Seeing Green:Tomatillos

There will be no shortage of salsa verde for us for this upcoming year- our tomatillos seem to be picking up the slack for the tomatoes!
We have 6 different tomatillo plants- not counting the four “volunteer” plants that have sprouted in various places in the yard. I planted 3 different varieties this year, and so far I don’t have a preference in flavor (which means next year I can just stick with one variety- yay!).
Tomatillos do very well in Sacramento’s heat, which is not surprising considering they grow like weeds in Mexico. Just like with tomatoes, the size of the fruit can vary on one plant- from the size of a marble, but most commonly it’s between a golf ball and a mandarin. One thing to remember about growing tomatillos is to plant at least two! They are “self-incompatible” so you need at least two plants in order to get any fruit. If you set the plants out at a young age, they may get chomped by bugs(well, mine do), so I plant at least three just in case I lose one!
The fruit is picked when the husk (I call them lanterns) has started to split open, or the fruit has completely filled its husk. The flavor can vary based on what stage they are in. A tomatillo still inside its husk will be tangy in flavor with a slight lemon/grass taste and is lovely bright green. One that has busted out of its husk will taste much sweeter with a slight pineapple flavor and will be either a lighter green or pale yellow color. Of course, coloring will also depend on the variety you’re growing- I have a purple variety growing that has apple green colored fruit with purple shoulders (see picture above). The flavor is best when the fruit is still green, however, unless you are willing to “fondle” every single tomatillo you have growing on a daily basis, it’s much easier to just look for husks that are starting to open.

One thing I love about tomatillos is their long storage life. In the husk, they can last up to two weeks in the refrigerator. If you remove the husk before refrigeration, they can last even longer. Since I like to only have to make salsa verde once a year in a huge pot, I remove the husk, wash the sticky residue off of them, pat them dry, and then freeze my harvest into Ziploc bags until I’m ready to make it. I prefer to freeze them whole out of pure laziness, but some people cut them into smaller sizes. Freezing them whole retains more vitamins and keeps them from losing flavor.
Don’t have enough tomatillos for a batch of salsa verde? You’ve got several options. 1.) Buy some at the grocery store. Most grocery stores carry a small quantity of tomatillos in their produce department. They are usually still in their husks, and are located near the peppers in my grocery store. 2.) You can buy canned whole tomatillos at the grocery store as well, usually located where you’d buy diced chiles and salsa. 3.) Use green tomatoes in their place. This option is especially helpful at the end of the tomato season when you’ve got a bunch of tomatoes on your plants that you KNOW aren’t going to ripen.

As for what to do with all of those tomatillo’s when you’ve got them- salsa verde! If you’d like to try canning your tomatillo salsa, check out this recipe on Lelo in Nopo’s website. I made it last year and it was fairly easy. Not a big enchilada fan? There are other uses for tomatillos besides making salsa verde. I like to slice them and throw them on the grill to serve as a nice simple side dish. You can also add some chopped tomatillos while making rice, when the rice is cooked, drain excess water, add a little lime juice and some chopped cilantro. If you make your own tzatziki for falafel or gyros, try adding chopped tomatillos instead of cucumbers.

My Personal Farmer's Market

This is a busy time of year for anyone that has a vegetable garden. The picture above is one day of harvesting, and we're harvesting every day. And we're just getting started!

Of course the start of the summer season also means the end of some of my favorite spring friends- like the artichoke you see above. They are past their prime and entering their bloom season. Another week or so and I'll be cutting them back after the bee's get their fill of pollen, and my neighbors are done taking pictures of them. (yeah- really weird to come home and see people in my front yard taking pictures of my artichokes)

Some late comers to the summer season would be my melons. We had a wet spring, and I had to put them in the ground a lot later than I normally would have. This is a baby Tigger melon, grown from seed that I got from my friend Julia. Tigger's are nice, softball sized melons that are perfect for individual servings. They are orange with yellow stripes, and are sometimes available at the farmer's market here in Sacramento.

I also haven't harvested any cucumbers yet this year. I came close, but something took my first one (not sure if it was a neighbor or an animal!). I usually just grow Armenian cucumbers- which are actually Asian melons. Depending on the variety they can range from white to dark green, and can grow up to 3 feet long if you let them (which I have! Only because I didn't know it was there!). Typically I pick mine when they are about 18 inches long.

Here's what I AM picking- squash! The one pictured above is just your standard zucchini, and the single plant we have of it has already produced about 10 zucchini's. We also have various scalloped squash- the ones that look like little space ships. Depending on the variety ours range from light green (like Peter Pan or Bennings), dark green (like Starship), or yellow and green (like Sunburst).

We're also getting bell peppers, such as the Lilac bell peppers above....
The green ones are also making an appearance....

