These Starkrimson cherries are almost ready. Can’t wait to try them! Many people don’t know northwestern Montana grows some of the best cherries in the world, with dozens of successful orchards surrounding Flathead Lake. I picked most of the green cherries off the trees I planted last spring. According to the nursery where I got them, the second year the tree should be putting most of its energy into building a strong root system and filling out rather than producing fruit. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to leave a couple of clusters, though.
green cherries
The first of the fruit trees I planted last spring have fruit — check out the green cherries…
new cherry blossoms
First cherry blossoms on the first cherry trees I’ve planted. Happy to see they made it through this exceptionally cold, snowy winter!
concord grape harvest
Feels good to be harvesting fresh grapes in early November. After a couple days of October snow, we’ve had mostly rain and not too cold with brief glimpses of sun in between allowing the grapes to ripen on the vine. These are from a friend’s orchard. Fresh off the vine they have that iconic “grapey” taste — delicious. I’m making Concord grape jelly. Concord Grape Jelly First I washed, de-stemmed, and ran the grapes though a juicer. My juicer left a lot of juicy-looking pulp, so I put the pulp through a manual food mill to ring out the rest of the juice. I poured the resulting juice through a cheesecloth-lined
November 4, 2016
ripening green tomatoes
Summer was short in Montana this year. We had a bit of early summer in April, then it got colder again. I still ended up with lots of tomatoes — Cherokee Purple, Black Cherry, Purple Bumble Bee, Solar Flair, and Black Beauty. Few made it beyond green stage, though, before the first frost hit. I made the mistake of trying to ripen the first green few on a sunny windowsill. They did turn color. The ripe flesh was grainy and mushy, though, and not good to eat. For the rest I tried putting them in a cardboard box in the (relatively) chilly shop. The shop stays between 55F and 60F this
September 22, 2016
preserving apricots
Apricots are in season! One of my favorite stone fruits both for eating fresh and preserving through the winter. Traditional Apricot Jam Apricot jam made the traditional way has so many uses. Chop fresh apricots into chunks. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste. You need enough sugar to create the jammy consistency, so err on the sweet side. Simmer until they’re a chunky jam consistency (don’t overcook or you’ll lose the fresh apricot essence). Put the cooked apricot mixture in mason jars, leaving 1/4″ headroom, put on the lids and rings Submerge in boiling water for 10 minutes. The resulting preserves are more runny than preserves made with added pectin. If you
August 17, 2016
garden beds getting ready
Decided to do a mix of straw bale and in-ground garden this year. The sheet mulching we did in the fall resulted in a nice, loamy compost. I put 750 lbs of organic soil on top of the sheet mulch today, and will add some more tomorrow. Straw bales are creating a border around the in-ground beds. Next week we’ll be conditioning the straw bales and creating the garden beds. Apple, peach, and cherry trees arrive Monday. They’ll get planted in the new orchard area beyond where you see the far straw bales. I’ll also be planting blackberry and blueberry bushes, as well as installing irrigation, fencing, and tree cages.
April 9, 2016
orchard and berries
This year’s orchard plan includes: Apples (Honeycrisp, September Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Rome Beauty) Peaches (Contender, Burbank July, Reliance, Delicious) Cherries (Northstar Pie, Starkcrimson, Hansen’s Bush) Blueberries (Elliot, Chandler, Herbert) Additional blueberries (Northcountry, Northblue) are going into containers on the deck, along with more herbs and flowers. Now to figure out fencing to keep out the local deer.
center garden plan
Center garden area planned, seeds I either have or are on the way. In the center garden this coming spring I’m trying: Tomatoes (Solar Flair, Cherokee Purple, Black Beauty, Black Cherry, Purple Bumble Bee) Artichokes (Imperial Star — seedlings already started!) Crookneck Squash (Early Golden Summer) Cauliflower (Purple of Sicily) Cabbage (Mammoth Red Rock) Broccoli (Waltham 29) Beets (Chiogga, Crosby Egyptian) Leeks (Megaton, Lexton) Swiss Chard (Five Color Silver Beet) Carrots (Atomic Red, Purple Dragon, Pusa Asita Black, Yellow Bunch) Lettuce (Flash Butter Gem, Flame, Garnet Rose) Orach (Magenta Magic) Chilies (Purple Jalapeno, Green Jalapeno, Goat’s Horn, Chocolate Habanero, Cayenne) Flowers (Nasturtium, Poppies, Sunflowers, others TBD) Red Currants (Rovada) Gooseberries
January 30, 2016
homemade apple cider
What to do with small, blemished apples not pretty enough for pies or eating whole? I’m making apple cider. If you have a juicer, this is super simple. Wash the apples. Quarter the apples and throw them into the juicer — skins, cores, stems and all. Run the apples through the juicer, and that’s it. The cider will last a couple weeks in the fridge. It will ferment naturally, so be aware that you could get a bit of a buzz once that process happens. It could also get a bit sour — let your taste buds be your guide for when the cider is no longer drinkable. You could
October 7, 2015