The Winter Garden - An Update (Part One)

Since it has been a while, I thought I'd do a quick update on what's happening in the garden right now along with some general winter gardening observations.


First off, this is the patch of spinach that I have growing under a quick hoop. All that is separating it from the harsh elements is a single layer of 6 millimeter plastic. I took this picture when the outside temperature was in the high 20's F and as you can see, it looks pretty comfortable underneath.


I have another patch of spinach growing inside one of my mini hoop houses. This one is also protected by an inner layer of fabric row cover. The difference between the two is pretty drastic. Although both seem unfazed by the winter conditions, this patch has been much more productive. In fact, while the other patch has stayed seemingly in a state of suspended animation (I did my first cutting this past weekend), this patch is actually growing through the winter months. In the span of 30 days, I've been able to get 2 cuttings from this one. As a result, ALL of my winter veggies next year will be grown under a double layer of protection.


I sowed these pak choi seedlings in late November. As you can see, they've done absolutely nothing during the past couple of months. But what's interesting is that they look perfectly healthy desperate the cold. Next winter, I will experiment more with Asian greens. I have a feeling that if I can get these to size up before December, I can have Asian greens to harvest in December and January.


The Red Russian kale is growing back slowing but surely. I've been able to get a couple of cuttings from last September's sowing. This variety is definitely a keeper. For some reason, I didn't think that Red Russian would be as hardy as other types of kale, like Winterbor. I think the added protection has a lot to do with it. Next winter, I'd like to start this kale indoors in August, plant them out closer together in September, and harvest the leaves at a younger stage all winter long.

First February Harvest

This past weekend, I decided to brave the frigid temperatures and do a bit of harvesting. It feels nice to be able to participate in Harvest Monday again. I picked this spinach from two different beds in my garden. About half came from one of my plastic covered quick hoops. I'm amazed by how well my spinach has fared this winter. It has definitely become a reliable veggie for this time of year. Note to self...next year, grow more winter spinach!!!


The carrot harvest is finally starting to wind down. As you can see, I'm putting up mostly (weak) baby-sized carrots right now though there are a few good-sized ones left. More importantly, they are still tasting great. Hopefully in a few weeks, my carrot beds will be cleared out and replaced by some early spring veggies.


I ended up harvesting about 0.75 lbs of spinach and 0.91 lbs of baby carrots for a total of 1.66 lbs this week. Hopefully, these numbers will slowly creep up as this year progresses. If you'd like to see what others are harvesting or show off your own, visit Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelions.

Seed Starting Update - February 7, 2010

Welcome rhesper and Cathy Collins! Thanks for reading!


The Tuscan kale seems to be the clear winner in this first race to germination. The first seeds sprouted in a little under 3 days. Still no signs of life from the Red of Florence scallions, wild strawberries, celery or artichokes. I tend to get really anxious when it comes to waiting for seeds to germinate indoors 1) because I've had such mixed results in the past and 2) because I don't pay enough attention to the growing information listed on the seed packets. Even though it takes celery anywhere between 15 to 30 days to germinate, I still secretly hope (and expect) that they will do so in just a couple of days.


I'm finding that the best way (for me at least) to water my soil blocks is with a turkey baster. The water flows gently enough so that the seedlings and the soil remain undisturbed. As you can see, I sowed more than 1 seed per block. I will go ahead and thin all but the strongest one.

How do you water your seedlings?

The Elusive Flower - My Search for the Chrysanthemum Tea Plant

chrysanthemum tea flowers

I have an obsession. I'm convinced that most gardeners eventually develop at least one. Mine just so happens to involve a particular flower, which is somewhat ironic considering that I see myself as more of a vegetable gardener. Not that I don't find flowers compelling and beautiful. I like to compare flower gardeners and vegetable gardeners to gay men and lesbians. Yeah we belong to the same community, but at the end of the day, we're chasing after different things. I'll admit that unless I can consume the plant somehow, I'm generally not too interested in growing it. I'll need a flower enthusiast to set me straight one of these days (no pun intended).

