Life on Salt Spring

September 2009 - Preserving the Harvest...

With this many tomatoes and lots of other fruit we did some preserving - or canning as it seems to be called here in North America.

From left to right:

Peach Jam, Plum Jam, Tomato Ketchup!, Green Tomato Chutney, Bramble Ketchup

September 2009 - Harvesting... Delicious!

The green things you might not recognize are Edamame! Yum!

 

 

 

August 2009 - Various updates

I can't quite believe how busy August got.

Our own fault. Part of our plan to stay here was to downsize and also buy a rental propertyfor income/long-term investment. So we did it. At the end of July 2009. And then gave ourselves one month for some pretty major renos - as we cleverly got some very nice tenants who wanted to move in August 30th! I'll save the details for another post.

Also, it has been an incredibly dry and often hot summer. This has meant a lot of watering our various veg patches/plants. One (big) thing we learned is not to have your food growing all over the property if you need to water it on a regular basis. We're hoping we can still rescue our native hazelnut trees, as we forget about them way over there... Next year we cluster our growing areas together!

And speaking of hot - phew! It's been such great weather that we've got a really good crop of peaches (see the biggie at right!) coming from a tree we're still in the process of rescuing... And we have two melons from plants that have been OUTSIDE and never seen a greenhouse! Our tomatoes have gone wild, ripening nicely! But many of our winter crops are struggling in the heat. Let's hope they make it.

We also had the great idea of turning our hot tub into a cool tub - which worked amazingly! We turned it down to just below body temperature and would wallow in it or paddle our feet. It made a HUGE difference on those 35-40 degree celsius days.

Other things we've done in the last month or so include 2 trips to Vancouver 1) for a friend's wedding (congrats to Trev and Charmaine!) and 2) to see AC/DC (who were awesome!). I became an auntie for the first time to a wonderful little boy called Rupert Edward (luckily my brother also moved to Canada and lives on Vancouver Island so I will get to see my nephew grow up!). We've also had a few visitorsto keep us on our toes and of course as well as renos on our home and the rental property we also had finally got the permit for our guest cottage and had the foundation poured/got the ball rolling there!

So I hope you excuse my lax approach to blogging of late. I'm making up for it now!

August 2009 - Zucchini Overload!

There is apparently a saying on Salt Spring. That if you can't get rid of all your zucchinis - you don't have enough friends... I bet they don't say that about apples in the fall. But there you are.

So, this little haul of Zucchinis - held by our dear friend Christina - is all from one plant... She needed two arms to hold the basket while I took the photo!

And although we've given lots of zucchini away, we've eaten a lot too. Zucchinis are very versatile - so I thought I'd share what we've (mainly) been using our zucchini for.

1. Pasta with roasted zucchini, onions, peppers, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette.
2. Moroccan Vegetable Tagine. Couscous with zucchini, carrots, parsnips, turnips, chickpeas, dates, apricots, tin of tomatoes, cinnamon and cardamom. Yum!
3. Zucchini brownies. Yummier!
4. Fast zucchini soup. Onion, grated zucchini, vegetable stock, turmeric and curry powder, natural yoghurt.
5. Grated raw zucchini with carrots and fresh ginger
6. Zucchini, Apple and Potato bake with a yoghurt/nutmeg/cheese topping.
7. Slug bait...

Oh - and did I mention Vegetable Curry?

Interestingly none of these recipes have meat or fish in them - I think (especially) when you add lots of flavour (aka herbs/spices) to the dish and cut the zucchini into big chunks you don't need meat!

July 2009 - Our 10(0) mile diet...

We enjoyed a fabulous roast dinner recently. Our very own 10(0) mile diet - and our own seasonings too - rosemary, thyme, garlic and mint sauce.

    

July 2009 - Food List - Anyone need a pea?

Steps Towards Self-Suffiency...

We've just finished watching that "The Good Life", a 1970's series about self-sufficiency in Surbiton, London. Just as many of the (literal) fruits of our labours seemed to present themselves for eating.

