Is it time yet?

At the foot of the stairs, in the basement of my almost 100-year old house, lies one of my favorite areas of the entire building. 

No, not the washer and dryer!

Not even the chest freezer.

What is it?

The canning shelf!

I've got Old Blue-my trusty canning pot, empty jars waiting to be filled, and some treasures leftover from years past.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have a hard time using up something precious-from massage gift certificates (I'll be in soon, Art!) to very special foods, it often takes a kick in the buns to get me to open something up.

Some of my hard-to-open favorites include:

Mom's oven-roasted Strawberry Jam

Picked and made by Siri in NORWAY Lingonberry Jam

Mom's Mint Jelly

Kosher Dills

Mom's Raspberry Jam

Notice a theme, anyone? Yes, Mom is a canner extraordinaire! What's even more amazing, is that everything she cans is grown by her and Dad on their own property. 

Me, I'll stoop to buying a bushel of tomatoes at the Farmer's Market if I don't have enough of my own...hey, at least they're local and organically grown, and are cheaper and better tasting than most commercial products. 

I also don't hesitate to buy fruit, since I have none of my own, yet. 

Grow little Honeycrisp, GROW! 

Last year I lucked into a great deal on peaches at the co-op, netting a case for $25. Jon and I made gingered peach halves (awesome!) and a really great Gingered Peach Sauce (that one was really popular!) and gave them away for Christmas presents last year. It was so satisfying to give the people we love food we love, made with love, and to not spend a lot of money on the whole thing. It was, honestly, one of the lowest-pressure holiday seasons I've ever experienced as an adult. By the time the first snow fell, my work was done!

Anyway, one of my goals for the gardening year is to put plenty of food up-whether it's canned, frozen, or dried, I don't want to waste a drop.  The New York Times recently published an article on this very subject, especially as to how it applies to us young folk getting into the "urban homestead" kind of thing. 

Jon and I had great luck with our French Nickel beans, discovering that they really were 98% as great after freezing as compared to eating them fresh. We use these little discoveries to shape the garden for the following year, so this season we've doubled the amount of beans in the garden.  

We also decided it would be great to have our own fruit for preserving, so we were so happy to get the raspberries from Tony.  I'm not sure what kind of yield to expect in their first year here, so they may be just for eating this time. My YOM (that's Rose Mary, my mother-in-law) loves black raspberries, and I'm on the prowl for some of those bushes to plant. I think I have room for 2 or 3 more plants! There's always room, isn't there?

The husband and I have discussed making another fruit and lemongrass item, or maybe even something with lemon balm and lemon verbena, which are growing in our garden. There's also been some discussion of a chutney, although I worry some people won't know how to use it. Also, one of my latest issues of La Cocina Italiana had some really interesting mostarda recipes...perhaps some of you will find that in your Christmas stocking this year?

So, dear readers, what are your favorites for canning and preserving? Do you have any great recipes? I'd love to exchange ideas and tips-and if you send me a recipe at hmsaliba@usiwireless.com I'll be sure to post it on the blog for all to enjoy. 

Maybe we can even cook up a Jam and Jelly exchange? One of my favorite blogs, Batter Splattered, organized one last year and it was one of the highlights of my summer! I was blessed to receive 2 jars of goodness-one is crabapple jelly and the other is pear raspberry jam.  

As a matter of fact, I'm off to open up one of my treasures and enjoy it on toast!

Go on, enjoy them!

Sometimes it's all to easy to forget that one of the main reasons we grow flowers is to enjoy them. To that effect, I am doing my best to remember to cut some and bring them INSIDE where they can be enjoyed by all. Fresh flowers are one of life's luxuries, aren't they? If you're lucky enough to have flowers growing right outside your door, it's a free luxury-the best kind of all.

An arrangement of Lily-of-the-Valley:

Truly one of nature's best scents.

Here are a few Iris-a plant that, frankly, I have little love for, but they look much nicer in a vase:

Go outside and cut a few of your flowers! Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

The Cottage Garden

Of all the gardens surrounding the house, I can safely say that the "Cottage Garden" is my favorite.  Not only is it chock full of interesting plants, none of which are very needy, but I can see the entire thing from one of the office windows. I took a few shots over the weekend to update you on how it's doing.

The tulips have come and gone, but the poppies are about to arrive:

I love them for so many reasons: they self-seed, they have the most amazing colors and papery petals, and the foliage is really neat. It's too bad they bloom for such a short time, but in my book they're completely worth it. They are also incredibly popular in art-especially paintings. Van Gogh, Monet, O'Keefe, you name the painter, they probably have a poppy painting lying around.