Chrysanthemum tea is customarily sweetened with rock sugar.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I LOVE to drink Chinese chrysanthemum tea. Like chamomile, the best chrysanthemum tea is brewed using whole flowers. I especially enjoy the variety that is white or very pale yellow in color. My friend Winnie informed me that the kind I like is called Ju hua and has the botanical name chrysanthemum morifolium. For those of you who have never tried this tea, I would describe the taste as mild, sweet, nutty (like sunflower seeds) and earthy. Chrysanthemum tea is also known to have many medicinal qualities. In addition to acne and influenza (which is why it is sometimes referred to as a "cooling" herb), it was also used as a holistic treatment for circulatory disorders like varicose veins. Finally, the Chinese believe that chrysanthemum tea helps to "clear" the eyes and cleanse the liver.

Needless to say, I would give anything to be able to grow my own chrysanthemum tea plants and dry my own flowers. Hence the dilemma. I cannot find a source for seeds or transplants ANYWHERE. There are numerous online nurseries that sell chrysanthemum plants, yet none of them appear to be the variety that I'm looking for. Also, all of the seed companies I've come across only carry edible chrysanthemum greens, which is a whole different thing . As a result, I have no choice but to release this post into cyberspace and hope for the slight chance that someone will read this and tell me how I can get a hold of a few chrysanthemum tea plants or seeds (that is, without having to visit a tea farm in China).

Update: Believe it or not...and despite my overwhelming skepticism, someone out there has found a source for the elusive chrysanthemum tea plant. My lovely friend Michelle of From Seed to Table fame came through big time and her search ultimately led us here. I contacted the company and they confirmed that they have exactly what I'm looking for. The original stock was actually collected from a tea farm in Guangxi, China.

I placed an order for 4 rooted cuttings. Unfortunately, I will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit before they can be shipped safely. A minor obstacle at the end of this 2-year journey.

A MILLION THANKS MICHELLE! I surrender to the power of online social networking.

Making Soil Blocks

Ahhh...the first soil blocks of the season (and of my gardening career). All in all, I think they turned out well and were relatively easy to make. There's always room for improvement I'm sure. The consistency of these blocks were a bit unlike what I was expecting, but then again, it's hard to tell if I got it right since I've never made them before. I had to improvise a bit with the ingredients since a couple of them were impossible to source this time of year. I guess I won't know for sure until I'm able to follow Eliot Coleman's recipe exactly.


Making soil blocks isn't as messy as it might look. I'm realizing that the trick to making nice looking soil blocks (apart from the recipe) is in the amount of pressure you exert when pushing down on the soil block maker. As you squeeze, water oozes from the blocks. I guess the sponginess of this soil block mix is partly what differentiates it from ordinary potting mix.

Sowing artichoke seeds.

Last night, I sowed some Imperial Star artichokes, Tuscan kale, celery, yellow wild strawberry, red wild strawberry and some Red of Florence scallions. The strawberry seeds were kept in the freezer for the past couple of weeks in order to mimic winter conditions and hopefully increase overall germination rates. Wild strawberry seeds are notoriously difficult to get started.

The Imperial star artichokes I'm growing this year were specifically bred to be grown as annuals. The seeds are really interesting looking - somewhat resembling a hulled misshapen sunflower seed. They will be left to grow indoors for the next 6 to 7 weeks, and then moved to one of my mini-hoop houses for an additional 6-8 weeks before being transplanted out. Exposing young artichoke plants to low temperatures of between 50 to 32 degrees for a period of at least 6 weeks is supposed to increase the chances of them producing edible buds the first year.


Since I only had one heating mat, the scallions and strawberries were left to germinate at normal basement temperatures (anywhere between 60 and 70 degrees). I figured that since these plants are accustomed to being winter sown, additional heat is not crucial. Hopefully, I'm right!

