Did you know that you can plant spinach outside while there is still snow on the ground? In my world (central Alberta), that generally means mid April. In fact, the best time to plant spinach outside was yesterday; the next best time is tomorrow. Spinach THRIVES in Edmonton’s cool spring. 1st Spring, 2nd Spring, False Spring, Spring around the corner …. You name it, in the spring, spinach is your best friend. But when the weather gets hot, it’s done. It’ll bolt (go to seed) in a heartbeat.
Did you know that 100% of the vitamin C in “fresh” spinach is gone within 4 days of harvest? I can pretty much guarantee that the spinach we buy from the produce department of our local grocery stores was not harvested within the last 96 hours. And even if it was – are we really going to use it within hours of buying it?
I confess that when I learned that sad fact, it took the appeal out of so-called “fresh” (store-bought) spinach for me. But I love fresh spinach, in fact, I’m a huge advocate of it. I just want to make sure it’s FRESH. Only one way to do that, and that is to grow it myself. So, that is what I do.
WHEN?
The secret to growing great spinach is to remember that it likes cool weather. In central Alberta, if we plant it later in May, when we plant the rest of our garden, it’s just getting going by the time the days and nights are pretty warm. This may be good for you and me, but it’s not so good for spinach. Keep it cold. That means – APRIL planting! As soon as the sun has melted the snow in your predetermined spot and the soil is workable, get out there and plant your seeds. Four to six weeks BEFORE the last frost expected, typically anytime after the beginning of April to EARLY May. It’s okay if there is snow still around, and it’s okay if it snows right on top of your seeded area, even on top of your newly sprouted spinach plants. Spinach laughs at spring snows.
When you’re feeling sorry for yourself because the days are still cooler than you’d like, remind yourself THIS IS GOOD SPINACH WEATHER. Get OUT THERE and plant some!
WHERE?
Choose and area that receives lots of bright sunlight – 6-8 hours a day. Partial afternoon shade is alright.
in WHAT?
Spinach loves a rich, well-draining soil – with plenty of regular compost enhancement. Raised beds are perfect. The last thing your spinach seeds want is to sit in a soggy spring puddle of melted snow.
If you’re in a small space with little or no soil, no worries. Even a small balcony or patio space will help. Good size containers at least 12-18 inches across and at least 6-8 inches deep can easily hold 4 or 5 spinach plants. Galvanized pails, plastic pots, terracotta planters or fabric bags will all be comfortable homes as long as their drainage is good.
HOW?
Direct sow. If you’re in the country and have a big garden, go ahead and plant in rows 10 inches apart. I am in the city, and my growing space is considerably less; typically, my rows are 6 inches apart. For spinach, however, I usually just broadcast the seed in my growing area and let them grow up in a loose spinach forest. Cover with no more than ½ inch of soil.
Keep your seeds well-watered until they germinate, which usually takes less than a week, but can take a little longer in cooler temperatures or if you’re growing certain spinach varieties. Once your seedlings develop their first true leaves, you can start thinking about thinning your plants out so each plant is spaced about 6” from its neighbour.
Spinach enjoys regular and consistent watering and will sulk if it gets too dry. Water when the top inch is dry to the touch. Best to water at the bases and keep the leaves as dry as possible. Mulching with a few inches of organic mulch can slow evaporation and reduce the need to water. *I use chopped straw, but you can also use chopped leaves. Don’t use them both at the same time – best to do one or the other.
Since I don’t grow spinach once the weather starts to get hot, it’s a relatively short season. I don’t feel the need to fertilize as I top up my growing areas with compost every spring, and the breakdown of the mulch keeps the area well nourished. Keep your spinach patch well weeded – but again, if you’re mulching, that keeps the weeds at bay. Mulch will also help prevent issues like mildew because it keeps the moisture off the leaves.
Once the spinach is ready to start thinning, make sure you’re harvesting regularly. There is no reason you cannot have fresh spinach on the table every other day until the weather gets too warm and it begins to bolt. By continuing to harvest, you’ll be paying attention to your plants, continuously checking for weeds, pests or drought. General garden care is all they need. dryness. Once they begin to bolt, read the writing on the wall and let them go. You can now plant that same area with lettuce or flowers, or even some nice herbs like basil that will appreciate the summer heat.
WHY eat spinach? And why plant it in your garden?
Why should you want to plant spinach? Because it’s good for you, that’s why. And because spinach is the segway between winter and spring. It’s the first garden vegetable you’ll be harvesting. By the time they start to complain about the warm weather, you’ve got lettuce growing and amaranth and other leafy greens fully present and doing beautifully.
Spinach is a nutrient-dense leafy green that boosts eye health, lowers blood pressure, supports heart health and aids digestion. Packed with vitamins A, C, K, folate, fibre and iron. It helps protect your immune system, reduces inflammation and strengthens bones.
As a rich source of vitamin C, spinach is wonderful served fresh in a salad. But lightly cooking (which harms the vitamin C of course), increases the availability of other nutrients like iron, calcium and vitamin A. So use it a lot, in many different ways. Pairing it with healthy fats like olive oil or avocado oil improves the absorption of nutrients.
To harvest: I begin harvesting by gently pulling baby plants that are too close together. When they get a little bigger (about 3 or 4 weeks old), I start pinching off some of the larger leaves. By the time the plants are fully mature (6 to 8 weeks) they’ll begin to form a rosette shape in the center of the plant. You can continue to pinch off the bigger leaves, including a center stalk that might sprout up (its starting to bolt). Then you can pull the whole plant out.
To use: Fruits and vegetables begin to deteriorate within the first hour of harvest – in every way, including nutrition. Nutrient content rapidly declines right after picking, so snip off as much as you plan to use. Store anything you don’t eat in the fridge, but eat it as soon as possible. Make sure you’ve shaken all moisture from rinsing it off, and pat dry. Wrap in a paper towel and place in an air tight container.
To preserve:
Freezing: If you need to pick more than you can use, you can always freeze it. Before freezing, blanch or steam for two minutes in or over a pot of boiling water. Strain immediately and plunge the hot spinach into ice water to stop the cooking. Once cool, strain again, and squeeze as much moisture out as you can. You can press the brightly coloured steamed spinach into silicone muffin pans (holds about 1 cup) or silicone ice cube trays that hold ¼ cup. Lay on the level in your freezer for at least 4 hours. Once they have frozen, you can remove them from the trays and pop them into labelled plastic bags or containers. This makes the spinach easily accessible to throw into soups, or to lightly chop and throw into stir-fried vegetables, scrambled eggs or omelettes. Freezing is my preferred way to preserve whatever excess spinach I might have.
Canned Spinach: WHY? Of all the ways to preserve spinach, this would be the least healthy. Yes its convenient, but “how can it possibly taste good?” says the person who admittedly has no recollection of ever having tasted it. My dad used to buy canned spinach when I was a young child. Must have been some fond childhood memory of his. I remember him opening the can and eating it straight outta the can with a fork. Only once was it sufficiently compelling to me that I asked for a taste. Though I cannot remember what it tasted like, I do recall being profoundly disappointed, and I recall that I didn’t ask for another. Ever. When I was a child, there was no ‘fresh’ spinach on the grocery store shelves, and no frozen spinach either. But there was canned. The only other way was to grow it yourself, but I didn’t grow up in a gardening family, and I didn’t even know one could grow food.
“I’m strong to the finich, cause I eats my spinach. I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.”
A popular cartoon when I was very young was Popeye the Sailor Man, featuring a pipe-smoking, spinach-eating, unusually physically strong sailor man who always had to fight bad guys. When he was getting beaten, all he had to do was eat a can of spinach, and instantly he was strong as an ox, and no one could beat him. As an adult, I wrongly assumed that he was created as a marketing gimmick to get kids to eat their canned spinach, but I’ve since learned that the spinach came later, as some kind of explanation for his strength. His famous quote: “I’m strong to the “finich”, ’cause I eats me spinach.” Whether it was the original intention or not, the consumption of spinach is reported to have increased by a third after Popeye started eating canned spinach on TV in the 60’s. It certainly was enticing to me as a child, and had fresh or frozen spinach been available to the average household I might have learned to like it. As it was, I was in my twenties the first time I tasted fresh spinach. In a salad. In a restaurant. I was immediately converted, and it became a favourite dish in our house for many years.
For the record, canned spinach is NOT good for you, neither commercially canned nor home canned. At 70 minutes per pint, 90 minutes per quart under 11 pounds pressure, there is not enough nutrition left in the jar (or can) to justify the salt.
Freeze Drying: Once spinach-season is over, my preferred way to serve spinach to my family is freeze dried. The brand I used to buy was Thrive Life, which was the most nutritious way of eating spinach that didn’t come straight out of one’s own organic garden. The company stopped selling to individual homes in 2025, choosing instead to sell exclusively to big businesses. Huge loss to the public. Freeze dried spinach, if processed correctly and immediately after harvest, is the most nutritious, delicious and convenient way to eat spinach all year long. Second only to FRESH out of your backyard garden – of course.
Any which way you serve it, spinach is a great addition to your garden in the coolness of early spring – aka NOW! It has earned an honoured place in my garden.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, and any tips you might have for growing spinach.
Whether we live in an urban area, a rural community or remotely, we have an environmental responsibility to each other. John Donne’s assessment, “No man is an island“1 means we are all fundamentally interconnected and cannot thrive or survive in complete isolation. We rely on the support and companionship a community provides. But in the last generation or two, our awareness of the effect we have on our natural environment, both close at hand and globally, has become greater and more realistic. Individually, as a community and as a society, we impact the quality of the world we ALL live in.
Stewardship essentially means “the job of taking care of“. It implies that we are not “the owner”, but rather, the caretaker; in effect, we are a trustee making conscious, ethical choices and commitments that will benefit far more than simply ourselves and our own families. With that in mind, specifically addressing the environment, stewardship is the responsibility of planning, managing and protecting the resources that influence the world in which we live. It addresses having a voice in the planning and management of those resources. It also means being accountable and trying hard not to be part of the problem. It means on a personal level, doing our part to be part of the solution.
When we were young parents in the 80’s, Alberta experienced a severe economic downturn. We were so busy taking care of our young children and trying to make ends meet, that we knew little about what was going on in the financial world around us. We knew that mortgage rates were higher than they’d ever been before, but we didn’t know why. We paid 10.5% on our mortgage of a little OLD house we bought in 1975. We knew we loved the small town-ness of Calmar, and the elementary school our kids attended. But we also knew Dan travelled far for employment, and was away long hours. In 1984, Dan was laid off and struggled to find steady work. He took whatever odd jobs he could, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the house payments. Eventually, we realized that the only real path forward was for Dan to return to school, which meant moving back into the city. Like many Albertans that year, we lost our home.
We moved into subsidized housing in Edmonton and stepped into a new chapter – a temporary detour from our life plan. Dan began driving bus for Edmonton Transit while attending NAIT full time, working long, exhausting days in pursuit of something better.
It took a little attitude adjusting to get used to the higher density of our neighbours in a subsidized complex. We (mostly me), missed the small town atmosphere we had become accustomed to in the previous 5 years. But life is full of adjustments, and sometimes we have to bend a little. Though we had little means and worked hard every day, we had enough, and we were happy.
We planted flowers in our sunny front, as well as strawberries, herbs and pole beans strung to cover our southern window and shade our living room from the heat of the day. We planted vegetables in Dan’s mom’s nearby backyard garden. I came across a quote in those early months that helped me. “Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 2 – an 18th century German “Influencer“. I took it to heart. I understood it to mean that I had a responsibility to make the world a better place simply by caring for and beautifying the areas I have control over – my “front door step” as it were.
Spencer W. Kimball, another INFLUENCER who influenced me greatly in those early years, was more specific. “Even those residing in apartments or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters. . . . Make your garden neat and attractive, as well as productive. ”
With this philosophy in mind, personal environmental stewardship becomes more than an idea—it becomes a responsibility. It rests with each of us to protect and conserve natural resources through the choices we make every day.
“Doing our part” isn’t just a phrase; it’s a series of small, meaningful actions—conserving water and energy, reducing waste, choosing more sustainable ways to get around, and supporting the health of our local ecosystems. Individually, these efforts may seem modest, but together, they shape the kind of world we leave behind.
What can WE do at home that will affect the environment?
Drawing on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s philosophy, “Let everyone sweep in front of his own door…”, we are reminded that meaningful change begins with personal responsibility. The small, intentional steps we take each day may feel like minor inconveniences, but they matter.
Individually, they may seem insignificant; collectively, they have the power to create real, lasting change. How many of these action steps listed below are you already employing? Which ones can you improve on? Which ones are you willing to commit to?
Energy and Water Conservation:
Switch to energy-efficient LED light bulbs and energy-efficient appliances.
Use a clothesline in warm weather instead of a dryer.
Adjust our thermostats for heating and cooling to be more moderate. Put a sweater on, wear slippers.
Unplug electronics, computers, and chargers when not in use.
Take shorter showers and fix leaky faucets promptly.
Mulch in the garden to reduce the need for watering.
Waste Reduction and Management:
Make “Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without” your household motto. The chic new way of saying the same thing is: “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle“. Who knew thrift would ever be ‘cool’?
Reduce the things your household consumes that include excessive or single-use packaging.
Reuse shopping bags, water bottles and other materials. Compost food, garden and yard waste.
Recycle when appropriate.
Sustainable Transportation:
Walk, bike, use public transit or carpool when possible, instead of driving.
Sustainable Food Management:
Grow more of your own fruits and vegetables. If this is new to you, LEARN how, by taking classes and attending workshops in your community.
If your yard isn’t sufficient, join a community garden.
Learn how to preserve what you grow, to extend it into the cold months.
Reduce food waste by shopping in your fridge and freezer more and eating out less.
Compost kitchen scraps to use as natural soil builders and fertilizers.
Volunteer in your community garden, charitable organizations, and food bank.
Volunteer with your community league to protect natural areas, create pollinator parks, and encourage urban gardening and habitat restoration.
We all share a responsibility and an accountability to improve the places we call home. It begins right at our own front door—by caring for what we can see and influence—and then slowly extends outward.
