:: Scuff Productions ::

For my garden notes next year……………….END of gardening occurred yesterday, Oct 10. **there are still some tomatoes on the kitchen counter, unbelievably: The Carbon and Japanese Moromoto were the surprise beefsteak additions…..but…one MUST remember our DRY weather was at a record length….3 months of dry that won’t end until tomorrow. TOMORROW? ALL forecasts say this IS the beginning of the WET season……NO day on any extended forecast does not show rain.

So. I’ve had time to really prepare the garden for this coming rain. EVERY year for the past 15, it has taken the deer 3-4 days to kinda figure out the deer fence is DOWN and they can eat everything they want that’s left…. BECAUSE of our mini drought, this year, everything was GONE the first night……at least leafy stuff….all the lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, tomatillo plants that had been left…. 2nd night? All remaining anything was gone: carrot tops, branches of all the above plants….and for the first time in 15 yrs, they ate EVERY single remaining tomato (I’m SURE for the moisture inside).

Yes, the deer fence came down on a warm sunny day…..a GOOD day to work outside…..it has always come down later, but in mud/rain…this was nice.

Today’s prep for rain involved: all tomato cages stacked stored, first firewood moved into garage, stacked, and 2 boxes of kindling now ready for the NEW woodstove installation next Tuesday, YEA!. Ran the lawnmower mostly to pick up all leaves dropped from dry weather, then fertilized everything and put down bug stuff on chosen areas where moles attack us in winter.

Cousin Bruce has gone to Oregon City for a few days to spend with lifetime friend Dan and his wife…..we’ll see him back here about Sunday, good, except it will be WET when he’s here…..narrowing our choice of things to do.

MAC, has gotten used to swimming 2-3 times a week since we have no longer hiked much ……… he really is in good shape but does show some wear in that he doesn’t swim for an hour anymore….he’s down to 30-45 minutes…..then he begins dawdling around and not returning stuff like he should….you can TELL when he’s ready to be done……

And no pictures! VERY soon, I should be able to post something interesting with pics……can’t wait for the stove to come, get the place painted, baseboards down, and think about how to live in this new(er) space. Cool.

ah.

Whoosh! The last 30 days have felt like being stuck on a downhill ski slope that doesn’t end. Whoever decided remodeling some of this house should happen while garden work is at its peak needs to have a talking to! Hah. IT IS the grasshopper vs ant story all over again….when it’s summer in Portland, you’d better make the work get done.

We’ve both fallen in love with the new deck! What a place that breathes relax…… enjoy the woods!

NOW, we’ve moved forward with nice laminate floors being put down and replacing the awful green carpet we’ve lived with for 15 years…. a quick pic shows a hint how they’ll look ….. (in a better pic, hah):

**Scott Seger is the craftsman, and make a note, Portlanders…if you EVER want to do floors this is the guy…. As nice as anyone I’ve ever met and helpful about ANY question, never in a hurry, and a perfectionist. HE IS HERE today and part of tomorrow…today working on the front room and hallway.

What did we do in the meantime? Yesterday was a full day catching up on the garden:

1) Rodg trimmed, pruned his sauce tomatoes (marzanos, romas, etc etc) back to the fruit, hoping to get some ripening happening.

2) Mark watered the garden then picked a small bucket of tomatillos (guess what for):

**There’s most of the ingredients sans lemon juice. This will make the total salsa jar count for this winter up to 76. BUT. 12 of those are EXTREMELY HOT. I WONDER WHO will volunteer to test ‘em out.

3) SO many tomatoes and you can ONLY eat 1 BLT a day and a plate of slicers…..so it was time to ROAST these:

** HOW? slice, tumble just a mite in a bit of olive-oil…..place upright on the roasting pans, a light sprinkle of sugar, salt, pepper and roast at 375 about 2 hours…. and they’re finger lickin’ good right out of the oven:

**yum.

4) The sept nites are cooling…..age showing on BASIL. 2 BIG plants were pulled, cleaned and made ready:

**YES, once the leaves are free, run ‘em through the blender with just a drizzle of olive oil, so they’re coated. then, PLACE into ice trays:

***when they’re frozen, get out of the trays, pack so they’ll be loose, and freeze for the winter. NOTE: THIS IS NOT a real pesto recipe, but almost. WHEN they’re THAWED this winter, I’ll add the garlic, walnuts, and parmesan “FRESH” and it will truly taste LIKE a just made pesto.

