I was scanning the NYT health section and came across two delicious sounding zuchinni recipes that I would love to try:

Greek Zucchini and Herb Pie

Provencal Zucchini and Swiss Chard Tart

Let me know if you try either of these. I need to wait for the zucchini crop to explode…

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Imported Cabbage Worm.

They are kind of cute – plump velvety and green…but wow do they have an appetite.

It began in late summer with lots of white ‘butterflies’ (really moths) flying around the garden. These innocent moths began to lay little yellowish oval eggs on the undersides of the brassica’s leaves. In no time at all, leaves began to have big chunks eaten out of them with lots of green pellet like ‘poops’ left behind.

I’ve been plucking them off infested plants ever since. Some tiny and some up to 1 inch long…eeewwww. I usually grab a nearby twig and stab the bugger resulting in a bright green ooze…double eeewwww!

There has got to be a better way…

So off to googling I go and what do you know? There are many better ways…

Prevention

• Use row covers for your brassicas during the late summer so the moths can’t lay their eggs on the leaves.
• Hot pepper spray! I guess this stuff irritates the little critters. Blend 1/2 cup of the spiciest peppers you can find with 1 pint of water. Strain and put into a spray bottle.

Kill Them

• Hot pepper spray – repels and kills (see above). Spray every few days to burn up every last one of them.
• Dilute soap solution – this acts by drying up the worms. I make my own using a tablespoon of dish soap in a quart spray bottle of water.
• Poke them with a sharp stick (not for the squeamish)
• Spray with the bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis aka BT. This is an organic method where the bacteria kill the worms but do no harm to you. You’ll need to spray every 7 days or so until all the worms are gone. I’d reserve this method for those that have lots and lots of infested brassicas

Well, that about sums up methods to dealing with cabbage worms. Now were is my stick…

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Oranges are one of the most popular citrus varieties. A lush glossy leafed evergreen – oranges have been cultivated for over 4000 years for their fruit as well as oil derived from the leaves and intensely perfumy small white flowers.

Originally from Asia, oranges spread slowly throughout the world. When demand increased, they spread rapidly during the seventeenth century as European and later American trade developed. In the United States today, oranges have become an important crop for California, Florida and Texas.

Orange varieties can be categorized into two different types; bitter and sweet.

Seville oranges are the most well known of the bitter varieties and best used for marmalades and preserves.

Of the sweet varieties there are three types: juice, navel and blood oranges.

Valencia is the premiere juice orange because of its sweet tart flavor and juiciness. Valencias are usually thin skinned, very juicy and have few seeds.

Hamlins are another juicing variety that is much sweeter than Valencias but lack the tartness.

Another sweet variety is the navel orange, characterized by its thick easy to peel skin and has no seeds. Navels are a favorite for eating out of hand but can be used for juice too.

Lastly, blood oranges are known for their red flesh and intense berry like flavor. Blood oranges are much more common these days as many citrus growers have added them trees to their orchards. You can easily find blood orange trees in your local nursery.

It’s been two years and we’re still waiting for our blood orange tree to start producing so patience is a virtue when it comes to starting your own citrus grove.

Care for citrus trees is pretty minimal. Citrus do not like to have constant moist roots so only water when the soil is starting to dry and then water deep. Our very mature lemon tree in the back yard rarely needs water between the rainy season. If you do water too much your citrus tree will tell you…it’s leaves will start to curl or yikes, fall off. I know as I almost killed our lime tree which we have planted in an oak barrel in the back yard.

As far as fertilizing, here is a handy chart that tells you when and how much.

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In temperate zones, oregano can be grown year round. In zones with harsher climates, oregano is considered an annual. No worries, as oregano is easily grown from seeds and can be propagated from cuttings.

To grown oregano, choose a sunny spot with well draining soil. No need to ammend too heavily as the plant will develop more of the volatile oils (those responsible for it’s pungent flavor and it’s medicinal properties) in more challenging conditions.

If you are growing from seed just lightly cover the seeds with a dusting of soil as the seeds like a bit of light in order to germinate.

