Kraut chronically...err.. I mean chronicles

October a seed is planted
November a seedling transplanted
February a kraut fermented



For those of you who give a crap about cabbage, today would have given you joy. Waiting this long has really build up a lot of anticipation.  They have become like family pets, sitting, waiting out there. If only they knew what I had planned for them...

A brutal beheading happened here today, I callously cut three likely heads of cabbage from my patch.

I'm salivating at the thought of the alchemy that is sauerkraut. Essentially sauerkraut is only these two things; cabbage, and salt.  Everything else is created by microorganisms and time, beautiful right?  There are multiple organisms needed to take plain cabbage to the state that is sauerkraut, all of which are naturally present on cabbage (thank you kraut goddesses).


The sauerkraut process is simple:

Shred a cabbage (or three).
Add salt.
Pound into a container.
Keep air off proto-kraut ( I can make up my own words if I want).
Store in a place that isn't too cold.
Wait a week or so.
Enjoy.

basking

Another beautiful day here in Southern California. Poppy plants and Buddhas basking in the sunny warm weather.

Shorts, t-shirt and flip flops were called for today.  Who needs summer when you can have a winter like this?!

Winter slice

Apricot blooming in azure skies

Sweet peas: so called "fragrant mix", I think I'll stick with 'Cupani' next year

Howdy,

Our non-winter winter has sprung and early. Perhaps you keen gardeners here in So Cal have seen this too. Things are early.  One plant that seems so regular to me was pink jasmine, Jasminum polyanthum.  I started to see this guy blooming a month ago, when normally it begins to grace us with its banana-bubble gum fragrance in the later half of February.

Anyway, I'm totally enjoying the warm weather all the same, even if it has plants out of what I think is their normal cycle.  Today I was enjoying the early blooms of my apricot trees and sweet peas. Actually the sweet peas are pretty much on time, since I started them early autumn and put them in my sunniest winter spot to get early bloooms. I was disappointed with this "fragrant mix" that was so not fragrant.  Next year I go back to 'Cupani' the original sweet pea from Italy. 'Cupani' may have short legs (stems are so short sometimes hard to put in a vase) but damn what a awesome smell!

One other thing I will mention, I'm a bit worried about the apricot, as I see no bees around.  No bees, no apricots!  Maybe they are making their visits surreptitiously. All I can do is hope.

Winter beauties

Hiya!

Guess this is now a series... as I cannot stop with the cabbage posts.  Like a kid waiting for Christmas morning I can't stand the tension.  I've been watching these heads swell for quite some time.  When will they be ready?!!  To tell the truth I have never grown cabbage before.  Normally I focus on more expensive things to grow in the garden. But this year I thought cabbage patch, one to capture our perfect winter growing season and two to make sauerkraut.

So when will they be ready?  I feel like some are ready now. But will they get bigger still? Dunno.  Some are already firm and seem dense. That's good right? And when do cabbages bolt!!?

Cole crazily yours,

Dustin

Red Acre

Danish Market

Cabbage patch update

Hey there!

I thought it was about time I did a quick update on my cabbage patch.  Things are really moving with this unusually nice warm weather here.   Sauerkraut is on the top of my list for these babies.  Also you will notice big artichoke plants in there. Believe it or not these were from a 6 pack only a few months ago. I will doubtless have a bumper crop in the first year! Oh and of course more of that Nero Toscano kale that is so good.

Enjoy!

Luculia sp. aff. pinceana

Happy 2012!

Instead of staying home in summery weather, I went Back East to enjoy the New Years festivities.  When I got home today I was surprised by the amount of growth that had occurred over a five day period.  My peas grew at least a foot and are now in bloom.  The kale expanded. The cabbage unfurled. And the dill is suddenly looking geriatric.

But the nicest surprise from being away was the full bloom of my Luculia.  Summer before last I went to Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend WA to see what kinds of great rarities they had. They experiment with all sorts of plants there and are always looking to push the boundaries of zone.  Fortunately they had some plants that were not going to be hardy... and what could they do but give this frost free gardener a little gift.  On top of that the plant came from seed that a friend collected.  I have known Josh of Phyto Photo for many years now, and even though he no longer works as a propagator extraordinaire, he does botanize while out in the field taking photos. And a recent trip yielded this beautiful shrub, Luculia.

At the end of my trip to the Pacific Northwest I crammed my plants in my suitcase and lugged them home.  I proceeded to neglect the poor plant for a year and a half until recently when I finally plunked it down along the fence line in a momentary act of kindness.

I'm not certain which Luculia it is, but I believe it to be L. pinceana.  Not only does it have attractive foliage and lovely pale pink flowers, it's also jasmine-ly fragrant and on top of all that, it blooms in the fall and winter seasons.

Guess who's taking cuttings in spring??!!

Plant purchase: Urginea maritima

I broke down and spent some moola yesterday.  Roger's Gardens really does keep things interesting.  It's not everyday that I spend $17 on a single bulb but I was inspired.  Mind you, the bulb probably weighs about 5 pounds, really a whopper.

Urginea maritima is native to the Mediterranean, so it should do well for me. I hope I will see bloom the first year since it's such a large bulb.  I'll be ready for it when it shoots up with a huge spike of white flowers.

Here's my new baby

Ruffled by a dilemma!

After writing about Crassula 'Undulata' a thought began to rise from the depths.  "there had been another wavy plant!" he muttered.

I found the photo.  This was from my end of summer trip to the Puget Sound.  My landscaper buddy Shane showed me this Salvia in a client's garden. He said it was a Salvia officinalis cultivar (common sage) but couldn't remember the name.

Can anyone help?  Ruffled sage.... rippled, undulatus, wavy,  no luck with Google... And where can I get one???

Plants we like: Crassula ovata 'Undulata'

There are so many plants that I love or want to love.  It's so hard to figure out where to put them all. I remember when I first heard about Crassula ovata 'Undulata' (EuroAmerican has it as 'Jitters') from a post on Dirt Du Jour, heralded as the next great thing, I was actually unimpressed when I saw it in person for the first time. At some point I bought a few 4" pots and planted it up to see how it would look. Overtime I became more enamored, I started with this guy in a pot an in time it has earned my respect. Truth be told I like just about all the forms of the jade plant. They do grow so well in Southern California.

So, now I like it so much I want to really let it kick up its heals. The question is where?!  I think I may have the place,  right by the new screen in the outdoor dining area, should help to further define the space.  I want to keep the area paired down, two varieties of plants max and one of them has to be a Sansevieria.  The wavy jade will be a mounded contrast to the upright sword of the mother-in-law's tongue.

Being the frugal gardener that I am, I will be taking cuttings to get the look I want, not buying more plants.

Here's a look at the great texture you can get from this plant. It is also a bit glaucous which is nice and different, it also makes me wonder if is Crassula ovata... looks more like C. arborescens. And there is a cultivar called 'Blue waves' (name seems more appropriate than 'Jitters'. Anyway we like it!

Crassula ovata 'Undulata'

Wavy babies

Little houses on the hillside...

The plant tables I now have are a great improvement with my growing projects, but with this early cool and wet weather most things have slowed way down.  So, I decided to make the most of the sun and warmth that we do have and made little green houses.

It was super simple.  I took 4  8' long 3/4" PVC pipes and secured them to the side of the tables using screws, then bent them over to the other side and secured them there too.  Voila, hoops. Then I got some plastic sheeting covered the hoops and held it down with clips from the office supply.

yay, little greenhouses!