December Planting List, Hoshigaki update, and Compostable Silverware

Goodness, this is a short list.

I just recently planted parsnips in a container, though, and they have germinated. Also, I would say you could continue sowings of kale, chard, and spinach, as long as they are in a protected area (under cover, in containers, etc). 

Other to-do items for later this month: Prune blueberries and huckleberries, severely prune any California fuchsias (Epilobium or as it used to be called, Zauschneria), prune Caryopteris (must confess I've done that already), and divide any blanket flowers (Gaillardia). 

A couple other things:

Remember how I started to make Hoshigaki over a month ago? I peeled some Hachiya persimmons, strung them up by a sunny window, let them hang there for over a month, massaging them every other day? Well, today they are finally finished. 

This is exactly how they are supposed to look - like they are covered with powdered sugar. Apparently that IS the sugar, coming up to the surface of the fruit; that's what all the websites say. Personally, I don't think that's what's really happening - I think it's a sort of good bacteria - but either way, this is what the finished product is supposed to look like. We sliced one up and ate it. It's good. Not great - still tastes like persimmons, though not at all astringent. I guess I just don't like persimmons very much, in any form. I suppose these would be good in oatmeal, or baked into a fruitcake (if you like that sort of thing). 

They are certainly pretty when sliced however.

It's another food preservation project that makes your head spin a little. Here's this juicy fruit, skinned and hanging in your house, being visited by fruit flies and such, and you just let it go and eventually it becomes edible again. And probably not just edible, but fabulously good for you, like kimchi or yogurt. My thoroughly Western mind balks though. It just doesn't seem right somehow, like how Tom felt about the country ham. But these are ancient ways of preserving food, that worked for thousands of years. Kinda twists the old noodle a bit.

One last thing. I've been learning SO MUCH in class that I want to share with you, about soil, about water, about trees.... it's just hard to condense an entire semester's worth of work into a blog post. So I'll just share tidbits when I can. Here's something I thought was worth passing on: We had a soil scientist from UC Berkeley as a guest lecturer the other night. He was talking about compost etc., and he mentioned that one of his classes did a study on those compostable utensils we see all over the place now. I've bought them myself for big events, thinking that if I send them to the municipal compost facility (in my green can), they would break down, and therefore be a better choice than plastic. Well, this class has had them in a hot compost for over two years now, and they still look exactly the same as they did when they put them in there 24 months ago. So much for them being a better option than plastic. Clearly it's still best to use regular silverware and just wash it. 

We're having very chilly nights and clear, sunny days. Last night, I wanted to look at the full moon, so I made a fire in the outdoor pit and sat there for a while. We have barn owls nearby; I've heard them before, and a lot again last night. This is wonderful news!

What's on your weekend gardening schedule? For me, there's more moving of leaves and cutting down a large privet, replacing it with the Arbequina olive trees I've had in containers for the past two years. Also, HOMEWORK. It's finals time! Have a great weekend, everyone.

November Planting List

Brrr. Cold this morning, and we had our first soaking rain on Friday night, so autumn and colder weather is definitely here in Northern CA. What does this mean for you, my fellow zone 9b-ers? It means that there is precious little that can go in the ground now; hopefully you've got all your broccolis and garlics in your beds already. However, there are a few hardy things that can be seeded:

Things grow more slowly in cold weather, so nothing is going to go gangbusters at this point. But, if you have a cold frame, or some hoops and row covers in place, you can really push the season hard. We opted to leave off row covers this year and see how our winter wheat does. It should overwinter just fine, providing us with a spring harvest. We shall see.

baby Lacinato Kale

Everything else is in containers, and can be moved to protected areas if frost arrives. Some plants, like kale and spinach, actually improve their flavor with a little frost.

I've been working very hard on cleaning up the garden for winter, dividing bulbs and dahlias, and severely pruning woody perennials. I've never divided either our dahlias or our Douglas iris; both need to be done soonish. As winter progresses, I'll also divide things like asters and gaillardia, which I've not done before either. I'm trying to be better about things like this. Lavenders can be pruned down to their original small rounded bush size; salvias (depending on the type) and spireas also can be pruned hard. 

I made persimmon jelly; it's a beautiful color, but boy does it taste weird. I used Hachiya persimmons, since that's what we were given, but they are astringent, whereas the Fuyus are sweeter. Hachiyas are sweet too, it's just that they also have that strange astringency. You know how marmalade is both sweet and bitter? This jam is both sweet and astringent. I'm just not sure what I think about it. I probably won't make it again. 

