2 lb carrots

4 Tbs butter

1/2 lb onions finely chopped (about 1 3/4 cups)

4 cups chicken broth, or substitute your favorite vegetarian alternative

Salt to taste (think about what’s already in the stock you use)

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

2 Tbs fresh dill finely chopped

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste

Makes about 12 servings

Trim and peel the carrots, then slice into 1/4″ rounds. There should be approximately 6 cups worth.

Melt the butter in 5 or 6 quart pot and add the onion. Over medium heat, cook the onion, stirring, until it starts to appear translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add the carrots, broth, and salt to taste. Bring it to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are soft.

Ladle some of the mixture into a food processor and process to a very smooth puree. Repeat until all the mixture has been processed. If you are planning on serving it immediately or are going to chill it, you can pour it into a large serving bowl as it is processed. Otherwise place it into any bowl until it is all done and you can return it to the pot to quickly reheat when ready to serve it.

Add the cream, milk, dill, and cayenne, and salt if needed. Serve hot or very cold.

I found a small onion, chopped it fine and threw it in a hot saute pan with a couple Tbls. olive oil. After the onions started to wilt, I turned the heat down and added a couple cloves minced garlic. I started adding some chicken broth, about 2/3 of a cup, but in about 3 or 4 increments, waiting for each to reduce down before adding the next. I learned this from Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s first book, “The Splendid Table”. I used to love to listen to her show on KUOW in Seattle, and still can’t really believe there is not a single freaking station in the SF Bay Area, self-annointed foodie capital of America, that carries the program. At least there’s a Website and podcasts.

I finely diced a couple smallish carrots, and threw those in with the last of the broth. While that was simmering, I measured up a cup of the frozen peas, and found a large can (24 oz?) of chopped tomatoes in the pantry. Chopped would not do, so I got out my aged Cuisinart food processor and zinged them up really well. I still have the first Cuisinart I ever bought, a DLC-10 plus, which was in about 1985 or so. The model was later renamed The Classic, or something like that. I can’t believe it still runs. Maybe it will outlast me. I wonder if the new ones are still built like this. I’d be happy to endorse their products. At least their food processors. At least the ones they sold in the mid-80′s.

Anyway, I threw the pureed tomatoes in to the pan and let that all simmer for awhile. I’m not sure how long. Perhaps long enough to boil 4 quarts of water for the pasta. Then I added the peas and salt and pepper. After a few minutes of cleaning up, I put the pasta on. Then I had to face facts. I had no cream. And I have NEVER had luck adding milk, or even half-and-half to a sauce. It always curdles. And I was not going to the store now. I stood there staring into the refrigerator and finally saw the Greek yogurt–you know that brand no one can really pronounce, FAH-yeh. Damn that shit is good. Anyway, I got brave and finished the sauce with a couple-three big spoons of that full-fat Fage. I added until it looked the right color.

There was almost enough vegetable matter in it to justify going with it as a one dish meal. So we did. And you know, it wasn’t half bad. Sorry I didn’t get picture. You’ll just have to make it yourself to see it.

Apricots and some Strawberries by neocles, on Flickr

All Jammed Up by neocles, on Flickr

The apricot canning project this year was small but reasonably successful. I lost very few apricots due to my branch supports, and we ate lots of fresh ones. Finally the day came when they had to be picked, and I brought them all in. I kept them in the fridge to try to have fresh fruit on hand for as long as possible. But last night the time came to preserve the rest.

I couldn’t find the online recipe I used last year that included orange zest. But I had lots of lemons and so just went with the easiest thing I could find that called for some lemon juice. It also called for about 3/4 cup sugar to each cup fruit. I ran out of regular sugar a cup shy and so substituted brown sugar for the last cup. I like the slightly darker flavor it adds, but in retrospect, I probably should have just cut the sugar by a cup anyway. This batch is a bit sweeter than I remember the batch from last year being.

But it’s fun just the same and I’ve got jam to get me through the fall anyway. I guess canning is catching on. I heard this NPR story the other day on how canning classes are in demand as people try to revive this ancient alchemical skill in order to beat the bad economy. I can’t help thinking that there are all these things we as a society are doing totally wrong because we have been bamboozled into thinking that we can’t do anything ourselves, and that real happiness comes from buying everything and making nothing. We only get a glimpse of the truth when pushed by a crisis to rethink what we’re doing. Well, more on this in a future rant. Right now, I’m going to eat some some toast and jam.

