Gardening 2012: Labor Day Update

Last Harvest?

Never underestimate the power of Italian vegetables! Just when I though the eggplant had finished, I ended up with another 2 lb 3 oz. We even got one last zucchini because I was too lazy to dig up the plants. We've harvested another 1 lb of little red Calabrese Peppers too. Back in the upper bed the Cima di Rapa is up and needs to be thinned and the cicoria and spinach are poking their heads up as well.

Saffron Bulbs

We also planted 45 saffron bulbs. This was a bit harder than it might seems due to the fact that the front area was still laced with old bamboo roots that had to be dug out before we could plant the little guys. Saffron is a fall blooming bulb and according to the directions we should have fresh saffron in a month or so.

We still have to plant root vegetables in the old lower bed and there are hundreds of peppers still slowly ripening. We might even see a few more eggplant.

Peperoncini Ripieni sott'olio

Peperoncini Ripieni sott'olio

Recipe by Traditional

WARNING! This recipe is a traditional Italian approach to preserving. It does not meet USDA home canning standards.

Ingredients

• 2 lb Ripe Red Calabrese Peppers
• 2 cups White Wine Vinegar
• 24 oz Canned Tuna
• 2 or 3 Salt Packed Anchovies
• 2 Tbs Salt Packed Capers
• Olive Oil

Cooking Directions

1. Carefully wash the peppers and discard any that are soft or discolored.





2. Cut out the green stem cap and remove the seed pod from the peppers. A small measuring spoon or melon baller makes the latter an easy task. Although these are not particularly hot peppers by American standards they still pack a punch so if you're sensitive to capsaicin wear rubber or plastic gloves to protect your skin.
3. Place the vinegar and an equal amount of water in a non-reactive and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Optional: Add some aromatic spices to the vinegar mixture: 2 bay leaves, a few peppercorns, cloves or even juniper berries. I've got bay leaves and peppercorns in there.

5. Carefully place the cleaned peppers in the boiling mixture and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the peppers from the vinegar mixture. Depending on the size of your peppers you may have to do this in a couple batches. 

6. Place the peppers open end down on a clean towel, cover with another towel and let dry over night.
7. Prepare the tuna filling: Drain the canned tuna, rinse and clean the anchovies, rinse the capers. Place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth but still has some texture.





8. Using a small spoon fill each pepper with the tuna mixture. Press down gently to enure there are no air pockets.
9. Prepare quart jars, bands and new lids according to the manufacturer's directions.
10. Carefully load the stuffed peppers into the jars, packing as tightly as possible without crushing them.
11. Optional: Add a couple Giganti di Pantelleria capers to each jar as you pack it.
12. WARNING! The following instructions are not USDA approved.
13. Fill the jars with olive oil leaving a 1 inch head space. Tap the jars gently on your cutting board to dislodge any air bubbles.
14. Wipe the rims and seal the jars carefully.
15. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Let cool in the water, remove, dry, label and store in a cool dark place.
16. USDA Hot Pack Method:
17. Combine 1 1/4  cups white vinegar (5%) and 1 cup olive oil in a non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil.
18. Fill jars with the hot vinegar and oil mixture leaving a 1 inch head space. Tap the jars gently on your cutting board to dislodge any air bubbles.
19. Wipe the rims and seal the jars carefully.
20. Process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Let cool in the water, remove, dry, label and store in a cool dark place.

Notes: 

Yes, of course you can leave out the anchovies. But don't. They're an extremely important flavor component. Once you start using them nothing tastes right when they're left out.

You'll likely have some tuna mixture left over. Just add a little mayonnaise and some diced celery and you've got tuna salad.  

It took about 1 1/2 cups of of oil to top off the two quart jars I made.

If you use tuna canned in water it will probably be too dry to stay put in the peppers during the canning process and your jars will look like this:

They'll still taste good, but they won't look so great. The solution of course is to mix in enough olive oil to form a coherent paste that stuffs well.

Gardening 2012: July Update

It's time once more for a gardening update!

Coming Along

San Marzano Tomatoes: They're exceding every possible expectation. The plants in the upper bed have reached the tops of the double height ladders and although the three in the lower bed are not as tall, they easily match the others for quantity of fruit. We got our first ripe tomato from the lower bed on July 3rd. and now there are quite a few beginning to color. I'm a little concerned about the wilting leaves, but the plants seem otherwise healthy.

I didn't think I'd start needing to buy quart jars until August...

