Gardening and Gastronomy Collide

Fruition

2010-09-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

In active pursuit

of life's finer fruits,

how they dangle

from rich, succulent vines

growing through seasons

stretching beyond reason

never failing

to ripen just in time

Tomato Time

2010-05-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

Selecting the perfect tomato for your garden can seem like an intimidating task. There exists today well over one hundred different varieties of tomato plants, many of which we label 'heirlooms' because they are believed to be original or unaltered specimens, native to particular peoples or places. Non-heirloom types have been hybridized to resist disease and environmental extremes or are bred for durability in shipping and long life on super-market shelves. Typically, the best choices for flavor,

texture and color will be found in the heirloom section, however, for the beginning gardener (or if you've ever labeled yourself a black-thumb), a trusty hybrid will always deliver!

Early Girl, Better Boy and Celebrity tomatoes have swiftly become household names in home garden culture. Each chosen for a unique combination of resistances, yield capacity, storage ability and flavor, these hybrids will most certainly bring the sunshine to your plate in the most efficient and economical way.

For example, Early Girl, quite possibly the most popular of all cross-bred tomatoes, will begin yielding unblemished four to eight ounce fruit in as little as fifty days after transplanting. These strains, depending on your growing season, may also be planted in the garden before most heirlooms, allowing ripened fruit to arrive weeks earlier. Early Girl in particular has acquired tremendous popularity in the regions surrounding the San Francisco Bay area in California where it is commonly dry farmed to produce a quality of flavor thought to rival any heirloom variety available today. Often used when growing grapes for wine, this method of farming allows light irrigation in spring followed by drought conditions in the summer which forces establishment of a deep root system and heavily concentrates flavors as the plant utilizes water stored inside the ripening tomatoes.

Celebrity is a great selection for flavor as well as storage capability. Unlike Early Girl or Better Boy, Celebrity has a determinate growth habit, meaning it will have a more controlled bush form that will be more conducive to life in a pot or in a short growing season. Determinate plants will at some point stop spending energy on new growth and dedicate all of their life force to flowering resulting in a plant full of fruit ripening around the same time, right before it dies. The opposite of this is indeterminate growth, which signifies that the plant will have unchecked, vine-like growth throughout the growing season, producing clusters of tomatoes here and there as it goes. Every tomato start or package of seeds being sold at a nursery should specify this on it's labeling, often simply with a (D) or (I) as an indicator.

Do not, however, allow yourself to shy away from experimenting with heirloom cultivation. It is a common misconception that heirlooms in general are simply harder to grow. This is only true if what you wish to plant is not native to your climate type. In Santa Barbara, CA I have found that the Green Zebra variety grows with exceptional ease and produces amazing green striped fruits with unique flavor. Japanese and Italian strains also seem to adapt well to most southern CA gardens. On the other hand, Brandywine, an extremely sought after selection, has only ever yielded me a few tomatoes per plant in my zone. They seem to do much better without coastal influence, where the growing season is hot and long. Areas that experience a severe winter may have better luck with tomatoes native to Russia or the northern regions of the United States.

Now quickly head to the nursery for some tomato starts (if you don’t have seedlings waiting in the wings) and get those babies planted up. If you’re in a temperate climate with a long growing season there will be time to lag a little, but in colder areas you’ve got to hit the ground running if you want to maximize yield. Ask your local nurseryman or the neighbor with the best green thumb which varieties do well in their yard and you’ll be off to a good start!

Starting Spring Veggies

2010-04-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's time once again to dust out the tool shed after it's winter neglect and begin planting the spring and summer garden! Hundreds of varieties of tomato plants have already filled the shelves in the local nurseries awaiting adoption by a proud garden plot owner. Added to the stock is the vast myriad of edible plant life, which includes eggplant, strawberries, beets, Brussels sprouts, potato, kohlrabi, various summer squash and numerous types of hot and sweet peppers along with many others. The selection can be baffling, but as you ponder over a grouping of heirlooms don't forget to stock up on ample organic soils and fertilizers to help get the job done properly.

