...Its like in Supermario World!

Amanita Muscaria! also called Fly Agaric

It looks unreal, like its made out of plastic, but its real, and it crops up all over lawns in Vancouver starting in mid September. However, it isn't really edible, well some types are (although probably not tasty) but others types are DEADLY. So look, love, but don't taste.

Fava Beans and Cover Cropping

Cover cropping is an old idea, that is gaining popularity as humanity begins to yearn for agricultural practices that do not poison the earth. Cover crops protect soil from erosion through the winter months by locking the soil down with their roots, they help add much organic material into the soil once you turn them in, and you can choose a cover crop that fixes nitrogen and helps fertilize your plants. 

The soil in my garden is high in clay, so I felt that the added organic matter a cover crop will provide could be useful. I chose to use Fava Beans because they fix nitrogen in the soil and they are relatively small plants that are easy to turn under with just a shovel, something a small time gardener, without a mechanical tiller, needs to consider. 

I bought the package at the West Coast Seeds head office in Delta, I bought enough to plant a small field. I also bought a legume seed inoculant, which is a manufactured form of the bacteria that fixes the nitrogen from the atmosphere for the fava beans. These bacteria will happen anyways where legumes are planted, but inoculating them ensures that there is an adequate supply so you can get the most nitrogen possible. It is a great learning experience any how.

Here are the Fava Beans

This is the inoculant in a jar with the beans and water

To coat the seed, just shake

They got planted in last season Quinoa bed, which will be the Mayan Garden next year, the corn should love the extra nitrogen

Walnuts

Walnuts, they are rich in omega-3s, full of protein and super tasty, not to mention extremely familiar to most palates, as they are grown in Europe, Asia and the Americas for both food, and wood.

On a recent visit to Galiano Island, I had a chance encounter with this lovely Walnut Tree, which just happened to be ready for the harvest.

This is the trunk, you can see holes drilled into it from the local Woodpeckers, trying to get at some bug inside the tree. Infestations are usually a sign that the plant is under stress, but this tree is old and fruiting, so I think it is only a minor concern.

These are the leaves.

Here is the fruit, bursting with a nut inside. I was amazed at how different Walnuts and Hazelnuts look like on the tree.

The grass was so long under the tree that it was tricky to see the nuts on the ground, so I had to "feel" them by gently treading over the area.

I got enough, and washed them up. I was warned to wash them with gloves on, because the preservative present in the fruit is strong and will dye your hands black for weeks.

I had to dry them next. This picture looks pretty, but remember, heat rises, so to be more effective, put the nuts you want to dry above the heat source.

After an hour and a half of shelling the walnuts (talk about slow food!) I had enough for my recipe, and I got so good a small miracle happened...

I extracted a walnut intact from its shell, not an easy thing to do.

As the nuts were still raw, and soft, I choose to put them in a raw recipe. My sistah Jill of illumination introduced me to Ani Phyo and the raw diet. I prefer raw foods in the warmer months, but this recipe of Ani's feels warm and fits fall very well.

Walnut Cranberry Squash "Rice"

1lb squash (I used a japanese Blue Kabocha that I grew in my garden)

1/2 small yellow onion

1tbs cumin seeds

1tbs coriander powder

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup walnuts, crushed

2tsp sea salt

Put small batches of squash into the food processor at a time, processing into small pieces.

Put processed squash into large bowl, add rest of ingredients and mix well. 

Enjoy!

Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts are not only easy to find growing in northern areas, they are also one of the more distinctive tasting nut. They have a robust flavour that pairs well with both savoury dishes like mushroom pea stir fry, or, of course, in sweet concoctions, especially with chocolate, like nutella...

For Thanksgiving, my family and I drove to Aggasiz to the Hazelnut U-pick

You can visit them too at Hazelnut U-Picks

I was particularly interested in seeing the trees, because I know they are around Vancouver, and so being able to identify them would help my foraging abilities. But also because I had read that Hazel trees make the best garden stakes, and I understood why as soon as I saw how straight these offshoots are.

The Hazelnuts grow out of a flower, they are the center of the flower, and they harden on the tree,

then the nuts fall to the ground. I was surprised to learn that the nuts are harvested off of the ground.

Just like this.

We got 10lbs, which cost us 20$

Then, in honor of my sister, who got us both hooked on the stuff in France, I made nutella.