We may find that our efforts inspire others to do the same, creating a quiet ripple of change. But even if they don’t, that isn’t the point. What matters is staying true to our own conscience, choosing each day not to be part of the problem, but part of the solution.
Stewardship plays a vital role in shaping sustainable relationships between people and nature—especially in rapidly growing urban landscapes like our own.
Reach out. Be a good neighbour. Take care of what you can see from your own front door, and then go a little further. Get involved. Volunteer. Support the good things happening around you.
Make the world a better place simply because you are in it. And above all, find joy in the doing. When you approach it with a willing heart, your attitude begins to shift. You find more reasons to smile, more moments to appreciate—and, in ways you might not expect, life becomes richer for it.
I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts.
Cindy
“No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend’s or if thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.” John Donne ↩︎
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German writer and natural philosopher, was born Aug. 28, 1749. Goethe is best known for his literary works, such as The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) and Faust (1808 and 1832). Goethe also saw himself as a Naturforscher, an investigator of nature. ↩︎
Also known as honey berries, haskaps are blue-purple berries that look similar to a blueberry or a saskatoon, except for their elongated – oblong shape. They are native to the northern boreal forests of the world. In the 1950’s Russia began cultivating them, and by the 1970’s Japan began commercially breeding the fruit. By the early 2000’s, the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon joined the party, and began their own research program, introducing haskaps to the prairie region.
The name Haskap comes from the Japanese name “hasukappu” which means “little present on the end of a branch”. You’ve gotta respect a name like that. It gets straight to the point. As a backyard fruit, Haskaps are gaining popularity fast in western Canada.
In Canada they are often called honey berries, but don’t let this fool you – they don’t taste like honey. When we first got them, I only knew them by that name, and expected that they must taste like honey – else why the name? Trickery! They are actually an edible member of the honeysuckle family – that’s where “honey berry” comes from, and if you’ve ever tasted a honeysuckle berry, you’ll identify slight hints of that taste. Warning: most honeysuckles have poisonous berries, so don’t get any bright ideas about eating THEM.
The names have become interchangeable. Don’t be confused: HONEY BERRIES and HASKAPS are both referring to the SAME berry.
berries in June, against the east wall. Some of these berries are fully ripe, some are still green.
In about the year 2010, we planted our first six haskap bushes. I should clarify that it was Dan who brought them home after reading some very compelling information. I hadn’t read the same reports, so I wasn’t much interested at the time. He planted them in one of our raised beds because we didn’t have anything else prepared, and they stayed there for a couple of years—until I banished them from my limited vegetable-growing space.
By then they had doubled in size and were attractive plants, but they still hadn’t produced any berries.
The only spot we had available was beside the house on the east side. It was an area that didn’t get much attention—pretty dry and rarely watered. It received the morning sun, but not much past noon. All in all, it was one of the most inhospitable spots in our yard.
However, a couple of years after transplanting them, we noticed dark blue, oblong berries growing on the bushes. The taste was quite tart, but not unpleasant. Unfortunately, the birds noticed them too.
That was the beginning of our love affair.
I am not very patient with plants that are persnickety. I don’t have the time or inclination to fuss over those that don’t want to grow here—those that sulk and pout if they don’t get enough to drink once in a while, or complain about the cold (sissies).
The way to my heart is through strength of character. And after four years of intermittent care in a less-than-desirable location, our haskaps showed their true colours. They appreciated their new home. They had adapted to their surroundings, like true native plants. They didn’t mind the winters, had no apparent health or insect problems, and required no pruning or special care. In short, they proved themselves stronger than whatever opposing forces might threaten them.
They wanted to stay. They loved me, and they wanted to be of service. They found my soft spot. If a food producing plant wants ‘that much’ to be my friend, and if the food they offer is nutritious – I’m all in. You could say I converted to haskap-ism.
The modern name “haskap” translates to “berry of long life and good vision”, also a great name that gets right to the point.
Gramma Great picking haskap berries the beginning of June.
While haskaps have grown wild since time immemorial, they only started being scientifically bred and cultivated in the 1950’s – (appropriately) in Siberia. Since then, Japan and Canada joined the party, and many commercial varieties popular today were developed right here in our own backyard, at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon – improving size and taste. “U of Sask” is renowned for global leadership in water security and agricultural sciences. Go Riders!
Why we should grow Haskaps
Haskaps are tremendously hardy, and ideal for cold-climate farming. They are hardy to Zone 2. Edmonton’s climate zone is 4a.
They are a ‘bush’, and require two or more plants for pollination.
They have early harvest times (starting in June), and you can plant different types to extend the harvest season.
They are considered a true SUPER FOOD, being extremely high in antioxidants. They are an excellent source of Vitamins A and C, fiber and potassium. See below for more nutritional information.
They have a unique oblong shape with a dark blue skin (like blueberries) and a deep crimson interior.
They have a tangy, complex flavour that is hard to describe. I’ve heard it described as a combination of blueberry, raspberry and black currant – I can’t explain it better than that, but I might add the word “pungent”.
They are not demanding, need little pruning, and can live up to 50 years. Well suited to an urban garden.
They are perfect for eating out of hand, baking with, making jams, syrups and sauces, and for juicing.
Nutrition:
This is where Haskaps rock. They are richer in antioxidants than blueberries — four times more than cultivated blueberries — and contain more vitamin C than many citrus fruits.
You may be familiar with the natural pigments called anthocyanins, which create the gorgeous bright red, purple, and blue colours in fruits, vegetables, and flowers. It won’t surprise you then, to learn that haskaps are especially rich in them. In plants, anthocyanins help provide protection from environmental stressors such as extreme weather and insect attack. Anthocyanins also provide health benefits to the humans eating haskaps – like reduced inflammation and cardiovascular protection.
They are the ultimate superfood, and we don’t have to import them from some tropical climate. They grow right here, in your own backyard!
life story of a haskap muffin
Eye Health
Haskaps have a higher anthocyanin content, than many other berries, specifically cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G). These compounds act as potent antioxidants that help protect eyes from oxidative damage. Anthocyanins are associated with enhanced night vision and improved circulation within the retinal capillaries. Regular consumption is believed to help fight against age-related macular degeneration and to prevent retinopathy in diabetic patients.
In short, Haskaps are doing everything in their power to earn a place in your yard and on your table.
the boys picking berries
* I am told that haskaps require two different varieties that bloom at the same time for pollination. I am not convinced that we have two or more different varieties among our six bushes. I’m pretty sure we didn’t know that when we bought them all those years ago. It seems information has evolved since then. We will buy a couple more plants this spring, and I will do my best to be certain they are different ‘enough’, while blooming at the same time. Even though our berries are growing fine, I am anxious to benefit even more with this new information.
Growing is an ongoing journey. I’ll share my progress here so stay tuned, but in the meantime, I’d love to hear your experience with growing or using Haskaps.
As a gardener I swore off growing cabbage over three decades before now. I had tried every organic way I read or hear about to control the infamous cabbage worms – with no success. Finding creepy worms in the cabbage we wanted to make into sauerkraut took the joy out of an entire season of growing. I’ll admit I’m squeamish, I don’t like worms – even the good kind. I don’t like bugs other than lady bugs and bees (and those only from a distance). I can’t handle slugs and snails. The list goes on. So why do I garden? Yeah, that’s sometimes a mystery even to me.
But we loved cabbage, and I kept thinking I was missing something critical. I continued searching for solutions and trying every organic trick I heard of – full of promises but never delivering. Finally one day, I gave up. I had given it my best shot, but decided it couldn’t be done without chemicals I had chosen not to use in our garden. “No more cruciferous vegetables in our garden!” It was a liberating feeling, free from disappointment, and I stuck to my guns for years. Until now … …
Thirty years later, my new friend Kim Ross convinced me to try again – using her hoop and netting system – organically. No bugs, no cabbage worms, no chemicals, . . . . hmmm. I thought I’d heard it all, but I hadn’t tried THIS. I had trusted her in the past – she steered me right in the No-Til approach to gardening. If I was ever going to believe anyone about cabbage – it was going to be her, because she had repeated success with it.
left: view from outside the netting, right side: view from the inside – images from Kim Ross’s garden
In 2025, I started cabbage plants by seed in March, and ordered some netting from her. Dan and I set out the plants and immediately covered them with the netting. The sun and rain came through the netting as promised, not a single fly or moth could find an opening. The cabbage grew big and beautiful. I was SOLD! I even had a couple broccoli plants in there. Equally beautiful. 100% pest free.
A whole new world opened up to me.
About five years before, I had made an exception to my rule for kale. I kept them separated, in different quadrants of the garden, prepared to dispose of any that became infested with some nameless pest. I didn’t care what the bug was – the plant would go into the garbage can in the alley the very minute I discovered the problem. My thinking was that by doing that, I’d protect any other kale plant from suffering the same fate. It worked for me the trial year, so I did it again. Kale are now a standard in my garden. I grow a few interspersed throughout the vegetable and flower gardens, always ready to sacrifice one or two as needed.
Tatsoi
Okay I confess, I was weakening – soon, I also allowed some Asian greens to join my party: Tatsoi and Bokchoi. And we were getting along just fine, but I drew the line at cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Those ugly worm memories were too strong to get rid of.
I had observed other gardeners use various ‘hacks’, including covering cabbages, and I watched with interest as the seasons progressed, but too often the end was disappointing, and I felt vindicated. Until Kim Ross bragged about her specific netting that is. I finally caved. Thankfully. And now I am the proud ‘grower of cabbage’.
This is good news for me, because cruciferous vegetables are low in calories and rich in vitamins and fiber. They’re delicious and nutritious. Cabbage is known for its dense heads that come in green, red or white, (I’ve only ever grown green), and is used fresh in salads and cooked dishes like cabbage rolls. In our house its often the base of stir fried vegetables as well as vegetable soup. And it is what makes sauerkraut – SAUERKRAUT. I simply wouldn’t want to do without cabbage.
Cabbage is a cold weather vegetable – so it can be planted earlier than most others. In our area, you can usually plant them mid April – getting a full month jump on most other vegetables. I’m not going to tell you about its usual enemies – because its a subject I care nothing about. I will forever more plant my cabbages in rows under the protective netting Kim Ross advocates, and because of that, I expect to never again meet cabbage moths, flies or caterpillars in any of my cruciferous plants. I am content to be the ridiculous, finicky, easily disgusted, “city person” that you can make fun of behind my back. In my mind that’s far more preferable to worms.
Planting and Soil
WHAT Try different types of cabbage seeds till you find your favourite. I don’t have a favourite yet. I liked what I grew last year, but I’m still gonna try others since I’m such a novice.
WHERE Selecting the best spot: Cabbage prefers well-drained, loamy soil, rich in compost or aged manure. And it need SUN. Full sun implies a minimum of 6-8 hours daily. You can’t fake the sun so this is very important. Choose a nice sunny spot. I am told that in southern climes you can plant cabbages in more shady areas to protect them from hot unyielding sun (remember they’re a cold weather crop), but I don’t live in a southern climate and where I live, full unfiltered sun is still important for cabbages to grow.
WHEN Start seeds indoors in late winter (February or March), for spring planting outdoors, or simply buy your plants from a garden center. No judging here. As soon as the days start warming up enough that the ground has thawed and dried enough to work in, set your plants out.
Don’t hesitate to plant a few different varieties of cabbage – paying attention to the length of time each is expected to take. This could help you harvest consecutively for several weeks. Some will have a suggested growing at 80 days. Some more, some less.
HOW I practise no-til gardening with a very deep layer of straw as mulch. Deep as in 6-8 inches of straw or more. Because mine is an urban garden, space is always an issue so we mow our straw to break it up a little. There are mixed reviews on this practise, some prefer to leave the long stalks, personally I find them more manageable in my smaller garden if we’ve lightly chopped them up with the lawn mower. My entire row is covered with straw – LOTS of it. In my paths I have a deep layer of wood chips, also for mulch but this mulch takes longer to break down than the straw, perfect for the pathways.
The straw and wood chip mulches (not mixed) allow the rain to go through, while reducing evaporation. This makes best use of our water.
It also prevents the sun from getting through to the ground which eliminates many of the weed seeds from being able to sprout and thrive.
The straw also begins decomposing where it touches the soil, and over the course of the season – that composting of the bottom layer will add to the richness of the soil.
Mark your row and decide exactly where you want each plant. (If you’ve got more seedlings than you can use, give some away.) Space out your stakes for the hoops, in even spaces from each other. Hammer them into the ground to keep them solid.
Allow plenty of room for all the outer cabbage leaves that accompany the actual cabbage – a minimum of 12 inches on either side of the cabbage itself, more depending on the type you’re growing. Pay attention to the recommended space written on the seed package. These outer leaves take up a lotta room but they’re important. They’re busy all season gathering sun, rain and nutrients for your plants.
netted row of cruciferous vegetables in our community garden 2025 2nd picture is my friend Sandi hold up three magnificent from her community garden plot. No bugs,
to PLANT Gently move the straw over and add plenty of nice, rich compost to the row. Set the small cabbage plants into the prepared ground and water well. Gently firm all the soil around the plant with your hands, and give them a nice thirst quenching drink of water.
Cabbages are heavy feeders, so make sure you add a generous amount of compost to the area reaching out at least a foot around the sealing.
When all done planting, tuck the straw around the plants, being careful NOT to allow the straw to touch them – you want air and a little space between the plant and the straw. Once the plants get strong and happy in their new neighbourhood, you can tuck the straw in closer.
Putting the netting on Attach the rubber hose / hoops to one stake and then pull the hose to the stake directly across from it. Once all stakes with hoops are attached, take your netting and gently pull it across all stakes, going down your entire row. Be sure to leave enough fabric to fasten down both ends, as well as fasten down the sides to give it a nice snug fit – like putting a bottom sheet on your bed.
That’s it. It really is that easy. You’re good to go.
WATER The straw mulch will restrict the need of LOTS of water being required all season long. Water generously in the beginning few weeks to help get roots established. Then water as needed throughout the rest of the season.
*Hint: whether water or rain, it will go through the netting just fine and will go through the straw mulch. As the season goes on, reduce the amount of watering you’re giving each plant. Once the cabbage head starts to form, too much moisture may cause the head to split. This doesn’t affect the taste or nutrition but it can look quite unsightly, and will affect the long term shelf life, as well as preventing you from using this particular cabbage from being cabbage rolls.