So, if you're curious what has kept us so busy here is an alphabetical list of our food growing and status! And although many things are not actually 'fruiting' this year and some are very small (miniscule!) crops - it's all helpful in our learning process, and some things simply take time to establish or maturity to produce. Writing this list however, has made us realise how much we've achieved! Enjoy!

1.      Apples - Multiple trees, 2 types apples. Found new apple tree! Medium crop expected October 09.

2.      Arugala/Rocket – Eaten lots May/June, waiting for new crop – yummy

3.      Asparagus – over, about 7 spears TOTAL this year! Cultivating for larger crop 2010

4.      Beans – Green – in progress, hopefully ready August/Sept

5.      Beans – Soya also called EDAMAME – yum, in progress, hopefully ready August/Sept

6.      Blueberry – Bog (native), new this year, some expected Sept 09

7.      Borage & Nasturtium – eating the flowers in salads now!

8.      Broccoli – eating NOW, planted more for Winter

9.      Brussel Sprouts - growing nicely, hoped for Christmas 09!

10.  Cabbage – eating now!

11.  Carrots (rainbow mix purple, orange, white)

12.  Cauliflower – growing nicely, planted more for Winter

13.  Cherries - 3 trees 2x yummy black cherries, 1x large tree pie cherries. Black cherries – got a few that the birds missed… Bird netting next year! Pie cherries, some left and YUMMY in pie!

14.  Courgette/Zucchini – 3 different types (yellow, green, dark green) LOTS available now!

15.  Cranberry – new this year, hoping for Fall 2010?

16.  Currants – red & black, 5 plant cuttings from my Dad (in Kelowna). Picked today - few currants only this year. More expected 2010

17.  Fig – doing well finally. Hoping for fruit in 2010

18.  Garlic – Italian hardneck – struggling in poor soil. Already eaten the curly tops called scrapes.

19.  Gooseberries – 3 plants (1 green, 1 yellow, 1 black), mini crop this year, more expected next year!

20.  Grapes – 5 plant cuttings from my Dad  - red and black, unknown varieties (except one Siegerribe). Nurturing on South facing wall, see what happens.

21.  Hazelnuts (native) – 2 new trees planted in February HOPED for Summer 2010 – although may be another year or 2 yet…

22.  Herbs – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (3 varieties English, Lemon and ‘normal’), Chives, Basil, Cilantro (also called Coriander), Mint (Chocolate and local wild), Oregano (2-3 varieties), Anise Hyssop and most recently Bergamot.

23.  Kale – eating now and planted for winter

24.  Leeks – flowering (not good!), after 2 years still not big enough to eat. Failure! Better soil needed.

25.  Lettuce – 3 varieties, eating lots NOW, sown again to keep ‘em coming!

26.  Loganberries – yummy Raspberry/Blackberry cross. 2 x planted this year, fruit hoped for 2010

27.  Melon – 2 plants with male flowers only at present. Unlikely to get anything but hot weather has helped so you never know…

28.  Nectarines - new tree planted Feb 09, HOPED for Summer 2010

29.  Onions – Green (also called Spring onions) Lots of them! Yummy!

30.  Parsnips – in progress, ready winter 09

31.  Peaches – small crop expected to be ready August 09 (established but extensively deer-pruned tree, nurturing and hoping to bring back to life)

32.  Pears - 2 small trees, different varieties, struggled with lack of rain so have 2 pears ONLY! (1 on each tree), expected September 09

33.  Peas – 2 varieties everywhere, eating LOTS now!

34.  Peppers – Bell, in progress, hoping August/September

35.  Peppers – Gypsy (sweet long and thin), in progress, hoped for late July/August

36.  Plums – Mirabelle, small, sweet yellow. And 2 more smaller plants of self-sown Mirabelle we think.

37.  Potatoes – 2 varieties – Russian Blue (yes, very cool – blue potatoes!) and Yukon Gold – eating now and for weeks to come!

