Travels with George and Marta – Page 10 – Journeys in the Botanical World

Chuckanut Drive and Harvest in the Skagit

Posted on October 6, 2013 by MartaJune 16, 2015

September has been a very wet month. Normally the weather slowly drops off after Labor Day but this year we have had several significant downpours. Heavy rains are unusual for this area but we have had about 5 days inwhich we got heavy downpours. September ended up being the rainiest on record.

It is now October and temperature-wise, it definitely feels like Fall. The trees are still pretty green but the forecast was good weather this weekend so we headed north to the Skagit Valley and the scenic Chuckanut Drive along the Sound. It was also the Skagit Festival of Family Farms which made it a good time to visit the area.

Mt. Vernon is about an hour drive from our house. Our first stop was the Mt. Vernon Farmer’s Market. Fall was in high swing. The stalls were filled with apples, pumpkins, broccoli, cauliflower. I picked up a bottle of tarragon vinegar and some bright purple cauliflower.

We headed through town to Avon-Allen Road and headed north to the junction with Chuckanut Drive. Chuckanut starts through the Skagit farms before winding along the shores of the Puget Sound.

Our first stop was the town of Edison. It is a small gathering of buildings on the Skagit Flats with a few art studios and several food destinations. I wanted to visit the Breadfarm. I can not describe how intoxicating it was walking thorugh the door. The aroma of fresh artisan bread. The chalk board was a great guide to what was available. We decided on a loaf of potato bread, a blueberry Danish and a pistachio cranberry shortbread cookie. After wolfing down the danish and cookie we walked around the main street taking in the store fronts and looking in the other cafes. I needed some eggs and from the postcard on the ‘Bow Edison Food Trail’, I found that there were some fresh eggs at Bow Hill Blueberries. We headed over and picked up a dozen along with some dried blueberries. We discussed the harvest with the owner. He grows four types of heirloom blueberries. G was familiar with several of the types – Ruble is one of the smaller sweet types that he grows.

We returned back to Chuckanut and headed north to Taylor Shellfish. This farmer has raises oysters, mussels and clams in beds throughout the Puget Sound. I used to buy their mussels and clams when they had a stand in the University Market and I was very interested in seeing the Bow operation. Little did we know it was one of the main farms on the tour.

We waited for them to direct us down the one-way road. We found a placed to park and walked across the railroad to the farm. They had educational games for children, beaches to roam, crab races, samples of steamed clams and fresh shucked oysters. We got a couple of pounds of mussels to go.

The drive continues to curve high above the shore with glimpses of the San Juans and Olympics. We pulled out at one of the turnouts to watch the large tankers float by. The road is lined with evergreen firs and big leaf maples. The maples had not yet turned, another week but the air was fragrant with the scent of cedar, the day was warm. Life is good.

Edison Main street

Crochet Bomb in Edison, WA

Storefront

Breadfarm

Wonderful selection of bread at Breadfarm

Potato Bread

Fall harvest of squash

Taylor Shellfish Farms at Bow, WA

Fresh shucked oysters

Geoduck

Crab races

Farther along Chuckanut

Vista along Chuckanut

Chuckanut Drive

Sungold Tomato Jam

Posted on August 26, 2013 by MartaJune 16, 2015

We have had a glut of sungold tomatoes. I always struggle with what to do with them especially since they seem to ripen all at once. One year I roasted them and froze them. Uhn-uhn… that didn’t work for me.

I’ve been intrigued with tomato jam. The first time I had it was in New Zealand in 1999. We were visiting a nursery on the North Island and the owners invited us in for lunch. They served us a crusty home baked bread with a white cheddar and a spicy tangy tomato spread. It was heavenly. So I thought – why not make some jam from the sungolds.

Now to find a recipe. As one site said… “There are as many recipes for tomato jam as there are cooks”.

After a couple of hours reviewing the web, I decided that I like Mark Bitman’s Tomato Jam from the NY Times but also like the spice combo in Food in Jar’s Tomato Jam. Food in Jar also had a Yellow Tomato Basil Jamwhich specifically mentioned using Sungolds. Hmm…

I ended up using the ratio of tomato, sugar, lime juice in the Mark Bitman recipe. I had enough to make 2 1/4 lbs which would be an easy modification of the recipe (1 1/2 cups sugar, 3 TBS Lime juice). I changed up the spices and used much less grated ginger (1 tsp), 1/2 cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tsp red pepper flakes and added a 1/4 tsp ground coriander and 1 tsp salt.