Dried Oregano from the Garden by neocles, on Flickr

We’ve had a few things from the garden so far this year, although it has been rather a disappointing one so far. A couple other people I talked to reported the same thing: things just didn’t seem to grow much through the spring. In my case, peppers, eggplant, basil and even some radishes, just didn’t really do anything. My guess is that we had too much fog this spring. (Never mind that today begins a little NorCal heatwave.)

Some other things, however, are doing fine. I have already dried about a quart and a half of Greek oregano. Many, many years ago my mom managed to bring back some oregano shoots from Greece and planted them at the house in Fresno. I had forgotten all about that, But when we were moving her up to the bay area, one of the things I noticed was a scraggly clump of oregano way in the back of the yard, past the grapevines. I was pretty sure this was the stuff from Greece, so I dug it up and planted it in my garden here. It is definitely different from the leafy stuff you get that the nurseries here. The leaves are very small, usually sparse, on long leggy stems. I understand that the Greeks don’t use the leaves much. They cut the stems when they are loaded with unopened flower buds and dry the buds. It is intensely aromatic. Maybe commercial oregano here is done the same way. I don’t really know.

Apricot Stilts by neocles, on Flickr

The fruit trees are all happy this year, and of course the first crop to come in is the apricots. The tree got pretty loaded with fruit again this year, and again I couldn’t bring myself to thin it. But I was determined to avoid broken branches this year, so, I made some supports. It looks kinda greek hillbilly but it gets the job done. I think I’ll have enough for a few pints of jam.

“In Aglaia’s Garden 5″, originally uploaded by neocles.

Spring is definitely here, and this week I have earnestly begun plans for spring planting. The difference this year is that in addition to planting my own small garden, I have been talking with my cousin Aglaia about collaborating on a more ambitious garden at her place where she has lots of space. I have been looking into urban farming ideas and the possibility of growing enough to trade with other local “farmers”.

Aglaia’s place is on the ridge in the Oakland hills on an eastern facing slope. It’s a great spot overlooking Moraga and the hills. Right now there is a strip at the top for vegetables, and many fruit trees on the slope. I will get the details on what trees there are, but I know there are at least a couple quince, which I love. And they are pretty rare around here these days, so Bay Area foodies interested in making jam or trendy membrillo (quince paste) might want some. 

There’s tons of clean-up and soil preparation to do, which we started on yesterday. Irrigation is in place but after some years of neglect, probably needs repair. We hope to have the first planting down the first week of May. We are definitely interested in sharing and trading. (Check out www.neighborhoodfruit.com) So, if anyone has recommendations on what to plant around here that people like but don’t already have tons of in their own gardens, let me know!

I knew that there was some challenges to growing stone fruit around here. I know that they like a good cold winter to set fruit well, and, of course we don’t get much of that around here. A couple days of frost here and there is about it. Also, I know some people with peaches who report that periodically large chunks of the tree die for no apparent reason. Probably a blight that likes the relative dampness.

I chose apricot for a couple reasons. First, I thought that the smallness of the fruit might make it more likely that it will ripen. Secondly, my father planted an apricot at the house we moved to when I was five years old. That was a fabulous tree. It had a wonderful shape, an incredible crop almost every year, and the memory of it reminds me of my father. It lived for over 30 years until the renters i had in the house killed it and almost all the other fruit trees in the back yard through a couple fresno summers with no watering whatsoever.

In any case, my apricot produced no fruit the first season, about six or eight fruits the next couple seasons, and about a dozen last season. My friend Rocky had become fond of teasing me about the size of the cobbler he would be limited to in trying to do something with the “annual crop”. And last year, when the tree started the growing season with a perfectly balanced, bowl shape, and good new growth and budding, it suffered the mysterious die-back. One major branch on one side and a couple nearby small branches suddenly quit leafing, shriveled up, and died. The rest of the tree was basically okay, but it was misshapen and unbalanced. I put off my hopes to this year for both fruit and a return to form.

This year, there was not much weather during the spring. No hail, wind, or much rain came along to knock the beautiful blossoms from the tree. As the season progressed there was not a lot of new wood growth–not the several feet that previous years had seen. But it soon became obvious that there was a lot of fruit on the tree.