The big outer leaves gather the rain from which the plant drinks. In most cases, the rain will be sufficient IF you have a deep enough protective straw layer around your vegetables. You should rarely have to water your garden if using enough straw.
I hope you’ll give cabbage an honest try in your garden if you haven’t already, or haven’t for a long time. Prepare to be pleased.
*hint: if you EVER hear of Kim Ross speaking in your part of the world – attend. You’ll thank yourself many times over for having done so.
Beets quietly sit on the grocer’s shelf, a little shy, nothing really spectacular to look at. You may even walk right by without noticing them; admittedly they’re a little on the plain side, down to earth. You might have to look specifically for them as they’ll never jump out at you – they’re just not ‘that way’. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a big splashy display of beets at a grocery store. But if you did walk right by them, you’d be missing one of the nature’s most nutritious vegetables, one that deserves a special place on your plate.
A recent survey listed beets in the top two LEAST liked vegetables in North America, second only to turnips. That seems a little harsh to me. 26% of those surveyed said they disliked beets; even brussels sprouts scored higher.
Why do people dislike beets? Here are the top reasons given:
Lack of exposure or delayed introduction The first reason may simply be “lack of exposure”. Since beets are seldom on the menu at home, we’re not accustomed to them. Often times a lack of exposure to beets, especially in childhood, can lead to a long term suspicion of “different” and prevent some from trying them. Sometimes, a single negative experience can create a lasting aversion.
Many food preferences are established from continued exposure. In fact, statistics say that a ‘new’ food may have to be tried up to 30 times before one develops a taste for it.
Colour Admittedly, the colour of beets is highly unusual. Because it’s different, some may shy away from them, preferring the plain and usual colours of vegetables: green or orange. Truth is, we eat first with our eyes; to some, the vibrant colour is appealing, while to others it’s the opposite – too weird. An aversion to the colour may cause people to hesitate trying it.
The texture Some people dislike the texture of beets, especially when canned.
Taste Some people say that the taste of beets resembles ‘dirt’. I’ve thought of this as I eat them from time to time, and I suppose I can see their point – but I personally, like that earthy flavour.
Preparation time Okay, I admit it – beets take a little more time, a little more fuss, and a little more mess than simply peeling carrots. You have to be ‘invested’ in the idea of wanting to eat beets if you’re going to go to that much trouble to prepare them.
So, why we should TRY to like them?
Beets are a root vegetable known for their vibrant colour and earthy-sweet flavour. They are versatile and nutrient-dense, both the root and the green, leafy tops are eaten. They are considered a SUPERFOOD due to their rich nutritional profile.
Beets are high in natural nitrates, which the body converts to nitric oxide. This compound helps relax and widen blood vessels, which can significantly lower blood pressure. These nitrates can also improve blood flow and oxygen delivery, potentially enhancing stamina and exercise performance.
Beets are an excellent source of fiber, supporting digestive health and contributing to a feeling of fullness, which can aid in weight management. They contain unique plant compounds called betalains, which are powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents that protect cells from damage. And they are an excellent source of potassium, manganese, iron, folate (vitamin B9), vitamins A, C, K and E, as well as vitamin B6. The deep red colour is indicative of the high amount of antioxidants.
These are very compelling facts for me; high nutrition is always the key factor in encouraging me to want to include any food in my family’s diet.
So how best to introduce beets to your family? and to yourself if necessary?
Start early
Early experiences with nutritious foods and flavours will maximize the likelihood that children will choose them as they grow. The key is variety: variety of healthy vegetables, but also a variety of ways to serve them. A healthier life long diet is more likely if children are continually exposed to different fruits and vegetables and different ways of eating them.
I grew up on pickled beets, but I never much cared for them. They were on the table at Christmas time, and I dutifully took one as the plate was passed around, but I was always disappointed. My first exposure to beets served as a vegetable was at my Aunt Jolayne’s table when I was 11 years old. “What is this?” I asked my cousins. I loved them.
Interestingly, my mother grew up eating beets, with two rows in the garden being dedicated to them. But she rarely if ever put them on the table in my younger years. Why? In those days we lived on a military base in northern Alberta with a small grocery store, carrying limited items – especially produce. Fresh beets were most often not available to us. I suppose canned beets may have been, but if so, we never had any. Though both my parents grew up in large families, with large gardens, we never had one. In my teen years, my mother served beets from time to time. I have to assume that availability improved in the grocery store. (?)
Association
When foods are associated with good memories they are more likely to be appealing as time goes on. Even if the taste or texture was initially unappealing, taste preferences mature, so continued exposure is important.
* case in point: I grew up with canned cranberry sauce on my plate twice a year: Thanksgiving and Christmas. I tried it every year, but never liked it. I did however, have good memories of those special dinners. Uncharacteristically, Dan came into our marriage liking cranberry sauce, so I endeavoured to include homemade cranberry sauce in our traditional meals for his sake. As time went by, I developed a taste for it, and all my kids were raised on homemade cranberry sauce – more than twice a year. Owing to repeated exposure and it being associated with good memories of favourite meals, they all enjoy it, as do their own kids.
Beets can be prepared in many ways.
Boiled: When my mom did cook them, she boiled them unpeeled and then slipped the skins off in the sink, before cutting and serving. That is how I prepared them for most of my adult life. They were messy as heck, but worth it.
Roasted: When I discovered that I could roast beets unpeeled in a dutch oven, and then slip the peel off the way I always had, it became my preferred way. Less mess. But then I discovered taking that to the next level: peel, cut into wedges and roast in the oven with a little olive oil drizzled over top, and salt and pepper. Roast in a 350F oven for almost an hour (depending how big your pieces are), till fork tender.
Pickled: Many of us grew up with pickled beets on the Sunday table, and many of my friends really enjoy them. For me they’ve always be ‘okay’, but not tempting enough to walk across the street for. I’m pretty sure I’ve pickled a few batches in my early years, but there was never a compelling enough reason to do it regularly. So sorry, I’ve got nothing to offer in this area.
roasted beet salad with feta and toasted walnuts, served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Salads: When cooking beets, cook extra so you can have leftovers in the fridge. They’re great to eat cold or add to salads. A nice green salad topped with beets, feta cheese and toasted walnuts. Shred raw or cooked beets into your favourite coleslaw. Or just beets by themselves, served cold or at room temperature. Drizzle a light vinaigrette over top with a sprinkling of parsley.
Freezing: Once cooked, beets can be frozen. SO HANDY! Put into a ziplock freezer bag – dated and labeled. So handy! Simply thaw and add to your meal or favourite beet recipes. I’ve heard that you can freeze them raw, but I’ve never tried it. It doesn’t make sense to me.
You can puree your beets in the blender and then freeze in ice cube trays. Once frozen, pop them out of the trays and store in zip lock freezer bags, labeled and dated. Use them smoothies later, or in borscht.
Baking: Just like carrots, beets can be shredded and added to cakes, muffins, cookies – in fact use your carrot cake recipe with beets. I cook them first and then shred, as its much easier and less messy than shredding raw. Makes borscht available all year long.
Borscht: A whole subject of its own. Borscht is Beet Soup. That means its red. I’ve heard of green borscht but that is an abomination; it doesn’t deserved to be called “borscht”. It’s simply vegetable soup. The best borscht is probably made by your gramma, but if you’d like a recipe, try mine in this link1
Borscht is a necessary part of autumn in my house. It looks like, smells like and tastes like “autumn” to me. I look forward to it all year long.
Juicing: When you’re making carrot juice, add a couple of beets. Delicious! You can even freeze your beet juice.
Smoothies: If you don’t have a centrifugal juicer, throw a few beets into your blender with your morning smoothie.
Beet Greens: Don’t throw away the greens! They are rich in vitamins A, C, K and can be steamed like spinach or sauteed, or added to stir fried vegetables or soup, or used alone or in combination with other greens in Spanakopita.
Yellow Beets: I had never heard of yellow beets till my gardening friend Myrna introduced them to me. They are milder in flavour and easier to prepare without that red juice that gets everywhere and stains whatever it touches. I’ve roasted them without peeling, and they never disappoint.
Sometimes called Golden beets, they’re sweeter and have a less earthy flavour than their red cousins. That might make them more appealing to those who don’t care for red beets. They don’t stain, making them easier to prepare and use in dishes where you don’t want the colour transfer. Nutritionally, both types are very good for you. Red obviously contains more antioxidants, but yellow beets having more Vitamin A.
Yellow beets have a beautiful bright yellow colour when cooked. They can be eaten raw, roasted or boiled like the red ones.
Where do beets come from? The people of the ancient Mediterranean coastal areas began cultivating what was known as a sea beet for its leafy greens around 2000 BC. Around 200 AD the Romans began hybridizing them to focus on the large roots. These Roman-era beets came in both the red and white varieties, with the red ones being more popular. From there they were carried throughout Europe where they thrived in the cooler temperatures, gaining particular popularity in the northern Slavic countries and Scandinavia. To those countries they were a nutritional godsend, offering more vegetable variety to countries with short growing seasons. They made their way to North America with settlement of Europeans.
Growing Beets in central Alberta
Who? Anyone with a sunny patch of ground can grow beets. They are very forgiving.
What? There are many varieties of beets that do well in home gardens in our area, the most popular one being DETROIT DARK RED, an all-purpose heirloom variety with a sweet, deep red flesh. Matures in 50-80 days.
Where? Beets are considered a cool weather crop, and like carrots, they prefer a rich, loose and well drained soil. They want SUN, so give them space in a nice sunny spot. Just because a vegetable does well in cool weather does not mean it does well in a shady area. Not the same thing. Plant beet seeds about one inch apart and one inch deep in rows 10 inches apart near the end of April. If you are planting beets later than mid May, beet seeds can be soaked for 24 hours for faster germination.
When? Beets are a cool weather crop so they can be planted early in May or even late April if the spring is warm (in central Alberta).
Seeds germinate 5-15 days after seeding. The first half of the beet’s growing cycle consists of the leaves shooting up. The leaves help provide the necessary nutrients for the root to grow. In general, beets are a pretty low maintenance crop, but throughout the growing season weeding is important to ensure they get all the available nutrients.
They can be / and should be harvested almost the entire growing season, beginning with the young leaves. As they grow bigger, you can continue to harvest by thinning the row out, opening up space for the remaining beets to grow bigger. Beets are most tender when they are young, and can be harvested once they are 2.5 inches across. To check how large your beets are, gently remove the surface of the soil from around them. Beets can be left in the ground until late fall, handling frost and cold weather below 0 Celcius.
Why? Beets are naturally sustainable. They don’t require a lot of water, grow quickly, are super nutritious, and can be harvested for many weeks. They are perfectly suited to our climate, and soil type.
and How? Seeds should be 1/2 an inch deep. They should be rotated annually, ideally coming after nitrogen fixing crops like beans or peas.
Once the leaves are set, they gather nutrients that focus on the taproot. That is when they need to be thinned out. Pulling the leaves to eat at the beginning of summer, allows more room for the root to grow in size during the second half of the growing season. As you continue to thin, your goal is to have at least a 3-finger-span between each plant. Eating the greens, and then the tiny beets is the best of both worlds – harvesting from the beginning of July through the end of September.
Beets should be dry and soil-free before storage. Remove their tops and only store the healthiest ones. They should be stored in the fridge in loose plastic bags (high humidity) to prevent drying, evaporation, and wilting. Beets will keep up to 6 months under these storage conditions.
If you have a patch of sunny ground, I hope you’ll grow beets next gardening season. Reach out to a gardening community near you. It’s fun learning from each other and sharing successes and recipes. I’d love to hear your experiences, some favourite varieties and favourite ways of putting them on the table.
– recipe made with Carrot Pulp from juicing carrots – This recipe makes 18 muffins, but plan to double it so you can share with neighbours.
in these muffins I added some dehydrated blueberries for ‘raisins’
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together dry ingredients and set aside: 2 cups whole wheat flour OR half unbleached flour 1 cup sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt
beat3 eggs, add 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup oil (your choice) set aside * 1 cup raisins or chopped walnuts or combination (optional)
add to flour mixture: 2 cups grated carrots OR carrot pulp OR refreshed dehydrated carrots gently fold carrots into flour mixture till evenly coated If you’re adding raisins or nuts, right now would be a good time. Fold in. * I generally add at least another cup of carrot pulp. If I add two additional cups, I add another egg and another tablespoon of oil as well.
Pour wet ingredients into flour-carrot mixture and gently fold in to moisten completely. If the batter is too stiff and you feel the need to add a little more milk, go ahead. Don’t over stir.
Line muffin tins with paper liners – makes approximately 18 muffins. *tip: I lightly coat the muffin tin with oil and use the liners as well, as it makes it easier to peel off the liners later.
Bake 20-22 minutes at 350F. Test by gently touching the top of the muffin – when it bounces back to your finger, its done. I let the muffins sit on the top of the stove for about 5 minutes to cool slightly before removing them to place onto rack to finish cooling.
Here’s to APPLES! In all their glory. Red, yellow, green and everything in between. Sweet, tart, big, small. Here’s to apples one and all.
People have long understood that apples were “good for you” even before nutrition was understood. We’ve all heard the aphorism “an apple a day keeps the doctor away“. It appeared in print in America in 1913, one of the first public appeals targeting parents especially, correlating good health with eating ‘nutritiously’.
It likely originated from a similar proverb that first appeared in a Welsh publication in 1866. Though a different rhyming format, the message is the same: “Eat an apple on going to bed and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.”
Apples are probably the most well known fruit in the world. They are nutritious and delicious and grown in most parts of the world – especially the northern hemisphere. They originated in Central Asia – east of the Caspian Sea, and by the 1500’s apple seeds had made it to Europe. When Europeans began transoceanic travel, apples were carried to the Americas and dispersed throughout the world.
Currently, there are literally thousands of different kinds of apples – in every variety, colour and flavour; they’re eaten fresh, cooked into savoury dishes, made into desserts and drank as juices, ciders, wines and teas, and are even a popular vinegar. They are free of fat, cholesterol and sodium, a great source of dietary fibre and vitamins, and help lower blood sugar levels, benefitting heart health. Much of the apple’s fiber is found in its peel, so don’t peel your apples unless you have to.
