Rain, Grasshoppers and Vermont

I can't decide whether it feels more like summer or fall. One thing's for sure, we've had a lot more rain recently. The cherry tomatoes are splitting like crazy and attracting all sorts of insects. I should probably rip them out this weekend.

This might sound strange but this is the first time I've ever seen a grasshopper in my garden. Raised Roman Catholic and having seen the movie "The Ten Commandments" a dozen times, I can't help but wonder if this is somehow an ominous sign of things to come. (Will next year be the summer of hungry grasshoppers?) But this is probably just the paranoid gardener inside of me talking.


In unrelated news, the fall turnips are starting to fatten up. I think some of these will be ready in a week or so. Or maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when I return from Vermont. I'm traveling up to Burlington this morning for work. This will be the first time I'm visiting northern Vermont. Hopefully, I'll get to see plenty of farmland, fall foliage and some of the things "the healthiest city" in America has to offer. If you has any suggestions on where I should go, let me know!

Starfruit and Lime

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I've had this star fruit tree for almost two years now. When I bought it, it had only three leaves on it and was rather pathetic looking. It's come a long way since then and even bloomed once. However, I expect that it will be a least a year or two (if ever) before it starts fruiting. It loses plenty of leaves during the winter time, but when I set it outside in late May, it seems to bounce back pretty well. I also need to put more effort into fertilizing it regularly. Has anyone grown star fruit successfully as a houseplant?

In other news, I came across this little fella the other day while watering my citrus plants. It's my first Kaffir lime. It looks like a little brain doesn't it? I hadn't been paying much attention to my potted trees this past summer and it appears that this one has been growing for quite some time now. The lime itself has no real culinary value but the plant's leaves are used in Indian and Thai cooking. If anyone has a tasty recipe that utilizes Kaffir lime leaves, please do share!

First Fall Harvest

I love this time of year. Yes, the days are shorter, but the leaves are brighter, the air is crisp and I get to write this post seated next to the warmth of a glowing fire. It's a time to savor the remains of summer and get reacquainted with the tender greens of fall.

The jewel of this week's harvest happens to be this crown of broccoli. The variety is called 'Bonanza'. I picked it this afternoon and we had it for dinner. It was absolutely delicious - mild, sweet and much tastier than the 'Piracicaba' I grew this spring.


One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to go out into the garden with a pair of scissors and cut a mix of greens to stir-fry. We're talking about farm to fork in a matter of minutes. Here, I have a bowl of baby bok choy, choy sum and white stem chard. My favorite way to prepare them is as follows: I get a pan VERY hot, then add about a tablespoon of butter. When the butter is melted, I add the greens followed by a splash of soy sauce and smooth chili paste. With the burner on medium-high and after a few tosses, the greens are done - the process taking about a minute. Simple and delicious.


I usually don't like to post the same picture twice, but in this case, it was unavoidable. My ancient laptop crashed the other day and I ended up losing all of my unpublished photos. I'm just glad that I have all of my favorite photos stored on Flickr (though I should probably find a way to export them all onto a backup drive).

I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather as much as I am!

This week's numbers:

Asian greens - 0.48 lb
Tomatoes - 14.41 lb
Eggplant - 0.56 lb
Snow peas - 0.13 lb
Broccoli - 0.43 lb

Total harvest this week - 16.01 lb
Total so far this year - 621.90 lb

Roasted Purple Tomatillo Salsa Recipe

I hate to admit this but I don't think I've ever purchased a tomatillo from the supermarket. And up until recently, I've probably eaten salsa verde only twice in my life. So I can't really explain why I was so interested in growing purple tomatillos this year. I think it came down to the fact that they looked so striking in the seed catalog. In any case, I'm glad I took the leap. A bit late to mature, my two plants ultimately produced an abundant amount of fruit. The longer the tomatillos were left to ripen, the deeper the purple they became.


I decided to try my hand at making purple tomatillo salsa. After googling for a recipe and not being satisfied with any that I found, I ultimately came up with my own. The results were surprisingly good! For future reference and for those who may be interested, the recipe is as follows:



Roasted Purple Tomatillo Salsa

2 lb purple tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
1 rather large onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 lb of mixed peppers/chilies (I used what I had in the garden - poblano, jalapeno and Thai chili)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Juice and zest of one large lime
1/4 to 1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped (depending on your taste)
1 tablespoon of fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cumin (of course optional and depending on your taste)
1 teaspoon of kosher salt (or more to taste)


1. Roast the tomatillos and onion on medium heat until they are lightly charred. Then set aside to cool.
2. Roast the peppers/chilies on high heat until they are blackened. (Be careful not to burn the smaller chilies.) Then place them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 10-15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel the peppers/chilies. Remove the seeds from the poblanos.
3. Working in batches, pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor until finely chopped. Then pour into a large bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed.