Adventures in Sprouting - Growing Alfalfa Sprouts

I purchased some organic alfalfa seeds the other week as part of my winter sprouting endeavor. I've probably only eaten alfalfa sprouts a handful of times in my life, but since they are Marc's favorite, I thought I'd add them to our diet and regular sprouting schedule. There's no disputing their nutritional value, that's for sure.

For those who have never sprouted seeds before, it's really easy. For most seeds, all you need is a large mason jar fitted with a screw-top band and some cheese cloth. You start by soaking your seeds for 12 hours. Several layers of cheese cloth stretched across the mouth of the jar allows for easy rinsing and proper air circulation.


You want to rinse your seeds about 2 to 3 times a day. After rinsing, spread your seeds throughout the inner surface area of your jar by turning it several times. (This provides better overall air circulation.) Keep your jar faced downward at a 45 degree angle at all times to allow for excess water to drain into a bowl.

Your sprouts should be ready in about 6 days. To remove the seed coats, submerge the sprouts in a large bowl or salad spinner filled with water. As the seed coats float to the top, carefully tip the bowl to pour them off. Excess moisture will cause sprouts to spoil quickly so run them through a salad spinner before storing them in an air-tight container in the fridge.

How do you like to eat your sprouts?

Random Happenings Around These Parts

Yet another non-harvest Monday in January. I was planning on picking some spinach this past weekend but unfortunately the weather was too bitterly cold for me to do so. Oh well. I guess that just means I'll have another harvest to post about in February. I can't wait to be able to go out into the garden and do weekly garden updates again. Anyway, here are some things that have been occupying my time lately:


I'm really loving the latest issue of Urban Farm magazine. There's a lot of information regarding square foot gardening, keeping chickens and composting. If I do decide one day to return to living in the city, this is definitely one magazine I'd want to have on hand. Also, I picked up this Starting From Seed guide from the publishers of Fine Gardening magazine, which is filled with information on saving seed, growing from seeds, and starting seeds indoors. Also, there is whole section devoted to flowers.


I received some heirloom tomato seeds from Wintersown.org a couple of days ago through their "Your Choice Tomato SASE" offering. I'm very excited to try all of these varieties, which include Hillbilly, Black Cherry, Dr. Carolyn's Yellow Cherry, Isis Candy, Black from Tula, Clear Pink Early and Aunt Ruby's German Green. They also threw in some flat leaf Italian parsley and pole beans for fun. I guess I'll be growing a lot of tomatoes this year.


I picked up some garden trellis, a seed sower and a soil PH tester a couple of weeks ago. One of my goals this year is to get a better sense of my soil's overall health and fertility.


I mixed up a big batch of soil block mix last night using Eliot Coleman's recipe, which can be found in The New Organic Grower. Tonight, I will start my first seeds of the year. Hopefully, the soil blocks will hold together nicely.


Finally, a couple of months ago, one of my readers suggested that I enter Brighter Planet's Mastering the Art of Sustainable Cooking Contest, which was to be judged by several notable food advocates, including Alice Waters. I ended up submitting two short essays. And well, I'm proud to say that both of my essays made it onto the list of top 25 entries received and one of them won a grand prize of a Kindle DX and a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com. (YES!) If you'd like, you can read my entries on Brighter Planet's latest publication.


I thought it was only fitting that my first digital book acquisition be Michael Pollan's Food Rules - An Eater's Manual. I must admit that a Kindle is not something I was ever interested in buying since I absolutely love the smell and tactile feel of a book. However, all of that changed once I turned it on. What I love so much about the Kindle is that it does not feel like you're reading from a computer monitor at all and the screen amazingly resembles the page of a book. Me likey.

Survival Seeds

Last week, Hometown Seeds offered to send me a "Survival Seeds" kit, which contains 16 varieties of open-pollinated vegetables. My initial reaction to this was - "Do I really need more seeds this year?" But as I read and thought more about it, I began to realize that unlike the other seeds I've purchased and intend to grow this year, this kit serves a different purpose.

