Creekside Gardener No. 11, September 22, 2010
Posted by William R on Thursday, September 23, 2010
Blessed Autumn and Happy Harvest!
As the tomatoes ripen and rain falls, there is a balance one must obtain. Preparations are at hand: the food must be harvested and properly prepared in order to be preserved through the coming weather, the soil must once again be worked and replenished for winter gardens, and any plants that are to remain beyond the first frost must be protected in a hoop or green house. There is also the energetic shift into fall gear. Stoking up the wood stove creates the desire to sit close and read a book. Or write one, as this is also a great time for reflection. This is the time when everything we've done right (and wrong) in the garden is most apparent, so the time to learn is now. I am now planning ahead for next years gardens, markets and CSA shares, and as with everything, I intend to improve upon these ventures.
As shareholders during our first year of offering a CSA, your input is extremely valuable. Please give me a call or send me an email with your thoughts, suggestions, concerns, and complaints, as I am anxious to hear about the things that were great as well as the aspects that stunk about your experience this season. It is my goal to have complete satisfaction, if not this year, in years to come. Coffee Creek continues to grow and fine tune as a community and as a business. It has been an honor to expand our gardens to supply more families than ever with the high-quality, homegrown nutrition the good earth, hard work, and your investments were able to procure. My hopes are that you will continue to be involved as we evolve to bring lovingly grown organic produce, eggs, meat, and canned and fermented goods into the community. Just in case my undying gratitude is not enough, I am offering a $30 discount on a 2011 share for any returning members.
Before we get into the boxes, here is an awesome recipe that my Aunt Terry shared with me today (finally! I have been after it for years, but you know how good recipes are.) as we talked about about the season and our abundance of green tomatoes. Maybe you are experiencing this as well, and it's time to figure out what to do with them all! I received a half-pint of Indian Relish one winter long ago, and cream cheese has not been complete since it was gone! A gleaming glass jar of food is a great gift and a special treat on a chilly winter day.
Indian Relish
12 Green Tomatoes
12 peeled, cored tart Apples
3 peeled onions
Chop or food process these ingredients
Boil:
5 cups vinegar
5 cups sugar (I will reduce this to 2 c. and try honey instead of cane sugar)
1 tsp red pepper
3 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
Add chopped ingredients, simmer for half hour. Pack in sterile jars, seal and process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Makes about a dozen pints depending on the size of your fruit.
Green Tea with Honey and Pear Kombucha is freshly fruited and bottled this morning, so it will be sweet and tangy. Given a few more days to ferment, the flavors and benefits will unfold in ways that only time will tell. Leave jar at room temperature with lid slightly ajar to permit expansion from carbonation. Enjoy the many flavors you will encounter by having a small amount each day. Drink to your health!
In each box you will find:
2# desire red potatoes
1# fingerling potatoes
one head red cabbage
one bulb Nootka Rose garlic
one pint Sungold tomatoes
1/2# Stupice tomatoes
2# Bartlett pears from Calhoune Family Farm in Wapato, Wa. They vend at the Community Farmers' Market in Chehalis with us, and grow most of the fruit we have fresh in the summer and canned in the winter.
one dozen eggs
one whole chicken
one quart Green Tea Honey and Pear Kombucha
half-pint Apple Butter
This batch of apple butter was truly a family affair. Lennon and Waylon gathered all of the apples, Kalee washed, cored, and peeled them, we all watched over them as they simmered slowly, hour after hour, and I canned them after adding just a touch of sugar and cinnamon. Nothing like a pb and ab sandwich with a side of love from the whole bunch!
Plants are still available!
Plant List
early White or Purple Vienna kohl rabi
Long Island improved Brussels sprouts
dinosaur and red Russian kale
rainbow chard
tendergreen mustard spinach
early snowball cauliflower
michihili cabbage (wong bok)
pak choi (Chinese mustard)
limestone bibb lettuce
golden burgundy romaine
giant Indian curled mustard
rapini
southern giant curled mustard Choose Any 12
~or~
one spider plant in small hanging basket.
Spider plants add colour, texture and oxygen to any indoor space and are easy to care for. Be sure to not over-water.
