Grandma's Big Tomato

Grandma writes us often, and we got a new letter from her yesterday with the picture above. The scale shows more than 2 pounds (for just one organic tomato grown in a container garden). The same tomatoe's different poses below.
Yes, we are swimming in tomato right now ;)

underwater gardens

2 weeks in Hawaii and 2 weeks of recovery and we are back in blogging ;)

snorkeling was so amazing... the photos don't do any justice...

I will upload some of our trip photos pretty soon...

And since we came back we are eating tomatoes from our garden if we can get them before the hungry birds! Tomato plants are just humongous!

Horseradish

Introducing our horseradish plant. We use the roots to make hot sauces and just found out that the leaves are edible too... this plant has some huge leaves and it is a perennial... and I just dream of this NPR Cranberry Relish and we do have some cranberries in the fridge!

Mexican Grass

This Mexican grass amazingly made it over the winter and seeding right now. Michael is so excited about it! We pet the grass coming in and out of our garden, hence it resides right at our garden entrance...

dill seeds & beet greens

The yellow little flowers will become the dill seeds, in the background lettuce and mint (which grows like weed)... I hope to dry lots of mint for winter... Have you had "chocolate mint"? It has a darker color and it smells like after eight chocolates, good to use in desserts... hmmm....

These are the beet greens... pretty handsome plant, we chop some in with salad...
It has been pretty hot (upper eighties), and no rain, so I have been watering the garden every night after work & yoga... Last weekend our friend JL put hose wheels for the community garden hoses, wow, what a difference that made! no more dragging that long hose... yeahhh

green tomatoes

Some shots from last night. Tomatoes are doing well. We have 36 tomato plants (thanks Grandma ;) , so many kinds, I will try to list the names soon... and a general shot of the garden below... heavy rains lately made everything grow like crazy... I need to start tying the tomato plants that become so heavy... we put out the lemon and mandarin trees that were in my office back in the garden... we are getting some lemons, yeah... Michael planted the two persimmon trees in the back, I wonder if we will get any persimmons, that would be fantastic... and we planted the beans and black-eyed-peas...

ps: do you see the garlic plant that escaped outside of the fence on the left, so cute!

edible flowers: nasturtiums

Grandma has 3 pots next to her door... green, white and orange... they are all planted with nasturtiums... and I eat a leaf or a flower when I visit her... Nasturtiums are so tasty, bitter like arugula... we planted some in our garden also... some are short, some are climbers, some are speckled, and in many colors: yellow, orange, red, burgundy, etc...

a kale seed story

When you look at this image carefully you can see the process of seed production in nature from flowers to seed pockets... those purple spikes dry up and open up later with dozens of tiny seeds inside of them... Kale seed anyone?

Lemon Verbena

We planted Lemon Verbena in the garden.... great as a tea, lemony... you can mix in some mint leaves also... or to garnish fruit salads maybe...

tiny baby rabbits

Fresh green chickpeas from the pod are wonderfully tasty and sweet... have you ever tried them?... and you can't find them easily... they remind me of my primary school days when farmers would sell them outside of our school yard in little bouquets.... so I planted chickpeas last year... plenty... they grew nicely... and one day they all disappeared... who ate my chickpeas?... and then I saw a rabbit in the garden... so I had mixed feelings for rabbits since then... until yesterday... when I saw these little guys in our community garden... not on our plot but another plot that I planted chickpeas last year also for donation... I counted 5 baby rabbits... they are really tiny (~3 inches)... and super cute... their eyes are closed... they push each other and jump once in a while... too cute... now I like rabbits again... but I won't plant chickpeas for myself this year... might plant some for them though!
ps: I think I know who ate most of our pea seeds this year!

addition: landscaped business cards anyone?

ostrich fern & fiddleheads

this fern is just sooo green and big, you just want to dive into it, at least I do...
well well, interestingly the young shoots are edible and called fiddleheads (cute name), who would know? and the fiddlehead capital of the world is, are you ready, Tide Head in New Brunswick in Canada... I thought for a while that we could go there easily, but it is far far away, 13 hours driving... so I better find some fiddleheads to make this Marinated Fiddlehead Salad...
(coincidentally Apartment Therapy Kitchen section also talks about fiddleheads today!)

rain is coming

Now that our garden is half planted, we look forward for a good rain.... Michael took this picture from his client's roof in Manhattan... amazing contrast!