Around June 1st or so, my Neighbor Hugo said to me as we were admiring the tree, “you might get some 2x4s under a couple of those branches for support. You wouldn’t want them to break.” Well, I didn’t think this was much of a possibility. The aforementioned Fresno apricot never broke a branch no matter how laden with fruit. But after a couple of days, I took it more seriously, seeing that this young tree’s branches were still slender and there was a lot of fruit on them. What had been a narrow upright shape had now settled out into an open bowl of a branch structure. I propped them up with several bamboo sticks I had around.

Then about a week later, we had a very windy night. I came out in the morning to find the largest branch of the tree broken, taking down about six feet of height from the tree and several pounds of not yet ripe fruit. I tried to salvage the fruit. Some, I picked and tried to ripen in a paper bag. Much of it I left on the broken branch in the hopes that what was left in the branch would continue to feed the fruit until it could ripen more. Each approach had success rate of about 2% of the fruit involved.

I was pretty disappointed, but there was still an incredible amount of fruit on the tree, so I got over it.

Then the other shoe dropped. About two weeks ago, not one, but two branches on the other side broke, despite being supported. There was a about 10 lbs. or more of fruit that had to be brought in. Fortunately, it was much closer to being ripe. I ripened much of it, and began eating it. As we did what was left on the tree, still a lot, was ripening and being brought in.

The past week we have been eating apricots like crazy. I gave some to Hugo next door. I gave some to my mom. We brought a bag to Fresno over the holiday. I made about four pints of preserves. I brought some to work. And still, we have a several pounds to pick and finish off the crop.

The lingering question is what the broken limbs mean for winter pruning, next spring growth, and the general shape and health of the tree. Only time will tell.

I live in Albany in the SF Bay Area. I like to garden, and I especially like to grow edible things. I am originally from Fresno, CA. Fresno is smack in the middle of the most productive agricultural region on the face of the planet. Collectively, these facts usually add up to some cognitive dissonance for me about this time of year.

In Fresno, you can grow practically anything and reap a bountiful harvest. In much of the Bay Area you can grow even more things, but the harvest part is much, much more challenging. This is often referred to as a “Mediterranean” climate, and to me, that brings to mind Greece. Note however, that Mark Twain did NOT say, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in Athens”. The correct reference would be to San Francisco.

So while it is true that the climate in the Bay Area is mild and lots of things will grow, not everything fruits and ripens here. It just does not get hot enough for a sustained period for many fruit trees and vegetables like tomatoes and peppers to really produce a nice harvest. It gets frustrating because things do OK, but not great. Sometimes a plants, like tomatoes, just don’t look happy at all, no amount of feeding, watering, not watering, trimming, etc., cheers them up.

As with real estate so with gardening: location, location, location. I am still experimenting with varieties and locations. And admittedly, some things do just well. Lettuce comes to mind.

In the case of fruit trees, which no self-respecting Greek-American would omit from anything but the tiniest of gardens (for example pots on the apartment veranda), I began my efforts with a Blenheim apricot. But that is enough ranting for now; my experience with the apricot tree will be the subject of the next post.

Spanish lavender planted last weekend in the parking strip next to our driveway. I am hoping they will soon look like  the ones I planted a couple years ago. The little tree there is an Eastern Red Bud.

Spanish lavender growing in the parking strip outside my house in Albany.There’s some redish grass there next to it that grows really big and i cut it down to the ground every winter. Albany, CA. 2008.

Looking south along the garden on the east side of the house. I guess you can’t see too much from here, and there is not much color right now, but I kind of like the shot anyway.

Looking north along the garden on the east side of the house. Not much color right now, but I kind of like the shot anyway. Apricot tree in the foreground, doing much better this year. Some vegetables in the round area: tomotoes, carrots, parsnips, lettuce. The green carpet is a few varieties of thyme. The golden poppies that come up around the garden are all volunteers. I have had them last few years but never planted any myself.

THIS is the thing I am most excited about this season. I just planted this espalier-trained apple tree with six varieties grafted on to it: braeburn, gala, fuji, red delicious, golden delicious, and gravenstein. It is actually on an eastern exposure, but near the south corner, so I’m crossing my fingers and going for it.

This spring’s project was getting rid of the last of the tons of lanscaping pebbles that once covered the entire garden. I had them confined to some path-like shapes, but they were still kinda awful. I managed to give away almost all of them, and that opened up the area to the left to wrap around the path of Arizona Red flagstone. The log-themed raised beds are the last vestiges of the prior landscaping schemes.