Sacramento Vegetable Gardening

A Dead Man's Party

2012-01-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Outside the CRFG Scion Exchange

Dear Mom:

These are my kind of people. They're weird. I'm going to learn a lot from them!

Much Love,

Bill

Suffice to say -- I've been looking forward to this event for the better part of a year. The event I'm speaking of? The annual scion exchange held by the Sacramento Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers -- or CRFG. These people are PLUM crazy.

Plum Crazy?

How is this a true statement? Do you see how many different varieties of PLUMS are on this table to your left? Case closed. Heaven awaits. Wait -- make that fruit tree heaven.

This is the next and most natural step that a person of questionable sanity takes when said person plants a backyard full of fruit trees. One variety of Pluot simply isn't enough. Not when there are five or six or seven different varieties that ripen at different times of the year.

Don't have room for five different varieties of pluots? No problem! That's the beauty of the scion exchange and the mad science called "grafting." One tree can hold many different varieties of fruit that ripen at different times of the year. No doubt that you've ran across something called a "Fruit Salad" fruit tree in your local nursery or Big Box store. The fruit salad tree offers three varieties of fruit grafted onto a single tree.

Inside the CRFG Scion Exchange

This is somewhat similar -- except you control what varieties are grafted. It's also not unheard of to graft Asian Plums like the Santa Rosa to an Apricot tree. Don't think that will work? Talk to one of the mad scientists at any scion exchange. They have stories to tell and tips to share. If you think it can't work, you will find someone to tell you that it can.

I suppose it would be wise to tell you, in simple terms, what a scion actually is before I drag you into this murky madness of year-round fruit and citrus production. A simple definition, provided by Merriam-Webster dictionary is: "a detached living portion of a plant (as a bud or shoot) joined to a stock in grafting and usually supplying solely aerial parts to a graft."

Nectarine Scions (Twigs)

In other words -- it's a twig that's been snapped off or cut off a fruit tree during the dormant season (winter counts as dormant season for fruit trees). That twig is then attached to another tree through the grafting process. If the graft "takes" or is successful -- the twig will sprout new leaves in the spring and will begin producing fruit over the next year or two.

Thanks to recent developments and techniques in the grafting process, most graft attempts are quite successful now. This wasn't always the case. There was a time and day when the process of grafting resulted in a success rate of 50% or less. I should know. I watched my father-in-law attempt to graft something (I can't remember what it was) to my mother's apple tree once. The experiment failed. It was never repeated.

Handy Dandy Grafting Tool (Gift From the Wife!)

But there are new techniques and tools that have been developed since that failure that have made the process of grafting almost foolproof. That, in turn, has led to the creation of a select group of people who are conducting experiments that Baron Victor von Frankenstein never would have dreamed of.

Ten different grafts on one apple tree? Sure! Why stop there? Graft a nectarine to a peach tree? Sounds good to me? Cherries to plums? Hey man! Whatever makes you happy!

CRFG Member John Valenzuela Explains Grafting Process

In the center of this recent scion exchange madness, a woefully under prepared Bill Bird would meet this guy: John Valenzuela. True to the patterns on his shirt -- John believes in growing fruit. Not just any fruit -- but all types and lots of them. John would be just one helpful person that I would run into during this exchange, as spread his own style and brand of Home Depot "You Can Do This" confidence.

My hands literally shook with excitement as I picked up bag after bag of fruit tree scions for literally every fruit tree and very fruit variety under the sun. You like nectarines? How does 20 different varieties of nectarines sound? Are plums your bag? There are HUNDREDS of different varieties here -- take your pick. Not sure what you want? Ask John!

Lady Williams Peach

It was then I noticed that most people had come prepared for this event with rolls of tape, pens, bags and markers. Once a certain variety of scion was selected, the name and information was written down on tape, attached to the twig in question and dropped into a bag. Onto the next station.

Bill Bird -- as you might imagine -- brought nothing. How was I going to keep track of all this stuff? Not to worry. CRFG members can spot a new member in their midst. They are usually the people standing in the middle of the madness, eyes wide open, sometimes drooling (OK -- in my case -- drooling).

Apple Scion Table

Someone -- I can't remember who -- would be kind enough to wrap some tape around a spare pen, stick it my hand, and tell me to get moving. Move -- I did. First to the plum table for that variety called Fairchild. Then, I would proceed to hop, skip and jump over to the pluot table where I discovered scions for Dapple Dandy, Flavor King and Flavor Delight! Then it was back to the plum table -- then cherries -- then nectarines! Back and forth! Back and forth!

One gets kind of dizzy collecting scions.

Those collected twigs of apples, pluots, nectarines, plums and cherries are currently sitting inside of a plastic baggy, kept moist at the bottom of the wife's vegetable crisper. She's just thrilled by this development -- but not to worry -- as yours truly will take the first steps into the world of fruit tree grafting later today.

Grafting that cherry to the cat's tail? Hey now -- that just might work....

My thanks to John Valenzuela and other CRFG members who only too happy to guide a lost person through the fruit tree jungle. John, a Horticulturist, Consultant and Educator, can be reached through his website. Access the CRFG website here, and the Sacramento Chapter is always welcoming new members to the madness.

A Frosty Cold One?

2012-01-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

St. Patrick Tree Rose-Bird Back 40

The dead of winter really doesn't offer much in the way of garden blogging topics. There are chores to take care of, of course. If you're going to have a garden, you're going to have an endless list of chores that seems to grow with every passing year. You just can't "plant and ferget" as some people would think.

Sacramento Bee Garden writer (when are we going to add Editor to her title, hmm???) recently hosted a Garden Writing Workshop for bloggers like me, called "Germinating Ideas for Your Blog." Unfortunately, when one is fortunate enough to serve in the Office of Senate Republican Leader, one has no time for such outside endeavors. Maintaining a blog like this becomes a real chore. Sadly, I would miss this gathering as I've been forced to miss others.

Tree Rose in winter-Bird Back 40

But it does bring an interesting question to mind: Where do I find topics to write about? Let's be honest here friends, one can only write so much prose about heirloom tomatoes. After awhile, it just gets boring. And the last crime I want to commit is that of boredom.

I'm a fan of photos in the blog. I need and want color. It helps tell a story that mere words cannot. Therefore, if I see a particular picture in the Bird Back 40 -- like the one above or the other to your left -- that begins the process of "blog idea germination." But I also need more than just pictures -- I need a story to go with it. Sometimes -- if I'm very lucky -- the story carries a second meaning.

These photos represent the current state of the two tree roses that I have planted in the backyard. One is a Weeks "two-fer" (two different varieties of roses grafted onto the same root stock). The other is a St. Patrick, a birthday gift for the wife that is Venus several years ago when she was mourning the loss of her mother, Patricia, from cancer.

Tears of a Tree Rose

The photos you see represent the current state of both roses. I recently cut them back. And if you're wondering if roses *cry* -- well -- wonder no longer. The ice you see forming at the end of each cut represents sap escaping from a fresh cut -- a rose tear caught in the moment so to speak. It begs the question of "a frosty cold one?" Indeed.

I won't lie. Both of these roses gave me plenty of trouble at first. We get a lot of strong spring and summer winds blowing through our Sacramento River bottom home. Strong winds and tree roses do not mix. The stalks either bend or, in some cases, snap right in two. That's how the Weeks "Two-Fer" adopted the rather unfortunate name of "Two-Pieces." A spring wind snapped it in half during the first spring bloom.

Bummer...

Weeks "Two-Fer" 2009

But -- where there's a will? There's a way. The wood stakes that I had been using just weren't strong enough to support a tree rose full of blooms. Wood tends to bend -- and when wood stakes bend -- so do tree roses. One good blow from the north and SNAP! It's an emergency trip to the nearest nursery to hunt for a suitable replacement.

The nursery also carried the fix I was looking for in the form of strong metal stakes, sets of foam holders that attached to both stake and tree rose, plus some strong green gardening tape to hold it all together. I installed the fix last spring after the first big bloom, when once again the Weeks "Two-Fer" began leaning dangerously to the left.

I'm happy to report that the fix actually worked. The tree roses haven't been a problem since both stakes were pounded into the ground and fastened to each rose. They stopped waving too and fro during those surprise spring and winter windstorms. They took every gust like a champion. The stake "fix" also allowed the base of each tree rose to grow thicker and stronger.

It's my hope then that this "fix" is a permanent one. You see -- there are other -- more important duties to take care of on winter weekends like this. It's not necessarily garden related -- mind you -- but if you're a fan of a certain football team that resides in San Francisco, weekends like this have become very important.

There's not as much time for gardening on days like these. Not when Alex Smith is doing his best "Joe Montana" impression. The days of listening to the 49ers lose yet another game while working in the backyard are long gone. There's something special going on in the City by the Bay, kids.

As you might be able to tell from the photo, the question of "a frosty cold one?" takes on an entirely different meaning...

Indeed. That's where blog ideas are born.

I Was Wrong, Alex

2012-01-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

Paul Kitagaki Jr. - Sacramento Bee

It's time for a well-deserved Mea Culpa. If you've come to this post expecting to find gardening insights and information, you're going to be sorely disappointed. There are no vine-ripened tomatoes here today. No fresh-from-the tree-ripened peaches. There is only chagrin.

You see, this is my apology to the man to your right. That my friends is Alex Smith. He plays quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Up until yesterday, Alex Smith had been the target of every football barb launched by a one Bill Bird and every other 49er fan. He was a first round draft bust. He was a complete and utter failure. He was the poster child -- so to speak -- of everything that was wrong with a woeful 49er football team.

Paul Kitagaki Jr. - Sacramento Bee

But -- every once in a great while -- a special moment comes along to prove that football fans are probably the most clueless people on this God's Green Earth. Wait -- strike the "probably" part. For today, I'm feeling a bit guilty and a bit melancholy. After all -- it wasn't all that long ago when I was blaming complete crop failures in the Bird Back 40 on a one Alex Smith (My Corn Fails Like Alex Smith).

It hadn't always been this way. Like many 49er fans I believed in Alex when he was first drafted. I lived through those miserable, losing years. I waited, patiently, for signs of improvement that never did come. During this time I was to suffer the slings and arrows from my big brother (a Charger fan) and many others who gleefully bragged that the 49ers had drafted a "bust." Alex would go down in the Pantheon of Busts, joining the likes of Ryan Leaf, JaMarcus Russell, Joey Harrington and others who came out of college ball with great promise -- only to fall flat on their collective faces.

In fact -- if you Google the phrase of "Quarterback Bust" today, Alex Smith's name still pops up on a number of search results.

Jose Luis Villegas-Sacramento Bee

It just goes to show that I'm not the only person with egg on his face. There are lots of clueless people on the face of this planet, and some of them actually write about football for a living.

It might be time for them to find a new line of work.

Alex Smith's performance against the New Orleans Saints goes beyond mere numbers. There is more there than 299 yards passing. One must look beyond his three passing touchdowns. The game was bigger than "the scramble," a thing-of-beauty, over-the-left-side rushing TD that sent Candlemistake Park fans into a tizzy.

That final bullet to tight end Vernon Davis may earn a place in history books as "the grab," but Alex Smith's performance goes deeper than that -- much deeper.

Paul Kitagaki Jr. - Sacramento Bee

Alex Smith took a gigantic step forward on Saturday that no fan ever thought in his or her wildest mind that Alex Smith could ever take. He transformed himself from first-round bust, first-round disappointment, into an elite QB who can play with the best in this game and beat them all.

I'll be the first to admit, I had lost faith in him. The years of taunts from my Charger-loving brother and so many others (including the brother-in-law who bleeds Dallas Cowboy blue) had worked its magic. I was convinced. Alex Smith was bust. He was just no good -- no good at all. The 49ers would never experience a winning season again -- I firmly believed -- until he was cut, told to clean out his locker, and leave.

You may notice that I take a particular satisfaction that neither the Chargers or the Cowboys are in the playoffs this year. Both the brother and brother-in-law are strangely quiet today and have been far less vocal this entire season. The Charger fan brother is just sick with the realization that the 49ers and Alex Smith are one step away from what his multitude of playoff teams could never do: clinch a spot in the Super Bowl.

Paul Kitagaki Jr. - Sacramento Bee

By the way -- the brother is already picking Green Bay (even though, at the writing of this blog post, they haven't won a playoff game against the Giants yet).

Let this be my personal Mea Culpa then. This is my personal apology to Alex Smith. I'm sorry that I listened to the hateful words from my Charger-loving brother. I'm sorry that I let my Dallas Cowboy lovin' brother-in-law get to me. I should probably revoke my NFL fan card.

I know that Alex Smith is no fan of gardening forums. Perhaps one day he will be -- long after he's retired and he's turned his attention to other pursuits. I know he will not read this. But it doesn't matter.

I'm sorry Alex. I was wrong.

Photos in this blog posting were taken without permission from the Sacramento Bee, which this blog is linked too through Sacramento Connect. I have given proper photo credit for each photo used, and will be happy to remove them if found to be in violation of copyright rules.

A U-Pick Paradise

2011-12-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

Moody's Middle Mountain Mandarin Farm-Sutter Buttes

Nestled at the base of the Sutter Buttes in the unincorporated community of Sutter, CA, adventure awaits three Sacramento transplants in search of fresh citrus on a clear and cold winter day. Not just any citrus either, but fresh from the tree lemons, mandarins, grapefruit and more.

We would find and fulfill our quest at Moody's Middle Mountain Mandarin Farm located just next door to the Sutter High School football field, a slice of wild country life located at the front door -- so to speak -- the dividing line between rural city life and country living at its finest.

I had been searching for a U-pick operation involving fresh lemons for quite some time, but every promising lead fizzled. Every operation that offered fresh lemons wouldn't allow you to set foot near a tree -- but you could buy freshly harvested lemons - two or three for a buck. That wasn't good enough. I wanted something different. I wanted a U-pick operation where I could pick my fill. I wasn't after ten or 15 lemons -- I had my sights set on ten or 15 buckets.

Moody's Middle Mountain Mandarin Farm

That's a lot of lemons. Combined with the fresh honey and pomegranate juice from the Bird Back 40, it was enough to keep us pickled in lemonade and other delicacies through the winter months. That was my quest, but my search was coming up woefully short. Sure -- I know plenty of people in Sacramento with massive lemon trees. I consider these folks to be very lucky people. They wouldn't mind if I helped myself to ten or 15 lemons -- not at all.

But ten or 15 Homer sized buckets? Meh...Keep looking son...