I discovered a few years back that in most cases the apples on our supermarket shelves can be up to a year old. Whaaaaat!!! Sometimes well over a year old. In fact, the apples you’re buying this week are likely from the previous years’ harvest, having been kept in cold storage since last season – allowing us to have “fresh” apples year round. At the is risk of being too critical, there really is no other way if we want to eat apples all year long. Where did we think they came from anyway?
We know that apples in North America generally ripen between August and October. When we buy an apple in May, we’ve gotta know that the earliest it could have been picked was last fall. But to keep the steady supply that we’re used to, it was likely picked even before then.
Its a sign of our times that we want to have everything ALL the time. Well, there’s a cost to the sense of entitlement we’ve gotten used to.
If you want REALLY “Fresh” apples, plant an apple tree. If that’s not possible, get to know you’re neighbours – there are lots of backyard gardeners looking for people to share their apples. A few years before our own apple tree began producing, we had asked a neighbour down the alley if we could have some of theirs. At the time, they were putting them all to good use, but the time came that their health became an issue and they could no longer keep up. We connected, and we’re happy to pick the apples, leaving them a box for eating, and cleaning up the dead fall that attracts wasps. We can help each other out. If you don’t have such a neighbour, ask when you’re out on a walk and see an apple tree in need of attention. Or ask on Facebook if someone knows of someone who’d like their apples picked in return for sharing them. Or shop at Farmer’s Markets.
In central Alberta, some apples start ripening in August, and some don’t ripen till after Thanksgiving – with everything in between, so the harvests of homegrown apples are endless. Some apples are great for eating fresh, some are good baking apples, and still some are only good for making juice, but every edible apple has an important role to play in the gardener’s kitchen.
* Did you know?
Apples are actually BERRIES. Botanically, a berry is a fleshy fruit that develops from a single flower and contains two or more seeds. They are characterized by a soft, fleshy pulp and thin, outer skin – so with this definition, berries include bananas, grapes, tomatoes, pumpkins and watermelons. And interestingly, raspberries, black berries, strawberries and cherries – are not berries.
What to do with all those apples that are ready now, and needing to be taken care of?
Well for starters – Apple sauce . . . . . here are a whole lotta ideas of what you can do with fresh apples when they’re at their BEST.
Apple sauce is generally a purée made of apples. It can be made with peeled or unpeeled apples and can be spiced or sweetened. It is inexpensive and is widely popular in North America and some parts of Europe. Personally, I am not a fan of long cooked apple sauce that is pressed through a screen. I like the texture of apple pieces so I much prefer ‘fresh’ apple sauce, made on the spot with fresh apples softened over medium heat for less than 20 minutes. I am not opposed to canning it as a preservation method, but I want to see apple pieces.
Apple butter is a thick, smooth fruit spread made by slow cooking apples with sugar and spices till the apples caramelize, resulting in a concentrated, deeply flavoured preserve. Essentially it’s apple sauce taken to a whole new level. The name refers to its rich spreadable consistency – butter like, not because there’s any butter in it. It can be spread on toast like jam, used as a topping for pancakes, waffles and crepes – used as extra flavour when making muffins or cakes, or even served as a type of chutney with pork roast.
Your crock pot is the perfect way to make it; long a low is the key. Start with apples, add a little apple juice if desired, and sweeten to taste with brown sugar. We’re talking HOURS here, so adjust your thinking – expect it to take about 10 hours. Stir every once in a while to check consistency. Add the warming spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. My general rule of thumb is to use 1 part cinnamon : 1/2 part nutmeg : 1/4 part cloves. For instance: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves. *hint: cloves are pretty strong so if you’re not used to them, start with less and go from there. That’s why many recipes call for a ‘pinch’ of cloves. If I was starting with a LOT of apples, I’d start with 1 Tbsp cinnamon, 1 + 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 3/4 tsp cloves. Remember, a little cloves goes a long ways and you cannot take it out if you change your mind, so best to start with less if you’re not accustomed to the strong taste, and adjust later as you decide. You’ll have to do your own taste testing and adjusting since only you know the quantity of apples you’re cooking down. You’re the boss.
You’ll enjoy the aroma in the house as much as you’ll enjoy the finished product. As the liquid evaporates, you can decide when enough is enough. You can take the extra step of pureeing it in the blender for an extra smooth texture, or not. You’re in charge. If you choose to puree it, you might want to continue to cook it down a little longer afterward. You’re looking for a glossy dark spreadable consistency.
*hint: if you’re planning to puree in the blender at the end, no need to peel the apples. Just remove the stem, core and any damage spots that offend you.
Make a little or make a lot. Store a jar in the fridge for several weeks, or can it in small jars for extended shelf life or to give as gifts. Apple butter is a strong spread, so use small jars: 1/2 pints (250 ml). 10 minutes in a hot water bath is sufficient. That’s 10 minutes AFTER the hot water bath returns to a rolling boil remember. Click HERE for instruction on hot water bath canning.
Apple pie is the quintessential North American dessert. It is symbolic as a representation of ‘home’ – “as American as apple pie” is an appropriate saying. Not surprisingly, it originated in the 14th century in England, immigrating to North America when the English did. It is generally double crusted (pastry both above and below), and the upper crust may be solid or latticed. The ingredients are pretty basic: apples, sugar and cinnamon, but there are a hundred variations. The best apple pie is always the way your gramma used to make it, whatever that means to you.
In our house, we serve it with vanilla ice cream. Dan likes to eat it with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese melted on top, or better yet, a thin layer of sharp cheddar underneath the top crust. He also likes to cook one or two in the fall – in the smoker. For the smoked apple pie, we’ll often opt for a streusel toppling instead of a top crust.
Apple Crisp is apple pie the easier way – when you want a quick, but wonderful dessert. It’s pretty basic, hard to mess up, and like apple pie, the best apple crisp is what your gramma used to make. It’s the perfect dessert to make when you have a lotta apples on hand.
Filling: 6-10 nice sized fresh apples, peeled and chopped coarsely 2 Tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp lemon juice Topping: 1/2 cup cold butter diced into small cubes 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup old fashioned oats 3/4 cup unbleached flour 1 tsp cinnamon Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8×8 baking dish 1. In the prepared baking dish, add apples, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Stir to combine. 2. In mixing bowl, stir together topping ingredients except the butter. When all is thoroughly mixed add the butter and using a pastry cutter or two forks, or your hands, cut the butter into dry ingredients. When the butter is consistently about the size of peas, you’re done. Spread evenly on top of the apples, and gently pat it down. *hint: in our house, we make about 4 x this amount and refrigerate the remainder in a wide mouth jar. Dan likes to use it during the week – for a lotta things. 3. Bake about 45 minutes till golden brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Plan to serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Apple Crisp, Pear Crisp, Plum Crisp, Raspberry / Blueberry or Blackberry Crisp / Peach Crisp / Apricot Crisp / Rhubarb Crisp . . . . . you name the fruit – and you can probably make a great Crisp out of it.
Fruit CRISP / Fruit CRUMBLE / Fruit COBBLER – what are they? and what is the difference?
Crisp and Crumble are pretty much the same thing – except for the OATS. Crisp has oats in the streusel topping, Crumble does not. Every thing else is the same. Fruit Cobbler is similar, but the topping is a batter, like a sweet, richer biscuit dough. It is spooned over top the fruit mixture and it can be loose, allowing the fruit to bubble through, or it can be a complete cover. All are delicious and interchangeable depending on personal preference. Dan prefers Crisp, but sometimes its too much sugar for me, and I prefer a cobbler.
Apple pie cake So many different recipes for using apples in cake. I first tasted this cake pictured at a funeral in the fall. The woman who made it kindly passed the recipe on to me, and its become a favourite in our house. She called it apple pie cake because there’s a bottom and top layer with filling in the middle. Its a good name.
1 Tbsp cinnamon 1/3 cup brown sugar + 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter softened 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups unbleached flour (can substitute half for whole wheat flour) 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup milk 2 large apples peeled and diced (or some dried apples cut with scissors) 1 Tbsp melted butter Directions: preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a loaf pan by greasing or flouring or use parchment paper. 1. Combine cinnamon and 1/3 cup brown sugar and set aside 2. Using mixer, cream butter with remaining brown sugar and white sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix till smooth. 3. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together. Add to egg mixture alternately with milk, mixing with a spoon only till all is moistened. Batter will be quite stiff. 4. Spoon half the batter into the greased and floured loaf pan and spread it evenly. 5. Spread half the chopped apples over top the bottom layer of batter, then sprinkle half the cinnamon brown sugar mixture over top the apples. 6. Stir remaining apples gently into remaining batter. 7. Spoon apple batter over top the apple layer in the loaf pan. till completely covered. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar mixture over top. 8. Bake 40 minutes, then drizzle melted butter over the top, and continue baking another 10 minutes or so. Test by pressing centre of cake with your finger. When it bounces back, insert a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. 11. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan 15 minutes. Gently loosen edges with spatula and then gently slide out.
Apple Muffins a recipe taken from my well used and well loved recipe book FLAVORS OF HOME by my friend Patti Shenfield (a few slight adaptations to my preference) 4 cups peeled and diced apples 1 cup sugar 2 eggs lightly beaten 1/2 cup butter melted 2 tsp vanilla 2 cup unbleached flour (or substitute half for whole wheat flour) 2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp salt optional: 1 cup walnut pieces Directions: preheat oven to 350 F 1. In large mixing bowl stir together apples and sugar 2. In another bowl stir together eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Pour into apple-sugar mixture and combine . 3. In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add to apple-egg mixture and stir gently till moistened. Stir in nuts if using. Spoon batter into 18 greased muffin tins. Top with the following streusel topping if desired. Bake 15-20 minutes till bounces back from touch and toothpick comes out clean. Streusel Topping: Combine 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup chopped nuts, 3/4 tsp cinnamon Sprinkle over top each muffin before baking.
Apples in Salads 1. Toss diced apples with mixed greens, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, and a simple vinaigrette for a crisp and refreshing salad that’s perfect for any day.
2. A Waldorf salad is a fruit and nut salad generally made of celery, fresh apples, walnuts, and grapes, dressed in mayonnaise, and traditionally served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal. The apples, celery, and grapes can all be green, which harmonizes the color palette of the dish. Or brighten it up with beautiful red apples and red grapes.
3. Adding sliced or chopped apples to a coleslaw is wonderful! This one to the left is fresh cabbage and kale chopped, with chopped apples kept white with lime juice. The vinaigrette dressing was apple cider vinegar sweetened with a little honey and some light oil. I threw in some freeze dried cranberries for colour.
Apples for Breakfast
Apple Pancakes Chopped unpeeled apples tossed into pancake batter. Top with a big dollop of fresh apple sauce.
Apple Waffles Shredded apples in waffle batter, topped with fresh apple sauce.
– Apple Dumplings – Apple Fritters – Apple Cheesecake – Apple Jelly – Apple Turnovers – Apple Strudel – there are literally thousands of recipes for using fresh apples. Look around you, ask others what their favourite apple recipes are. Make this an APPLE AUTUMN.
But what about preserving the Excess?
What about those apples we cannot use IN the season? Typical ways to preserve are: freezing, canning, dehydrating and freeze drying. Many freeze in 4 cup amounts to use in apple pies later. Many make apple sauce to freeze or can.
When I had all five kids at home, I canned and dehydrated in a big way. But my needs are different these days. Nowadays I do most preserving in small batches – so much easier. I generally don’t freeze, but I’m not adverse to canning apples. If I do – I would more likely can them in pint jars: sliced with a light lemon syrup, and I would serve them for breakfast or on top of yogurt.
My preferred ways of preserving apples at this point in my life though, are juicing and dehydrating.
Apple Juice
I have a steam juicer that I wouldn’t want to be without. I use it every summer starting when the apples come on. Let’s face it, not all apples are great eating apples. We inherited some very old apple trees when we bought the house we currently live in. Years ago, the apple trees that grew in Edmonton didn’t even have names. They had numbers. The apples weren’t wonderful but its all we had at the time, and they were good for juicing. They started dripping from the tree mid August attracting the wasps. Annoying. Another tree in our yard – was ready to pick the end of August, so as a family activity on our around Labour Day, we picked what amounted to a few hundred pounds most years. We used them all for making juice. Click HERE for Late Summer Days Should Smell of Hot Apple Juice.
Some apples are not beautiful and not great to eat fresh – that’s okay. Juice them! Throw in the last of your cherries for something special.
Pure apple juice.
Apple Cider Vinegar You can make apple cider vinegar by covering apple scraps with water. Or you can simply make it with the juice or freshly pressed apple cider you already made. After a couple of weeks, the apple juice (or cider) you didn’t process (can), will begin to naturally ferment. This is not a bad thing. It just starts to get ‘fizzy’, which I love. Enjoy it. But don’t expect it to stay in that state forever, its on a ‘natural’ journey. The fizzy juice will get fizzier and fizzier, until it seems to have peaked, and then it ‘breaks’. Not so fizzy anymore, not so delicious. That’s okay. Its just preparing to turn into vinegar. Pour it into a clean glass jar, cover it with a breathable lid secured with an elastic band of the jar ring, and set it on the back of your counter where you won’t forget about it. Make a note of your ‘start date’.
Every day or two you will stir it to keep it aerated. This video below is EXCELLENT instruction on how to make your own apple cider vinegar using juice or apple scraps. I highly recommend it.
Dehydrating apple slices and apple leather.
dehydrated apple rings, peeled, cored and sliced. Some cinnamon sugar coated ones are hiding here and there for a special treat.
apple leather, rhubarb leather, raspberry, cherry, plum, peach . . . . Easy to do, great to have on hand
I really hope you’ll find some inspiration here to make the most of the apples you find this year. It’s one of those wonderful foods that WANT to grow in northern Alberta – it only makes sense to me that we find every way we can to benefit from them.
Beautiful. Sweet or tart. Crisp and crunchy. Nutritious and Delicious. Juicy and refreshing. Firm. Fresh. Fragrant. Easy to grow in Alberta. Great and easy snack food. Easy to incorporate into everyday meals and recipes. How does a food get better than that? I want to hear all about the ways you use fresh apples at your house.