Yes, that was a full day…..then, as Scott left after 5:00 pm, we then had to move all the furniture back into the TV room so the front rooms could be done today. So we relaxed, sat down to watch the U.S. Open Tennis matches of the day, and WHAT? RAINED OUT? ARE YOU Kidding? Oh well……

TODAY? Pick MORE tomatoes and maybe make Stach’s Scalloped Tomatoes……it sounds delicious.

Seems ev August there’s an entry or two prefaced with these words: “I’m SO busy, this will just be a diary entry / pics put in quickly with random thoughts….not edited well.” **True again today. Here we go:

First of all, it’s HOT. That has brought about the BIG almost overnight change for a veggie garden taking it from growing vines / stalks to producing fruit. In the NW, we think about these heat waves (95+ for US, is a HEAT WAVE…most of us have NO air conditioning)……so, the even before ends with summer MAC Salad being made…….

**Used in this FROM the garden were: thyme, grn onion, red onion, celery.

And it’s finished….some may be going to a potluck later this week:

**yum.

If it IS hot, your day begins just after dawn gathering the hose/soaker, taking down the deer fence on one side, and watering / pruning green growth to encourage fruit production. This thing is REALLY overgrown this year…. (NOTE:THE DEER FENCE has disappeared, and everything is taller than the fence is…..) :

The “experimental” variety of corn, me dummy, was Golden Bantam. It’s about 8′ tall and finally beginning the tassel / ear phase:

***Some of this is So green heavy, I’ve had to tie IT up just like the ‘maters and tomatillos.

I have begun the tomatillo harvesting…..and just now have enough in the fridge for one batch of the salsa to can:

I can now count on harvesting enough tomatoes every day to eat sliced & lightly salted tomatoes for the next 4-5 weeks, PLUS eventually have SO many, we’ll freeze some for winter sauces:

To go along with those, the SERRANO peppers are really getting ready to be used too:

It is PESTO making time ….. to freeze for winter…..the basil plants are BIG…..that is IF, you can see beyond the Marigolds and the PIG waiting for harvest:

I just did a harvest of the English Thyme yesterday, and it will lie here drying in the heat wave:

This is NOT to forget flower production has peaked……due to some hard work by the rose guy, Rodger, they flourished late into the season despite being eaten early by a deer…… I like this double bloom:

The lilies are mammoth, not a good pic by lighting, but dozens of these blooms are now back on the new deck:

And then, always a favorite of MINE….the DAHLIAS BEGIN blooming when so MUCH of the rainy Northwest’s mainstays fade away, and right now IN the HOUSE are 3 separate vases with differently colored dahlias in them….. I love this color for one:

*******
Let’s NOT forget the DECK project is just completed, and wow are WE happy with who we chose to do this finish work:

***IT looks much better today with all the plants back on there…..update later.

and now to gather together recipes for: 1) Tomatillo Salsa canning, 2) Roasting/Preserving Gypsy Peppers, 3) Preserving Basil via/Pesto, 4) etc.

The last 3 “La Nina” summers were cool, sometimes damp. Growing a garden was a challenge…2 years ago the total harvest for tomatoes? About 8. It was discouraging. We’re always following the weather science here BECAUSE of the Pacific Ocean being so close. HOWEVER. This summer has been completely different. Watching May/June weather appearing completely different than the last 3 years, it came as no surprise to find La Nina’s leaving and El Nino’s replacing it. Almost all July mornings began cloudy, damp, cool….BUT….ended up sunny and in the low 70′s. WHAT did that do to this vegetable garden space at 1100′ in the Pacific Northwest?

(****NOTE to friends in parched, drought heat stricken southern midwest and south? I know, don’t hate me for saying “low 70′s” weather…… I know you’re suffering….. I feel horrible for what you’re going through and worry with this climate change there be more coming in that area. .

What did that do? Unbelievable growth of the plant roots, stalks, vines. For the first time EVER, our rows are NOT wide enough to accommodate the growth. In trying to save ALL the blossoms coming along, I’ve continued to put in taller stakes and add rope ties for vine support among the tomatoes and tomatillos….it’s been a real challenge, and fun at the same time.