Another of my favorites is the lupine. Here's one of mine, almost in full bloom:

Others are lagging behind by a week or so.  Again, these spread themselves, and have perhaps the most attractive foliage of any flowering plant. It almost doesn't matter whether they flower. It's great that they do, however, since they add a such a unique shape to the mixed flower garden.

A recent favorite of mine is the Columbine. Perhaps I came to love it while living in Colorado for a few years (I even worked at a Columbine Bakery!) but I have come to appreciate its very unusual flower shape and I hope to have more.

There are some fabulous hostas in the corner, which you already know I love for their infinite shades of green.

Coneflowers are still small at this point, but once they're in full swing they reach up to 3 1/2-4 feet in height. These little guys are awesome year-round. The green leaves are nice enough while nothing much is happening in early spring, the flowers are just perfection to me, they attract all kinds of birds and butterflies, and I like to leave them with seedheads intact for winter interest and bird snacks.

I've also got some day-lilies, courtesy of my Mom, and I can't wait for them to grow up so I can show them to you.

Dirt Therapy

After a truly horrific day at work on Thursday involving broken coolers and hundreds of pounds of food thrown away, I knew I needed a little dirt therapy and stopped by Minnehaha Nursery. I was pleasantly surprised by their selection of native plants and vast quantities of herbs.  I picked up 3 large-leaf Italian basil plants, which is the only way to go when you want to make pesto: the larger the leaves, the less time it takes to pick them. Plus, the large leaves are easy to chiffonade when cooking, and look great in Caprese salad.

I also bought 2 cilantro plants, one flat-leaf (a.k.a. Italian) parsley, lemon balm, a Hot Portuguese pepper, and two Mulato Isleno peppers.  I've never grown or tasted a Hot Portuguese before, but the Mulato peppers are a type of poblano. They're called ancho or mulato peppers when dried, just to add to the confusion that is the world of peppers. 

Poblano:

Ancho or Mulato:

The ancho is probably the pepper we use the most when cooking. They're awesome roasted or grilled, then peeled, and made into green enchilada sauce, diced into pico de gallo, or sauteed with eggs for juevos rancheros. They freeze exceptionally well, and they have just the right amount of heat to go with any kind of grilled meats. The dried version makes for a mean chile or barbeque sauce, and in powdered form is one of the best ways to liven up any Spanish or Tex-Mex food.

But I digress, and back to the herbs we go.

The husband really loves lemon verbena, so to finish of the herb garden we made a trip to Mother Earth Gardens to pick up a pot. We like to put interesting herbs like verbena in our jams and preserves: lemongrass and blueberry, strawberry and basil, etc.  Lemon verbena is also great infused into iced tea and sorbets. 

Speaking of pots, Mother Earth Gardens participates in a flower-pot recycling program-rare and unusual around here.  All you have to do is bring them in and dump them in a giant white container! I got rid of three years' worth of pots, which cleared off quite a bit of space in the garage. 

We re-planted the sage, rosemary, and thyme which we had over-wintered in the house and I hope they really take off once they're settled outside. Since I like to mix edibles and ornamentals, I also bought a few 9-packs of giant red petunias-they should really stand out amongst the various shades of green of the herbs.

A little mulch, a little water, and presto!

An herb garden:

Memorial Day Weekend Bonanza

Or

Why I'm spending Memorial Day Lying on my Tiger-Balm Covered Back Trying Not to Move.

It started out innocently enough: I was blessed with a three day weekend and couldn't wait to get into the garden. Three days! That's some 36 hours, minus a few for sleeping, eating, and cleaning up the Busse family footstone at Sunset Memorial Park.

So, work I did!

First and foremost, I hung the bunting. Some people get happy over firecrackers, some people squeal with delight over an inflatable Santa for the front yard, some people can't get enough of the Halloween decorations. For me, it's flag bunting.  I can't think of anything more satisfying than looking at my cute little white house draped in the ol' red white and blue! It must have something to do with the southern roots of part of the family, because while I see it some up north, it's not as prevalent. Except for the 4600 block of 18th Avenue!

I installed another 50 feet of landscape edging, this time around the strawberries and raspberries.  I came about 20 feet short of completely edging the back yard but I think that will have to wait until next month-we're really taking the budgeting seriously and that means some projects will just have to be spread out over the summer. 

The master plan is to gradually get rid of the lawn, since it doesn't do really well in the back yard. We're working backwards, starting with installing and edging the beds bordering the perimeter, so we know how much we have left. 

The next step is to build and install the bocce court, but that makes my back hurt just thinking about it. Maybe next month, and maybe mostly using the husband's and friends' backs. Ouch. After the bocce court is in, we'll know what we have left, and whether we want to install gravel paths (they look great at Prince Charles' place, but what doesn't?!), a patio of some sort, give a little bit of grass another chance, or anything else.

