Pickles, Round One

This week my cucumber vines finally started producing.  Only five were ready (and I couldn't resist eating one), so I decided to try a little experiment with a tiny batch of counter top fermented half sour pickles to see how things go.  

Half sours have been one of my favorite types of pickle ever since I ate them in a deli in New York City several years ago.  Unfortunately, they are pretty scarce and expensive here in the south.  I am hoping if this batch goes well, I can produce these on a larger scale and have a supply year round.

To make these, I used the combination of spices and steps suggested by Tommy J's Kitchen.  Last summer I tried this same method with cucumber slices.  The pickles came out ok, but tasted a little bitter.  I am hoping that whole cucumbers will work better.  I remembered this spice mixture was just about spot on, so I decided to stick with it.

While I was grinding the spices and letting the salt dissolve in the water to make the brine, I let the cucumbers soak in icy water to crisp up.  Then I sliced a tiny bit off the blossom end of the cucumber because this is supposed to eliminate the enzymes that cause pickles to become mushy.

Once the brine was ready, I poured the it over the cucumbers in a food grade plastic bucket.

In order to keep the cucumbers under the brine at all times, they have to be weighted down. A lot of recipes suggest using a dinner plate, but I had to use a food grade plastic lid because a plate wouldn't fit in my bucket.  I placed a sanitized jar filled halfway with water on top of the lid to hold the cucumbers down.

I covered the whole contraption with cheesecloth and placed it in a cool, dry area of our kitchen counter. So far, I haven't had to remove any scum (naturally forming bacteria) from the surface, but continue to check the bucket a few times a day.  I will leave these for 72 hours before testing the results.  Hopefully they will turn out well!

Fresh Fruit Kuchen

If you're like me, you can't resist buying way too much fruit at this time of year.  Despite my best intentions to eat yogurt and berries three times each day, at some point the amount of fruit I purchase exceeds the amount I am able to consume and some of it woefully ends up in the compost bin.

Enter the solution: Fresh Fruit Kuchen.  This is a simple cake, adapted from Joy of Cooking, which welcomes fruit at its prime or even slightly past.  It's a great way to use up those slightly soggy blueberries you overzealously purchased two quarts of despite being the only one in your household that will eat them.

Joy of Cooking suggests putting the fruit on the bottom, but I put mine on the top.  Here is the recipe:

Fresh Fruit Kuchen
Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350.  Grease a 9 x 2 inch round cake pan.  Prepare streusel topping below and set aside.


Streusel Topping: 
1/3 cup sugar or brown sugar
2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour (if using brown sugar, increase flour to a total of 4 Tablespoons)


Whisk together in a bowl:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt


Beat in a large bowl until fluffy:
1/2 cup (1/2 stick) softened unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar


Add to the butter/sugar mixture 2 large eggs, beating in one at a time until blended.
Stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.


Scrape cake batter into the pan and top with fresh fruit, distributing it evenly over the batter. This could be peach slices, cherries, apricots, berries, or any combination.  Use a fork to break up the streusel topping and distribute it over the fruit.  Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool to room temperature on a rack before serving.

This week I actually made three of these cakes, one with blueberries, one with peaches and blackberries, and one with just blackberries.  It goes well with vanilla ice cream for dessert or even with coffee for a light breakfast or as part of brunch.  The best thing about this cake is that it really highlights the flavor of the fruit without being overly sweet or sugary and it is really easy to make.  Enjoy!

Purchased Plants and Progress

After my last post, I swallowed my seed starting gardening nerd pride and headed to the greenery shed during my weekly farmers market trip to see what kind of tomato and pepper plants were available.

Any feelings of defeat I had immediately disappeared when I met The Tomato Lady, a local who organically cultivates 21 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in her backyard and offers her beautiful plants for sale at the Yorkmont Farmers Market (I know, I feel like a broken record, but it IS the best farmers market).

I bought four varieties: Lime Green Salad, Green Zebra, Paul Robeson, and Tzi Bi U (Violet Jasper).  The Tomato Lady was really knowledgeable about which ones would be good for salsas, pickling, or salads, and helped me narrow down what to finally purchase.  It's a good thing, because I could have gone home with one of each type she had for sale!

I also picked up some pepper plants: jalapeno, hot banana, green bell, thai chili and a basil plant to replace my seedlings that either died or stopped growing.

Below are some pictures of how things are going in the garden right now.  It's a good thing the school year has ended because I feel an overwhelming flood of produce coming on.

 Cucumbers

 Tall Telephone Peas and Speckled Calico Lima Beans

 Lolita Zucchini

 Horn of Plenty Yellow Crookneck Squash

 Bright Lights Swiss Chard

 Red Burgundy Okra

 Clemson Okra

 Early Wonder Beets

 Jalapeno Pepper

 Hot Banana Pepper

 Thai Chili

 Paul Robeson and Tzi Bi U Tomatoes

 Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes 

 Basil

Lime Green Salad and Green Zebra (in the background) Tomatoes

WTF Peppers and Tomatoes?!

Despite receiving TLC since I started them indoors way back in February, most of my tomato and pepper seedlings have completely failed me this year.

I started entire packets of pepperoncini, super thai, and jalapeno peppers and now, in June, am left with a few measly seedlings that seem to have hit a growth plateau.  I am afraid to even attempt transplanting these tiny guys into the garden because I know they will fry right up.

As far as tomatoes go, I started entire packets of Aunt Ruby's German greens, mortgage lifters, and yellow currants back in February as well.  I am currently left with only five mortgage lifter plants (below) which have yet to reach a decent size.  They are about five inches tall and adding compost hasn't even seemed to encourage them to grow.  All of the Aunt Ruby's and yellow currant seedlings are tragically deceased.

Even this shriveled up volunteer tomato plant I found popping out of the side of my compost bin didn't survive the move into the ground despite being huge and hardy in its original location.  Several other volunteers I discovered in various random spots in the garden sadly died soon after I moved them into the row reserved for tomatoes.

I'm not sure what is causing this.  It might be the early onset of heat we're having this year down south.  A few friends have told me they've also had trouble with tomato and pepper seeds this year, so it could also be related to crop damage or issues with the plants from last year.  I am so diligent about watering and taking care of seedlings and the garden that it is quite discouraging when things like this happen.  

I guess I'll be hitting up the greenery shed tomorrow at the Yorkmont Farmers Market to see what kinds of plants I can find to replace my shattered dreams.