Mr. X in his prime

Our noble rooster Mr. X passed away on November 14th. We almost lost him the week before Christmas last year so the past ten months were a gift. Arthritis was his major problem. His last year or so was a quiet one compared to his previous 14 years of traveling around the country visiting nursing homes, garlic festivals, friend’s homes, and fourth grade classes. His last public appearance was at a local garden club where he nobly sat in the crook of my arm for a half hour as I lobbied for the 2008 California Proposition 2 to free millions of chickens from their inhumane cages. I wanted the audience to experience chickens as sentient beings that we should not abuse. In that short time the members got to know and love him as we did. He even nodded when I told them that he didn’t like cold French fries, only hot ones, and that he’d never met a dog he couldn’t dominate.

As I walked through the audience with him he patiently let them touch his glorious feathers and to feel how warm he was. And of course, he didn’t poop on me, much to their surprise. But then he never did poop when you held him unless you didn’t pay attention to his squirming-I-want-to-get-down warning.

Mr. X in his final days with Cathy

The house feels empty now. I still listen for his faint crow I would hear from the garage every morning. I miss him waddling up the walk after me. His walk through the house to go to his dog carrier in the garage every night, and his constant excitement and clucking when I offered him a handful of cantaloupe seeds or some lettuce leaves from the garden. And of course, the neighborhood children miss his cock-a-doodle-do when they would come to visit and feed him. This gorgeous chicken has left an indelible mark on his part of the world and will be remembered in all our minds for decades to come.

Additionally, in the Mother Earth News article I promised to make an Excel spreadsheet available that can be used to track garden productivity on your own! You can access the sheet by clicking on the link below:

Trial-Garden-Spreadsheet

Another feature in the same issue of Mother Earth News includes my photographs of Heirloom Fruits & Vegetables featuring the Seedsaver’s Exchange.

Cover of the new book

After 5 and a half years of research, which included travels to 49 states, visits to countless restaurant, home,  and botanical gardens,   photography, and writing — the photos have been submitted, the manuscript is finished and now we’re just cleaning up the last details.  The official publication date is November 1, 2010. I know it’s really going to happen because the book is already available for pre-order on Amazon!  Edible Landscaping is a total revision of my 1982 book, perhaps prematurely titled, The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping.  It includes 300 color photos and updated organic growing information.

My lecture schedule for next Spring is starting to take shape and it starts where it should…at EcoFarm, the annual organic farming conference where I spoke 25 years ago on the same subject of Edible Landscaping.  I’m excited to still be a part of this edible revolution.  Keep checking the website as I will be updating my speaking calendar in a few weeks.

Crocodile with Hubbard squash and gourd eyes

Winter squashes are nutritional powerhouses that are not only luscious and sweet; in the kitchen they are extremely versatile. Over the years I have studied this vegetable and cooked dozens of different types. Today, I would say, my favorites are the sweet butternut, I find it the easiest to peel and the cubes are great for roasting; Kabocha (Japanese chestnut squashes) that have such dense flesh and meatiness that are perfect for baking and pureeing; and, I love the acorn types for their rich mellow flavor that pairs so well with all type of nuts and brown sugar.

Today, winter squashes are enjoyed in most parts of the world. In Mexico, where they are native, winter squashes are made into a puree and baked inside empanadas, and the seeds are roasted and salted or added to candies, even ground into their famous mole sauces. Italians add winter squash cubes to risotto and soups, and they mashed and seasoned the pulp with herbs and spices to fill raviolis. In gay Paris they use the heirloom pumpkin Rouge Vif d’Etampes to bake a rich leek and cheese soup and create a rich gratin by layering the squash and baking it with cream and hazelnuts.

In this country, for centuries the Native Americans have roasted whole squash in the coals or added the cubes to stews along with venison or turkey and flavored them with chilies. The colonists grew and cooked winter squash as well. They mashed the flesh and sweetened the pulp with sugar or molasses and made them into pies and puddings, which were served as a side dish to the meal with other vegetables and starches. Not until the twentieth century were pies and puddings accepted as dessert items. Who knew?

Enjoy winter squash for the next four or five months, then next spring, after all threat of frost is over, choose your favorite varieties and plant them in great soil and in full sun. I’ll post photos of how to include these exciting plants in your landscape and give you some growing hints.

Neighborhood kids harvesting pumkins from my garden

Harvest of pumpkins at Tra Vigna Restaurant in Napa

White pumpkin jester "jack-o-lantern" with chilis

Winter Squash Recipes

Baked Winter Squash with Maple Nut/Seed Butter

A wonderful compliment to squash is a nut or seed butter. The rich flavors seem meant for each other. You can make your own nut or seed butter, or many types are available in natural foods and specialty stores.

Basic baking directions are given below; the time will vary and the number of people served will depend on the size and variety of squash.

• 2 acorn or other small squash (about 1 1/4 pound each), or 1 medium squash (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons each dairy butter, nut or seed butter, and maple syrup

Place squash on a baking pan and bake at 350 F. for 3/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until soft. You may want to turn the squash a couple of times for more even cooking. Cut in half and remove seeds, (save to wash and toast for snacks if you like), and strings; if using 1 squash, cut again to make 4 servings. Put back on baking pan cut sides up. In a small saucepan, melt dairy butter, add nut or seed butter and syrup, and stir to mix. Spoon mixture into squash cavities and coat surfaces. Return to oven for about 10 minutes to heat through before serving. Serves 4

Classic Home-Grown Pumpkin Pie

Some pumpkins do not make good pies. Select a pumpkin bred for pies, not a Jack-o-lantern type. If you can’t find a good pie pumpkin use a Butternut squash, they make great “pumpkin” pies.

