Folks, I’ve been suffering from a nasty NASTY case of cabin fever and thus, you will be subjected to a new weekly column titled “Stuff That Works.” Yup, stole that title from a favorite song by my other boyfriend, Guy Clark: (on the album, Dublin Blues, 1995) . Mind you, this is stuff that works for me, this week. 

Stuff That Works, September 21, 2012

1. Grow it: Tulip, Gavota for 2013, plant in big groups of at least 15 and plant several groups.

2. Wear it: Killer gorgeous ring from Midwest Alchemy, on Etsy

3. Hear it: the new Brandi Carlile CD: Bear Creek

4. Make it: tomorrow we are messing w/epoxy and old found bowling balls.

5. Drink it: Black Cat Martini 

6. Pin it: from Design Sponge, via my pinboard. The coolest screen door ever. Dog is pretty lovely, too.

When you are scrambling around to gather up the last of the season’s tomatoes, don’t forget this incredibly delicious way of dealing with too many green tomatoes. Of course, the tiny green cherry tomatoes should be pickled as a snazzy alternative to martini olives.

I borrowed this photo from the MyRecipes.com and the recipe is a riff on one from  Garden and Gun Magazine. My only regret is that I didn’t snatch up the name “Garden and Gun” before they did.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients
4 to 6 green tomatoes, sliced

For the batter/wash:
2 cups buttermilk (old-fashioned whole buttermilk that still has fat in it) mixed with 2 large eggs

Dredge:
2 cups (self-rising) flour mixed with 1 cup stone-ground (medium) cornmeal

½ tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, generous pinch of salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper

2 cups canola oil mixed with
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

Preparation 
Place sliced tomatoes in colander. Salt lightly, and let sit for about 5 minutes to help draw out moisture. Rinse under cool water and pat dry with paper towels.

Working one at a time, completely coat each tomato slice in the wash and then in the dredge, gently shaking off excess.

In a cast-iron skillet over high heat, bring butter and canola oil to 350ºF (use a candy thermometer). Reduce heat to stabilize. Working a few slices at a time, fry the tomatoes until golden brown, turning only once (about 3 to 4 minutes total cooking time). Use a spatula to flip the tomatoes away from you so you don’t get splashed. Transfer each batch to drain on brown paper bags or newspaper. Delish served w/ a dollop of cold ranch or buttermilk herb dressing.

Pickled Green Tomatoes or Tomalives

Years ago, there was a great place in Yachats, Oregon, called Beulah’s. I had my very first martini there, served in the snazziest little individual carafe which was nestled in a bowl of crushed ice. The garnish for the martini was none other than Pickled Green Tomatoes or Tomalives. I begged the recipe from them.

For each pint jar:

1.5 cups (approximately) hard green cherry tomatoes, washed gently but thoroughly. Prick each tomato with a sharp knife or a toothpick

For each jar:

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon pickling spice, purchased or make your own (recipe below)

2 cloves garlic (optional)

1 dill head/1 tsp dill seed (optional but very good)

1 thinly sliced medium onion

1/8 teaspoon celery seed

1 tsp. mustard seed

For the brine:

4 cups water

2 cups cider vinegar, white or regular is fine

1/2 cup Kosher salt (make sure the salt you use does NOT contain iodine)

1. Sterilize jars and lids in a large pot of boiling water to cover for 10 minutes.
2. One at a time, using tongs or a jar lifter, remove a jar from the hot water and place on a clean dishtowel or cloth in front of you.
3. Into each jar, as indicated above, place bay leaves, pickling spice, garlic (if using), dill, a bit of onion, celery seed and mustard seed.  Firmly pack tomatoes in each jar, to just below the fill line, about ½ inch below the rim of the jar. Pack them snuggly.
4. Bring the water, vinegar and salt to a boil. Pour the brine, still boiling, into the jars. The liquid should cover the solids–but only just cover them.
5. Wait 1-2 minutes to allow the brine to settle. If necessary, add a little more liquid to cover the tomatoes. Put on the tops and store for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Homemade Pickling Spice from NPR

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

2 tablespoons coriander seeds

2 tablespoons dill seed

2 tablespoons allspice berries

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

10-12 bay leaves, crumbled

Once again, the terrific folks at the University of Idaho Experimental Station and Orchards will be hosting their open house for tasting and discussions on September 14th. Here’s the skinny:

University of Idaho, College of Agricultural and Life Science, Parma Research and Extension Center

Pomology Program Annual Fruit Field Day

The University of Idaho Annual Fruit Field Day will be held on Friday September 14, 2012 8:30 am to 1:00 pm at the U of I Parma Research and Extension Center Pomology Orchard and Vineyard site, about 4 miles north of Parma, Idaho.  The registration will start at 8:30 am and program will start at 9:00 am (sharp).  Several cultivars of new table grapes, peaches, nectarines, apples, plums, quince, Asian pears, and other alternative fruits will be presented during the tour.  Participants can taste many of these fruits. Highlights of this event will be:

1)     The field day will start at the U of I Pomology Orchard Site with discussion on fruit research and production, orchard mechanization, visiting several fruit-industry commercial booths, and the opportunity to taste several types and cultivars of fruits.

2)     Tour of the U of I comprehensive research projects on ‘Fuji’ apple irrigation, fruit nutrition, chemical thinning, and pesticides uses.

3)     Tour of the modern super high-density apple orchard with new architectures and rootstocks.

4)     Mechanization for spraying, harvest, thinning, stress evaluation, and tree/vine training to reduce labor.

5)     Tour of the stone fruit selection research orchard.

