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Posts Tagged ‘gardening’

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

Posted in Gardening, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on August 21, 2017| 1 Comment »

Besides running, one of the hobbies I am passionate about is gardening! The problem is that passion does not necessarily translate into talent. This is the first year that I managed to dial in the formula for a truly successful tomato crop (dig at least six inches into the top soil and mix in compost in a 1:1 ratio with the soil, then add a little EB Stone Organic Sure Start Fertilizer (affiliate link). About six weeks later or when the fruit first starts to set, sprinkle on a little more fertilizer.) And voila:

tomato row

Plants so tall and laden with fruit I had to tie the row up with twine!

I usually harvest the tomatoes before they’re fully ripe and let them ripen on the counter, just so the pill bugs and other critters in my garden don’t get at the tomatoes before I do. So you can see tomatoes in various stages of ripening in this food art arrangement my 9-year-old made the other day with the harvest:

Food art harvest

Yes those are mini pumpkins, harvested in July because they grew as renegades in my compost pile. The harvest also includes lemons, limes, apples, and red and green grapes.

I’ve been using up a lot of tomatoes with this super easy blender salsa recipe from Yummy Mummy Kitchen, but I also wanted to try to make fresh tomato sauce for the first time ever. I ended up adapting and combining several recipes from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for what I consider a delicious fresh tomato sauce with garlic, onions, and fresh herbs.

Read on to see how to turn this:

IMG_5556

Into this:

IMG_5494

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

Prep time: 20-30 minutes depending on how aggressive you are peeling the tomatoes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 cups ripe fresh tomatoes (peeled, seeded and chopped)
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
4 T olive oil
10 cloves garlic (minced)
5 whole bay leaves (optional)
1/2 cup fresh basil (chopped)
1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
2 T fresh rosemary (chopped) (optional)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (I used 1/2 t each)

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet (if you use a cast iron pan, bonus points and bonus iron for you — the acidity of the tomatoes will leach some iron out of the pan) on medium high heat.

2. Brown the onion for 2 minutes, then add the garlic for one more minute.

3. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, and bay leaves if desired. Heat to bubbling, then turn down to low to simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Add the basil, parsley and rosemary as desired and simmer just to warm. Remove bay leaves.

5. If you want a smooth sauce, let the sauce cool and then puree it in a blender, or transfer the hot sauce to a large pot and use a stick blender to puree.

Makes 8 servings. Recipe doubles easily.

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Cutback Week

Posted in Family life, Gardening, Marathon, Running, tagged , , , , on March 19, 2013| 3 Comments »

It’s week seven of M2B marathon training for me and thank goodness lucky number seven is a cutback week! After a 20-miler at 9:35 pace, an 18-miler at 9:20 pace and a 20-miler at 9:20, I look forward to “only” 13 miles at 8:50 this coming weekend.

I feel good but tired. Good and tired, that’s for sure. A story to illustrate: After running those 20 miles last weekend, I slept 10 hours that night. When I finally woke in the morning, I realized I could see surprisingly well without my contacts in. *blink* *blink* Wait a minute. My contacts ARE in. That’s right. I’d set aside my book, turned out the light, and gone to sleep with my contacts in. In nearly 30 years of contact lens wearing, I can say that’s never happened before. I’ve fallen asleep by accident with them in, most likely while snuggling a toddler or nursing a baby to sleep, but I have never before deliberately gone to bed and forgotten all about my contact lenses. No harm done thank goodness.

On my “recovery” day, I spent three and a half hours in the garden, clearing a 9′ x 4′ patch of ground, turning over the soil, and mixing in compost and fertilizer. Finally, I planted 18 tomato seedlings. I started the seeds in trays in mid-January, potted them up in mid-February, hardened off the seedlings in early March, and got the seedlings in the ground in mid-March.

Hello Roma! I hope we spend a wonderful, productive spring and summer together!

Hello Roma! I hope we spend a wonderful, productive spring and summer together!

That’s two months of hard work I left out there, exposed to the weather and the dangers of bunnies, gophers, snails and slugs. I remember one year I planted seedlings and my toddler followed behind me and dug up some of the plants. Another year I sprinkled bone meal in each of the holes to fertilize before I put in the tomato seedlings. I came out the next morning and the neighbor’s dogs had dug up every single one of my plants! This year, no toddler (my 4.5-year-old knows better than to mess with Mama’s plants) and no bone meal (and no dogs — the neighbor put up some lattice so the dogs can’t climb over the chain link fence). Today I went out and put little “collars” around each of the transplants in a feeble attempt to ward off the snails, slugs, and roly-poly bugs.

Do you build in cutback weeks during your training? I wouldn’t survive without them!

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In Bloom in the SoCal Garden in March

Posted in Family life, Gardening, tagged , , , , on March 4, 2013| 5 Comments »

As we approach the first day of spring, my garden in Southern California bursts with blossoms.

These delicate blossoms cover the entire nectarine tree this year. I'm hoping for a bountiful harvest come July!

These delicate blossoms cover the entire nectarine tree this year. I’m hoping for a bountiful harvest come July!

