Borlotto Beans

Borlotto beans in the garden

Last season I planted a new dry pole bean called Borlotto  (also called Borlotti). They are an Italian heirloom variety. The variety was Lamon which is supposed to be the best for flavor. It got around 6 feet high and I grew it in the garden on one of the 3′ high perimeter fences. As it got taller, I added bamboo stakes to let it continue upwards. They are a very beautiful bean on the vine when growing. I planted around 12 plants, 6 inches apart right at each drip emitter. You can shell the bean fresh but I just left them to dry on the vine.  I got my seeds from Seeds of Italy.

I particularly like dry beans. I picked them after they dried on the vine which is towards the end of the season but before the first freeze. I find dry beans are so easy to grow, needing nothing except water and a vertical support of some kind and then harvesting at the end. They are very different then fresh beans which you must pick daily. There is also a bush variety of these beans but they are not Lamon.

I left them in their shells in a basket until last week when I took the beans out.  I find it fun to shell them on a cold winter night. The beans are very beautiful being cream color with maroon stripes. I got 3 cups of the precious bean. Good for 1 meal.  I will save some to replant too. This year I will definitely plant more.

Tuscan Bean Soup recipe from Ialian Food Forever

I like that I can make a hearty soup or stew from them and eat them in the winter. Here is a recipe from Italian Food Forever for a traditional Tuscan bean soup using Borlotto beans. When cooking the beans before hand, you must cook for a long time here in Santa Fe due to our high altitude at 7000 feet as you want them soft and creamy. I just cooked mine in a crock pot all day and it worked well. You can also leave out the pancetta for a vegetarian style soup. There are many recipes for Borlotto bean soup out there that all sound wonderful! Can’t wait to try them.

Gardening Porn=Seed catalogs

Here are a few of my favorite 2018 seed catalogs

 

All the 2018 gardening catalogs are arriving in the mailbox and I love going through them. Makes me want to get going in the garden (except when it is windy and cold). I call them gardening porn. It’s fun looking at all the beautiful pictures of veggies and planning for next season’s garden. Makes me want to buy all the seeds!  The problem is I want to grow more stuff than I have room for in the garden so I’m going to have to make a garden layout so I don’t buy too much. Now is a good time to curl up with the catalogs and enjoy them and plan for the next growing season.

Gardening Geeks—What to do in January!

Tomato Lady of Santa Fe with a 3 lb ‘Big Zac’ tomato out of her garden.

1. Unplug your outdoor holiday lights and your ready for next year. (Notice I didn’t say put them away)

2. My uncle turned me onto an alcoholic drink called a Picon Punch-a basque drink. He was Basque/Italian and had one every night. I think that’s why he lived so long plus he had a great garden.

3. Read gardening books and catalogs by the fireplace. Leave them out. Your significant other will love you for this but be careful they don’t use them for starting the fire.

4. Watch weather (say isn’t that a cloud-oooh I think it looks like a tomato up there-do you see it?)

5. Make snow vegetables instead of a snowman-that’s if we ever get any snow…

6. Drool over all the seed catalogs (by the fireplace).

7. Take your dog or goat (I don’t have a dog) for a drag (they don’t like to walk in snow-again assuming we get snow). Don’t have a goat? Get a dog.

8. Order more seeds-as if we don’t have enough.

9. Guess how high your utility bill will be this month. Sit by the fireplace more and turn the thermostat down.

10. Get lots of firewood inside before that next storm (what storm?). Buy green firewood-lasts longer…

11. Find your growing light boxes or shelves (or make them if you haven’t). Drag them inside this month to set up early and freak out your significant other.

12. Get heat mats for your grow shelves-a must have if you start seeds indoors. Nice to sit on too.

13. Insulate your grow shelves so they don’t loose heat at night inside. I bought a roll of metallic bubble wrap and wrapped it around all 4 sides (one side removable in front so I can get to the plants). Wrap your dog or cat in the leftover metallic wrap-you’ll enjoy it-they won’t.

14. Schedule when each veggie can go out (by the fireplace). I use a garden planner from Johnny’s Seeds. How’s that for obsessive? Hey you gotta do something inside all these months!

15. Toss that plant you didn’t plant outside and didn’t have the heart to get rid of last fall that is now full of aphids. (where do they come from anyways?)

16. Thank your significant other now for putting up with your obsession. They’ll thank you next growing season with all your veggies.

Happy New Year to all my obsessive gardening friends!!!

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays everyone! Some of you have snow this Christmas but not here in Santa Fe. We are bone dry here this year and looking for some moisture. So I thought you could enjoy the snow pattern on the blog. Be sure to water your trees and perennial plants soon before it gets bitter cold again. We tend to forget to water them and not doing so really stresses them.

