It’s that time of year again. Fruit fly time. Produce from the garden and the market is in abundance on kitchen counters and those pesky little bugs are well… bugging everyone. The presence of fruit flies seems to be popping up all over the internet.
We aren’t without our fair share of them here. We just don’t have the multitudes that others do. Sure, every bowl in our house is filled with some kind of fruit or veg. Heck, I even had buckets of berries on the kitchen floor. Oh they loved those.
There is no sure fire way to rid your home of fruit flies, other than get rid of all of the food sitting out, but there are some things you can do to lessen the population.
1) make sure your counters and sinks are clean. This even goes so far as to say keep the drains clean too. If you don’t have a disposal don’t try to shove food bits down your drain. If you do have a disposal run it frequently to get rid of all of the food bits.
2) inspect the produce you have sitting out daily. Any soft spots or mold is like throwing out the welcome mat for fruit flies. I go through the tomato basket and bowls every day to pick out the bad ones.
3) set out vinegar traps. Pour a small amount of apple cider vinegar (or beer or red wine) into a glass and cover it with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the wrap with a toothpick and set the traps near any produce you may have sitting out. The flies will fly in, but can’t get out. Just make sure to put out new traps every few days.
4) you could get a little gett-o and hang yellow sticky traps around the house, but they are unsightly and who wants to watch a twitching fruit fly on a sticky trap.
5) if all of that doesn’t cure your fruit fly infestation you may have a different matter on your hands. Fungus gnats. Fungus gnats are totally different than fruit flies. They feed on the organic matter of moist potting soil. Odds are if you have little flies flitting about your houseplants you have fungus gnats. The best way to cure those is to let your houseplants dry a little between waterings.
The good news is that once the soft produce clears from your kitchen the flies should go too.
This time of year is spent canning, freezing and generally preserving the harvest we’ve worked so hard to create. I also scout out deals on produce at the local markets to fill in what I don’t grow. Apples are a prime example of this. We will head down to Portland, OR for our annual trip to Portland Nursery’s apple tasting and come home with hoards of apples that will need to be made into applesauce.
Another bit of fruit I happen to have an excess of is Black Currants. Somehow I got talked into planting a Black Currant bush in our garden despite having no clue what to do with the actual currants. The first year we had a small little crop that the birds ate. The next year I got a slightly larger crop that I picked and then let go bad in the refrigerator. Last year I grew quite a decent crop and made sure to rescue the harvest before the birds had their fill. I managed to freeze that batch. This year was much the same, only my yield was huge. Well, if you consider 1 lb. 10 oz. huge. After all, it is one small currant bush.
I carefully picked off all of the stems and flower end bits and froze the berries on a sheet pan so they didn’t stick together. I did the same with the Blueberries we gathered from Blueberry Park.
Yesterday I had grand intentions of making a grand batch of mixed berry jam with the blueberries, black currants, strawberries (from the freezer) and the blackberries my son and I picked. Sadly, I didn’t get to the blackberries before the fruit flies and mold did. That left me with one less berry. I didn’t think that strawberry/blueberry/black currant jam sounded all that delightful (not that adding blackberries would have made much of a difference) so I scrapped the strawberries. They are now thawing in the fridge and hopefully I can get back up the hill to get a fresh batch of blackberries.
I did some looking for what to do with blueberries and black currants and oddly enough it was mentioned that they can make a nice jam if mixed together. Might as well.
My pantry is in a state of disarray and I’m short on a few things. Sugar happens to be one of them. I only had about 1/2 of the sugar I needed, but somehow it worked out.
Blueberry Black Currant Jam
(These are the weights I had to work with)
2 lbs. Black Currants
3 lbs. Blueberries
1 1/2 lbs. sugar
little over 8 ounces of water
1 whole cinnamon stick
Combine the water, sugar and cinnamon stick in a large pot. Heat over medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Add berries (fresh or previously frozen). Cook fruit down until it is syrupy. I let mine go about 2 hours. Remove cinnamon stick and mash the remaining whole fruit. I put the mixture through a foley mill with the largest size screed on. Transfer the mixture back into the pot to keep warm.
