Falling in to Winter

Friday we harvested Lemon Guavas, Jujubes, Passionfruit, Butternut Squash and Pumpkins. Kyra (my new garden helper) cut down the 15 foot cornstalks in the front yard. I have never seen corn this tall, but this is my first time growing cornmeal corn. It got a lot of attention and comment from neighbors, walkers and cars slowing to gape. Kyra: “How am I going to find your house now?”

We pulled out the watermelon vines and are giving the last to the birds. The Turkeys are just reaching maturity and starting to display. Hanna and the kids are all doing well. The eggs have slowed suddenly down with the cool fall weather so I will put a lamp in the coop soon to extend their light hours back up to summer levels. I read in the last issue of the internationally bestselling “Backyard Poultry” (yeah right) that pumpkin is a natural wormer for birds. Last week I gave a split pumpkin to the ever hungry flock and it was gone in a couple of hours, husk and all. The hens were indifferent and left it mostly to the turkeys- pumpkin being one of their very favorite treats.







Many people are asking what I’m putting in my winter garden. What I have put in is getting dug up every night by a very vigorous raccoon. Last night I set a trap for him or her and oh help me god if I catch a skunk. We caught a neighbor’s cat first at about 10pm. I will go out when it gets light to see what …….

I’ve planted onions and garlic. Onion plants in a 6 variety assortment from Peaceful Valley. Early California garlic, also from PV, and Inchellium Red and Shantung Purple from a garlic farmer I know. I’m experimenting with perennial onions- walking onions, potato onions, multiplier onions and shallots. The coon isn’t digging up these beds. hmmmm…… I do not recommend the onion sets (bulblets) sold at the big boxes and nurseries. In my yard they have gone to seed before they make a bulb. Bad. You can put onions in from seed and have spring onions with full bulbs next summer or you can buy 6–packs at the nursery. Separate the little plants, trim top and roots and plant.

6¬–packs of cauliflower, chard and broccoli are in to get a head start. I will be starting other cabbage family plants in the house as seeds- I should have done this a month ago. This is where you get to plant some unique and wonderful things- Spigariello, Romesco, Broccoli Raab, colored Cauliflowers, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Tatsoi and more.

Parsley and Cilantro- Cilantro grows easily and goes fast – be ready to throw out some more seeds.

Direct seeding- Now’s the time for all the lettuce greens. A good assortment of Lettuces broadcast over a 4x4 ft. area will provide you with months of cut and come again salad. You can plant a fresh patch later in the season. DON’T buy one of those “mesclun” mixes- the more vigorous mustard family plants will crowd out the lettuce. Keep lettuce on it’s own. Plant mizuna, red leaf mustard, arugula, mache, dandelion, curly endive (frisee) and garden cress separately.

Carrots, and radishes. Mix these seeds together to broadcast. The fast growing radishes with be pulled up and gone, leaving more room for the slow growing carrots. The French breakfast radishes are a fave.

Scallions- red and white. Renee’s garden seeds has a good combo at OSH

Peas- oh yeah! Snap, shelling and Snow. Snow Peas grow low so a 4 or 5 ft. trellis is enough. Snap and Shelling need at least 6 ft. but 8 is better. This height is important. Ever since the original snap pea was developed the breeders have been coming up with new ones. They have all kinds of names- Super Sugar Snap etc. Not one of the many I have tried compare with the original. Just Sugar Snap.

Beets and Turnips. My experience with these is mixed at best. If we have a long cool spell with no frosts or heat waves the root crops thrive. But we live in SoCal…. I take my chances because when they are good they are sooooo good. Golden beets are my favorite.

Don’t forget Fennel and Daikon!!

Happy Gardening

A few pictures of the late summer garden

The Turkeys are growing up.



Pumpkin Perfection



The Girls



Hanna and her brood enjoying their breakfast of eggs, comfrey and yogurt



Luxury Pie Pumpkins and Trombone squash



The Volunteer Pumpkins on the roof

Gloria's query - my answer

Now is the time to think about fruit trees you might want to add to your garden. Order now, plant in January or February.


Kazi,

I'm finally placing my order from Bay Laurel for a few bare root trees to plant this winter. I'm only adding 4 this winter. I'm looking at the "low chill varieties" section of their web site. Can you give me some feedback on varieties based on your experience?

Apple---I've heard Anna does well here. What do you grow & like?

Plum---Tempted by "Mariposa" for obvious reasons. Do you have a favorite?

Peach---?

Nectarine---?

I'm going to throw in a Kiwi for good measure too. And lots of different blueberries to try in containers.

Thanks in advance!

G


ok Gloria here are my ideas

As far as apples- Anna needs a pollinator so you would have to get 2 kinds. I love my Fuji best of my 3 apples -which seems kind of average but it does well. Next time I plant I will refer to Kevin Hauser's great site (below) and his list of the best SoCal apples- I've heard him speak and he's inspiring. In my notes from his class Rubinette was his favorite, along with Hawaii. The top 10 of that day included Dorsett, Williams Pride, Gala, Stump, Anna, Fuji, Wealthy, Winesap, Arkansas Black and Wickson Crab. He is a believer in ignoring chill hours when it comes to apples and he has tried literally hundreds of varieties in his Riverside garden.

http://www.kuffelcreek.com/growingapples.htm

Peach is easy- Red Baron on Nemaguard rootstock (NOT Citation) . Stunning tree- great fruit- my favorite SoCal peach so far.