Whether you're building a castle or planting a garden it's always best to begin from the ground and work your way up. As long as a given plant has a suitable bed of earth to tuck it's roots into, composed of a soil blend specific to the environmental needs of that plant, it may grow unchallenged. In other words, ease of root growth is in direct relation with ease of foliar growth.

I employ the benefits of a few different types of bagged, high quality soils from my local garden center. For planting directly into the ground I prefer Fox Farm's 'Happy Frog' soil conditioner paired with a rich, organic manure blend to curtail the drainage capabilities of the 'Happy Frog'. For potted veggies and herbs a mix of the Fox Farm 'Ocean Forest' and Dr. Earth brand potting soils make an incredible base. Simply add more of the ultra-rich 'Ocean Forest' for increased moisture retention or more fluffy Dr. Earth to increase aeration. Potted plants that enjoy superior drainage, will also appreciate a handful or two of 'Happy Frog' in the mix as well. And don't forget to top it all off with a generous scoop of homemade earthworm castings from your worm bin for increased microbial activity!

The nutrients available in a fresh bag of potting or planting mix will surely sustain a new transplant through it's initial settlement, however, within a couple weeks, supplemental feedings will help guide the little sprout toward maximum fruition. Whether you use liquid or dry fertilizers do yourself a favor and make sure they are organic products! Look for the OMRI symbol on the label. This is the stamp of the Organic Materials Research Institute which dictates whether or not a product for retail markets may be deemed organic.

For liquid treatments a blend of Alaska brand fish emulsion(5-1-1) and Dr. Earth all-purpose(3-3-3) seems to do the trick. The high nitrogen of fish emulsion is complemented by the pro-biotic nature of the Dr. Earth, which aids the plant in processing nutrients efficiently.

If the recipe calls for a dry feeding the best results typically come with a unique blend of isolated fertilizers such as blood or fish meal for nitrogen, bone meal for phosphorous and kelp meal for potassium. Other adjuncts may be added to affect soil Ph. Cottonseed and feather meal, for example, increase acidity while crushed oyster shell and lime help neutralize the soil. Dr. Earth, along with a few other companies, offer these products in their organic form along with suggested blends formulated for specific types of plants. The best of these items will be inoculated with a special blend of beneficial soil based bacteria, known as mycorrhizae, which will bond with the roots of plants and help transfer nutrients from the soil to the root. Remember that it generally takes up to five days for a dry fertilizer to begin taking affect as it needs to break down in the soil before hungry roots may absorb it. It should also be noted that organic fertilizers in general will slow, and often cease their activity when soil temperatures fall below 65 degrees(F). This is simply because the optimum temperature range for microbial activity in the soil hovers between 70 and 85 degrees(F). Don't fertilize in cold weather and this shouldn't be an issue.

It may be difficult to hunt down these exact organic products depending upon your location but rough equivalents should be available with a little research and/or advice from a competent nursery employee. 7 Day Nursery in Santa Barbara, CA, for example, takes pride in it's highly knowledgeable staff and dedication to providing a vast array of organic products for the home gardener. All products mentioned in this article can be found there 7 days a week.

Ingredients for Life

2010-03-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

Ingredients for Life:

1 part good food

to 3 parts good times,

dissolve mixture

in large pot of love

stirring occasionally

for dynamism,

once properly integrated

add 1 heaping spoonful

of dreams,

simmer until realized

and add salt to taste,

serve hot

while still in it's prime.

Oysters Anyone?

2009-02-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

There is a line at the oyster booth. It is a cool and breezy February farmers market in downtown Santa Barbara in southern California and although the groundhog has recently missed his shadow, the sun gazes intent and unchallenged upon this fruitful city. Flourishing through four seasons in one of the most temperate regions in the United States, the weekly Saturday market boasts tomatoes and strawberries all year-round with local farmers and ranchers supplying a variety of goods from cheeses, wine and meats to fruits, vegetables and honey. The scene is relatively quiet…the lobster lady kicks her chair back, a dairy farmer organizes her fromage…but, alas, there is a line at the oyster booth.