Sterilize 12-13 4oz. jars. I do this by washing them thoroughly in hot soapy water and then placing them open side down in a skillet of simmering water for 10-15 minutes. Bring a small pan of water to a boil and then turn it off. Put the clean lids in the pan. Heat a large canning pot of water to a rolling boil. Remove the jars from the skillet and dry with a clean towel. Fill the jars with the hot jam mixture. Leave about 1/4″ of head space and run a small spatula around in the jar to remove any air. Clean the rim of the jar with a clean wash cloth and place a lid and ring on each jar. I can fit about 6 jars in my canning pot so I only do 6 at a time. Put the jars in the boiling water (using a jar lifter) and process for 10 minutes. Remove jars from boiling water and place on a towel on the counter to cool. The jars have sealed correctly if the lids get sucked in.
I happened to only do 12 jars and had enough left over to fill another 9 ounce jar. I could have processed that one too, but I just put it in the refrigerator to enjoy now. The jam is not super thick, but more like a fruit preserve spread. It tastes delicious on toast.
I totally forgot about this week’s Tuesday night supper. In fact, I don’t even know what we are having for dinner tonight and it is 3:30 in the afternoon. My child’s behavior is preventing me from venturing much further than my mailbox. Odds are I’ll ask my husband to pick something up on his way home.
There are some nights that we are able to just throw a bunch of stuff into a pan and call it supper. Most of the time that involves some sort of chicken and veg combination. The other night this was the plan. However, when we defrosted the chicken that had been in our freezer is smelled a little off. The meat supply in the house was getting slim and there wasn’t anything that could be defrosted quickly and it was getting late. My husband already had fried rice on the stove so we had to find something that would go with that. No meat, a drawer full of veg that needed to be eaten, a can of black beans and a pan of fried rice, I’d call that dinner. Here’s what resulted*:
Mexican Vegetarian Stir-fry
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 ear of corn (kernels cut off)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup green beans
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 small tomatoes, diced
cumin
chili powder (optional)
season salt
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil (or oil of your choice)
1/4 cup chicken stock
Prepare whatever you are going to put this stir-fry on first. In our case it was fried rice (recipe below).
Prepare vegetables and put in one big bowl. Heat oil in a large saute pan or wok over medium high heat. Add garlic and cook until just fragrant (don’t burn it). Add vegetables and stir fry, about 2-3 minutes. Add spices to your liking. I prefer a hefty dose of cumin and less salt. Add chicken stock and cook vegetables until they just soften. Don’t over cook them or it will be all mush.
Serve over rice.
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Fried Rice
It sounds strange that a woman on a mission to rid her home of processed foods would allow such a thing as granular chicken bouillon into the house, but hey, I like it.
1 cup short grain Cal-rose rice (don’t use long grain)
garlic powder
granular chicken bouillon (or option 2)
1 3/4 cup water
1 1/2 T butter
(option 2)
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
salt to taste
Heat butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add rice. Add a sprinkling of garlic powder and cook rice until opaque. I don’t know exactly how much garlic powder to use since I just sprinkle it on. Probably 1/2 – 1 teaspoon. Add 1 heaping spoonful (regular dinner spoon – no soup spoon) of granular bouillon, don’t stir it in. Add water and cover until the sizzling stops (about 10 seconds). Remove pan lid and stir in bouillon. If you are using the chicken broth skip the bouillon step and just add the broth instead of water. Reduce heat to low and cook covered about 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir rice after about 5 minutes in to prevent sticking.
This dish should be slightly salty.
salt
I did a little math today and calculated how many pounds of tomatoes I have harvested for the season. The total? 58 pounds 4 ounces. That doesn’t include the (likely) 10+ pounds I threw into the bushes because of slug damage or the cherry tomatoes that didn’t make it to the scale (num num).
I’ve given away sacks full, put more than my fair share on salads (unfortunately my lettuce crop has run dry and my beds are in no shape to replant), I made and canned 5 quarts of salsa, dried enough for 2 pints (and more are in the dehydrator), made caprese salad, thrown tomatoes into every dish we eat and generally snacked. I also took my giant basket to my grandfather’s birthday party and told my aunts, and great aunts to take some home.
I still have at least another 30 pounds on the vine. At least. The one day record was over 18 pounds. The single largest tomato was a pound and a half and the size of a small cantaloupe.
Am I tired of tomatoes? Heavens no. There is something therapeutic about growing tomatoes. Will I grow fewer next year? Probably not. I might grow more, but not less. I will reinforce my support system and revamp the way I tend to the plants. I’m frustrated to have sacrificed to many large fruits to the slugs. Live and learn.