Number 1 reason to grow anything for me, is always nutrition, number 2 reason is level of difficulty to grow, and my number 3 reason is its functionality. Win on all counts with squash, and the variation available is literally from A to Z: Acorn Squash to Zucchini. There are hundreds of types of squash, ranging from the classics like zucchini and pumpkin to the just plain weird. If you’re a relatively new gardener, I highly recommend sticking with some tried and true varieties like zucchini, spaghetti squash or butternut. Once you have some success, start to branch out trying to grow types you’ve never grown before.
There are two basic groups of squash: Summer and Winter. The difference essentially boils down to their harvest stage.
Summer squash can be planted directly outdoors by seed, although they’re often started a couple weeks ahead indoors. It grows in a cylinder type plant with the fruit coming out from the middle area. The fruit begins to develop within about 50 days after planting outdoors (so about mid July). The flavour and texture are mild, with both the flesh and the immature seeds eaten together. Beginner gardeners are sometimes tempted to let zucchini grow bigger, but they are much tastier and tender when picked young and immature – averaging 6 – 8 inches/15-20 centimetres long. And the more you pick when they’re young and tender, the more the plant will continue to produce. Letting one go for weeks to reach the size of a canoe, signals the plant to stop producing. So you may win the award for the biggest zucchini but you waste the entire season on something that didn’t even taste good. While young zucchini is often cooked, it is also often eaten raw, and it has a relatively short shelf life – best eaten within a week of picking.
Winter squash has hard, thick skin that are not eaten, and the flesh has a denser texture, with more distinct flavours between types. While all winter squash have unique tastes, I would describe the general flavour over all, as sweeter than summer squash, with a nutty hint. To me, they taste like ‘autumn’. The texture of the flesh is firm and very dense, sometimes to the point of being difficult to cut with a knife. The hard, thick skin that is also difficult to cut with a knife, protects the squash and gives it it’s extra long shelf life.
Is squash good for you? YES! Winter squash is packed with essential nutrients including vitamins A, B and C. The fiber helps with gut health, and other nutrients can contribute to a decreased risk of certain diseases and improved blood pressure.
Before planting: Choose a spot that gets LOTS of sun. Squash plants are heavy feeders so mix a generous amount of aged manure or compost into your planting area (roughly 50% of the existing soil).
It’s best to get a jump on the season by starting seedlings indoors, but beware: seedlings can get very big and lanky so don’t plant in the house before three weeks before you expect to plant outdoors. Starting squash from seed is easy. Make sure you have a warm spot set out – above 20 degrees C is ideal. Or set your tray on top of a heated matt. Using a soil-less seed starter (soil-less) mix, plant 1 or 2 seeds in each starter pot.
Keep the soil-less mix moist and the seeds will germinate in about a week. Give them as much light as possible and they’ll grow quickly. Once the seedlings are 2 weeks old transplant them into an all purpose plant soil. Keep in a very sunny window or under the lights and continue to keep moist. Squash roots are delicate and the plant will go into shock if they’re disturbed. Transplant very gently, so as not to disturb the roots.
TIP: Since winter squashes need up to 110 days to maturity, it is best that they are grown as transplants in our northern gardens. TIP: Leave a fan blowing on your young seedlings as they grow in the house to help to grow heartier plants and to reduce some seedling diseases. Research has shown that stem diameter can be increased by providing seedlings with constant air movement from an oscillating fan.
I’ve read recently that zucchini should do well in big containers. I’ve never tried that, but I am inclined to do so this upcoming growing season. I have a couple of big planters on my patio, and I have a trough in a nice sunny location. I love planting indeterminate tomatoes in it as it has an arbour, but in the interest of rotating crops, I’m always looking for an alternative. The advantages it seems, are that their roots stay warm and I can better control the watering. Taking the time to work some compost into the trough (or pot) would be important, as squash does best on organic material. Of course a layer of mulch on top is always recommended, whether in the garden or in a container.
Plant seedlings outside after all danger of frost is past, and the soil is warm. Ensure they have full sun. Plant in well-draining, compost-rich soil. Keep the soil consistently moist but not soggy, water regularly. To encourage fruit production, plant pollinator-attracting flowers like cosmos nearby to increase visits from bees and other insects.
For smaller squashes or in limited spaces, consider vertical gardening using an arbour or a string trellis. Winter squash will take more than their fair share of room in the garden, as they send out vines, so plan for that. For years I’ve had mine grow vertically, tying the vines to an arbour or trellis that is strong enough to hold heavy fruit. Growing vertically eliminates the need for a lotta yardage in your garden – perfect for a backyard garden.
*Did you know? the difference between a squash and a gourd is that only that the squash is edible and the gourd is pretty much decorative. The outer skin on the gourd is too thick to make it practical.
Caring for Squash in the Garden Watering: Provide at least one inch deep of water per week, especially during hot, dry periods. Fertilizing: Some recommend feeding squash plants with a balanced vegetable fertilizer or compost tea every few weeks, particularly as they’re fruiting. Personally, I’ve never done this as I start with a good compost base, but I’m thinking I should look into a supplement during the growing season. Pollination: Squash needs pollinators to produce fruit. Plant pollinator-attracting flowers like Salvia, Cosmos or Borage among your squash plants to increase visits from bees and other insects. Mulching: Apply a thick layer of mulch – I use straw – around the root zone to help conserve soil moisture.
TIP: Cutworm prevention – If you’ve had cutworm problems in the past, place a collar around your seedlings right after transplanting. Make collars out of toilet paper rolls, or any plastic container such as a yogurt container with the bottom removed. Insert the collar at least 5 cm / 2 inches in the ground to prevent cutworms from feeding on the stems of your seedlings.
High Yield and Productivity Summer squash plants are known for being substantial fruit producers, with one or two zucchini plants being capable of yielding enough to feed your household and share with friends and neighbors. Think of all the zucchini jokes you’ve heard. If you haven’t had that experience of squash producing abundantly, don’t despair. Simply try again. And again. If you’re not getting enough zucchini, you may have a poor pollination issue. Hand pollinating your female flowers, will help.
* Did you know? Squash are fruits – actually BERRIES. Botanically, a berry is a fleshy fruit that develops from a single flower and contains two or more seeds. It is characterized by a soft, fleshy pulp and thin, outer skin, so with this definition – berries include bananas, grapes, tomatoes, pumpkins and watermelons. Raspberries, black berries, strawberries and cherries, – are not.
A butternut squash plant should be able to yield 4 good sized fruits; other winter squash should yield similar amounts. Squash produce both male and female flowers on the same plant, but if the summer is too cool it may only produce males, which don’t yield fruit. Not much you can do about a cool summer. Female flowers have a distinct squash shaped bulge on its stem.
Remember that while it may be that zucchini is famous for producing an overabundance of fruit, if you don’t pick it continuously, instead leaving a few zucchinis to grow way too big, this will send a signal to the plant to stop producing. You’ll actually be sabotaging your own success.
TIP: Remember to record what and when you plant. It’s helpful to draw a map to help you track planting locations and success each year. This information is important to properly rotate your crops, but also critical to being able to learn from your experience. What went wrong? what did I do right?
Harvesting
Summer squash is picked when its still immature – while the skin is tender and smooth. Many believe the perfect eating size is 6-8 inches, and it is generally eaten without peeling. The most well known summer squash in Alberta is ZUCCHINI, but while all zucchini is summer squash, not all summer squash are ‘zucchini’.
Other varieties of summer squash are: crookneck squash, patty pan squash, and the doppelganger of zucchini – called ‘yellow’ squash, some call it yellow zucchini.
Winter squash is harvested fully mature, after a long growing season. The skin should be hard and not easily punctured with the thumb nail (don’t try too hard as that’s pretty counter productive). Cut the squash off the vine, leaving a generous portion of the stem attached. Harvest before a heavy frost, but most squash can handle a light frost well. Some say that a light frost increases the sugar content, but my counsel is to not to ‘play ‘chicken’ with the frost, you have too much to lose.
Winter squash has separate male and female flowers. The female flower requires pollen in order to produce fruit, but the pollen can come from other compatible species. Pollen is moved by insects such as honey bees, bumblebee, hoverflies, ants and others. If you’re wanting to protect a heritage seed source, then you will not want cross pollination between neighbouring plants. Here is an example of cross-pollination: If you grow acorn squash in the garden and it is pollinated by a nearby zucchini, this year’s fruit will still look like an acorn squash. But if you harvest the seed from that squash, the seed will contain genes from both the zucchini and the acorn squash. If that seed is grown next year, the resulting fruit will look very different – with a combination of characteristics of both parents. This is called a hybrid.
How to Save and Store Seeds: Harvest seeds from full-grown older squashes because their seeds will be fully mature. Carefully cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Wash seeds well in clear water to remove as much of the stringy flesh and slime as possible. Spread on a dish towel and allow to dry completely. Drying can take a week – depends on the humidity in the air.
* Saving squash seeds can be kinda tricky because there are always cross-pollinating with other nearby plants. See footnote 1 How do garden vegetables cross pollinate? see footnote. 2
Vegetable seeds can keep for several years if you store them properly. Seeds should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place. Moisture, heat and light can cause seeds to sprout or rot.
Storing winter squash
If the fruit is fully ripe, hard skinned and blemish free, you should be able to store it in slightly less than room temperature conditions for 3 – 5 months. Make sure there are NO injuries on the skin – as those will be the ‘spot’ where decay will begin.
Yes, I know, you have a friend who says they store their squash till the following summer. I too have such a friend. There will always be those who insist that’s a good thing. It’s not. We’re talking about FOOD, not building material. As with all our food, we should want to eat it when it’s still highly nutritious. The nutritional value, texture and flavour (there is an important correlation between texture, flavour and nutrition), will degrade over its storage life – so the older you stretch it, the less the quality – in every single way. Plan to use winter squash within 4 or 5 months from harvest for best taste, texture and nutrition. That brings you up to February. That’s considered a long time – so be reasonable.
How to save and store seeds:
Vegetable seeds can keep for several years if you store them properly. Seeds should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place. Moisture, heat and light can cause seeds to sprout or rot. Place your seeds in envelopes or make your own envelopes out of foil or waxed paper. Label with name of the seeds and the date (month and year) you harvested them.
* TIP: Once completely dry, place your envelope inside an airtight container.
Here’s an interesting tip I recently read about. To help keep sees dry, place a tablespoon of dry powdered milk in a paper towel or piece of cloth, secured with a twist tie of piece of string. The powdered milk they say, will absorb humidity and keep seeks dry inside an airtight container. I might give this a try this year. I’ll let you know what I think later.
Eating IN-the-season
If you know me at all, you know I’m all about eating IN THE SEASON. Enjoying fruits and vegetables while they are at their very best, “in-the-season” – means eating as much as possible IN the season in which they were harvested, providing their most nutritious offering. Ideally – fresh raspberries, cherries, peaches and watermelon early to mid summer. Fresh tomatoes from July through about November. Fresh apples and plums from mid August through the late fall. Cabbage in the fall and winter. Winter squash from late summer / early fall to January / February. For years, we’ve been trained by supermarkets to think we deserve to eat anything we want, any time of the year. But there is a price to that kind of entitlement. We don’t need to eat everything – ALL the time. We can do just fine without watermelon or FRESH tomatoes in the winter, and without squash in the spring. Personally, I have no desire to eat pumpkin pie in the spring. That just seems all kinds of wrong to me. Some things are meant to eat in the winter – like winter squash. With both summer and winter varieties of squash, we can enjoy a regular harvest of ‘zucchini’ throughout the warm months and store winter squash for months of delicious, healthy eating during the colder times when other vegetables are not so available.
What we cannot eat fresh IN-the-season, we preserve in the best ways available. This is “preserving the excess”.
PRESERVING
Storage Conditions: Proper long term food storage of winter squash is in a cool, dark, DRY place. This will help preserve the nutritional value too. Some winter squash can keep longer than others. For instance, pumpkins and hubbard squash can last longer than acorn squash. Generally ‘long term’ is considered anywhere from 2-4 months) Keep your squash in an area will you will see it often, and off the cement floor. If you tuck it away where you seldom see it, you’ll forget about it and at best, you’re apt to miss the signs of decline.
What are the signs of decline? A squash past its prime will begin to show signs of spoilage. You’ll see soft spots and perhaps mold on the stem. This simply means you’ve waited a little too long, so USE IT NOW! before its too late.
FREEZING: Squash doesn’t lend itself well to fresh freezing. I have found that the texture gets watery and very undesirable. But if you roast it or steam it in the oven it freezes very nicely.
method 1 – steaming: Cut winter squash into wedges, and place on baking dish cut side down. Pour about an inch of water in pan, and bake in 375 degrees F oven till fork tender. Depending on what kind of squash it is, expect it to take between 45 minutes to an hour. Its ready when tender to the fork. You may need to add a little more water from time to time. Allow to cool on counter till you can handle it, then scoop out of the shell and place into a freezer container. Label and date. Freeze up to 3 months.
method 2 – roasting: Cut squash into wedges, put on baking sheet, cut side up. Drizzle lightly with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and any preferred seasoning. Bake at 375 till charred, soft and tender to the fork. Allow to cool on counter, then remove the flesh from its shell (I use an ice cream scoop), and place into a freezer container. Label and date. Freeze up to 3 months.
method 3 – roasting: Peel squash and cut into cubes, place on baking sheet, lightly drizzle with oil and sprinkle seasonings. Toss to coat and bake in 375 F oven till fork tender. Cool, then place into freezer container. Label and date. Freeze up to 3 months.
Does it go bad? Sitting in the freezer longer than 3 months will decrease quality significantly. The longer its frozen, the poorer the quality. But no, it doesn’t “go bad”.
Eating winter squash
Winter squash can be roasted to use in salads or served directly on your plate. They can also be made into soups or stews. Who hasn’t tried pumpkin pie? Or pumpkin loaf (like banana loaf), or muffins. One of our favourite cookies in the fall is pumpkin cookies.
