Typically September is a time of fresh beginnings,a  new start, and what our family refers to as Blue Door days.

Banner year in the Sunflower Patch!!!

I love, love, love this picture of my daughter and I taken out in our sunflower patch yesterday.  Today is the first day of her new year with this year’s “crop” of kindergarteners.  Last year we began a tradition of harvesting a sunflower for her classroom – being sure to choose one that would tower over the heads of the tiny humans, giving the kids something to marvel at on the first day of their formal education and hopefully distracting them for any anxiety they may be feeling. Ms Forkner’s classroom door is indeed blue and welcomes kids and their parents with the exhortation to “watch me grow.”

Can I just say right here, right now, how incredibly busting-my-buttons, tear-in-my-eye, swelling-heart PROUD I am of this incredible young woman who was once a tiny human on my watch!!!

And then there’s my personal journey this September which this year, is an ending of sorts.  At the risk of stating the altogether obvious, I’m taking a brief hiatus from my blog.  During these final weeks before my manuscript is due, it’s all writing all the time–24/7.  I’m pounding the drumbeat of work…rest…work…rest…work…

This too shall pass.

Was wondering if there is supposed to be more vinegar added than the  3 T. with the
spices.

Thanks
Denice
Oshkosh, WI

This was the email I just received from an observant Denice in Wisconsin.  In my haste to post my PICKLED Eggplant Chutney recipe in late July I omitted a key ingredient – distilled white vinegar!!!  OMG.  Denice you are my hero for noticing and more to the point bringing the omission to my attention.  Here is the correct version of this very delicious recipe (carefully copied and pasted from the original…as I should have done the first time, s*gh!)

Pickled Eggplant Chutney

This spicy condiment is delicious with curries or served with sharp cheese and pickles for a British ploughman’s lunch. Adjust the quantity of peppers to your desired heat level.

Season: Late summer through fall
Yield: 3 pints
Store: Cool, dark pantry

2 large eggplants, unpeeled
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons prepared chili powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 tablespoon fenugreek seed
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4  cups distilled white vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 to 4 hot red chilies, seeded and finely chopped
N cup grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons pickling salt

Cut the eggplant into small cubes and reserve.

Combine the vinegar, garlic, chili powder, ground ginger, and turmeric in a small bowl to form a paste; reserve.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat and briefly sauté the cumin and fenugreek seed. Add the eggplant and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat and add the reserved spice paste and the vinegar, sugar, chili peppers, fresh ginger, and salt. Bring to a boil and stir for 5 minutes.

Ladle the chutney into hot, sterilized half-pint or pint jars, allowing 1/2 inch headspace. Follow water-bath canning instruction and process for 15 minutes for half-pints, 20 minutes for pints.

from Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest, An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forkner, 2009 Sasquatch Books.

Hot times, summer in the city.  But when that city is Seattle, where homes are NOT set up to buffer the effect of 96*, things can turn a little testy.  So as a public service to (cranky, overheated) friends and neighbors,  I’ve decided to post a cooling portrait of my garden’s currently reigning queen. 

Eucryphia x nymanensis is in full glorious bloom just now right on schedule.  See here for a previous posting. Even this year’s wonky weather roller coaster can’t knock this girl off her game.  This past weekend saw high temperature records scorched but only 6 days previous to that we were socked into a foggy stretch that lasted for days with cool, misty mornings, tepid afternoons and downright chilly nights.  Terrible for all my green tomatoes but oh what a stage it set for The Queen.

I repeat...kiss, stroke, admire!

oooooh, pretty tasty!

Sure -  I’ve got deadlines, the garden needs weeding, and I can’t find the surface of my desk.  Floors need sweeping and the kitchen needs painting – but those are chores for after dark…or winter!  We’ve all got our own stress release practices and escape hatches, but this week I forced myself to get out of my lovely hammock and put down my Southern fiction – this summer’s “drug of choice” – to steal a concept from my friend Mary. Instead I procrastinated in a far more productive and delicious manner and transformed a 1/2 flat of beautiful, fragrant, ruby red local raspberries into 7 small jars of freezer jam and the beginnings of some gorgeous fruit vinegar.

