Green Thumb Sunday: Blogroll

Sunday, October 29, 2006

The following bloggers participate in Green Thumb Sunday, posting photos of gardens, plants, and/or nature scenes at least once per month.


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Cranberry Harvest

Saturday, October 28, 2006

It's that time of the year again. Those plastic packages of tart little ruby-red fruits are making their limited-time appearance in the produce aisles again. Soon they'll be turned into sauces, salsas, pies and all sorts of delectable culinary inventions. Yes, it's cranberry time!

Earlier this month, I had the chance to witness a cranberry harvest for the first time. I was in Cape Cod for a couple of days and was fortunate to run into the 4th Annual Falmouth Cranberry Harvest Festival. What a beautiful sight to see.


Cranberries grow in bogs (wetlands) and are picked from the plants using one of two methods: wet harvest or dry harvest. This one, obviously, was wet. When it's time to pick the berries, the farmers block the river that runs through the bog, allowing it to flood. In this photo, you can see the berries on the plants under the water.


The farmers use thrasher machines to strip the fruits from the plants. The cranberries float to the surface. Then they are gathered and vacuumed up with a giant hose that sucks them into a delivery truck headed for the Ocean Spray processing plant. Cranberries harvested by the wet method are used for juices and jams. (Dry-harvested cranberries are the ones that are sold fresh, in the bags.) So if you ever drank a glass of Ocean Spray cranberry juice, you might have had cranberries from this bog!


Did you know? Cranberries are one of only three fruits that are native to North America. Blueberries and Concord grapes are the other two.


Native Americans used cranberries for centuries, but the Pilgrims were credited for giving these healthful berries their modern name. They called them "crane berries," because the flower of the cranberry plant curls over like the neck of a crane. Eventually, that evolved into "cranberry."


And those white cranberries that are popular now in juice? They are simply a younger version of the red ones. All cranberries turn from white to red. The white ones are harvested earlier in the fall. They are sweeter than the red ones.

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This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted this week by Fiber of 28 Cooks. Visit Fiber's site on Sunday for a re-cap of blog posts featuring vegetables, plants, flowers and herbs.

Garlic Awaits Its Day in the Soil

Thursday, October 26, 2006

A paper bag is no place for garlic bulbs. Not when they should be in the ground by now, that is. But here they are -- still in the bags, still in the box -- waiting patiently for their date with the soil. This weekend, I hope to deliver this precious cargo to its next destination: our plot.

This year, we decided to go exclusively with the German Extra Hardy garlic. We planted this kind in each of the past two years and we've been very happy with it. We've also tried two Russian varieties, but each year, the German garlic has been our favorite because it grows the largest bulbs. A few of them have grown as large as tennis balls!

Of the three different types of garlic we've grown, I've never really distinguished a difference in flavor. I'm sure there must be a difference; I just could never tell. In all cases, though, the home-grown garlic has been much stronger and more pungent than any of the garlic I've bought from any grocery store. It is fresher. More fragrant. Strong. I love it!


I purchased six bulbs this year from Seed Savers Exchange. I've been really happy with the garlic they sent us in the past, so why stop now? They even included a handy Garlic Planting Guide with my order. It has lots of helpful tips on growing and harvesting this wonderful herb. Nice folks those Seed Savers people, nice folks.

October Harvest

Sunday, October 22, 2006

These beautiful gems awaited us in the garden when we returned from our trip. There were tomatoes, peppers (poblano and jalapeño), and a handful of baby squashettes.

Sadly for us tomato lovers, a few of the Beefsteaks and Brandywines took a tragic plunge to their deaths while we were out of town. There I found them, lying silently upon their shadowy grave, blood-red pools of withered, putrid flesh -- ghosts of tomato-sandwich dreams unfulfilled. (Yes, I'm getting into the Halloween spirit, can you tell?)


The good tomatoes, still rich with the flavor of late summer days, made their way into a fresh, Guapo's-inspired salsa. So did one of those jalapeño peppers -- a brave move on my part, after the little mishap I had with one of those fiery little buggers back in September.


The tomato salsa made a vibrant accompaniment to the chicken and black bean empanadas I cooked for dinner. The empanadas were flavored with our garden-fresh oregano and garlic, accented with onions, cumin, and few careful shakes of cayenne pepper. Fantastically delicious!

Returning to the Garden

I am back from vacation now and getting back into the garden. Not unexpectedly, I found it brimming to the top of the fence with weeds and seeds and things that need tending to. It's as if everything grew to its highest height to shout, 'Don't forget us while you're gone!' And then, exhausted and dejected, faded into an unruly tangle of wants and want-nots that all have to be sorted out before autumn's end.

Yes, that is the same radish I photographed a month ago, now all grown up and waiting to live out its glorious fate in a salad or something. Everything in the garden is begging for attention.


Most urgent on our to-do list is to prepare a cozy and nutritious bed of soil where we can tuck away our garlic bulbs for the winter. We spent two hours yesterday grasping at weeds, turning the soil, and making a large contribution to the community compost pile. Much more to do yet... and in the light of shortening days.