Wild Coast edibles

Once the frosts come and the veggie patch lies dormant, I start foraging for edibles in our local forests and beaches. We are lucky here on the Island to have a (relatively) mild climate through the Winter months. I don't do much cultivating over the Winter to give the soil ( and me) a bit of a rest - just a bit of Kale, and mulching the root crops. An obvious choice for a readily accessible edible is dandelion roots - they can be chopped as finely as possible and roasted for a warming drink, or dried to use for a health -giving tonic tea. Here is a recipe for Dandelion Chai: http://www.prodigalgardens.info/dandelion%20coffee.htm I always make dandelion root vinegar which not only tastes good, but is a great healing remedy: "> http://crowsdaughtersherbs.blogspot.com/2008/01/dandelion-has-been-potent-ally-of-mine.html Up the coast, on some of the wilder, cleaner beaches, you can collect kelp - it's good dried and powdered to use on popcorn- here are some recipes: http://www.bckelp.com/SeaweedKelpRecipes.html After a frost is a great time to collect rose hips as well - I like to collect the wild rose hips (Rosa nutkana) that grow near the sea.Rose hips are very high in Vit. C, as well as Vits. D and E, essential fatty acids, and possess antioxidant properties.Rose hip tea is a traditional remedy to prevent and treat colds and the flu. Larger hips can be split in half to remove the fine hairs and seeds before drying - these must be removed, as they can become lodged in your throat and can be quite uncomfortable! Smaller hips can be dried whole, but must be put through a fine sieve or cloth after brewing. To make the tea, simmer 2 Tbs of dried hips in 2 -3 cups of water for about 10 minutes. You can add some dried spearmint and/or some honey to sweeten it, if you like, as it can be tart. (Which is how I like it). Rose hips are good for your heart, and will help to alleviate the stiffness and joint pain of arthritis. Eat Your Roses - rose recipes: http://www.springvalleyroses.com/inthegarden/roserecipes.html Here is a recipe for rose hip fruit leather: http://homecooking.about.com/od/jellyrecipes/r/blfruit15.htm And, you can make Rose Hip wine, which is good for your circulation: Rose hip wine stimulates the appetite and increases blood flow. Steep 3 ½ ounces of dried rose hips in 1 quart of strong, dry red wine for 2 weeks. Filter the wine. Drink 2 small glasses per day. Medicinal herb mixture for cold relief tea: * 1 ½ ounces rose hips * 3/4 ounce marsh-mallow root * 3/4 ounce mullein flowers and leaves This tea stimulates the immune system. When you have a cold or flu, the tea loosens bronchial mucus and makes coughs more productive. For a cup of tea, use 1 cup of water and 2 teaspoons of the tea blend. Of course, mushrooms are a perennial favourite this time of year.I am not an expert mycologist, but am seriously considering buying a mushroom kit to try as an experiment.http://www.gourmetmushrooms.ca/ Chickweed grows pretty much year round in sheltered spots, and there are many more edible weeds - this book is a great resource: http://www.amazon.ca/Handbook-Edible-Weeds-Reference-Library/dp/0849329469/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257041317&sr=1-1

almost as good as Grandma's coleslaw

One half head of precious red cabbage awaiting inspiration: Almost As Good As Grandma's Coleslaw, is the result: grated red cabbage grated carrot finely chopped red pepper 1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped red onion *** dressing: 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 Tb. sunflower oil, 1 tsp. honey, salt and pepper it's bright and colourful and crunchy - you can add some grated beet too, if you have one.

Planthropology

This book is on my to read list: Planthropology, by Ken Druse http://www.kendruse.typepad.com//planthropology looks like a good book to keep me company by the fire, while dreaming about Spring time. A book review is forthcoming, wishing you all a warm fire and good garden reading! and if you like reading horticultural blogs, this one is great:http://hsny.blogspot.com/ image from marrsheating.com