South Natomas heirloom tomato grower Nels Christensen felt our pain. Nels DOES have lemon trees. But Nels, like many other owners of mature citrus trees, also has USES for his lemons. He's not in the market for giving up 10-15 buckets worth -- but he did join us in our search. It was a search that would lead me first into Butte County -- later Yuba and Yolo -- Placer County too.

Monster Lisbon Lemon Tree-Moody's Mountain Mandarins

But it was Sutter County -- gorgeous Sutter County -- that offered the elusive answer I was looking for. Al Moody, owner and operator of Moody's Middle Mountain Mandarins, confirmed that he did indeed have the type of lemon tree I was looking for. It was a massive, grand bush of a tree. It's the type of tree that held so many lemons that you could harvest 10-15 buckets and the tree looked like it hadn't been touched.

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a lemon tree.

It was the lovely wife that is Venus who snapped me back to reality when she scolded that I didn't really need 10-15 buckets of lemons. What I might WANT and what I NEED, she lectured, are two entirely different things. Two buckets, she counseled, would be just fine.

Buckets for Picking!

She was, of course, right. When is she not? Except when she uttered the immortal words of "I do," the mistakes have been few and far between.

To be honest? I had been searching for a source of Meyer Lemons. Those are my favorite. The funny thing is -- the Improved Meyer Lemon really isn't a true lemon. It's a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin or common orange. It's far sweeter than the Eureka or Lisbon lemons, which are two of the most common "true lemons" that are planted in California. But the Meyer also happens to be a favorite among many lemon fans because of it's sweetness, juicing ability and unique taste.

While Moody confirmed he did have Meyer Lemons on his vast property -- I was in for a jolt of disappointment. This has been a poor year for Meyer production, he related. He wasn't allowing U-pick services for his Meyer trees yet -- and may not allow them this year. The same holds true for the acres of mandarins planted behind his home. In past years? You could pick all you wanted to your heart's (or stomach's) content. But not this year.

Carpet of Lisbon Lemons-Moody's Mountain Mandarins

However -- in the center of this property -- located behind a few small Meyer Lemon and somewhat larger Naval Orange and other citrus trees stood the granddaddy lemon tree of them all: Lisbon lemons. I'll be honest with you -- I've never tasted Lisbon Lemons before. I've heard of them -- but never harvested them in great numbers like the Meyer.

But Bill Bird isn't one to pass up a lemon of a bargain like this. Al was selling his lemons for $12 bucks for a 5-gallon Homer bucket -- all the lemons I wanted and more. My eyeballs nearly rolled out of their sockets when I saw this massive wonder for the first time. Nels, who had graciously volunteered to join our lemon of an adventure, smiled as well.

Lisbon Lemons-Ready for Harvest

It was a lemon of a promised land. Ladders? No need for ladders with a tree this large and this wide. The entire tree was covered with a canopy, wall and base of lemons. Lemons at the bottom. Lemons at the middle. More lemons than you can possibly count within easy reach.

It didn't take us long -- 30 minutes perhaps -- to fill two of those 5-gallon buckets. Each bucket resulted in a large grocery sack full of lemons. Venus was right. She's always right. Two buckets were more than enough.

Mandarins for Snacking-Moody's Mountain Mandarins

But you just can't visit a mandarin farm like this -- especially this mandarin farm so close to the Sutter Buttes -- and leave with just a couple of sacks of lemons. No -- there were mandarins to be had here. There were mandarins by the thousands. "Help yourself to a snack," Al invited us. Snack we did. I must admit -- those are some of the best mandarins I've tasted this season -- even better than the Owari Satsuma Mandarins that came from my own backyard.

The final haul resulted in two large sacks of Lisbon Lemons, a large bag of Al's Middle Mountain Mandarins, a smaller sack of Meyer Lemons plus a couple of grapefruit that caught Venus' eye.

The Order Board

The drive to Al's Middle Mountain Mandarin Farm is a pleasing drive up Highway 99 through gorgeous Northern California countryside -- in and out of of Yuba City and a right turn on Acacia Blvd. off Highway 20 that will lead you to the community of Sutter.

Turn left on Griffith and travel past the grounds of Sutter High School to reach Al's farm, which is located at 8189 Griffith Lane -- almost at the end of the block. Feel free to pull right in or call (530) 673-2567 ‎and ask Al about the many types of citrus trees he has on his farm (there's a lot there to look at). Perhaps you'll get a crack at that Lisbon Lemon as we did, or be content to purchase a sack or two of some of the best citrus you'll ever taste.

Turn Out the Lights!!!!

2011-12-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

Bird Back 40 Asparagus Patch

As Dandy Don Meredith of ABC's Monday Night Football would croon at the end of games (especially blowouts):

"Turn Out the Lights...

The Party's Over...

They Say That...

All Good Things Must End...

Call it Tonight...

The Party's Over...

And Tomorrow Starts...

The Same Old Thing Again..."

Willie Nelson wrote those amazing lyrics and sings that amazing song. But I don't know if it would be quite as popular today, had not one of the best Color Commentators in all of football crooned that same, signature song again and again and again.

It's the song that comes to mind when looking at the asparagus patch pictured above. Venus and I planted asparagus crowns just last spring, really not knowing what to expect. After all, we'd never grown asparagus before. Have you? Was it supposed to erupt in a tangled mass of ferns like it did last summer? Because it most certainly did.

Asparagus Spears Allowed to Flower and Fern

Hidden most of the summer by the Bird Back 40 corn crop, those tiny root systems for Jersey Knight and Purple Passion bolted into a cacophany of fern growth that promptly grew straight up and then flopped over on the ground after reaching a height of three to four feet. Any fern that flopped was immediately replaced by another spear -- which also proceeded to fern and flop.

There were many times during the summer, I might add, where Bill Bird was more than just a tad tempted to cut that fat green or purple spear literally jumping out of the raised bed that holds the Bird asparagus patch. So was the wife that is Venus. But we managed to resist that urge -- knowing all the while -- that each fern would most likely result in a multitude of fat asparagus spears next spring.

That's the hope anywho. Like I mentioned earlier, we've never attempted anything like this before.

We had plenty of questions -- but very little in the way of answers. Was this fern growth normal? Should we be doing anything special to the asparagus patch during the ferning and flopping process -- rather than fawning over it every third day? Should we allow the ferns to flop? Stake them up? So many questions -- so little answers.

Asparagus Ferns

Normally -- in times of need like this -- I turn to one or more gardening mentors like Farmer Fred Hoffman, Don Shor of Redwood Barn Nursery fame or former Sacramento Bee Home and Garden Editor Dan Vierra. But, to be brutally honest, I really do bug these people too much with incessant questioning. It was time to do some searching on my own, and as a very wise man once taught me, "Google is your friend."

Indeed!

The most helpful "how too" articles that I came across were "Growing ASPARAGUS in the Garden" from the UC Davis Vegetable Research and Information Station and "Growing Asparagus in the Home Garden" from the University of Ohio Horticulture and Crop Science Extension service. Both were loaded with tips (asparagus tips I might add) -- and both confirmed that Venus and I were off to a rather rousing start.

In fact -- the best bit of advice came from Carl J. Cantaluppi (University of Ohio) when he wrote: "The year after planting, asparagus can be harvested several times throughout a three-week period, depending on air temperatures. Research shows there is no need to wait two years after planting before harvesting. In fact, harvesting the year after planting will stimulate more bud production on the crown and provide greater yields in future years, as compared with waiting two years before harvesting.

This was indeed -- tremendous news. Venus and I had been under the belief that it would be at least two seasons before we could harvest our first spears. Yet here was plain advice from a crop scientist advocating to pick, pick and pick away after just one year of fern growth. Do you know what this means?

Asparagus Ferns Removed (Cut Back)

It means that the bed that has now been cut back of dead fern growth will be throwing out delicious spears of asparagus this spring, just in time for Easter Supper at the Bird Ranch. Nothing -- I mean absolutely NOTHING -- is better than what you can grow in your own little patch of yard. This is a rule that applies to all produce -- and I can only begin to imagine what kind of taste surprise will result from our own home-grown asparagus.

These same articles (links are above) -- while confirming that we were indeed on the right path -- also contained tips that I never would have crossed my mind (unless someone told me to do it). Those ferns that had erupted from the asparagus crowns (roots) that we planted last spring were actually quite beneficial. They were sending all kinds of important nutrients into the crowns (root systems) below. The more fern activity -- the better. More ferns result in more spears -- bigger and better spears I might add.

But there also comes a time when enough is enough. Those ferns don't last. In fact, as you can tell from the photos, many of them have turned brown. Some -- much to my surprise -- completely withered away. I discovered this as I hacked the fern growth back to ground level. The instructions that I encountered online advised a "haircut and close shave," as those former spears that erupted into ferns will become quite woody and quite *sharp* during the overwintering process.

We don't want to be slicing up fingers when slicing tender shoots of asparagus next spring, now do we?

Asparagus Hidden by Ferns

That "shave and a haircut (two bits)" is now complete. What's more surprising, although the thought did cross my mind, is that the removal of the dead and dying ferns revealed the growth of ASPARAGUS SPEARS! Sure enough -- what may be the first tender shoots of spring-time growth were popping just above the soil line.

Now -- it's entirely possible that this growth will also result in additional ferns -- which will be cut back later this winter. Then again, the growth rate might be so slow that these spears may be the first we actually harvest during our short, three week, asparagus season. This season, by the way, will expand with time and additional years of growth. But, for the first year? Three weeks is all you get.

That's fine by us. As the wife that is Venus says -- three weeks is better than no weeks. We're looking forward to a rather tasty backyard harvest. See you in the spring!

Potato Baby Jesus?

2011-12-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day Potato Surprise From the Bird Back 40

Every once in a great while while working in the garden -- the wife that is Venus will utter a line that makes the perfect title for a gardening post like this one. It's the line that she shouted out after digging this monster potato out of the garden on Christmas Day -- a complete and total surprise I might add. We didn't pick Christmas Day as the day to harvest potatoes. No -- that mistake is on me -- yours truly. I'm the husband who forgot to purchase a five pound sack of spuds during our many shopping trips to prepare for the big day.

As soon as she uttered the line, I responded with the following: "that's perfect for the blog. I'm STEALING it." But the wife -- a devout Catholic -- suddenly had second thoughts lest the title offend someone. "How about calling it Potato Santa Claus instead," she questioned.

Nope -- Potato Baby Jesus was just too good to pass.

This monster potato, which snapped into two pieces as we dug it out of the soil, weighed in at a solid 2 lbs. It is one of the largest potatoes we have ever dug out of the backyard, and came as a shock and surprise to the both of us.

Frost and Potato Plants Do Not Mix

We weren't expecting anything this large -- especially since a week or two of winter frost in the morning had essentially laid waste to the potato plants in the backyard. Much to my chagrin, the frost also destroyed a growth spurt on one of two Meyer Lemon trees in the Bird Back 40. Why the Meyer Lemon suddenly chose late fall to suddenly bolt with a flurry of new branch growth and blossom set, I'll never know. I prayed and hoped the new growth would survive the onset of winter, but prepared for the worst.

The worst was revealed on Christmas Day after digging up a surprise monster of a potato. Despite covering the tree with Christmas lights (lights that generate heat I might add -- because some do not) -- the frosty conditions prevailed. Most of the new, purple colored, branch growth that I'd witnessed in recent weeks had turned black. That's never a good sign.

Bummer.

As for the potato harvest party on Christmas Day? That was also a surprise! It was necessitated when Venus discovered her dolt of a husband had forgotten to purchase a 5 lb. sack of spuds for holiday meals. Her response? "I guess we're digging for Christmas dinner then."

Christmas Day Potato Harvest

I didn't have much hope to be honest. We were a tad late on planting fall crops like potatoes this year. While some plants had sprung up in the bed we used for our very successful potato harvest last spring, the plants never did get a chance to flower and die back as they do naturally during the spring planting. 10-15 days of solid frost turned a once leafy and nice looking bed into something rather barren and dead looking.

I wasn't all that encouraged. Until -- that is -- Venus and I unearthed a monster of spud that we were not expecting.

The haul in the basket picture above came from digging up a small portion of the bed -- no more than one or two plants. We know there's a lot more where this came from, and perhaps another monster or two to uncover.

As for Christmas Day dishes -- the potato haul made for a nice breakfast in the form of hash browns. This a must have before the chore of ripping open Christmas presents. That evening, the wife that is Venus Productions concocted her famous roasted potato dish, featuring fresh rosemary from the garden, sea salt, pepper and olive oil (plus a few other secret seasonings).

This was a nice, and rather unexpected, gift from the garden on Christmas Day.

Why is This Man Smiling?

2011-12-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Honey Extractor at Work

His incredible weight loss secrets perchance? Mmmm....NO!

The wife that is Venus is rewarding me with a back rub? No again, since she's taking the picture.

The 49ers are winning? That very well could be, but again, no.

But there is a reason for this grin. I'm rich! I'm fabulously rich and wealthy! Not in money mind you, but in fresh, tasty, straight-from-the-backyard Hello Kitty Beehive, HONEY.

As for the picture above? Yes, that is me. Yes, I could stand to lose more than just a few pounds. But I am seated in front of a strange contraption known as an extractor. I had never heard of an extractor, and never had a use for an extractor until I got this crazy idea in my head some three years ago to manage a beehive.

Pure Honey is a Pretty Sight

How does one procure honey from a hive? One needs an "extractor." What is an extractor? If you combine the mental pictures of a large metal trash can and a ten-speed bike -- that's kind of what it's like. And it's the perfect way to remove large amounts of honey from honey-laden combs like the one pictured to your left in a very short period of time.

That honey capped frame, by the way, comes from the part of the beehive called the "honey super." Why do they call it a "honey super?" Why are you asking these questions? My short and sweet answer is: I have no clue why they call it that. Perhaps because it results in a lot of honey -- and such a development is just "super?"

Probably not.

Scraping Wax Capped Frames of Honey for Extraction

My hand was literally shaking with excitement, by the way, as I used a hard-wire brush to break into the white wax caps that held back a massive flow of golden-rich honey. This was a first for me. I'd never done anything like it before. But the time to procure honey from backyard hives had come and gone. It was late October. The weather had turned cold. Cold temperatures turn honey into the consistency and weight of a wet and sticky cement.

Have you ever tried pouring cement? I have. It ain't easy. It also takes a skill level that I never acquired and probably never will. This is why I don't pour wet cement anymore, unless I'm going to bury it in the form of a fence post for a grape arbor. You'll never see my shoddy cement work. It's buried. You'll only notice it when the fence falls over. Hah!