I’m embarrassed to say I’m not even done with cleaning out my big garden yet. Arrgh! I did pull all the tomato and other veggie plants out of the ground and the cages as well before the ground freezes. They are laying all over the place in the garden. At least they won’t be frozen in the ground. So I’ve started cleaning out the cages of tomato vines, storing the cages and loading up the trailer to go to the dump. I put all tomato plant debris and squash debris in the trailer because they are so prone to diseases and I don’t want to put diseased plants in my composting piles. All healthy plants do however go into the compost pile. Hope to have it done in the next 2 weeks.

Mostly I’ve read some gardening books this winter-nice time to catch up on reading. We should all enjoy our time off in the garden and use it to rejuice us so we are ready to garden by spring. Hope you have a fantastic holiday whatever you celebrate!

 

Tomato and Vegetable Winners in 2017 garden

Sungold tomatoes

Here are my favorite vegetables that I grew for 2017. Mind you I’m super picky and I’m sure there are many other varieties out there waiting to be tried that are great. That’s what keeps it interesting for me. Also I give you where I bought the seeds or transplants. You may be able to buy these elsewhere but this is where I purchased them from.

2017 Tomato Winners

***ALL-TIME FAVORITE TOMATO
Lucky Cross: MY FAVORITE TOMATO-Bigger tomato. Starts yellow then turns more pinkish yellow on the outside with red marbling inside. Sweet and luscious with few cracks. Ripens later in the season but before the end of the season. Part Brandywine and tastes like them. DELICIOUS!  Not to be confused with Little Lucky tomato. Seeds from Victory Seeds

 

RED
Goliath: A very abundant and nice size red tomato. No cracks and old-fashioned tomato flavor-excellent. Seeds from Totally Tomato seeds

Costoluto Genevese: Beautiful fluted tomato with old-fashioned tomato flavor from Italy. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Marmande Garnier Rouge: A medium to large dark-red slightly fluted tomato from France-excellent old-fashion tomato flavor. Seeds from Secret Seeds Cartel

Big Zac: Huge, red sweet tomato-takes all season to ripen but still one of my favorites-worth the wait. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

 

PASTE
Goldman’s Italian American: My favorite for a sauce tomato-Unique, beautiful and large tomatoes have a pear shape, being ribbed and pleated. These have an intense red color and fantastic flavor when ripe. Thick, red flesh is perfect for delicious tomato sauces. Ripens towards end of season. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

 

PINK
NEW! Stump of the World: Big pink tomato with sweet flavor. Good at high altitudes. Seeds from Tomato Growers

 

PURPLE or BLACK

Purple Cherokee: Dusky purple with dark shoulders-Always a favorite-sweet, flavor. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

Paul Robeson: Dark brown with green shoulders-Always a favorite-sweet, earth flavor. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

 

BI-COLOR
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye: Dark pink with green stripes-great sweet flavor.
Seeds from Wild Boars Farms or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

Black and Brown Boar: Brownish-red tomato with green stripes-good, sweet, earthy flavor. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms

NEW! Summer of Love: Large and very meaty red/yellow bi-color beefsteak with purple anthocyanin splashes on the sun-kissed fruit-wonderful flavor. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms

NEW! Lover’s Lunch: A very beautiful and tasty striped red/yellow with bi-colored flesh.  This large, meaty, fruity and sweet tomato has stand-out flavor. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms

NEW! Lucid Gem: First they ripen yellow, than more of an orange when very ripe. Very attractive with black purple anthocynin splashes on shoulder that contrast with the yellow skin.  Flavor is very good- Sweet with fruity tones. Very meaty, very few Seeds – One of the best varieties for heat tolerance. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms

NEW! Solar Flare-XL: Bigger than the regular Solar Flare-very sweet red with faint yellow stripes. Seeds from Wild Boars Farms

 

CHERRY TOMATOES

Artisan Blush Tiger: I love this one-fruity flavor. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

Pink Bumblebee: Great sweet flavor. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

Black Cherry: One of my favorites that I grow EVERY year. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

Sungold: One of my few hybrids-Always a favorite-super sweet yellow cherry tomato. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

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2017 vegetable winners

ARUGULA
Wasabi arugula: This arugula gives the same nose-tingling sensation as the wasabi condiment used in Japanese dishes. This variety is very quick to bolt but delicious. Grow in early spring before heat. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

BEANS-DRY
NEW! Borlotti ‘Lamon’ beans: Climbing beautiful cream, red splashed shell on outside with beans being a pale pink with red splotches inside if you let them dry. I like to harvest them when dry. According to the Venetians, Lamon’s are “THE” bean for ‘pasta fagiolo’. Seeds from Seeds of Italy