I decided to follow the directions for the Yellow Tomato jam. I cut the sungolds in half, stirred in the sugar and let sit for over 1 hour until the tomatoes juiced. I added the lime juice and spices and brought to a boil. I boiled it med-high for about 30-35 minutes until it was set with the saucer test. Poured into jars and processed in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Initial tastes are very good. I might cut the cinnamon cloves a bit next time and add a bit more pepper and maybe a touch of cumin to make it a little more spicy. But overall very happy.

Wash and stem tomatoes

Cut in half

Boil until thickened

August Canning – bread & butter pickles, jam and pint tomatoes

Garden 2013 Update 9

Posted on August 25, 2013 by MartaJuly 15, 2014

This has been a warm dry year. Everything has done well… if it has gotten water. We just can not keep up watering especially since we do not have anything on drip. G spends about 2-3 hours watering almost everyday. The vegetables definitely are getting watered everyday. They seem to be drying out fast in the pots. Some of the areas look absolutely horrible. But the fall bloomers are starting to come on strong especially the Salvias. We still have a lot of Salvias from when G sold at the local plant sales as ‘Smartyplants’.

We have been harvesting lots of tomatoes. I canned my first batch today. The zucchini is starting to finish. We have harvested the potatoes. The two yellow ones – yukon gold and satina did well. Carmine the red variety – so-so. But not too bad for first time and a 20 gallon pot. We are a little disappointed with the green beans. I think it got too hot. The bush beans were great. The Goldmarie Romanos – some good some tough. But the Blue Lake pole beans – another year of tough tough beans. Maybe now that it is a little cooler they will be better. We haven’t had gone pole beans in 3 years.

Here’s a few photos of around the yard,

Zucchini is finally starting to finish

Kale

Some huge tomatoes on the Oregon Star

The peppers have done extremely well – these are Gypsy peppers

Yukon Gold potatoes

Nice harvest of Siletz tomatoes

The Salvias

Salvia dombeyi

Salvia ‘John Whittlesey’

Salvia – unknown species from Szechuan China

Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’

Salvia fulgens

Crocosmia Solfatare and Severn Seas

Crocosmia Solfatare

Crocosmia Severn Seas

The horrible dry front area – it faces south and gets really hot.

Cotinus ‘Golden Spirit’ and Cordaderia richardii – they take the heat a bit better but look how washed out the yellow smoke tree is.

Our never ending summer project – painting

Garden 2013 Update 8

Posted on August 6, 2013 by MartaJuly 15, 2014

Zucchini anyone?

Yep we have an abundant crop. We planted 3 plants of parthenocarpic (self pollinating) and we’ve been trying to harvest them soon. You can not turn your back on these guys else they just fatten up.

We are harvesting a lot of beans – both yellow romanos and bush. The beets and carrots are ready but I’ll leave them. The second crop of radishes failed – they became woody probably because we didn’t give them enough water or it has been too warm.

The corn is doing great. I am a little worried that we’ll have some type of critter that will show up just before it is time to harvest. The birds have started attacking the tomatoes. We have some great large tomatoes ripening and I think it is the Blue Jays that peck at them. The blue jays loved the plums we had in a box last year. Hopefully they tried them and found them not to their liking.

It will be a great August.

Basjoo Banana in Seattle

Posted on August 3, 2013 by MartaAugust 3, 2013

Musa basjoo bloom on July 6, 2013

We have been very proud of our Basjoo Banana this year. It has actually bloomed for us. Basjoo Banana – botanical name Musa basjoo is also known as Japanese banana or fiber banana. It is one of most hardy bananas. It is a native of Ryukuy islands of Japan of which the largest island in the chain is Okinawa. Although this chain of islands is at a latitude father south of Seattle (26 degrees north versus 47 degrees north), it is hardy down to -10 degrees. Did you know that the banana’s botanical family – Musa – honors Antonia Musa, Roman physican of the 1st century B.C?

Taken May 2007 – that’s them on the far right

I don’t remember when we first planted the banana. I looked over my pictures and came across this picture above from June 2007. The banana had already started to send up several ‘pups’ so I think we had planted it either in 2005 or 2006.

Typically in the years from 2007, it has died to the ground and sent up several new pups. It would grow to at least 10 feet or more (the height of our roof) by September every year. But it has never bloomed – until this year.

Last winter was very mild. The stalk which is basically a coiled group of leaves did not die or crumple over the winter. When G checked it this spring – he saw a green sprout. So he just left stalks instead of cutting it to see what it would do.

June and July have been very warm and it has grown to way above the roof. It was around the 4th of July that I noticed the flower. Two stalks have blooms and produced bananas. They are not edible. In fact from the pictures on the web, it looks like they will produce large seeds instead of the small almost invisible seeds in commercial bananas.

