This Time of Year

All the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are off the fields. If they didn't make it off they are finished. We've had some very hard frosts.

 There are new harvests in the hoop house...french breakfast radishes.

Lots of root crops to sell and store..carrots, beets, winter radishes and a surprise crop of scallions I had sort of forgot about.

Vegetable baskets are still going out. It's nice to be able to add some English walnuts. The baskets are a mix of summer and fall.

Ever try making walnut butter?  It's nice to be able to make your own nut butters out of your own nuts.

There are lots of hardy greens right now. Some from outside, some from in the hoop houses.  Chards, kales, spigiarello.

And dry beans to pick. I've lost count of how many kinds. Just lots. It's been tough to get them all dry.
A late spring planting and a bit too much rain this fall. Some will be seed, and some will just be good eating.

These are the hoop house greens. There are lots of lovely little greens now. Many, many mustards, kales, arugula and chards. Good stuff.

It never ends. It just goes on...differently. But it goes on.

"Tell Me a Garden Story" Contest and win seed !

I've entered a few contests lately.  Really... why not?

One I entered is a makeover contest.  I'm really hoping I win. I mean, I had to send in a picture and everything so they get a sense of whether or not there is any raw material to work with at all.

I'm not sure if the "farmer" label in my write up will throw them off. They must wonder why someone who does what I do would want a makeover.

Probably will help me sell more vegetables I figure. Can you imagine driving by and seeing a glamorous farmer in the field working? (Me!)

Surely you'd slam on the brakes, put your jalopy in reverse and come back to buy vegetables from me. That's what I think anyhow. We'll see how it all turns out.

Well, I'm not proposing to make anyone over.  Heaven forbid.

But around this time last year I offered The Great Seed Giveaway on this blog to good response. Again this year  I have some left- over seed, as well as some nice new seed harvested fresh from my garden for 2012 sales.  Some very intriguing seed, rare seed and just plain cool seed.

So tell me your garden stories!  In return I'll send the author of the story I like the best 25 packets of seed for your 2012 garden. This selection will include vegetables (including some rare tomato seed), herbs and flowers as well.  Heavy, of course, on the vegetables.  And with the author's permission, I'll print the story on my blog.

Preferably the stories will be non-fiction, no more than 500 words in length and about your vegetable garden or vegetable gardening experiences. Pictures are welcome, as are amusing stories!  I don't care if you are new to gardening, an experienced gardener, or how large or  small your garden. If you grow in pots, send in your story! Children are welcome to write in too.  Gardening embraces and enthrals us all.  And I'll mail the winner's seed anywhere in the world. I'd love to hear from faraway places.

Please send your entries to me at info@treeandtwig.ca before November 30, 2011.

Win some cool seed.  Seed and stories are for sharing!

Guest Post-Pickled Tomatillos

Thanks for another great post, Leslie!


There are so many tomatillos at this time of year. Some I planted, many I didn't. My theory with them is that if you plant them in your garden one year, you'll have them for life. They are the most prolific self seeders in my garden.


I'm glad to have another way to use them. I'll be using my "Hinkelhatz" peppers for this recipe, which was my very best producing hot pepper this year.

I seem to have a real love/hate relationship with tomatillos. When they first start appearing in my CSA basket I am happy to see them. A batch of Salsa Verde, a pot of Mexican Chicken Soup all great! However, it is when they continue to show up in mass quantities. One person can only make and eat so much Salsa Verde. So being a person who loves all things pickled I was taken back when I saw pickled tomatillos as part of dish on a menu for a restaurant that was featuring a local menu. Could it be possible? Pickled tomatillos? Would my love of all things pickled come to an end once I tried to pickle them? So the quest to find a recipe began and was quickly satisfied with the recipe below from The Joy of Pickling. I adapted it slightly but was very happy with the results. I must say I am feeling more love than hate for the tomatillos that are appearing in my basket these days!  

Pickled Tomatillos

1 pound husked green tomatillos, washed

2 sweet or mild peppers, cut into strips or 1-inch squares

2 to 3 hot peppers (jalapeno or other types found in your csa basket) seeded and cut into pieces 

3 large garlic cloves, sliced

1 cup white wine vinegar 

1 cup water

2 tsp pickling salt 

1 tsp sugar (I like a real vinegar pickle so I omitted the sugar in mine) 

1. Halve the tomatillos if they’re small, quarter them if they’re large. In a 1 quart jar, combine the tomatillos, peppers, and garlic. Bring the remaining ingredients to a boil in a nonreactive saucepan, and pour the hot liquid over the vegetables. Let the contents cool.
2. Cover the jar tightly with a nonreactive cap, and refrigerate the pickles for about 1 week before eating them. They will keep, refrigerated, for at least 2 months. 

Makes 1 quart

Recipe adapted from The Joy of Pickling. 

Hinkelhatz heirloom hot pepper

Raw squash salad-who knew?

Wow. Tonight for supper I cut into a 32 lb squash, not a simple task I tell you.

As I explained to my friend Emily, I'm sharing this baby. Some for me, some for the puppies, some for the chickens. And of course some for Joey, my pig, who is tiring of tomatillos on his stringent no grain diet.

The squash in question is a fabulous heirloom variety, "Musquee de Provence".

The wonderful Seed Savers Exchange, (whose seed I sell!) describes it as:

"(Cucurbita moschata) (aka Potiron Bronze de Montlhéry) An heirloom cheese pumpkin from the South of France, introduced to American gardeners in 1899 by Vaughan’s Seed Store in Chicago. Gorgeous squashes, up to 20 pounds in weight, look like wheels of cheese, and ripen from green to burnt sienna. Deep orange flesh is dense and of superb table quality. Very long shelf life. Intolerant of cold. 110 days. "

Mine clearly got a little larger than 20 lbs, and it was a true surprise to find them all.
They crept into a bit of a valley, and grew to this massive size while shaded by tall meadow grass.

What to do, what to do?

Did I mention there are lots of them?

Well thanks to two magazines I subscribe to for the inspiration. Edible Buffalo got me thinking of squash in a way I'd never considered, with a recipe for "Raw Butternut Squash Salad" (Fall 2011,Number 14).

And Mother Earth News with a great little page on roasting squash and pumpkin seed . Great magazines both.

I also found this recipe which appeared in The New York Times. And yum , it worked with my squash too.
Give something different a try!

RAW WINTER SQUASH SALAD

1 butternut squash(about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled, seeded and grated.
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used organic canola)
1-2 Tbsp sherry vinegar, or to taste
1 Tbsp minced ginger
salt and pepper


Combine squash , raisins, oil, vinegar and ginger in a salad bowl; sprinkle with salt and pepper.


Toss, then taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to several hours.