A complete aside… as a little kid I used to get a huge kick out of filling small glass jars with water tinted with food coloring.  Placed in a window, they shone like stained glass and to my tender 6 year-old eyes were the most beautiful sight on earth.  Steeping preserves soaking up the sunlight in a corner of my needing-to-be-painted, dirty-floored kitchen gives me that very same thrill.  What can I say?

The above photo shows my current roster of steeping projects.  (Oh what a difference a year makes!  This time last year, I was deep into crock pickles, fresh cheese, potted meats and lots and lots of jam!!!  Darn deadlines are cramping my canvolutionary ways.)

Anyway… as I mentioned above, I have managed to put up a small batch of freezer jam.  All it took was 15 minutes, tops.  Really, true story.  Everyone’s got 15 minutes.  Beyond that, steeping jars of pretty things is about as ambitious as I can get.

From the left:

• Raspberry/blackberry vinegar. I used up leftover fruit after making the freezer jam and supplemented with a couple of handfuls of frozen blackberries I still have in the freezer from last year’s pickings. (see recipe below)
• Lavender & Rose Honeys.  I written about the lavender version here.  Even in the busiest years, I make time to put up some lavender honey.  The rest of my household are not big lavender fans, so this is strictly a selfish, and totally fantastically delicious treat for ME!  This year I modified my “recipe” and am steeping a jar with petals from my ‘Tuscany Superb’ gallica rose.  The deep, velvety red petals have tinted the resulting honey a delicate – well, rose color, and the honey has a delicate rose flavor and a whiff of fragrance.  Both lavender and roses are edible so I just leave the now candied petals in the honey where they add another layer of color and flavor to my hot buttered toast on sleepy winter mornings….uuuuuummmmm.  Can’t you just imagine?
• Sweet n’ Spicy Lemon Pickle.  This is new to my preserving repertoire this year.  I got the recipe from MA, my good friend who by the way is also suffering an approaching book deadline…hmmmm, more preserving procrastination?  MA got the recipe here.  Tigress will lead you deep into the jungle of dawdling and avoidance of pending responsibilities with her adventuresome take on preserving.  I don’t DARE look – but you totally should!  OK, maybe just a peek – after all I have to go get the link anyway…  I haven’t tasted my pickled lemons yet as they still have another couple of weeks of daily turnings and warm steeping, but they smell heavenly.  I can only imagine what this complex, spicy pickle will bring to a simple winter meal of brown rice, veggies and maybe some chicken.

Ahhhh… I miss having the time to cook dinner.  Truth be told I miss having the time for lots of things…like wasting time… and bathing on a routine basis.  Sweeping floors?  I don’t miss that.  This too shall pass, unfortunately taking this summer’s prime preserving season with it.  So I plan to have an extra good time at this weekend when I’m speaking at Molbak’s.  My talk, based on my book Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest, is this Saturday morning.  Go here for details and directions; it’s FREE.  I’m so looking forward to getting out and talking about one of my favorite things – growing, cooking, preserving and eating good healthy delicious food.  Hope to see you there.

Fruit Vinegar

Jewel-toned fruity vinegars perk up salads and marinades and liven deglazing sauces for pork, duck, and chicken.  Try a splash with fresh shucked oysters or mix several tablespoons with sparkling water over ice to create a shrub – an old-fashioned beverage that is particularly refreshing in hot weather.

Season: Summer through fall
Yield: Variable
Store: Refrigerator or cool, dark pantry

Fruit
White wine vinegar
Sugar or honey

Pit and crush or chop the fruit well; combine with 11 cup vinegar for every pound of fruit and steep in a tightly closed containerin a cool spot for at least 2 weeks.  For a stronger fruit flavor, repeat the procedure with a fresh batch of crushed fruits, steeping for another 2-3 weeks.

Strain the flavored vinegar into a nonreactive saucepan and add sugar or honey to taste.  Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes.  Cool the vinegar and skim off any foam.  Strain into completely dry, sterilized bottles; cap, label, and store in a cool dark place.