Neon Pink Hello Kitty Hive

Breaking into the Hello Kitty Hive also contained a surprise that I had not been expecting. Since the weather was cold -- I knew the colony must have clustered. I had not seen nary a bee fly in or out of the hive for about a week. This is normal activity during colder months. Bees cluster in a hive to protect the queen and keep her warm. My hope was that the bees had clustered near the bottom of the hive, which would make retrieval of the honey super that much easier.

That particular super is located at the top of the hive. My hope was I could dart in and out without the colony flying up to meet me, retrieve the super and the queen excluder and quickly make my exit.

WARNING! This box is HEAVY!

I'll never forget the rush I felt upon opening the top of that hive to look into the super for the first time since I'd placed it on top of the hive last spring. What had been nothing more than a simple box with ten empty frames had been transformed into a box containing ten white-capped frames of honey that weighed a good 50-60 lbs. It took all of my effort to lug that box off the hive and move it a good twenty feet away. So far, so good. The bees had not come up to greet the wife and I.

Removal of the queen excluder and the second hive body (which contained two year old honey) also went without a hitch. But that's when the first feelings of doubt began to wash over me. I should have seen at least one bee by now. Bees normally react with annoyance when a beekeeper disturbs the hive body. It's a natural reaction. Remember that bees are insects. They do not have individual minds or individual wills. Insects react instinctively. The first instinct of any honeybee is to protect the queen and hive. I should have at least encountered an angry buzz by now.

Frame of Wax-Capped Honey

We didn't hear a thing. That's bad news. If you don't hear bees buzzing, it means it's time to inspect the hive. This is something I hadn't done since last spring, when our very healthy and productive colony swarmed on four different occasions. Although beekeepers do their level best to keep a hive from swarming, it's part of the natural reproductive process. This is how new colonies form. If a colony swarms, it usually means you've got a champion queen inside that hive and she has produced so much new brood -- that it's time to split.

So what happened? I'm not really sure. But an inspection of the bottom hive body revealed a rather distressing sight. There was nary a bee to be found. There wasn't one single, solitary honeybee in that hive. There wasn't so much as a carcass. Short and sweet? They were gone. Why would a queen and colony leave a hive that they had packed with honey stores during the spring and summer? It's a vexing question and problem that affects commercial and hobbyist beekeepers. Successful colonies can collapse and vanish in the space of a month.

Frames Inside Extractor. Notice Honey at the Bottom?

This one vanished. But before vanishing -- they sure did leave behind a boatload of honey.

The first step in claiming this honey from the super was to warm it up. You can't extract honey that is the consistency of wet cement -- even with the powerful force of an extractor. Honey extracts easily when it is thin and pours easily. But it needs heat to reach this consistency -- and sustained heat at that.

The Bird family garage does double-duty for many things. It's not just a garage. It's a party room. It's a bar, complete with kegerator. It's a place to watch football on a flat-screen TV. It's a place for tools and garden implements AND neon signs for Red Stripe, Coors Light, Corona and the like. Short and sweet? It's not just a garage. It's a "GarageMahal."

By turning up the heat and letting the super sit in one place overnight, inside a well heated GarageMahal, the honey inside those white, wax-capped frames took on the kind of consistency that I wanted. It was soft, pliable and easy to work with. It also leaves behind a sticky mess, necessitating the use of a tarp normally reserved for paint jobs inside the house.

Three Frame Extractor With Spigot at Bottom

The extractor is a simple device that uses the force of gravity to remove honey from frames very quickly. The frames are first scraped with a wire brush to remove the wax cappings, then placed inside slots located inside the drum of the extractor. The top of the extractor is then covered, and at that point, it's muscle over matter. The operator cranks the handle at the top of the extractor, the frames inside whip round and round at high speeds, and the force of gravity sends the honey, wax and bits of pollen slinging to the sides of this modified trash can.

Here's a short, one-minute demo here.

The honey that collects at the bottom of this can drains through a spigot into anything you have available (a five gallon bucket works best) and the end result looks a lot like what is pictured above. You get a lot of honey mixed with bits of wax and pollen that also dislodged during the extraction process. Those bits wax and pollen are lighter than the honey, and will rise to the top of a bucket or one gallon container over a day or two. This makes it easier to dig out, but the honey still must be strained a second time. And even then, tiny particles of wax and pollen remain.

Extracted Honey Before Straining

My friends, I can tell you this much. There is nothing quite like honey freshly harvested from your own backyard hive. The taste is dramatically different from what is purchased in a store (many commercial honey products are mixed with corn syrup or other products). It also contains enzymes and pollens that are considered to be medicinal.

Honey that is allowed to stay in a comb stage for two years is far darker and far sweeter. I am not sure if this can be purchased commercially, I've never come across it before. It is truly something special and will make for some nice gifts during the Christmas season.

The Finished Product: Pure 100% Raw Honey

The bees inside that Hello Kitty Hive were extraordinarily productive. The extractor yielded about 60 lbs. of honey -- enough to fill a number of half gallon and one gallon jugs. I have never seen so much honey in my life and consider myself to be very fortunate indeed. While I am saddened that Sudden Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) appears to have struck again, Venus and I will start with a new swarm again next spring.

Beekeeping is like a madness. Once it strikes, it never lets go.

The BOMB!

2011-11-30T21:52:00.000-08:00

Lime Beef Bomb

As in LIME BEEF BOMB! Gentle readers -- I am about to share a cheap n' easy recipe that will even make Poor Girl Eats Well drool on her keyboard. And she's a pretty good cook! That recipe -- once finished -- results in what you see to your right. And it can be made with any type of vegetable (including broccoli), stir fried or steamed -- it's all up to you.

The best part is? Some of the key ingredients come straight from the Bird Backyard and citrus orchard, including the bell peppers pictured above? Did you think that growing peppers was a summertime deal only? So did I! Funny thing is -- fall came and they kept right on going. They've come through rainy weather, frosty conditions and lots of fog and are still putting out some mighty tasty produce.

Who am I to complain?

Fresh Bearss Limes

This recipe originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee section for food lovers -- which Bill & Venus Bird are. If I'm not mistaken, the source the Bee used for this article was Tuk-Tuk Restaurant in North Natomas, just a hop, skip and jump from the Bird Back 40. If memory serves me correctly, this was originally a recipe for a beef salad (Lam Nuea?) seasoned with fresh limes, hot peppers and other Thai ingredients. If you want to use this as a salad recipe, with your favorite greens, you most certainly can. This can be modified in so many different ways, which is why we make it often (also because we kind of love it).

If there is one absolute KEY ingredient to this recipe it would have to be the fresh limes that are now coming ripe by the dozens in the Bird Back 40. I realize that not everyone has a lime tree in the backyard or even the front yard. But if you can find a source for fresh Bearss Limes, I highly encourage that you take advantage of said source. I have tried a number of different lime varieties with this dish, including the Key or Mexican lime, but I keep coming back to the Bearss. It has a sweetness factor that serves this dish well.

Beef soaking in fresh lime juice and Thai herbs

Fresh limes also have another big advantage over limes purchased in your local supermarket: They are far juicier. The dish that we doubled to serve two people last night was made with just three fresh limes. In the past? When we were without fresh limes and had to settle for whatever the produce aisle offered? It took six to seven limes to accomplish the needed task. The end result wasn't nearly as good either. I cannot stress this enough: the better quality of lime that you have means a much better tasting meal.

And this is one good tasting meal.

It means a pretty good trek in cold weather to reach the Bird pepper patch these days. Much of the yard is still not landscaped in the way I would like. These vast stretches of open dirt are fine in the summer, but turn into a muddy, sticky, clay SLOP at the first hint of rain, fog or cold weather. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but it's pretty darn sloppy right now. This means the donning of mud shoes, a flashlight to find my way in the dark and a bowl to carry the harvest back inside.

Fresh bell pepper harvest

And what a harvest it was! I'm not sure why the peppers are still churning out product at this point in the season. But I'm not going to complain about it. If life gives us green peppers? We make meals with peppers, including this Lime Beef Bomb dish, fajitas or just plain raw peppers sliced and seasoned with salt, pepper and a drizzle of red wine vinegar. One other thing I've noticed? While the peppers are still growing and producing at a rather eye-popping rate, they do not offer the heat factor that summer peppers bring. That's fine by us because the wife that is Venus likes her bell peppers to be sweet, fresh and crunchy. That is exactly what she gets.

We've been blessed with a lot of production from our three-year old Bearss Lime tree this fall. It also seems to like its location. While not huge, it has grown well since we planted it. We've allowed this citrus tree to produce since the first season, and while last season's production of a single, solitary lime was a bit of a downer, this year's production of about 50 limes has us smiling from ear to ear. Fresh limes go well in cooking. They also go well in Pacifico, which is something we're just a tad familiar with.

A tad...

Chopped peppers ready for steaming

The monthly fertilization schedule that we adopted some years back for all fruit and citrus offerings in the Bird Back 40 also seems to have played a positive role in production. It's not all that difficult to be honest. The instructions from City of Folsom Arborist Ken Menzer were to throw a handful of pelleted fertilizer beneath each tree every month. It appears to be good advice. If the fertilizer regimen resulted in production like this, I highly encourage it. It also doesn't hurt to have a beehive in the backyard, as honeybees LOVE citrus flowers. Bees, as we all know, are essential pollinators. I don't know if we would have this kind of production without them.

As for the vegetables, you can use your favorite. We sometimes go the stir fry route. I happen to prefer vegetables that are lightly steamed rather than stir fried. Lightly steamed vegetables retain their crunch factor and don't contain the oil content that results from a stir fry. We do always try to use fresh vegetables for this dish because anything that comes out of a bag (frozen veggies) gets somewhat limp during the reheating process.

As the wife would say: limp is bad.

Sliced beef cooking in fresh lime juice and seasonings

We've used many different cuts of beef for this dish. Since the key to this recipe is the lime and the soak process, any cut of beef will work. Venus and I generally follow the sales and stock up on beef when it's on sale. For instance? Last night's dish featured two Harris Ranch New York steaks that we cut into strips. But we've also used Tri-Tip for this meal as well as London Broil. In other words? It's "whatever you got." Ground turkey also works with this dish, but I must admit, beef is just so much better.

And now -- without further adieu -- the recipe for LIME BEEF BOMB. Remember this one piece of advice: the key to this recipe is the quality of the lime used, and the soak factor. The longer the beef soaks in the lime mixture, the better.

Happy eating!

LIME BEEF BOMB

(note, we usually double this recipe for two people)

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about two limes)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar (substitute honey if you want)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil (any oil can be used, but Sesame Oil adds taste)

1/2 lb steak (tri-tip is good, we used NY Steak last night)

Steamed peppers

Directions: Cut beef into long, thin strips and layer into a wide, raised bowl. Once the first layer is complete, spinkle liberally with salt and pepper and press into meat. Add a second layer of beef and again sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and again press into meat. Keep repeating this process depending on how much of this you make.

Mix lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes and oil together. Mix well. Pour half to three quarters of this mixture over beef . Let soak at least 30 minutes before stir frying or just frying in a regular pan. Cook until most of the lime mixture has evaporated,. OR -- if you enjoy a raw beef, reduce cooking time.

The absolute KEY to this meal is the LIME and the SOAK process. Add the cooked beef to an already prepared salad or steamed or stir fry vegetables and rice and enjoy it in another way.

We Wish You a Merry Citrus!

2011-11-26T18:22:00.000-08:00

Loaded Bearss Lime: Bird Back 40

We Wish You a Merry Citrus!

And a Happy New . . .Lime.

BOOOOOOOO!

This is the train wreck that happens when writer's literally write themselves into a corner. Didn't know writers could do that? If you've read any of my previous stuff, you'll know that's entirely possible. I start out with what I think is a fairly good idea -- and then it just all goes to Heck in a Handbasket. Steve Mallory might suggest that I've "Gilded the Lilly," but that would require a lilly to begin with.

With the summer vegetable garden a distant memory and fall crops like onions, garlic and spinach poking out of the soil (let's not forget the fall potato crop!) -- it's time to appreciate the other nice things about fall and the impending onset of winter.

Bearss Lime Tree

The best part about this time of the season: It has to be the fresh citrus -- like the fresh Bearss Limes pictured above. This is the third year of production for the Bearss Lime that Venus and I planted into a barren side yard, and we're off to a nice little start. The lime appears to like where it's planted. It's growing quickly. And, after yielding a single, solitary lime last season, we've jumped ahead this year to about 30-40.

Not bad if I say so myself.

But the Bearss Lime isn't the only citrus tree offering in the North Natomas Ranch that's showing impressive color and production this year. Thanks to some mighty fine advice by a rather popular NewsTalk 1530, KFBK Garden Talk Show host -- the Birds are harvesting one of the sweetest, tartest pieces of citrus that I've ever tasted.

Ripe Owari Satsuma Mandarins

I wanted to plant the sweetest variety of citrus I could find. Venus, who is not a fan of the seeds found in the Dancy Tangerine, wanted something seedless. Farmer Fred Hoffman didn't think twice when he responded with the advice of "Owari Satsuma Mandarin."

I searched high and low for that Owari Satsuma Mandarin before I settled on a tree that had just been delivered to my local Home Depot. In most cases I get most of my fruit trees from local nurseries because they offer the Dave Wilson selections that I'm searching for, PLUS, the stock is better quality than what you'll find at your local Big Box Store. Plus, nurseries tend to stock those hard to find varieties that other places don't.

Owari Satsuma Mandarin: Year 1

But the story is different when it comes to citrus. Four Winds Growers, located in Winters, CA, is the primary supplier of citrus trees to all nurseries AND big box stores in Northern California. Nurseries tend to get better looking stock upon delivery, but if you camp out at your local big box store at just the right moment, you just might find yourself a steal of a deal.

That's where I discovered the Dancy Tangerine, loaded with bright orange tangerines I might add (a salivating sight to any lover of citrus), four short years ago. It's where I also picked up the Owari Satsuma just last year. It had just been unloaded from a delivery truck, but didn't last long in the Home Depot nursery aisle. It was the best looking one of the bunch delivered on that cold December day, and I must admit it looks pretty good in the backyard.

Dancy Tangerines

Although the vast majority of citrus ripens in the fall, not all varieties are ready for harvest at once. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Owari Satsuma started to ripen in October and is now delivering a sweet and tasty crop of mandarins. The Dancy Tangerine, meanwhile, is still green. Based upon harvests from the previous years, these won't start coming ripe until around Christmas. That's right about when the mandarins will begin to play out.

