Category: Techniques

Dahlias

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White dahlia, not sure what variety, possibly “Snow cap”

I did terrible with storing dahlias last winter. I only had three surviving, sprouting tubers – a dwarf variety, a white one (pictured above) and a purple one. All the other ones were shriveled and/or rotted. I am pretty sure I dug them up too soon and also neglected to take good care of them over the winter. Plus, our basement is too warm. This time, I want to make sure I divide them correctly and store them properly. We had a “killing” frost on November 18, so the foliage of the dahlias started to turn black. I cut down the stalks to about 4 to 5 inches and left them in the soil for a few days so the tubers could cure a little. I then dug them up (on November 30), rinsed the soil off the tubers and let them dry for two days (one day would have been enough).

Cleaned and drying tubers, I had labeled each of them with a twist tie when I dug them up

Today, I divided them. I made sure, each piece was intact and had at least one “eye”. I discarded the “mother tuber”. With a Sharpie, I put a number on each tuber that corresponded to the number on the twist tie: 1 for the dwarf variety, 2 for the white dahlia and 3 for the purple one.

I then dusted them in sulfur powder to prevent fungal disease.

Tubers all dusted in sulfur

Then, the tubers were wrapped in plastic wrap. Not the most environmentally friendly way, but a dahlia expert I spoke to swears by it. Plus, my previous system of storing them in a box filled with vermiculite and spritzing them with water every once in a while did not work last year, so I am trying something new. I wrapped them in packages of three to four tubers making sure each individual tuber was fully wrapped. This way, I am saving plastic wrap, but I can still inspect each individual tuber for rot.

Ready for storage

The wrapped tubers will be stored in the back hallway, the coolest spot in the house (the basement is too warm), and I will check on them every two to four weeks. Fingers crossed.

Garlic Scape Powder

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The final product

Last week, my daughter brought tons of garlic scapes back from work and made two cups of pesto – one for the freezer and one that we have been using up all week. There were still quite a few scapes left (around 20), and I decided to turn them into garlic scape powder. I have never done this before, so it was an exciting new project.

First, I washed and dried the scapes. I then cut off the flower buds and chopped the stems into 1 cm long (about 1/2 inch) pieces. I placed them in a single layer on a baking sheet and dried them in the oven at 150F. I checked every 45 minutes to an hour and turned them. After quite some time (4 hours and 45 minutes, the last 45 minutes at 170F), they were completely dry and brittle. I then let them cool and blitzed them in a mini food processor. Those 20 scapes yielded around 3 tablespoons. Not a whole lot, but it smells divine, so I think it is very potent.

Before oven-drying …
… and after

Basil “Pesto”

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I had harvested a ton of basil from my garden two days ago but only this morning found the time to turn it into pesto. Some of the leaves had wilted a bit, but overall, storing the basil wrapped in dry paper towels in a produce bag in the fridge worked very well. I just washed the leaves and dried them well and then processed them with olive oil and salt using my stick blender. As usual, I did not add garlic, cheese or nuts to my “pesto”. I find it more versatile this way. And it also keeps better in the freezer.

Washed and dried, ready for processing
Topped with a bit more olive oil – ready for the freezer. Once frozen, I will transfer the cubes to a zip-lock bag.

Processing the 2023 Garlic

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Today I processed my garlic. It has been almost three weeks since the harvest, and it has been hot and very humid here in Boston. I had a total of 21 heads of softnecks (Transylvania) and used 16 of them to make the braid above, which is now proudly displayed in my pantry. The remaining 5 heads, which I am keeping as seed garlic, include the largest head I harvested plus four heads that had started to split. Those four were still large heads, and I hope they will store well until October/November when I can get the cloves in the ground. Softnecks store well, so they will be used after all of last year’s harvest and all of this year’s hardnecks have been used up.

I also had harvested 17 heads of hardneck garlic (Red Russian), of which I kept the two largest as seed garlic. I left a longer stem for the rest of them because I noticed that they were not fully cured. For now, I will store them in a single layer in my kitchen so they can continue to cure.

I scaled down my garlic-growing operation for this year, because starting September, I will be an empty-nester. 31 heads will be more than enough to get me through next year.