Often times when you think of Piccata it is veal. Although if you use Google as your spell check (as I often do) and type in the word piccata the first hit you get is for the Wiki article for Chicken Piccata. This recipe is a modification of a Lemon Veal Piccata recipe I found in an adoption fundraiser cookbook. While the original is in the book I pretty much do this one from memory. It is my personal go-to dinner when I’ve run out of options and have limited time. You will also notice that it is a very small portion of meat. We have found that 1 half of a chicken breast can feed all three of us. I serve this with our family recipe of fried rice (to follow another day) or mashed potatoes and a salad or whatever fresh vegetable I have on hand.
Lemon Chicken Piccata
1 half of a boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t season salt
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lemon sliced
1 T. butter
oil
salt & pepper to taste
Cut chicken breast into 3 pieces (I do one smaller one and 2 larger ones since one member of the family is only 4 years old). Pound flat.
In a shallow pie plate or soup plate combine flour, garlic powder and season salt.
Heat a good heaping of oil (we use grapeseed) in a non-stick skillet (you can use a stainless steel, but sometimes it sticks) over medium-high heat. Dredge chicken breasts in the flour mixture and put in pan. Brown on both sides until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan and keep warm.
Add wine to the pan (this would actually be to deglaze if you are using a regular pan, not non-stick). Stir up the bits on the bottom of the pan and then add the chicken broth, reduce by about 1/3. Add the lemon slices to the pan and cook about 2 minutes. Don’t leave the lemon in too long or it will get bitter. Remove the lemon slices. Turn off the heat and add the butter. Swirl the pan around to melt the butter. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve the sauce over the chicken.
We are starting to get creative around here as to what to do with the hoards of tomatoes. Last week I canned 5 quarts of salsa, gave away 5 bags and dried about 2 pounds. I am doing my best to not let anything go to waste.
Since I have a wide variety of types of tomatoes (and none are dedicated “sauce” tomatoes) I thought I would give drying a try. I was lucky enough to receive a food dehydrator from mom a few years ago that comes in handy ever now and again. I pull it out during apple season to make chewy apple chips or banana crisps. I pulled it out a few weeks ago to dry some peppers that were on the verge of going bad.
I did some looking on the internet to make sure that using a food dehydrator for tomatoes would actually work, and sure enough there was plenty of information. In addition I recently purchased “Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest” by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forker at the suggestion of Willi at Diggin Food. The writers of the book had a great idea on preserving dehydrated tomatoes. It doesn’t even require boiling giant pots of water.
My version is slightly different than the book, but this was a trial run.
Clean all of your tomatoes. Spray the racks of the dehydrator with cooking spray (if you don’t oil the racks you will say bad words later, learned this with apples and bananas). Slice tomatoes in 1/4″ slices and remove the white core part. Place on dehydrator racks without the tomatoes touching. Turn on dehydrator and let go for what seems like eternity (mine went all afternoon and night). 1/2 way through the drying swap the racks. Put the top ones on the bottom and the bottom ones on the top. The tomatoes are done when they feel like leather and are still pliable. Some of mine were a little crispy. Turn off the dehydrator and let them cool. Once the slices are cool put them in a bowl and toss them with a little plain white vinegar. Take them out of the vinegar and pat them dry with paper towels. Allow them to dry completely. Place them in sterile jars and cover with olive oil (I happen to use grapeseed oil since I’m quite allergic to olive oil). Place a lid on and keep them in a cool dark place. Apparently you can keep them for up to a few months. Refrigerate after opening. So simple! They look pretty to boot.
Last week I was contacted by a very nice lady named Kate at SKS Bottle & Packaging. She asked if we would be interested in some of the products her company had to offer. At that particular moment I wasn’t in the market for containers (which is odd, when am I ever not in the market for containers). Kate offered to send me a few samples and I happily agreed. I explained to her that both Sprouting Off homes (mine and mom’s) strive to be BPA free and she took that into consideration when assembling my box. How thoughtful. I also told her about what types of activities we were getting ready for this fall (canning and seed saving).
Yesterday a box arrived on my doorstep from SKS with a few little treasures in it. Kate sent me 4 samples of the various products they offer.
The first was the 16oz, wide mouth economy jar with a gold metal cap. She informed me that this jar would be great for canning jams, tomatoes, sauces and salsas. (man, I just canned 5 quarts of salsa). Currently I use Kerr Canning jars and I have for years. I know they are the standard in canning, but frankly I don’t care for the 2 piece lids. I have a box of canning supplies and I can’t tell which lids have been used and which have not. Therefore I go out and purchase new lids every year. However, the SKS jars have 1 piece lids with a “pop” top to tell if you’ve made a good seal or not. They appear to be nice sturdy jars that will work well for jams and such. They are slightly more expensive than the Kerr jars, but I do like the 1 piece lid. You can obviously use the jars from year to year and only purchase new lids for resealing. However, what I am discouraged about is purchasing lids. The website lists separate lids only in a case of 144 for $50.40. It is cheaper to purchase a gross of jars and lids separate if you need that many. I personally do not, but we are expanding the garden next year so we’ll see. In any case, these would be great jars for personal canning use.