As for the Meyer Lemons? The news is both good and bad. We have a heavy crop on one tree -- and nary a lemon to be found on the other. I was also rather SHOCKED to discover that the larger of the two Meyer lemons was GROWING multiple shoots and branches in this cold fall weather, after not doing much of anything this spring.

Fall Growth on the Meyer Lemon

Good news? I suppose so. But if a cold frost should decide to hit in the next week or six (some winters are worse than others), those tender new shoots are toast. They will freeze. They will burn. They'll turn a none-too-pleasant shade of black. I'd rather the Meyer Lemon send out loads of new growth in the spring, but let's be honest: Meyer Lemons don't exactly cooperate with what the owner wants. I suppose I should be happy with the new growth spurt and leave it at that.

Despite the good news, we're not done yet. In fact, you could say we're just getting started. We manage to plant something new every year -- and this year is no different. South Natomas grower and citrus aficionado Nels Christensen gifted us with a Cara Cara Orange tree late last spring and it is still sitting in a pot, waiting for its permanent home. The process of grafting will soon yield other varieties of citrus. Short and sweet? There's a long way to go.

I could write all day about citrus -- but alas -- it's time for dinner. Tonight's offering? Turkey Pho, with leftover turkey, and pho broth generously sprinkled with fresh lime juice.

A Bite of a Vine-Ripened Tomato...

2011-11-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

Remains of the Bird 2011 Heirloom Tomato Garden

It's a slice of heaven. It sure is. That taste. That texture. That wonderful, tangy surprise of a summer fruit is all but a distant memory now. This is the current state of the Bird tomato garden in late November. Fairly sad isn't it? They are still producing here and there, which is one reason why I haven't torn them out yet and moved on.

It's hard for me to admit that the season is over. What is coming off the vine now cannot compare, in any shape or form, to the tasty treats that the wife that is Venus and I enjoyed earlier this summer. But it's also loads better than the tomato shaped rocks you'll find in your local produce department these days.

At some point -- the 2011 summer garden will be removed and I will be forced to admit that it's all done.

I'm just not quite there yet. If you live for backyard gardening like I do, winter is a lonely time indeed. But, before this garden is indeed removed and plowed under, it's high time we look back to the summer favorites from 2011. There are some new entries on this list. As with any summer tomato garden, some varieties did well and others -- well -- better luck next year!

OUTSTANDING:

Eva Purple Ball Tomatoes

1. Eva Purple Ball: This was a new entry to the Bird Back 40 home for wayward heirloom tomatoes. I'd heard about this variety from other growers across the country, but again, what does well in New England or Arkansas doesn't necessarily translate into guaranteed success on the Left Coast. Growing heirloom tomatoes is a crap shoot anyway. Some do well, some not. Put this one in the "Did Very Well" category. A single bush yielded 50-80 gorgeous slightly pinkish, slightly purplish large tomatoes, some very close to the 1 lb. range. You'll find this tomato in our salsa, tomato sauce and whole tomato canning efforts from this summer.

2. Marianna's Peace: After a rather poor showing last season, MP bounced back in a rather eye-popping fashion this year. Our plant was susceptible to some early Blossom End Rot (BER) problems during the spring, but those vanished as the weather warmed. MP is one of the best tasting heirlooms I've ever tasted, and it wasn't unusual for this vigorous plant to set four new tomatoes at once. That's always a good sign.

3. Black Krim: One of the tastiest offerings in the field of black (or purple) tomatoes. When a single Black Krim bush delivers a bushel of 40-50 tomatoes? It's a good year.

Stupice Tomato

4. Stupice: If you can describe Stupice with one word? It would have to be WOW! Outstanding production from a variety that wins in backyard gardens from East to West and all points in between. Stupice sets tomatoes in large clusters, much like small cherry-sized tomatoes. They grow to about the size of a golf ball or larger. Not the best processing tomato due to size, but perfect for salads, snacking in the yard, or fresh salsa creations (fresh Rooster's Beak?). If you have room for just a few plants in your yard, I highly reccommend this productive variety.

5. Campbell's 1327: I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank the person who saved this variety from the brink of extinction, but they deserve some sort of recognition. Once the standard-bearer of processing tomatoes used in Campbell's Soups, it was tossed aside and abandoned for those hard-as-a-rock processing tomatoes that can withstand bruising on bumpy trips down long country roads from farm to processing plant. Campbell's 1327 is one of my "Reliable Reds," and produces bushel after bushel of round, red and ripe tomatoes that are blemish free and tart on the tastebuds.

GOOD:

1884 Tomato

1. 1884: Seeds for this variety were provided at the last moment by Sacramento gardener Nels Christensen. I can see why he's partial to it. 1884 delivers large, meaty red tomatoes that reveal a surprising orange-colored flesh once they've been sliced open in the kitchen. A wonderful processing tomato and perfect slicing tomato for those big barbequed turkey burgers that deserve a big slice of tomato on top. Originally discovered in 1884 by a Mr. Williamson in the debris after the big flood in Friendly, West Virginia, this variety will find home in the Bird Back 40 again.

2. Green Zebra: It's been a few years since I've been happy to report a large haul of green zebra tomatoes, and this was just one of those years. My former boss at the workplace, who is rather partial to this variety, received his fair share of the crop. It wasn't unusual to pick anywhere from 10-15 tomatoes during weekly harvests, which makes for a pretty darn good year.

Thessaloniki Tomato

3. Thessaloniki: It doesn't roll off the tongue easily, but this was one productive plant in the Bird Back 40. Thessaloniki is a rare Greek heirloom, introduced to the USA in the 1950's by Glecklers Seedsmen, Ohio. Nice production, nice size, outstanding old world tomato taste. The only reason this particular variety didn't make it to the outstanding list is that it is just a common red tomato.

4. Celebrity: It's the only non-heirloom that found it's way into the Bird tomato crop this year, and for good reason. You can depend upon a bushel of round, red, ripe and mostly disease free tomatoes from Celebrity. While other varieties susceptible to disease battled Blossom End Rot, Celebrity stepped up to the plate in a big way with some nice production.

5: Evil Seed: A big, beautiful black beefsteak type tomato that I will never the true origin of. The original plant was delivered to my desk several years ago with the name "Rainbow" attached to the side. The funny thing is, there is no Rainbow tomato that I know of -- especially a black tomato variety. The gentleman who produced this offering wound up doing some none too kind things to his wife and children, thus the wife stuck it with this unfortunate name. It's an unfortunate story for a great tasting tomato.

JUST PLAIN BAD:

No Brandywines in This Bunch!

1. Brandywine: It kills me to put this variety on my list because I absolutely LOVE Brandywine tomatoes. Although I was encouraged by some early season production, most developed BER and the plant just petered out on me by the time July rolled around. When the backyard garden produces one or two Brandywine tomatoes? It's generally not a good year. I hope for better luck next year.

2. Yellow Brandywine: Jeez -- what a Debbie Downer I am. Two varieties of Brandywine in the Bird Back 40 and I get squat. Yellow Brandywine was an absolute bust. Several seed sources do note that this variety can be "finicky to grow," and I can confirm as much. I will not attempt to grow this variety out again.

3. Mortgage Lifter: I either can't find a reliable seed supplier for this variety, or I'm just having the worst of luck. This marks my third year for growing this treasured heirloom, and while I do receive a few of them, it's not enough to warrant that much space in the Bird tomato garden.

4. Azoychka: This is one of my favorite Russian heirlooms, and after some rather encouraging early season production, Azoychka started to produce golf-ball sized tomatoes that were really nothing to write home about.

Processed Tomatoes Ready for Winter Storage

5. Bloody Butcher: I'm surprised this one landed on this list because Bloody Butcher is normally a wonderful, early-season producer. Not this year. It didn't produce early. It didn't produce late. It didn't produce much at all, and BER took most of them.

And there you have it. Although these 15 varieties represent half of what we grew in the Bird Back 40 this year -- these are the varieties that stood out the most in terms of production or disappointment. Other varieties that at least deserve an honorable mention include Caspian Pink, which grew well in the in-ground test bed and produced some very tasty tomatoes late in the season. Cherokee Purple is yet another treasured variety that did moderately well, as did Kelloggs Breakfast, Beefsteak, Druzba, Lemon Boy and Jubilee.

As 2011 begins that slow slide into 2012 -- all that's left are the memories of last year and the promise of what is to come.

A "Phenomenal" Pumpkin Year...

2011-10-31T16:43:00.000-07:00

Ultimate Digging Machine Shows Off Pumpkin Haul

That's the lesson that you'll learn if you read today's posting from Debbie Arrington in the Local News Section of the Sacramento Bee. It's been a rather special year for pumpkin growers -- or so says a couple of local growers who specialize in growing out thousands of Jack O' Lanterns that will be glowing from near and far tonight.

And -- after getting to the last of the Bird 2011 harvest just yesterday -- who am I to disagree? The wife that is Venus and I have grown pumpkins before. But we've never grown them in quite this amount. I have pumpkin vines that cover a quarter of the Bird Back 40 and seem intent upon growing over the fence and into the neighbor's yard.

Lame Attempt at Pumpkin Carving

That's gardening! Some years are better than others. In some years -- some crops do extraordinarily well. And -- some don't. Call 2011 the "Year of the Jack O' Lantern." There are more than enough to go around.

What are Bill & Venus Bird doing with their cash crop of pumpkins this year? I thought strongly about a pumpkin toss or pumpkin catapult -- but both ideas were nixed by the wife. She just can't understand why grown men would want to see a perfectly round pumpkin get tossed into the air -- only to splatter into a zillion pieces and streams when they hit the ground.

Bill Bird says, "cool!"

Pumpkin Pie Anyone?

We are finding some traditional uses -- however -- for the 2011 crop. Venus and I grew three different varieties of pumpkins this year -- including the smaller and sweeter variety that will be used for all things pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin barley soup and, of course, who can possibly forget the pumpkin martini. I've found -- from experience -- that you can make martinis out of just about anything from the garden.

This is -- provided you have the all important added ingredient of fermented juniper berries -- of course.

The seeds from our carved pumpkins also went to good use I might add. There's nothing quite like roasted pumpkin seeds using a mixture of a little bit of butter (OK, a lotta bit of butter), worscetershire sauce, honey (from the Hello Kitty Hive) and seasoned salt. Mix it all up -- throw it in the oven -- and Voilà! Burned pumpkin seeds! Tasty too!

Some Gourds Not Quite Ready for Show

As for the pumpkin vines that I've nurtured through the summer -- they are starting to show some signs of wear and tear. The constant hum and din of honeybees that I noticed earlier in the summer has subsided quite a bit recently. That may be due to cold nights and cold mornings in the Sacramento riverbottom, and it can also be the fact that our colony has found a new source of pollen somewhere. Once the weather warms, it's not all that unusual to see them flying off over the fence in search of...something.

Perhaps they found some Juniper berries to pollinate? A man can dream, right?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Bill Bird's Burned Pumpkin Seeds (A recipe)

This works well with seeds from just one pumpkin, or five. You may want to increase or decrease the amount of butter used, depending on the amount of seeds. The amounts listed below were used for seeds that had been collected from four different pumpkins

Seeded Pumpkins

1/2 stick of butter

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon seasoned salt

Directions:

Clean seeds, removing as much pumpkin residue as possible. Soak seeds in water for at least 30-45 minutes. Drain, and pat dry with paper towels.

Melt butter in saucepan or microwave, add worcestershire sauce, honey and salt and heat slightly again if using a microwave. Mix well.

Add seeds and butter mixture to bowl and stir to coat well. Spread evenly on baking pan with raised edges and roast at 250-300 degrees for one hour (it may need more time if you have a lot of seeds). Stir every 15 minutes.

The end result will be sticky to the touch, until they are allowed to cool and dry.

Sacramento's Most Eligible Bachelor is a Real PEACH!!!

2011-10-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Loaded Elberta Peach Tree

Somewhere -- a peach tree lives. An Elberta Peach tree at that. Smack, smack, that's good eating folks. If all goes to plan, this Elberta tree will produce its first crop of peaches next year. There's nothing like a tree-ripened Elberta peach in mid-August. I didn't get nearly enough of them this year.

Take notes children. Because this just might be a question in Trivial Pursuit someday. Do people even play Trivial Pursuit anymore? Or is Bill Bird just showing his rather ancient age?

This is a nice story.

Sacramento's Most Eligible Bachelor Likes Babies (and peaches)

Sacramento's most eligible bachelor is this man to your left, ladies. His name is name is Eric Dietz, and he is, indeed, Sacramento's Most Eligible Bachelor, as proclaimed by "Girls on the Grid." Eric, who serves as Legislative Director for Assemblymember Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) grabbed the lofty title last February, beating out ten other deserving (or so I'm told) contestants.

This story stretches back to the month of March, so please bear with me. Some explanation is in order.

We do a lot of reading here at the State Capitol. The amount of written material astounded me a bit when I first arrived here and was given instructions to "read this." My first thought was, "will there be a test?" That answer would be a gigantic yes, but I really would learn the reason for the accelerated reading curve until much later.

It's not the kind of test that this former television and broadcast reporter turned public relations pro was expecting.

California State Capitol

If you're going to work in the halls of the State Legislature... No -- let me rephrase that: If you find yourself lucky enough to be afforded the wonderful opportunity to work inside one of the most historic buildings in all of California -- you had better be "informed." That is -- you need to know about a lot of different things. You don't need to be an expert on everything mind you -- but the worst crime that you can commit as a State Capitol staffer is to be caught "uninformed."

The State Legislature deals with every topic under the sun -- and 100 times more than that. Subjects range from Apples to Zebras (A-Z) and everything else in between. Not only are you REQUIRED to know about these subjects, it's also a good idea to understand the competing views that each subject offers. Not everything is "black and white" here under the dome. Some issues are several different shades of gray. And, as a State Capitol staffer, it's in your best interest to not only know about each and every issue -- but also know about and understand the competing views that each issue offers.

The worst, most possible, crime that a legislative staffer can commit is to answer a phone call from a constituent and utter the words: "I'm not aware of this." Why is this so bad? It sends a terrible message to a voter that a legislator THEY voted for has hired someone who is rather clueless about an issue that the voter is VERY concerned about. And, the thinking goes, if the staffer is uniformed, what about the legislator? That's not good people.

Read these-Test Later!