As are the Tequila sweet peppers.....

We're also starting to see the appearance of some of our fall/winter harvest- like this Uchiki Kuri squash. This is a nice reminder that I need to start my seeds for the fall garden......

July Seed GROW Project

It has been a while since I've posted an update for the Seed GROW Project, but my 'Spitfire' Nasturiums have finally started taking off.
They don't seem to be climbing as much as they are trailing. They have blanketed the ground where my tomatillos and tomatoes are growing.

When I planted them, I put one seed at each post of our front yard garden. They're now really starting to peek through to mingle with the coneflowers.

Some plants still haven't flowered yet.

I'm growing Nasturtium "Spitfire" for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee's Garden for the seeds.

Happy Birthday J

Obviously since I’ve been heavily advertising my husband’s birthday gift on my Facebook page, I felt it needed an explanation. It really wasn’t supposed to be a game, but he MADE me give him clues. Here’s the story:

As most of you know, my husband turned 40 today. 40 is an important number. I really wanted him to feel special, and I really struggled with finding him the perfect gift. I finally figured out what I wanted to get him, and it was being shipped to our house. I was really going to be cutting it close with delivery, so I went ahead and paid for expedited delivery. After I did that, I sort of stressed out that they would arrive and he’d be able to tell what they are by looking at the box. At dinner that night I told him if we come home from work and there are boxes at our doorstep, he needs to look the other way. Somehow he MANIPULATED (haha) me into giving him a clue in exchange for not snooping for his gifts. Well, it just so happened that I had written up a nice letter to him to go with his gifts, and it was written in a way that I could give him several pages without him ever having an idea of what he was getting. What I wrote about was everything I CONSIDERED getting him, but didn’t. Each page had a picture on it that was related to his gift. The key clue was ALL pictures were related, and my letter actually helped him eliminate options.
The pictures, in order, have been: the Pebble Beach golf course logo, the Sierra Club hiking club logo, an image of an orange with the words “Grown in California” under it, the Robert Mondavi wine label, the NPR logo, a picture of a skier, a picture of Lara Bars wrappers, an image from the 2000 US Open, and a picture of a boy reading under a tree with the words “Time for Yourself”. I told him there are multiple gifts, and they are all related. Jason has lined up the images on our kitchen counter, and just stares at them. Want to know what he thought he was getting? A round of golf at Pebble Beach, a hiking trip up in Tahoe, a lifetime supply of orange juice, membership to the Robert Mondavi wine club, NPR was going to announce his birthday on the radio, I was taking him skiing in Canada, a box of Lara bars, tickets to the 2012 US Open, and that I cleared time off with his boss to do all of this stuff. Nice guess, but that’s not what you’re getting dude.

So- what do all of the images have in common? The answer is SO simple. They were all done by the same graphic designer. They were all done by a man named Michael Schwab.
Over 8 years ago, before Jason and I were even married, we were in San Francisco on one of our many date days. We went into a store to browse, and he came across these prints that he loved. They were all different areas of the Golden Gate National Parks . Most of them were framed already- he checked out the price and said “Yikes”, Jason didn’t spend that kind of money on pictures to hang on the walls. We looked over to the side and they had posters available too- for only $12.95! That was more in his price range. He settled on a poster that had multiple different parks on it side by side, and said someday he’d have it framed. Well, he hasn’t. For over 8 years that poster has remained in its original plastic wrapping. After we got married, it found a home in our filing cabinet- and every time we actually work on filing together (which is only around tax season usually) he’ll see it and say “I need to get that framed so I can hang it up”.

So, for his birthday this year I thought I’d have that picture framed. I took it to a framing place, had to take off the plastic so they could measure it, and got the price to frame it- lets just say I said “Yikes”, and walked out the door. That poster is back in the file cabinet. I started looking at other options for birthday gifts but I was seriously coming up short. It was now a week before his birthday and I was really stressing. So, I went back to that poster. I started wondering if I could just buy that same poster already framed and save myself some money. I couldn’t remember for the life of me where we bought that poster. Thank goodness for the internet! I found a place online that sold the prints- already framed- for much cheaper than having his original poster framed. The problem: they didn’t have the same poster with the multiple parks on it; they only had the individual parks. Michael Schwab created 18 different designs for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, which ones do I choose? Well, I ended up picking five of them (I had wanted six! But the last one I wanted they didn’t have in the size I wanted, oh well). They all arrived Tuesday, in plenty of time for his birthday. They all got wrapped, and each had a letter attached to it with an explanation of why I picked that one.