This time of year we in my house like pumpkin chowder, pumpkin scones, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin pie of course, pumpkin dip with gingersnaps, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin & meatballs over rice, . . . . If you haven’t found a way to enjoy squash – you couldn’t have tried very hard.
If you have a favourite recipe, please share it with me below in the comment area.
Making baby food with winter squash Baby food can be easily made at home. Doing so allows you to take advantage of fresh and seasonal, locally grown fruit or vegetables as well as control the ingredients. You can also adjust the food texture or consistency to whatever stage your baby is at. Winter squash is highly nutritious and its smooth texture makes it easy to dilute with water if necessary, or not if the baby is a little older. It is naturally sweet and appealing. As with all baby food, don’t prepare more than you need for a day.
My personal favourite winter squash for eating is Butternut. Hands down it beats all others in my opinion, so it’s no surprise that its most of what I cook. And my favourite way of preparing it is to ROAST it in the oven, usually in cubes. The variations are endless.
Roasted Butternut Squash in cubes
Ingredients: 1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes 2 Tablespoons olive oil + 1 more 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon black pepper. This may be a lotta pepper for you, so if you’re not a big fan of black pepper, go ahead and reduce by 1/2. * seasoning variations (see below for suggestions) * optional: fresh chopped rosemary – goes with most other flavours
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 2. Generously wipe two large baking sheets with up to a Tablespoon of olive oil in each pan. 3. Place the squash cubes in a large bowl. Drizzle with remaining olive oil, then sprinkle with salt & pepper and additional seasoning combination of your choice (see below). Toss to coat, then divide between the two baking sheets. Spread the cubes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. 4. Place the pans on two separate racks in your oven, for about 30 minutes, turning squash over with a spatula half way through, and rotating pans. 5. Continue baking the remaining 15 minutes or until the squash is tender to the fork. 6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh rosemary. Serve warm.
Roasted Butternut Squash in wedges
1 medium butternut squash (about 3 lb) 2 Tablespoons olive oil ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg ½ teaspoon fine sea salt ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves (plus a few more whole leaves to top) 2 Tablespoons coconut sugar 2 Tablespoons fresh walnuts
Directions: Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds with a spoon, and discard. Cut each half into 3 wedges. Toss the squash wedges with the oil, nutmeg, salt, pepper and sage (both chopped and whole) until well coated. Arrange flesh-side up on parchment-lined baking sheet with the sage leaves touching the wedges.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the flesh is easily pierced with a knife. Sprinkle coconut sugar and chopped walnuts over squash and return to the oven for another 8-10 minutes or until wedges are golden and caramelized around the edges and the walnuts are toasted.
Serve warm or even room temperature. I even like it straight outta the fridge.
seasoning suggestions for roasted squash:
* Cumin (my usual go to): 1 Tablespoon cumin powder, thyme and oregano: 1 T of each * Cinnamon Roasted: 1-2 T of pure maple syrup, 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder * Sage roasted: ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg. ½ teaspoon your salt of choice, ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper (or half that amount if you’re inclined to do so, 1 T dried sage leaves crumbled, 2 T coconut sugar, 2 T chopped walnuts
Curried Pumpkin Soup
– a hearty delicious way to use leftover jack-o-lanterns – in large sauce pan, sauté over medium heat till onions are translucent: 2 T butter 1 medium onion chopped 2 cloves garlic minced
Add: 6 cups peeled and cubed fresh pumpkin 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth 1 cup orange juice 2 T curry powder Bring to a slow boil and simmer till pumpkin is soft and tender. Puree in batches in blender, then add 1 cup sour cream Warm thoroughly but do not boil. Serve warm.
based on Patti Shenfield’s Pumpkin Chowder
4 cups cubed potatoes 2 medium carrots sliced 1 stalk celery chopped 1 onion diced 1/2 green pepper diced 2 cups chicken broth 1/4 cup butter 1/3 cup water 3 T flour 1 + 1/2 cup pumpkin puree OR a 398 ml can (14 oz) 1 + 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper 2 cups water + 1 cup whole milk grated cheddar cheese Directions with variation suggestions at the bottom: 1. In a heavy soup pot, combine potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, peppers in the chicken broth. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add butter. 2. Mix 1/3 cup water and 3 Tbsp flour till smooth and pour into the soup pot, stirring frequently. 3. Add pumpkin, salt, pepper, parsley, sugar and 2 cups water. Reduce heat and cook on low till vegetables are tender – about 30 minutes, stirring once in a while to prevent scorching. 4. Stir in milk. 5. Serve in bowls with garnish of grated cheddar and chopped parsley. May serve as is – a vegetable soup, or puree in blender before serving as a cream soup. Or puree a third of the soup, leaving the remaining chunks for texture. * I’ve added a quart of home canned tomatoes with 1/4 cup tomato paste – and the results were terrific. * I’ve used freeze dried potatoes, onions, celery, peppers and cheddar – even freeze dried butternut squash instead of onions.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
This kind of ‘recipe’ is using what you’ve got on hand. It may never be exactly the same twice, but it will always be delicious.
the ingredients I used in this batch: 1 butternut squash – washed, cut in half and cleaned out 2 onions 5 potatoes – cut in big chunks 1 large sweet potato – cut in big chunks 5 large carrots – cut in big chunks 3 peppers (red, yellow or orange) – cut in half (stem and seeds removed) whole head of garlic with top cut off, or in individual cloves 1 Tbsp each: cumin and paprika 1 tsp each: salt and back pepper 1/3 cup olive oil 1 quart vegetable broth 1 19 oz can coconut cream (560 ml)
Into a large baking dish, put: 1 butternut squash, cut side up, scored crisscross with a sharp knife. Add onions, potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers and garlic. Don’t bother peeling anything, just make sure they’re all clean. Drizzle with olive oil Add seasoning. Don’t be afraid to add your seasoning of choice. Try a teaspoon of cinnamon or ginger. Bake in 350 degree oven about an hour, till fork tender. Add a few minutes if necessary. When fork tender, remove from oven and allow to cool. Once the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the softened flesh with an ice cream scoop and put everything (in different stages) into a good strong blender, using vegetable broth as the liquid. Puree. The only peel you’re gonna discard is the squash and the garlice if you used the whole head. Pour each batch into a saucepan as it is done. Once all the vegetables are pureed, gently warm up over medium heat. Add any remaining vegetable broth, and as a last step, pour in coconut cream that has been stirred if necessary.
Serve with sourdough bread toasted. Enjoy.
Dorothy Beck’s Pumpkin Cookies
– I got this recipe in 1983 from my friend Dorothy Beck. It became a favourite in our house on chilly fall and winter school days. A nice soft tender cookie. Makes about 5 dozen. 1 cup shortening 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 2 cups cooked pumpkin 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 T cinnamon 4 + 1/2 cups flour 2 cups raisins * 1 cup chopped nuts – your choice, optional
Directions: Preheat oven 350 F. 1. In mixer, cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time till thoroughly mixed. 2. Add pumpkin and beat in completely. Set aside. 3. Sift together all dry ingredients and set aside. 4. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture one cup at a time, mixing well with a spoon. 5. Half way through flour addition, add raisins and nuts, stir in. 6. Finish adding flour. 7. Drop cookie dough by teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet – either greased or use parchment. 8. Bake in 350 degree oven till done. Probably 15-20 minutes? Check frequently. Cookies are done when they spring back to the touch. Cool slightly on pan, then using spatula, place them on a rack to cool completely while you re-use the pan to make more.
Patti Shenfield’s Pumpkin Loafbased on the recipe in her bookFLAVORS OF HOME
1/2 cup butter melted or your favourite cooking oil 1 cup pumpkin mash 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt 2 tsp vanilla 1 egg 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp of each: cinnamon and ginger + 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup chopped walnut Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 2. In small mixing bowl combine oil, pumpkin puree, sour cream, vanilla and egg. Beat until smooth. Set aside. 3. In large mixing bowl sift dry ingredients together, and make a well in the middle of it. 4. Add wet ingredients and still around till all is moistened. 5. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan. . 6. Bake 50-60 minutes or until a tookpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Can be used for muffins instead. of cake Can add chocolate chips.
Pumpkin Scones with Maple Syrup Glaze
3 cups unbleached flour 1 T baking powder 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon allspice 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger and nutmeg 3/4 teaspoon salt sift all the dry ingredients together
1 cup COLD butter cut up Using two forks or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the dry ingredients. Don’t get too carried away and make the pieces too small. Course like whole rolled oats is fine enough. Set aside.
mix liquid ingredients together (*hint: have them cold): 1 cup pumpkin puree 2 eggs 1/2 cup heavy cream OR kefir OR plain yogurt OR sour cream OR buttermilk 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla
Line a cookie sheet with parchment (a baker’s best friend). Preheat oven to 400 F. Put your rack in the centre of oven.
Pour liquid ingredients into the sifted dry ingredients, and gently mix by folding, only until all moistened. Don’t over stir. Sprinkle a little flour onto the counter and dump out the dough onto it. Gently mix with hands only until you’ve created a ball. Divide into two equal smaller balls and place on either end of your parchment covered cookie sheet. Gently pat down with the palm of your hand, to form a disk about 6 inches across. Cut each disk into 8 equal pieces, and gently separate so each piece is an inch or two apart.
Bake 18 – 20 minutes, starting to test after 15 minutes but gently tapping the scones with your finger. You’re looking for it to bounce back. When done, remove from oven and allow to cool on pan.
* While scones are cooling, prepare this delicious glaze: in small sauce pan over low heat, melt 2 Tablespoons butter. Add 1/3 cup maple syrup and mix thoroughly, removing from heat. Add 1 cup icing sugar. Mix thoroughly and drizzle over top baked scones.
I prepared my glaze too early and it was setting by the time I got a chance to use it. I couldn’t drizzle anymore, I had to spread it – which was okay too.
I hope you’ll fall in love with squash – especially winter squash. It’s the end of September as I write this, so in our house we’re just gearing up for cold weather recipes. I’d love to see some of your favourite recipes using all kinds of squash. Please share in the comments. I will continue to add new recipes as I find them in my own collection.
Warmly,
Cindy Suelzle
Footnotes:
Delicata, acorn and spaghetti are related closely enough to zucchini and pumpkin that they can cross pollinate: all are Cucurbita pepo. Winter squashes such as hubbard, kobacha, buttercup and turk’s turban belong to Cucurbita maxima and can cross pollinate one another. Butternut squash is Cucurbita moschata and does not cross-pollinate with the squashes listed above. Winter squash have separate male and female flowers. The female flower requires pollen in order to produce fruit, but the pollen can come from other compatible species. Pollen is moved by insects such as bees, bumblebee, hoverflies, ants and others. Here is an example of cross-pollination: If you grow acorn squash in the garden and it is pollinated by a nearby zucchini, this year’s fruit will still look like an acorn squash. But if you harvest the seed from that squash, the seed will contain genes from both the zucchini and the acorn squash. If that seed is grown next year, the resulting fruit will look very different – with a combination of characteristics of both parents. This is called a hybrid. ↩︎
Here is an example of cross-pollination: If you grow acorn squash in the garden and it is pollinated by a nearby zucchini, this year’s fruit will still look like an acorn squash. But if you harvest the seed from that squash, the seed will contain genes from both the zucchini and the acorn squash. If that seed is grown next year, the resulting fruit will look very different – with a combination of characteristics of both parents. This is called a hybrid. ↩︎
Winter squash have separate male and female flowers. The female flower requires pollen in order to produce fruit, but the pollen can come from other compatible species. Pollen is moved by insects such as bees, bumblebee, hoverflies, ants and others.
chutney, enchilada sauce, hoisin sauce, ketchup (x2), peanut sauce, pesto, plum sauce, sweet & salsa, sour sauce, teriyaki sauce – and a few bonus recipes
This post came from a bigger one called HOMEMADE MIXES that just kept growing and growing. At length I finally had to divide it into sections to keep it manageable. Hence – the separation – sorry about any inconvenience it may have caused in your searching.
HOMEMADE ENCHILADA SAUCE
Stir to combine these dry ingredients: 3 T flour 1 T chili powder 1 t cumin 1/2 t garlic powder 1/2 t crushed dried oregano leaves 1/4 t salt pinch cinnamon 3 T oil – your choice 2 T tomato powder 2 cups vegetable broth 1 T vinegar – your choice Directions: 1. Heat 3 Tablespoons of oil to sizzling temperature, add spice mix and stir to toast. 2. Whisk in 2 Tablespoons tomato powder, then slowly add 2 cup vegetable broth. 3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and gently simmer till thickened a bit. 4. Remove from heat, and stir in 1 Tablespoon vinegar. Let sit till ready to use, or cover and refrigerate.
HOISIN SAUCE
Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark, fragrant sauce commonly used in Chinese cooking, in a stir fry, or as dipping sauce for Asian dumplings. Lots of different recipes – give this one a try. 1/2 cup soy sauce 2 T dark molasses 2 T honey 1 T toasted sesame oil (darker and more flavourful than regular sesame oil) 2 T rice vinegar 1/4 cup peanut butter 3 cloves garlic finely minced 2 T sriracha sauce or your favourite hot chili sauce 1/2 t black pepper 1 T miso paste 1/4 cup water with 1 T cornstarch made into a slurry
Directions: In a small saucepan over medium high heat, whisk together everything except cornstarch slurry. When sauce is bubbling, whisk in cornstarch slurry continuing to stir and simmer till it begins to thicken. When it is the desired consistency, remove from heat. Makes almost 2 cups. Pour into a pint jar and allow to cool. STORE in fridge for 4-6 weeks. Use it to glaze salmon, ribs, chicken, shrimp – a little goes a long way as it is highly concentrated.
HOMEMADE KETCHUP – 2 variations
It’s ironic that in most cases, condiments were homemade at first, and then commercially reproduced to taste as close to homemade as possible. Not really possible – but we become so accustomed to the commercial variation that we now try to make the homemade version taste like IT. How backwards is that? The homemade version is all about natural flavours and ingredients. Super easy, and tastes so much better than commercial if FRESH tasting is important to you.
HOMEMADE KETCHUP #1 For when you have lots of FRESH Garden tomatoes that need to be used up.
