Vegetable variety

As the days and nights are cooling down, my vegetable garden is slowing down, at least in the tomato department. There are lots of green ones, so I'm hoping for another month of tomato-friendly weather!

Earlier in September, the horticultural society I belong to held our fall flower show. My entry, pictured at left, won in the vegetable category. It includes zucchini (the climbing 'Trombetta' and a yellow variety), eggplant, pole beans (rattlesnake and purple), ground cherries, garlic, arugula and tomatoes ('mortgage lifter' and 'bloody butcher'.) I was quite pleased to be able to come up with this kind of selection out of a rather tiny space.  Of course I'm already planning to make it even more productive next year...

I was also delighted to win 'best flower' for a spray of miniature roses.

I didn't do much in the design categories this time around, mostly due to lack of time. The entry I was happiest with was this arrangement of 'Limelight' hydrangeas in a bright blue watering can. It just looked happy to me!

 

 

 

The Zucchini Bread Recipe I Couldn't Find

My garden has entered that late summer stage where, as far as flowers go, it's all about the dahlias and the rudbeckias. Rudbeckia Triloba has self seeded in several places (not all of which are convenient, but I let it go anyway) and it certainly must be one of the cheeriest flowers on the planet.












And as far as the vegetable garden, it's all about the tomatoes (yum and yay!) and zucchini. This year I tried out 'Trombeta di Albenga' a climbing heirloom Italian variety from Renee's Garden. To say that it is a vigorous grower would be an understatement--I think the vine is somewhere between 12 and 15 metres long now. And the zucchini! Well, take a look...

'Trombetta'

If you grow the more conventional zucchinis (the smaller green or yellow ones) you might think I've left this on the vine far too long, but I consulted with a friend whose family has grown these, and she assures me that they are indeed supposed to be allowed to get this big. In fact, I received a little talking to when I picked one too young.



 




The first mature one that I grated (in order to bake with it) measured in at over 7 cups! Time to get baking!

So I went in search of a good zucchini bread recipe.

I tested several (on my coworkers and my husband ,and even on my husband's coworkers) and found that they were either too oily, or too cakey, or just not the right bread-like consistency I was going for.

I wanted something with a texture like banana bread, not coffee cake. So I took the closest recipe to that out of my collection and started playing...


...and I came up with something that's pretty much exactly what I had in mind (I love it when that happens! Too bad it doesn't occur more often.) If you're looking for something similar, I'll share it with you: 

Zucchini Orange Oat Bread

Makes 2 loaves

4 eggs

1 ½ cups sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 ½ cups orange juice

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour

½ cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

1 cup chopped nuts (preferably toasted)

Heat oven to 350’. Place a piece of parchment paper crossways in the bottom of each of two non-stick 8 x 4” loaf pans. 

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs until thick and lemon coloured; gradually beat in sugar. Add in oil, orange juice, vanilla extract, and zucchini. In separate bowl place all dry ingredients, combine with a whisk, and then stir by hand into wet mixture until everything is well mixed. 

Pour batter into pans.  Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. Use a flat spatula to release loaf from ends of pan; lift loaf out by lifting on edges of parchment paper. Store in a sealed container. Freezes well.

And if you have as much zucchini as I do...repeat all of the above!

Adventures in Seeds

It’s nice to finally have a winter where the garden has a decent blanket of snow to insulate it. My plants looked so exposed and cold without it.

My first attempt at serious indoor seed-starting is moving along. I have now assembled the light stand and have started to give some thought as to what I might plant. Growing my own flats of impatiens or other easily and cheaply available plants doesn’t seem like it would be worth the trouble so I’ve been on the hunt for unusual things I might have difficulty finding elsewhere.

Last fall I read an article on ground cherries (Physalis pruinosa), which one source describes as a “small orange fruit similar in size and shape to a cherry tomato. The fruit is covered in papery husk. Flavor is a pleasant, unique tomato /pineapple like blend. The ground cherry is very similar to the cape gooseberry, both having similar, but unique flavors.” The article said they grew very much like tomatoes but, unfortunately, were extremely hard to find—only one or two nurseries in North America carried them. Hmph. So when I stumbled on a package of ‘Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry’ seeds in the rack at Canadian Tire a few weeks ago I immediately grabbed them. They may end up being inedible but the birds and squirrels can have at them if we don’t like them. These plants need a really early start so I’ll probably get them going next month.

During gardener Ken Brown’s talk at our society last year he showed us slides of a climbing zucchini, tantalizing us with tales of massive zucchinis that were still tasty, and all on a climbing plant. Eureka! I listened carefully and took notes as he said the only place he’d found seeds was through reneesgarden.com and they didn’t seem to be in the store displays of that brand of seeds, but only by mail order. I bookmarked the website and figured I’d place an order later. Well, again, I lucked out and found these seeds on a rack at the shop in the Toronto Botanical Garden. The package recommends Climbing Italian Summer Squash (Trombetta di Albenga) be planted directly in the ground, but I may start them a week or two early, inside, to give them a fighting chance against my ravenous slugs.

I may pick up a package of yellow zucchini seeds. Firstly, because the “yellow zucchini” plants I purchased at Canadian Tire last year turned out to be green. And secondly, because I seem to have a problem growing enough zucchini. Yeah, I know everyone else plants one zucchini and ends up with carloads, but my garden is “blessed” with striped cucumber beetles, and they spread a virus that zaps my zucchinis before I get enough. I sprayed beneficial nematodes last fall, so maybe there’ll be less of the beetles, but I won’t know until later in the summer.

Also on my “to grow” list (which is way more fun that a “to do” list!) are Rattlesnake pole beans (they have patterned pods), Purple pole beans (they’re purple, as the name suggests), and “Amazon Jewel” Climbing Nasturtiums. The seed packet description made me buy the nasturtiums: “This spellbinding nasturtium offers unusual variegated vining foliage and brilliant spurred blossoms in exotic and unusual shades of pumpkin, painted peachy-rose, ruby, gold and pale lemon.” Spellbinding—how could I resist a description like that?

So that’s my little seed packet collection to date. Are you planning on growing anything from seed this year?