I am a 32 year old husband and father - old enough to remember the Cold War tensions between Russia and the United States prior to 1990, and young enough (or should I say jaded enough) to be ultra-cynical about what happens on Capital Hill today. I wouldn't consider myself to be a food activist (well, maybe a passive one), but I will admit that all of the headlines of this past decade surrounding terminator genes, genetic engineering, decreasing bio-diversity and patenting life have made me a bit nervous about the security of our world's food supply. It seems that whenever human beings choose to limit the bio-diversity of our crops and animals, the more we put ourselves and our food at risk. It happened to the Irish and their potatoes; will it also happen to Monsanto's Round Up Ready soy beans?

When my survival kit arrived today, the first thing I noticed was how tightly sealed and heavy it was- like my own personal ark of veggies. It's somewhat comforting to know that these seeds will last for up to 10 years if kept frozen. Now all that's left to do is to make sure that I preserve enough of this year's harvest to stock our large pantry in case of a real emergency and learn the art of seed saving.

So what do you think? Are we really at risk for a sudden and widespread food catastrophe? Or is all of this talk about "Franken-foods" blown way out of proportion? I can't help but to think about all of those people who built nuclear bomb shelters underneath their homes during the Cold War. Were these people crazy, or just plain realistic?

Footnote: Please check out a couple of very interesting posts written today by Daphne (Daphne's Dandelions) and Kelly (How My Garden Grows) on issues related to this very subject.

My Good Fortune

Green Gal, welcome to the blog!


A few weeks ago, my blogging buddy, mac (Winnie) offered to send me some veggie seeds from her own collection. As reader of her High Desert Garden blog, I knew that she grew many interesting varieties of veggies, particularly Asian ones. I was very excited to accept her offer. What I didn't know at the time was the amount of generosity that this would involve. I came home last night to find a large package containing 35 neatly labeled yellow mini-envelopes, each containing an interesting variety of vegetable. Many of these are ones that I've considered purchasing but haven't gotten around to it. Here is a complete list of what she sent:

*Amaranth
*Anahu Tomato
Anuenue Lettuce
Bok Choy - Dwarf
*Bok Choy - Extra Dwarf
*Bok Choy - Shanghai
Carrots - Carnival Blend
*Cherokee Purple Tomato
*Chinese Kale
*Choy Sum
Couer de Pigeon Juane Tomato
Daikon Radish (Chinese)
Daikon Radish (Korean)
Dawson's Russian Oxheart Tomato
Green Grape Tomato
*Green Zebra Tomato
*Hawaiian Chili
Heading Mustard
Komatsuna
*Komohana Grape Tomato
Korean Lettuce
Leaf Mustard
Manoa Lettuce
*Napa Cabbage
Napa Cabbage - Mini
Perilla Leaf
Puakea Cauliflower
Roselle
Rosa Bianca Italian Eggplant
San Remo Paste Tomato
Sierra Gold Cantaloupe
Thai Holy Basil
Taiwanese Eggplant
Tokyo Cross Turnip
Watermelon Radish

Also, Daphne was kind enough to share with me some excess seeds that Winnie had sent to her, including Thai Watermelon, *Michihili (Chinese type) Cabbage and Black Krim Tomato.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH Winnie! Words cannot adequately express my gratitude! I feel like I've hit the seed jackpot as it seems that I am now set (as far as Asian greens are concerned) for at least the next few years. I am very excited to try all of these varieties, a few of which sound winter hardy.

Finally, it would be wrong of me if I didn't offer to share my good fortune with my readers who may have an interest in growing some of these vegetables. I have placed an asterisk "*" next to the seeds I have more than enough of and would be happy to share. First come, first served. All you have to do is drop me an email.