Humans have been devouring oysters “by the dozen”, notably since the first century AD but in reality, probably much longer than that. Protein, plus high levels of Calcium, Iron and Zinc, make these mollusks an integral part of a seaside towns dietary regimen. In fact, until the middle of the 19^th century, oysters were considered an inexpensive “bar” or pub food, often afforded by the working class. Their increasing popularity, and decreasing population, caused prices to sky-rocket, leading to their current classification as a sought after delicacy.

Waiting in line, I observe as Bernard (my local oyster purveyor) bags dozens of shellfish, topping each of them off with a scoop of crushed ice. As he works he is explaining his farming routine to the eager queue. Using a seeding method, spats, or baby oysters, are purchased by the thousand and encouraged to fix themselves upon a series of submerged nets where they will eventually reach culinary maturity. This method of farming saves the grower time and space required for these creatures to successfully pro-create. All oysters are protandrous, meaning they are born male and are only capable of producing sperm until their second or third year when they have enough energy stores to begin producing eggs as females. (If need be, as a survival tactic, they are capable of switching back to being males after the first change has occurred.) Furthermore, the indirect nature of their reproductive process brings a need for mass clumping of males and females so as to facilitate the random collision of, carelessly released, sperm and egg. After eight months to one year the seeded bivalves have grown from their initial length of about 1/8 of an inch and are already properly sized for consumption. With a weekly payload of around 2000 oysters, and even more demand than he can hoist, this fisherman has no problem keeping his mollusks moving.

The oysters, which Bernard dubs “Hope Ranch” oysters, are harvested about 1 mile out from a local beach here in town. However, do not let the inherited name fool you, for these delectable bivalves are not indigenous to the southern coast of California. Nor are they true locals to any portion of North America for that matter. Though their official common name is, quite ambiguously, the Pacific Oyster, they are native only to the Pacific coast of Asia. This is not to say that there are no such species indigenous to North America. The Eastern or Atlantic oyster thrives along the eastern coast of the United States, especially in the Chesapeake Bay where great shell piles known as middens lead scientists to believe that the current population is no more than 1% of what it was before the 19^th century. Similar waste heaps have been found in the San Francisco area where the west coast native Olympia Oyster, by 1850, was thought to have gone extinct as a result of well over a thousand years of over harvesting until they were discovered again in 1990, thriving in the bays filthiest waters. Introduced to North America’s western coast in 1929, the Pacific Oysters flourished in their new habitat quickly spreading throughout the region and out-performing both the native and the Atlantic species, which had previously been implanted in 1875 to boost the already crippled shellfish industry.

Preservation efforts have been in effect since the beginning of the 21^st century to restore and protect oyster beds in their native habitats, mainly as a result of their impeccable ability to filter nitrogen and other toxins from the water. A single adult oyster is capable, through simply breathing and feeding on plankton, of filtering nearly 50 gallons of water everyday. Any ingested nitrogen is formed into harmless, solid pellets and discarded at the bottom of the ocean to be utilized by nearby vegetation. The lack of such filtration leaves water murky with plankton and bacteria, which are stimulated by the runoff of fertilizers from farm areas planted along far reaching tributaries. This waning visibility doesn’t only affect the areas recreational divers but the local sea life as well. Cloudy waters restrict the amount of UV rays that reach plants on the ocean floor, causing many species to die back and leading ultimately to a decreased oxygen supply, which in turn literally suffocates larger species, rendering the area uninhabitable. Using the Chesapeake Bay as an example, scientists estimate that it now takes the current oyster population about eleven months to filter every drop of water that the bay holds. Prior to the 19^th century, this task is believed to have been completed every three days. Organizations such as the Chesapeake Bay Program are dedicated to restoring the bay’s quality and diversity. They are planning to cut the levels of nitrogen entering the bay every year by nearly twenty million pounds by 2010 using, among other means, the noble oyster!