(that building cuts like a knife ;)

Red Russian Kale

I love KALE.... so fantastic... here are the sweet babies, soon they will become huge leaves and I am gonna eat them as SALAD:

Cut the kale leaves to half an inch slices, then massage with some sea salt for 20 sec., then add dressing: olive oil, lemon juice and just a little agave nectar (or honey), and you can add whatever else you like: avocado, carrots, sprouts, red onions, etc. yum yum ;)

last year's leeks

Leeks are great, these ones we planted last year but they weren't big enough by fall so we just left them in the garden over the winter... but they seem to be ready now, I think I will pick them tonight and make a Turkish leek dish we love. (update: I made the dish, but instead of rice I used Quinoa, which turned out to be more delicious and nutritious!)

cold frame (before/after)

So we have this cold frame Grandma bought Michael for his birthday one year... we use it for winter growing. There are two pieces of plastic to cover the top. End of April, we forgot to open the covers in a very hot day and some things got almost cooked in there, ops! Here is the picture to prove the unhappy plants from April 22nd.

And look how they are right now below, 2 weeks later, we don't cover the top anymore as it doesn't go freezing during the nights. The picture is from May 6th. Arugula already seeded with flowers. They all seem to be doing fine, many kinds of lettuce, some radish, green onions, mint, etc.

tulips & cats

Pretty two color tulip! One of the things we are very happy about the community garden is to meet many cool people. We were visiting one of them last weekend at her home, and these tulips got my attention, but actually her cat wanted my attention (you are looking down at him!)

BIG MAMA!

M. was turning our compost and look what turned up! Okay, left is a big garden fork, but look at the lady on the right, of course I uncovered the soil and here is a nude picture of her below! We felt like we found a treasure when we saw this humongous worm, I would say it was half an inch thick, and maybe 10 inches long... anyways it was a beauty, M. calls her "Big Mama" ;)

We then covered her with soil again and left more yummy compost nearby, hope she is happy... It is really amazing how our soil has changed since we got the garden. At first the soil was dead, just small rocks, thousands of them, as they used our area for the highway construction... right now the soil is alive again... and so many treasures are hidden!

lilac in bloom

Outside of our community garden there are some beautiful plants, here are the two which are in full bloom right now... and smells wonderful!
The red flowers are the Flowering Quince.

printing garden

Last saturday I just kept silkscreening this image! dozens of times, on bags, tshirts, paper... couldn't get enough, this is a beautiful old image I found in an old gardening catalog from 1974.
When I am not in the garden I am still planting I guess ;)

lemon tree mosaic

There is a cool site called Image Mosaic Generator! to generate your own mosaic pictures for free in a very short time, try it, it is fun! Click on the picture above to see the details...

Salad Burnet & French Sorrel

The above ladies are amazing, first of all they are both perennial, we left them both in the garden all winter long and they were always green, nothing happened to them!

The left one is the Salad Burnet, it has a cucumber-like taste and you can use as garnish to salads and soups like you would with parsley.
The right one is the French Sorrel, it has an amazing lemony flavor. Great addition to salads. Also makes an excellent soup.

Blossoms & Leeks

From the Cherry Blossom Festival we attended yesterday... so many beautiful shades of pink!


We planted the leek plants last night, only a 100 of them!
Also planted many kinds of peas near the tall fence... wish we could have planted end of March, which we generally do... You can see the close up of our soil and mulch on the ground, mostly shredded leaves... so practically no weeds, much less watering, and many many worms... just perfect!

radish time

As radishes like cool weather, spring and fall are the best times to grow them. They grow so fast that before you know it you have a nice crop. Radish leaves are also edible with a high Carotene content and good source of Vitamin A. I have been exploring with the leaves by adding to salads but Grandma has a better idea, she blended radish top and bottoms, some lettuce and some water in the blender for lunch. Sounds delicious to me. And don't forget to wash the plants thoroughly as they tend to be sandy! (and crunchy ;)

december garden

Look at that waddle fence! Michael wove the branches so beautifully for fencing in our community garden. We needed the fence as our garden keeps going up due to piles and piles of new compost. During winter we try to get the manure and leaves into the garden to age before spring. Here you can see the piles of leaves and the horse manure with straw. We use the lawn mower (thanks to Papa & Mom) to chop the leaves small so they compost better. Actually last Christmas Day we did just that, chopping leaves, a perfect family gathering I say...