Gardening 2012 - Thunderstorm Update

Rolled Zucchini

Friday evening we had the first real thunderstorm of the season. I managed to get the lawn mowed before it started and although there were a few flickers, the power stayed on. This morning I went out to see how the garden had fared, particularly the tomatoes, as they have gotten rather tall.

As you can see, the zucchini got sort of rolled over in the wind. Although a few of the male blossoms broke off, they're none the worse for the experience.

You can't hide anymore

And it was easier to trim off a couple unfertilized zucchini that were hiding underneath (they'll gradually decay if you don't).

Eggplant!

The eggplants don't seem to have noticed the storm at all. As you can see we'll be getting plenty of these purple beauties this year. The big one on the lower right is now in the kitchen awaiting it's fate.

Some of the pepper plants got knocked over. Since they're all a little on the spindly side, I took the PVC pipes we used early in the spring to support a frost cover and converted them to stakes.

Almost 6 feet tall

And then there are the tomatoes. These San Marzano plants are huge and are going to need some careful pruning. A couple branches were partially broken in the storm so they'll have to come off and a few other branches are intruding on the onions and Swiss Chard.

Gardening 2012 - Mid June Update

Baby Zucchini

It's been a rainy couple of days in Philly and the garden has responded with a veritable orgy of vegetative sexuality. The zucchini I set out way too early have had a gigantic growth spurt and we've already eaten more than a pound of delicious squash with another pound or so in the 'fridge.

Little Peppers

The  peppers are starting to set fruit. It's beginning to look like we'll have plenty to pickle. I have plans to stuff them with fresh mozzarella and tonno sott'olio and can them for future use.

The San Marzano tomatoes have apparently decided that our little garden is a pretty good place to raise their children. All six plants have grown past the 42 inch ladders and the ones in the upper bed (they get a bit more sun) are over 5 feet. All of them have set fruit.

San Marzano Tomatoes

The eggplants are looking sturdy and have lots of flowers. There are a few hints of fruit, but it's still way early, and the plants all look healthy so no worries there.

We got a few heads of cima di rapa from the second planting, but the warm weather resulted in most of the plants bolting. I still have a lot of seed, so I'll wait until mid-September to try another planting.

Gardening 2012 - Mid May Update

Things are happening in the garden! The San Marzano tomatoes have recovered from the little cold snap and are almost half way up the towers.

In the old lower bed the onions are doing well and as soon as I get done typing this, I'll thin the cima di rapa. Just to the left of the onions we've added a few rows of carrots and replanted the beets. Now that temperatures are well into the 70's they should all be sprouting in a matter of days.

Earlier in the week I picked up 4 cheap plastic buckets. They're a classic piece of low-budget container gardening and make excellent pots for tomatoes. So we drilled 5 half inch holes in the bottoms and filled them with potting mix topped off with one Roma tomato plant each.

While it's possible I'll have way too many tomatoes this summer, this will give us a chance to compare the performance and taste of "real" San Marzano tomatoes and the modern Roma hybrid.

In the new front bed the eggplants are doing quite well, but the peppers don't seem real happy. It's still early though and they may still be a little stunted from the cold snap a couple weeks ago. Or... it might be because I forgot to poke some holes in the plastic so rain water could reach the soil. Whichever it is, the weather is now warm and the holes have been poked.

On the other hand the rest of the container plants are very happy. Obviously I was able to bring in the big pot for a couple evenings, so that eggplant suffered not at all on those cold nights.

Gardening 2012 - Seed Starting

Well, it's 8 weeks to the "last frost" date for our area, so it's also time to start starting seeds. For the first batch we've got parsley, thyme, basil, eggplant, and some spicy Calabrese peppers. In a couple more weeks we'll start tomatoes, then about the middle of March zucchini. This year we're also growing broccoli raab, beets, carrots, and swiss chard, all of which will be direct seeded along with some red cippolini type onions that will go in from sets.

To get things moving in our chilly basement, we're using a heating pad underneath the seed starting tray. In a perfect world it will provide just enough (and not too much) warmth to get the seeds moving. According to the instructions, that's 10 degrees warmer than ambient. The manufacturer suggests using a thermostat, but the basement is cool enough that I'm hoping it won't be necessary.

The tray with the first five varieties loaded, the tray looks like this:

And after a couple hours with the heat on it's looking good; not too hot, but warmer than my basement:

The heated seed starting tray is this one:



We've also got a lighting system we won't actually need for a week or so: