By Liz Olson, Editorial Assistant

When I saw Roger Swain last, he recommended that I read The Joy of Pickling Linda Ziedrich. I wanted to try my own pickling and I love reading new recipes, so I was excited to pick up the book. She has great recipes for anything you can imagine, and everything you never thought about pickling. I have written a recipe below from The Joy of Pickling that I’m going to try with my cucumbers and onions this weekend.

Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Ingredients:

6 lbs. pickling cucumbers (4 - 5 inches)

2 lbs. small onions, sliced into thin rounds

1/2 cup pickling salt

4 1/2 cups cider vinegar

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 teaspoon celery seeds

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1. Gently wash the cucumbers, and remove the blossom ends. Slice the cucumbers crosswise 3/16 inches thick. In a large bowl, toss the cucumbers and onions with the salt. Cover the vegetables with ice cubes from two ice trays. Let the vegetables stand three to four hours. 



2. Drain the vegetables. In a large non-reactive pot, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil. Add the vegetables, and slowly bring the contents to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, pack the vegetables loosely in eight pint or four quart mason jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Divide the liquid evenly among the jars. Close the jars with hot two-piece caps. 



3. To ensure a good seal, process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

4. Store the cooled jars in a cool, dry, dark place for at least three weeks before eating the pickles.

(Makes about four quarts)

Thursday, September 20, 2007 1:54:31 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

By Liz Olson, Editorial Assistant

It has been a week of the harvest. Roger Swain arrived at the office carrying crates of beautiful fruit⎯Gravenstein apples, ‘Sungold’ cherry tomatoes, five varieties of grapes (including concord, which were my favorite), and two kinds of plums. He picked all of it from his garden, and all had amazing flavor. Our advertising and marketing director, Barbara Emerson, also brought in beautiful heirloom tomatoes (‘Black’ variety) and cherry tomatoes from her garden.
   

With fruit on the brain I went excitedly to my own garden after work last night. Although it was on a much smaller scale, I had a fun harvest of my own, and a little to share! I had two heirloom tomatoes (‘Better Boy’), a summer squash, a cucumber, three carrots, and lots of cherry tomatoes and basil to pick.
   

Back in June, I planted Achillea ‘Apricot Delight’ (Achillea millefolium) and Cosmos ‘Sensation Blend’ (Cosmos bipinnatus) around my vegetable garden. I’m glad I did it⎯I enjoy seeing their pink flowers when I visit my garden at the end of the day.

Friday, September 14, 2007 8:22:24 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

By Liz Olson, Editorial Assistant

My co-worker Melanie has a beautiful Wandering Jew plant (Tradescantia pallida
 ‘Purple Heart’) in her office, which I have admired for some time. She needed to re-pot it recently because it has grown really well and quite quickly. I took a small piece of the plant to propagate hoping that I too would have a large trailing ‘Purple Heart’ soon.

Tradescantia pallida
 ‘Purple Heart’ is a great indoor plant for cool climates, but it is a good groundcover for outdoor gardens in Zones 8-11 as well. It is drought-tolerant with succulent leaves and stems that trail out of containers and window boxes.

Annie’s Annuals is a good source to see pictures, buy, and learn more about Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Heart’.

Friday, September 07, 2007 7:34:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [2] 

By Liz Olson, Editorial Assistant

I just got back from vacation in England and Scotland. I lucked out and had beautiful weather during my stay. I was able to visit several gardens outside of London and around Glasgow.

Two of my favorites were Hampton Court Palace Gardens and Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It was my fourth time visiting Hampton Court. I went back because it is one of my favorite spots in the area. Every inch of the park had something beautiful in bloom.

The Glasgow Botanic Gardens were lovely as well. I had never been, and I had a wonderful time strolling from one garden or greenhouse to the next. They have a great vegetable garden outside and an impressive tropical plant display inside.

Here are two images from the Glasgow Botanic Garden. One is a view of a vegetable patch, and the other is of giant Gunnera, which I had never seen and I am fascinated by. It looks like it belongs in prehistoric times like one of its common names, Dinasour Food, implies.

Gunnera manicata is native to Brazil and Columbia. It grows best in a very moist climate and long growing season. Although Glasgow is not a tropical location it has both those requirements.

Here are a few links to find out more about giant Gunnera.

Desert Tropicals

Cool Exotics

Wikipedia

Tuesday, September 04, 2007 8:15:37 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]