• 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (see below), or squash
• 3/4 cup white or brown sugar
• 1 cup milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice or cloves
• 3 eggs
• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To make your own pumpkin puree: Cut pumpkin or squash in half, remove seeds and strings, and place cut-side down on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F. until very soft, 1 hour, or longer, and let cool. Remove skin and any coarse fibers, and puree flesh in a blender, food processor, or food mill. One small to medium pumpkin makes about 1 quart of puree.

Place all the ingredients except pie shell in a blender and blend. (You may have to do this in 2 batches, depending on capacity of blender. If so, mix the batches before pouring into the pie shell.) Pour into 9-inch pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes longer or until set and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool at least 1/2 hour before serving. Makes 1-inch 9 pie.

Pomegranates, lemons, and persimmons make up my fall harvest.

Fall Lecture Schedule 2009

October 1^st, 2009

Lecture for the Florida Nursery, Growers, and Landscape Association Tradeshow in Orlando. I am the lunchtime speaker from 11:45 to 1:00PM. The topic of my presentation is “The Power of Edibles in Today’s Landscape Industry.”

October 25^th, 2009

Lecture for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers in Sacramento, CA. The title of my lecture is Edible Landscaping: The New American Garden.”

December 12^th, 2009

Lecture at Prusch Park in San Jose, CA for the California Rare Fruit Growers: “Edible Landscaping: The New American Garden.”

Tentative Spring Lecture Schedule 2010

My spring lecture season starts in January this year with presentations at the Los Angeles Botanical Garden and then a few weeks later—at the largest organic farming conference in the country—EcoFarm, in Asilomar, CA.

In February I will be speaking at Powell Gardens in Kansas City, MO and in March I have a speaking engagement planned at the San Francisco Landscape Show and a few days later at the University of Illinois Extension Service in Champagne.

More lectures are in the planning phase and I will update all pertinent information with specific times and titles as the season nears.

Hope to see you soon,

Rosalind Creasy

Tomato Harvest. Celebrity, Early Girl, Enchantment, Green Zebra, and Sungold varieties.

Summer is drawing to a close here in my edible landscape and I’ve been busy harvesting the last of the tomatoes.  We all have an elegant sufficiency of tomatoes sometimes…so, what to do?

I suggest you throw a “garden pizza party”.  You supply the pizza dough and veggies from your garden such as eggplant, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes (of course!).  Add in some fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, thyme, oregano, and rosemary and you’re ready.  Set up your kitchen assembly line style and let your friends design their own pizzas.  To get you started, here is one of my favorite tomato pizza recipes with a Mexican flair:

Mexican-Style Pizza with Cilantro

This unusual pizza marries the best Southwestern seasonings with Italian basics. It’s dynamite! You can use any homegrown great tomato for this recipe but paste (roma types), if you can get good ones, are quite meaty and make your pizza less soggy. If you want you can substitute pepper Jack cheese that is pre-seasoned with jalapenos and leave out the minced jalapenos.

Serves 4.

Mexican Pizza

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic, pressed, divided
• 1 uncooked 10″ pizza shell, your own or a commercial one
• 1/3 pound (1 1/4 cups grated) Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 to 6 teaspoons minced jalapeno peppers, to taste
• 3 to 4 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 to 4 finely chopped tablespoons of fresh cilantro
• 1/3 teaspoon cumin seeds

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Heat a medium skillet, add olive oil. Add the onions and two cloves of pressed garlic and sauté them over low-to-medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent, about ten minutes.

Place the pizza shell on a baking sheet. Grate the cheese and distribute it evenly over the pizza shell, reserving about 1/2 cup of cheese for the top. Spread the onions and jalapeno peppers over the cheese. Slice the tomatoes and place on top of cheese and onions. Grind black pepper over the tomatoes. Mix the chopped cilantro with remaining clove of pressed garlic and distribute mixture over the pizza. Sprinkle cumin seeds and reserved 1/2 cup of cheese over the pizza.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is light brown. Cut pizza into 8 slices and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Prior to coming to my garden, the producer wanted to make sure I had enough edibles growing. So, I did a quick tally and here’s what I had (watch for them as Paul and I tour the garden):

* 8 different types of fruit
* 20 kindsof vegetables, including 15 varieties of peppers.. and
* 28 different herbs and seasonings

Gardening by the Yard website

The picture below gives a little preview of what my front garden looked like.  You can see the cherry tomatoes just ripening on the arbor over the front steps and my containers of figs, kumquats, and lemons–a welcoming edible landscape!

My front garden last August

The following photos show the initial planting of the garden I designed in March and how it looked on opening day.  I will update you with photos of the same garden as it grows throughout the season.

Signing books on Saturday afternoon - © TalismanPHOTO, The NYBG

Laying out the chives in a geometric pattern to add some edible landscaping style - © Ivo M. Vermeulen, The NYBG

Three raised beds with curly kale, young basil, Bull's Blood beets, new teepees for cucumbers and tomatoes - © Ivo M. Vermeulen, The NYBG

The raised beds on the opposite side include the chive diamonds, triangles of basil, Bull's Blood beets, and tomatoes - © Ivo M. Vermeulen, The NYBG

Sign describing the Seed Savers Garden - © Ivo M. Vermeulen, The NYBG