The bees and flies love the blooms. There is quite a bit of activity in the area. The flowers have slight tropical scent. It has been over a month since I first noticed the flower and it continues to bloom. The flower bracts each unfurl somewhat like an artichoke with a row of flowers at the base. These become a bunch of bananas.

We continue to water it well and wait to see what happens. How exciting to have it blooming in our garden.

June 2009 Look at all the pups

September 2012 – The usual height by September

This is what they looked like this spring – April 28th 2013

Just after I noticed the bloom – July 7th 2013

Two stalks blooming

Close up of the flower

A row of immature fruit

Happy Birthday Dad!

Posted on July 25, 2013 by MartaJuly 25, 2013

August 1968 – one of my favorite photos. I took this with my first camera – a Kodak Instamatic. It was taken at Monterey on a drive down Highway 1 to visit my sister in Oxnard.

Today is my fathers birthday. He would have been one hundred years old today. It is hard for me to comprehend.

I really know so little of his early life. He married late in life and those first forty years I only know by oral history . He was born in Colorado. He was the third of four children. They were poor and my grandfather worked in the mines. My father only had a eighth grad education. He left school to help with odd jobs. He helped in the boarding house that my aunt ran for miners bringing coal for the stoves and sold extra to the working girls. Eventually he followed my grandfather and worked in the local mine but the family left Colorado for California with the waves of Okies in the early 30s. They settled in the Auburn area where he could find work in the gold mines.

The war was coming and opportunity was happening at a mine in eastern California. Union carbide was hiring men for their things tungsten mine high in the eastern Sierra . He drove over in the winter with a girl friend and joined the crew. He had a heart murmur and never went to war.

He met my mother after the war. She owned a bar that the miners frequented and met my dad. She was married with children but divorced her husband to marry my dad and start over.

They moved to the Central Valley with the idea of working on the Folsom dam project but ended up in Stockton with my uncle running a blacksmith shop. I was born and he followed my uncle to work for the city as an auto serviceman.

He retired after 15 years. He stayed active in volunteering and doing odd job. But his life long habit of smoking caught up with him in his late 70s and he passed away 15 years ago at 85.

I often wonder what he would have thought of the rapid changes since then. Machine fascinated him and I wonder if he would have ever used a computer.

Celebrating your memory and everything you did for me and all the things you did for me — miss you so much.

I looked through the pictures that I collected from my mother. I have so few of him. We did not have a camera when I grew up and relied upon the occasional picture from a neighbor. I also have few pictures of him before he married my mother. But here are a few over the years.

The sisters and brothers in Colorado. He must have been around 5 or 6 years old. He is the 2nd from the left. Starting on the left, Leo, my dad, Cleo and Dorthea. He was already wearing a hat.

A crumpled picture that must have come from his wallet. No idea on the date although I am guessing it is the probably around 1936. My uncle is on the left, my aunt is in the middle and my dad on the right.

Age 25 – at the Auburn Chicago Mine in Penryn California 1938. He is in the first row – fifth from the left – notice the cigarette. He smoked until he was over 65.

Bishop January 1941 I found an old postcard showing the main street of Bishop and this picture looks very similar. It was sent by ‘Doris’ to my grandmother telling her that they had arrived in Bishop and it had been a hard drive from Auburn to Bishop with lots of snow and ice over the Sierras. I suspect ‘Doris’ was Dad’s girlfriend at the time but never heard any stories about her.

Here he is with a group outside a bar – no idea where or what date. Judging by the amount of hair – I’m guessing in the 40’s

Photos of my Dad and Mom just after they had married in Nevada.

Here were are as a family in Stockton after I was born. I’m guessing I might be about 2 or 3 years old.

September 1959 – 6 years old. I loved this dress with the rick-rack that my mother made. My dad in his typical stance – hands half in his dungaree pockets, cigarette and hat pushed back.

This is probably 1961 when I was in the 3rd grade.

August 1982 Seattle. Their last visit to the Pacific NW.

Dad and Mom some time in the 1980’s.

One of my last photos of Dad celebrating his 80th birthday in 1993.

Garden 2013 Update 7

Posted on July 21, 2013 by MartaJuly 15, 2014

Tomatoes new home

The vegetable garden is doing great. This is an amazing summer. Very little rain in the past 3 weeks and lots of sun. It has not been too hot – the nights are a little mild so that is probably why we only have two ripe stupice tomatoes. But we have been eating lots of zucchini, our first cucumber. lots of peas, lots of lettuce and soon green beans.

