Autumn has arrived!

Apples...


The weather has not cooled off yet, but Fall has definitely arrived. The flavors and scents of this season are my favorite of the year.  We have already had some mashed sweet potatoes and are getting ready to cook some squash.  We took a trip up to Oak Glen this past weekend to enjoy the apple-licious fun!   We were hoping to pick some apples ourselves.  Unfortunately,  due to the weird weather this year, the current batch of apples has already been harvested.  We had to settle for already picked apples, fresh cider, and fresh, hot cider donuts.  It was still a good time.

It was a little distressing to witness the many tourists who had no idea how food grows.   People were visibly upset when told that there were no apples to pick.   I assume they thought the apples are constantly growing and, like at the grocery store, are always available whenever you want them.   When we were in Oak Glen over the summer, we also saw people upset that there were no apples available to pick.   It is frightening to think that few people know that food has a growing season and that plants are impacted by factors such as weather.  I work with kids and it always amazes me that the concept of ingredients is foreign to many students.   To these students, food comes from the store or the restaurant.   Many have a hard time grasping that food does not magically appear at your car window.  I did appreciate that there were many families enjoying the apple season and showing their kids where apples grow.  Kudos to those parents!

We enjoyed learning about the wide variety of apples that are available from the apple stands that you do not find in the grocery stores.   We decided to try Mutsu apples for baking and preserving. Now I just need to decide on the recipes to use.  Any suggestions?


**Book Suggestion: We both have recently read (and watched the documentary) "The Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan.   He delves into the history of the apple and the reasons for our limited selections.   And he discusses Tulipmania!   A must read.

The ants crawl in...

The Joys of Container Gardening

Basil and cilantro: Before the infestation

We love shopping at the local Farmer's Market and I have wonderful co-workers who share vegetables and fruit from their home gardens, but we want to be self sufficient and grow some of our own food.   Since we do not have a yard, we are starting a container garden to grow fresh produce.  We planted runner beans, squash, carrots, radishes, sweet basil, salad mix, and cilantro.   

The garden was off to a great start.   With the exception of the runner bean incident (see "Runner Beans on the Run") things have been growing well.   The replacement beans are thriving and it has been thrilling watching all of the plants grow. 

Then, the weather warmed.  We noticed a few ants hanging around the cilantro.   The daytime temperatures were hanging around the 100 degree mark and we assumed the ants were looking for water.   Then more and more ants started to arrive.   Our cilantro started to die.   

Keith consulted his dad and we learned that ants are attracted to the sugars produced and excreted by aphids.    Upon closer inspection we spotted the aphids lounging around the cilantro leaves.    Darn those aphids and ants.  

A ring of cayenne pepper slowed the ant invasion but not until after we have lost the majority of the cilantro.   We continued looking for natural ways to repel insects.  

Squash, radish, carrot

Our next tactic will be to sprinkle food grade diatomaceous earth around some plants and see how that works.  I have used this in the past and at my work it was recently used to help stop a tremendous ant invasion. We have heard mixed reviews on using diatomaceous earth.  One garden supply store employee told us it was nasty stuff and that the only place in town we could buy it at would be a pool supply store.  He did not know that there were different grades and assumed food grade was not different from what we would find at the pool supply store.  He recommended some spray on organic chemicals with a label to call poison control if ingested.  Hmmm.... not sure I want to trust his advice. We then went to the feed supply store down the street and asked about the diatomaceous earth.  Here we were told it was great stuff and they wanted to sell us a 40 pound bag.   We were told we could sprinkle it on our dog to control fleas and ticks. We settled on a 6 pound container, the smallest amount they sold.   It is still a bit excessive for a container garden and will take us years to get through the one package.   Let's hope it works. 

Runner Beans: Part II