I"m also trying my hand at Hoshigaki, or dried whole persimmons. I think it's going to be too humid to dry these properly, but we'll see. At the end of this coming week, I'll start massaging them every other day to bring the sugar to the surface, and then after a month they should be ready. I'll keep you posted.

the first peas

I'm looking for new projects that can be accomplished in late afternoon, after it starts to get dark, but before dinner prep. This time of year is difficult for me because I like working outdoors until the light goes. And with the light going earlier, I'll have to be indoors. So I'm taking suggestions. I need a new hobby!

Happy November, everyone - enjoy this quiet time before the holidays are upon us.

October Planting List for Zone 9b

Here it is October, and with it, a major shift in the garden. Even though we still have very warm days (mid-80's for much of the month), the nights are in the 50's and we can feel the change of seasons. Acorns are dropping from the oaks. All the deciduous trees are starting to shut down photosynthesis and halt chlorophyll production; allowing the hidden pigments in the leaves to shine red and gold before abscission. It's time to change your irrigation schedule, and drop it down some, since the plants aren't transpiring as much for as long. And as for planting, here is your to-do list for October.

At Poppy Corners, we've picked the last of the cucumbers and removed the vines, replacing them with braising greens and spinach. We've dug the volunteer potatoes, yielding about 5 pounds (not bad for something we didn't even plan on having!). We'll have our last basil pesto tomorrow night. Some of the tomato are clearly finished fruiting and are being removed to the compost pile. Others have fruit that is ripening fast, and will stay in the ground another week. The pepper plants still have a lot of fruit on them, and I am loathe to remove them just yet. So next weekend will see us removing the main bulk of the summer garden and digging out tomato stakes. Then it will be time to get garlic and shallots in the ground, as well as our main winter crop of winter wheat and clover.

And since I didn't have any pumpkins ripen here, I guess a trip to a pumpkin patch is in order! That should be fun.

September Planting List

Ok, "Steam"tember has arrived. It was 109 here yesterday, and is expected to be 112 here today. San Francisco is smashing heat records left and right; suffice it to say that this is a heat wave we didn't really expect. Or rather, I should say, we DO expect heat in September, but maybe not quite so extremely!!!

Anyway, what that means is an indoor day for us. I'll go out about three times and give the chickens a spritzing, and make sure the bees have water-filled bowls nearby; other than that, not much gardening activity is taking place. Luckily, I've done a lot of September's list already, and will continue to do it as the month goes on. Leeks, carrots, and beets have all been sown, the brassicas are all potted up and growing nicely, the kale, chard, and spinach will go in when I find room, and while I already tried to germinate peas in one place, they aren't taking, so I'll try them again somewhere else. But not while it's this dang hot!

I hope you're having better gardening weather on this Labor Day weekend, and can spend some quality time outdoors. Now, back to my iced tea and a binge-watch of The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu.

August Planting List (for Zone 9b)

The last few days have been a flurry of activity. Tom and I spent the weekend processing all the produce our garden had churned out while we were gone. I had told all our neighbors to feel free to come in and pick what they liked, but there was still plenty to put up. We made six quarts of crushed tomatoes, five pints of salsa using our tomatoes and jalepenos and garlic, five pints of bread 'n butter pickles, four pints of tomato sauce for the freezer, and two pints of roasted red bell peppers for the freezer. Oh, and started the annual supply of dried pepper flakes by drying the hot peppers that were ripe. We re-tied all the 49 tomato plants up, cleaned up the bottoms by trimming off old and spent foliage, and fertilized them with Maxsea. (I'm not going to do the Florida weave method next year, more on that later. We've had issues with some of these huge heirlooms we're growing - they collapse under the weight.) Today I managed to pot up all the seeds I started in early July: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, salvia, and sunflowers. It's been a busy time. 

Here is your August printable. I would add that it might be time to order your garlic your shallots or onions for your fall planting, now. I don't generally plant until November, but sometimes seed houses run out, so it's good to check your favorite places and get the scoop. I plan to do Inchelium Red garlic again, from Baker Creek, and French Grey shallots, from Renee's Garden. Neither one is ready to ship yet, but I'll keep checking back. We want to make sure we get that order in before they run out. 

I sowed more pumpkin seeds today, as the Kobocha squash I planted is growing very slowly. So I added these seeds in the hope that we'd get SOME sort of winter squash. I am also still continually sowing basil, cilantro, and dill seed. My flowers are not germinating as well as they have in other years - I am going to need to fill in with bought starts sometime this month, if I want to have bloom through the fall. I'd like to find a place to start a fall crop of peas, too. More to do!

So, the garden work continues and the summer harvest continues to roll in. Happy planting!