Posted on May 29, 2022May 29, 2022A very unfortunate season for cilantro here Blanching night! The cilantro by the porch kept threatening to flower, and the community supported agriculture farm share bag this week had more summer squash and zucchini than we wanted to deal with. Right now a single cilantro plant has reseeded and it’s in this crack by the front porch. I think since I found this one, there are a few more out in the raised beds, but it’s nothing like last year’s glorious multiple beds. Here it has received a heavy duty haircut. 59 g of cilantro. Two units of cilantro. There was the 59 g from our porch crack plant and a small bundle from the weekly farm share delivery. I squeeze out water from the blanched herb and then put them in these balls. They work fine for salsa verde, though I don’t have any tomatillo plants this year, sigh. Lessons learned about pot drainage. The zucchini and summer squash in the freezer, spread out so they don’t become a solid squash ice rock.
Posted on December 21, 2021December 21, 2021Ground cherry raisins At least 20 hours on 95°F temperature in the dehydrator. I did a lot of stops and starts so I’ll go straight through next time and get the timing more accurate.
Posted on November 29, 2021November 29, 2021Saturday butter beans We did more fall garden clean up on Saturday. Look at the size of the roots on this Peruvian ground cherry!! Neat clouds. The Lima bean vines were dead but still had some green pods, so we asked The Chef to attempt butter beans. He also added a few slices of jalapeño. Some drier limas that still need drying but weren’t green enough for the butter beans. Yum! Thanksgiving leftovers with butter beans.
Posted on November 25, 2021November 28, 2021Bean counting highlights Paula and I sorted and weighed yesterday’s harvest. Look at these beauties! They were our favorites of each variety. Inca pea beans are maroon and white in the middle. Clockwise from the top are Alabama blackeye butter lima bean (the big flat white ones), slippery silk (pink ones), California blackeye cowpeas (whitish, not glossy), greasy grits (speckled tan), vaquero (moo cow pattern), and bolas maycoba (creamy color).
Posted on November 14, 2021November 14, 2021Saffron harvest Wow!! Paula was just here on Friday and said the saffron crocuses were not open like this. This was on Saturday night. We got 69 threads, for a season total up to 78 threads now. Happened to be in the spice aisle today at grocery store. Planting your own is a pretty good deal after a year or two!
Posted on November 6, 2021November 6, 2021Nine more threads today That’s from three more saffron crocus flowers.
Posted on October 24, 2021October 24, 2021Threshing and winnowing last spring’s coriander Two of our friends came over yesterday and all four of us decided to deal with the coriander we’ve saved since spring. No reason, we just hadn’t had time to do it yet. Look carefully to see pouring to let wind take away non-seed bits.
Posted on October 10, 2021October 10, 2021Saturday harvest and new lake The original moon and stars watermelon is still here. The tendril is turning brown so it may be ready soon? I harvested 162 g of oregano from the front and back yard. The Chef dehydrated it and removed the stems, and the final dry weight was 20 g. Some blackjack oak acorns. Walking towards a new lake. Briar got to stand in the lake. A leopard frog in the raised bed, hiding.
Posted on October 5, 2021October 5, 2021Ground cherries and vanilla ice cream A collaboration between The Chef and Paula