6)     Tour of the alternative fruit crops, including quince, Asian pears, persimmons, Jujube, Haskaps, etc.

7)     Tour of the national apple rootstock selection research (NC-140).

8)     Tour of the peach and pluot research.

9)     Tour of the table grape vineyards, new grape canopy research.

Note: All tours include discussion/questions/answers on various cultural practices of fruit crops, including planting, growth regulators, pruning, thinning, girdling, irrigation, pest and disease control, safety in chemical application.

Directions:

Electronic/GPS/Google Map Users: Use the following address: 31727 Parma Rd, Parma, Idaho 83660

From Ontario: Take I-84 East about 4 mi.  Take Exit 3 toward Payette/Parma.  Turn right onto US95 toward Parma and continue for 9.7 mi.  Turn left onto Pearl Road continue 1 mi.  Turn right on Parma Road approx. 0.2 mi to orchards/vineyards on right.

From Boise/Caldwell:  Take I-84 West.  Take US20/26 Exit 26 toward Notus/Parma.  Turn left onto Hwy 20/26 and continue for 18.0 mi.  Turn right onto Pearl Rd and go 1 mi.   Turn right on Parma Rd and go approx.0.2 mi.  Orchards and vineyards will be on the right.

From Parma R&E Center: North on U of I Lane 0.4 mi.  Turn right onto Klahr and continue for 0.4 mi.  Turn left onto Parma Road and continue for 1.8 mi.  Orchard/vineyards will be on the left

When: Friday, September 14, 2012, 8:30 am till 1:00 pm

Cost:  The Event will be Free of Charge. Catered Lunch can be purchased in the orchard at your own expense.

Who Can Participate? Open to the Public.  Those interested in fruit production, including commercial growers, small farm growers, alternative fruit growers, home gardeners, Master gardeners, horticultural professionals and graduate students, extension and research faculty/staff, horticultural hobbyist, and fruit industry representatives are welcome. Two Pesticide Credits will be offered to those who attend the entire field day. Please Call 208-722-6701 ext 228 Or Dr. Essie Fallahi at 208-722-6701 Ext. 225 if you have questions.  OR send an email to maurineb@uidaho.edu

This is the time of year I go all out in the kitchen. Canning time. I’ve got bread and butter pickles to make by the boatload, dill pickles if the Flyboy is nice to me, and I just came across these two recipes over on the Saveur website. MMMM. Go over there and look at all the great conserves/compotes and preserves recipes. Its a foodie mecca.

First up, the Pear Chutney, just look at this

and  this bit of delectable-ness: Cherry Tomato Preserves. I’ve got work to do. I’ve been making tomato jam (preserves) forEVER, but this looks like the best recipe – ever.

In honor of Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, I offer this:

Thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for the monthly round up!

Stunningly beautiful quote from Ms Dillard and An American Childhood. The opening sentence:

When everything else has gone from my brain-the president’s name, the state capitals, the neighborhoods where I lived, and then my own name and what is was on earth I sought, and then at length the faces of my friends, and finally the faces of my family – when all this has dissolved, what will be left, I believe, is topology: the dreaming memory of land as it lay this way and that.

From this reader’s seat I offer a humble “amen.”

Just kidding.

“Why I live at the PO,” is a glorious story written by one incredibly gifted writer, Miz Eudora Welty. It is especially good to hear it read aloud by Miz Welty herself.

This is a short attempt to explain why I live where I do.

Not too long ago, I was telling someone of the trials and tribulations of gardening in the Rocky Mountains and the Intermountain West. They said, “Tell me, why would anyone want to live there?”

SNICKER. That is me snickering. Cuz you know full well and good they would give about anything to live here.

Here? What’s here? Why live here? For starters, almost every single day you can take a look around you for a jaw dropping landscape. Here? You know: the area that consists of 80+ mountain ranges, sagebrush steppes, crystal clear mountain lakes, rip snortin’ roaring rivers, glorious sunrises and sunsets?

One of the American artists who best captures the glory of our landscape in her inimitable technicolor style is Louisa McElwain. Check this out.

I’ll just stay here and let the Wild West continue to take my breath away.

Weekly update: Now is a great time to make sure your perennial borders and edible garden spaces are nicely mulched. I like to top dress (spread) a one inch layer of any GOOD ORGANIC compost on my garden beds. No, I don’t dig it in. I just keep piling on the layers to my topsoil. The compost gets dug in a little bit every time I plant something new. Be certain to use ORGANIC where you are growing edibles.

I’ve spent the last few days in the garden puttering and

•  removing weeds
•  cutting clean edges
•  adding a bit of organic sulfur to my handful of acid loving shrubs
• making sure the sprinkler heads are clean and fully operational
• checking the timing on the sprinkler system (do not – I plead with you – set it and forget it)
• adding eggplants and cucumbers to the perennial borders and anywhere else I can find room
• planting another crop of pole beans
• mulching (this will really come in handy when the weather turns hot and dry)
• seeding some more annuals: cosmos, sunflowers, gomphrena, hollyhocks (actually a biennial)

Driving home from the radio station this morning, I realized this is a good place to chronicle what’s hot (blooming) and what’s not (fading or not yet in full glory). There are so many issues with climate change, I think I ‘ll keep track of the stuff I ‘m noticing…here. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what’s growing on in your garden.

This week’s beauties in Boise: lavender, heirloom daylilies, yucca, roses of every color. Berries are formed and creating a plentiful food supply for people and critters: raspberries, strawberries, service berries and currant bushes.

And now, more mulching.