The first one I picked was Schwab’s Golden Gate Bridge. This picture reminded me of the gazillion times Jason and I have gone to San Francisco together. We usually take the Bay Bridge into the city, but we almost always take the Golden Gate Bridge home. It also reminds me of a picture I have of Jason and Alex together from a trip we took to the city for Father’s Day- where they’re walking together in Crissy Field (this is the other picture I want to get), with the bridge in the background. I had taken Jason to San Francisco that year because it was the first Father’s Day after his dad had passed away, and I wanted to lift his spirits. In the picture he and Alex were talking about her “Papa” and how much they missed him. I sort of hung back a little so they two of them could have some alone time together, and that’s when I took that picture.
The second picture I chose was of the Cliff House. I chose this picture because Jason and I do an urban hike together that starts in Golden Gate Park, whips through the Presidio, takes us along the coast until we get to the Sutro Baths and Cliff House, and then back into Golden Gate Park. We’ve done this hike together several times in the last ten years that we’ve been together, and I’m always REALLY happy to see the Cliff House because it means we’re almost done with the hike (it’s long, and very tiring!). We used to stop here for a bit of a break and check out Musee Mecanique (before it moved to Fisherman’s Wharf), which has a bunch of antique arcade games and the infamous “Laffing Sal”, pictured above. After Musee Mecanique moved, we found a place called the Park Chalet that is nearby where we can stop for a break after our long hike before heading home. Did I mention Park Chalet is a brewery? Yeah, so now seeing Cliff House signifies it’s time for a BEER, which is much needed after hiking for several hours (just ask anyone that we’ve made go on this hike with us).

The third picture I chose is the one of Mount Tamalpais. This picture signifies my absolute favorite summer hike that we’ve done together, which is a trail called Bootjack Loop. Bootjack is at least 6.2 miles, with several other little trails that you can add on to extend it (which we have). It starts in Mount Tamalpais and the entire trail is surrounded by redwoods and ferns. It loops into Muir Woods, before sending you back up into Mount Tamalpais to finish. I have fond memories of a particular time we hiked here (again, not sure our friends that were with us would agree with us here) where we were only suppose to have a 20% chance of rain. 20% chance of rain turned into BUCKETS OF RAIN rather quickly, but once you’re in, you’re in for good- you’ve gotta finish the loop. There was an option at the halfway point to extend the trail to go to the Muir Woods visitor center where we thought we could duck into until the rain let up and enjoy some hot beverages and maybe some soup. This stop added an extra mile or so onto our hike. We waited, indoors, patiently. The rain never stopped. We finally decided we couldn’t wait any longer, and continued on with our hike. The problem with waiting- it sort of got dark, and we finished the hike in the pouring rain and in the dark. Always an adventure! After the hike Jason stripped down to his undies and draped his clothes across the dashboard of the car, with the car on high heat- trying to dry everything so we could stop and get dinner in Sausalito.
The fourth picture I chose was the one of Muir Woods. This is actually my favorite out of all of them, and the one I thought he’d like the most too. Not only does it remind me of hiking there with him, but it reminds me of our trips to Yosemite, Tahoe and Big Tree’s together too.

The fifth picture is one of Sweeney Ridge. We’ve never been here before. This picture signifies our future, and the many adventures that are waiting for us. We’ll be going here next week, taking Alex on her first hiking trip. Hopefully it will be the first of many that we do as a family.

As I looked through all of the pictures that Schwab designed for the Golden Gate National Parks, I realized how important the parks are to us. We’ve been to almost all of them, and I have many fond memories of our trips together. The last part of Jason’s birthday gift is a membership to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, which supports preserving the many historic landmarks, hiking trails and redwood forests that we’ve enjoyed together, so that hopefully our daughter and any children she might have, can enjoy them too.

Happy 40th birthday Jason, hope it was a great one :)

Gardening Can Be So Boring ;)

Our evening went like this: Get home, kiddo says "I think we need to water plants". Um okay, you're right. This whole watering thing is fairly new to us this year as we've had rain storms every week since like January (that's NOT normal btw). So, we ventured off into the garden, hose in hand. It only took two minutes before she was hopping into the shower of water, trying to get all wet. I think I said "No Alex, I don't want you to get all wet", or maybe it was "No Alex, stop getting me wet", but then it actually started feeling good. So, we popped off the nozzle head and attached a sprinkler head, and we literally "ran with it".

Sure, there are folks saying "OMG- you're overhead watering your vegetable garden! You're spreading disease! ". Why yes, yes I am. At this point I'm thinking I already got screwed by Mother Nature- so why should she get all the fun? And so we ran.

People are driving by at this point on their way home from work- and they have this look on their face like "Dang, I wish I knew them" or "Dang, I need a kid so I have an excuse to do that too".
And she says to me, "Can I help you water the vegetables tomorrow too?" and I want to tell her "Yes! I did this all for you! This garden is yours!" but instead I say "We'll see, it depends on whether you have a good day at school or not." *sigh* It's tough being the parent sometimes.

