Raven Gift

   During the winter months, we sometimes put the old, dried up bits of tinned cat food our cats are finished with out on a large rock for the ravens and magpies.  They seem to relish the treat, especially on very cold days.

   This morning, R. found a "thank you" gift on the mat right outside the front door.  It looks like it might have once been part of an earring.  (Click to enlarge)

  Something similar happened several months ago.  Arriving home from running errands, we discovered a metal "pink ribbon" pin, minus the clasp, sitting on the mat in front of the door.  It had a rusty spot or two, but overall was still quite shiny.  After keeping it as a novelty for a few weeks, I threw it away.  Now I wish I had held onto it.  We are going to keep a little glass jar on hand to stash any future raven gifts we receive!

   Here is a neat article about a young girl who regularly receives treasures from her crow friends.  :)

Oh, Look! It's Warmed Up!

It actually has.  It was -38 this morning.  Ice fog and aching bones.

This ice is on the inside of the kitchen window.

I'm ready for Spring.  In the meantime, some hot chocolate is in order.

Garlic Bulbils - A Winter Experiment

   Earlier this week, I discovered that some of the Spanish Roja bulbils I received in a trade last year had sprouted in their envelope.  The bulbils seemed to be in good shape, so I planted them in a plastic pot yesterday and put them in the plant room.  I also planted some Persian Star bulbils.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to harvest small rounds of each variety in a few months and replant those in late September, 2020.

Spanish Roja – Rocambole, early, thin wrappers (not good for long storage).  Medium-sized bulbils.

Persian Star – Purple-Striped, mid-to-late season, approx. 6 months storage.  Very small bulbils.

January 3, 2020

   I planted 5 Duganski bulbils in a pot and put it in the plant room along with the others.

Duganski – (Marbled?) Purple Stripe, hardneck, violet striped wrappers, strong/rich flavour (“fiery with mellow finish”), mid-to-late season, a large/tall variety, long storing (~9 months).  Small bulbils.

January 8, 2020

We have sprouts!

Spanish Roja...

Persian Star...

   My fingers are crossed that some nice garlic rounds result from this experiment.  However, I read after I planted the bulbils that it is best that they be exposed to at least a month of cold temperatures in order to develop well.  (This is definitely the case when planting cloves with the hopes of later harvesting bulbs.  An informative article about this can be found on the John Boy Farms site.)   Perhaps the bulbils won't be as particular with regards to cool temps (or lack thereof)...? 


January 15, 2020

One of the Duganski bulbils has sprouted. The bulbils were so small that I might have planted some upside down.  It was difficult to tell which end was up!


January 30, 2020

Left to right: Persian Star, Spanish Roja, and (alas, only 2!) Duganski.

May 3, 2020

Bringing the bulbils outside to acclimatize.  Left to right: Persian Star, Duganski, Spanish Roja.    

This is the neighbour's kitty, who came over to see what I was doing.  We don't know her name, but she seems like a gentle little soul.

Breaking Into the Lower Salmon River

   
   This past summer was my first time growing Lower Salmon River squash.  Of the squash varieties I planted, this is the only one - including the summer squash - that not only pulled through the cool, wet weather, but produced well.

   One of the main characteristics of Lower Salmon River I kept reading was that it is an excellent storing variety.   I can confirm that this is the case.  The skins are hard.  The first one I processed took me close to an hour and a half to cut open, peel, and cube.  I had to repeatedly zap the squash halves in the microwave so I could cut them into wedges and peel the wedges. I developed a blister in the process!  When all was said and done, there was a lovely large bowl of squash cubes.  Enough to make a squash and chickpea curry (recipe below) and have still have some left over to boil and mash for the next day's supper.

   Today, I took a different approach.  I asked R., who has large, scary tools, if he could cut the squash open.  From another room, I heard,"BANG BANG BANG BANG!" coming from the kitchen.  I stayed put and asked no questions.  In less than 5 minutes, he called me into the kitchen. There was my squash, ready to be scooped out and cut up.  He agreed that the skin was hard - the machete had to be used in tandem with a hammer!  It certainly was faster than the kitchen knife and upper body strength (*cough*) that I used on the last one.

Squash and Chickpea Curry

2 Tbsp cooking oil or olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 Tbsp curry powder
6 cups Butternut (or other type) squash, peeled and cut into small cubes.
¼ tsp  pepper
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 ½ cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup raisins
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)


Directions:

- In a large pot/Dutch oven, heat oil. Saute onions, ginger, and garlic until onion is softened.  Stir in curry powder* and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in quash, pepper, and tomato paste and stir until squash is coated.
- Add broth and water, chickpeas, and raisins.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Stir occasionally.  Simmer for  about 15 minutes or until squash is tender and the sauce is slightly thickened.
- Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, and/or toasted sliced almonds.