Trendy Veg

These are some trendy new veggies showing up in stores and in restaurants: 1. Black garlic: with the texture of a dried apricot,and twice the antioxidant content of raw garlic.I tried to find a way to make your own, but can't seem to find anything. All I could find out was that it is fermented at high heat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_garlic_%28food%29 http://blackgarlic.com/ Image is from the Feedbag.com 2.Lavender - no surprise here! I love herbes de Provence, and make a jar full every year. 3.Fig Leaves: for wrapping food and infusing with flavour before roasting. (to be removed before eating). My neighbour grows lovely figs, and I'm hoping I'll be able to 'borrow' some leaves! 4. Purple Carrots: just like purple potatoes, but these keep their colour when cooked. West Coast Seed Co. carries the seeds: http://www.westcoastseeds.com/productdetail/Vegetable-Seeds/Carrots/Purple-Haze/ 5.Chia Seeds , yes, the kind used to grow green pets. The seeds are high in omega-3's and can be added to granola, smoothies, and baking (like hemp seeds). From ehow.com : "Chias are what are know as "fire following plants." Ancient cultivators found that if they burned the plant after harvest, next year's crop was more plentiful. Sprinkle some burned remnants of the shrub over newly planted seed to quicken germination." They are native to Western North America, are drought tolerant, and will easily self-sow in a dry, sunny spot with porous soil in your garden.http://www.natural-healthy-eating.com/chia-seeds.html image from naturalhealthyeating.com 6.Dandelion Greens - my favourite and not too expensive or hard to find! who ever thought the humble dandelion would make it onto the 'it' list. 7. bite-sized Brussels Sprouts - I could only find seeds for these from the UK: http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds1/group/brussels+sprout.html Thompson and Morgan Seeds. I think I'll try growing Chia seeds,and if anyone finds a method for making black garlic, please send it along!

love-in-a-mist seeds

image is from Gardenforks.com http://greenforks.com/2009/10/blooming-friday-october-week-1-shorter-days-and-cooler-evenings/ Love-in-a-mist, or nigella sativa, an annual of the Ranunculaceae family, has been growing and happily self-sowing in my side garden for many years. It's only recently that I've discovered that the seeds are edible. They are commonly used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking, and are known as 'black onion' seed or black cumin(not onion family, however). When they are dry roasted, they taste a bit like black pepper or mustard seed but with a more herby flavour, and a bit of sweetness. Here is a recipe for Naan bread that uses the seeds: http://www.grouprecipes.com/70193/naan-bread-with-balck-onion-seeds.html And, if you're like me and don't weigh your flour, one pound of flour = approximately 3 1/2 cups sifted. Nigella's history is amazing ~ the seeds were found in Tutankhamun's tomb to assist him in the afterlife. Medicinally, the seeds are a power house and were used to cure everything, 'except death." Its many uses have earned nigella the Arabic approbation 'Habbatul barakah', meaning the seed of blessing. There's lots more info here: http://www.whitelotusaromatics.com/newsletters/nigella.html from the Fragrant Harvest newsletter.

A Gift of Red Orach seeds

I am so excited to receive the Red Orach (Atriplex hortensis) seeds sent to me in the mail from blogger pal Telsing in Ottawa. (Thank You!)Made my day. I haven't grown Orach before - it will get a primo spot in the veggie patch in the Spring. So far I have learned that this beautiful plant will produce spinach-like leaves, and is an 'enthusiastic self-sower". This is from The Produce Hunter: Native to Europe and Siberia, RED ORACH is considered to be one of the world's oldest cultivated plants. It has been used as a pot herb since the 1500s, and was listed in a well-known seed catalog in 1815. Also known as Mountain Spinach, RED ORACH's beautiful leaves make wonderful salad greens and can be used like spinach or chard or stuffed like little cabbage leaves. The flavor is similar to chard, but it is much prettier!http://www.theproducehunter.com/index.htm Orach is often used in edible landscaping as it is such a beauty - it grows 3 - 5 feet tall and colours range from deep purple to magenta http://www.flickr.com/photos/10348212@N07/2229163898/ Already looking forward to next Spring!

garlic planting

The garlic is in! I prepared a very nice bed for the cloves by double digging, making sure there weren't any sticks and stones in the soil, and added a great, big bucket of compost. I planted 2 varieties, one is Creston, a purple, soft-neck and the other a regular, white hard neck. I watered them in well, and once I've raked up some leaves for mulch off the grass, will be tucking them in for protection on frosty nights.