The second item was a 9oz clear glass oval heagonal jar with black metal lug cap. According to Kate these jars would be canning as well. I’m personally digging these particular jars. I am a sucker for jars in general, but these are little cuties. They are an unusual shape and the fact that I can can with them is even better. As a matter of fact, Derek was just mentioning that we needed little jars to can tomato paste in. The 6oz size would be perfect for that. Even better, they would be in a jar that you could then put in the fridge if you don’t use all of the paste at that moment. So much better than the store bought cans. They are obviously more expensive than the standard jars (coming in at $13.68/dozen), but they would also make great jars for your jams that you give as gifts. I may be looking into these for the aforementioned paste and maybe blackberry jam (if I ever get out to pick blackberries).
The third item is a 1 oz flat metal tin with rolled edge slip cover. Toted as being suitable for seed storage, she’s right. I like these little containers. I just purchased our vegetable seeds for next season and I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to put them all in. I store all of my seeds in an old chest of drawers in the shed. I currently put them in old spice jars and other random jars I have laying about. However, I have about 40 packages of seeds that need some kind of storage solution. I like that these containers aren’t glass (less likely to break in the garden) and are small (take up less space in the drawer). I’m not sure I like having to order a full gross of them, but if I could split them with mom or a few other friends it might be worth it.
The last item Kate sent was a 2 dram clear glass vial with cork closure. This would also be a product for seed storage. Like I mentioned before, I like containers, especially glass ones. This little vial is super cute and totally Martha. I’m all about Martha. The jar is a little too small for my own seed storage needs, and might be a little difficult to label, but it would make a great container for seed exchanges. I like the idea of being creative in a seed exchange. Again, you would have to order in quantity, but this is a case where the super bulk is the more affordable option. Basically $82 for 200 vials and corks. In addition to seed containers the vials would be great for essential oil mixes. I’ve been known to make a few spa items here and there and I do mix some of my own fragrances. In this case I would order the ones with a cone lined cap instead of the corks.
All in all I’m impressed with the containers from SKS. I’m looking forward to testing out the canning jars (I’ll let you know how that goes). Check them out… you might find something you like.
This is a gardening site isn’t it? I probably should tell you about a few plants other than tomatoes. Part of the point of this site was to inform readers about some of the not so common, yet easy to find landscape plants available in your local nursery. I intended on starting with my all time favorite tree, but lighting conditions were such that photographing it didn’t work out quite right. Instead, I’m going to tell you about my husband’s favorite tree.
The idea is to create a little bit of an information sheet that you could print out and add to a collection of “cool plants I’d like to have.”
Variegated Box Elder or Acer negundo ‘Flamingo’
Height: 20′
Spread: 15′
Hardiness: USDA zone 3 – 9
Habit: rounded pyramidal and often irregular. Somewhat of a scraggly appearance. Not your full and bushy tree
Texture: coarse in winter, medium in leaf
Culture: adapts well to many conditions, full sun, wet, dry or poor soils. Often short lived
Pests: few noted
The Flamingo cultivar of the Box Elder is an interesting form of a rather uninteresting Maple. Leaves are complex and a beautiful spring green edged in creamy white. New shoots are a brilliant pink aging to green. Color is best in cooler weather. Cut back in late winter to encourage extension growth which is often more pink and cream.
This is an interesting plant for the landscape. It is not as common as some of the other Maples, but has it’s place in the landscape. Neighbors often ask us what that tree is and are stunned to hear it is a type of Maple. Be careful because often times branches will revert to the non-cultivar variety and are not as attractive. Prune out reverted sprouts.
We have had this tree in our garden since we moved into our house. It has doubled in height in 5 years, standing 15′ high now. As it matures it will grow slower and fill out somewhat. The Variegated Box Elder is a lovely little tree that deserves more attention.