The finished product has a rather interesting color. I love it served with warm tortilla chips or over grilled meats or veggies. It freezes well too. I hope you like it!

Celebrating the Fall Equinox

Fall is officially upon us. This evening I celebrated by doing a little dance around my broccoli plants, which seem to be crowning nicely. I think I'll able to harvest the one pictured above very soon. Once the main crown is picked, the plant will then produce side shoots.


I also mustered up enough energy to pick some tomatoes and a small bunch of Asian greens. After dinner, I went out to look upon the Harvest moon for a bit and thought about all of the farmers who have done so throughout the ages.

A Lesson on Permaculture

The other day, I came across this rather amazing BBC documentary entitled, "A Farm for the Future":











You can also view this program here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Stevia Dilemma

My stevia plant is over 4 feet tall right now. I'm at a loss as to what do with the leaves. I thought I'd read that they tend to take on a bitter aftertaste when dried. I wonder if I can steep them in an alcohol of some kind and extract the sweetness that way. Must do some googling.

Disturbing Development - GMO Salmon

I came across this rather disturbing news item yesterday:

Modified Salmon: Miracle Food or "Frankenfish"? - CBS News

It seems the FDA has begun hearings on whether or not to approve the sale of genetically-modified salmon. An excerpt:

In the case of the salmon, AquaBounty has added a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce their growth hormone all year long. The engineers were able to keep the hormone active by using another gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout that acts like an on switch for the hormone, according to the company. Conventional salmon produce the growth hormone only some of the time.

I don't know about you but I have no interest in feeding my family a fish that has been engineered to grow twice as fast as it's natural counterpart. Especially disturbing is the fact that the FDA may not require that this farm-raised GMO salmon be labeled as such, as the agency has said that this fish is not 'substantially different' from its conversational version. Not 'substantially different'...are you kidding me?! So it appears that our freedom of choice is being taken away from us once again. I can't help but wonder how much more pressure this will place on the wild salmon population as people begin to shy away from farm-raised.

I found the FDA's other assertions to be rather disturbing as well:

Because the altered fish has never been eaten before, [critics] say, it could include dangerous allergens, especially because seafood is highly allergenic. They also worry that the fish will escape and intermingle with the wild salmon population, which is already endangered. They would grow fast and consume more food to the detriment of the conventional wild salmon, the critics fear.

The FDA tried to allay both of those concerns Monday, saying the fish shouldn't cause any allergies not found in conventional salmon and that there is little chance they could escape.

Try telling that to the folks who have been trying desperately to prevent the invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

Now you know how I feel. But would you eat GMO salmon?

Meyer Lemon Update

My Meyer lemons appear to be ripening early this year. I expect that they will be ready sometime in October or early November. Last year, the lemons I harvested were enormous, resembling conventional Eureka lemons. This year, they are smaller and shaped more like your average Meyer.


I expect that we will be able to can as much marmalade as we did last year. They made awesome gifts and were consumed rather quickly. If you would like more info on how to grow citrus in pots, click here.

The Last Harvest of Summer...

...was rather unremarkable. While the slicing tomatoes have slowed way down, I've also allowed myself to take more of a "c'est la vie" approach to picking the cherries. It's just not worth getting stressed out over it, especially this late in the season. The way I see it, we've had our fair share and then some.


I also picked a handful of fall raspberries today. Earlier this year, I planted an everbearing variety called 'Jaclyn', which is supposed to produce a summer crop on the same canes that fruited during the prior autumn. I would highly recommend this variety as the raspberries are rather large and have a wonderfully rich flavor.


Finally, this is my rather pathetic soybean (edamame) harvest for the year. This veggie has proven to be rather difficult to grow. The insects love the leaves and the rodents love the pods. Next year, I'll have to grow them strictly under row cover if I want to a more substantial harvest.

This week's numbers:

Tomatoes: 11.69 lb
Peppers: 0.23 lb
Artichokes: 0.25 lb
Soybeans: 0.19 lb

Total harvest this week: 12.36 lb
Year to date harvest: 605.89 lb