– Fresh Tomatoes – salt and pepper – optional: fresh garden hot pepper – a little of your favourite vinegar: apple cider, red wine, even balsamic? Your choice. – Tomato Powder1 * some people might add a little sugar. I never have – it doesn’t appeal to me at all, but you do you.
Chop fresh garden tomatoes into a saucepan. Small, medium or large? Depends how many tomatoes you’re trying to use up. No need to peel tomatoes.
Put on medium low heat and bring to a boil. Be attentive at the beginning to prevent scorching; a lot of tomato juice will be created, but be sure your heat at the beginning isn’t too high. Stir frequently as it comes to a slow rolling boil.
At this point, you can cover the pot and let it gently simmer (just below the boiling point), for about an hour. Set the timer every 10 minutes to remind you to check on it, and give it a stir to prevent scorching.
To clarify: simmering is just below the boiling point. It uses moderate heat to soften foods slowly over time, before gradually adding seasonings and other ingredients.
After about an hour, you should notice that a lot of the tomato ‘water’ is evaporating and the sauce is thickening. Add a little salt. Since you’re working with an indefinite amount of tomatoes, I can’t tell you how much salt. Taste test. Start with 1/4 teaspoon and taste. Add 1/4 teaspoon at a time, taste testing as you go.
I really like what black pepper does to a savoury dish, so I add the same amount of pepper as I do salt. Once you’ve salted to your taste, add the pepper. Try adding equal amounts – you might be surprised at how much you’ll like it. I think black pepper is very under used in our culture.
If I have a nice garden pepper on the counter, I’ll chop it finely and add it. It adds some zing.
Add a little vinegar if you want. I generally choose a basil vinegar that I’ve made previously, but use what you have.
* Tomato Powder will thicken your ketchup adding beautiful colour, texture and that familiar tomato acid. Again, since you’re working with an indefinite amount of tomatoes to start with, it’s hard to say how much TOMATO POWDER you’ll want to use, but don’t over do it. Start with a tablespoon at a time, and stir to completely incorporate. Add another tablespoon and incorporate till you’re happy with the texture and taste.
That’s IT! You’re done. The way Tomato Ketchup was supposed to be.
HOMEMADE KETCHUP #2 For when you do not have fresh garden tomatoes – no worries, you’ve always got tomato powder.
1 c. *Tomato Powder2 3 1/2 c. water 1/3 c. honey or sugar – your choice 1/2 c. Cider Vinegar 2 tbsp. freeze dried chopped onions 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. garlic Powder 1/2 tsp. black Pepper 1/2 tsp. dry Mustard 1/8 tsp. ground Allspice
directions: In a medium sized pot combine all the ingredients. Stir to mix and bring to a boil, continuing to stir frequently. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring frequently till ketchup reaches the perfect consistency for you. Expect that to be about 45 minutes – depending on thickness desired. Pour into glass jar and refrigerate. , continuing to stir frequently. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring frequently till ketchup reaches the perfect consistency for you. Expect that to be about 45 minutes – depending on thickness desired. Pour into glass jar and refrigerate. Mine yielded 2 pint jars. Best to let it sit for a day to allow flavours to fully blend.
STORE 2 – 3 weeks in the fridge. Use as you would normally use regular ketchup.
PLUM SAUCE – 2 variations
A sweet, tangy, and utterly delicious savoury sauce – bursting with flavour. It doesn’t matter what kind of plum you use. They’re all going to make it a little bit different, but that makes it unique to the year. Blue plums, black plums, red plums or even green plums – or a combination of some. Whatever you have on hand. *Try adding some rhubarb if you have some left at the end of the season. How to use plum sauce in? and in what dishes? As a dip: Typically plum sauce is used as a dipping sauce for Asian egg rolls or spring rolls or Asian dumplings. A sweet and tangy contrast to the crispness of an egg roll. But don’t stop there! Meat: Use as a glaze when grilling chicken or pork; or on the table as a sauce to serve along side of pork roast. Crackers: spoon a dollop on to of cream cheese and crackers. Or on a charcutere’ platter. Vegetables: Drizzle over your roasted vegetables, or make a quick homemade salad dressing: start with your favourite oil and vinegar (try balsamic), with a little dijon mustard. Stir in a tablespoon or two plum sauce. Stir Fried Meal: Add a few spoons full to your stir-fries right at the very end. Cranberry sauce substitute: Use as you would a cranberry sauce with chicken or turkey. Use as a spread the next time you make turkey sandwiches.
Plum Sauce #1 – Simple
5 cups pitted and chopped fresh plums – or 4 cups if you’re chopping them in smaller pieces (dicing) – about 1.5 – 2 pounds 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 T soy sauce 2 cloves garlic minced 1-2 T grated fresh ginger or 1-2 teaspoons ginger powder 1/2 t red pepper flakes (optional) * try switching out 1/4 – 1/3 of the plums for an equal amount of rhubarb – for a tangy twist
directions: 1. Put all together in medium sauce pan, bring to boil over medium heat. 2. Reduce heat to low and simmer till sauce is thickened slightly – could be up to an hour. 3. Mash with a potato masher, or if you want a smooth consistency, puree with a blender. Personally I prefer more texture so I don’t puree, but go ahead and do you.
Remember this is a ‘sauce’, not a jam. The thickness you’re looking for is a little runnier than jam; something that can be spooned or even poured. That’s it! It’s so easy its almost embarrassing. But its SO good. The vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar are such a sweet and yet tangy combination. The perfect compliment to a tangy plum flavour. This will be good in your fridge for a week or so. But if you’ve got a lotta plums, double or triple it and process in pint (500 ml) or 1/2 pint (250 ml) jars in a hot water bath. Process for 15 minutes once the hot water bath returns to a rolling boil. Label with date and description and store up to two years.
*tip – this amount will yield about 3 250 ml jars / 1 cup / half pint. 10 cups chopped plums yielded 3 500 ml jars / 3 pints OR 6 250 ml / 1 cup / 1/2 pint for more direction on home canning click HERE
Plum Sauce #2 – more robust
16-18 cups (about 4 pounds plums pitted and chopped) 1 medium onion, diced 3 large garlic cloves minced 1.5 cups brown sugar 1.5 cups apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup shredded fresh ginger OR 1 Tablespoon powdered ginger 1 Tablespoon ground mustard 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1+ Tablespoon red pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon cloves
directions: 1. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. 2. Reduce heat to medium low and gently simmer 60-90 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
I am usually making preserves according to the produce I have on hand that I want to find good use for. It’s a rare time I buy an ingredient for a recipe. I choose recipes to match what I HAVE on hand. That’s the whole point – to use what I have. Q: So what if you don’t have enough plums to make this recipe? A: be flexible. What do you have that will compliment the flavour and profile? In the season of plums, I generally also have apples, and the last of the rhubarb left. Perfect! Both are excellent companions for the taste of a plum sauce. So here’s a suggestion variation: Substitute half of the plums for apples and/or rhubarb. Will it taste exactly the same as plum sauce? Of course not. But will it be good and will you like it? Why wouldn’t you? Open your mind – be flexible and be creative. And yes, it taste’s great.
PEANUT SAUCE (for Spring Rolls)
*I use this sauce to pour over or as a dip for Spring Rolls, but the truth is – it’s so yummy I may or may not eat it by the spoonful. 2/3 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup T rice vinegar 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup liquid honey 2 T sesame oil 4 cloves garlic minced 1/4 – 1/3 cup water (start with 1/4 cup and add a little more if needed Whisk together to make creamy but dip-able sauce. Can store in fridge for a week or two.
*BONUS – Spring Roll recipe Spring rolls can seem intimidating, but you’ll get the hang of it quickly and be a pro in no time. It’s kinda like folding a burrito but tighter. The first few won’t be perfect, but don’t stress out – you’re just gonna eat ’em anyway.
filling: thin rice noodles, finely shredded: lettuce, cabbage, carrot; long thin cucumber wedges; chopped green onions, fresh cilantro and fresh mint. Small amount of sesame oil and little bit of salt. 1. Cook noodles in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Test. DON’T over-cook. 2. Drain and rinse immediately in cold water. Drain again. OR 1. Soak them in warm water (not cold, not hot) for 10-15 minutes till softened. 2. Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again. T 3. Drizzle 2 T sesame oil over top and 1 t. salt to keep from sticking together. Set aside. *hint: have everything ready to go so that you can focus on the rice paper and folding.
wrapper: Rice Paper Sheets building the rolls 1. lay a round rice paper sheet one at a time in a pie plate of cool water – 10-20 seconds till pliable. Lay on a clean tea towel and place a few pieces of lettuce about one-third from the bottom of the wrapper. You want to leave a couple inches open on the two sides for wrapping. 2. Add remaining ingredients in whatever order you prefer, but I like to do – lettuce, cabbage, carrots, green onions, topped with a couple wedges of cucumber and then sprinkled with the chopped herbs . Leave the top third of the wrapper open for wrapping. 3. Gently pull the bottom of the wrapper up and over the filling. Try to keep the filling as tight as you can as you roll upwards, until the filling is enveloped. Pull the sides over to enclose the filling completely. Continue rolling till fully wrapped.
The more you do, the tighter they’ll get. You may have to eat the first one to get rid of the evidence of it.
PESTO
I am a huge fan of PESTO – in fact, many PESTOS. I grow a lotta Basil for the sake of Pesto, but don’t limit yourself to just basil. You can use many different green herbs, or a combination of some of them. A whole new world of pesto awaits. I have a few different Pesto recipes elsewhere on this site, so instead of pasting them all here – I’m including the links. basil pesto oregano pesto nasturtium pesto radish green pesto I hope you’ll go check them out, and even make up a batch or two in the summer when all is fresh and green.
SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
Sweet and sour sauce is a exactly what its name suggests: sweet AND sour. Many people use a splash of red food colouring to give it it’s signature red colour. Don’t do that! Use my secret ingredient to get a full bodied flavour, and an all natural, gorgeous red colour.
I grew up on sweet and sour meatballs or short ribs – complete with food colouring. It was the way of things in those day. You could go out and buy a bottle if you crave that food colouring, but it’s SO easy to whip up your own. It tastes better. is free of all those nasty “unpronounce-ables”, and it’s cheap. Great to use as a Dipping sauce for ribs, egg rolls, and dumplings. Great to serve your meatballs in, or to even add to your pulled pork dish. Great to use in your stir fried vegetables and chicken over rice. Great to use as a glaze when grilling chicken pieces, hamburgers or porkchops. Great to even use as a pizza sauce for an Asian twist. Be creative.
In small saucepan, dissolve 1/2 cup brown sugar in 1 cup pineapple juice Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Create a cornstarch slurry with 1 1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons water. Pour into the pineapple juice and stir while it simmers and begins to thicken. Add 3 Tablespoons of *TOMATO POWDER* and continue stirring to completely dissolve. Add 2 Tablespoons soy sauce and 1/2 cup rice vinegar, continuing to stir. When its the perfect consistency, turn the heat off and serve!
Pour into a pint jar and allow to cool. Makes almost 2 cups. STORE in fridge for 2-4 weeks.
TERIYAKI SAUCE
1 cup water 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 T honey 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger 1 garlic clove minced OR 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 T cornstarch mixed into a slurry with 1/4 cup cold water and set aside
Combine everything except cornstarch slurry into a small sauce pan. Bring to medium heat and whisk ingredients till thoroughly combined. Slowly add cornstarch slurry whisking constantly till its thickened to desired consistency. Use as you would any other teriyaki sauce. Make ahead and Store in a glass jar in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.
SALSAS
a Salsa is any of a variety of sauces used as condiments for tacos and other Mexican origin dishes. They can be raw or cooked, used as sauces or dips, and are generally served at room temperature. A similar condiment with an Indian flare is chutney.
MANGO CUCUMBER SALSA with LIME 2 cups freeze dried mangoes OR fresh mango diced 2 cups freeze dried cucumbers OR fresh cucumber diced 1 cup freeze dried red bell peppers OR fresh pepper diced 1/4 cup freeze dried chopped onions OR 1/2 medium red onion diced finely 1/4 cup vegetable oil – your choice 1/2 cup water if using freeze dried OR 1/4 cup water if using fresh 1 T Lime powder OR juice of one lime (don’t be afraid to add more LIME) up to 2 T honey 1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro
Combine all produce in a bowl.
Prepare dressing on the side and drizzle over top.
Let sit for a few minute before serving.
* When you’re using freeze dried ingredients you can prepare this ahead in a jar, all except for the liquids. When you’re ready, just pour into a bowl, add water and oil, stir to combine and presto! You’re done. You’ll have to forego the fresh cilantro, or add it later. This is wonderful for me because I can have ‘fresher-than-fresh’ mango salsa any time it appeals to me. You can store this freeze dried ‘mix’ in a sealed jar for 6 months to a year. Once it is prepared, you can keep it in the fridge for up to a week.
FRESH RHUBARB SUMMER SALSA click link for recipe I call this ‘summer salsa’ because of the many other ingredients that are plentiful in a summer garden, but not so plentiful in the spring as early as rhubarb is ready. This combination is terrific, delicious all by itself. Who said rhubarb has to be sweet? When you use it as a vegetable, you’re a little more willing to use less sugar. Only 1 tablespoon of brown sugar with over 8 cups vegetables.
FRESH RHUBARB CHUTNEY click link for recipe I love the sweet spicy smell that fills the house with this gorgeous spiced rhubarb chutney. So delicious, you can eat it straight. Personally I wouldn’t can it, simply because I’d prefer not to cook it that long, but you can always freeze the fresh rhubarb so that you can make this a few times in the off season. So quick and easy, and the bonus is that your house will smell GREAT! Lovely served over pork roast, beef or chicken– or wherever you use chutney. Enjoy!
Have fun with all these different sauces. Be flexible and be creative. I hope you’ll share your successes with me below.