Thanks again Winnie! :)

Recipe: Pork and Shrimp Potstickers with Orange Ginger Dipping Sauce

If I were to write a cookbook one of these days, this would probably be one of the first recipes to make it into the manuscript. I have to admit that I am very proud of this one, and it just so happens to be one of Marc's favorites. I have been making these pork and shrimp potstickers for many years, but only recently decided to jot down proper measurements. Hopefully, some of you will decide to give this recipe a try. (Also, I'd like to dedicate this post to my blogger friend, Daphne, who loves all things Dim Sum.)

Pork and Shrimp Potstickers Recipe

1 lb ground pork
1/2 lb diced shrimp
1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
2/3 cup chopped scallions
2 cups cabbage, sliced thin
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped wood ear mushrooms (reconstituted in warm water) or fresh Shitake
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

70 Chinese white dumpling wrappers (purchase the round ones, which can be found in the refrigerated section of the Asian market)


1. Combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly.


2. Fill a small bowl with water and set aside. Working with one wrapper at a time, place about a tablespoon of filling into the center. Brush the exposed edges of the wrapper with some of the water.


3. Begin folding the dumpling in half by pinching the top of the wrapper to form a crease.


4. Lay the dumpling flat on your palm. Using your thumb and index finger, pinch a bit of the wrapper below the crease and drag it to within 1/2 inch of the top. Pinch again and drag this bit to within 1/2 inch of the last one. Repeat this several times until you've created 4 or 5 pleats on one side of the dumpling.


5. Turn you dumpling until the loose seams point upward. Take your wet pastry brush and lightly drag it across the seams.


6. Again, using your thumb and index finger, press the moistened seams together until the dumpling is completely sealed.


What you end up with is a dumpling that is crescent-shaped and scalloped on one side.


As you can see, this recipe makes quite a bit - anywhere between 65 and 70 potstickers. To freeze them, I put the whole tray into the freezer. Only after they are frozen solid do I place them into freezer bags. This prevents the dumplings from becoming one solid mass.

The perfect potsticker is one that is crispy on the bottom and slightly chewy on top. To achieve this perfection, the dumpling must first be fried and then steamed, a process that is easier than it sounds.

7. In a non-stick frying pan, heat 2 or 3 tablespoons of canola oil on medium heat. One at a time, add the dumplings until they fill the pan. (If you're unsure about which size pan to use, count the number of dumplings you plan to serve and then choose a non-stick pan into which they will all fit snugly, touching one other, and in a single layer. Also, you do not have to defrost the dumplings first. They can go straight into the pan from the freezer.)

8. Fry on medium heat until the bottoms are golden brown. Once they've reached this point, add enough water to almost cover the dumplings. (I would say that the dumplings should be covered by 3/4's of the way up, leaving the pinched tops exposed. Adding too much water will cause the wrappers to become overcooked.)

9. Cover the pan and raise the heat to medium high until the water boils rapidly. Then lower the heat to medium and cook until most of the water has evaporated (about 10-12 minutes). At this point, pay very close attention as you want to cook the potstickers until all of the water is gone and the bottoms are crispy again (another 5 to 7 minutes). They can burn very quickly once all of the water has evaporated so don't leave them unattended. When they are done, uncover and shake the pan a bit to loosen the potstickers. You can remove them individually or invert the pan onto a serving dish.

Orange Ginger Dipping Sauce Recipe

1 teaspoon of canola oil
1 tablespoon of ginger, finely minced
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 cups of orange juice (if you are using fresh oj, add 1 teaspoon of grated orange zest as well)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon of ground chili paste (optional)
pepper to taste
garnish with chopped scallions (optional)

In a small sauce pan, heat the canola oil on medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stir for about 10 to 15 seconds until the flavors are released. Then add all of the remaining ingredients. Bring the sauce to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer for 10-12 minutes. Let the sauce cool for another 10 minutes before serving.


I can't say that this recipe is quick or fool proof, but once you get it right, it's definitely worth the time and effort. Enjoy!