Committing a crime like this leads to a very bad day or week at work. Bill Bird knows this all too well from experience. Don't ever be caught off guard. The only way to stay on your toes is to read, read, read and then read just a little bit more. Read until your eyeballs literally turn red (and then read a little bit more). Read -- because you will be tested. You never know when the surprise "pop quiz hotshot" is coming -- but it will come. That much, you can depend upon.

In some cases -- the people who represent these different issues will bring them right to your front door in the form of visits to the State Capitol Office. Staffers in a State Capitol office will meet with a lot of different people. Sometimes? The issue can be a simple one. Group A visits in the morning to urge the legislator to consider a hike in taxes. Group B visits in the afternoon to urge the legislator to avoid a hike in taxes.

But it's not always that simple or cut and dried.

One group that will bring its issues to the front door is the California agriculture industry. This is a rather important industry as one might expect, and it covers ALL issues of agriculture, not just one. The industry will often hold what is billed as "Agriculture Week" (or Ag Day), where staffers are encouraged to visit ag related fairs and booths that have been erected on the grounds of the State Capitol.

It's not unusual then, for the fresh flower industry, to drop off a vase of flowers at every State Capitol office. One year I actually picked up an entire year's supply of radish and carrot seed packets that were offered by the thousands. California beekeepers also show off their wares, usually in the form of a demonstration hive. It's also a good place to pick up pens or pencils that are used on the job (I have a particular attachment to my VIAGRA pen -- but that's a different industry).

But this past year, the nursery outlet known as Green Acres took Ag Day one step further. In an effort to promote fresh fruit season -- and the end of bare root planting season -- Green Acres presented each legislative office with a bare root fruit tree (grown by Dave Wilson Nursery, of course). Not every office received the same variety of tree either. Some received apples, others got nectarines while still others received peaches.

Now, while I thought this to be a rather dandy and inventive idea, it also troubled me. Although the office that I work in received an O'Henry Peach tree -- I needed another peach tree like I needed another hole in my head. I have enough of them, thank you. Fortunately -- the tree did find a good home.

Bare Root Fruit Trees-Capital Nursery

But -- there are 120 legislative offices in the State Capitol. That's 40 offices in the State Senate, plus another 80 offices in the State Assembly. That makes for 120 bare root fruit trees. Although our tree found a good home -- I wasn't as positive about the others.

The State Legislature has changed somewhat from the day I first stepped through the front doors in 1999 as a wide-eyed, 36-year old, rookie. Before the era of term limits took over -- staffs and staffing levels didn't turn over that much. It wasn't unusual for a person to work 25-or-30 years for just one or two different legislative offices. There wasn't much turnover.

That abruptly changed when term limits took effect in 1990. By the time I arrived in 1999? Many established legislators had already departed. Some were still around, but not for long. The same rule of thumb also applied to legislative staff. People who had been working in the State Legislature for a very long time were moving on as well. The culture of change had taken hold.

The point I'm trying to make here is this: Many legislative offices are staffed with very young and very bright and talented people who haven't reached the age where they are thinking about home ownership just yet. Many legislators who serve here don't own homes in the Sacramento area, they choose to rent an apartment close by the State Capitol instead.

My fears -- which proved to be well-founded -- was that a lot of these bare root fruit trees would be abandoned and left to die somewhere in an office corner. That's an orchard worth of fruit trees gone to waste -- and as much as I love fresh fruit -- that bugged me a bit. So -- I decided to play the role of "adoption agency."

I crafted an advertisement for a publication called the Senate Daybook, and after borrowing a few choice lines from a famous statue located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, the ad I placed looked a little like this:

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled FRUIT TREES yearning to breathe free. If your office received a fruit tree delivery that hasn't found a good home, give it to me! I will make sure it finds the safety of a fruit orchard or backyard where it can live free."

Or something to that extent.

I was besieged, almost immediately, with a great many offers the moment this ad hit email inboxes. But they weren't quite the offers I was expecting. As it turns out? More people WANTED these trees than those who actually had them. One legislative staffer "gladly" offered to take fifty or sixty trees off my hand for an orchard she was planning.

Black Tartarian Bare Root Cherry Tree

There was just one eensy, teensy problem. I didn't have 50 or 60 trees. I didn't even have five. Getting just one of them was proving to be difficult. Perhaps my fears of trees left in an office to whither and die were misplaced?

As it turns out, not entirely. Slowly, one by one, the fruit trees rolled in. An unwanted Fuji apple here. A Black Tartarian cherry tree there. And I made sure -- as each one came in -- it went straight out to someone who promised to give it a good and proper home.

It was on one such hunt for forgotten trees that I entered the office of Assemblymember Allan Mansoor, where a young man handed me the gift of an Elberta Peach tree. As he smiled and turned away, his co-worker (a Sacramento Vegetable Gardening blog reader) pointed out: "That's Eric Dietz, Sacramento's most eligible bachelor."

And now you know why Sacramento's Most Eligible man is a real peach.

Sumthin Scary in the Bird Back 40...

2011-10-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Bird Back 40-Side Yard Test Bed

The photo to your immediate right is the state of just one part of the Bird Back 40. Scary, isn't it? When you see weeds THAT big? How did that little tiny weed reach a height of six feet? Why can't I see the back fence anymore? What is that traversing around and through the citrus trees?

That -- my good friends -- is a series of pumpkin vines that the Wife That Is Venus and I planted earlier this spring in the Back 40 "Test Bed." Keep in mind -- I've grown pumpkins before. But I've never experienced vines like this. They have extended 40-to-50 feet beyond where the seeds were originally planted and are intent upon growing right over the fence and into the neighbor's yard.

I hope the neighbor likes pumpkins.

Pumpkins here-Pumpkins There!

I know what you're thinking. What good are pumpkin vines if you don't have any pumpkins on them? That's a good question. Don't worry. Pumpkins I got. Way, way, way too many pumpkins. In fact, I'm not really sure how many I actually have. When the vines started to take off and grow Every Which Way but Loose during the summer, I sorta lost count.

At first? I thought it was kind of cute to have a pumpkin growing off a stalk of corn. What's that growing on the Caspian Pink Heirloom Tomato bush? A pumpkin! Pumpkins hanging from the Meyer Lemon tree? Grapes the size of pumpkins? Or just pumpkins? Short and sweet: The pumpkins are everywhere.

Note: This is what happens when you plant three different varieties of pumpkin seeds. You tend to get a LOT OF PUMPKINS.

Mass of Pumpkin Vines and PUMPKINS!

Mental note: Do not make the mistake of planting watermelon and cantaloupe seeds in the general vicinity of pumpkin seeds. Pumpkins will overtake them -- cover them -- and essentially starve them of sunshine and nutrients. If you make the same mistake as I did -- and plant pumpkin seeds near melon seeds -- you will get lots of pumpkins.

And not much else.

Although it's probably now safe to tear out the vines and place the pumpkins in a pile in the Bird Back 40 -- I'm going to leave them in for as long as I can. We will get around to harvesting pumpkins for the all important holiday of Halloween -- and of course of pie and bread purposes (one of the varieties is a sugar-sweet pumpkin that is perfect for these types of creations). But I'm going to keep the vines going for as long as I can.

If this means I'm still growing pumpkins in December -- so be it.

Pumpkin Vines & Pumpkin Flowers

There is a method to my madness. The summer growing season is now coming to a close. All important sources of pollen that honeybees need to survive and thrive are starting to dry up. In response? Colonies are preparing for winter.

But if there's one thing I've learned? Flowers produced by pumpkin vines are like CRACK for worker bees. They are large producers of the pollen that bees need to survive and thrive. The pumpkin patch literally hums and buzzes with bee activity in the early morning and afternoons. There's not much left in terms of pollen producing plants, shrubs and trees. And I have pumpkin flowers coming out of my ears.

It would be shame to tear them out while they are still producing. So -- for now? The vines stay. This means the Hello Kitty Colony of bees will have a continuing source of pollen -- and won't suddenly turn defensive when the last pollen source vanishes. Defensive colonies are difficult to deal with. One wrong step invites a "kiss" (sting) from the hive.

Sugar Sweet Pumpkin

I'd rather avoid that if at all possible.

And so -- this is my very scary tale. Halloween is fast approaching. That means little ghosts, goblins and ghouls in the neighborhood and perhaps a Spiderman or two. If you happen to run across a home that is ablaze with lighted pumpkins, come on in and make yourself at home.

You've arrived at the Bird Back 40. The kegerator is located just inside the garage and to your right.

Picking a Peck of Peppers!

2011-09-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Bird Pepper Crop: Bird Back 40

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?

If Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Go ahead and say that five times fast! C'mon now! I "double-dog-dare" you to do it!

WARNING! Mouthwatering recipes ahead. Better bring a BIB to this blog posting -- because it's literally bursting with late summer goodness.

Yeah, yeah I know. The calendar on the wall reads "summer fun ends at Labor Day, son." But -- technically? We've got another ten days or so before Autumn, 2011 officially kicks in (September 23rd to be exact). Until then? I'm enjoying my summertime bounty!

California Wonder: Yellow Bell Pepper

Besides -- the weather hasn't exactly slacked off in terms of heat now has it? The heirloom tomato crops have mostly delivered a large summer crop and new fruit is already forming at the top for a much-hoped-for fall delivery. The wife that is Venus and I will enjoy fresh garden tomatoes until November if Mother Nature is in that giving sort of mood.

One crop that is indeed late this year -- but welcome just the same -- is all things PEPPERS! From Bell Peppers to Jalapeno Hot Mamas -- the Bird pepper crop is indeed "busting out" this September. It's been a long time coming -- but welcome just the same.

Like most backyard crops? Nothing really compares to a pepper harvested straight from the backyard garden. It is literally bursting with a sweet and tender juice -- and the Jalapeno peppers are at the point where they will burn the skin off your lips if you're not careful.

Mucho Nacho Jalapeno Pepper

At least -- it does seem that way.

Venus and I are somewhat partial to the Jalapeno peppers because they have a wide variety of uses in so many different summertime dishes. Fajitas aren't fajitas -- unless you got a finely sliced n' diced jalapeno pepper in the mix. Salsa isn't salsa without the bite of a Mucho Nacho Jalapeno. And nothing goes better with a big bowl of Chicken Pho (pronounced "fu" as in "fun") than a carefully sliced Purple Jalapeno.

Plus -- as noted in this blog before -- it is the only hot pepper that I know of that retains that famous heat after boiling on a stove with other ingredients for a good 30-minutes to one hour. The mighty orange Habanero turns into pipsqueak status after cooking, as do a number of other "hot" peppers that are somewhat hotter than the Jalapeno on the "burn your lips off" scientific scale.

Purple Jalapeno Pepper

So, we be partial to Jalapeno peppers. Not just one bush of them either -- but three. What we don't use in fresh cooking this year can be canned for later use. Yes, even the Jalapeno retains some heat after canning. It's not quite as strong, but it does deliver a welcome jolt in the dead of winter.

Safe to say that Venus are using peppers in just about every dish we cook this month. Besides the already mentioned Fajitas, there's the asian-inspired Green Pepper Beef. The Betty Crocker Cookbook offering of Southwest Chicken Soup is one of the best in the land IF you're using fresh red bell peppers, and plain old scrambled eggs are just boring unless it's scrambled with some sliced and diced Ancho (aka Poblano) peppers.

Peppers are make quite the meal offered raw. There's nothing quite like a summer plate of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers tossed with a little red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and a dusting of fresh or dried oregano.

Ancho or Poblano Peppers

I'm hungry already!

Venus and usually go a little overboard with our pepper plantings -- and this year is no different. We do depend on them a lot for canning efforts. Our Roasted Garlic, Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Salsa, for example, relies upon anywhere from four to six cups of roasted and fresh peppers. Canned tomato sauce is kinda boring unless you zip it up a bit with a Jalapeno or two. Get the idea?

Therefore -- it isn't all that uncommon to find anywhere from 10-15 odd and assorted pepper plants growing in the Bird Back 40. That includes the aforementioned Jalapeno peppers (three different varieties), the California Wonders (Red, Yellow, Green), Big Bertha (Purple) and usually one or two unique offerings. This year? It's the Paprika pepper -- which Venus and I will dry in some safe spot in the garage and grind into fresh paprika pepper.

Big Bertha Bell Pepper (Purple)

Who needs to blow $4 or $5 at the store for a small jar of overprocessed paprika when you can get something better at home for FREE? The numbers add up for me.

And now -- as I promised -- some pepper recipes that WILL make you drool. Remember, I warned you. Don't blame me if your computer keyboard suddenly shorts out!

SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SOUP (Betty Crocker Cookbook offering)

2 large red bell peppers

1 whole chicken breast (about 3/4 pound), skinned and boned

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (we use a tad more)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 cup cubed jicama

Bill's Note: Like most Betty Crocker recipes, the seasonings are catered to blander tastes. We usually double up on spices.

Red California Wonder Bell Pepper

Set your oven control to broil. Place bell peppers on rack of broiler pan with tops about 5 inches from heat. Broil peppers, turning occasionally, until skin is blistered and evenly browned (do not burn!). Remove peppers to a brown paper bag, seal tightly. Let peppers stand 20-30 minutes.

Place chicken on rack in broiler pan. Place broiler pan so top of chicken is 5 to 7 inches from heat. Broil chicken 15 minutes, turning once, until juices run clear. Cut into quarter inch strips.

Pare peppers (remove skin and seeds, but do NOT run under water). Discard skin and seeds. Place peppers and onion in blender or food processor and blend and process until smooth.

Heat pepper mixture, chicken broth, lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper and garlic to boiling in two quart saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in reserved chicken and jicama. Heat until hot.

GREEN PEPPER BEEF

1/3 cup soy sauce

¼ cup beef broth

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

¾ pound top round steak, thinly sliced (I use ground turkey)

1tsp light Sesame Oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp Ginger

2 tsp Curry Powder

2-3 green or red bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips

Green or Red Pepper Beef Anyone?

Mix soy sauce, beef broth, brown sugar, minced garlic, ginger and curry powder together and set aside.

Stir fry beef strips or ground turkey with sesame oil until cooked. Add peppers and stir fry until crisp tender. Add reserved sauce and top to coat. Serve over hot rice.

NOTE: At one time this recipe also called for cornstarch to thicken the sauce. I HATE cornstarch, so I left it out. But you're free to add it right back in again (blech!).

Where Have I BEEN???

2011-09-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

Whole Heirloom Tomatoes & Garlic Dill Pickles

That is one good question. Cause when three solid weeks pass without Bill Bird so much as touching the blog that is Sacramento Vegetable Gardening -- one goes through a withdrawl of sorts. Not that I haven't thought about it -- boy have I! But -- you see -- time is the problem.

