Planning for Preserving

Yesterday morning, I ate the last of the frozen tomato 'sauce.' My current favorite way to eat it is in Shakshouka, or at least my version of it. Shakshouka is a Persian dish made of eggs poached in a rich tomato, pepper, onion, and cumin-y sauce; mine was simpler, as I just heated up my 'sauce' (roasted tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and garlic) and then poached the eggs in the middle. Simply delicious. Fast, easy, healthy. But no more shakshouka for me, as the frozen tomatoes are now gone.

Tomato mixture ready to go in the oven last year

The frozen tomatoes did last longer this year, which means I made almost enough of them. Which started me thinking about how much I need to freeze and can, to get us through the winter? I've always sort of estimated this, but I think it's time now to really dial it in. So I started making notes, looking at what's left on the canning shelf, and talking to my family (especially the pickle eaters), to figure it out for sure.

salsa, summer 2017

Here are the non-negotiable canned goods we go through:

         Jam (any flavor): 18 half-pints

         Pickles: 12 pints

         Crushed tomatoes: 12-18 quarts

         Tomato sauce (pureed): 8-12 pints

         Salsa: 6-8 pints

         Hot sauce (any kind): 8 quarter-pints

We could really preserve twice this amount, for giving away and having extra.

And here are the non-negotiable frozen goods we go through:

         Roasted sweet peppers: 12 pints

        Tomato 'sauce': 24 pints

         Pesto: 12 pints

         Romesco sauce: 4 half-pints

         Sliced jalapenos: 2 half-pints

         Tomato Paste (cubed): at least 2 dozen

         Lemon juice (winter): 4 pints

Again, we could freeze twice this amount, probably.

And then there are the extra things we will preserve if we have enough:

          Apple Pie Filling

          Dried fruits (plums, peaches, apples, berries, tomatoes)

          Dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, bay, dill)

          Canned or frozen fruits (peaches, berries)

          Canned or frozen veg (beans, peas, corn)

          Sweet and hot pickle relish

          Dried hot peppers for chili flakes

          Seeds for cooking - dill, coriander, fennel

Crushed tomatoes

So this year, I'm going to try to preserve even more of what we grow. I felt like we did an excellent job last summer bringing the harvest in, and I want to maximize production this year too. Now that I have a pressure canner and a dehydrator, as well as my water-bath canning rig, it should be easier to preserve more, but there are growing limitations that might make it hard to preserve as much as we like. For instance, I'm only growing 32 tomato plants this year, and I'm planning to plant densely and prune heavily to maximize space; this might mean limited harvest. We have a small space and want to grow as much diversity as possible, so there is only so much we can produce. Plus, our overarching goal this year is to improve the soil. That means growing not just for us, but for the creatures that live beneath our plants. And, we have to have plenty to eat fresh out of the garden!

Still, it's an interesting exercise to take an honest look at the pantry and decide what we would ideally like to have there. There's nothing to stop me from visiting the Farmers' Market in August and filling in the corners with local produce that I just couldn't manage to grow.

How do you plan and grow for your preserving projects? I'd love to know.

It's Coming

As I walked around my garden today, assessing and planning, I felt it.  Flowers are unfurling, birds are mating, the air has a smell that means spring is on the way.

our peach tree - unknown variety

Fruit trees are in full riotous bloom. 

braising greens - different kinds of chard, beet greens, kale

Spinach (Regiment) and Carrots (Cosmic Purple)

The winter greens are growing fast now.

Trillium chloropetalum

Ranunculus californicus

Abutilon hybridum 'Red Princess'

Helleborus orientalis 'Pretty Ellen Purple'

I believe this is Geranium pratense 'Mrs. Kendall Clark"

The woodland garden is brightening up. 

Sidalica malviflora Checkerbloom

Solanium xanti Purple Nightshade

Felicia echinata

Teucrium fruticans Shrubby Germander

And the sunny spots are looking distinctly purple these days!

While eating lunch at the outdoor farm table, I watched the Pygmy Nuthatches chasing each other around in the wheat - I wonder if they are mating, or eating the seeds! I desperately want start planting and satisfied myself with getting 50 sunflowers in the ground - the varieties Sun Samba, Cinnamon Sun, and Chocolate Cherry. We'll see how they affect nearby plants. I also seeded the tomatoes inside under lights- only 32 varieties this year, some old favorites and some new ones - and potted up this year's peppers for the greenhouse.

Solstice is this weekend - WAIT - no it's not - wow I really AM feeling springy - just the time change happening this weekend. Well, anyway, what's doing in your garden?

March Wreath

Many common weather sayings, like "April Showers Bring May Flowers" and "March Comes In Like  Lion and Leaves Like A Lamb" don't really apply here in Northern California. Our showers come in the winter, mainly, and our spring comes early. Not so this year. We had a very dry winter, but we're experiencing a bit of a March Miracle as the rain has come down with a vengeance in the last week. Cold temps too, but it doesn't seem to stop the Mediterranean flowers from blooming.