Variations: Try peaches, pears, apricots, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, or a mixture of fruits.

From Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest, by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forkner, Sasquatch Books

Some gardens are so delicious you just want to swallow them whole.  Tina Dixon’s landscape is one of those…and she’s a got a giant fork in it to feed you her lush, beautifully planted and artfully composed plantings.

In just a few short weeks, Dixon and her husband, Paul Stredwick are opening their fabulous garden to benefit Hopelink, a regional, non-profit, social service agency which provides a food bank, transitional housing, transportation, daycare and many other services.  The clientele of Hopelink are ordinary people who are going through a bad time and need some meaningful assistance during a transitional time in their lives.  We all know that right now is a particularly rough time for those of our neighbors who have no safety net for their families.  Every little bit helps.

Gardens feed in a multitude of ways.  Get your tickets for this remarkable day and feed your soul with a sumptuous garden as you help to provide for families in need.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Afternoon Tour: anytime between noon and 5pm, tickets $50.00
Register or donate online or call 425.897.3703

Evening Party & Tour: 6-8pm, tickets $150.00
RSVP by Wednesday, August 11
Wine & hors d’oeuvres, music by The Chromatics,  Summer casual attire at evening party
Register or donate for this separate event here or call 425.897.3703

Rain or Shine
DETAILS:
The Dixon/Stredwick Garden – 22433 Meridian Ave S, Bothell, WA 98021
Parking one block away at Frank Love Elementary – 303 224th St SW
No on-site parking – evening shuttle provided by Hopelink
Please notify Hopelink with special needs requests – 425.897.3703
Thank you!

perfect for a quick dip after a hot day working in the garden

There’s been a great deal of discussion between my editor and myself over the past several weeks as to a succinct definition of my “aesthetic.”  This is what happens when you put yourself on the market between two covers, s*gh.

Urban Hillbilly Chic (UHC) is a phrase first coined by my friend Rick to describe my humble-yet-earnest efforts at retail.  I’m not sure he was trying to be complimentary – but you know what they say – when a shoe fits…  Part McGyver, part Swiss Family Robinson – I love to work with what is already right on hand.  And if your basement looks anything like my basement – you’ve got a LOT to work with.  Hands-on, can-do/make-do, fresh, playful (can you tell I’ve been messing around with word trees?)

There’s a wonderful frisson between the rough and the beautiful that the garden embodies with grace.  Like the phrase “industrial doilies” – that one’s not mine either but I LOVE IT!!!  Check out the work of Cal Lane, an artist trying to make sense of the world and working in metal, rust, and dirt.  Sound familiar gardeners out there?  His beautiful, raw, and incredibly delicate dirt “lace” installations elevate the stuff I track into the house everyday, to ART.

I’m pretty sure my publisher will NOT go with UHC – admittedly, it’s not for everyone!  But it suits me comfortably and like a well worn sundress, faded in all the right places and much cooler to work in during the summer heat.  Hillbilly? Yes – but in a creative, resourceful and imminently sustainable  way.  Waving my “freak flag” high – and with a bathtub in my backyard to prove it!  A little bit country – a little big rock ‘n roll – but having a whole lot of fun…most days.

CORRECTION:  (August 19, 20100) We interrupt this lost summer to bring you a correction in the recipe below brought to my attention by a very observant and kind Denise of Wisconsin.  Yes indeed the PICKLED eggplant chutney does in fact have VINEGAR in it!

This past 4th of July – certainly one of the coldest, wettest and most miserable on record — I opened my last jar of 2009’s batch of pickled eggplant chutney, serving it to friends with cheese and crackers. The slightly spicy, tangy condiment was like a delicious warm summer breeze bringing back lovely memories of last year’s glorious sunshine and record- breaking heat; that is, until we had to put on heavy sweaters and retreat indoors as the rain began again. Only a few days later a heat spell descended on our area that made the idea of going anywhere near the kitchen intolerable. Again, preserves to the rescue. A simple supper of preserved roasted peppers and eggplant, fresh cheese and oil-cured, oven dried tomatoes served up with crusty bread and chilled white wine on the shady back patio hit the sweet spot and saved the day.