Cleaned softneck garlic, pre-braiding
Clean hardneck garlic. I will shorten the stems once they have been fully cured.
Hardneck garlic – the messy remains

Preserving Parsley, Italian Basil and Thai Basil

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I decided to experiment with preserving more of my herbs this year. I always have been making the base for basil pesto by simply chopping freshly harvested basil with olive oil and freezing it in ice cube trays. I sometimes add kale or arugula to the mix. This basil “pesto” is then used throughout the year in pasta dishes, on pizza or focaccia, and for chicken, fish, roasted vegetables and other dishes. I find that leaving out the nuts, cheese and garlic makes it more versatile, and I can always add those later.

I also have been making Thai basil pesto (with sesame oil, rice vinegar and peanuts), but I have always used it fresh or kept it in the fridge for a few days. I just made my first batch this week to use for these crispy pork noodle bowls. So good! I always use a different recipe for the pesto though. This year, I am planning to experiment with freezing Thai basil in a similar way as my regular basil, so I can make fresh Thai basil pesto throughout the colder months. I have five plants in a big container on my porch and expect to get several harvests out of them.

Thai basil ready to be processed

This year, I am trying to find ways to preserve my parsley. I have two huge plants on my porch and one in my plot. Parsley is probably the herb I used the most in the kitchen, from Moroccan meatballs to fish dishes to soups to simple garnishes. I harvested a big handful, washed it and chopped it up in a food processor. I then froze it with a bit of water in ice cube trays and later moved the cubes to a ziplock bag. This first batch turned out quite crumbly, so next time, I will add more water and even freeze some of the parsley in olive oil.

Chopping up parsley
Parsley “pucks”

Garlic Scape Pesto

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I turned the garlic scapes I harvested a couple of days ago into pesto: just store-bought basil, garlic scapes, olive oil and salt, homogenized with a stick blender and frozen in ice cube trays with a thin layer of olive oil on top. I then stored the cubes in a Ziplock bag in the freezer. They will last for several months. I am still using pesto I made last year. I find that leaving out cheese and nuts makes the pesto more versatile, for instance if I decide to use it on fish or shrimp. One cube packs a punch. I also used rosemary from my porch to make rosemary focaccia, which I had for dinner with a big home-grown salad.

Seedlings Inventory and Starting Cucumbers & Squash

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Tomatoes and basil

My tomato and basil seedlings have been living on my kitchen table for the past few weeks. I rotate the tray so they grow evenly. The tomatoes are getting a bit leggy, but everything looks good. I have 9 tomatoes, 4 regular basil and 2 Thai basil cells.

Leeks, kale, Swiss chard and lettuce

I have a few of the seedlings outside on the back porch now to harden. I will transplant them into my plot in the next couple of days. We still don’t have water in the community garden, so I want to wait until it is turned on. I have a bunch of leeks and Swiss Chard, 4 kale plants and 8 head lettuces. I will transplant some of the head lettuce into containers on my porch and the rest will go into the community plot.

Freshly sown curcubites, hot peppers, eggplant and tomato under the grow lights

Today, I started my cucumbers and squash. Each in triplet, I planted two pots Tokiwa, three plots pickling cucumber and two pots Mexican sour gherkins (cucamelons). I also planted one pot of Delicata squash (I sadly only had three seeds left), two each Butternut and Honeynut, and one zucchini.

Basil close-up

Preserving

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Over the past few days I have been preserving some of this summer’s harvest. I oven-dried tomatoes, and pickled cucumbers and peppers. My cucumber harvest this year was pathetic. I got about six cucumbers from as many plans. The tomatoes are very strong though. I guess it is the heat. The peppers are “Pickling Peppers”, a gift from Sand Hill Preservation Center, and I followed the instructions and pickled them. Looking forward to trying them in a few days.

Red Currant Jam

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I made red currant jam. I picked 500 g from our red currant bush and made jam by adding 250 g of sugar and a bit of vanilla extract. I also added Gelierfix, a pectin-based gelling agent, according to the instructions to help the jam set. I canned the jam in a water bath for ten minutes, so it is shelf-stable. Looking forward to eating the jam for breakfast or using it for baking in the winter months.