To harvest, pick sprigs when the plant is at least 5 to 6″ tall. For the best flavor pick young leaves in the morning when the oils are at their highest levels. Be aware that as the plant flowers the flavor begins to diminish and with some varieties even becoming bitter. You can delay blooming by pinching off the flowers as they begin to form.

When using the fresh leaves to flavor cooked dishes, add the oregano towards the end of the cook time for maximum flavor as the volatile oils tend to cook off with long cook times.

Oregano can also be easily dried – pluck the leaves from the stems, spread in a single layer on a tray in a cool well ventilated place until totally dried. Store in an airtight jar for up to 6 to 8 months.

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Oregano finds it’s roots in the Mediterranean and in parts of Asia. Today, we find it growing in all parts of the world and widely used in Italian, Greek and Mexican cuisines. Coincidentally, these are the 3 main varieties grown AND the 3 types with the most antioxidant activity.

Oregano has a long history of medicinal use dating back to Hippocrates who used oregano as an antiseptic as well as for digestive and respiratory disorders. Modern science (with research from the USDA) has backed up the health benefits of oregano showing oregano to be a super concentrated source of powerful phytochemicals and antioxidants including thymol and carvacrol. These compounds and many others are responsible for oregano’s many healing properties*:

• anti-microbial: used as an antiseptic; particularly effective against certain bacteria responsible for food borne illnesses
• anti-parasitic: found by Mexican researchers to be effective against giardia
• anti-fungal: used often by herbalist to fight yeast infections such as candida
• anti-spasmotic
• calmative / sedative

Generally, when used for it’s medicinal properties, oregano is taken as a concentrated oil in gel capsules by mouth or when used as an antiseptic – the oil is used topically.

Many of these “anti” properties lends itself to using oregano as a food preservative (use in dry rubs) or to extend the shelf-life of foods.

Tomorrow, tips on growing this must have herb.

*Be advised that any nutrition information suggested is not intended as a treatment for any disease. The intent of any nutritional recommendation is to support the physiological and biochemical processes of the human body, and not to diagnose, treat, cure, prevent any disease or condition. Always work with a qualified medical professional before making changes to your diet, prescription medication, lifestyle or exercise activities.

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If you love broccoli – there is nothing better than home grown. It is so sweet and tender all it needs is a quick saute with a nice pat of butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. Yum!

For a spring crop, start seeds indoors sometime in February so you can transplant them into the ground the end of April or early May. For a fall crop, you can put seeds directly in the ground early to mid summer. Plant seeds about 1/4″ to 1/2″ deep. The best soil is at a pH of 6.5 to 7.5, well draining with a good amount of composted manure. Broccoli does best in full sun but can tolerate a bit of shade – it doesn’t do well in heat. Plant from 16″ to 2 feet apart for best production. Broccoli is in the cabbage / brassica / cole crop family so rotate planting spots at least every 2 years.

Broccoli is a slow grower and thrives with day temperatures in the 70’s and night temperatures in the 60’s. Frost will damage the plants – luckily for us we rarely get frost and we have our handy row covers. Make sure the plants are watered well and stay moist. Mid season, gently dig in some manure around each broccoli plant. With broccoli you will get a main central head which when harvested will make the plant begin to produce side shoots. Many broccoli aficionados prefer these tender side shoots over the central head.

Harvest the broccoli when the flower buds are still green and tight. If you wait too long the flowers will open and you will be very unhappy. Cut about 6-7″ below the head at an angle to prevent moisture from accumulating and causing stem rot. Side shoots will appear and you can cut those at the point they grow out of the main stem.

Don’t forget the leaves! Broccoli leaves can be harvested and prepared the same as kale, collards or other like greens.

The main pests that we see are aphids which can be easily taken care of with a dilute soap spray. The other which we got to experience first had are cabbage worms – big green and voracious. I knew they were coming as a few weeks before I discovered big chomps off the broccoli leaves – the garden was fluttering with white butterflies – ha! Moths really. Part of my morning routine for a few weeks was to go out to the garden and search & pluck out these green oozing worms.