***

thyme for courage

In ancient times Thyme was believed to be a source for courage, so was burnt as an incense and was used in baths. Thyme for courage, I like that. I also like how grandma utilizes an old plastic spoon for labeling in the photo. In our garden, we had many different kinds of thyme last year, with their little pretty flowers: pink, white and yellow. The plants mostly survived all through the winter. It is very refreshing to see something green in the garden when it is freezing outside. And there is always fresh thyme whether you need to add to your salad or need some courage ;)

***
Eski zamanlarda kekigin cesaret kaynagi olduguna inanilirmis, tutsu olarak ve de banyo yaparken kullanilirmis. Cesaret icin kekik onerisi hosuma gitti. Diger hosuma giden sey de fotografta gorulen, anneannenin eski bi plastik kasigi etiketleme icin kullanisi. Gecen yil bahcemizde bir cok cesit kekik yetistirdik, cok guzel cicekler actilar, pembe beyaz sari. Cogu bitki de kisi cok guzel atlatti. Bu soguklarda bahcede hala yesil biseyler gormek ic aciciydi dogrusu. Ve de ne zaman ihtiyac duyarsaniz salataniz icin taze kekige veya kendiniz icin cesaretlendirilmeye... care hazir ;)

easter carrot hunt

Grandma said she needed more space in the greenhouse so we gladly harvested the carrots... Could you believe these carrots grew during the winter in NY, and were harvested on Easter?. The carrot leaves looked so yummy (am I a rabbit?), apparently the leaves are edible, have a flavorful and a bitter taste. We will experiment with the leaves this week, some might go into the salads, some in tabbouli, some might be juiced, how about a a carrot leaf soup?

***
Anneanne'nin yeni bitkilerine yer acmak icin sevinerek serasindaki havuclari topladik. Bu havuclarin New York kisinda yetistigine ve Paskalya'da toplandigina inanabiliyor musunuz? Havucun yesilligi de cok lezzetli gorundu (tavsan miyim nedir?), megersem o da yeniyormus, lezzetli ve acimsi bi tadi var. Bu hafta bu havuc yapraklarini kullanarak biseyler yapicaz, bi kismi salatalara katilabilir, kisira cok yakisir sanirim, bi kisminin suyu cikarilabilir, peki ya havuc yapragi corbasina ne dersiniz?

first leaves

Oh! the first leaves of spring...the seedlings. Grandma uses fluorescent lights to give the seedlings the long hours of light they need. Also, Grandma uses fine organic pot soil, the most important thing. Seedlings also need constant watering, almost daily, when you think that there are hundreds of them, hmmm. These small guys are all labeled and almost ready to be transplanted to bigger pots to go in the greenhouse.

***

Ah! baharin ilk yapraklari...filizler. Anneanne florasan isik altinda filizlere gerekli uzun sureli isigi sagliyor. Ayrica, Anneanne filizler icin ozel bir organik saksi topragi aliyor ve onlari hergun suluyor, yuzlercesi oldugu dusunulurse, hmmm. Bu kucuklerin hepsi etiketlenmis ve yakinda buyuk kaplara ve seraya gecmeyi bekliyor.

pigeon poo...

My aunt A. got hold of a bag of pigeon manure to use in her vegetable garden, apparently is one of the best manures out there with high nitrogen content (better save the ones that drop on the car or on your head ;). Our former neighbor T. was in love with bat poo (guano) for fertilizing his vegetable garden, pretty expensive too. These are strong stuff so need to use it carefully otherwise might burn your plants, you might need to compost and age them before using, and maybe make compost tea to dilute. The best manure seems to be the one you find easily & hopefully freely! Other commonly used animal manures are: Cow, Chicken, Horse, Rabbit, Sheep and Turkey.

***
Sebze bahcesinde kullanmak uzere A. Teyzem bir torpa guvercin gubresi ele gecirmis, megersem en degerli gubrelerden biriymis, azot orani yuksek (arabaniza ve basiniza dusenleri saklamali ;). Eski komsumuz T. ise yarasa gubresine hayrandi, sebze bahcesinde kullanirdi ama baya da pahaliydi. Bu tur azot orani yuksek gubreler cok guclu onun icin dikkatli kullanilmasi gerek yoksa bitkilerinizi yakabilir, onceden kompost yapmak ve yanmalarini saglamak yerinde olur, belki de kompost cayi yapip gubreyi su katarak segreltmek gerekebilir. En iyi gubre sanirim en kolay bulunani ve de bedava olani! Diger populer hayvan gubreleri: Inek, Tavuk, At, Tavsan, Koyun ve Hindi.

