Chinese Chives and Rhubarb

So far we've had one batch od dumplings from the chinese chives. Ning has been asked (by me) to make another batch tomorrow. Takes about a pound, and there are plenty. The rhubarb supplied enough to freeze 1 pound for a future pie, and a pie today as well.

Rhubarb pie: the proof is in the pie!

rhubarb pie: putting it together

Step 7. This is a variation of an old Betty Crocker recipe, from Pearl Elliots old cookbook. I used 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/3 cup flour, a squeeze of lemon juice. I didnt have any butter, so I used 2 tbsp of canola oil and added a squirt of butter flavoring, which might not be needed but it was in the cabinet.

Step 8. Chopped rhubarb goes into the pie crust. Then some mixed sugar and flour as outinled above. Then some more rhubarb, then some sugar/flour mix. Pour the canola over the top.



Step 9. Seal with the top crust, cover the edge with foil (or, for a true pie fanatic, there will be a reusable crust protector in the cabinet).

Step 10. Into the preheated, 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then temperature is reduced to 325. It took 50 minutes until the crust was brown and juices bubbled up through the fork slits in the top.

steps to rhubarb pie: canola crust

Step 4. This is Lawrence's canola crust (my Dad). No trans fatty acids, no saturated fats. FOr true 'slow food', you have to make your own crust. Also, it's better and better for you.

It's made from:
3 1/4 cups sifted flour (410 grams of flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I use 'lo salt')
3/4 cup canola oil (for savory pie such as a vegetable pie, I use olive oil)
3/8 cup skim milk.

Step 5. I like to use chopsticks to mix it up. Today the consistency was perfect.

Step 6. Roll it out between 2 sheets of wax paper. This is best done using a very old rolling pin (no new stuff here), such as Iva May Alcorn's birds-eye maple rolling pin here. It's also best to use an estate sale pie pan, not the disposable aluminum type.

Steps to a rhubarb pie

Step 1. Find a nice big rhubarb plant. Oh - here's one. Victoria, a mostly green variety, so the pie will be green too, like a 'grasshopper pie'. Green, the color of Spring! (I'm protesting attempts to make it red by adding red fruits like strawberries, although there might be a strawberry-rhubarb pie in June).

Step 2. Pull off a bunch of leaves with stems. Cut off the leaf part, just leaving the celery-like stalks. The leaves go to the compost bin.

Step 3. Chop up the rhubarb stems, about 1/2 to 1 inch cubes. One big stalk gives about 1 cup, a smaller stalk about 1/2 cup. This pie requires 4 cups. I froze the other 4 cups for some future treat.

More daffodils. Rhubarb. Candytuft.

More daffodils

Dreary Mid February. Rhubarb emerging. Pruned roses. Helleborus.

Ning likes to plant garlic cloves close together and shallow, and let the leaves grow to about 6 inches. He harvests the leaves to use as a vegetable. The cloves can support several crops of leaves. The Chinese word for this is "suan miao" which means "garlic sprouts".

Tamora is one mean rose - the thorniest in the garden. I sustained multiple lacerations while pruning this shrub.

According to Celtic legend, Tamara was a protective goddess of the river Tamar. She must have been a spiteful goddess.

According to Wikipedia, Tamara also translates to Sanskrit as "spice", which does describe the scent.

Spelled differently (with entirely different meaning?) Tamora was Shakespeare's queen of the Goths, who was taken prisoner by the Emperor Titus, Titus had her son killed in sacrifice for victory. In this review, Tamora had "menacing femininity" - she becomes the lover of the next Emperor of Rome, Saturnius, and arranges for a brutal revenge.

It may be too early, but the back rose bed is now pruned. Last year I pruned even earlier, and the buds emerged, then were frosted by a laste frost. However, the buds were emerging anyway, so I don't know if it matters. In a couple of weeks, the surface of the mulch will be cleaned, a layer of compost added, and the bark mulch added. Then it's ready for the year.

This is my favorite rose, for it's color, spicy scent, disease resistance, and rugged persistance.

OK, I cheated. I planted this 3 weeks ago. The other helleborus around the yard have buds but are not blooming yet.

It's nice to have something blooming in the gloom and grime. The slugs dont seem to bother these either, so far. Here is a website devoted to helleborus.

Emerging from the mulch (looking more like the muck currently). See prior entry for rhubarb to see what this looked like last summer. Here is another reference with some rubarb history and traditional medicinal properties (yum, the root - not the leaf stem - was used to induce vomiting).

Rhubarb Dreams

Since the rhubarb is starting to sprout, I started thinking about this plant. This photo is from August 2006.

I've grown it for 4 years, starting it from an "orphan" root that I bought at Fred Meyer's 'reject' stand. It was dried out and dead looking. Even so, it grew rapidly. Due to the fast growth and large size of the plant, it was relocated to a larger spot after one year.

The variety is Victoria. This is an heirloom variety, sometimes raised from seed. I previously raised glaskins perpetual from seed, but didn't have room for two rhubarbs plants so it had to go (the choice had more to do with the location than the plant). Sometimes the stalks are red, but mostly they are green Even on this one plant, there is color variability. In the early Spring, they are redder, but in the summer, they are green. It has a strange, majestic flower stalk, similar to that of yucca, but more fluffy.

Despite the best of intentions, I've harvested only a few batches of stalks, for rhubarb pie or crumble, and one time attempted a rhubarb jam (this was very solid & even though I liked the taste, the texture was too firm). Of course, I didn’t have much idea of what I was doing. The main thing that gets into my way is not that I don't like it (I love rhubarb) but that I am not much of a cook.

Since I'm partial to trivia about a plant's history, here are some interesting factoids and links:

The history of horticultural and medicinal use of rhubarb goes back 4,700 years.

The amazing history of rhubarb - more than any one person could know about rhubarb.

Of course, Wikipedia also has a wealth of information about rhubarb.

Some strange things about this vegetable:

- While tomatoes, which are a fruit, are commonly considered a vegetable, rhubarb, which is a vegetable, is classified as a fruit.
- There is a region in England known as "the rhubarb triangle" where rhubarb is grown.
- Rhubarb rhaponticum, which is a true rhubarb, is known as "false rhubarb."
-The name comes from the latin "rha barbarian", for the barbarian plant from the river Rha, which is the old name for the river Volga (I don't know if I really believe this).

NPR has some alternative uses for rhubarb, such as in chutneys. I really will make better use of this plant this year. Others mention rhubarb breads, rhubarb cake, rhubarb sauces.

Moved rose bush. Rhubarb is sprouting. Pruned Cherries.

This rose is "Jane Austin". It resulted from a cutting-grown plant. The shrub is about 3 years old. In 2006, it bloomed sporadically, but the flowers were fragrant, I almost never watered it, and it was disease free. Unfortunately, it was encroaching on a tree peony and would also compete with the tomatoes this year, so I dug it up and moved it. The top was pruned back to compensate for substantial root loss. The original plant, about 5 feet tall, is now about 18 inches tall, but I think that it will recover.
This rhubarb is starting to sprout. Maybe this year I'll actually make use of it? It's been fed with lots of coffee grounds. Will do the same this year too.

This cherry is a miniature. I pruned back the longest branches, cleaned out the middle a bit,. I wanted to keep it to a "bowl" form, but that would have required removing too much potential fruiting wood this time around. It is in its second winter.