Will canning and preserving solve climate chaos? Probably not. But tasty condiments, savory goods and sweet preserves are delicious resources to have in the pantry against whatever life serves up.

The above is an excerpt from an article I wrote for the Woodinville Weekly (you can read the entire piece here).  I’m so very pleased to report that since the beginning of July our beautiful weather has held and summer has officially arrived.  Perhaps a day, or week, or month late but certainly not a dollar short.  Think of the money I saved on my water bills during that nasty cold, wet early season.  That, my friend is what they call looking on the bright side.  Kitchen gardeners learn to master the skill…cold spring? Bring on the kale!  Hot weather? Ummmm… tomatoes, eggplants and peppers – oh my!

Inspired to play along in the Can-o-rama game?

Join me, a week from this Saturday, on August 7th from 10-11am, at Molbaks nursery in Woodinville.  I’ll be talking about preserving and signing copies of my book, Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest.  My FREE SEMINAR will feature recipes on how to best can, pickle and preserve the bounty from your veggie garden. You’ll walk away with helpful tips and delicious recipes.

I hope you’re enjoying these delicious days of summer now that they’ve finally arrived.  Here’s my recipe for Pickled Eggplant Chutney – it’s a winner; and it just might save your next chilly holiday feast.

Pickled Eggplant Chutney

This spicy condiment is delicious with curries or served with sharp cheese and pickles for a British ploughman’s lunch.  Adjust the quantity of peppers to your desired heat level.

Season: late summer through fall
Yield: 3 pints
Store: cool, dark pantry

2 large eggplants, unpeeled
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons prepared chili powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 tablespoon fenugreek seed 1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups distilled white vinegar (sorry for omitting this the first time!!!!)
2-4 hot red chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1/3 cup grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons pickling salt

Cut the eggplant into small cubes and reserve.

Combine the vinegar, garlic, chili powder, ground ginger, and turmeric in a small bowl to form a paste; reserve.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat and briefly saute the cumin and fenugreek seed.  Add the eggplant and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Reduce heat and add the reserved spice paste and the vinegar, sugar, chili peppers, fresh ginger, and pickling salt.  Bring to a boil and stir for 5 minutes.

Ladle the chutney into hot, sterilized half-pint or pint jars, allowing 1/2 inch headspace.  Follow water-bath canning instructions and process for 15 minutes for half-pints, 20 minutes for pints.

from Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest, An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forkner, 2009 Sasquatch Books.

…I’m under deadline, buried in paperwork, behind on chores, and, oh yeah…I’m spending hours at the end of a hose these days.  I’m sure it’s bad form to complain about the heat after complaining so loudly about the cold -  but really?  60* and raining on the 4th of July…97* and sweltering sun 4 days later??!!?  Poor Seattle… poor garden… poor hot stuffy house… cranky me.

I can’t blame the heat for my blogging absence… and truth be told, I really can’t pin it on the deadlines, paperwork or undone chores either.  However packed the agenda, these are the longest days of the year.  Sometimes there’s just more to get done than there are hours in the day.  Please forgive my 6 week interlude between posts.

My friend Willi over at Diggin Food, who is also working on a Project with a big ‘ole capitol “P”, has characterized this summer as “crawling under a rock called work”.  Yep; that pretty much sums up life for me as well.  Some years are just like that.  Wet, cold spring, languishing plants, blasting heat, and a world class crop of first snails, and now mosquitoes!  Life happens; the ride is bumpy, wear a seat belt.

Bent but not broken, I’m digging in and digging deeper.  We’re all doing our best and getting through some challenging times.  Loved ones die, hearts are broken;  jobs lost and security threatened.  Friends and family are dealing with real crisis and loss.  Busy doesn’t have to mean isolated.  Silence doesn’t always mean absence.  We’re all doing the work and walking the walk trying to be good humans.

If this is a tough time in your household, or the household of someone you love, I hope you’ll join me on the “virtual deck” tonight in the declining dusk of the day.  Bring a glass of cool wine and savor the balmy warmth of summer (FINALLY!)  Soak up the beauty and light a candle against the night. 