October salad

We are making salad every chance we get, knowing the day is coming when salad greens will seem like a dream. On the plate we have chard leaves, beet greens, Little Gem and Brunia lettuces, curly endive, water cress,parsley, oregano, one of the few remaining zucchinis, spinach, nasturtium flowers, and the third-to-last tomato. A nice dressing, which I usually put on roasted yams, is this maple-chipotle vinaigrette from the Rebar Cookbook: 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 Tb. balsamic vinegar 1 Tb. maple syrup 3/4 tsp Dijon mustard 2 tsp. chipotle puree ( you can buy it in a small can, just blend it and keep in the freezer) 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper 1/2 cup olive oil whisk all except oil together, slowly drip in the oil until thickened. If you don't have a copy of the Rebar Cookbook, it is great! Some of the recipes have some exotic, not your usual in-stock ingredients, but are well-worth the effort to track down:http://www.rebarmodernfood.com/cookbook.html

last of the ripe tomatoes

There are only 6 vine-ripened,tomatoes left~ so I've decided to make Orzo Pesto pasta salad with them - with some Swiss Chard thrown in for good measure. (I'm throwing Swiss Chard into everything these days - even smoothies). This salad is inspired by Sooke Harbour House's salad that was brought to a recent Slow Food event. Their salad was topped with gorgeous heirloom variety tomatoes of all shapes and colours, fresh sprigs of oregano, thyme and basil - and it was amazing. This is when those frozen cubes of basil pesto come in handy - I take them out about an hour or so before I need them, and stir them into the pasta while it is still hot. This combo of pasta with pesto, tomatoes and chard is wonderful - especially with a few shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano for the top. Here is another recipe to use chard that I found today on the Moss Street Market site (in the recipes section! who knew?)http://www.mossstreetmarket.com/recipes.htm TUNISIAN STYLE CHARD 2 lbs swiss chard, chopped roughly 5 large cloves garlic, pressed 1 tbsp. tomato paste 1 tsp. ground coriander ½ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. dried red chili flakes 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 cup minced onion 2-14 oz. cans garbanzo beans, with liquid lemon wedges (optional) Steam chard until tender. In bowl, combine garlic, tomato paste, coriander, salt, and chili flakes. Heat oil in a saucepan, and sauté onion. Add the tomato paste mixture. Add chard and garbanzo beans, with liquid. Stir and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes. Makes 8 servings. I am going to make this tomorrow with my own fresh coriander seeds and Thai Dragon chilies.

bigger garden

I have decided to make the garden a bit bigger this Fall by starting sheet mulching over the lawn: http://www.agroforestry.net/pubs/Sheet_Mulching.htmlfirst a sprinkling of lime to reduce acidity of the soil, cover the area with cardboard, wet the cardboard well, cover with compost and kitchen scraps. That's what I did today - tomorrow I'll cover the area with sea soil http://www.seasoil.com/ and leaf mulch, then on the weekend I'm heading to the beach to get some seaweed. Over the Winter we'll pile our kitchen scraps and any vegetation from the garden. Sheet mulching reduces the need for rototilling in the Spring, which destroys the integrity of the soil and pollutes the air. I'm really looking forward to the extra space to plant shelling beans, quinoa, and some other crops needing room. I'm looking at getting seeds from Salt Spring Seed company, as I've head great success with their Kidney bean seeds.http://www.saltspringseeds.com/ While digging out the compost, I remembered to save a big bucket full of the black gold for when I plant the garlic - garlic likes a handful of compost for good measure. I also was very happy to see a healthy group of red wriggler worms in the bin! they went onto the new garden-to-be, too. I hope they like their new home.

scorchingly good green tomato salsa ole~!

I picked a big bowl of the last of the Early Girl tomatoes - they're still green, and still good! I decided to make a really hot green tomato salsa that will bring spiciness to food all Winter long. I added some Thai Dragon peppers to the mix, some cilantro and extra garlic for good measure. The salsa is quite hot, and a little will go a long way. It would even be great added to my regular, not so hot salsa, for extra kick. Here is the basic recipe: 4 cups chopped green tomatoes 2 cups sweet peppers (red or green bell peppers)chopped 2 cup jalapeno peppers chopped 1 cup onion chopped 2 tsp sea salt 1 1/2 cups organic apple cider vinegar 3 - 6 cloves garlic (I used 6) cilantro to taste Simmer in a large pot for 15 minutes, pack into hot, sterilized jars, put into a hot water bath for 30 minutes.