vegetables – Page 5 – Planet B Gardens

pickled tomatoes experiment

Smoke from the wildfires made for a change in plans from outdoor to indoor work today. The only place to be is indoors with windows closed and air filters running on high. Outside looks (and smells) like nuclear winter at the moment. Makes it hard to catch your breath. I had a couple of pints of fresh-picked cherry tomatoes, a few jalapeno and cayenne peppers, and a sweet onion that needed to be eaten or preserved, so decided to try pickling them. I’ve done pickled peppers before, but not sure how the fresh taste of tomatoes will hold up after time in the jar. Tomatoes tend to ripen a few

August 24, 2015

wildfire season

Summer in Montana brings wildfires. We have them burning north, south, east, and west of us. The nearest is 50 miles away, so we’re a distance from the burning zone. However, the smoke has been thick, making breathing hard — especially for those of us who have asthma. Last night we got a little bit of rain, which cleared the smoke somewhat. This morning’s view was relatively blue. Perhaps the tomatoes got a little smokey flavor as a plus 🙂

august fruit

Friends Sheryl & Dan have a magical Montana orchard and vineyard. Today’s harvest included fresh, ripe apricots, juicy peaches, and bright yellow plums — plus some native corn and a lovely lemon cucumber in addition to a few other veggies. I canned a dozen jars of fresh peaches this afternoon. Still deciding what to do with the apricots and plums. The remaining peaches are for eating fresh and for keeping the air smelling sweet. Corn got tossed on the grill with a little olive oil and sprinkling of Maldon salt for a snack — a delicious and chewy treat.

early morning harvest

Salsa making time!

garden progress

Cherry tomatoes are the first to start ripening, while the Cherokee Purples and Amish Paste remain as green as they’ve been for the last couple of weeks. I read that when temperatures start climbing above 85F, tomatoes slow production of lycopene — the phytochemical responsible for the red and orange color in tomatoes, carrots, and the fruit of watermelons. We had a couple of weeks of triple-digit temps earlier in July, which might account for the other tomatoes’ slowness to ripen. The few cherry tomatoes that have ripened already are deliciously sweet and tangy. I’m looking forward to the next batch. Deer feasted on a couple of my jalapeno plants.

July 27, 2015

vegan “cheddar”

Learning new ways of using ingredients interests me, so I picked up a book on making artisan vegan cheeses. I usually prefer beans, nuts, vegetables and fruits over dairy and meat as a dietary staple, though I’m down with a healthy wild or small-farm raised turkey or tasty free-range elk steak. Vegan “cheddar” needs a new name. It’s a tasty product on its own. A great cheddar made from milk is its own thing, as is its vegan homage. The key to making a vegan cheddar is a sour starter the author of the cookbook I used calls “rejuvelac.” Rejuvelac is based in fermented grains, similar to what you would use in beer making. That gives

May 3, 2015

growing spring greens

Sprouts and microgreens are a healthy addition to the early spring menu, especially as the veggie supply frozen from summer dwindles. My favorites — and the easiest to grow indoors — are pea shoots and sunflower greens. Soak the seeds for a day, rinse and drain them for a couple of days until they’re sprouted, and spread the sprouted seeds on an inch of good soil in a container. Pea shoots and sunflower greens easily root themselves. Mist with clean water 2-3 times per day to keep the soil moist, but not too wet. I add 2 tablespoons of food-grade 3% hydrogen peroxide to 1 liter of filtered water in

March 8, 2015

spring garden planning

Playing with ideas for the spring garden. There are several cool garden planning programs online. I tested a few and settled on GrowVeg.com. I like the ability to put in structural elements like walkways and raised beds, pergolas, and irrigation (not yet in the plan above). You can also plan for crops in succession and filter by month to see what will be in ground at that time. You can also filter fruits, flowers, vegetables, and herbs to show only those that are typically easier to grow in your zone. 2015 will be the first year with new gardens at Planet B, no doubt accompanied by a huge learning curve. Will keep

January 26, 2015

the difference sun makes

We moved in too late to start a garden this year, so on a whim I decided to grow two varieties of lettuce in pots on an inside windowsill. In each pot I used the same potting soil and fertilizer, and same amount of seeds in each. They are lined up on the same windowsill. What a difference the amount of sun that each pot gets throughout the day makes on growth. Starting with the upper left, the most to least sun-exposed lettuce, going clockwise. The two on the left are the same variety, and the two on the right are the other variety.