A Little Optimism. 9.17.18

Planting things in late summer or fall, takes a little optimism.  It means, maybe I'll be around next year to appreciate the results, and the world will still be here, and there will not be any disasters to blow it all to smithereens.  It means I'm willing to take some little effort, to make next Spring, and beyond, a little nicer.

So today I bought a hybrid Echinacea - this one is "Aloha", and is interesting because of the yellow color.  I'm becoming more enthusiastic about Echinacea because, so far, deer and rabbits don't seem to eat them, slugs seem to leave them alone, and they don't mind the hot dry summer.  I read they would not like wet winters, but so far mine have survived that.

The irises were sold as rebloomers for the Pacific Northwest.  We'll see.  The varieties are "I'm Back", "Come Again", and "Corn husker".  Reblooming irises generally bloom during the rainy season, in my yard, so the flowers look like wet sopping tissue paper, not worth it.  We'll see what happens with these.  Again, there is some optimism, because in previous years, I had problems with bacterial and fungal rot for bearded irises.  This year, the survivors looked good, so I'm trying again.  They are my favorite May flower.

In that box are 2 garlic heads, sold in the store as "Heritage California Softneck" garlic.  I will plant it next month, along with cloved from heads that I grew this year, and an order from Territorial Seeds for other types.  These will be fenced in, because deer and/or rabbits eat them all off in my yard.   I tried fencing covers for individual rows, but as soon as the leaves grew through the fencing, they were eaten off.  Again, it takes some optimism - planting garlic in the fall, means a harvest the following July.

There are some daffodils in there too.  I planted them in a row, like a kitchen garden crop. 

Paw Paw Progress Report. 9.17.18

Paw Paw "NC-1".  9.17.18

Most of the paw paw fruits made it through the hot dry summer without problems.  Some that were exposed to full sun, have blackened areas where the sun was brightest - something to think about next year, if they set fruit again.

This was a very hot dry summer.  My ability to keep things watered, was overwhelmed.  But I did manage to water each paw paw tree with about 10 gallons of water, once weekly, using the "5-gallon bucket with 1/4 inch holes in bottom" method.  They are also mulched with tree leaves from last fall.

I'm guessing they will ripen in October.  No way to know, this being their first year to set fruits for me.  The "NC-1" might be bigger, because that was the only fruit on the tree.  The "Sunflower" set about 2 dozen fruits.  Those are smaller, compared to the one on "NC-1".

Paw Paw "Sunflower".  9.17.18

The apple, there for comparison, is a Rubinette.  This happens to be an average size apple.

Figs with Yellow Jackets. 9.17.18

 This year, almost all of my breba crop was lost to yellow jackets.  I've grown figs for 18 years, and never lost a crop to any insect, including yellow jacket.  This year was kind of a biblical plague of the creatures.

One nest was inside the garage wall.  After trying traps, and catching what looked like thousands, I gave in and hired an exterminator.  That took care of those.  However, there are still yellow jackets now eating the main crop.  I've hung traps in the trees, which are catching many yellow jackets.  There seem to be less, but there is still some damage.  We'll see!

More tomatoes, for drying. 9.17.18

 I've made enough tomato sauce.  There are still some ripening tomatoes, especially on the sauce tomato plants.  Now, with cool wet weather, there are rotting tomatoes too. 

I wanted to make use of some of the remaining fruits.  It's been a great tomato year!  So, I gathered what I could find, and it turned out there were more than I thought.  I washed them off, sliced them, and put them through the dehydrator.

I use a low setting.  They turn black in the high setting.

These are so delicious.  Great in salads, casseroles, breads, cornbread.  When thoroughly dry, almost crispy, but not black, I place them into a freezer bag and store in the freezer.  That way they don't get moldy or flies.  They'll be good for a year.

Sun drying is not an option in this weather.  Plus, I think the UV might decrease nutrients and flavor.  The air dryer is a perfect way to preserve these tasty fruits.

Sauce Tomatoes. Tomato sauce. Great year in 2018. 9.7.18

Despite other challenges, the sauce tomatoes have been a start crop this year.  Until 2016, I thought that growing sauce tomatoes wasn't worth the effort, but had never tried.  Then I grew some, and made my own sauce, and I was amazed at how good it was.   Far better than any commercial sauce.  I also thought it would be a lot of trouble to make tomato sauce, or very complicated.  It's not.

The challenges of growing sauce tomatoes, in my yard:
1.  Deer.  So I grew them in a fenced bed this year.
2.  Lack of experience.  Now I have it.
3.  Blossom end rot.  This was a big challenge during previous years.  I read it was insufficient calcium, or too much watering, or too much nitrogen.  I added lime to the soil, watered less, and gave less nitrogen, but did not have an improvement.  This year, I grew 3 varieties:  Ranger (From Territorial Seeds), Big Mamma (From Burpee), and traditional Roma (I forget where ).

As it turned out, the Ranger and Big Momma had not blossom end rot at all.  The Romas, in the same bed, had a fair amount.  So I think the hybrids are better.  As for flavor, I didn't test side by side, but the sauce is excellent.  As for productivity, the Big Mamma tomatoes are huge!  And meaty.  But the Ranger tomatoes are a good size and meaty, and I think pounds per plant is more with the Rangers.  I didn't measure, but I got a lot more tomatoes on the Ranger plants.

The photos show how I make the sauce.  No added salt or sugar or anything, just tomatoes.  Additives go in when I make something using the sauce.  It's very simple.

1.   Wash the tomatoes.  Remove stems.  Cut each into big chunks - halves or quarters.  No water is added.  No salt, no sugar.

2.  Heat on low/medium until they release their juices and start to boil.  Stir with wooden spoon to prevent sticking to the bottom, about once
every 10 or 15 minutes. Then reduce to the lowest setting.
I change to a mesh colander for lid.

3.   Simmer for about 90 minutes.  I've seen shorter and longer times.  This works for me.  Volume reduces by about 1/3.  I think more watery tomatoes would need longer.

4.   Replace lid and let them cool off.  A few hours or overnight.

5.  Use food processor to puree, skins, seeds, and all.  I don't remove anything.

6.  Portion 1 cup per labeled 1-qt freezer bag.  Freeze flat, then arrange in plastic box in freezer like cards in a file.  I use these about one per week, for a year or more.

I think most sites say they will keep for a year.   I think that by the end of the season, I'll have about 50 pouches, which gives me about 1 per week, which is about perfect.