Category Archives: Uncategorized

Garden Chutneys, Fresh & Cooked

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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The pest involved is a fungus, Venturia pyrina. Like so many plant enemies, this one nestles into fallen leaves under the trees. Refreshed by rain, it releases floods of spores during peak blossom time, infecting each new crop. Scab affects European pears, notably Bartlett relatives, not Asian pears or apples (different pests involved there). Happily, a few simple steps can control this disfiguring disease and keep future fruit unmarred. They’ll also help build healthier soil and sweeten future crops as soil humus increases. And here’s more good news: go ahead and compost this year’s drops and scabby fruit. An active, hot compost pile is already full of beneficial bacteria and fungi that will eat scab spores alive. Continue reading →

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Homemade Ice Cream

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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With many traditional recipes, homemade ice cream of any flavor is best the first day, as it tends to get rock hard over time. That wasn’t a problem in the past, when refrigerators were really ice boxes and freezers were almost unknown. Ice cream was for eating fresh and leftovers simply didn’t happen. To solve the problem, contemporary recipes often include a magic ingredient to keep ice cream silky; usually some form of corn syrup, which I (of course) eschew. However, a little experimentation showed that brown rice syrup is an excellent substitute, resulting in ice cream that’s satisfyingly dense yet not too hard. It also makes for ice cream that’s more creamy and less tooth-achingly sweet, and makes fruit flavors more prominent. Continue reading →

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A Twist On The Cherry

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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Awakening Flavor In Fruit This summer has been a good one for cherries and our Northwestern orchards and markets are full of plump fruit. I’m especially fond of pale golden Rainier cherries, with their blush of pink or rosy red. … Continue reading →

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Foxglove Magic

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Ann Lovejoy
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Developing a (more or less) stable seed line can be a pleasing project for the home gardener, though the selection process can take years. I treasure a lovely strain of California poppy developed by the late Connie Caunt in her tiny garden in Victoria, B.C. The strain includes many shades of cream, pink and lavender, from palest baby ribbon pastels to vivid rose and near purple. However, even after many years of Connie’s patient work and my continuing efforts, genetically dominant orange poppies recur every season and must be removed lest they overtake the rosy ones. Similarly, creating a reliably peloric seed strain is probably not the work of a few seasons, thanks to that tendency to revert to the norm. Continue reading →

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