38.  Pumpkin – only one plant made it so far. Eaten by woodlice, hoping will survive!

39.  Quince – LOTS of fruit developing. Expecting to be ready Sept/Oct 09

40.  Raspberries, from neighbour (we dug-up spreading canes). Gone in late March (very late), eating small crop now – yummy!

41.  Rhubarb – 3 plants. One struggling in poor soil, one struggling from lack of water, one doing well.

42.  Squash – Acorn  x 2, Spaghetti x2, Butternut x2 (all saved seed from ones we ate!)

43.  Strawberries - from another neighbour (we dug-up spreading plants), not too many fruits this year and now over, more expected next year. Also some wild strawberries (tiny fruits).

44.  Sunflower – many giant sunflowers. Eat our own sunflower seeds, hopefully in September

45.  Tayberries – yummy berry cross. 2 x planted this year, fruit hoped for 2010

46.  Tomatoes – Many plants, many types (beefsteak, cherry, ‘normal’), in progress

47.  Turnips – Summer, eating now!

48. Wild Blackberries - 3 varieties, only one native. Actually trying to keep these under control. Native trailing blackberries just ready now - yummy! Rest expected August.

Day 361 - May 8th 2009 - Coriander Overload...

So, you often get a heavy bulk-discount when you upgrade to larger packets of seeds.

Which Duncan obviously forgot when he planted out our Coriander (Cilantro for North Americans) this year...

So, this is just some of what 1200 (or whatever the germination rate is) Coriander seedlings look like.

Next time, let's read the packet...

Cilantro anyone?

Day 352 - April 29th 2009 - The Dextervator

The Dextervator...

I've taught Dexter a  new word - Dig!

And because dogs like visual body-language cues as well as verbal commands this is also accompanied by me demonstrating with my hands (I look like a demented hamster in a wheel).

And he's great at digging! Sadly none of the photos really captures the energy of Dexter in 'action' digging with dirt flying in all directions. He'll occasionally stop to have a deep sniff of something he uncovers or to chew on a root but all in it's fantastic to have such enthusiastic help!

It's great because it wears down his claws (we walk mostly on trails so his claws get long) and he not only helps us, but also provides a much needed amusement break when you've had enough of doing physical labour. The soil here is pretty rocky, so it's a slow and painstaking process...

Thanks Dexter!

 

Day 335 - April 12th 2009 - Easter Bees!

Well, as much as I love chocolate - whether you're gnostic, plain spiritual or religious - that's not really what Easter is about.

So, we decided on a different Easter gift for each other this year. Bees!

Mason bees to be precise. They are small native bees - that are out and about much earlier than other bees - and they work really really hard at pollinating all your flowers and plants.

We bought a Mason Bee 'House' to encourage them to lay eggs - which will then of course hatch out and pollinate all our fruits and vegetables.

Eggs, birth, renewal. What could be better for Easter?

AND SEE: The (paper lined) holes that are 'plugged' with beige 'mush'? That means the mason bees have laid eggs and plugged up the holes. Apparently the male eggs are laid first at the back and then the females UPDATE! female eggs are laid first - then the males. So if predators get at them, the boys get eaten first... 

Day 321 - March 29th 2009 - Spring is here

Well, in the last couple of days a few of our daffodils have come out, I've seen Bumble bees, Rufous hummingbirds at the feeder (back from Mexico) and today I actually ate lunch in the sunshine on the deck. FABULOUS!

It's amazing how once you start growing food and being closer to nature how important the seasons, weather and sunshine become. Before, when the clocks changed or we had a sunny day it would be 'nice' or 'interesting'. It might mean I travel to or from work in the dark or get an extra hour's sleep.

But now, the extra light means we can work the land outside for longer. The Sunshine is good for warming the soil and helps with seed germination. The end of the risk of frost will mean we can plant more vegetables. And as the sun's arc gradually gets higher in the sky it rises and sets ABOVE the trees on our ridge so we get more direct sunshine. Even moonshine makes a significant difference when you don't have streetlighting!

I'm beginning to personally understand why we used to worship the sun, follow the planet's cycles, worship nature and celebrate solstices!