I followed a recipe from this sweet blog Su Good Sweets I will reprise it here for you.

Su Goods, Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Yield: about 12 ounces (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 cups whole raw hazelnuts
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

1. Preparation: Line a baking sheet with foil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Make the caramel: Combine the sugar and water in a 3- to 4-cup saucepan. To prevent crystallization, don’t stir it again during the cooking. Cover and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Remove the lid and wipe down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush or a scrunched up paper towel dipped in water. Cover and cook for 2 minutes, or until the sugar’s completely dissolved. Uncover and cook until the syrup looks like pale amber maple syrup. If your pan’s dark and you can’t gauge the color of the syrup, spoon a drop or two onto a white saucer. Swirl the pan gently, continuing to cook and test the color until the syrup turns medium amber.
3. Immediately pour the caramel onto the lined baking sheet. Tilt the sheet to spread the caramel as thinly as possible. Let harden completely, about 15 minutes.
4. Toast the nuts: Meanwhile, place the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until the skins are almost black and the meat is dark brown, about 15 minutes. Stir the nuts halfway through baking to ensure an even color.
5. To get rid of the bitter skins, wrap the cooled hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. Rub until most of the skins come off, but don’t worry if some remain.
6. Make the nut butter: When the caramel is completely cool, break it into small pieces and pulverize in a food processor. Try to get the caramel as fine as possible at this stage (it won’t get finer once you add the nuts).
7. Add the nuts and process until they have liquefied, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Be patient; the nuts will go from a fine meal, to forming a ball around the blade, to nut butter. Add the cocoa, vanilla and salt and process until smooth.
8. Transfer the spread to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator for1-2 months. For best results, stir the chocolate-hazelnut spread before using. 

make a wish upon a clove...

Garlic is a staple for me, I put it in almost everything. It is also one of those plants that you can really taste the difference between the chinese supermarket variety and the farmers market variety.
I've wanted to grow it for years, but, like tulips, and daffodils, you plant it in the fall, instead of the spring, and I'd never gotten myself organized before. Before this year, that is...

On Oct 10 (10/10/10) I planted them into a bed I had just amended with loads of homemade compost, lets all hope they grow into fat, beautiful bulbs by July!

Apple Fest at UBC

Every Fall the UBC botanical Gardens hosts the Apple Fest, a celebration of the hundreds of different varieties of apples, the people who grow them, and the people who eat them.

There were many different trees on hand for sale, but the botanical garden also had some beautiful specimens planted around the paths, this one is part of an espaliered "wall" around the vegetable garden.

There were also many apple experts around to answer questions, with lectures and demonstrations on many subjects. I attended this speech on grafting, which is when you fuse a branch of a desired type of tree onto the trunk of an existing tree. I learned that if you grow apples from seed, you have only a 1 in 20000 chance of the apples from your new tree being nice and edible. So almost all apple trees are branches from proven edible varieties grafted onto compatible, existing root stock (like local crabapples trees, or perhaps a dwarf apple tree, if you lack a lot of space.) 

The most incredible thing about the apple fest was the tasting tent, where they had dozens of different types of apples to try...

...along with the histories of those apples and friendly volunteers to slice them up so we could taste them. Just look at some of these varieties.

And the absolute winner, in my eyes, for being the most distinct and lasting with its impression...

If you ever get a chance, GO! to this festival, but get there early, or you may miss out on the tasting. 

UBC AppleFest

Compost

While Spring is the time that gardeners plan for and anticipate all winter long, Fall is the time composters anticipate all year long. After being baked in the hot summer sun most compost bins are ready to be harvested in the fall. And with all the gardens winding down and the trees losing their leaves, composts get a huge boost of nutrients, and carbon, the city composts most scarce ingredient.

Successful compost requires a 50/50 ration of carbon (brown, dry organic matter) and nitrogen ("green", wet organic matter), it  also requires heat, which can be achieved either with a large pile of matter, or by putting the matter into a dark container.  In the city, where space is at a premium, the container makes the most sense. This year we got 4 full wheelbarrows full of compost, which gets spread over the beds to feed the plants. In Vancouver you can pick up a compost bin from the city for only $25, check them out here http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/solidwaste/grownatural/composters.htm

NYC Urban Forage

Two years ago I had the pleasure of being caught between the moon and New York City. Made familiar to us through so many books, movies, and television shows, New York is one of North America's largest  urban experiments. I was thrilled to get a chance to explore it, and even more thrilled to learn about Steve Brill, www.wildmanstevebrill.com

Steve Brill is an expert food forager, he conduct tours throughout parks in the north east of the USA. I had the opportunity to catch him for a tour of Central Park, Manhattan.