*I also add ~ ¼ tsp cayenne, ½ Tbsp ground cumin, and 1 Tbsp garam masala.

Midnight Sun

   A few of the Midnight Sun tomatoes I grew have finally ripened!  Find a description of these tomatoes, as well as a link to the woman who developed the variety on THIS post.

Forget the Tomatoes, Tickle My Belly!

Monday morning (October 7th), I woke up around 6:30am to the sound of hail hitting the windows.  It came down hard for five minutes or so, then gave way to big, fluffy, wet snowflakes.  Snow fell for an hour or two, and has remained on the ground due to cool temperatures (it was -10 yesterday morning).  It has just started to melt this afternoon.  I'm glad to see the sunshine again!

The Work Release Paste tomatoes are nice and ripe now, so I took a picture to add to my notes.  I take a lot of pictures in the plant room, as the light is bright in there.  I snapped this picture, looked up, and...

...discovered Bea, waiting to be adored and photographed.  Belly tickle not optional.

Here are some of the tomatoes ready to go in the freezer.  Once frozen, running hot water over them makes the skins come off easily.  Then into the pot to cook down for sauce.  If I'm up to another step (usually, I am not!), the sauce is run through a little tomato press to remove the seeds.  So far, 14 L of sauce has been canned this month.  I think when all is said and done, we'll have about half the amount we did last year.

Ripe Tomatoes, Canning Underway

    The tomatoes have started to ripen in their boxes, so prep for freezing and removing their skins has begun.  In terms of ripening, Scotia, Early Annie, Brad's Black Heart, Black Sea Man, and Hungarian Heart are in the lead, Black Prince and German Striped are somewhere in the middle, and Midnight Sun, Coastal Pride Orange, and Dwarf Roza Vetrov are trailing badly.  I cooked down some tomatoes yesterday and did another batch this morning. That sauce filled five 1 L jars, which are in the canning pot now.

Update:  Done!  One batch down.

Hungarian Heart - most looked more like beefsteaks than hearts.  These two were the closest to a "heart" shape in the bunch.  LARGE, pink, and the taste was a wonderful surprise.  I found them mild and yet very flavourful!  Easy to peel when processing for sauce.  I would grow these again.  Indeterminate.

Black Prince - Produced fairly well despite the cool, overcast weather.  I would love to see how it does in a "good" year.  These are very easy to peel when processing for sauce and they have a nice, smoky flavour.  Love black tomatoes.  Indeterminate.

Striped German  - large and beautiful when ripe!  Warm yellow/orange and blush red.  They almost glow.  They appear marbled when cut through the middle.  I liked how compact this variety was for an indeterminate plant.  I posted a similar picture on a gardening forum and was asked how much these tomatoes weighed.  I weighed these, and three others from the box:  1 lb 1.6 oz - 1 lb 6.7 oz - 1 lb 3.8 oz - 8.5oz - 9oz - 11.6oz.

Scotia - prolific, tasty, and early.  Determinate.  Very juicy with lots of seeds.  This is a small drawback for making sauce, but Scotia produces so dependably that it is a variety worth growing.

Early Annie - lived up to it's name.  Prolific, early, determinate, and easy to peel when processing for sauce.

Black Sea Man tomato -  The flesh of these is almost mahogany.  Average production, but oh, the flavour!  Compact, determinate plants.

Brad's Black Heart - I wish I'd taken pictures of some of the first ones that ripened.  Several were monsters, twice the size of the one below.  It's a variety that started ripening early and produced quite well.  Unfortunately, the excessive rainfall caused many of them to split, and once indoors, mould quickly developed along the cracks.  I had to process them quickly.  Some of the larger ones were so far gone (cracks/mould) that I just collected seeds from them and composted the flesh.  I would like to grow this variety again, though.  Gangly indeterminate.

Work Release Paste - I grew these for the first time last summer.  They were among my favourite tomatoes of the season, and they performed well again this year.  Productive, indeterminate, and easy to peel when processing for sauce.  Meaty and mild tasting.

Midnight Sun - This was my first time growing Midnight Sun, a variety developed by Karen Olivier of Northern Gardener.  This was a dismal growing year for a variety I think would have much preferred a longer, hotter season.  I have a boxful of still-green tomatoes that look like they are too immature to ripen.  I did, however, get 4 medium-sized Midnight Suns that ripened, so I will be able to save seeds from them to grow another year.  This is a heart variety that is truly shaped like a heart!  Most had very defined, pointy bottoms and rounded "sweetheart" tops.  Pretty orange/yellow and blush marbling, too.  A gangly indeterminate.  More pictures here.