As you can tell from the photo to the immediate right -- we've certainly found our time to put the summer backyard produce to good use. There are quarts and quarts of whole heirloom tomatoes for winter time use. Venus and I just finished up on our latest project this past weekend -- 19 pints of lip-smacking tomato sauce infused with fresh herbs like sage, thyme, basil, oregano, basil -- plus a Jalapeno pepper or two.

Heirloom Tomato Sauce Infused with Fresh Herbs

Oh -- and that doesn't include the 20-odd pints of fresh Roasted Garlic, Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Salsa. That's a Bird Family tradition!

But with two demanding jobs to hold down, five of the brattiest cats known to mankind -- plus a spoiled rotten dog (Ultimate Digging Machine) -- and four different homes to care for -- well -- that thing called "free time" is at a premium.

Speaking of which -- anyone interested in renting a fine home? Gardening boxes and not one -- but TWO loaded orange trees to boot -- included? Leave a note for me at the bottom of the blog. The fresh citrus comes with the house. Think of it as a "bonus."

Despite the demands upon our free time -- it hasn't stopped us from enjoying all of the Bird Back 40 bounty that summer has to offer. It hasn't stopped a couple of marauding mockingbirds either -- and now I fully understand why they call them "mockingbirds." The name is well deserved.

Fresh Fruit Harvest!

Let's be honest here, shall we? This has been one fine summer. I wish I'd been able to write it about it more often. From heirloom tomatoes on the vine, bell peppers by the boatload, two different types of eggplant, three varieties of squash, a nice selection of corn-on-the-cob and some surprising fresh fruit deliveries -- life has been good indeed.

One of the best harvests came just a few weeks ago -- and based upon what came ripe from our young fruit trees this year -- we'll be expecting a lot more of this in years to come. We've been building up the fruit tree and bush offerings in the Bird Back 40 in the hopes that it would produce a real backyard "fruit salad." And as you can tell -- we came close.

Table Grape Vines: Bird Back 40

This is the second year of production for the eight table grape vines that frame in the six main 4X8 foot raised beds in the backyard garden. Those aren't the only beds we have in the Bird Back 40 -- but it's clearly the main growing area. It's where you will find a multitude of heirloom tomato offerings -- Asian Baby Corn -- four or five different varieties of basil and we usually devote at least one bed to all things Bush Beans.

I knew from the outset that I was going to get some production off the eight table grape vines that the wife that is Venus and I planted during the 2010 bare root season. Little did I know -- however -- that the mockingbirds would savor the vast majority of the crop. Despite the addition of Scare Tape, a Scare Crow and netting -- nothing would stop two very determined birds from stealing the vast majority of the Bird table grape crop.

Mental note: I need to spend this winter building a better mousetrap!

Arctic Jay White Nectarines & O'Henry Peaches!

But I'll tell you something about mockingbirds. They are not the most perfect of thieves. In other words, they left a smattering of Fiesta, Muscat and Diamond grapes behind. Add a smattering of table grapes to the last of the white nectarines, some tree-ripened O'Henry Peaches and a selection of strawberries and you've got yourself something special.

It's a fruit salad from your own backyard!

And there's nothing quite like the zest and zing from tree or vine-ripened fruit that some straight from your own backyard. Sure -- you can purchase the same thing in your local supermarket or perhaps a Sacramento Certified Farmer's Market. But it's just not going to compare from the selection of truly ripe, sweet, soft and fruit selections from the backyard.

Fresh Fruit Salad Anyone?

About the only thing missing this year from the Bird Back 40? A fresh selection of watermelon and cantaloupe. It's the one crop -- the one and only crop I might add -- that failed to produce this year. Make a mental note of this children: Do not plant watermelon and cantaloupe seeds in the same area as pumpkin seeds. The end result is -- you get lots of pumpkins and little else.

But we'll write about pumpkins next month. Lord knows -- we have enough to supply the general neighborhood this year. I see a slice or two of pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and all things pumpkin in my nearby and immediate future. Give the wife that is Venus a pumpkin and she'll turn it into something that will make your taste buds quiver with excitement.

Home-Grown Table Grapes

But for now? The grapes are still producing. The mockingbirds are long gone (thank goodness) and a nice crop of Red Flame grapes are just about ready. Like just about every fruit offering in the Bird Back 40 -- the harvest is a tad late this year.

But there is a nice harvest to come just the same.

Welcome to the Land of Corn and ... CORN!

2011-08-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

Golden Bantam Corn

There goes my attempt at a snappy title. Sigh

As the photo to your immediate right clearly shows -- it is "corn season" in the Backyard of Bird." The harvest is back -- and back in a big way this summer after an absolutely horrible showing last year -- a fact that I blamed on 49ers Quarterback Alex Smith.

Don't get me wrong here. Alex Smith is still an unbelievable FLOP in the NFL -- and for some strange reason he's back for yet another MISERABLE season in the City by the Bay. As KFI Radio -- and former NewsTalk 1530 KFBK personality extraordinaire -- Shannon Farren correctly posted on Facebook recently: "7 years of Alex Smith. Who broke that damn mirror?"

Shannon was never one to hide her feelings -- nor the occasional F-Bomb dropped in a newsroom setting.

OK -- so it wasn't occasional. Shannon's language in a radio newsroom could and did make more than one sailor blush. But that's another story for another day.

Test Bed: Bird Back 40

Point is -- Alex Smith is still stinking it up in the City by the Bay -- but fortunately that bad voodoo hasn't affected the Bird corn offerings this year. The test bed is churning out record amounts of beautiful corn on the cob in 2011 -- and we're just getting started. The production has been limited to the first two rows that the wife that is Venus and I planted earlier this spring.

Still to come? About five more rows. Provided the weather holds -- we'll be harvesting giant ears of corn through September.

Final Golden Bantam Harvest: 13 ears

My friends, there is nothing quite like hoofing it out to the corn patch on a weekend evening and pulling a fat fresh ear of corn or four off the backyard stalks. Venus and I started harvesting shortly after returning from Santa Cruz two weeks ago -- and fresh corn on the cob has been a staple on the evening menu ever since. Tonight's final harvest resulted in a Baker's Dozen -- 13 ears -- which is now sitting in a freezer.

Thanks to a couple of recipe suggestions and canning recipes delivered by Farmer Fred Hoffman -- we will be enjoying fresh-from-the-backyard corn all winter long.

Emerging Ears of Lip-Smacking Golden Bantam Corn

The variety in question is an heirloom variety. First offered through Burpee gardening catalogs in 1902, the variety called Golden Bantam is still going strong. It's not hard to figure out why gardeners are somewhat partial to this variety. Stalks of Golden Bantam corn deliver ears that are more than a foot long. It's not the sweetest corn you'll taste in your lifetime -- but it is special nonetheless.

I was somewhat shocked to discover that this yellow corn variety also resulted in kernels that were colored a bright orange. At first? I thought this might have been the result of leaving the corn on the stalk for a might too long. But those fears were unfounded. Venus and I were happy to discover that each orange-colored kernel was packed with a jolt of natural sugar.

Bright Yellow and Orange Kernels on Golden Bantam

Unfortunately -- the Golden Bantam seed that I ordered three years ago from Pinetree Garden Seeds didn't last beyond the first two rows. That forced us to turn to another variety of yellow corn seed that we purchased last year from Lockhart Seed Company in Stockton.

The Lockhart Seed wasn't an heirloom variety. Lockhart Seed doesn't necessarily specialize in heirloom varieties, which isn't bad. What Lockhart Seed does specialize in is varieties that are specifically adapted to our San Joaquin and Sacramento Valley climates. Although it's entirely probably that some cross-pollination has taken place with the later varieties -- my hope (prayer would probably be a better word) is that since both are yellow varieties, we should be OK.

That's my hope anyway. I've seen cross-pollination before between yellow, white and baby corn varieties that have been planted far to close together. The results are indeed Frankensteinish. And the taste wasn't all that good either.

The variety in question -- Bodacious -- was planted about a month after the Golden Bantam -- and the stalks are now about four feet in height. The first green tassels from the developing ears have already emerged and my best guess is that we're still another three weeks away from a first harvest -- provided the weather holds. We have been lucky in that respect. After a colder than normal spring, the last two months have been outstanding.

And so my friends -- I come to you with this advice. If you live in the Sacramento Valley and have a small plot of room -- you can plant corn and you can harvest delicious ears later in the summer.

This is despite the presence of a quarterback named Alex Smith who appears have locked up yet another year of starting play for your San Francisco 49ers.

Keep the bar well stocked. It's going to be yet another long winter.

A Tomato for Every Occasion

2011-08-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

It's that time of year when the answer to every question is: Tomatoes. Understand? If I ask the lovely wife that is Venus, "what's for dinner?" The answer is: TOMATOES.

What's for lunch? TOMATOES. Breakfast? TOMATOES. What's your favorite drink? TOMATO COLLINS!

With a splash of gin, of course.

The point is -- with an overload of tomato production -- you start looking for recipes that call for fresh heirloom tomatoes and lots of them.

Fortunately -- I found such a recipe. It's pictured above. Yeah, it's fancy alright. But thanks to my San Joaquin Valley tastes -- I lowered it down to proper "valley standards." The official title of this dish, featured in the uppity-duppity New York Times no less, is (and I quote): Penne With Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Green Beans and Feta.

Leftover Tri-Tip from Sunday Night Dinner

I'll be honest. I fiddled around with this recipe a bit -- and came up with a new name of: Penne With Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Green Beans, Feta AND LEFTOVER TRI-TIP.

Heh...

The official tomato for this dish? None other than Stupice, which is churning out golf-ball sized tomatoes faster than we can consume or give them away. This is the perfect tomato for a dish such as this, because the Stupice has a zip that goes well with slivered basil and Feta cheese.

Plus, uh, we have a lot of Stupice on the vine. Stupice anyone?

Fresh off the vine Pole Beans

There's another reason why I picked this dish out of the 24-odd recipes featured in the New York Times. It also called for a healthy offering of fresh green beans. What a coincidence, as we have pole beans and bush beans coming out of our EARS at the moment. This is the perfect dish at the perfect time.

Plus -- uh -- we had the leftover tri-tip from Sunday night's dinner.

Hey man -- you go with what you got. To be honest? We could have added squash, eggplant, green onions, carrots and a multitude of other vegetables that are producing like madness in the Bird Back 40 at the moment (pumpkin anyone?).

But we left that for another evening and another dish that I like to call "Hodge Podge Garden Soup." Hodge Podge Garden Soup, by the way, can easily be turned into "Hodge Podge Garden Casserole" and "Hodge Podge Garden Omlet." Those meals are yet to come.

Stupice Tomatoes with Basil and Seasonings

The recipe, which calls for "salt and pepper to taste" was also modified somewhat to include freshly ground black pepper -- because nothing says "fancy" like freshly ground black pepper. Plus, let's be honest here, OK? Freshly ground black pepper is REALLY good -- especially when you combine it with vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes warmed by our famous Sacramento Valley sunshine.

The dish is fairly easy to make -- and Venus and I made this a team effort. While she chopped up the pole beans and basil, I took care of slicing and dicing the Stupice tomatoes and grinding up the black pepper. It seemed somewhat criminal to add a boxed pasta like Penne, but we haven't started growing the fresh ingredients used for fresh pasta yet.

Yet, I say. The Bird Back 40 is an experiment in all things gardening. Who knows what we might be growing in another five to ten years.

Stupice Tomatoes for SNACKING!

The finished dish, which is detailed below, was indeed a slice of heaven. Anything combined with fresh heirloom tomatoes and basil from the backyard garden is usually a slice of heaven. But this dish in particular was pretty darn good -- and also made for a nice lunch at work the very next day.

We don't let good heirloom tomatoes go to waste in the Bird House.

Do you have a favorite dinner/lunch/breakfast recipe that features heirloom tomatoes and other good stuff from the backyard summer garden? If so -- please feel free to leave it behind -- because we're always taking suggestions.

And now -- without further delay -- the recipe for Penne With Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Green Beans and Feta (with whatever barbequed delicacy you may have leftover from the night before. Don't be picky. This meal works with anything).

This recipe first appeared in the August 5th, 2009 edition of the New York Times and may be accessed here.

Penne With Heirloom Tomatoes, Basil, Green Beans and Feta

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN

Sweet, juicy heirloom tomatoes lend themselves well to uncooked tomato sauces. In summer, I make quick meals out of chopped ripe tomatoes, pasta and green vegetables.

6 to 8 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed, strings removed if necessary, and broken in half if very long

2 cups chopped fresh ripe tomatoes

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 plump garlic clove, minced (more to taste-we used more)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (I like to use a very good coarse sea salt or fleur de sel for this)

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)

2 tablespoons slivered basil (we used more)

2 ounces crumbled feta (about 1/2 cup)

3/4 pound pasta (penne or fusilli are good choices)

1. Combine the olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl, and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes (or longer).

2. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Add the green beans to the boiling water, and boil four to five minutes, depending on how crunchy you like them. Remove with a strainer or skimmer, and transfer to the ice water. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then drain and set aside.

3. Bring the water back to a boil, and add the pasta. Cook until al dente, about eight minutes. When the pasta is ready, drop the green beans back into the water to heat, then drain the pasta and beans and toss at once with the tomato mixture and the feta. Serve hot or room temperature.

Yield: Serves four.

Harvest Season IS NOT a Celebration!

2011-08-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

Heirloom Tomato Harvest: Bird Back 40

Let me get this straight: Harvest Season is WORK! Celebrate all you want -- but when you come home after a week in Santa Cruz and Seattle to find 50-60 lbs. of ripe heirloom tomatoes hanging off the vine -- you don't crack open a 12-pack and crank up the IPOD.

Nope -- you get to WORK son. Because the clock is TICKING! Mother Nature isn't about to wait around until you're good and ready to save that bountiful summer produce. Nope! What's on the kitchen counter right now turns to slop in 24-48 hours -- so you BEST GET WORKING.

With all due respect to my fine gardening friends at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center who hosted the annual Harvest Celebration this past weekend (a fun event that I was sorry to miss) -- celebration my left foot!

Blessed with Heirloom Production

The wonderful wife that is Venus and I took our first tender steps at canning summer produce two seasons ago when we were confronted with a boatload of production from our heirloom tomato plantings. Little did we know that we would progress from those baby steps to perfecting a number of canning-safe recipes that have resulted in numerous quarts of whole heirloom tomatoes, tomato sauce infused with fresh basil and peppers, dill pickles infused with dill (surprise!), creamed garlic, thai basil and other spices and the always famous -- always in demand -- Roasted Garlic, Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Salsa.

