They Might Be Giants

This is the tallest sunflower we have ever had. It is nearly nine and a half feet tall! We didn't even plant sunflowers this year but, thanks to a pair of chipmunks, sunflowers came up in odd and sundry places all over the property. This one is growing right next to one of the compost beds, which may account for its size. In fact, it is so big it shades some of the tomatoes. Since they are still struggling to ripen, Paul is threatening to take down the sunflower so the tomatoes have a better chance. I keep holding him off but it may not work much longer. So, I thought I'd share it with you before it's gone. Isn't it amazing?

Oh My, Berry Pie

I know, I know...I've been posting a lot about food lately. But it is harvest time around here and that's the most exciting thing I have to talk about for now. Here is the latest....the blackberries. Blackberries and I go way back. Blackberries grow all over the place in the Willamette Valley, were I grew up. In fact, they are sometimes called the kudzu of the Northwest. When I was a kid, I would pick them off the vines, wherever I happened to find them, and pop them in my mouth. They were so sweet and luscious. And blackberry pie has always been my favorite of all fruit pies. When I went out to pick our blackberries this week I expected the usual 3-4 pints. Was I in for a surprise. I ended up with over 2 gallons of berries! I put enough in the freezer for 4 pies, gave some to a neighbor and baked a fresh blackberry pie for us. But that first berry eaten off the vine was so sweet and delicious, I was immediately transported back to the Willamette Valley and my childhood. I love how tastes and smells can do that. I felt like a little girl again picking those blackberries.


And this blackberry pie tastes amazing (if I do say so myself). I think I'm having some for breakfast tomorrow!

Spud Surprise

This year we decided to try growing potatoes. We dug up a space on the edge of the "transition area" between the vegetable garden and the prairie. We planted half of it with black beans and half with potatoes with the idea we would trade places each year for some crop rotation. We planted two 12 foot rows with three kinds of potatoes; Yukon Golds, Red Thumb fingerlings, and Red Pontiacs. We wanted to see if we could dry land farm them, meaning grow them without irrigation. We'd been told that they would keep better if grown that way. So we dug our trenches, faithfully hilled them every couple weeks, and kept our fingers crossed. All went well until about a month ago when Paul started to see vole holes around the potato patch. (Remember those nasty voles? see earlier post) My heart sunk. I didn't even want to go out there and look. But, today was the day to harvest the spuds so I had to go see if there were even any potatoes left. When I saw the holes in the potato patch itself, I wasn't too hopeful. I started with the fingerlings. There were many, many half-eaten small red potatoes coming up in my shovel. I was getting more depressed. However, I began to find more and more uneaten ones so I kept digging. The Yukon Golds were nearly untouched. The Red Pontiacs were in pretty good shape, too, although there were more of them with little tooth marks and parts gone. When all was said and done, we ended up with about 40 pounds of whole, lovely potatoes! They are now stored in the dark, cool basement waiting to be eaten...this time by us!

Only Two Things

Tomatoes!  Fresh picked, vine ripened, pure heaven.  I love just about any food fresh from the garden but tomatoes are my favorite.  We plant lots of them!  Everything in the garden is late this year and I was worried that the tomatoes might not get ripe in time but they have arrived, thank goodness.  The little sungolds have been producing for a while.  They are so good popped into one's mouth sun-warm right from the vine.  They were also great oven roasted and mixed with garlic, sopresatta, parsley, olives and capers over pasta for dinner tonight.  The long San Marzanos are pressed for tomato sauce.  We freeze the sauce and use it all winter long.  It tastes just like fresh in pasta sauce and soup and paella.  The fat Brandywines and dark Nyagous get used for everything else...BLTs, sliced with a sprinkling of salt, or diced for fresh tomato pasta.  Nothing compares to the taste of tomatoes from the garden.  One of my favorite Guy Clark songs is called "Homegrown Tomatoes."  The chorus says "Only two things that money can't buy, that's True Love and Homegrown Tomatoes."  If you have both, you are rich indeed.

What's The Story, Morning Glory?

When I first mentioned planting morning glory, Paul was less than enthusiastic. Morning glory to him meant field bindweed, a noxious, nasty weed he has been eradicating from our prairie. I had to assure him that this morning glory (or ipomea) is a lovely annual vine with beautiful blooms. I planted it to camouflage the pole that holds up the satellite dish for the internet which it is doing quite well, I think. Morning glory is true to its name. The blossoms are full and bright every morning when I look out the window. By evening, they have closed up and gone to sleep. Being a morning person myself, I can understand this rhythm. Paul agrees that it is a beautiful plant. He's still not completely convinced that it won't try to take over the property, however.