We did have to move the tomatoes and peppers to the backyard. We are going to have our house re-roofed and G wanted to move them before they got too big. Hopefully everything will ripen as well.

Doesn’t it look so different from 7 weeks ago at the beginning of June?

Corn looking good

Romano beans coming along great

Look at those tomatoes!

Garden – Study in Red

Posted on July 20, 2013 by MartaJuly 20, 2013

Summer is in full swing and the garden is really blooming. Right now the dominant color is mostly red – along with the the shades of pink and orange. Here is a bit of what is blooming right now in the garden.

Salvia involucrata

Dahlia ‘Sunshine’

Rudbeckia

Tigridia pavonia

Bishop of Llandaff

Hydrangea serrata ‘Kiyosumi’

Phygelius ‘Salmon Leap’

Begonia boliviensis

Salvia ‘John Whittlesey’

Asarina

Scarlet Runner Bean Flowers

Sweet Peas

Garden 2013 Update 6

Posted on June 23, 2013 by MartaJuly 15, 2014

I’m behind a week again. I have just gotten around to uploading some pictures of the garden from last Sunday -16th of June. This is a great year for the garden. June has been warm and sunny many days. But it is dry. We just got rain this week but still not enough so G has been busy watering every day. One day he will learn and install drip.

We have continued to eat salads during the week. It is warm enough that we are enjoying them. I usually have a protein in the salad to make it a complete meal – Nicoise salad with Tuna, Mexican Shrimp salad with a tangy cilantro dressing, warm goat cheese in panko crumbs. This week I got some large beets that I’ve roasted and plan to have with some blue cheese.

Here’s some pictures of the veggies:

Lettuce

The radishes are great this year – not woody and very spicy

Maybe the corn will be knee high by 4th of July and we’ll get a crop

Yes! we have tomatoes

Snap Peas

The flower beds are doing well also. The spring blooms are just finishing and summer flowers are coming on.

Mary, a David Austin hybrid, has done wonderful this year.

Martagon lily – I couldn’t resist this at the flower show.

Phlomis fruticosa

Euphorbia longifolia

Exotic foliage of Arisaema taiwanense

Eryngium giganteum
‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’

Carpenteria californica

Salvia ‘Hot Lips’

Echium wildpretii flower

Phlomis tuberosa

Astrantia “Hadspen Blood”

Epipactis gigantea

Brugmansia sanguinea

Garden 2013 Update 5

Posted on June 7, 2013 by MartaJuly 15, 2014

I’m a little behind. We have been having wonderful weather and I have been busy at work. This update is actually from last Sunday.

The vegetable garden is doing very well this year. We have harvested 2 heads lettuce – in fact – it has been a week of salad at our house. And lots more to come on. The Swiss Chard and Kale are also ready.

G planted the corn, the squash and the beans. We did not get good germination on our Goldmarie broad beans so he is seeding them direct. He is seeding some more carrots and beets. The tomatoes were also moved out to the front years just after Memorial Day. I actually found a little tomato on our Stupice.

In the flower beds, the iris, alliums, peonies are in bloom. Everything has leafed out and the tender plants have been brought out of the cold greenhouse and planted for the season.

We also visited two gardens on Kitsap Peninsula on Sunday – Celestial Dream Gardens in Kingston and Far Reaches Farm. We really enjoyed talking with the owners of Celestial Dream Gardens and walking around their property. They have a great selection of interesting plants for a warm sunny location. We discussed the challenges of growing borderline plants in the region. Far Reaches is amazing. They have the most wonderful shade garden with lots of exotic plants that they have collected on plant trips especially in Asia. We picked up several plants at both locations mainly for shade. G wants to plant a dark shade area under the trees. More later in the season.

Lettuce ready to harvest

Green beans planted

We’re trying corn again – last time years ago, the racoons ate it. But we haven’t seen any racoons recently so we have our fingers crossed.

Beds are looking good

Tomatoes are out!

First tomato – a Stupice

Eryngium agavifolium and Euphorbia wallichii

Iris pallida ‘Variegata’ – These bloom for such a long time and have a lovely scent

Echium pininan – we got a bunch of these from our friends at Langley Garden and we’re trying them outside – this is near the deck – it may be too shaded

The shade area that will be planted – Hosta “Sum and Substance”, Epimedium, and Weigela

We’ll be planting this area soon

Another shade area on the east side of the house – Dicentra spectabilis Gold Heart which is greening up in the shade, Fothergilla “Blue Mist”, Aconitum ‘Stainless Steel’, Astrantia “Hadspen Blood’ and Rhododendron sinogrande in the back.

Our new grill and bistro set – the deck may be another project.

Neo out on his leash.