Category: Garden

Posted on

Refrigerator Pickles: AKA, We Can Pickle That!

What do second stage ethanol fermentation and metabolic detoxification have in common?

Vinegar! Acetic acid. Good for excreting into the toilet and preserving produce. Except probably don’t use urine for the produce part. Too many other things in that for a good pickling medium.

Fortunately, it’s easier to just buy vinegar than to rely on the above in-home methods of production. And much easier than attempting the lactic acid route (though I’ll totally try that one day). But for now, it’s refrigerator pickles, sans-Orléan method. Standard grocery store vinegar for this one. Here’s the recipe I used:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. kosher salt

Seems a tad sweet, but I’ll give it a week to settle and adjust accordingly.

We have cucumbers (there’s an abundance from the garden right now and the kid wanted to make some after learning about it at summer camp), serrano peppers, and red onions. So far, the red onions are pretty good. One of the most ridiculously up-charged items to buy, by the way. More street tacos in the future!

We can, indeed pickle that.

–Simon

Posted on

Milkweeds and Monarchs

Despite my sister’s and hairstylist’s grumblings at my continued use of synthetic fertilizers and inorganic pesticides (hey, I still live in the suburbs, all right?), it is possible to strike a balance with desirable native species. And after several failed attempts to germinate milkweed seeds, I instead bought a plant, which then proceeded to spread by seeding itself throughout my hosta patch. Life finds a way, right?

And with it came the monarch butterflies. Always happy to see them.

After stripping this particular plant of leaves, it disappeared. Try as I might, I can never find their chrysalises…chrysali? Whatever.

So I’m doing my part, okay!? More pollinators!

–Simon

Posted on

Squash Patch 2025

Last year’s squash patch was a sad disappointment. I think I got one pumpkin and a couple pattypans. The location, I believe, was undesirable. Too much shade, and too many deer. That was the patch I turned into the pollinator patch, which then got eaten up by rabbits instead. I can’t win with it.

So I moved the squash back to the main garden, foregoing the usual carrots and onions. And, again with help from the soil amendments, I have a very promising jungle.

We shall see.

–Simon

Posted on

Anthocyanindal Anecdote: A Rhubarb Rhapsody of Crimson Color

Woe to the rhubarb that lacks its brilliant hue/

The visual allure for folks like me and you.

Yes, my rhubarb was most green in color – apparently due to a lack of anthocyanin. Dear God!

Fortunately, following my soil test and subsequent amendments, the problem appears to have been resolved; once I increased available levels of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, and iron. Actually that was a happy accident, since I was more concerned with tomato production. But I won’t beat a dead gift horse on the mouth. Here’s our most recent harvest:

Brilliant!

–Simon