Tomato Powder is an important part of my kitchen staples. I use it often. You can buy it, or make it by dehydrating your garden tomatoes, then powdering them in the blender. When I make my own, I try to be careful not to powder too finely, as I prefer a more ‘flakey’ texture. *Tomato powder WILL absorb moisture from the air and compress in time. No worries, just use a fork to loosen it and use it anyway. It’s still excellent quality, just responding to the moisture. Keep a tight lid on it to prevent that as much as possible. ↩︎
Learn how to make and use TOMATO POWDER. Recipes and suggestions. Click HERE
Every plant wants to go to seed; that’s what their designed to do. Plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and squash have their seeds inside. Plants like greens will bolt, forming seed heads toward the end of the season. Peas and beans (legumes) produce pods with seeds inside. Annual flowers form seed heads that are easy to gather. Every plant has its unique way to reproduce. They are gifts from nature, and we can afford to be choosy about picking only the best.
Saving seeds is not difficult and there really is no mystery involved. There are a few basic rules to follow, but they all make perfect sense, so once you understand them – you’re off to the races. But first . . . . WHY would you want to? Well, I don’t know why you’d want to, but I know there are some reasons that compel me to want to save seeds.
7 reasons I save my own garden seeds
SELF RELIANCE I love that I’m not dependent on stores providing for all my needs. If COVID taught us anything it was that supply chains are fragile. I still buy seeds – don’t get me wrong, but there is something about being independent in as many areas as possible that speaks to me. Self reliance is a major factor in most decisions I make. I was raised by a dad who always had a ‘backup’, and often times he had a backup for his backup – so it’s kinda ingrained in me. I know now that I have enough seeds to plant my garden next year. That’s not to say I might choose to buy something specific next spring, but I don’t need to.
COST SAVINGS It saves me a lotta money. It’s hard to beat ‘FREE’.
PRESERVING HEIRLOOM VARIETIES Some plants I grow, I couldn’t buy the seed if I wanted. The only way for me to grow my Romanian Giant tomatoes for example, is if I save my own seed. And I love these particular type of tomatoes. I’ve grown them for over a decade – they’re my tomato of choice. I got my first plants from my sister Pearl-Ann, which I loved and saved the seed from. Since then I’ve shared them with countless other gardeners. (see more about HEIRLOOM SEEDS below)
GREATER CONTROL OVER CHARACTERISTICSYOU LIKE By saving seeds, I can select good strong plants with features and traits I prefer in appearance and size, as well as colour, flavour, even resistance to disease. Over time these characteristics can become stronger, allowing me to fine tune exact traits I prefer.
ADAPTATION Similar to control over the characteristics, seeds saved from my own garden are better adapted to the conditions of my location: the climate, the soil, even the pests. Over time, these seeds will produce plants that are more resilient to the negatives and more responsive to the positives features of my area. That means increased yield.
6. COMMUNITY We’re not alone. Sowing Seeds that Others May Reap, and Reaping What Others Have Sown – is part of the cooperative effort that ‘community’ is all about. There are other gardeners like us collecting their own seeds, and like us, they’re likely be happy to share. You’ve probably already benefitted from someone sharing seed and you’ve probably also shared your own. A GARDEN COMMUNITY! That’s what I’m talking about, doesn’t matter whether you live near or far. I’ve shared with my next door neighbour, friends in our community garden, and cousins who live a thousand miles away.
Our local community garden recently hosted our 4th SEEDY SATURDAY. We outgrew our first year’s event in the community hall. Among other things we’ve since added, it’s still essentially a time where people bring seed to share, and hope to come home with shared seed. We look forward to it every year.
7. Personal SATISFACTION Saving my own seed is rewarding and it helps to establish a closer connection to the food I grow and that I feed my family.
If any of my reasons for saving, sound compelling to you, then read on –
HOW TO
STRONG AND HEALTHY Choose only healthy plants that have all the desirable attributes you want to perpetuate. Save seeds from the strongest, best looking, and most disease resistant plants and fruit.
RIPE Allow plants to FULLY mature. Wait for them to complete their life cycle and for the seeds to be dry. For seeds from fleshy fruits like cucumbers and tomatoes, see below.
HYBRID Be careful that the seeds you’re collecting are NOT from hybrid plants. Hybrid plants are created by deliberately cross pollinating two different varieties of a plant aiming to produce an offspring that contains the best features of both parents. These seeds are not likely to produce exactly true to form. If they’re in a package, they’ll be labelled as ‘hybrids’ so don’t forget what you planted. I keep a record of the type of seeds I planted in gardening journal. I suggest you do the same.
LABEL You think you’re gonna remember, but you. will. NOT! Don’t trust yourself. Label with the type of seed, the date gathered or stored, and any other pertinent notes you’ll be glad to know when you plant it. DON’T count on remembering those details, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.
DRY Lay them out: After collecting, spread seeds in a single layer on paper towels or a tray to continue drying. Don’t rush them. Being properly dried will make the difference between whether they last or not. Use a bag for drying: For tiny seeds, place the dried seed heads in a paper bag for a week to allow them to finish drying and release the seeds. Ensure thorough drying: Seeds must be completely dry to prevent rotting.
USING A BROWN PAPER BAG For plants with seed heads (marigolds, poppy pods, lettuce that has bolted, sunflowers, herbs like dill), wait for seeds to dry completely on the plant, then cut them and place in a paper bag to prevent seeds from falling all over the place. Leave in the bag for a couple of weeks depending on how moist or big the seeds were at gathering. Shake the bag to dislodge all the seeds. Remove stems and foliage. Fold the bag and label to store, or pour into another container. Label!
FLESHY FRUITS Cucumbers – allow to over ripen on the vine – yellow. Cut open and gently scoop the seeds out. Rinse in a fine colander and shake seeds on a paper towel to dry. Peppers, select a mature pepper and let it turn completely red, then remove seeds by hand or with a spoon. Spread onto paper towel and allow them to sit till fully dry. About a week if the weather isn’t too humid. Squash – Zucchini or any kind of winter squash – allow to fully ripen, then cut squash open and scoop out seeds to lay on paper towel. Leave for a week or two or even more if necessary. Ensure they are totally dry. Tomatoes – allow to over ripen on the vine (if possible). Cut open and gently scoop the seeds out. 1) Rinse well, freeing the seeds from the jelly like substance they’re suspended in, pour in a fine strainer and allow to drain. You can either spread out onto a paper towel to dry, or let them sit in the strainer till they’re completely dry. Scroll down for more details.
CLEAN Remove chaff, husks, dry leaves or other debris.
STORE Have your containers decided on, prepared and waiting. Prepared means cleaned well and dried. Remove all labels. Suitable containers are envelopes, paper bags for big seeds or seed heads, recycled pill bottles and/or cleaned glass jars.
IT’S ALL ABOUT BEING DRY AND DARK. When completely dry, store seeds in a paper envelop or bag or if you’re absolutely sure they’re as dry as possible, you can store in a pill bottle (with the label removed), or a suitably sized jar. Keep in a cupboard or away from direct sunlight till next planting season. If you have an additional fridge, go ahead and store them in it.
Heirloom Seeds
What is an Heirloom Seed? An heirloom seed is one that comes from an open pollinated (naturally pollinated) plant that has been passed down (sometimes for generations, and typically at least 50 years) without being crossbred or otherwise altered. My Romanian Giant Tomatoes are “Heirloom” to me, but by this definition – they are not a true “heirloom”. Though I have no doubt these seeds have been passed down for over 50 years, I can only attest to the years I personally have been growing them. Heirloom varieties produce plants with the same desirable qualities – like unique appearance, colour, flavour, texture and growing habits. When you find a plant you love, you want to protect it by propagating your own seed. Always ensure you’re saving seed from the healthiest, strongest plants that have thrived in their space.
Recap: features of an heirloom variety are that they are open pollinated and that they “breed true”, meaning that they retain the original traits from one generation to generation. To ensure that they stay “true”, to be grown for seed, that particular variety must be grown in isolation from other varieties of the same plant species.
What is meant by “open pollination”, and why should we care? Open pollinated plants – also called “natural pollination”, are pollinated without our intervention relying completely on insects, birds and wind, and occasionally by natural “self” pollination. Their seeds produce “true to type” new plants – genetically similar to the parent. For gardeners, this is the best way to continue growing plants with unique characteristics we’ve come to prefer. This doesn’t mean there cannot be a certain degree of ‘natural’ genetic variation among heirloom plants, quite the opposite – that’s part of adaptability to local conditions, and is desirable.
Heirloom vegetables are often considered to be more nutritious than hybrid versions of the same type.
SELF POLLINATING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Many fruits and vegetables are self pollinating, meaning they don’t require assistance from insects or birds – like beans, peas, lettuce, peppers and tomatoes. Generally these are the best ones for beginner seed collectors, as they have true to type descendants. Tomatoes are consider self-pollinating because they have both male and female parts within the same flower, but they do require a little wind or vibrations to spread the pollen around. Though they don’t require pollinators, they may still attract them, which enhances over all plant health.
What vegetables are the easiest for beginners to collect seed from? Focus on open pollinated plants, preferably heirloom varieties – AVOID hybrid seeds and taking seeds from unknown origin produce.
We are more likely to have successful experiences with self-pollinating vegetables and fruits like the following – Legumes: beans and peas Leafy Greens: lettuce, spinach Root Vegetables: carrots, radishes and onions Brassicas: Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower (which is why they can produce under a netting that prohibits flying insects) Tomatoes and Peppers Grapes, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, saskatoons, rhubarb
Why choosing self pollinating plants helps gardeners and over all harvest? We only need one plant to have a successful harvest. While not requiring pollinating insects, bees and other pollinators are still attracted to the plants for nectar and pollen – increasing overall productivity. With less reliance on external pollinators, it is possible to grow many of these fruits and vegetables in enclosed or protected areas and in urban communities.
Annual plants (meaning they grow one season only) produce mature seeds in a single growing season, and are easy to collect. Examples are legumes and flowers like dill, poppies, marigolds and nasturtiums.
Peas and beans: wait until the pods are dry and crisp, then harvest the seeds within.
Poppies with mature poppy pods inset. Wait till the pods are tan coloured and completely dry. You’ll be able to hear the tiny black seeds inside. I bring a bowl with me to shake them into.
Annual flowers: sweet peas, poppies, bachelor buttons, marigolds: wait till seeds are dry, gather in a bowl, clean and ensure they’re completely dry before storing in paper envelopes or bags. Label what, where from and when.
Nasturtiums: wait till seeds are dry to gather.
Seeds form at the base of the flowers and start out small and green. Over time, they’ll grow in size and eventually turn pale green, then light brown or beige, signaling that they’re nearing maturity. Gently pull them off the plant. If they resist, wait a few days. By the time the seeds are ready, many may have already fallen. Go ahead and collect them, ensuring they’re not damaged or starting to rot. Mature nasturtium seeds are the size of a pea, pale green to tan in colour with a wrinkled rough texture. I bring a large plastic bowl with me while collecting seed. It allows me to see what I’ve got and to sort through them, keeping only the best. If they aren’t completely dry when I pick them, then I dry them on a tea towel for a couple of days. Store in a paper bag or envelope, clearly labeled with what they are, when and where collected.
Chives and onions: they will bolt, save the seed Spinach and other greens: they will ‘bolt’ (meaning it puts out a strong, tall stem and flowers to produce seeds). Allow the seeds to dry and gather.
Cucumbers: Allow fruit to ripen fully – yellow and soft texture. Cut open and remove seeds into sieve. Agitate and rinse. Spread on paper towel to dry completely.
Tomatoes: Allow the fruit to ripen fully, then scoop the seeds out. Option #1: fermenting – scoop the seeds and gel into a jar, add some water and let sit at room temperature for 3 or 4 days. A layer of mould will form, which tells you that fermentation has broken down the seed’s protective coating. Drain-rinse-swish, drain-rinse-swish again. then pour into a fine sieve and rinse till clean. Spread out on a paper towel to dry completely. Label and place in a sealed container. Option #2: scoop seeds and gel out into a sieve. Agitate and rinse a few times. Spread on paper towel to dry completely. Label and place in sealed container. Peppers: Collect seeds from fully mature, ripe peppers.
The crisp cheery white and yellow of the daisy-like FEVERFEW flowers in front of the purples of chives, cornflowers and Lupins.
Biennial plants (meaning they grow two seasons, flowering the second season), will produce mature seeds in the second growing season – also easy to collect from. Examples like feverfew, parsley and root crops like beets and carrots.
I rarely if ever collect the seed from biennial plants in my yard like feverfew. I do however, allow some flowers to go to seed, then I pinch them off and sprinkle them over the areas I want them to grow, trusting in nature to do the rest. She never lets me down. Next spring I’ll have a thousand little feverfew plants, so I can decide where I want them to grow and pull up the rest. The only reason I’d save some seed is if someone else wants it.
Collecting seed from Tomatoes – easiest thing ever!
Select the BEST specimen of the variety you want to save for next year. If its a small tomato, simply squish it and squeeze the seeds and pulp into a small glass jar or cup. If its a bigger tomato, cut it and scoop out the pulpy part containing all the seed – into a small glass jar. 3 methods: 1. If you have few – spread the seed onto a paper towel and let them dry.
2. If you have lots – put them in a fine strainer and rinse them well to remove the pulpy parts. You can let them dry in the strainer, or spread on a paper towel to dry.
3. Ferment. Squeeze the seed and pulp into a small jar. Add water and agitate by stirring vigorously. Let sit a couple of days – mould will form on top, simply scoop it off, then strain the seed and spread out onto paper towel to dry.
I’ve done all three, but could never see the value in taking the time to ferment, when it appeared to me that the end result was the same. I’ve read compelling evidence recently however, that claims the additional step of fermenting lowers the odds of the seed carrying disease forward. That extra precaution sounds worthwhile to me. I’m converted.
Regardless of the method you decide on, the seed must be DRIED. I often just leave it on the paper towel, write the name, date and any other details on it, then roll it up and store in a jar or a paper envelop.
an excellent self help video on collecting seed. Keep in mind that he’s on Vancouver Island in zone 8 when he talks about winter. Central Alberta is zone 3b to 4a. But seed collecting methods are pretty standard.
a good summary of saving and storing several different types of garden seed Keep in mind that he is in zone 5b in Colorado, but collecting the seed is pretty standard.
If you’re new to saving seed, I really hope you’ll pick a few easy ones to save this year. It’s a rewarding task. If you’re already a serious seed collector, then try one fruit or vegetable you’ve never saved before. Share some of your favourites with a friend. I’d love to hear about your experiences. Please comment below.
