again when I see the onions sprouting.

The Kolhorabi is peaking through and doing quite well.  To be honest, neither Jason or I have ever tried this vegetable.  We are still not quite clear on what it is and how to cook it.   After a brief google search, I have found that it tastes alike broccoli and that it is apart of the cabbage family.   One can eat it raw or cooked... It can be shredded into a salad, made into a slaw, steamed, roasted....and on and on.   It's leaves are also edible apparantly...but I would like to look into that a bit more.  For now, all we need to know is that we are to pick it while it is smaller than a tennis ball [for the best flavor and tenderness].  This could be an interesting task, seeing that it is a root crop, and its size will not be visible to us until we dig it up.   The trick will be in digging it up neither too early or too late.

  

Peas! Peas! Oh Please!  Jason started planted peas in February... these are early regular peas (a paladilo variety).   He then went on to plant more peas in the weeks to follow including a row of snow peas, a row of sugar snap peas, and three rows of shelling peas.   I think peas have taken over our garden!   They should be ready for picking by the end of May, Jason figures.  Then we can rotatil the plants back in the ground [they are great for adding nitrogen] and plant our later-in-the-season crops. 

I can't wait for the spinach and the lettuce to get big enough to munch on!   Won't be much longer...looks like they are well on their way!

    My eyes can now see the potatoe 'eyes' that are now small plants.   Jason planted six rows of potatoes starting back in February including russet, yukon gold, a purple variety, and others.   I think maybe the potatoes are competing with the peas for garden space...  We will need two backyards at this planting rate!     

I can't believe the chives have already flowered! 

The Wannabe Greenhouse

Well, this year we decided we better get the greenhouse manageable and use it for something [primarily to get our plants started in trays, and then to plant tomoatoes, cukes, basil, etc.].   Last year, it wasn't put to good use and the weeds took over, not to mention the wind tore away at the plastic.

Two hours+ of weeding the area and edging the grass...

The morning glory roots collected were enough to give any gardener nightmares.  A super nasty weed with never ending roots and shoots.... super nasty because if you can't manage the weed it winds its way up everything and chokes the life out of other plants.  I am dumbfounded to find that local garden centers sell this weed as flower seeds.  Who would buy them? 

 

Getting there.  Now the greenhouse has two raised beds, and a path to walk through down the middle.  All is needed is the front door and plants of course.

Garden Goodness

Let me tell you what's cooking... Our first harvest of Asparagus!!!  The roots of these plants were planted in the fall 2008...the roots are finally established and shoots are springing up here and there.   Not sure how many shoots we will get this year, so I made sure to cook the first ones right...on the BBQ with butter, lemon and garlic!   Yummie!  This year we planted several other asparagus roots, including purple asparagus.   However, it will be two summers from now before we see these new plants additions arrive.   This is definitely one crop that teaches a person patience :)

A purple salad?  Apparantly lilacs are edible.  We experimented tonight by crushing a handful on our salad.  We found them to taste super bitter!  Yet, reading more about lilac, it's surprising to learn that they are added to recipes such as syrups, cookies, cheese spreads and jam.    I wonder what lilac jam tastes like?  I should take some time to figure out the answer, being that it is lilac season and our trees are in full bloom.

More edibles from the garden...  Steamed swiss chard and kale.

