I Got Strawberries

I picked two Mara des Bois strawberries. I saw the berries weeks ago when it was just a flower. I hoped that the rabbits wouldn't come by for a snack and today I finally checked to see if the berries were still there. They were and they were pretty ripe. I didn't think I was going to get any strawberries from my plants, but I guess I was wrong (I really think the adjoining watermelon plants helped cover and hide the berries, and yes, that is a little watermelon in the picture) . The berries were quite sweet and I'm hoping that our summer would last into September so that I might be able to have more berries.

First Tomatoes

I finally got my first tomatoes (one from yesterday and one from today). They're not vine-ripened, but were ripe enough for me to pick. I learned that a tomato can be picked when it's at its "breaker stage." When picked at its breaker stage, a tomato can ripen off the vine without loss of flavor or quality. I learned all of this information at the following website: http://groweat.blogspot.com/2011/07/tomato-patch-how-to-save-more-tomatoes.html. It's actually a really great read and quite interesting.

I was afraid that if I waited for the tomato to get any more ripe on the vine, I might no longer have a tomato. At the same time, I really didn't want a tasteless tomato (as if I just purchased it from the store). I hope I did well and picked the tomatoes at its breaker stage. These are Early Girl 50-days hybrid tomatoes. Right now I have a bunch of green tomatoes on the vine and I'm just waiting for the tomatoes to ripen a little bit more.

Gardenias in Bloom

My gardenia plant is finally blooming, again. It's been several years, probably about two years ago, when it last bloomed. During the summer I keep my plant outside so that it will get natural sunlight and get to experience Minnesota's humidity (it's my understanding that gardenia's love humid weather). This morning I looked outside and saw that there were two beautiful white blooms, even though it looks as if one had already bloomed for a day or two. I think that it must be the weather that promoted the blooming because this summer has been filled with a lot of humid and muggy days.

I snipped the two flowers and let the flowers float in a bowl of water. I love the smell of gardenias. It's just so beautiful. I first encountered the gardenia years ago, right before I was going to come to Minnesota for school. I was in the Bay Area, either Berkeley or San Francisco, with my beau at the time or with my cousins. I remember walking past this little stand in front of this little store. The store was selling one gardenia flower for one dollar, in which each little flower head was floating in a bowl of water. I didn't buy any of the flowers because I thought the price was a bit much, but I loved the smell emitted from the flowers. Fast forward to several years later and that smell continued to stay with me. Thus, I thought that I should at least try to grow a gardenia plant to see if I might get some flowers.
Due to the harsh Minnesota winters, I grow my gardenia plant in a container and bring it inside in the fall. Despite not having any blooms for several years, I still think this plant was well worth growing and keeping because the leaves are so glossy and pretty. Plus, the potential of getting any flowers for the beautiful scent is an incentive for me.

Fermented Pickles

Last year, I did a lot of research on how to make pickles. Apparently, there are two common methods to make pickles, either using vinegar or through fermentation (which doesn't use any vinegar). I made pickled refrigerator pickles last year and this year, which uses vinegar as the acid to pickle the cucumbers. This year, I am going to try making fermented pickles, which uses no vinegar, but relies on bacteria to create lactic acid to pickle the cucumbers.

As a newbie last year to pickling cucumbers, I was a bit scared to try fermenting cucumbers because mold is created during the fermentation process. Apparently this mold is supposed to be good, but I am still a bit adverse to knowingly growing mold in my food, even if it is good mold. This year, I'm a bit more seasoned and I'm ready to try the fermentation method. By fermenting pickles, a salt water brine is poured over the cucumbers. This process creates good bacteria that grows in the cucumber covered brine, which creates lactic acid. The acid helps to sour the cucumbers, turns the cucumbers into pickles, and helps preserve the cucumbers. The salt in the brine keeps out the bad bacteria from developing. Also, fermented pickles have a huge health benefit in that it has good bacteria (like those found in yogurt) that helps the body with digestion.


I used the following recipe, which is from The Joy of Pickling. If you want more succinct instructions with pictures, please head on over to this website: http://chiotsrun.com/2011/07/30/making-traditionally-fermented-pickles/. The only thing I added to this recipe is grape leaves. Apparently, grape leaves have a tannin in it that helps keep the pickles stay crisp.

LOWER EAST SIDE FULL-SOUR DILL PICKLES
adapted from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich

About 4 pounds of 3-5 inch pickling cucumbers, with blossom ends removed
4 to 6 dill heads or large sprigs (I used fresh dill heads)
2 small fresh or dried hot peppers broken or cut into pieces
8 garlic cloves, sliced
1 Tablespoon whole allspice berries
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 Tablespoons whole coriander seeds
Handful of grape leaves
1/2 cup pickling salt (4.65 oz) (can use sea salt, but NO table salt)
3 quarts of water

1. Layer cucumbers in a gallon jar (or half gallon jars or whatever jars you have available) with dill, peppers, garlic, allspice, peppercorns, coriander, and grape leaves.

2. Dissolve salt in the water and pour enough brine over the cucumbers to cover them.

3. Place an object in the mouth of the jar to weigh down the cucumbers and keep them submerged in the the brine (e.g. a drinking glass or pint mason jar with brine or water in it). Keep jar at room temperature.

4. Within three days you should see the tiny bubbles in the brine. If scum forms on top of the brine, skim it off daily and rinse off the object.

5. The pickles should be ready in about two weeks, when they are sour and olive-green throughout. At this point, remove the object and any scum, cap the jar, and store it in the refrigerator, where the pickles will keep for several months or longer.

Tiger Lily

[Taken July 31, 2011.]