Since our migratory songbirds were leaving our feeders empty, I took one or two tall shepherd hooks used to help keep their feeders up away from squirrel invasions and placed in two Tomato rows and wrapped baling twine around the vines:

AND, from the end, the SUN Gold plant is 7′ tall spreading everywhere (this one needs a bigger cage)…while the Stupice on either side are over 6′. You can see this by looking at the deer fence….which sits on this side at 6′ up:

***We have 5-6 ‘experimental’ varieties this year and are anxious to see how well they do…

The tomatillo vines are also so long and thick, that those not supported by a circle of ties or twine are breaking:

The corn’s a VERY interesting growth….this crop MUST be rotated every year for sure growth success..so this year it’s nearest the huge tall fir tree…the plants nearest the tree do NOT get direct sun until about 11:00….those furthest from the tree, about 9:00. It’s a stark contrast….furthest plants? Over 6′ and beginning to show tassels. Closest? About 5′ and NO sign of maturation yet…. This COULD be fun by giving us ripe corn over a longer few weeks, COOL, if it works. Here’s the row getting all the sun:

Any Blooming going on BESIDES tomatoes, tomatillos? YES and they’re beautiful in my humble opinion.
These leeks were held from last year ONLY FOR this purpose….on a warm day these beautiful blooms are buzzing with bees…here’s a few of about 10-12 total ‘space’ allowed:

And the French Fennel isn’t just pretty, THIS plant now has a very NICE Fennel scent when you’re close to it:

TRULY, it’s fun out there in the first warming of the morning sun….WHEREVER these BEES are coming from is a wonder, and I’m SURE happy they’re here doing their work, but the garden is ALIVE with their buzzing as you water…. NOTE: I AM sorry that the pics were taken at sundown and the gazillion blossoms on ALL the plants are not showing….they’re THERE, believe me.

IF August dries up, warms up, suns up as forecast, we’re in for a banner harvest…. and a BUSY time there will be in the kitchen beginning with pickle weekend, that will immediately move to tomatillo salsa canning….a big batch every week through mid-September, and saving/freezing tomatoes. My FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!

SO there! THAT’s what’s going on UP at about 6′ view….ANYTHING going on at ground level? We’ve NEVER had so much lettuce and keep sharing fresh picked with close neighbors….(the current HEAT wave expected for 2 days MAY wilt some out there now, but there’s a continual crop just starting….gotta have lettuce into September for the kitchen!)…..Cilantro, harvesting regularly. Green Onion, since May. CELERY…ready anytime as has been parsley, BASIL Genovese.

We finally have Serrano peppers awaiting their contribution…and that BEGINS next weekend when Pickle-athon begins with favorite cousins in house! Whoopee times that will be.

That’s it? NO! The new potato harvest began this week….. How do you know when they’re read to harvest? When your vines look like this (and once they’ve bloomed, make sure you quit watering them):

**Yep, when they’re wilting down to nothing and sending all the good stuff into the potato.

IN the fridge now, is the first Potato Salad made with potatoes, onion, celery, parsley out of the garden and a few of our own habanero pickles. Yum.

THIS week’s job was to finally process the oregano hanging in the garage the last 3 weeks…yep, the hanging bundles that immediately drew a neighbor asking how we were brave to dry our marijuana in plain sight. As IF we had any. Remember the oregano ?

Yes, pretty simple process, but I was surprised how much actually came through…must be the mild summer. First the bundles placed on the counter:

Stems stripped, leaves lightly pressed to break ‘em up a bit, and of course, pull out most of the smaller stem pieces:

Result in about 1hour? 2 half gallon jars:

The biggest demand for the oregano will be in the Tomatillo Salsa upcoming weeks, but maybe I should set up a small box and chair by the road and put up a Oregano Sale sign? hah.

That effort brought about the need for a good chewie, so a batch of my M&M Cookies began to replace the space Oregano took up:

.

Some interesting changes (so far) in THIS year’s plant growth…..even though our RAIN amounts the last 3 months his a record (14″), the temps were SO much warmer to include DRY SUNNY periods, the plants in the garden are doing amazing. I’m remembering HOW much I like gardening because of this fun change……..