Oh yes, one more pest that we seem to have at the moment – flea beetles. This I know as many of the leaves of our broccoli and kale have neat small holes rather than big chomps. More about these critters and how to take care of them in a future post.

Broccoli seems to be a pretty easy vegetable to grow and we’ll report on our progress.

If you love broccoli, give it a whirl…
Broccoli…plant it, grow it, eat it!

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But hey, Broccoli is oh so good for you!

• Loads of vitamin C and with a light steam you will retain a good amount of this heat sensitive vitamin
• vitamin K and beta carotene galore
• A good number of B’s including folic acid, B6, B2, B5, thiamin and niacin
• a gold mine of minerals: manganese, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc

but wait there’s more…
broccoli is full of amazing phytonutrients that in lab studies block compounds that promote tumor growth, help detoxify the body of carcinogens, slow tumor growth and stimulate cell death in cancer cells. I say, “broc on!”

I tried to grow some last year but I now know that rats had chomped them down to the ground. Luck for us,  our friend and fellow gardener gave us some homegrown broccoli. Wow! I was in heaven – it was the sweetest most tender broccoli I ever had. This year I had to try again…
Round one of the seedlings started this summer suffered the same fate as last year. But this time, we knew what was eating our broccoli, so…

After getting rid of the rats, We got more seedlings started and they are slowly but surely growing under our row covers. To be honest I’m not sure how many broccoli plants I have out there since some did get munched on by a second swarm of ratlings but now we think those are gone (hopefully for good.)

Tomorrow, tips on growing your own sweet tender broccoli.

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The sight of Persimmon trees bring back fond memories of Fall from my childhood.  Growing up in a Chinese family, persimmons were as common to our Fall table as apples.  It was always a big treat to see Mom bring out a plate full for the rare occasions we had dessert. We enjoyed both the Hachiya and the Fuyus, the two most common varieties you will find. Though now there are dozens of varieties that can be found in specialty grocers and your local farmer’s market.

Persimmons were originally from China and, as with many fruits from around the world, was eventually  introduced to California where it thrives today.

In the old country, the fresh fruit was used to treat constipation and hemorrhoids as well as stop bleeding.  Those that over indulge should not be surprised then if the runs come to visit.
However, the cooked fruit was used to treat dysentery and diarrhea…so there is your antidote should you eat a few too many raw fruits…

The trick to persimmons is knowing when to bite into one.  There are two types of persimmons but all start out green and turn a very deep orange when ripe.  The difference in the two types is that one is classified as astringent and the other…non-astringent.
Fuyu’s, which are flat and shaped like a tomato, are non-astringent and eaten when firm like an apple. 
Hachiyas, which are elongated with a pointy end, must be soft before you can eat them. It’s the high tannin content in unripe fruit that causes extreme astringency making them totally inedible – the tannins do however breakdown during the ripening process.

When ready to eat, a ripe Hachiya should feel like a water balloon.  Any firmness under the delicate skin will only pucker up your mouth and make you feel as if you stuffed your mouth full of cotton balls. Patti found this out the hard way a number of years ago when I brought home a big bag full from my Mom with a plan to bake a few persimmon pudding cakes. She had only eaten the sweet crispy fuyu’s in the past and didn’t know these were not edible til soft. Before I could stop her from eating a crisp firm slice of the Hachiya…wow, what a look on her face…

You can speed up the ripening process by storing them in a warm place with some apples. Some recommend tossing them in the freezer – now, while they are very soft upon thawing, I’m skeptical that all the tannins have sufficiently been broken down.

Once ripened, the pudding like pulp can be easily scooped out by a spoon and eaten as is or used in cakes, muffins and puddings. This time of year, many families have their secret holiday recipes.  One of my favorites is Persimmon Pudding. There are many versions out there that are steamed but I have always enjoyed a baked version from the Stars Dessert Cookbook -which I have misplaced, but here is a very similar recipe.

