Less Noise, More Green: October 2014

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Monday, October 27, 2014

Finding fall interest in my edible landscape


We are at the end of October and I am amazed and delighted at how much of what is growing in my front yard edible landscape is still green and healthy! My fear of an ugly dead mud pit for a garden has not materialized. The garden is, of course, responding to the change of season and the annuals and summer perennials are fading and dying but they are changing into beautiful brown, orange and gold sculptures, freezing the plants in a moment of time. This is the fall 'interest' in my garden, a variation on the theme.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Planting garlic and strawberry runners and loving fall vegetables

Assorted beets

The pace of my fall garden is wonderfully slow. The frantic harvesting and preserving of summer has relaxed into small bursts of "beating the frost" activity, followed by large quantities of sitting and enjoying. There are a few tasks left to do in my garden in October, though, namely planting garlic and transplanting strawberry runners. The rest is clean up and prep for the winter months ahead.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

In my kitchen this week



Today I am joining the Beauty That Moves Blog Hop, celebrating the food prepared and enjoyed in our kitchens over the last week.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Protecting and Harvesting Sunflower Seeds


Harvesting Sunflower Seeds, urban farming Edible landscaping

I grew Sunseed Sunflowers in my new front yard edible landscape this year.  They did not grow very tall and bloomed quickly but they brought me joy every time I saw them waving in the breeze. I grew them not only for their beauty but for their edible seeds, which this variety is known for. Bringing these seeds to maturity and harvest, however, was going to be challenging and would write another chapter in my ongoing "Gardener Verses Squirrel" Saga.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Stuffed Delicata Squash

Stuffed Delicata Squash recipe, fall gardening,

I'm sorry, buttercup squash, but you are no longer my favorite fall vegetable. I have a new darling and it's name is delicata.  With a much shorter maturity date than other winter squashes and an edible skin, there are a lot of reasons to include this squash in a four seasons garden. Oh, and it is delicious!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Beauty That Moves Blog Hop



Today I am participating in the Beauty That Moves Blog Hop, which celebrates the week's activity in the kitchen and the food created there.

Preserving herbs and eggplant, too

Frozen oregano, preserving herbs.

My culinary herbs grew really well this year and it would be a shame not to preserve them for use in the coming months. Herbs can make such a difference to meals cooked during the winter, when we are using much less fresh and more preserved ingredients. Capturing the flavor and aroma of the herbs is key and there are several ways I like to do it.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

One potato, two potato..

Beauregard Sweet Potatoes

Over the last couple of weeks, the pace of activity has slowed down in both my garden and my kitchen, and for that I am grateful. It is a cherished brief moment of time wedged between the fever of summer work and the preparations for winter. Mid-October is here all too soon and planning has to begin for the first frosts of the season, which for me can happen as early as late October. Break time is over and the clock starts ticking on harvesting, protecting and prepping before it is too late!

The next weeks will be about bringing in and preserving the remaining frost sensitive vegetables and herbs, protecting the veggies that will tough it out outdoors this winter, moving strawberry transplants, bed clean up and planning soil amendments and mulch.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Sauce, Vinegar and Cake - How 'bout them apples!

Cooking with local apples
A few weeks ago I visited a local orchard with my friend Roda and came home with half a bushel of assorted eating and cooking apples. Making the most of this seasonal fruit is traditionally the start of autumn for me and I look forward to the time spent in the kitchen creating and preserving. There is nothing like the smell of cooking apples filling the house.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

WADK "For the Love of Gardening" Radio Show Podcast - with me as the host!



Last Sunday, I hosted the first "For the Love of Gardening" Radio Show on WADK 1540 AM, out of Newport, RI. The show is a URI Master Gardener project and I am one of four rotating hosts!

Click on the link to hear the entire thirty minute show.

10/5/14 Preserving the Harvest
Using dehydrating and freezing methods to preserve fruits and vegetables.
My guest is University of Rhode Island Outreach Center Educator, Sejal Lanterman.

This project is a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to hosting the show once a month. As the shows become available I'll link to them through the tab at the top of the blog.

If you are local to RI, you can hear the shows as they air, if you tune in to 1540 AM on Sundays at 8:30am.


Sue

Monday, October 6, 2014

Harvesting Coriander Seeds and Honey Roasted Coriander Squash Seeds


Coriander seeds, harvesting seeds
Drying coriander seeds have almost an opalescent sheen.


Cilantro is one of those herbs that people either love or hate. I personally love it fresh in all kinds of dishes.It can be a frustrating plant to grow, however, because it goes to seed at the drop of a hat. I planted a lot of cilantro in my edible landscape this year and when it seemingly bolted over night I let it go.

Friday, October 3, 2014

I'm Co-Hosting a radio show!



I'm excited to share with you all that starting this Sunday I will be co-hosting a new radio gardening show! The show is called "For the Love of Gardening" and is a URI Master Gardener project.

The show will air on WADK 1540 AM on Sunday mornings at 8:30am.

There are four hosts, of which I am one, and we will take it in turns to host the show. I am first up, this Sunday. My guest is Sejal Lanterman, an educator from the URI Outreach Center. Local folks may know her from NBC 10's Plant Pro. Our topic is preserving by dehydrating and freezing.

Hope you will listen in! The show will eventually be podcast and I will link to it when that happens.

How fun is this?

Sue


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Blackberry bushes, it's time to move on, but its not you, its me.

Blackberry, urban farming
There was definitely more than a little hubris happening when I planted three blackberry bushes in a small space between a row of rhubarb and my neighbor's fence. I was sure I could control their growth and still have a bumper crop of berries. Of course I was wrong on both counts! Not only was I not able to control the bushes spreading into my neighbor's yard but they swamped the rhubarb and sent out shoots into all the surrounding beds! When all was said and done, the yield was not justifying the growing bramble jungle. It was time for them to go.