So a quick camera walk around the house let’s me celebrate the GREEN beauty NW Oregon is right now. Some shots of changes in the yard:

This little water fountain was given to us by the friend who made it…..and birds have QUIT even going to the one with NO water movement…they ALL bathe in this because of the fountain….it’s fun to watch because it sits 1′ from the window:

This hemlock was planted from a volunteer tree about 5″ tall 8 years ago…it has struggled EVERY winter until 2010 against the Buck Deer who liked to rub the new antlers clean during the rut….it’s FINALLY over 6′ tall, and I believe, is gonna finally take off:

Every year this looks so lush even though it sits where little water gets to it:

And it seems only 4-5 years ago that we planted a “few” Japanese Iris bulbs dug and given to us by pal Karen Smith from her yard, and now, in 2 places they look like this:

And really the same about this berm along the driveway which was no more than spare dirt brought in when friend Dave dug his septic tank for his new house and we spread it here…..we planted a few things as “experiments”…..and they seem to have managed just fine (yes, a couple things are buried in here and need to be moved):

I LOVE the grape vines (that never mature in our little micro-climate) that give us huge leaves by Pickling Time….”1 per jar”….that’s rule…..

AND….it’s peak Rhody time…… all these plants ever get is a dose of Epsom Salts every spring:

And a quick peek at the garden……….at the row’s west ends….fingerling potatos are on the way while marigolds, leeks, onions, tomatoes are growing:

This doesn’t often happen by June 1…..tomato plants are growing out of the TOP of the Kozy Coats already proving temps have been WARM here since we planted them:

****the aqua jackets are around all the hot peppers and will be until Jun 30…..unless it really DOES warm up and stay there.

Here’s a little task for next week…..these corn starts (Golden Bantam is this year’s experiment) will go into the ground:

HERBS are doing fabulous….we’ll be eating cuttings within a week or two from: chives, oregano, sage, basil, rosemary, celery….. and the sprouted cilantro seeds will take 3-4 weeks. LETTUCE will begin getting trimmed and eaten in a week. Yum.

Mac has carrots planted for himself in one row……………(no I haven’t told him they’re up yet).

The curly willow trees we cut down last fall? some of those cuttings started sprouting….I’ve given away a couple and potted 3 more…..any takers?

It’s a good spring here.

*I am NOT waiting to get this complete….so busy I may not get that done…here’s the garden start diary I must get done…..so far.

I try to keep some record of garden events every year……it’s easy to check on WHY last years garden started a month or two earlier/later….and WHY rain in May/June rotted my corn!

Here we go:
** TRAVELED to Millenium Farms, visited Michael & Missy for a while and brought home the starts we always get from them (THURSDAY, MAY 10): TOMATOES: Stupice: 9. Sungold: 1. San Marzano: 1. **Some Japanese hybrid he insisted I try for our elevation…**get the name Mark….
Peppers: 4 Serranos, 1 Fatali, 1 Habanero, 1 _______ and 1 _______, also that Michael insisted I try.
(Arnica: experiment)…. Lemon Thyme and Another Thyme full of flavor, Celery, Lettuce, Italian Parsley.

TILLING GARDEN: First time was April 25…before Arizona vacation, and 2nd time is today, Friday May 11. ***The WEATHER has been startingly different than the last TWO years….those were cold/wet and prevented garden getting started. THIS YEAR, April/May (so far), broke records on warmth, and sunny days. Things are looking perfect.

PLANTING the starts: OVER this weekend, and installing Water walls, fertilizing, starting corn seeds, sunflower seeds, and…..

OTHER: The St Johns Parade/Bizarre are ALL day saturday…..just over this bridge:

not sure yet what Mac’s gonna do….early swimming in Columbia and then rest at home, or…..CLUB K9?

***ARIZONA trip entries w/pics MUST follow as SOON as caught up in the yard…it’s this damn fine weather!

Yes, we noted the garden was being put to bed a couple weeks ago………. it’s a process………… Fencing’s put away, stakes, cages all put away. The FIRST pile lawn CLIPPINGS have been spread on the top (and there’ll be a few more as the leaves fall)……….

And, the BIG JOB has been the murdering (I always hate to cut down a big old tree) of the last tree we think we’ll have to remove….we wanted them ALL done this year so we can start NEW trees that should be lookin quite perfect by the time we will sell and get to a smaller place….. 8 – 10 years……. hopefully. The FINAL TREE the last two days (and two more to finish) is the big tangled WALNUT in back. We’ve had to cut it back several times from the house, and it just allowed TOO much shade in the back. That means: Moss, mold in too many places. It’s cut, chopped, and piled almost………..that I’ll have to finish soon.

