Kitchen Garden. Turnips. 11.14.16

We have some nice turnips waiting in the kitchen garden.  These are "Ideal Purple Top Milan" from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I also grew the more standard Purple Top turnips, which are not as big but very good.

Turnips, Chinese Radish, Sunchokes, are all good for roasting, stir fry, and slicing thin for snacking.

Kitchen Garden. Sunchokes and Chinese Radishes. 11.11.17

Green Luobo Chinese Radish.  11.11.17

Sunchokes.  11.11.17

Even though I don't do much in the vegetable beds, they continue to provide interesting crops for cool weather use.  The Chinese Green Luobo Radishes, planted late summer, finally plumped up very nicely.  The Jerusalem Artichokes / Sunchokes were growing in an out of the way spot.  They were planted, I think, in 2014 and I gave up on them because either deer or rabbits ate the plants.  This year two big Jerusalom Artichoke plants grew in that spot, and here is the harvest today from one of those.  Tasty, crisp, a little peppery.  Nice.

Saijo Persimmons. 11.9.16

Saijo Persimmons, with Nikita's Gift for Comparison.  11.9.16

Saijo Persimmon.  11.9.16

I placed Saijo Persimmons into a plastic box with apples for ripening, for a few days.  They are now very soft and sweet with no atringency at all.  Nice flavor.  I think I like the Nikita's Gift better, but if I had not tried those, I would like the Saijo a lot.

Only 8 persimmons on the Saijo tree, but that's OK.  This is my first taste of this variety and this is the first year of any persimmons in my orchard.  Very nice.

Nikita's Gift Persimmons. 11.4.16

Nikita's Gift Persimmons.  11.4.16

About 10 days ago, maybe less, I cut these persimmons from the tree.  They were firm and fully colored, although not as red as now.  I placed them in a plastic bag with 3 apples for ripening.  Now they are as soft as a slightly overripe tomato. 

I sliced in half and scooped out the jelly-like contents with a spoon, eating like a small cup of pudding.  Excellent sweet flavor, with a spicy element similar to clove or cinnamon. 

So now I know, at least these persimmons can be grown and ripen in my cool summer, short season Southwest Washington State climate.  So good.

There are some Saijo to follow.   A little behind Nikita's Gift, but not by much.

Fall Chores, Persimmons, Zucchinis, Garlic. 10.29.16

Vegetable bed covered with leaves.  10.29.16

 Yesterday I raked up a neighbor's maple leaves.  Those now cover a bed that was Indian Corn (this year) and will be kitchen garden (not sure - potatoes, onions, tomatoes, squash) next year.  I chopped the corn stalks into about 1 foot sections, and also spread lime before spreading leaves.  It should pack down and mostly decompose to dig in, by late winter.

The Last Zucchini.  10.29.16

Nikita's Gift (Plate) and Saijo (Countertop) Persimmons.  10.29.16

 I also went around the neighborhood to ask neighbors for their leaves.  That way, they get some old guy to rake them up (me) quietly with rake, not a blower, and haul away.  I get a big pile of tree leaves for the vegetable beds.

Baja (Roja?) Garlic.  10.29.16

More Garlic Starts.  10.26.16

One last zucchini.  Such a good year for those.

Picked about 1/4 of the Nikita's Gift Persimmons.  They are hard, so will need to ripen.  I placed them into a bag of apples to assist that process.

Apples produce ethylene gas, as part of their ripening process.  The ethylene gas will help the persimmons to ripen, too.

Not sure about that Saijo, there is still some green.  The rest, only about 6 fruits, are still on the tree.

The garlic starts from local nursery, they labeled "Baja" but I wonder if they are Spanish Roja, are all growing nicely.  When I get a chance and it's not raining, they need hoeing for the weeds.  I checked other local nurseries, no garlic starts.  Finally, I checked Portland Nursery, they had multiple types.  I bought 2 heads of "Duganski", just for variety.  Ordered from a catalog, I would have to order more than I need, for an even higher price plus shipping.  Territorial sells Duganski.  "beautiful, purple stripe garlic with large bulbs and an amazing flavor that matches its looks and size. Purple outer wrappers protect the violet-tinged cloves that burst with a fiery flavor and mellow out with a pleasant aftertaste." This is just for novelty, see if they are different from the Inchelium Red that I grow each year.

Speaking of Inchelium Red, it's far behind the Baja/Roja this year.  A few have germinated, maybe 10 of the 40 or so that I planted.

Edit 10.30.16  It turns our there actually is a Baja Garlic, called "Baja Morado".   From the link - "Baja Morado...  was at first thought to be a long storing Creole but upon detailed examination turned out to be an even longer storing Silverskin that has a nice pleasant garlickiness with some pungency... similar to Mexican Red Silver but with much white in the clove covers rather than solid deep red."  As with anything from nurseries, local and mail order, it's best to take things with a grain of salt.  But who know"  Maybe this IS Baja, and Baja Morado at that.