I laid 30 cubic feet of mulch, in the new and old beds, after finding a scream of a deal at Hope Depot. The amazing thing is that I could probably go through at least another 15 cubic feet of mulch!  In the future, for us locals, the City of Minneapolis has a great (read: free) woodchip program at the parks, but we went to several different sites and discovered they were all out. Since I had spent most of the past weekend pulling weeds, I wasn't willing to go any longer without mulch, so we bit the bullet and bought some.

Looks so neat and tidy, doesn't it?

I also finished planting the herb garden, which we keep in front of the house so certain 4-legged members of the household don't disturb the contents.

I laid two more brick paths in the veggie garden, put some tin foil strips out to try to keep the birds away from my bean seeds, and weeded the whole thing. Then, of course, the day proved to be a windy one and all of the dreaded helicopters from the neighbor's maple tree came down by the thousands.

The peppers got planted (the Mulato and Hot Portugal from the previous post) and I replaced two tomatoes that got stolen from either squirrels or birds. I lost a Cherokee Purple and an Amish Paste, but lucked into finding San Marzano tomatoes at Mother Earth Gardens.  I can guarantee a post on grilled pizzas in the future. 

Last but not least, we gave BOTH dogs a bath-and after that point we all said enough was enough and came inside, watched a movie, and went to bed!

Happenings

It's a chilly morning for mid-May, only about 40 degrees with wind gusts up to 20 mph! There's a chance of frost early tomorrow morning, so I'll wait until Sunday afternoon to plant the bell and banana peppers Josh gave me, and the herbs that I hope to purchase this weekend.

Not much of a morning for jumping outside, at least not without a sweater and a hat, so how about a little pictorial review of what's been happening around the gardens over the past 10 days?

Overall, everything is really growing vigorously, and some flowers are starting to bloom!

My peas are a few inches tall:

The lettuces are starting to distinguish themselves:

The strawberries are starting to bloom:

So are the crabapples (how I love these trees!):

Onion and garlic chives are going strong:

Lily-of-the-Valley are about to burst:

One of my peonies is doing really well (Frank keeps peeing on the other one, we'll see if it survives the nitrogen overload):

My prairie sage is spreading and I'm happy to let it compete with those pesky little weeds:

And best of all, sweet Frank bought me about 20 little hops plants for Mother's Day:

This was to make up for the 3 hydrangea he killed last year.  Good boy, Frank!

Hello again

Here I am!  I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted.  Work is always very busy for two weeks in May-we take part in a pair of awesome fundraisers: Winefest and the Eastside Neighborhood Association wine tasting. For me, that means about 1,000 miniature Thai Fish Cakes in lettuce cups with dipping sauce, and Chili-Whiskey Sno-Cones.  That's right, I said Chili-Whiskey Sno-Cones.  I've always wanted to play with a sno-cone machine and this year was my big chance. It did not disappoint!  Hot and cold, sweet and sour, these are great.  If you want to try it at home, use Andreas Viestad's recipe, adding a squeeze of fresh lime juice at the end. I've even had a request to operate a chili-whiskey sno-cone machine at the birthday bash of a good friend.

But I digress. All this to say sorry I've been gone for a while, but fish cakes and sno-cones are behind me and plenty of urban gardening ahead of me.  

Speaking of urban, here's a problem with urban gardening that I'll bet none of us have thought of yet: Lead in the soil. For a little bone-chilling information about our sweet little vegetable gardens behind our sweet little pre-WWII homes, please read this article from the New York Times.  I'm pretty sure at least Josh and I will be testing our soil ASAP. I'll be sure to update everyone with the results-and I guess it's better to know something bad than not know at all, right? Besides, if the worst happens and lead levels are high, we adjust a few things and carry on.

Come Hell or Highwater

Why the dramatic title today?  Well, because the husband and I completed a very important task, in the rain, (don't worry Mom, no lightning for miles) and it was a little touch-and-go at times.

What could be so important?

These little angels:

You see, I have a very generous friend who wanted to create a path down the center of his giant raspberry thicket, all the better to walk through and pick the berries and such.  In order to do that, he had to dig up lots of little raspberry plants.  Most importantly, he did so with an abundance of care, being sure to keep a dirt ball around the root system of each cane so that some lucky devil like me could take them home and plant them.

I picked them up this evening after work and gym, driving to Northeast under darkening skies and reports of hail to the north.  I was pretty sure it wouldn't be too big of a storm for little ol' south Minneapolis, but you never know. So, I raced home as fast as I could and started double-digging the new raspberry patch.  It was nice, really, working in a cold breeze and in the shade.

My sweet husband came home from the grocery store and was willing to help out (even though he hates getting cold and wet) and we got the last little guy in as the rain ended.  Did I mention getting the last three in involved moving the compost bin?  No small task, there. Ugh!