In China, Japan and Korea; Hachiya’s are preserved by drying. The dried fruit darkens to a deep caramel brown and has such high sugar concentration the sugars crystallize into a powdery white coating – the taste is reminiscent of dates.

Last year, we decided to plant a fruit tree in our front yard. After much pondering, we decided to plant a persimmon…a Fuyu of course! It has grown so much since then and this year we have – count them – 2 very nice sized persimmons. I’ve been keeping my eye on them the last few weeks as they slowly ripened. With the heat wave we are having, we may be able to pick them this weekend.

If you decide to plant a persimmon tree, keep in mind they do best in full sun and do not like being located near eucalyptus trees.  Optimal soil conditions include: well draining loamy soil with a pH from 6.5 to 7.5. Persimmons have a long tap root so digging the planting hole extra deep would be helpful.  Persimmons are light feeders so don’t need much fertilizing – beware that too much nitrogen may cause the fruit to drop! As the tree grows, skillful pruning by someone who knows how to optimize fruit production is a must. Pests are few but do keep an eye out for ants which may infest the tree with mealy bugs and scale.

Fuyu’s are great eaten out of hand or sliced and added to fruit salads or green leaf salads. No doubt our 2 Fuyu’s will be savored and enjoyed how ever we decide to prepare them.

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While we don’t have a fig tree in our own yard, our generous neighbors have four huge fig trees (one green Calmyrna and three purple Black Mission) – they let us help ourselves every year. This is the time of year you may find us marching down the street with a 12 foot ladder.

A childhood favorite, figs were popular in my family whether in the form of fig newtons in our lunch boxes or fresh off Mom’s tree in our backyard. 

For the rest of human kind, figs have been enjoyed for over 5000 years.  Figs have been found in Egyptian tombs to provide a healthy snack in the after world.  The Greeks and Romans used figs fresh, roasted, dried and as a sweetener before sugar was discovered.   It was the Romans who were instrumental in introducing figs to other parts of Europe.  In turn, during the late 1700’s the Spanish missionaries introduced figs to California.  Today, you will find fig trees growing all over California.

Figs, a soft super sweet fruit with numerous edible blossoms and seeds encased in a thin edible skin, are a member of the Mulberry family and has two fruiting seasons.  A short one in the Spring and a longer more abundant one mid to late Summer lasting into Fall.  Some common varieties you will find are the green ‘kadota’ and ‘calmyrna’, the brown ‘brown turkey’, and the purple ‘black mission.’ The best way to enjoy a truly ripe fig is to grow your own; have generous neighbors, family or friends; or purchase at your neighborhood farmer’s market.

It is important to pick only ripe figs as figs do not ripen off the tree. Figs are ripe when they are plump and soft. I find the ones with fine lengthwise cracks in the skin are the best tasting – literally bursting with flavor. To harvest, gently cup the fig in your hand and grab the stem with your fingers. Then give a twist – the fig should come right off the tree.

We love figs fresh but with such an abundance of figs we use our American Harvest Food Drier to dry most of the harvest.

• First we wash the figs then cut off the stem and slice in half. 
• We lay in a single layer on the trays and dry at 115F to 120F. Note that raw foodist like to keep the temperature at or less than 115F to keep the temperature sensitive enzymes viable.
• Dry until the figs are…well, dry. This will usually take 24+ hours depending on the initial moisture content and the size of the fruit.
• Store in glass jars with tight lids or in well sealed plastic bags. To extend the shelf life further you can freeze.

Other ways we enjoy the figs are sliced in salads; marinated in balsamic vinegar, honey and mint and grilled or broiled; in muffins; in Lamb Stew; stuffed in chicken breast; or on crostini.

Nutritionally, figs beat out some well known foods…ounce for ounce figs have

• more fiber than prunes
• more potassium than bananas
• more calcium than milk

One thing I have noticed about gardeners is that no matter the season – generosity is always in abundance. What better way to get to know your neighbors than sharing the bounty of the garden…kind of like breaking bread only better for you.

