Stuff I've learned

Just a quick compilation of ideas for next year, before I forget them:

1. Pole beans climb well on river reed, just keep the smaller branches on the reed;
2. Pole beans climb well on corn, but make sure you plant the corn at the right time, and use slower growing corn, so it won't die out well before the beans;
3. Re-grade the whole garden to allow for better water flow;
4. Raised beds!;
5. Have a pile of soil for mounding that is easily available;
6. Tomatoes go on the NorthEast side of the garden.

Good for now.

On another note, my ducks have so completely and effectively eaten bugs in our backyard, that they are having more trouble foraging, and are now eating more of the food we buy them. What they have left are what look like leafhoppers, and houseflies, and I think it's because those two are too fast for them. A glance at our porch light at night reveals the brutal effectiveness of our three ducks. Almost nothing comes to flutter at the light...

Blackberry season

We spent last Sunday visiting my parents in Isleton, my home town. Well, come early evening, I was out on the back road with my plastic bag, staining my hands and cutting my forearms on blackberry thorns. I came back with a few pounds, or about $20 worth of blackberries, for less than an hour's work, and last night both my wife and I went crazy on desserts. I made what would have been a blackberry cobbler, but I forgot both the cinnamon and the baking powder, so it became a cut-up blackberry gyro. My wife made blackberry muffins, which were some kind of special. They are deep, dark muffins, sweet and juicy when you hit a berry (in just about every bite), and the ginger she used perfectly complemented the blackberries. It was amazing.

I'm thinking of planning a catfishing trip with Hank the great cook and equally good shot, and if I pull it off, it will definitely start early evening, at my favorite berry patch.

Nocino onto its second step, and a garden query

© 2009, Joshua Stark

This is my first year experimenting with making preserves of one kind or another, and yesterday was time to open up the jar of green walnuts, cinnamon, lemon peel, cloves, sugar, sparkling wine and vodka that had been steeping on my back porch, and filter out the liquid into a new container.
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Here's a pic of the process, just a cheesecloth over an old kimchi jar (a korean market around here sells them for 79 cents each!). I did this on the grass, because I'm overly afraid of the legends of the staining abilities of walnuts!

Anyhoo, my concerns were (mostly) allayed upon opening the jar, when I caught scent of the aroma... of course, alcohol-y, but also sweet and deep. Steeped green walnuts smell like food, and I am now very excited to wait the next 6-24 months recommended by the instructions...

I will actually break this open for drinking next Spring, just as the green walnut season gets started. If it is good, then I will commence to making much, much more (I have access to quite a few green walnuts).

I also took the solids, and added 3/4 cup of brandy, and the rest of the sparkling wine to it. I'm told it makes a second, less-potent liquoer. However, I forgot the sugar in that recipe, so I'll have to break that one open today.

Now, my garden question: It seems all of my peppers are doing remarkably well, except my bell pepper, which wilts a'la my cukes and zukes...
It's the pepper in the middle. Any suggestions? The two on either side are a jalapeno and a sweet wax (which has made some big, but nearly tasteless, peppers).

Getting back on the blog horse

After a few weeks off, I'm trying to get back into regular posting.

So here are some notes on gardening:
Duck water (what my brother-in-law refers to as "nutrient-rich water") is an amazing product on the garden. If only I could bottle it... okay, that's gross, but really, most of my vegetable garden plants look absolutely gorgeous...
with the two notable exceptions of leafy greens, which the ducks have completely wiped out, and the cucumber, which, though large and flowering, still wilts in the Sun. I doubt I'll get cukes this year, either, but I'm trying a few things. First, I'm feeding it potting soil fairly regularly. Second, I'm removing a number of flowers, the idea being that the plant can put its energy into growing fruit. We'll see.

The first crop of corn, planted too early, has died out (and only grew about three feet tall, too). The second planting is receiving healthy doses of duck water, and is responding very vigorously, as are the beans, planted at the same time. My sweet 100 and pear tomato fruits are gargantuan, and those two plants are not only huge, but also poorly placed. Next year, I will move them to the Northeast side of the garden.

Which brings me to my last observation: I have learned a ton this year, even though my harvests have been tiny (except in tomatoes). Next year, I know how I will trellis my pole beans, I know where I'll place things, I know how I will build my raised beds (pretty high, as ducks have long necks). I have a whole new idea about soil, and I have a great watering system, which I'll write about later. I know a lot more about season (don't be fooled by warm weather in February). I started off the earlier harvest disappointed in my garden, but the last couple of weeks I have realized how much of a learning process this is, and I feel much better about it.

Also, my tomatoes are huge.