Tulip or not tulip? That is the question. Happens every year, as dazzlers never seen at the florist beckon from the glossy catalogs, page after page after page.
In addition to being beautiful (and frequently fragrant), tulips are inexpensive; the more you buy the cheaper they are. They’re easy to grow – in fact almost impossible to screw up – and in spite of the general wisdom, they often come back.
These Giant Darwin hybrids have been around for so many years I no longer remember what they are. Probably ‘Parade,’ famous for returning almost as dependably as daffodils.
On the other hand Read More…
Actually pretty gray right now, so that title may be premature, but assuming no more major rains fall (and that you don’t count the new leak in the roof), we got off lightly.
We had buckets out, not rain gauges, so the closest I can put rainfall is 6 to 8 inches; and although the winds were theatrical at 5AM, I doubt they were much over 30mph.
The good part is that it puts the top beans within reach.
You may be looking at this and thinking “What’s the big deal? jar o’ water under a tree.” The big deal is that there’s a huge hole near the bottom of the jar, on the side that’s jammed up against the trunk.
My punishment for not staking up the big begonia. ( The small flowered one hangs anyway)
Boletus edulis, the prized porcino
On 9/17 and 9/20, Bill Bakaitis will be giving a two part class on Mushroom Identification at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York.
The program is for students and members of the campus community, but there is usually room for a few visitors as well. If you would like to be one of them, contact Jay Stein (845) 451-1793 or j_stein@culinary.edu.
The impending sweep of storms is likely to fix it, but for right now the Maine garden is still way too dry to start moving shrubbery around. And let us not speak of the bulb order, which as usual (sigh) isn’t done yet. But none of this means next year is being neglected; the easiest fall planting of all is happening right now, all over the garden.
Flowering plants make seeds; it’s more or less their mission in life, so this is the season when negligence rules. No more deadheading! The birds are grateful right away, as anyone knows who’s watched their cosmos bending under the weight of goldfinches. And I’m (almost) always grateful in spring, when there’s a nursery’s worth of volunteers to play with
This border of Lychnis coronaria 'Alba' comes back every year, but it was unusually lush this summer because of the drought (hates wet feet).
The peony is Florence Nichols, the background of lychnis buds is the kind of happy accident you get when you let loose the self-sowers.
Read More…
people waiting for something besides food, please be patient. I’ll be with you in a minute, but right now
It’s Tomato Time!
although only because we have two gardens. The plants in Maine are pathetic – it was just too cold, too dry for too long when they were young. But the tomatoes in New York. Omigosh.
Bill ( 5’ 9 or so) in the tomato patch. Note the naked bases, disease-prevention at work.
heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella, with lettuce leaf basil
The summer classic, with Pruden’s Purple (red), Malakhitovaya Shkatulla (green), and Hillbilly Potato Leaf (yellow with red streaks)
They’re all different sizes, as usual, but a larger number than usual are larger than usual
Read More…
As the recipes – more to come! – suggest, my job is to have a great time collecting, followed by having a great time cooking and preserving. HIS job is to know where and how to look, so here’s another guest post from mushroom expert Bill Bakaitis.
Finding Chanterelles
by Bill Bakaitis
Mention ‘summer mushrooms’ around here and someone is sure to say “Oh yes, Chanterelles! They are the only mushroom I collect.”
And for good reason. They are delicious, they resist insect damage, clean up easily, are distinctive and easy to identify, and are found in beautiful locations. Oh, did I mention that they are delicious?
Read More…
After 2 months of solid drought followed by 2 weeks of solid rain, we finally have actual August in the produce department: potatoes, beets and basil, tomatoes, summer squash and beans…Plus way more lettuce than we can eat which must be harvested before it bolts but where to put it is a problem because the refrigerator is full of mushrooms.
I try to be disciplined and process everything we’ve picked before going out for more, but I don’t do any better with that than with taking out a plant for every new plant I acquire.
There are still some boletes left from last week, for instance, because I got sidetracked dealing with the chanterelles.
Bakaitis photo
The big one is the classic chanterelle of commerce, Cantharellus cibarius. The little guys (no common names) are a mixture of C. ignicolor – the all-yellow ones – and fragrant, tasty C. tubaeformis, which is unusually abundant this year. *
Read More…
Aren’t always two flowers, especially in August in Maine, when the sky is cooperating and azure to the max.
This plant is a solo pearl, the only absolutely-no-pink-in-it pure white we’ve ever drawn in the self sown hollyhock lottery. Our winnings are usually dark purple, pink, peach, apricot and primrose, a genetic salad all descended from one packet of yellow fig leaf hollyhocks (Alcea ficifolia) I planted years ago in the (vain) hope they wouldn’t get rust.
Today’s other beautiful white on blue may be more of a special taste Read More…
Actually, I just said that to get your attention. What we really had was a Bolete taste-off, comparing a few of the Northeast’s many edible boletes ( all from recent hauls) to the gold standard, Boletus edulis, aka porcino, cep, steinpilz and King bolete.
We know edulis is good. We crow with delight whenever we find them. But we have eaten others that came close, and now that the rains are bringing us so many others… well, how could I resist?
Bill took this photo of one of the contenders, Tylopilus chromapes, the day we did the test.
It wasn’t a completely fair fight, because the mushrooms weren’t all at the same stage of development. Read More…
Department of fruit being red so animals will eat it and spread the seeds and Leslie will notice it and take a picture.
This arrangement is not a put up job, honor bright. I came in with only a few strawberries – more on the elusive Mara des Bois shortly – so I just threw them in the basket on the kitchen table on top of the Juliet plum tomatoes, our favorites for drying.
More on that, too, before long, but right now I have to go make supper: chantarelle and lobster-mushroom chowder with la ratte potatoes and what’s left of the grilled sea bass we had last night.