BEANS-GREEN
Émérite Filet Pole Bean: Émérite is a true Filet Bean from France, produced on graceful vines growing to 8′ tall. When picked early and often, the beans are tender and have outstanding flavor. Seeds from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds

BEETS
Craupadine: I’ve tried this one before-poor germination every year except for one year and the one year it did germinate, it tasted FANTASTIC-sweetish beet I’ve ever eaten. Will try to start seeds inside this year to see if I get better germination. Would really like to get this one again. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

BOK CHOY
Violetta bok choy: A beautiful green with purple tipped leaves and tastes great sautéed. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

CABBAGE
Kalibos Red cabbage: This Eastern European heirloom cabbage has a pointed shape and intense red/purple leaves. Beautiful and sweet flavor. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange

CHARD
Argentata chard: Has green leaf with big white stalks that when cooked, melt in your mouth. Plus it is the most cold tolerant variety in my garden outlasting many other varieties of chard. Seeds from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds

CUCUMBERS
Poona Kheera: My all-time favorite eating cucumber. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

EGGPLANT
Fairy Tale: my favorite-never bitter or tough skin. No need to peel this small eggplant. I just cut them in half  and saute or BBQ them. Transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

FENNEL
Florence Fennel: A bulb type fennel from Italy. Wonderful mild anise taste to add to Chippino or Boulabaise. I chop it and freeze it for use later. Seeds from Seeds of Italy or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

PEPPER
Jimmy Nardello: Super sweet, red pepper-good for sauteing or cook on BBQ. It is thin-walled. Good cooked or raw. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

SPINACH
Carmel: A fabulous early spring spinach with great flavor. The only spinach to survive winter with row cover. Seeds from Johnny’s Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

SQUASH-WINTER
Waltham Butternut: I grew it because I had heard it doesn’t get squash bugs and that was true for me-good flavor too. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

Rogosa Violina “Gioia” Butternut: An Italian version of Butternut. Grew much larger with excellent flavor and no squash bugs-YAY! Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

SQUASH-SUMMER
Costata Romanesco zucchini: This is the most flavorful zucchini I’ve ever tasted-sweet nutty flavor. Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

WATERMELON
Moon and Stars: This has a beautiful dark green skin with yellow ‘stars’. Taste is super sweet and it ripened before the end of the season. Seeds from Seed Savers Exchange or transplants from Agua Fria Nursery here in Santa Fe

 

Veggie ornaments at Baca Street Arts Tour this weekend

This weekend at our Baca Street Arts tour, there are over 20 artists and many studios are open all along Baca Street here in Santa Fe. It is our annual holiday tour and sales weekend. I am one of the glassblowers at Liquid Light Glass that will have our work on displayed and many sale items. Above is our veggie ornaments created from glass from many of the veggies I grow in my garden: Jimmy Nardello peppers, White globe turnips, Atomic Red carrots, Scarlet Nantes carrots, cucumbers, Jack be Little pumpkins and Moneymaker Tomatoes pictured above. Great gifts for your gardening friends! I figured why not mix my gardening life with my glass blowing life. There are also many other fine art glass handblown objects in our studio. Come down and visit, watch glass blowing all weekend and shop. We are located at 926 Baca Street but the whole street will be open as well.

Start at our studio: Liquid Light Glass-926 Baca Street-Santa Fe, NM. Here is the schedule:

 

 

Cold nights are here-protect you plants!

Atomic Red and Cosmic Purple carrots harvested last week

 

Here it is Friday, November 17 2017 and I was just remarking that except for the one cold night that killed off all the tomatoes in September, how warm it has been. If it wasn’t for that one freezing night, we’d still be harvesting tomatoes!

Well it changes tonight getting well below freezing and will continue to be cold with temperatures in the mid-20’s at night and low 50’s in the days for about the next 5-6 days.

All the warm season veggies have been done for a month but I still have a few cool season crops out in the garden like Lacinato kale, Voiletta bok choy, Florence bulb fennel, Atomic Red and Cosmic Purple carrots, Detroit Red beets and Argentata chard. Since I want to keep them going as long as possible, I will put winter weight row cover (.9-1.0+ mil weight) over the plants to protect them until the temperatures get above freezing at nights. Also I have lettuces and spinaches growing in the unheated greenhouse and will cover them as well. Of course an option is finish harvesting everything and call it a season!

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New varieties in veggie garden

Now that the season is over I can review some of the new veggies I tried.