Anyhow, they're in, and I have to give a great big thanks to Tony. That's like $200 worth of raspberry plants, if I had to buy them on my own.

You see, that's one of the best things about being an urban gardener: the community.  Since there's so many of us packed into a small area, there's that many more of us nearby to lend a hand.  Of course rural communities have strong farm & garden communities, but I don't have to drive more than 20 minutes to get to anyone in my sphere. We're so rich in resources in the Twin Cities: the neighborhood Grandpa with the canna lilies and the surprise pot of onion chives on the front porch yesterday, Tony with the billions of raspberries, Josh with the perfect little tomato seedlings, the list goes on and on.  We really do have a super-strong "urban farmstead" scene, for lack of a better phrase.  There's lots and lots of people out there that want to ditch the Scott-chem lawns, grow some good healthy stuff to eat, do a little canning, share plants and tools, and even raise a few chickens for fresh eggs! Our Grannies would be shocked to see our generation embrace this kind of self-sustainability, but wouldn't they be proud? Now that's what I call progress.

Chores-a-Plenty

Well, I did it.  I woke up, made some tea, and walked around the entire house with a note pad and pen, writing down every outdoor task in need of tasking.

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me...but this is coming from the girl who 1) created her own card catalog system for her books when she was in 4th grade 2) really enjoys an alphabetized spice drawer and 3) carries notepads around in every pocket, purse, and jacket, ready to make a list at all times!

Curious about what needs to be done in my urban garden?  It's probably not much different from yours, really.  Mostly a mix of fixing up, planting up, and weeding out.  At least we can be grateful in Minneapolis for some awesome weekend weather - highs in the mid to upper 60's, partly cloudy, and a light breeze.

For all of you list-lovers out there, here it is:

1) Water veg garden

2) Set up rain barrel

3) Uncover strawberry patch

4) Lay down straw?

5) Finish edging in front yard

6) Add more edging in back yard

7) Call fence company re. loose post

8) Poopy-scoop

9) Build tree branch bandshell (more on this later)

10) Weed lily-of-the-valley bed that runs the length of the house

11) Mulch

12) Finish edging the front boulevard gardens

13) Spread grass seed in dead spots, water in

14) Paint fence

A seriously big list, right?  Sometimes it's rather overwhelming, but I just keep reminding myself that once the chores are done, it'll be summertime and the living will be easy. Supposedly. Plus, I try really hard not to take on so much that it ceases being fun, so I plan to pick off several things this weekend and then some odds and ends throughout the week. 

 

Even with the major distraction of taking the husband and the completely perfect dog to May Day festivities, we got a fair amount accomplished!

The rain barrel is officially installed:

I can't wait to see how much we actually collect-and I must remember to buy some anti-mosquito tablets for the water.  

The edging is complete in the front boulevard gardens and along the herb garden.

As a big bonus, as I was installing the edging, our neighborhood grandpa-type came over and chatted my ear off.  He told me about how he was a chef before he joined "the service", and how much he likes to garden.  He does have some really nice things going on at his house, actually. We bonded over the fact that we both think Cherokee Purples are the fairest tomato of them all, I asked him what the big plants he grows out front every year are, and I was lucky enough to find this on my front steps this morning:

Hibiscus bulbs!  Or cana lilys!  Or whatever it actually is that he put in the bag.  Do you see his adorable instructions, in cursive?

It really looks like ginger, and since canna lilys are in the same family, I'm going with that.

It's kind of fun not knowing what to expect, isn't it?

The lily-of-the-valley bed is weeded:

And I think I'll cap the weekend off with a cold beer on the front stoop.  How Bronx of me.

It's May Day!

Since yesterday was spent taking care of some of the truly colossal chore list, I declared today to be a day of rest and rejuvenation.

Did I say rejuvenation?  What a perfect segway into what we did today-the 2009 May Day Festival at our very own Powderhorn Park.  

Part socialist festival, part spring-time pagan ritual, and part awesome food fair, May Day is at the top of the list of favorite outdoor events for me. 

We get to officially say good bye to the winter (which one tends to get paranoid about in Minnesota) and greet the new season of sun, growth, and gardening!

Produced by the esteemed Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater, this year's theme (decided collectively at public meetings, of course):  Our Common Treasury-Dig It

You've got your distaught egg-heads (Their giant puppet egg broke, symbolizing the crash of the world economy):

You've got your evil fat-cat bankers: (Those guys are all the same)

You've got an awesome wild boar (not sure what he is!)

And then it's on to the good stuff:

Digging the real economy.

Add a little of that and this:

And presto! It equals this:

 Now isn't that what it's all about, friends?

I love Minneapolis!