BUT: The GARDEN? What could possibly be LEFT to do? ( I JUST BARELY yesterday finished the last of those fabulous little Russian tomatoes….that flavor held up all the way through…. now, we wait another 9 months for some more)…………..

The fennel plant was getting too heavy / wet to think it would finish curing outdoors, so it was harvested and brought in to dry along with several branches of bay leaf (Bay Laurel) that were pruned from the plant….this was all about 2 weeks ago:

Today I finally cleaned up that harvest, the fennel seed is packed, and ONE bottle already has been selected….it gets a trip to California for Christmas:

The bay leaf is still finishing, and will be ready in about a week:

I am about ready to clean up and store the green onion seed:

The leek blossom is still drying, but I’ll eventually have Leek seeds for spring:

In the last post, a cilantro plant was drying out near the wood shed…..that got enough “curing” to trim and be brought in. It dried quickly and is ready to pack and wait for spring planting:

I harvested MORE Sunflower blooms, and since they were also getting too damp, I am finishing some of them in the oven today:

SO. Now, I can finally say, the garden work is done other than covering it with mulch in the next 4 weeks.

ON TO plans and schemes that may involve actual yard design work……Rodger’s excited about that…… a little well placed fencing, deck replacement, helping the OLD tool shed become part greenhouse, stripping carpets in the old L/R and replacing with wooden flooring to convert it to a dining room, and on and on……that guy has NO end to imagination…… I’ll be contacting our budget office about how soon some of it gets done, hah.

I’m staring out the window at a very dark gray damp afternoon. Sigh.

With incoming rain forecast all next week, temps dropping to 40′s, there’s nothing that will keep the last of the tomato fruits healthy. The garden was picked the last two days….and cleanup of the space has begun for the season end. It’s been with mixed feelings I’ve been out there beginning the space clean up, putting away tools, cages, etc. With the DEER Fence going away, deer will find the space in a week or two and help with the cleanup.

These super ripe tomatoes have been in the kitchen for a few days awaiting disposition, and I’m finally noting my “ripe summer tomato” craving finally getting its fill:

These two little tomato groups have been picked in the last two days, and are far enough along, that they should ripen okay in the next several days:

Some of the big sunflowers collapsed with the last rain/windy event, so SOME are now cut and drying in the living room. THEY will become bird food:

The cilantro plant going To seed had been pulled 2-3 weeks ago, and here it is awaiting my cleaning it. The seeds are READY for storage for 2012 planting:

Peppers are now drying and ripening in the garage:

Cayenne:

**and there are 3 Habaneros also hanging in the same place.

Here’s part of dismantling a summer garden….the deer fence is down, rolled and ready…. the tomato cages are slowly being reclaimed for storage:

That leaves the garden exposed (fuzzy pic):

The north end almost bare:

BUT…..a FEW things are still there. The Fennel Seed is hoping for another 3-4 weeks to get ready for harvest:

MAC hopes the carrots will be kept right here to be selected one at a time for HIM only:

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And THAT brings us to the canning event of the summer…… OUR home tomatoes are best enjoyed sliced, lightly salted, and devoured. For pasta, Romas are the best….and Rodger wanted some for winter. We picked up a big box at Sauvie Island and spent a day on that……… We have had what we thought was only a “fruit” mill that separated most of the pulp from the seed…. Rodger saw the SAME machine (for a lot more money) in one of the big catalogs but called a Tomato Press. WELL! We pulled that out and saved ourselves LOTS of SLOW work getting the ‘maters peeled, and ready for the stove:

Yes, it was a beautiful thing to watch. After a couple run throughs of that little machine, the sauce looked beautiful:

It filled this stockpot, but 2-3 hours later was down to this:

After cooling, into the containers it went and is now beautifully frozen for one of the finest Tomato Pasta Sauces I’ve ever enjoyed:

Obviously, we’ve accepted that summer’s over. NOW back to getting rid of this cold I seem to have picked up from Rodger, who, it appears picked up at the Further Show last weekend in Eugene. Ah, to be human!