Borlotti beans: The pod of this Italian shelling bean is so beautiful and once I picked them, let them dried and shelled them the actual beans are pinkish/cream-colored with red splashes-more beauty. The variety was ‘Lamon’ which is a vining type. Can’t wait to try them in a pasta e fagioli soup this winter.

 

 

Kalibos Red cabbage: A friend gave me some plants to try. This Eastern European heirloom cabbage has a pointed shape and intense red/purple leaves. They turned out beautiful and I gave my friend the biggest one as I’m not a big cabbage fan and she makes great fermented foods-like Sauerkraut or Kim-chi.

 

 

 

Butternut Rugosa (wrinkled butternut): This variety from Italy is larger than the American Butternut variety. I only got one as powdery mildew eventually took over the plant but can’t wait to eat this. Much more interesting than the regular butternut variety. This one hadn’t turned butternut brown yet.

 

 

Chartreuse Scarlet Runner bean: I grow runner beans for their beautiful flowers although I know we can eat them too. I like this variety because of its chartreuse coloring of the leaves and the scarlet flowers. I love the contrast between the yellow-green foliage and surrounding other greens in the garden (in this case it is next to the strawberry plants.)

 

 

 

Sunset Runner bean: I grew this for the beautiful peach colored flower. The leaves are the normal green of other runner beans. I grew it on my arbor at the entrance to the garden.

 

 

 

Artichokes: I wrote about this in an earlier post but definitely worth mentioning again. Wonderful good size chokes with great flavor on a beautiful plant.  In fact I like the plant as much as the artichokes. Wonderful showstopper in the garden. Another one I didn’t think would harvest in time but they did. See previous post here.

Here are some successes in the garden from failures

Not everything I do is successful in the veggie garden. So I want to share some of the veggies that failed and successes that followed. The point here is be flexible and don’t give up. If something doesn’t work, try something else.

Failed: Sweet potatoes/Success: watermelon– I planted sweet potato starts just before I left for a fly fishing trip. I got the new drip system in place and planted them and forgot to turn on the drips to that section in my haste. When I came home, all were dead. So I planted a Moon and Star watermelon plant in their place. Didn’t think there would be enough time to get any to ripen but got 4 nice size ones ranging 10-15 lbs. Sweet!

Failed: Giant pumpkins/Success: Charentais melons-I didn’t start my giant pumpkins this year but instead just planted seeds directly in the ground. Wrong! Nothing came up. Learned a lesson there. So I planted Charentais melon plants as I always wanted to grow them. They produced about 10 wonderful melons. Supersweet!

 

 

Garden officially done for 2017

The garden officially finished on the night of October 9. There were a few cool season crops that did fine in the 27°F temperature-mainly beets, carrots, kale, and bok choy but all the warm season crops are done. I think this was early for a first frost. I write it down so I can review the frost date next year.

I did cover the lettuces in the greenhouse with winter weight row cover but it was actually unnecessary as the temperature was above freezing in the greenhouse and they are looking great and loving the cooler weather.

Now that it’s done, I’ll have time to share some gardening experiences and new crops I tried this year. I will be posting in the next few weeks some of the highlights of this year in the garden.

I still have to clean out the garden and put it to bed. AHHH CRUMBA!

But first I think I’ll go flyfishing one last time this year before it really gets cold…

 

Esmeralda-the crowing hen

We got a hen that crows. That’s right, a hen that crows and lays eggs and she’s not a rooster! Her formal name is Esmeralda and got her from a friend who had 2 hens and one died and she didn’t want Esmeralda alone so she asked us if we would take her. I was hesitant to bring a lone chicken into our established flock. Sometimes they don’t do well and get picked on when introduced. But I said we could try and see. When our friend brought her over we hung out to see what would happen. Esmeralda strolled right in and started to eat some grain while the others watched. The leader of the flock picked on some of the other chicken but when she went over to Esmeralda, Essi as we started to call her just stopped eating, looked up at the leader and resumed eating and that was the end of the confrontation and the pecking order. Essi was the new leader and is always kind to the others.

Then one summer morning I heard crowing from the open window of our house and it seemed to be coming from our flock but we don’t have a rooster. Every time I walked out the door to investigate, the crowing would stop. So one morning I took a different route down to the coop and there was Essi crowing as she didn’t see me.  She goes Err, err, err, et et. Not a full fledge crow like a rooster but definitely a crow. She is so sweet and always runs up to be petted. I researched ‘crowing hens’ and sure enuf, once in a while one will crow. First time in 15 years of having chickens that I have experienced that! She is my most favorite chicken. Ever. Just had to share this with you all.

Artichokes-you can grow them in Santa Fe!