At over 800 acres, Central Park was one of the first, and is still one of the largest landscaped city parks in the world. Surrounded by skyscrapers and the bustle of Manhatten, it is a welcome island of peace and nature, enjoyed both by tourists and locals. Check out www.centralpark.com/pages/history.html to find a good article on its creation. 

As I arrived in the middle of November, I was expecting the foraging tour to be short and sparse. I was wrong and Wild Man Brill had us hiking for almost two hours, finding new things to eat around every corner. Here are a few of the plants we saw...

Burdock root, roasted it makes a nice hearty tea, but it is also a recurring ingredient in many tasty Japanese dishes.

Wild onion, it is even got bulbs, easy to identify, both in the wild and on the plate

The Norths version of Persimmon, tasty, too bad the photo is so bad

Crab apples, don't even ripen in Central Park until November

Lambs Quarter's a nice mild tasting green that is tasty in winter salads.

This tour was a wonderful way to appreciate New York City, to learn about the plants of the north east and to learn more about foraging in general, as well. I highly recommend it for anyone travelling to the Big Apple!

Pumpkin Pie

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Fall and using whats in your fridge, I give to you:

THE Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Pastry for a 9" pie (I prefer whole wheat)

3 cup Fresh Pumpkin Puree

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp or more, freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp or more grated cinnamon

1tsp grated fresh ginger

3 lrg eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup heavy cream

• Pre heat your oven to 425 degrees F
• Line pie dish with pastry
• Combine remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl, blend well. Pour mixture into prepared shell and place in the oven
• Bake for 15 minute. reduce heat to 350 degrees, Bake for 30 to 40 mins longer, or until filling is set. 
• Serve, if desired, with sweetened and or rum flavoured whipped cream. 

Yields 6-8 servings

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rosemary

Rosemary, like many of our favourite culinary herbs, comes from the Mediterranean region. However it is quite hardy and is grown successfully (to giant, bush like sizes) here in Vancouver. Many people here in Van grow it in their yards as an ornamental feature, or perhaps they choose it for its aromatic properties...
Anyhow, it is very easy to forage around here, but I don't see many people doing that. Probably that is because most people are shy to forage for food in urban areas. However, in the off chance that someone is not optimizing on an opportunity to forage for a delicious ingredient because they don't know what to do with it, I will give you an idea...

combine it with GARLIC!

I season roast potatoes, roasted pumpkin seeds, pastas and breads with this, and that is just the beginning of what can be done. Don't let this free culinary experience pass you by.

Zucchini!, or is it Courgette?

3 Zucchinis and a Cucumber

Zucchini, or Courgette if you're a brit, is the most simple and abundant vegetable a gardener can grow, I absolutely recommend it if you are just starting on this veg growing path and don't want to be completely heart broken year after year.  2010 was not a great year to grow Zucchini, too cold and wet and short, and from 2 plants we still got 7.85Kg of fruit, thats a lot. In fact my grandma, who moved from the city to a farm in the country, once told me that in the summer in the country, if you don't lock your car doors you'll wake up in the morning with a car filled with Zucchini. Haha, doesn't sound that bad, this veg is versatile. I do have a recipe to share, but first a bit of the back story...

I planted the seeds on April 17th, the variety was named Ambassador, and I bought the packet from www.westcoastseeds.com they sprouted within a week under the lights.

On May 15th they were ready to be transplanted out. I put them in a bed that had been heavily amended with sea soil, manure and coconut coir. 

And then the flowers started forming, the bees did their thing and Voila! July 23rd we got the first one. This was the first vegetable that was ready to eat out of my garden, and I made a special and simple pasta for my partner and me, made all the more special by it being the first time I had enjoyed a glass of wine since I got pregnant. Here it is...

Zucchini Garlic Parmesan Pasta

Sautee in a light oil:

Cubed Zucchini

Diced fresh Garlic 

until lightly browned, no more than 10 minutes

Toss over Pasta with all the oil,

Garnish with Parmesan and fresh chopped Parsley if you have it

Enjoy