Making Dolmades

The grape vines are producing lots of leaves, many of which are rather tender just now. I also have a couple of small fennel bulbs and lots of top setting onions, scallions, leeks, and various herbs around. I decided to make vegetarian dolmades for an upcoming art reception at a non-profit art gallery, where I have a couple of pieces on display. I looked at several recipes, in my various cookbooks and online, and I had a couple in front of me for reference as I went. My practice run went well enough that we ate all of the dolmades and I decided to refine my process based on the first go-round.

Today I went out and picked many grape leaves, no smaller than the size of my hand, and only the tender ones. I also harvested the other things I mentioned above: fennel bulb, leeks, top-setting onions, scallions, mint, and parsley. I used a store-bought yellow onion (certified organic and grown in California) and I used Arborio rice (I do not grow rice in my garden, but live in a rice-growing region so it is a locally produced ingredient).

Fresh grape leaves, and other ingredients.

Bamboo steamer lined with fresh grape leaves.

Preparing the leek. Sliced down the middle eases rinsing of any dirt caught inside.

Chop chop chop.

Mixing leeks and rice.

More chopping.

Laying out the blanched grape leaves.

Filling

Folding

Rolling

Uncooked dolmades in the bamboo steamer lined with fresh grape leaves.

On the stove for approximately 45 min.

Cooked dolmades await.

Viola! They are steamed to perfection! Now they will cool and then wait in the fridge (where the flavors will develop overnight) until the reception tomorrow evening. Of course I had to sample one to make sure it was cooked!

Leaves through the frost

The lovely leaves of red romaine lettuce made it through the frost, totally unprotected. Seen above, with some leeks growing nearby.

The collards, below, seem happier than ever with the cool weather. The frost seems to have sweetened the flavor of the leaves some too.

Both plants provide delicious leaves to eat in the winter.

Saving Seed - Black Beans

During the cold weather we like to eat black beans in various recipes. Black bean chili with butternut squash is a staple winter-time meal for us. I've been buying organic black beans from the grocery store for years. I've grown plants for the past few years. This year I got a pretty good yield from a few plants I grew in the front yard. Some of the plants are still maturing but I cut some of them today and gathered a pile of seed pods. Once all the plants mature and the seed pods dry fully I'll thresh and winnow the seeds and maybe I'll get enough for one pot of chili.

Ripeness in Siberia

This tomato variety is called Siberia and has finally started ripening in the last week or so. These are small tomatoes with a nice, sharp tomato flavor (lots of acid). When my other tomato plant —called Cappuchino— starts to ripen, I'll be slicing these Siberias in half and drying them in the solar food dehydrator. Sun dried tomatoes are delicious.

Basket of produce

Today we picked some conadria figs, lemon cucumbers, a tomato, and yellow peaches.
Also pictured are some red torpedo onions and some other onions that have been curing in a warm, shady spot outside for several weeks.

Popping beans (aka Garbanzo beans)

I'm growing a type of garbanzo bean (aka chick pea), Cicer arietinum, that produces small brown seeds that are supposed to cook quickly in a small amount of oil and pop, but not like popcorn. Having a bean that cooks quickly saves time and energy. No long soaking required and long simmering times are not needed. I got my seeds from another member of Seed Savers Exchange and I'm growing those out to increase my stock. Most of the seeds I produce this year will go back into next year's crop, but I'm going to try popping a few, since I've never actually done it (only read about it).

I've never even grown garbanzo beans before. Only bought bags of the big pale seeds at the bulk section of the market. The plants very much resemble lentil plants, which I have grown. The pods hang under the foliage, so I've pulled this plant back to show the pods.

Cucurbitaceae - A good family

Went out looking at the cucumber and melon plants today.
I found fruits growing on a lemon cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plant, a white cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plant, and a watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) plant.

White cucumber

Watermelon

Lemon cucumber

Lawn transformation

Berm and basin by the road used to be lawn. I dug it up and planted it to shrubs and other various plants (see older post for more info). Late spring found the place overrun with gopher activity. They ate the roots of mature hollyhocks & lavateras (both in the mallow family), and then wrecked havoc by tunneling and disturbing various plants. For a while the area looked rather unattractive. I seeded with daikon radish, squash, sunflowers, melons, and other seeds. It took a while to recover, but now the area is high with sunflowers, daikons are growing as are other the other plants. It is lush and lovely with a variety of textures, colors, and plants.


The back side of the berm/basin is still lawn, but this trombetta squash is making a run for it.

Fig - Conadria

Ficus carica - edible fig - Conadria puts out an early (breba) crop and a late crop. The breba crop has been ripening over the last week or so, a few at a time. Sweet fresh figs, right from the tree, are one of my favorite things to eat.
Figs are drought tolerant after being established. Conadria starts out with green figs, then they start to droop a little, then more, and finally turn yellow. When the fig pulls easily from the tree they are ripe and sweet. Conadria can be dried too, but I haven't tried that yet.

Other fig varieties in the garden include: Verdal Longue, Celestial, Brown Turkey Improved, and Panache Tiger. They are all young trees and it looks like the Brown Turkey Improved will fruit in the summer, and possibly the Panache Tiger.

Siberia 8 days later

Eight days later the Siberia tomato has put on quite a bit of growth.