But don’t forget the bug spray!!! Mosquitoes are KILLER this year!!!

Yep, it’s Memorial Weekend in Seattle…you can tell by the steady downpour. While I did have plans to work in the garden, instead I think I might just curl up on the couch in front of the fire and continue along with my favorite soggy season activity – reading!  Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetable for the Maritime Garden by former North Dakota farm boy, now Northwest author and avid gardener, Bill Thorness, seems like the perfect title to while away my afternoon and whet my appetite for the inevitably warmer (& dryer!) days ahead.

Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden

The following is a brief excerpt of a review I wrote for the spring issue of Pacific Horticulture, the quarterly publication of the Pacific Horticultural Society.  Read the entire review here.

Those of us blessed enough to reside in “Cascadia, the evergreen landscape seemingly defined by water, whether it be the rivers, lakes, ocean, or omnipresent rain,” recognize the unique challenges of our terroir.  Edible Heirlooms focuses on the growing conditions of our maritime climate, found in coastal areas from San Francisco to Vancouver, British Columbia, from the foothills of the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean.

Perhaps you can see why this is my go-to choice for a rainy weekend smack in the middle of what should be prime gardening season.  I think you can file it under “misery loves company.”  Recognizing  that I’m a part of an entire region of gardeners working within the same challenging – yet ultimately benign and fruitful – conditions helps take the sting out of the sight of my poor tomatoes huddled against the chilling rain.

Profiles of twenty-six heirloom vegetable make up the body of the book.  From arugula to tomato, Thorness includes cultivation guidelines as well as information on harvesting and storing your produce… Charming illustrations by Susie Thorness, Bill’s wife, accompany the vegetable descriptions.  The beautifully rendered pictures ornament the page, (and make me want a set of colored pencils) but do not distract from the valuable content.

An oh-so-practical chapter on site selection and season extenders outlines tips for making the most of our long, yet relatively cool growing season (see rainy weekend above).  But it’s the inspired chapter entitled New Gardening Energy for Every Season that give this gardener hope on a dank, gray day.  Thorness believes in fostering community.  He promotes the notion of gathering like-minded gardening friends and neighbors to join together to build a community garden, support the neighborhood food bank with excess produce, or host a lively winter seed swap, reminding us that many hands make light work, and any excuse for a party is a good one.

In recent years, “heirloom” has become a loosely bandied-about phrase – more a horticultural branding effort to gain market share than a description of the range of human effort required to keep these venerable plants alive.  From preserving bio-diversity to creating a competitive niche for small family farms, Thorness offers thoughtful and compelling reasons for the preservation and continued cultivation of these living pieces of history.

Edible Heirlooms is a little book with a big job.  Thorness defines heirloom seeds as a “living lesson on human history and the nature of civilization” whose preservation and continued cultivation is critical to the future of our health and that of the planet we live on.

And you thought it was only a tomato.

'Brandywine', illustration by Susie Thorness

And so began an exciting hour of a live, interactive, social media interview with Jean Ann Van Krevelen of Cool Springs Press on Facebook.  Go here for a transcript of most of our conversation.  It was really a wonderful experience and at the same time a very strange juxtaposition of new technology mixing it up with the age old art of gardening.  Enjoy!

One of my favorite parts?  I got (yet) another chance to post one of my favorite photos in the world:

the wild child that drove me to horticulture

It wasn’t easy being a full-time, stay-at-home mom to this little guy with an aversion to sleep and a love of heights.  I found we were all better off out in the yard with fresh air and welcome – if not muddy – distraction.  In my puttering and planting I discovered a passion and a pastime that fed my family and my soul.

Poor little guy…I’ll never get Parent of the Year; doesn’t he just look exhausted and ready for his napper?  “Right after I plant these herbs, honey.”

Once we cleaned up, we both slept like lambs…and that’s all I was really looking for in the first place.  Today, my baby is 19 and successfully launched into the world; he still loves danger and heights.   Me?  I’m still covered with mud and fussing with herbs, veggies, roses, perennials, succulents, berries, shrubs….