Fresh Greens

Yesterday we enjoyed another dish with some fresh greens from the garden.  We used quite a bit of Swiss Chard, as we have about a 25 foot row of this, but also some kale (which is beginning to send out seed forming stalks), cabbage leaves, and collards.  I wasn't sure what collards were exactly - just a leafy edible green.  Now I'm thinking that it's a type of cauliflower, as when we were cutting up the leaves for our dish, we found a tiny cauliflower head.  Although it could be that the plant was mislabelled.  Time will tell.  We left the leading kale plant to go to seed, so we'll have seed for the fall.  We didn't add any Sorrel to the dish, as we had just planted it and I didn't know what it was used for yet.  Now I know that its juicy and tart leaves are used is salads, etc. like many other greens.  I also read that its tartness is in the larger, older leaves because it contains oxalic acid, which is poisonous in large quantities.  Hmm.  Oxalic acid is also one of the toxins in rhubarb leaves.  I'm not sure how many sorrel leaves it would take to feel any effects, but if you have kidney problems - it be best to not have any.  We also sometimes add a few mint leaves to our salads for a bit of fresh zip.
We brought back some saskatoon berry plants from our road trip to Alberta.  We heard they need a good frost to make the berries sweet, so we'll see if they do anything out here on the mild West coast.  The hops have grown about 4 inches higher in the last 4 days - what a difference from last year!

Garlic Gabble

We visited Gusto Garlic in Maple Ridge last week. A small hobby farm, run by a lovely couple who run a local garlic growing business.  I found their information online and they were very open and welcoming in giving us a tour of their garlic garden.  We learned a lot from them in our two hour visit.

I went home and spent 4 hours attending to our small garlic grove... weeding it, adding blood meal (for nitrogen) and adding soil.  Our garlic started to turn yellow on the leaf tips a couple weeks ago [it's way tooooo early in the season to start turning yellow].  We figure this is due to a lack of nitrogen in the soil as garlic is a hungry predator of nitrogen [and  it does not like to compete with the weeds to get it].  Blood meal is an organic alternative to supply nitrogen.  Here's hoping this fixes the problem.  Next year, we will also have to pay better attention to forming raised beds for the garlic (8-10 inches high) to help with drainage so the bulbs can grow better.  Last year we didn't have any problems growing our garlic...we grew it in a garden box with well-prepared, new bedding soil.  This year, its in an area that use to be grass, but not raised.  We did get one thing right... that you do not plant garlic in the same place as the year before.. in fact you should wait four years between planting it back in a place you have already planted it in. Why? Garlic is prone to molds/fungis that can destroy your crops if you don't take care in rotating your crops.

I can't wait until the garlic scapes appear and are ready for harvest.  The Gusto Garlic couple, Al & Donna, gave us a great recipe for scape pesto!    I suggest checking out their site http://www.gustogarlic.com/  there is a lot of good information about growing garlic, recipes and more.

In the fall, we are hoping to plant enough garlic bulbs to begin our own local garlic growing business... so if you are looking to buy local Fraser Valley garlic, check in with us next summer (harvest time) and see what varieties we have available.

Wasabi Wonder

A couple wasabi greens reappeared this spring. We planted a couple plants last year, but thought they were done for with the horseradish taking over the garden space beside it.  We find it interesting that it has reappeared and we are still trying to figure this plant out (how to best grow it, harvesting techniques, etc.).   It's not known to grow all that well in the coastal region, however, it does like the wet and cold.  It usually grows in cool forest areas and along streams (native to Japan).  So it may again shrivel up in the hot summer months, or we may harvest it before the summer comes?  Not sure.  I was just reading that Wasabi is a niche plant, and that its demand far exceeds its growth; and so, imitation wasabi is commonly used made of horseradish and green dye (and is probably what you are ingesting when you order suishi).   

What will we do with it if it grows well in our garden? A simple use for growing local wasabi is grating the rhizome (or root) to add flavor to salads, stirfries, etc.  I look forward to experimenting!         

Nettle Niche or Nightmare?

I wonder if I have brought 'trouble' into my garden?  I transplanted some stinging nettle from a farm in Maple Ridge into a small area in our garden last week.  I put them in an area where salmon berry shoots keep growing back each year... so I figure we might as well make it the 'native edible weed' area.  This way I can have my own patch of nettles to harvest for teas and soups. 

Now is the time to harvest nettles...when the shoots are young.   I won't harvest these particular plants, as I just transplanted them, but it's time to take a fieldtrip in the great outdoors to nettle hunt.   It will be interesting to see how the transplanted nettles establish themselves in our garden... will they take over and become a nuisance? Or be a tasty addition?  One thing to prevent nettles from being a nuisance is to make sure the seeds don't blow into other areas in the yard [pinch them off before they are windblown and use as a salt substitute]. 