Mariposa sounds great. I love red fleshed plums in general. I would like to plant Mariposa, but haven't tried it. Plums are good on Citation rootstock. Mariposa sounds like a good choice. I have Santa Rosa, Late Santa Rosa, Flavor King Pluot and Elephant Heart. The Elephant Heart and the Flavor King are not very low chill and their fruit set is inconsistent from year to year but they are also my favorites.


As for the nectarines. I am not a fan of the new super sweet low acid ones. I like my fruit with an evident sweet/acid balance, otherwise I find it insipid. I have tried about 4 nectarines over the years and not been happy with any of them. Meanwhile, I managed to steer my friends correctly. I have 3 friends with the old SoCal standby Panamint and I have enjoyed the fruit and the preserves from their trees- on Nemaguard. That will be my next nectarine.


If you want some more opinions go here:

http://www.davewilson.com/br40/br40_taste_files/taste_index.html

Dave Wilson is the wholesale grower that grows most of the trees that Bay Laurel sells and I believe they are the sole distributers for Zaiger genetics- the hybridizers that brought us pluots and many other new fruits. Dave Wilson's taste test results are always informative. A lot of the winners fall into the low acid catagory, but even though that's not my thing, it's fun to look at the results.

fun....I love looking at the Bay Laurel site

http://www.baylaurelnursery.com/

best, Kazi

Chicks

The wily and ever determined Hanna, my English Game Hen, marched out from under the turkey barn 2 days ago with 5 chicks. She was hiding under there for almost a month without me knowing! I gave my last rooster away a few weeks ago, so clearly she managed to get a little action right before he left. He was an Auracana and beautiful. If the chicks make it they should be beautiful too. They were so tiny that they squeezed through 1" chicken wire! Updates to follow.........

What I Built on my Summer Vacation

The New Mexico Solar Crop Dryer






It's not fair for me to say I built it. The great and wonderful Dmitri, along with my brother Wenzel spent 2 long mornings and a few more odd hours with me in the garage to construct this beauty. I had bought all the materials and only had to run to the hardware store 3 or 4 times.... We worked from an old set of plans I got off the web. The plans were typed on a typewriter and illustrated with small sketches, and were"almost" complete. Dmitri's experienced eye and liberal dose of modifications were much appreciated. The plans said it would cost me about $60 to build. This was definitely not the case.

The dryer is sitting in my back yard, drying out in the sun. After the wood dries I will finish the outside with either Watco or Walnut oil- both food safe oils that will harden. It is a "dual system" dehydrator with both direct and indirect heat from the sun. At the toe of the boot shape air enters and is heated passing over and under the flat black piece of corrugated metal. The heated air rises through the screen trays and exits through a screened opening on the top of the back. There is a hinged flap on the top vent that can be adjusted to control the air flow/temperature.

God I hope this thing works well. I tried one tray of tomatoes a few days ago that was very successful. Now I have to do my homework and try a variety of things from the garden as they ripen. It's taller than me, and I'm 6'2", so It doesn't lack for space. The trays are 46 inches wide.

There is something about it's odd shape and the elegant and simple way it works that I find very appealing. I think it needs a name.

Oregon Berry Orgy

My annual flurry of Jan making in Eugene , Oregon was satisfying, even though after all these years I still have trouble getting some jams to set up. Some of those I will redo to firm them up and some I will leave loose and use as syrup.

This year I made:
Benton Strawberry
Raspberry
Black Cherry with Honey and Mint
Sylvanberry
Loganberry (my favorite)
Blackberry
Black Cap Raspberry
Boysenberry
Marionberry
Cherry with Honey and Filberts
Blueberry and Pinot Noir
Black Currant
and, of course, Brandied Cherries

The one berry I couldn’t find and will miss was the Tayberry, which is a cross between the Loganberry and the Black Raspberry. As much as I love all berries it is the ones in the middle of the Raspberry to Blackberry lineup that really make me swoon. The Tayberry, Loganberry and Boysenberry. Each one of these berries has such a unique flavor.

I hit the big farmers market in Eugene as soon as possible after arriving and am most anxious to see if I have arrived in time for Morels. Some years I have been able to get pounds, which I make into duxelles and freeze for the winter. That would be AFTER consuming a sauté pan full of whole morels. I prefer not to let anyone know I’m doing this, but sometimes I am forced to share. This year I was only able to get the last of one vendor’s supply- half a pound at most- which I went home and devoured. I was glad to see a new mushroom vendor coming with 5 or 6 varieties each week . I think my favorite of his was the Maitake.

Here is a photo of my front porch the last day in Eugene. Berry flats on the right, berry boxes in the middle and cases of jam and syrup on the left.