The first step in any canning process is to first gather up the produce. We knew -- before we left for eight days of wedding duties and other family gatherings -- that the garden was giving that tell-tale sign of over-production. So, we weren't all that surprised to discover a multitude of vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes and aircraft carrier sized squash upon our return.

I know that a number of growers in the Sacramento area are not having the best of years when it comes to tomato production. I don't know why we have been so blessed. It might be micro-climates. It might be the fertilizer cocktails that I've been feeding the garden with through the summer. It just might be dumb luck (probably). Yes, we've been cursed with quite a bit of Blossom End Rot (BER). But it hasn't slowed us down much.

Whole Tomatoes, Skins Removed, Ready for Canning

The multitude of pepper plants that we have planted nearby in the Bird Back 40 are just as loaded as the tomato offerings -- but unlike the tomatoes -- the peppers are still another week or two away from that "ready to harvest" stage that's required for our salsa concoction. So, the tomatoes pictured above were dropped in vats of boiling water to remove skins and saved for whole tomato canning purposes.

The end result? About 18-quarts of whole tomatoes. That's not bad -- but still not quite enough to last through an entire winter (plus -- they make great gifts at Christmas).

The ripe heirloom tomatoes weren't the only item begging to be picked this past Sunday. The cucumber plantings -- while late -- had finally taken off. The wife that is Venus LOVES cucumbers. She can't get enough of them -- in salads or in other dishes. So she manages to plant several pickling and slicing varieties -- which include my favorite: the Armenian Giant.

Pickling and Armenian Giant Cucumbers

Not only does the Armenian Giant go well in salads and other creations -- it also happens to be one of the tougher cucumber customers. And that toughness makes it a perfect candidate for pickling. Not all pickling cucumbers can stand up to the home-canning process. They tend to get soft. Trust me when I tell you that there's nothing worse that a soft pickle. Pickles are destined to be crunchy. And crunchy pickles are what we specialize in at the Bird Home for All Things Canning.

So -- this past Sunday -- while the cucumbers were soaking in a giant vat of ice water -- Venus and I were preparing multitudes of heirloom tomatoes for the whole tomato canning process. We also put a new weapon to work in the kitchen: a pressure canner.

Cucumbers Soaking in an Ice Water Bath

There are plenty of ladies in this world who would prefer shoes, clothing or fine jewelry for Christmas. The wife that is Venus instead requests things like ironing boards, vaccum cleaners and pressure canners. I grew up in a Modesto family where I would have been lined up against a wall and shot repeatedly for the crime of buying my mother or any sister an ironing board for Christmas. It was a lesson that I learned well.

Venus has had to do quite a bit of de-programming. While she enjoys and receives some of the finer things in life -- she also requests items where Bill Bird dare not tread as a child. It wasn't all that long ago -- if you recall -- when Feminism was the rage. If there was a newspaper story about a husband run down by an angry wife for the crime of purchasing her an ironing board for Christmas, the usual response from my mother and sisters was something along the line of: "well, he probably deserved it."

So, when Venus requested a pressure canner for Christmas last year? I was just a tad nervous.

Whole Tomatoes in a Pressure Canner

But, not to worry. If there's one thing I've learned about Venus -- it's that she is the Master of the Garden. Everything she touches, grows. It's not a chore for her. It's not a chore for me either. She loves putting the "V for Venus" gardening boxes through a workout. I love it too. That "love" for everything gardening has transcended into saving the produce that she creates. She watched her grandmother perform this chore. She watched her mother do the same. Although she holds a degree from Berkeley, it doesn't stop her from getting down and dirty.

The pressure canner is indeed a vast improvement over the water-bath canner that we have used for the past two seasons. Not only is it a time-saver in terms of getting the job done quickly -- but it also results in far less mess in the kitchen. Short and sweet? I should have invested in a pressure canner years ago.

Sealing Pickle Quart Jars

Canning in the Bird Household is always a team effort. Although one person can easily perform this task -- it's a lot more fun when four hands are involved. The process of canning summer produce isn't that hard -- it's the prep work leading up to the process that takes the vast amount of time.

You can't just pick and toss tomatoes into canning jars and be done with it. The same rule applies to cucumbers and other goodies from the backyard garden. With a pressure canner at the ready, a gardener can put just about anything into a prepared mason jar and save it for winter use.

There is truly nothing better than sharing a jar or five of Roasted Garlic, Pepper and Heirloom Tomato Salsa with family and friends. There's nothing quite like cracking open a jar of heirloom tomatoes in the dead of winter and breathing in that deep and satisfying scent of summertime produce. A can of tomatoes purchased at a store simply cannot compare to the taste of home-canned heirloom tomatoes. Once you've had that taste there is no going back.

Quarts of Whole Tomatoes and Dill Pickles

But I'm not going to fool you kids -- not for a second. Remember this important fact: Harvest Season isn't for celebrating. Harvest Season is work.

And our work is just beginning. That sweet summer payoff is now underway.

The Fruits of My Labor . . . Have Flavor!

2011-08-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Tree Ripened Flavortop Nectarine

Isn't that just a clever little title? I thought of it all by myself. Are you impressed? Please, stop laughing.

I mean it, please stop laughing.

Now that we have proper introductions out of the way - may I introduce you to my latest "sweetheart" in the kitchen? No, the wife that is Venus has not been replaced. She has not taken a sabbatical (she'd better not!). She did not "fly the coop."

That sweetness -- pictured top right -- is none other than the Flavortop Nectarine. It is now coming ripe by the dozens in the Front Yard of Bird and is one of three varieties that I have stuck right next to one another in a crazy madness known as Backyard Orchard Culture (BOC).

Three nectarine trees instead of one!

But -- in this case? The plantings are in the front yard. Nevertheless -- it's still crazy. A fruit lover must be slightly off his or her rocker to try something like this. But the proof is in the Nectarine Pudding. The close planting of fruit trees does work -- and I have the lip-smacking, juicy, tree-ripened Flavortop Nectarines to prove it.

This is the second year for our nectarine plantings. These trees really aren't supposed to produce a large amount of fruit until the third year and successive years after that. But who am I to argue with a nectarine tree like Flavortop? If it wants to produce two or three dozen nectarines in just it's second year of growth? You won't get any arguments from Bill and Venus Bird.

Not hardly.

Flavortop Nectarines ready for slicing!

This is also just the start of fresh nectarine season? Still to come? The best tasting white nectarine on the market I'm told -- the Arctic Jay White nectarine. It's absolutely loaded with second year production. And as for the largest tree in the bunch? The Fantasia nectarine? It didn't produce so much as a single piece of fruit.

Go figure.

The Arctic Jay nectarines are still a good 5-7 days from that "soft to the touch" kind of ripeness that orchard culture freakniks like myself crave. And that is the method to the Backyard Orchard Culture (BOC) madness. The goal isn't to produce a boatload of fruit from every single tree. The goal is to produce just enough to keep you in nectarine flavor heaven, until the next variety ripens up.

Sliced Flavortop Nectarines

As for the Arctic Jay? It is a tried and true Taste Test Winner: best of all fruits at the Dave Wilson Nursery blind fruit tasting held July 5th, 1996. The variety gets an enthusiastic two thumbs up from none other than Farmer Fred Hoffman, and others who have this treasured tree as part of a backyard planting. This is truly one productive variety.

The three nectarine trees pictured below are all in need of a "haircut." That's the beauty of BOC. You never allow these trees to reach a height of more than six or seven feet. Constant pruning is a must. But I've come to find that fruit trees react and react well to constant pruning. It's not difficult -- and the fun part is -- you get to choose the size and shape. Does tall and thin work for you? Round and large? A nectarine hedge perchance? The decision is yours.

A little off the top barber!

But not everything is wine and roses either. The nectarine trees -- much like the peach trees planted in the Bird Back 40 -- suffered from a bout of peach leaf curl thanks to a wetter than normal spring. The new growth and shoots that would later emerge from the trees were covered with a shade of white -- which is not a good thing children. That's powdery mildew and it can and did affect fruit production.

Some of the nectarines were covered with a frosting of white that would not wash off, no matter how hard I tried or whatever method I employed. While the trees did eventually recover from the mildew attack, some of the fruit did not and there was considerable damage to the nectarine skin. UC Davis documents powdery mildew here, and another excellent resource for home growers comes from West Virginia University.

Powdery Mildew damage on fruit skin

Fortunately? The mildew did not penetrate any of the fruit itself. The flesh literally glistened with sweet juices. The taste? Hard to describe. You're not going to find nectarines that taste like this in your local grocery store. Nectarines at Farmer's Markets are allowed to sit on the tree a little while longer, but still cannot compare to the sweet, tree-ripened fruit that comes from your own fruit tree.

I will never forget the steps I took two winters ago to plant these bare root fruit trees. An ugly hedge stood in my way during the NFL playoffs. But rather than watch the Saints, who would go on to win the Big Enchilada that year, Bill and Venus Bird were outside in a light rain, setting up the first BOC "experiment."

After one taste of a tree-ripened Flavortop Nectarine? Consider this a wise step in a wonderful experiment for home fruit production.

In other words, I don't miss that hedge.

What?! A Vacation?! Now?! Really?! But...

2011-08-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Digging Machine at Capitola

It's a gardener's lament. It's called vacation. It's like the one we took this past weekend to the coast -- where the Ultimate Digging Machine (aka, Bandi, Funny, Steak) saw her fondest dreams come true: miles upon miles of precious, sandy, Capitola coastline where she could dig to her heart's content.

If only those stupid waves would stop getting in the way and filling up every hole she tried to dig.

Vacations and gardening are not easy to mix. A vacation you say? NOW? When everything is coming ripe in the garden? This is the worst possible time to leave! Something is always coming ripe in the Backyard of Bird. Whether it's the generous plantings of heirloom tomatoes, corn, nectarines, grapes, squash, or any other item of garden produce, it just doesn't matter.

Something is about to get ripe. And that grey zucchini that was just about perfect when you left? It's grown to the size of the Battleship Missouri by the time you return. That perfectly shaped Marianna's Peace? It's now soft, plus some critter has bitten into it. Where did those weeds come from and how did they get so big?

Russ and Laurie Maurice

That's just the way it works when it comes to the world of gardening. There simply is no good time to leave. There was, however, a good reason. Long-time friends Russ Maurice and Laurie Williams finally celebrated a long-overdue wedding. Yours truly was honored to be a part of the wedding party. It is the only time I've been chosen to be a groomsman, and will probably the only time I am selected for an honor such as this.

How can one pass up an honor like that? Short answer? You can't. You make the best of it. You load the wife that is Venus and the Ultimate Digging Machine into the family car, celebrate a happy and joyous day among friends and family and most of all: have a good time.

The view from the Hollins House at Pasatiempo

I'm proud to report that we did just that. The Hollins House at Pasatiempo overlooks all of Santa Cruz and mile after mile of blue Pacific Ocean, dotted with bright white sailing vessels of all makes and manners. Not only is it the most picturesque of places to tie the knot, it also features a fine bar with all sorts of fine liquors.

These things are important.

This trip -- and yet another that is still to come -- does happen to come at peak gardening and harvest times for backyard gardening efforts. Bill and Venus Bird are celebrating a whopper of a gardening season. From tomatoes to eggplant and bell peppers to corn -- you can't ask for more. Sure -- there's been a touch of Blossom End Rot with some of the heirloom selections. That's to be expected.

Squash, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes from the garden

But in terms of outright production? You simply cannot ask for more. We've been blessed -- so far -- for what appears to be one whopper of a year. We'll know more when canning efforts swing into high gear later this month, but the garden is now set up and ready for super production over the next two to three months.

You get that special sense that everything is coming up roses when the garden begins to churn out entire dinners, which was the case just before we left. The Grey, Green and Yellow Straightneck Zucchini planted in one corner of the vast backyard are now just beginning to produce in abundance. They join a multitude of peppers and white and purple eggplant that started producing some weeks ago.

Slow roasted vegetables with Beef hotlinks

When you combine all three squash offerings with bell peppers, eggplant and other garden produce, you come up with a special meal that can only be offered a few months out of the year: fresh garden vegetables on skewers slow roasted over an open flame on the backyard barbeque.

My friends, there is nothing quite like the mouth-watering selection of fresh garden vegetables ripened by warm Sacramento summer sunshine and heat. Squash doesn't taste like squash. It tastes like candy. Peppers don't taste like bell peppers. They taste like candy. And there's nothing quite like the tastebud zip of a vine-ripened heirloom tomato that has been lightly toasted and roasted over an open flame.

Heirloom Tomato Appetizers

Candy you say? No -- better.

It is one of those special meals that Venus and I will get to enjoy for many days to come, plus share our bounty with family and friends.

That list does include the newest of married couples: Russ and Laurie. Russ has never been much of a vegetable man -- but neither was I before I met my beautiful bride.

It's amazing how wives can mold a husband. There's hope for Russ yet.

But What Would Hank Say?

2011-07-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hank Williams Jr.

One thing's for sure

We're all just passin' through

No we're not gonna live forever

Not me and you

But Lord, I've had a good time

Yes Lord I've had a good good life

I've just got one thing to say

This is all that matters anyway

Good friends, good whiskey, and good lovin'

I want to thank you Lord For givin' me all of them To get me by

Take my money, take my rings

I'd trade it all for just three things

Good friends, my good whiskey, and good lovin'

I suppose there's a little bit of a redneck in all of us.

For me -- when it comes to hearing that particular Hank Williams Jr. song -- at just the particularly the right moment in time (say -- a Friday afternoon after work?) -- well -- the garden "wild side" comes out.

Suddenly - the garden possibilities are unlimited.

In this case -- after turning up the stereo to full blast mode -- I was in the mood for a little something special. And I knew I had just about every ingredient in the backyard garden -- with the exception of fine gin -- of course.

The Peachtini: You May Drool

And no -- I am not talking about the finest gin that you can find in a plastic bottle. No -- this special drink would require something not often found anywhere near the Bird Household Bar: fine liquor.

The special drink I am referring too is pictured in all its wonderful glory to the immediate left. My gardening friends, I give you, the PEACHTINI!

Fortunately, there is a BevMo (Disneyland for Drunks) in the North Natomas neighborhood. And -- after picking up that special jug of Bombay Sapphire, it was off to raid the backyard farm of some very special ingredients.