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Since we got a late start to our fall and winter garden we took a chance by direct sowing some seeds a few weeks ago. We have a nice Indian summer going and our mini-greenhouses so germination has been great! Hopefully, we will have some baby beets to pick for our holiday table.

Otherwise, early spring is a great time to start sowing beets. Usually two weeks to a month before the last frost date. Seeds will germinate at a soil temperature of 50-70F. Some gardeners like to sow their beets right after harvesting their early spring peas. If you want a continuous supply, sow every two to three weeks. I’d venture to guess that in our temperate zone (9b) we can keep sowing until September. Cool weather is key so skipping the hot summer months is best.

Beets are in the same family as Swiss chard and spinach so if you want to rotate your crops keep this in mind. Good companions include lettuce, most root vegetables, onions, chives, mint and the cabbage family: brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, turnips.

Beets are fairly easy to grow provided you keep them well watered. Beets love sun but can tolerate some shade. Beets do best in well draining sandy loamy soil with a neutral pH from 7 to 7.5 – if you have had trouble growing beets in the past your soil may be too acid. You can correct this by adding in some wood ashes or lime.

Beet seeds have a hard shell which actually contains 1 to 6 seeds.
To help with germination, I like to soak the seeds overnight but even a soak for a few hours help. After soaking, strain out the water and dry them a bit on a paper towel.
Sow the seeds a 1/2″ deep, 5″ apart.
Since we are into intensive gardening, we space them at about 3 to 4″.
Beets grow well from transplants so if you want to skip the seed part buying transplants is an option.

Once the seeds germinate wait until the plants are about 4 to 5″ high and thin them to keep with your desired spacing. I like to thin by pinching the plant at the soil line rather than pulling them out so as to not disturb the root of the remaining plant.
Use the thinnings in salad or you can enjoy as a quick saute.

While the plants are growing, make sure they remain well watered. Any disruption in water will stop the growth of the root and make the roots turn ‘woody.’
Beets don’t do well at temperatures above 85F so try to provide some shade during the summer or skip planting during the summer altogether.
Cool soil will raise the sugar content giving you a sweeter beet.
Mulch to the rescue! Put down straw or chopped up leaves to help maintain the moisture and keep the soil cool.

If you like, harvest the greens when they are about 5″ long – just cut the outer leaves, leaving the center leaves so the plant can continue growing.
You can harvest ‘baby’ size beets as soon as they are about 1″ in diameter.
When harvesting the beets, be careful not to scratch the skin as this will allow the beet to ‘bleed’ when it comes time to cook them.
Cut the tops off, leaving about an inch of the stems – also leave the ‘tail’ of the root.
Doing these two things will also help prevent the beet from ‘bleeding’ during cooking.
If you want to store the beets longer, cut the stems off near the top of the root.

Once harvested, our favorite way to prepare is to:

• put the beets in a baking dish with a 1/4″ of water at the bottom of the dish,
• cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes or until you can stick a knife into the beet without too much resistance.
• Take the beets out of the oven and keep them in the sealed baking dish while it is cooling.
• Once cool, the skin will rub right off. You can also eat the skin so if it doesn’t come off not a problem – especially since many of the beets nutrients are concentrated in the skin.
• Cut into bite-size chunks and “marinate” in your favorite vinaigrette.

A simple Balsamic Vinaigrette is the old standby. During citrus season, I will add a quarter to a half of the zest and all the juice of an orange or tangerine.

Here is another favorite vinaigrette for beets or any salad:

Pomegranate, Dijon, Ginger Vinaigrette

– 3 tablespoons pomegranate concentrate
– 1 tablespoon Sherry wine vinegar or white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
– 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
– 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated or ½ tsp of dry powdered ginger
– ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a small jar, combine the pomegranate molasses, vinegar, mustard, and ginger. Shake. Add the oil and shake some more. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Makes about 3/4 cup.

Beets…Plant it, Grow it, Eat it!

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