A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

Ground up the first two dried pepper batches! It started out as fine powder, but as the day went on and the humidity increased and it got clumpy. So I left a paper towel on top and will wait for the humidity to drop before putting in a jar. But it tastes wonderful. I put some in the center of a 'Potatoes Anna' dish tonight, really delicious. Hard to imagine that dehydrated food could taste so rich!

Finally got the big sunchoke bed planted with DS & DD's help. Because I didn't plant them like a complete dork, as I did last year, it was much easier. They don't need to be very deep, 4 inches. Got in 4 mega rows and it occurred to me afterward I may have lost my marbles planting this much, since I planted only 2 - 4 plants of each variety this spring and have them coming out of my ears. I must have planted 2 dozen in each row...in fact I'm scratching my head about where I'll plant the other 2 varieties remaining since I learned this year they don't share well with others and need to be alone.

Anyway. The red sunchokes! 'Skorospelka' & 'Ruby Treasure'. Nice thing about these ones is they can be peeled so easily. So far I haven't really felt the need to peel them, but that could change the more I eat them.

The wall huggers -

And miracle of miracles, the last (regular) tomatoes got whizzed tonight in the food processor for seeds! That's all she wrote for those!Grateful....and exhausted with saving tomato seeds. I saved so much there are boxes upon boxes of seed sheets piled up to the rafters in the living room. It has been years since I saved this much. I hope I've learned my lesson with excessive spring enthusiasm!

Adios!

The carrot research continues; 'Gigante Flakkee' also known as 'Vita Longa', and 'Long Flacoro' lives up to its name. I think it comes from Italy, and I got it from an Italian seed company but some sources say France. Whatever the case, very nice carrot! The only one bigger is 'Manpukuji'.

Next to a Nantes Coreless-

 

[heirloomgal]

I enjoy this account so much, my inner fact geek enjoys her knowledge and the accent only adds to the experience!

https://www.instagram.com/learn.the.latin.garden/?e=ab42c7ee-dbb6-47b2-8725-3c590d6f83d4&g=5

 

[heirloomgal]

Almost filled up my first XL leaf bag tonight with pea & bean shells!

Took me a little bit to find my stride, but once I got going all the copper bottomed thrills showed up. I've probably said it many times at this point, but the rejoicing that comes with savouring the year end seed harvest never gets old. And neither does the feeling of it being nothing short of a miracle, especially when you begin with the tiniest smidgen of seeds and somehow... now you have a heap! Rarity heightens the sensation.

Yet another year to be reminded that there are always surprises; the one that turned out to be shockingly productive, the one that has an extra pretty seedcoat pattern or is more deep blue than you imagined it would be. The seed pods that turned out to look like big bugs. A delicious swirl of experimentation and curiosity.

 

[ducks4you]

Just a thought:
Have you considered just storing the dehydrated peppers in a sealed jar and grinding them up as needed?
I only ask bc even in a drought WE are super humid here and I would lose the powder if I did it that way.
I has discovered that the longer the peppers sit in the jar, the hotter they become.
Love, regardless!!

 

[heirloomgal]

Just a thought:
Have you considered just storing the dehydrated peppers in a sealed jar and grinding them up as needed?
I only ask bc even in a drought WE are super humid here and I would lose the powder if I did it that way.
I has discovered that the longer the peppers sit in the jar, the hotter they become.
Love, regardless!!

I didn't even think of that!

 

[heirloomgal]

Made an easy supper tonight with 'garden dregs' which turned out to be very good, so I thought I'd post here. A healthy supper using end of season produce, which might need to get used up before perishing if it hasn't been canned or dried or frozen.

A handful of leeks
6 potatoes
4 big carrots
1 onion
4 Jerusalem artichokes
A bit of chopped cauliflower (anything in the fridge that needs to be used really)
Some mushrooms

Chop it all in chunks, sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil and oregano & a generous helping of olive oil. Spread on parchment on a big cookie sheet, then cover with another layer of parchment then foil. Bake at 350 - 375 for about an hour. Tastes better cooked more slowly.

While that's baking, throw into a saucepan another handful of leeks with the green tops (chopped finely) with some butter. Sautee a few minutes then add about 8 tomatoes that are sitting on your counter needing to be used, chop them into chunks and simmer with the leeks. Add the magic ingredient for this meal - a few ripped mint leaves. Trust me, this works really well. Libyan friends taught me that addition. Cover and cook until the veggies in the oven are soft, you have do add water to the tomatoes occasionally to keep it thick but soupy.

About 10 minutes before serving add a can of chickpeas to the stewing tomatoes, and salt & pepper. The last of the expiring parsley plants outside add a nice layer of flavor at this stage, and brighten the dish. I serve the veggies on a plate with a side of cottage cheese, and the chickpea tomatoes in a little bowl on the plate so it can added on top of the veggies as desired, and enjoyed separately as well.

Then make your kids clean everything up and put away any leftovers.