Lot’s of wonderful surprises this year in the veggie garden. Just for kicks, I transplanted two globe artichoke plants this year in my veggie garden entry way. I was thinking the thistle flowers would be beautiful if it had enough time to grow it here. Artichokes are a perennial in zones 8 and higher but are an annual here in zone 6 and take 90-100 days to mature.

I forgot before it makes ‘flowers’ it has to make the artichoke flower bud, which is the part we eat. To my surprise the plant is thriving. Other than adding extra compost when planting and of course watering, I haven’t had to do anything. It doesn’t seem to have any pests or diseases. Not only is the plant beautiful with it silver spikes but the artichoke buds add wonderful interest and that is before it even gets to the flower stage which is a beautiful purple thistle. Looking at these artichoke buds, I’m not sure they are going to make it to the flower stage. I know what I’m eating for dinner tonight!

Tomato Lady now at Santa Fe Farmers Market this Saturday, Sept 9

Hi I returned last Saturday to the Santa Fe Farmers Market with a few boxes. Starting tomorrow (Sat Sept 9), I will be there from 7 am-1 pm throughout the rest of the tomato season. The tomatoes are starting to come in now after a long wait. Don’t wait too long to come to my booth as I will run out before the end of the market. I am located INSIDE THE BUILDING. Just look UP for my ‘Tomato Lady’ sign above my booth. The market people may be moving me around a little inside the building so be sure to look around to see the sign. I have many new great varieties and of course my favorites I bring like Paul Robeson, Purple Cherokee, Sun Gold, Costuluto Genevese, Pink Berkley Tie Dye and more. Over 20 varieties grown this season from all over the world.  And of course I will have some Shishito peppers, and small eggplants as well. This is my last season at the market so be sure to come by and say hi and pick up a few.

Powdery Mildew on Curcubits (squash)

 

Powdery mildew has appeared on my squashes-both winter squash and summer squash. Powdery Mildew is a fungal disease that affects many plants from roses to squashes. Infected plants display white powdery spots on the leaves and stems that eventually will cover the leaves of the plants if left untouched. Powdery Mildew grows well when the monsoons come into Santa Fe. The higher humidity and moderate temperatures are idea for powdery mildew. Also how we manage our gardens can cause it to go rampant. For instance, I planted my winter squash too close to some other plants essentially crowding them. Plus fearing a hail storm this summer, I covered it with some hoops and row cover, holding the heat and humidity underneath creating a perfect environment for powdery mildew. It usually shows up in late August through September.

Controlling it depends on when we catch it. If we let it go too far, it will destroy the plant in which case we should pull the plant and destroy or bag it for refuse. Do not put it in you compost pile and spread the disease around. If it has just started, indicated by the white spots on the leaves, you can spray it with a fungal disease spray like Green Cure. Green Cure is my favorite spray for Powdery Mildew as it is quite effective in halting its progress but you will have to spray it 2-3 times depending on how advanced it is on the plant. We should jump on it as soon as we see it and not wait till it gets out of hand.

 

 

Tomato Tar

I always wonder what is that substance on my hands after working with my tomato plants with my bare hands. My hands turn kinda green and eventually brownish. I wash my hands over and over again and the soapy foam on my hands turn yellow and worse, the towel I use to dry my hands gets green stains.

What is this? It is called ‘tomato tar’ and comes from trichomes on the surface of the tomato plant. Trichomes contain chemicals in the form of essential oils that give tomato plants their smell and repels some insects and has another substance called acylsugars. Alcylsugars are part of the defensive system of the tomato by producing a sort of oil that stops insects from wanting to walk on them. This is exactly what gets on our hands and turns them green or even brown if you leave it on your hands long enough. Getting it off is not easy as I mentioned above but I just read a solution to brown tomato hands that I have to try.

I learned the acylsugars are not water soluble.  Most soaps are alkaline which turns the soap foam yellow and still keep your hands brown. If we wash our hands in a weak solution of white vinegar and water, really wash our hands with it-no soap and then rinse it off and then wash in soap, our hands should turn human color again! Also use paper towels or a designated towel to dry your hands as the soap residue from our laundry can turn the towels green. I prefer a black or dark brown towel so if there are some stains (they don’t come out) at least I can’t see them.

Lastly I’ve had some luck taking a piece of fresh lemon and rub it over my hands squeezing the juice to make sure my hands are wet. I have to wait about 5 minutes and then rinse in water and then use soap and water and that seems to work too. I know lemons become alkaline when we mix them with water and drink it but pure lemon juice is acidic and works on my hands. It’s been a year since I’ve had tomato hands and I know when I get them, it’s just a short time till I’ll be eating those wonderful tomatoes!