But the garden is now drenched. I had one heck of a time watering it with her than I would have with out. And it was nice to stop being an adult, for at least 30 minutes.

Not Pictured: Me. Because a 3 year old with a camera PLUS water doesn't mix.

Design on a Dime- Grandparents Edition "Finale"

Today my daughter and I went to my grandparents to work on their backyard. My grandma is having difficulty getting around these days, so I wanted to spruce up her backyard to make her WANT to come outside. I posted the BEFORE pics last week, you can view them here. They lost a lot of plants to the frost that hit us back in December, so I wanted to replace some of those and add some additional color too. The hummingbirds love it here. She's commented often about how many times they visit her feeder- but it wasn't until I spent 11 hours outside that I got to learn how much. I am jealous! I spent most of the day getting dive-bombed by hummers who were a little ticked that I was in their territory. Hopefully they'll get over it when they see that a lot of my plant choices were for them. Most of the new additions are pretty small, but they'll fill into the space nicely. My grandparents love to visit the beach (notice the abalone shells), so I tried to add some tropical plants- or at least as tropical as we can get here in Sacramento. My mom and I both dug up some of our canna's to bring over, so they now have four different kinds that will colorfully greet them each summer. I also wanted to add some plants that could break up all of this fence. I bought them a Robertson's naval orange tree because they love to eat oranges (and citrus is kinda my thing...ya know?). I chose Robertson because it is a heavy producer, but is also one of the more compact oranges- so I can keep this tree below 6 feet without any problems. I also chose it because the fruit tends to grow on the outside of the tree- so they wont have to be digging into the tree to find their fruit. Some of the other "taller" additions are two Rose of Sharon 'Sugar Tip' Hibiscus and a 'Syringa Boomerang' Lilac- all which I got from Farmer Fred. Actually, over half of the plants I used for my grandparent's garden I got from Fred, so I really lucked out! Thank you again Fred!

I also added some hardy verbena to form into a nice purple carpet, some salvia grahamii to keep the hummingbirds happy, and autumn joy sedum to feed the bees and the birds.
I managed to save a heavily damaged kangaroo paw plant that had gotten hit by the frost. My grandpa was going to take a shovel to it and toss it out a few days ago but my mom told him to wait and just let me do it. Today when he walked outside he said "I see you dug up that one plant that died that your grandma liked". Nope, just cleaned it up a ton- it's in the picture above in the lower right corner.

I put a lot of annuals in the yard to add temporary color until the other plants have a chance to fill in. There are petunias, zinnias, coleus- even a couple tomato plants will provide some nice color. The hardest part of this little day project was the soil. It was horrible! It was full of rocks and chunks of cement. I spent a large part of the day digging their soil out, and replacing it with a much higher quality of soil and some compost. I had planned on using most of the bagged soil I brought to dress up some pots, but I ended up using it all in the beds- the pots can get done another day! I ran drip lines to all of the new plants, then used 5 bags of bark to cover up all of my lines. The final result is 100 times better than how it started. Sure- if I had tons of money I could have done a lot more, but this is perfect for them as it is. I think they were just happy that I came and helped out for the day.

New Blooms!

Sorry, just overly excited about the succession of blooms we're having- especially since all the rain has put a damper on my vegetable garden. I swear, I'll get back to vegetables soon. And not just artichokes.

How about this blue? I couldn't get a decent shot of this- but it's actually purple and blue right now, and it's stunning! I'm really hoping today's storm doesn't knock it over. This is Larkspur 'Chorus Violet'.


Coreopsis 'Early Sunrise'

Marigolds....

An occasional Rudbeckia bloom here and there, it's a bit early for them though....

Another Bachelor Button....

Our first daylily bloom of the year, a yellow one that I don't know the name of.

Jupiter's Beard....

I believe this is Cheiranthus x allionii "Siberian Wallflower". I really need to do a better job at remembering all of the names of my plants.

Watsonia 'Raspberry Delight' (I think?! I have two- and can never remember which is which!)

The Meyer lemon tree is still covered in blooms.......

A Kangaroo Paw is just about to bloom...if my neighbors ivy doesn't smother it to death beforehand.....

Achillea

When we bought our house it had about 100 rose bushes surrounding the whole perimeter. I ripped them all out. This one comes back every year, despite me hacking away at it with a shovel. Because of its persistent nature, I've decided to let it stay, since it seems to be almost as stubborn as me. I don't know what kind it is though.

Oh- thanks to the rain, we still have lettuce! Normally it's bolting at this point from prolonged periods of heat. Since we're experiencing weather we should be having in March, the lettuce gets a longer season.

I think that's all I'll show for now. Guess I should save some of my hodge podge garden to show you next week :)