Two years ago in January we planted a Methley Japanese Plum tree at the request of my oldest daughter and the tree finally got its first blossoms this year:

The Methley Japanese Plum tree is self-pollinating and produces dark red, medium-sized plums.

The Methley Japanese Plum tree is self-pollinating and produces dark red, medium-sized plums.

The first of our four apple varieties is in bloom as well:

The Anna apple tree is a low-chill variety that thrives in sunny Southern California.

The Anna apple tree is a low-chill variety that thrives in sunny Southern California.

Much to my chagrin we do not have any oranges (what kind of Southern Californians are we?!) but we have lemon and lime trees. The lime blossoms smell heavenly right now:

This tiny lime tree produces a ton of limes. You can see how many blossoms crowd this one offshoot!

This tiny lime tree produces a ton of limes. You can see how many blossoms crowd this one offshoot!

My girls and I planted milkweed in hopes of attracting Monarch butterfly larvae. Many varieties of milkweed are toxic to vertebrate creatures and thus offer a natural protection to the caterpillars who ingest the toxins and make them taste bad to predators. In spite of the toxins, our first caterpillar (given to us by the garden center who sold us the plant) appears to have fallen victim to a bird.

Even if our milkweed plant never supports a Monarch butterfly population, I will still love it for its tiny yellow and orange blossoms.

Even if our milkweed plant never supports a Monarch butterfly population, I will still love it for its tiny yellow and orange blossoms.

Speaking of birds, this “bird” of paradise stands tall like a statue among the palm fronds:

Majestic "bird"

Majestic “bird”

The calla lily also reminds me of art — specifically of artist Georgia O’Keeffe:

The mesmerizing white spathe and yellow spadix of the calla lily bloom.

The mesmerizing white spathe and yellow spadix of the calla lily bloom.

The grapevines don’t have any blossoms yet but they are just starting to leaf out.

grapevines and palms

Nestled below the grapevine is our outdoor cat, Camo:

"I tolerate you and your camera only because you feed me."

“I tolerate you and your camera only because you feed me.”

Currently there is one fruit variety ready for harvesting — avocado!

I pick several of these every few days throughout late winter.

I pick several of these every few days throughout late winter.

Last but not least, my organic heirloom tomato seedlings are hardening off (gradually getting used to the outdoors in preparation for transplanting) on the patio:

I hope to put these in the ground soon. They're getting a bit leggy!

I hope to put these in the ground soon. They’re getting a bit leggy!

It’s a little ambitious to think I will have time to maintain a tomato garden and train for a marathon at the same time (and keep house and raise kids and blog and and and), but I’m giving it a go anyway!

Are you a gardener? Are you planning to grow anything this year?

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Low Chill Apple Varieties for Southern California

Posted in Family life, Nutrition, tagged , , , , , , on October 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

My kids and I love to pick apples in the fall. I find that children are far more likely to eat well if they are involved in the selection, growing, and/or harvesting of their own food. In keeping with that belief, one of the first things my husband and I did when we bought our house was to plant four apple trees to complement the existing avocado, nectarine, feijoa (pineapple guava), pomegranate, loquat, lemon and lime trees on our lot. Now I know what you’re thinking: apple trees in sunny SoCal? Yes, it’s true. You can grow apples even in the moderate climates found here in Los Angeles, Orange County and the rest of Southern California.

Did you know that there are over 8,000 apple varieties grown around the world, and several of those are “low-chill” varieties that can be grown in temperate Southern California? “Chill hours” is a term that refers to the number of yearly hours a climate has below 45° F (7° C). Most varieties require 500-1,000 chill hours, but there are low-chill varieties that can thrive with 500 or less. For greatest success in Southern California, the University of California Cooperative Extension has the following advice:

To ensure successful apple production in mild winter zones of Southern California, select from the following varieties that need less than 300 hr. of chilling: Beverly Hills, Gordon, Tropical Beauty, Anna, Dorsett Golden, and Ein Shemer. Gala has recently proven itself in Southern California except for the lowest chill areas near the coast. Recent U.C. variety evaluations in Irvine, CA determined that the best flavored apples were Fuji, Anna, and Gala. Gala was superb. The most vigorous growers were Pink Lady, Gala, and Jonagold.

Right now on my trees I have some gorgeous, tiny Galas:

Gala apple on the tree

One tiny Gala treasure

and big-but-not-so-pink Pink Ladies:

Pink Lady apple on the tree

Not-yet-blushing Pink Lady

Earlier in the year, we harvested the Annas and Dorsett Goldens. Tip: Most apples require cross-pollination from different varieties that flower at the same time. So, for best success, choose apple varieties that are low-chill and bloom at the same time, and plant them within 50 feet of each other. I always buy organic (and local when possible), and thus get my bare root fruit trees from Peaceful Valley (I have no affiliation with them, I just like ’em!)

While I was out looking at the trees, I took some other pictures in my yard. While we might not have traditional fall “color” in SoCal, we sure have some colorful beauties:

Southern California fall flowers

Clockwise from top: Bird of paradise, red hibiscus, white hibiscus, red “carnation” hibiscus, plumeria

Do you grow any of your own fruit? Have you had good luck growing apples? My own trees are not that big yet, but we’re getting more and more apples each year.

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