Turkish Orange Eggplant

They are called "Turkish Orange Eggplant", pretty ya?, tomato shaped, edible & tasty when it is green-orange stage, after that it gets bitter, therefor ornamental and for seed saving. Seeds of Change carries the seeds.

***

Fotograftakilere "Turk Turuncu Patlicani" deniyor, boyutlari orta boy domates kadar, turuncu yesilimsi haliyle yenebiliyor ve cok lezzetli, tam turuncuya donunce acilasiyor, bahcede sus olarak ve tohum saklamak icin kullaniliyor. Tohumlari Seeds of Change 'den elde edilebilir.

just another lemon tree...

It was amazing to have a lemon tree at work, M. brought from Manhattan on his lap, everyone who passes by my office door was asking: "is this real? are they lemons? can you eat?" yes yes yes... now all the lemons are gone, my little Meyer lemon tree is ready to go out to our community garden again to receive lots of sunshine, pretty soon...
Ofisimde limon agaci olmasi muthisti, M. bana Manhattan'dan getirmisti kucaginda, gelip gecen herkes "gercek mi? limon mu? yenilir mi?" diye sorardi, evet evet evet... Simdi tum limonlar tukendi, kucuk Meyer Limon agacim yeniden bahcemize donmeye ve cokca gunes isigi almaya hazir, pek yakinda...

I say tomato ;)

Here are our tomato crop from last summer, we had 20 different kinds of tomatoes. So many different flavors, shapes, and colors... we had a blast. Grandma started the seeds in her greenhouse, and gave us the seedlings in late spring. Fun tomatoes to try: Persimmon, Black Krim, Green Zebra, Black Cherry, etc.

Iste gecen yazki domateslerimizden bir secme. Bahcemizde 20 cesit yetistirmistik. Bircok degisik tadlar, sekiller ve rekler... cok eglendik. Anneanne tohumlari serasinda yetistirip bize fideleri bahar sonunda verdi. En sevdigimiz cesitler: Hurma, Siyah Kirim, Yesil Zebra, Siyah Kiraz, vb.

s p r o u t i n g ....

Grandma is the master sprouter, she perfected her system, here is the scoop:

You will need:
- Seeds
- Plastic medium size party plates
- Small pieces of paper (~3 inch square)

- Small pieces of paper towels (~3 inch square)

- Water

- Plastic bag

Take a plastic plate, put a little piece of paper on it put the seeds on top of the paper, put a couple layers of paper towels, water them until the paper towels absorbs the water, grandma puts 3-4 seeds for each plate to try, repeat for all the seeds, stack the plates on top of each other, put them all in a plastic bag, and keep checking them to water once-twice a day, your sprouts should be up within a couple of days. Don't forget to label them ;)

s e e d - l o v e !

Yes, we are in *LOVE* with seeds... aren't you?

Though we are a little on the obsessive side ;) we may have hundreds of different kinds, mostly organic and heirloom... we buy, we exchange with friends & family, we save from our own plants... our little treasures... and we save the seeds for years and years in our refrigerator, in the bottom drawer, sealed in Zip-Lock bags...

In our experiment station (aka Grandma), the seeds that are stored in refrigerator performed very well for many years (sometimes 10 years!), except for leeks- we suggest you use them the same year!

Here are our favorite places to get the teeny tiny miracles:
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.seedsofchange.com/
http://www.nativeseeds.org/

Fun Seeds to try in your garden:
Sunberry (also called huckleberry, wonderberry): little dark fruits, a perfect snack during gardening ;)
Arugula: great for salads and sandwiches
Tomatoes: Black Krim, Green Zebra, Black Cherry
Peppers: Black Hungarian kind, hot and dark color!
Kale: Red Russian kind, my all time favorite salad main ingredient!
Swiss Chard: Five Color Silverbeet kind, rainbow of colors, and so good for you too...
Nasturtiums: the more the better, variegated ones are so pretty! We do eat the flowers, and the leaves!
Black-Eyed Peas: Native seeds have gorgeous varieties, beautiful leaves and seedpods.
Peas: Sugar Snap Peas- very sweet (poor guys can never make it home, we eat them when we catch them!)

b e g i n n i n g . . .

Hi everyone!

This will be exciting....

elif