Garden Passages

Geez, didn't this gardening season just start?  And yet already some things have gone by -- lots of perennial flowers are finished for this season (not that I really even notice them anymore), I harvested my last load of asparagus for the season on July 4th and made a soup with it -- asparagus, young onions, one potato, and celery, lightly sauteed and then simmered in homemade chicken stock 'til tender.  Then I added a roasted/cracked peppercorn-coated 8-ounce piece of salmon filet (from Costco), cut into chunks, and let the whole lot simmer for a few more minutes.  I finished it with a couple of tablespoons of half & half cream -- just enough to give it some heartiness and character, without unduly increasing the fat content. 

Since the weather was so cool and breezy, soup was just what we wanted for dinner.  David: "I love summer when you're not working." (because we eat so well) 

Imagine that:  We wanted soup on July 4th.  But now we say goodbye to asparagus for the season.  I've decided to let the asparagus ferns grow now, and let the roots gain strength for next year. 

The last remaining strawberries have been foraged by something other than me, and they are gone for the season.  I saw a chipmunk with a guilty red-smeared look on his face. 

But all is not lost.  I picked the first bowl of sweet, delectable black raspberries...

...and eked out enough rose petals for one last batch of jam, along with a few leaves from the now-gasping-and-ready-to-bolt spinach plants. 

Sadly, the rose petal jam was a failure.  I did not have on hand any of the pectin I normally use, so I decided to try a different, supposedly healthier, kind I had in my pantry that I'd bought at a "healthy" store.  You are supposed to be able to use less sugar with it -- or, it says, use as much or as little sugar as you want in your jam.  It has a different setting chemistry, so the standard amount of sugar is not required.  Well, I learned the hard way: Not only is it not required, but these particular setting agents impart a sweet flavor themselves.  This jam was all but inedible.  It was a lot more complicated to make. It was cloudy, gloppy, the wrong texture, and too sweet. The lovely lemony-fruity-rosy tang of the normally orgasmic jam was completely lost.  I had to throw it in the compost. 

*sob*

Bye-bye rose petal jam for 2009.  Maybe I'll luck out and a few more petals will bloom, but I'm doubtful.  The rosehips look plump and beautiful right now, and the damn Japanese beetles have already begun to show up. 

But is it time to get discouraged?  No way!  I return to the garden to harvest a small cabbage and several large leaves of kale that are ready.   I soak some dried Great Northern beans with the intention of making some bean/kale/cabbage/everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soup.

While I'm in the garden, I notice that the new bed I seeded just under a week ago has germinated well and is going strong with arugula, stir-fry mix, Romaine, and Dolloff beans. 



I poke further.  I find baby zucchini:



And baby cucumbers!



and green tomatoes (sorry, no photo).

I pick a handful of peas ...


...that I eventually throw in the delicious vegetable soup.

I pick a bouquet of parsley, sage and rosemary:



I chop them up very fine, with one garlic scape.  I add them to some sunflower oil, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, and white wine, and add some fresh ground black pepper and rock sea salt, to use as a marinade for chicken breasts.

The rest of the bottle of wine looks lonely. 

I pour myself a glass. 

I eat a couple of pieces of cheese and think about the lost rose petal jam, the lost strawberries, and...

... other losses.

A friend stops by to return our truck, which he borrowed to bring his parasailing stuff down to the lake.  He loves the garden, and I know he and his wife like to cook and eat well, so I cut him some broccoli from the garden.

I pour myself anotehr glass ofwine.

And aontehr.

.

Teh ned.

Comments

[Laurie]

Very very funny on the wine!

[gayle]

I think the loss of the rose petal jam may have been worth *two* bottles of wine...

[AnnaMarie]

Oh dear.... I have 2 lbs of Pomona Pectin. Hopefully I have some luck with it.

Your garden bounty looks wonderful!

[margene]

Your garden must the most productive and bountiful in the country! After all that you deserve to put on a little drunk.

[Jean E.]

So sorry your last batch of rose petal jam was a failure. The wine was well deserved. I am pretty sure wine counts as a fruit serving. And it is full of anti-oxidants.

[marianne]

Aaaahhhh, to have weather that encourages the desire for soup. Beautiful bounty. Get thee some regular old pectin and make some black raspberry jam. I'm so sorry about that last batch of rose petal jam. damnit.

[Doris]

I agree with MArgene! I love to hear about your harvest.

[Geri]

Just reading your post makes me miss all those lovely early veggies! Soup has definitely been the order of the day. I can't remember a June where I craved so much homemade soup!

[Kristen]

Oh man, blackberries!! I loooooooove blackberries! Unfortunately, I learned years ago that jelly/jam (and sorbets) cannot be made low-sugar with acceptable results. So, I just make 'em the old fashioned way and enjoy my summer treats in careful rations. Feeling your pain!

[Seanna Lea]

Oh, I'm so sorry! I've used the Pomona before, but only for making Pate de Fruit. I was going to try it with my leftover currants from the farmer's market and see if I can start making jam myself (because I love homemade jam so much more than storebought). Was the jam too sweet or did it just set wrong? I've love to know before I give it a try to know the pitfalls.

[Beebs]

That asparagus/salmon soup sounds heavenly! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

[Sarah]

Love your posts, Norma. Love reading about your garden adventures.
So sorry to hear the jam didn't work out. But don't give up on the Aunt Pomona's... I love the stuff. I made the best-est, most fresh tasting raspberry jam last year. Basically crushed the berries, added ~1c of honey, and boiled for ~1 min. The jam tastes like fresh raspberries!

[Tonia]

I was going to make rose petal jam this weekend, but my source's roses dropped their petals the night before he meant to gather them for me! Given your post today, it turns out my friend's roses were saving me from myself - I bought Pomona rather than Sure Jell because it was all I could find within walking distance. I'll try the jam recipes that came with the Pomona, but I will make sure to have Sure Jell in the pantry in case I can actually get my hands on some rose petals.

Your peas look divine. In my house they wouldn't make it to the kitchen, let alone the stove; we'd just shell them and eat them raw!

[Cookie]

Black raspberries!

So jealous.

[Lucia]

My black raspberries are just coming too. There are just a few, all descended from a brave volunteer, in the smallish patch outside my kitchen door. Perfect for cereal.

And the rest of your garden makes me hungry.

[Rhonda from Baddeck]

A resident groundhog has destroyed my garden, leaving only the tomatos untouched - sigh. I'm sorry the Pomona's pectin didn't work for you - I use it all the time for my berry jams and use just enough sugar to get past the "pucker" threshold (max 1-1/2 cups per batch (6-7 half pints)). But I will take your experience to heart and when I eventually plant my hedge of rugosa, I'll use SureJell to make my rose petal jam.

[Imbrium]

Sob indeed! I'm nursing my jar of rose petal jam, taking tiny tastes, already mourning the day it will be all gone. It has been such a delightful gift - thank you again!

[Judy]

ok, ok, I'm off my arse and out to the garden to plant a second round of lovely lettuces. You do inspire us Norma!

[elizabeth a airhart]

i think we could call ourselves a community garden

good night if you can even find the bed

[martina]

just a question..is a garlic scape just the top of the garlic plant or something altogether different?

[sandy]

ROFL! Oh, wine, how we love thee! :)
My celery doubled in size while I was gone! That's because the sun came out for a solid couple of hours! haha.

[cari]

Other losses? You okay?