The hustle and bustle of every day life is standing in the way of family. It seems to me that the divorce rate went up with the invention of TV dinners. I’m sure the guys behind Freakonomics could find a way to support that theory. What’s missing in today’s society? If you ask me it’s simply sitting down at the family table and having a meal. It could be breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Our little family is a bit out of the norm. We have all 3 meals as a family. We are fortunate enough that my husband is able to join us for lunch and I am currently a work at home mom. Even if circumstances were different we would make sure that at least one meal a day was done as a family. This is where the opposition says, “but I don’t have time to cook dinner.” I disagree.
There are rare circumstances when I slave over a hot stove all day long. Sure, we have the occasional dinner where I’ve spent a few hours making pasta or I’ve puttered with a focaccia bread for a good part of the day. Many of our meals are thrown together at the last minute. I do try to plan out a weekly menu to eliminate frequent trips to the grocery, but if I am busy with work a weekly menu can be overlooked.
In another post I’ll cover the basics of our pantry. The jist of this post is to say that you don’t have to have your dinner from a box or the freezer. A quick and easy supper can be prepared in 45 minutes and GASP! it’s healthy*.
In the typical American household mom and dad probably work, kids have homework or after school activities. It seems as if there isn’t time to cook. I will prove you wrong and create a family building exercise in the process.
The first in our new weekly series “Tuesday Night Supper” is dedicated to one of our all time favorite dishes. I featured this dish in the flyer I put together when I did the Tacoma Reads Fresh and Simple, Just Add Kids lecture. The key to this dish is family involvement. All three of us spends time chopping vegetables, cutting meat or measuring spices. Yes, even the 4 year old chops veggies. The lovely part about this recipe is that you can add whatever vegetable you happen to have on hand. Give it a try tonight. You might just like it.
Moroccan Chicken
1 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
2 teaspoons salt
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 zucchini, sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Season chicken with salt and brown in a large saucepan over medium heat until almost cooked through. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
Saute onion, garlic, carrots and celery in same pan. When tender, stir in ginger, paprika, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and turmeric; stir fry for about 1 minute, then mix in broth and tomatoes. Return chicken to pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add chickpeas and zucchini to pan and bring to simmering once again; cover pan and cook for about 15 minutes, or until zucchini is cooked through and tender. Stir in lemon juice and serve.
Serve over steamed rice.
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*we’ll cover getting your kids to eat real food in another post also
I read a recent post from a woman who had no clue how a tomato was formed on the vine. I mentioned it to my husband and he thought that was rather odd. We both did. It never occurred to us that people didn’t know how a tomato formed. Sometimes we have to stop and remember that not everyone grows their own food.
This got me thinking. How many other people don’t know how a tomato grows? I set out to document how the process works.
First, you plant a beautiful little plant that has a very distinct odor when you touch it. Did you know that? The stems of the plant also feel rather moist when you touch them. They are also toxic. Every part of a tomato is toxic except the fruit. Odd huh?
Anyway, when the conditions are right (meaning it’s warm enough) the plant will flower.
The flower could be a single one (as shown in the above photo) or double, or triple. I’ve had very sparse flowers and large frilly flowers. It just depends on the plant. In any case they are all the same shade of bright yellow. The flower needs to be open during the day time to be pollinated. They close up when the air temperature is cool so if you live somewhere that the days are colder you’ll have later or never setting fruit. We were lucky to have a massive heat wave in July that caused my plants to put on massive amounts of fruit.
That is one cluster of hundreds of cherry tomatoes I have.
Once the flower is pollinated the fruit will form behind the flower (actually inside). The flower wilts and a little tomato is formed.
This was the smallest one I could find. It’s about the size of a petite pea.
As the warm weather goes on the fruit gets larger and larger and once it reaches its mature size it will begin to color. Typically the fruit colors from the bottom to the top. Every so often you’ll get a strange variety that colors from the top down or the side over. I have fruit doing all of those. The Azoychka (yellow) colors from either the side over or the whole thing at once. All of my red varieties color from the bottom up and the orange Juan Flame colors from the top down. The white Snow White Cherries color from the bottom up too.
I tend to pick my tomatoes a little on the green side. Heirloom varieties ripen fast once they are brought inside and can quickly become over ripe (sometimes overnight). I keep all of mine on a paper towel on the kitchen counter. I lay them stem side down and never on top of each other. However, right now I have about 10 pounds and not enough counter space. The ripe ones are in a basket on the kitchen table and will soon become salsa. The greenish ones are holding their place of honor on the counter.
At the end of the season, when the weather man threatens frost I run outside and pick all of the green tomatoes that are close to mature size. I put them on sheet pans and put the pans all over the house. They will ripen up. It just might take a week or more.
So now you know how you go from a little flower to this.
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