I would need peaches -- yes PEACHES! Not just any peaches mind you either -- but peaches from the June Pride peach tree. It's one of the few trees in the local area offering true tree-ripened peaches during this particular time of year -- and this little concoction required juicy, sweet, lip-smacking, tree-ripened peaches and lots of them.

June Pride Peach Tree: Bird Back 40

Fortunately -- the June Pride is the ONE peach tree in the Bird Back 40 that managed to bounce back and bounce back well from a terrible case of peach-leaf-curl this spring. The O'Henry got hit just as hard, perhaps even a tad harder. But it produced a small crop that will come ripe later this summer (if my fine feathered friends don't get to them first). The June Pride, however, managed to fruit a fairly nice crop.

Although this crop was primarily located on one side of the tree and took quite a bit of propping (peach trees are weird) -- the peaches were warm from Sacramento sunshine, slightly soft to the touch, and bubble-gum sweet good.

Important Ingredients Required

Next? Off to the basil crop to raid a few different types of basil that are growing quite well in the raised beds dotting the backyard. Sweet basil always seems to do well this year. And, surprise-surprise, if we didn't get a good showing out of Thai basil as well this season. I know it grows like a weed around here because you see it in every Southeast Asian restaurant worth its salt.

But I've had a hard time growing it -- until this year.

The garden would supply another important ingredient in the form of fresh Meyer Lemons, which I've had to camouflage carefully lest by meyer-lovin' brother find it. He's worse than the feathered birds raiding the Bird fruit tree offerings with abandon this summer. At least the birds leave something behind. When it comes to Meyer Lemons, Andrew Bird shows no such mercy.

PEACHTINI X2

Mixing a peachtini creation like this isn't easy because peach juices can be rather thick and hard to strain. But after a few fits, stops and starts, Bill and the wife that is Venus managed to produce the first ever PEACHTINI!

Was it good? What if I told you we immediately produced five more? Of course they were good! Tree ripened peaches with sweet basil and sweet meyer lemons are a taste sizzle sensation! Who needs the fine gin?

I didn't mean that, because we also used the fine gin.

Based upon the tomato crops now starting to come right -- Venus and I know that fresh martini season is just getting started. There is a place at the table for the always-famous and always-in-demand Heirloom Tomato Martini. What good is watermelon and cantaloupe if you can't pour it into a martini glass? Corn? Squash? Peppers? The possibilities are endless.

I know that Hank likes a fine belt of whiskey every once in awhile.

But I think even he would approve.

Stupice is as Stupice Does

2011-07-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Bird Tomato Garden-One of Three Beds

Greetings from the Frankensteinish North Natomas tomato farm that is the Bird Back 40 -- a place we lovingly refer to as "Disneyland for Drunks." Things are right fine in the hood as you can attest from the photo to your immediate right. Our heirloom plantings are now approaching a height of six feet and are green -- lush -- healthy and productive.

A quick check of the garden reveals the following tomato count: Campbell's 1327? LOADED. Eva Purple Ball? LOADED. Black Krim? LOADED! The notoriously cranky and sometimes unproductive Marianna's Peace? LOADED FOR BEAR!

Celebrity and Eva Purple Ball Production

Getting old yet? You know things are going well when you spot a bit of color behind a green tomato leaf -- and pulling that leaf aside reveals the wonder that is a ripening Azoychka. You know things are going REALLY WELL when you pull aside said leaf and are struck with the sight of five ripe Azoychka tomatoes.

Where in Hades did they come from and how come I didn't notice this before? Did someone put those there?

Safe to say -- the wife that is Venus and I are somewhat blessed with tomato production this year. We're off to a rather outstanding start. I've never experienced a year in the garden where there wasn't at least one loser among the bunch. Usually? There's more than one.

But not this year. Not yet anyway.

Ripening Stupice Tomatoes

The big heirloom tomato winner so far this year? No doubt in my mind. It's the heirloom offering known as Stupice. And despite my rather "stupice" play on words in the title of this blog posting -- Stupice isn't pronounced "Stoo-Piss."

This variety, one of four sent to the United States from Czechoslovakia by Milan Sodomka (source: Seed Savers), is actually pronounced "Stoo-Pee-Chay" from what I've been told. Still others have related the pronunciation of "Stu-Pick."

Pick your poison -- because this variety is anything but (poison).

Stupice is one of those rare potato-leaf tomato plants that does not produce beefsteak tomatoes. In my short experience with growing heirlooms? If you're growing out a potato leaf -- it usually means you're growing out any version of Brandywine (there are several), Marianna's Peace or numerous others that feature large and crazy looking tomatoes.

Stupice here, Stupice there, Stupice everywhere!

But not Stupice. This one is different. And that makes it special.

The first clue that I'd decided to grow something special is when every seed I planted not only germinated -- but was the first to germinate. It was the fastest growing tomato starter in the Bird bedroom-converted-tomato-nursery. It's one of several varieties that received a "haircut" before plant out. Every cutting from that plant would yield new plants that I eagerly gave away to family and friends at work.

Since I had not grown this variety before -- I did not know what to expect. I had heard from many tomato growers on the Yahoo Forum TomatoMania that Stupice was an absolute winner in many a backyard garden. But what does well back east in New England or somewhere in the Midwest doesn't necessarily transfer into great success on the Left Coast.

Crazy Stupice Production

However -- the Stupice is one of those plants that ignores all rules. It appears to do well in just about every region it's been planted -- and I can personally attest that list includes Zone 9A -- the Sacramento Territory. Although the raised bed that holds the Stupice also holds seven other tomato plants -- the Stupice has grown up and through nearly the entire bed. I'm discovering new branches that are anywhere from four to six feet away from the main stem -- held aloft by other plants in the bed (which are also doing well I might add).

My first indication that this plant was going to be a winner in the garden is when it unfurled a blossom set normally reserved for cherry tomatoes like SunGold or Sweet 100. When each blossom set resulted in a setting of four to seven young tomatoes? I knew I had something special. Stupice continues to proliferate throughout its garden setting -- putting out blossoms in every square corner of the 4X8 foot raised bed. It was also the first to ripen in abundance, beating early producers like Bloody Butcher and Early Girl.

Stupice tomatoes with cucumber and basil anyone?

There will come a time -- not all that far away I might add -- when a singular harvest of Stupice will result in a bowl of 30-40 ripe tomatoes -- with hundreds more yet to ripen. Consider Stupice to be your classic garden tomato -- in that it will produce enough tomatoes to fill every salad bowl with a bounty of production or will serve as your "snacking" tomato while you harvest others from the yard during the peak season of production.

As far as the taste is concerned -- rank Stupice with some of the best tasting heirloom tomatoes. It still can't hold a candle to the taste explosion and surprise that is a vine-ripened Cherokee Purple, Brandywine or Kelloggs' Breakfast -- but a bowl full of Stupice is a bowl full of summer heaven just the same. The one and only knock against Stupice? It's not a good processing tomato. It's about the size of a golf ball or a bit larger. That makes it a tad larger than a large cherry tomato, but it's still not large enough to be canned as a whole tomato.

But that shouldn't stop you from making a gallon or ten of fresh Stupice tomato sauce!

The New Me

2011-07-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

Custom Blog Templates by Madeline

It's the old me, actually. Same bad writing. Same bad advice. Some things never do change.

By now, you may have noticed some changes to the blog that is Sacramento Vegetable Gardening. Yep, Bill and Venus Bird have gone mainstream. They plumb went out and hired a graphic designer to clean up the clutter and make things look neat n' tidy. What's next? Ads promoting Viagra?

I suppose a little explanation is in order. Or, in my case, I blame it all on "Maddy."

"Maddy" is actually a fine and inventive young lady by the name of Madeline Miller. I can't remember exactly how I ran across her -- she may have left a comment on the blog at one point -- I'm not sure. But I was instantly impressed with her blog and her blog designs. Each one was fresh and unique. For me? They jumped right off the page and screamed TALENT!!!

I know about this because I have so precious little of it.

At any rate -- I had been thinking about some design changes to the blog but was also a little hesitant. Let me explain. I'm old. I didn't grow up with computers. The words "Bill Bird" and "computer savvy" would represent a classic oxymoron if used in the same sentence. One minor and wrong keystroke had me pulling out what precious little hair I had left.

I also have very little clue when it comes to basic colors. The wife that is Venus will attest to this. The woman won't let me near a washing machine because that's usually when disaster strikes. No matter how hard I try to do well, left on my own, I usually wind up wearing something that's a rather Christmassy shade of green and red.

Hey, it works for December. But July?

Madeline Miller

At any rate, I picked the wrong time to bother Madeline Miller. Big surprise there. I've been doing that for most of my 48 years on God's Green Earth. As it turns out -- Madeline was dealing with some other issues more important than my blog when I reached out to her. Her family was about to expand with a new addition.

"See you in six months and that's a promise," she wrote.

Fast forward nearly eleven months -- and voilà!!! The new template is now in place. There are some other changes that I've been dragging my feet on, and at the same time, testing Madeline's patience to absolutely no end.

"How about a listing for recipes," she asked. "Uh, sure" was my reply -- usually followed by a "how do I do that?"

"You would need to add labels," she would patiently reply. Which was usually followed by an, "oh, OK. What?"

In the end, I annoyed a resident of Roseville to absolutely no end -- and got a nice blog design out of the deal. Not a bad exchange in my opinion.

The pictures used in the new template are all from the Bird Back 40 -- promise. We didn't buy those melons -- nor the tomatoes -- nor did I steal anything.

This time...

My hope is -- that as time goes by and people visit -- they will see the outdoor adventure that is Northern California. Short and sweet -- it doesn't matter what you put in the ground out this way. We're blessed. We're blessed with some of the greatest soil -- some of the greatest weather -- the most wonderful of growing conditions.

California living at its finest.

If you're impressed by Madeline's work -- you can reach out to her here.

Just don't make the mistake of telling her that you know me.

The Muse

2011-07-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

Seignac Guillame: The Muse

It's no secret that bloggers sometimes get tired of blogging. The blog becomes a drag, man. When the wife starts referring to herself as a "Blog Widow," to a newspaper reporter no less? Houston, we have a problem!

Sometimes, we just plain run out of ideas. I mean, how many times can I write about the subject of garlic before it gets a little plain and a little dull? I've written so much about heirloom tomatoes that nothing comes as a surprise anymore. Suddenly, blogging becomes a chore.

That's when things go south. While most bloggers try to make it work with advertising, and some do a pretty good job at making a living, most of us do this for the joy of "putting pen to paper." This is nothing more than our journal -- a cyber journal at that. "Dear Diary, today that little girl with red hair threw a tomato at me..."

For some bloggers, even the good writers, the stress is just too much. They up and quit. They don't come back. The blogging landscape is littered with "dead blogs" that haven't been updated for years. One of the latest bloggers to put down the pen is Prudence Pennywise, a wonderful writer with a sharp wit.

Prudence Pennywise

Guess what? She got tired. I don't hear from Prudy anymore. I miss hearing from her. Prudy came up with some fantastic recipes and the blog earned her a spot on a local cooking show. It earned awards. It earned a faithful readership. It earned well-deserved attention. But not anymore.

Does this mean Bill Bird is going away? Hah! Fat chance Fredo! Dream on dude! This is still a lot of fun for me, although I don't have the time I once had to pay attention to it. I don't update it as often as I would like. Sometimes I lose focus. Sometimes I run out of ideas -- or I don't know how to frame a particular subject or post. Call it "Blogger Block." It's like writer's block. Yes, we get it too.

And then -- that "moment" comes. It always does. It's a seminal moment. Something happens -- somewhere -- and you are literally struck with inspiration. The block that frustrated you time and again is suddenly gone. You can't type fast enough.

Artichoke in Bloom

Sometimes that inspiration will come from the wife that is Venus. Sometimes? It comes from a different blog posting -- perhaps something that Farmer Fred Hoffman wrote about earlier in his blog. In this particular case -- my inspiration stemmed from one, simple, solitary line: BLOOMING ARTICHOKES: BEE CRACK.

It's the title of a post written by Sacramento garden blogger Carri Stokes and it brought a smile to my face as soon as I read it. Carri has a rather unique and wonderful way of communication in her blog. Not only is the posting true -- it's laugh out loud funny. And -- I may not have been the only blogger inspired by this posting. Some days later, Farmer Fred would write about "following a friend in the garden."

Hello Kitty Hive

The posting also made me think about what my colony has been feeding on this spring and summer. The bees inside that neon-pink Hello Kitty hive have been literally humming with activity. The numbers inside that hive have increased exponentially and the hive is now back to pre-swarm levels. I have once again been blessed with a strong queen. A strong queen means a strong hive.

But a strong hive also requires a strong food or pollen source. The Bird Back 40 will never contain enough blooming plants to fill that need -- but I've come to discover (happily I might add) that the colony has found numerous and abundant pollen sources in the yards and parks that dot North Natomas. In other words, they're doing just fine.

If there is one side benefit to budget cutbacks in the Sacramento City Parks and Recreation Program, it would have to be the state of numerous parks in North Natomas. The acres of grass set aside for family fun and gatherings are no longer bright green and tightly manicured as they once were. Although this might sound bad, it's actually been a benefit to all things bee.

Typical North Natomas Park: Covered in Clover

Without the constant maintenance and upkeep, clover has proliferated throughout park settings. Clover does not react well to many modern lawn fertilizers. In many cases, clover has been classified as a "nuisance weed," and the lawn fertilizers are specially formulated to knock it out. This is especially vexing to bee colonies. For if blooming artichokes are indeed "bee crack," then clover would represent the Surf n' Turf restaurant special. Bees can't get enough of it.

No matter how hard I try -- I haven't been able to track colony flights out of the Bird Back 40. I can tell which general direction they're heading. But once a bee picks up speed, it's very easy to lose sight of them. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that they found nearby parks inviting. A close check of those fields of clover revealed hundreds if not thousands of them, collecting as much pollen as possible before flying back home.

Honeybee Raiding Clover: North Natomas

Were they bees that belonged to the Hello Kitty Hive? That's somewhat impossible to tell. But the nice thing about pollen sources is this: they are plentiful and usually multiply in abundance. Plants that produce the kinds of pollen that bees can't resist are often the cheapest forms of landscaping found anywhere. And the new subdivisions that have sprouted out near Sacramento International Airport are planted with acres of pollen producers. There is no shortage of pollen out north.

Intentional? I think not. Cost is usually the determining factor in the growth of new subdivisions -- that and housing demand (which there hasn't been much of lately). But some how, some way, it works. Nature has found a way.

Bee Crack indeed.