About Nettle:

As far back as history dates, stinging nettles have been praised as a cure-all for everything from common ailments like cold and sore throat to serious afflictions like scurvy and cancers. Nettles are rich in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, silica, iodine, sodium, sulfur and other elements including tannin, beta-carotene and amino acids. Nettles are also a good source of vitamins C and B complex and it’s fascinating to note that they are said to dish up more protein than any other vegetable.

Nettle Recipes

Spring Tonic — Fresh Nettle Tea
Good to the last drop and rich in minerals and vitamins to boot. Put a handful of fresh washed leaves into heated tea pot. Cover with boiling water and steep for five minutes, or until desired strength is reached. Strain before serving. Especially nice with a dab of honey. Don’t discard leftover tea! Put in a jar and refrigerate for a healthy cold drink. Leftover cold tea also makes nutritious house plant water and leaves or dregs can be sprinkled on soil for boost.

Drying Nettles

Dried leaves can be steeped into delicious tea that makes an invigorating morning drink, and safe for the young'uns. Use two teaspoons of dried nettles per pint of boiling water for tea. To dry nettles, cut plant down at lower stalk, tie into bundles and hang in airy place until all moisture is gone, about five to seven days. I like to cover with a paper bag, to keep the cat hair and dust from getting on it. When crisp, strip off leaves and crush. Store in a glass jar (in dark dry place).

Nettle as a Salt Substitute
When nettle flowers go to seed, they can be gathered and dried and used as a salt substitute. Simply spread the seedy clusters on paper towels or screens and dry in airy place until moisture is gone, about a week. Pulverize in mortar with pestle or in blender. This was originally used as goiter treatment because of its iodine content.


Nettle as a Vegetable
Cooked nettles are similar in taste to spinach and can be used in place of it or Swiss Chard in any recipe calling for cooked greens. Boil or steam the nettle until tender.  Save the liquid for another day's soup recipe or for drinking cold or for plant water.


You can also make nettle soup, nettle quiche and just about anything that calls for green-leafy vegetables in the recipe.  Isn't it great to have such a rich vegetable, native to this area, in abundance? Just watch you don't get 'stung' in the process of harvesting it. Wear long sleeves and gloves!!!

Lavender Magic

Okay, maybe this year my lavender will survive!  Last year's lavender drowned...and so did the $$$ I put into purchasing different kinds. I didn't know then that it needs well-drained soil... and because we get so much rain here, it's important to pay special attention to this fact. 

I have planted my lavender in a spot that keeps fairly dry due to the small  roof overhang above it...I have also put in a more sandy/mulch soil mixture. I am confident that this year's crop will survive, however I will have to measure the amount of sunlight they receive in this spot (they like the sun!).  Brian Minter (a Fraser Valley known 'garden guru') suggested I go with these varieties; Munstead, Hidcote and Baby Blue, he said that they are better suited for our BC climate... but to know that lavender alike Rosemary is a Meditteranean-origin plant... hence the need for well-drained soil and little water.

I store lavender in my tea cupboard (in a giant glass jar) and mix it in my sleepy-time tea concoctions. It's great for calming the nerves and easing insomia.  It has a strong aroma and can easily take over the flavor when mixing with other herbs, so you only need to use a little.  I like to mix it with lemon balm and chamomile, for starters...  Lavender can also be used as a cooking herb... I have yet to experiment using it in different dishes.  [Currently, I only buy enough from a local health store for tea].  At some point, if I can grow enough lavender [a field of it would be dreamy] I would like to learn how to make lavender oil.  I know first hand the healing magic of lavender after applying it to my bike wound (gauge in my leg) last summer...   Not only is lavender oil great for wounds with its antiseptic and antibacterial qualities... you can also use it for cleaning your house (anti-bacterial) and it smells great!!!