I should be pealing pears right now!
Ciao,
Mokey
As the tomatoes ripen and rain falls, there is a balance one must obtain. Preparations are at hand: the food must be harvested and properly prepared in order to be preserved through the coming weather, the soil must once again be worked and replenished for winter gardens, and any plants that are to remain beyond the first frost must be protected in a hoop or green house. There is also the energetic shift into fall gear. Stoking up the wood stove creates the desire to sit close and read a book. Or write one, as this is also a great time for reflection. This is the time when everything we've done right (and wrong) in the garden is most apparent, so the time to learn is now. I am now planning ahead for next years gardens, markets and CSA shares, and as with everything, I intend to improve upon these ventures.
As shareholders during our first year of offering a CSA, your input is extremely valuable. Please give me a call or send me an email with your thoughts, suggestions, concerns, and complaints, as I am anxious to hear about the things that were great as well as the aspects that stunk about your experience this season. It is my goal to have complete satisfaction, if not this year, in years to come. Coffee Creek continues to grow and fine tune as a community and as a business. It has been an honor to expand our gardens to supply more families than ever with the high-quality, homegrown nutrition the good earth, hard work, and your investments were able to procure. My hopes are that you will continue to be involved as we evolve to bring lovingly grown organic produce, eggs, meat, and canned and fermented goods into the community. Just in case my undying gratitude is not enough, I am offering a $30 discount on a 2011 share for any returning members.
Before we get into the boxes, here is an awesome recipe that my Aunt Terry shared with me today (finally! I have been after it for years, but you know how good recipes are.) as we talked about about the season and our abundance of green tomatoes. Maybe you are experiencing this as well, and it's time to figure out what to do with them all! I received a half-pint of Indian Relish one winter long ago, and cream cheese has not been complete since it was gone! A gleaming glass jar of food is a great gift and a special treat on a chilly winter day.
Indian Relish
12 Green Tomatoes
12 peeled, cored tart Apples
3 peeled onions
Chop or food process these ingredients
Boil:
5 cups vinegar
5 cups sugar (I will reduce this to 2 c. and try honey instead of cane sugar)
1 tsp red pepper
3 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
Add chopped ingredients, simmer for half hour. Pack in sterile jars, seal and process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Makes about a dozen pints depending on the size of your fruit.
Green Tea with Honey and Pear Kombucha is freshly fruited and bottled this morning, so it will be sweet and tangy. Given a few more days to ferment, the flavors and benefits will unfold in ways that only time will tell. Leave jar at room temperature with lid slightly ajar to permit expansion from carbonation. Enjoy the many flavors you will encounter by having a small amount each day. Drink to your health!
In each box you will find:
2# desire red potatoes
1# fingerling potatoes
one head red cabbage
one bulb Nootka Rose garlic
one pint Sungold tomatoes
1/2# Stupice tomatoes
2# Bartlett pears from Calhoune Family Farm in Wapato, Wa. They vend at the Community Farmers' Market in Chehalis with us, and grow most of the fruit we have fresh in the summer and canned in the winter.
one dozen eggs
one whole chicken
one quart Green Tea Honey and Pear Kombucha
half-pint Apple Butter
This batch of apple butter was truly a family affair. Lennon and Waylon gathered all of the apples, Kalee washed, cored, and peeled them, we all watched over them as they simmered slowly, hour after hour, and I canned them after adding just a touch of sugar and cinnamon. Nothing like a pb and ab sandwich with a side of love from the whole bunch!
Plants are still available!
Plant List
early White or Purple Vienna kohl rabi
Long Island improved Brussels sprouts
dinosaur and red Russian kale
rainbow chard
tendergreen mustard spinach
early snowball cauliflower
michihili cabbage (wong bok)
pak choi (Chinese mustard)
limestone bibb lettuce
golden burgundy romaine
giant Indian curled mustard
rapini
southern giant curled mustard Choose Any 12
~or~
one spider plant in small hanging basket.
Spider plants add colour, texture and oxygen to any indoor space and are easy to care for. Be sure to not over-water.
I should be pealing pears right now!
Ciao,
Mokey