Our March wreath is a testimony to that. Glorious rosemary, so fragrant. The whole house smells of it. This is that upright cultivar, Rosmarinus officinalis 'Tuscan Blue,' rather than the one that crawls on the ground, Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus.' Both are nice, but the flowers in the prostrate form are more gray than blue, and I do like this lovely lavender blue color. I have both forms growing in the garden, but neither one blooms, probably because I'm always snipping it for cooking. I found this bunch in the border of our nearby open space.

Rosemary is in the mint family, Lamiaceae, and I've always liked the old story about it; the Virgin Mary is said to have spread her blue cloak over white-blossomed rosemary when she was resting, therefore giving it its color. 

My first-weekend-of-March-chores include starting tomato seeds indoors, reseeding some peppers that had germination troubles, and opening the bee hive sometime when it's not raining. What are your weekend gardening plans?

Swings

It seems like every day, there is some new crazy weather story. Temperature swings are now the norm. Here's just a couple things that I've read lately:

1) The arctic circle is experiencing a heat wave, over 32 degrees.

2) Los Angeles has had only one rain event in 365 days, and that netted .3". This is data coming from a scientist I've recently started following on twitter.

3) California's almond crop is in danger from freezes.

4) Early spring is expected in Washington DC.

5) Record warmth for the east coast, after an extremely tough and cold winter.

In our own experience, this winter has been crazier than usual. Firstly we got hardly any rain - Martinez (north of here), before our 'big' storm yesterday (more on that in a minute), had amassed only 7 inches according to the Contra Costa County Flood Control Dep't. In early February, we had a strange heat wave, with two weeks of soaring temperatures - it was 85 here in our yard one of those days. You know what happens when we get an early heat wave like that - everything starts blooming. Pears, plums, peaches, almonds - everything put on buds during that period and started to bloom. Then late February arrived, with below-freezing temperatures, very unusual for this area (our last frost date is February 15th). We had one morning of 28 degrees, several others of 30. 

Then, yesterday - hail. 

This is also extremely unusual for us. Even my teenaged kids went out and played in it (as much as teenagers can allow themselves to 'play') and took pictures. And this morning, on my trip to the post office, I was not surprised to see snow on Mt. Diablo, which usually happens a couple of times a year, but in December or January, never this late.

I swear, when that hail started, my first thought was "oh no, the wheat!" and when I texted Tom that it was hailing, he texted back, "oh no, the wheat!" So far it seems ok this morning, but my goodness, it really brings home how hard it is for people who make their living growing crops, and how their entire yearly income can be destroyed by one weather event. I have serious respect for farmers, who constantly experience what it's like to sometimes have zero control over outcomes. 

Seems to me that climate change is beyond obvious, and it always surprises me when certain folks deny that it's happening. I really feel that it is time to start thinking and planning for the future - the near future - when it becomes even more extreme. Do you agree? If so, in what ways are you preparing?

Meanwhile, a reminder about native bees. Even though we all love mulch (and there's lots of reasons to love mulch!), remember to leave some areas of your yard uncovered. This allows our native bees to make their nests and raise their young, underground. Before this cold snap, I noticed a lot of native bee activity, so they'll be emerging for good soon. Also, leaving a little dish of water out for pollinators is helpful; make sure it's shallow, and put some rocks, broken pottery, or sticks in it so that the bees don't drown. If you're worried about mosquitos, just change out the water every 1-2 days (and throw the old water in the garden somewhere - in other words, don't waste it).  And speaking of emerging creatures, Vector Control recommends putting out yellow jacket traps around now, to try and catch the queens before they lay babies. I find that this brand is the only one that really works.

Now I'm off to do some homework. I have one class that requires me to memorize 250 trees by Latin and common names, and family names. Spelling is crucial. I can definitely feel my brain working hard when I'm studying these trees. Hopefully the knowledge will stick for the rest of my life, and I'll be an ace at identifying both native and imported trees!

Four-Egg Days

Did you know that eggs are seasonal?

Usually, during the winter, older chickens take some time off laying. Then, when the days start to grow longer, some sort of internal timer goes 'ding!' and they start laying again. And oh, when they do, happy day.

We have six chickens, two of whom are done laying for good and need to be 'taken care of' (insert mental picture of me drawing my finger across my throat). But the other four, two of whom are older, and two of whom are younger, are all laying regularly again. This is great news, because it means eggs are back on the menu. We love them scrambled with diced bacon, fresh greens from the garden, and a little turmeric. We love frittatas with leeks and herbs from the garden, broiled with a little parmesan on top for salty color. We love chocolate pudding made with the bright, fresh, orange yolks. Having eggs again is like being rich.

Have your chickens started laying again? What are your favorite egg dishes?