At last, I am the next one up in line. I can practically taste the bright squeezed lemon in the fresh saltwater brine. A bit of shallot and a couple drops of vinegar…. my gaze is fixed dreamily on a giant oyster shell hovering over the table. Evidence of a time when the numbers of these creatures were too many even for the mouths of humans to expend. When their thirty-year life span was more commonly achieved, and their indefinite growth habit had us finding oysters the size of our heads. My wallet is already wielded and ready for action as I approach the counter. Bernard greets me with a coy yet victorious smile… he knows what I’m here for. “Sorry… no more oysters today… just sold my last dozen!” Walking from the market I am already planning an earlier arrival at next weeks agronomist gathering. Until then, I’ll find other avenues to pacify my budding epicurean palate, and maybe… just maybe, an unlucky “half-dozen” will cross my wandering path!

Why Garden Organically?

2009-02-11T02:56:00.000-08:00

If you’ve never asked yourself this don’t feel like you’ve been left out of the loop. After all, the question itself is only a mere 100 years old! This sprite, young query was brought about around the year 1909 when German chemist Fritz Haber discovered the ability to “fix” nitrogen making it synthetically viable for not only production of explosives but plant consumption as well. Before this time there was no choice other than to farm or garden organically. All nitrogen fertilizer before this discovery was created by means of various manures and composted human waste products along with a grouping of plants specified as legumes which, with the aid of soil bacterium, naturally fix nitrogen in the soil such as peas, beans and alfalfa.

The dawn of these synthetic fertilizers allowed the worlds farmers to feed their crops more thoroughly and consistently with a product that seemed to deliver a stronger end result. And it’s no surprise that it caught on so swiftly with more rapid vegetal growth leading to greater yields in less space, let alone the fact that it was the American government who first began manufacturing and supplying these chemical fertilizers made of excess nitrogen left over from WWII weapons facilities. All may seem good and well when the grocery store shelves are chock-full of cookie-cutter produce and the government is forced to pay the farmers to suffice for overproduction but something under the surface isn’t quite up to snuff.

It turns out that the increased growth rate achieved with chemical fertilizers is not a reward lacking cost. In an organic garden the soil is teeming with an assortment of beneficial bacteria. These bacterium form symbiotic relationships with other bacteria residing within the roots of nearby plants and assist them in properly utilizing available nutrients in the general area. With the help of these fungi plants are able to process such nutrients at a controlled pace, allowing the plant to grow at it’s own rate. When synthetic fertilizers are added, such as Sulfate of Ammonia, the affected bacteria are killed off and the nitrogen, along with any other added elements, force their way into the plants system causing spurts of growth and, if too much is added, possibly burning of roots and leaves. These unnatural growth rates, at best, leave plants weakened, right down to each individual cell.

Over-stimulated cell production brings an overall reduced quality in cell structure, lending the force-fed flora more readily to a gamut of disease and infestation. Not only does this create the need for a more consistent feeding schedule but also a more strict pesticide treatment program, adding further toxins to the already chemically induced crops. And what have we at the end of the line but an army of replicant vegetation, all waxed and polished, waiting to impart it’s chemical rich blood into the digestive tract of the next hungry shopper.

Why then, given the above information, would anyone not want to garden organically? A common argument is that organic fertilizers simply aren’t as effective as their chemical clones. This, however, is only partially true. Farmers who switch from a chemical to an organic feeding schedule will undoubtedly experience a drop in their productivity for the first few years. This is because the bacterium required to fully intake these nutrients have been flushed from the soil as a result of years of synthetic feeding. It will take time for such fungi to re-establish themselves but once they do, harvest quantities will be more than comparable to inorganic plots and the quality will be undeniable.