Spring Fruit Growth

Growing fruit can be tricky. We have a handful of fruit trees and berry bushes - each a work in progress. Although we're always learning from our mistakes, we still hold our breath each spring to learn which plants survived the winter, and which blossoms will live through spring cold snaps.

Depending on the size of harvest and the type of fruit, we'll eat some fresh and preserve the rest via freezing, dehydrating or canning.

Our oldest apple tree came with the house. I don't know the variety and it's never been a great producer. We should probably replace it with a new tree. Apple blossoms are beautiful and fragrant. This tree will be in full bloom in a couple days.

We have about a dozen blueberry bushes, adding a couple each year. These are three years old. We eat all our fresh blueberries and purchase additional from a local grower to freeze. Hoping to change that this year. Recently added bushes were eaten off by deer. Sigh.

This might be our best cherry year ever. These are Montmorency, a sour variety popular for pies. All four cherry trees are loaded with blossoms. Fruit should be ready to pick in late June/early July. We'll soon net the trees to prevent the birds from eating the cherries.

Currants grow in long chains. They don't look like much now but the blossoms will give way to beautiful deep red berries. We don't eat many currants fresh, but instead dehydrate them. I love dried currants in breakfast scones and often use them to replace raisins in recipes.

We lost a peach tree to the polar vortex two years ago. The remaining peach survived, but only has a few blossoms this year. We'll replace the dead tree, but it looks like we might have to purchase peaches to preserve. Peaches are finicky.

The strawberries are just beginning to fill in. This is the first blossom I've seen. Fruit will ripen beginning mid-to-late May. We preserve strawberries by freezing sauce and whole berries, and canning jam. The May family birthday celebrations typically include strawberry pie, rather than cake.

We've got Anjou and Bartlett pear trees. The Bartlett has never produced a single fruit. We're trying different things, including fertilizing more. The Anjou looks great, producing more blossoms than ever.  We're losing patience with the Bartlett.

The blackberry canes are still leafing out - no blossoms yet. Blackberries ripen in July. These canes are not the thornless variety but I've been happy with their hardiness and berry production.

This is our persimmon tree. Although it looks dead, it's alive. This tree leafs out very late and typically produces lots of late summer/early fall fruit. A native of the state, persimmons grow fast, require little care and are good producers. Despite those qualities, it's my least favorite fruit tree. I'm just not a fan of the fruit. As a result, most of the fruit falls and rots. Which only makes our honeybees happy.

The red raspberry canes are leafing out. I love the fruit - ripening in the summer and again in fall. These are heavy producers, providing us enough fruit to enjoy fresh and frozen whole and in sauce. If you've never had a fresh raspberry margarita, you don't know what you're missing!

I know rhubarb isn't a fruit, but I treat it like a fruit. We've got five rhubarb plants that, along with the asparagus, are the first foods we harvest. It's some of the easiest food we grow: reliably comes up every year, not many pest problems, doesn't require fertilizer, and it produces stalks for several months. While the leaves are inedible, the tart stalks make great pies, sauce, and cakes. And it freezes well.

John's August 2014 Garden Update

Hello everyone, its August but sure feels like September! Here's a few updates from the garden.  

Pepper row next to some buckwheat cover crop.The buckwheat suppresses the weeds very well. As I pick things or clean rows I just hand toss seeds on surface and they sprout within a few days if it rains.

Green chiles looking good.

Eggplants coming on with small sets, late but they look good.

Tomatoes ripening fast now. Let the canning begin!

Planted some broom corn for making decorative shocks this fall.

Tomatillos starting to fill out husks.

Tongue of fire beans, we pick some fresh and leave some for dried shelling.

Cantaloupes beginning to ripen.

Butternut squash filling out.

Long Island Cheese pumpkin getting bigger every day!

Brussels sprouts sprouting, can't wait for frost! We may pick some early, but they
are sweeter after a little frost hits them.

We have a few apple trees that produce some great tasting little apples, not sure what variety.
The tree were here when we moved in.  

Blackberries struggled this year, had a few to eat fresh,
but nothing like the gallons we froze last year.  

Time for a snack after working hard. This time of year we enjoy garden sandwiches:
thick cut bologna from our local processor Delaware Meats, ripe tomatoes, peppers, and beet relish. Yum!

Freezing Berries

Besides being easy to preserve (just two steps!), summer berries taste delicious in the winter. I use frozen berries in a variety of dishes, including baked goods and pastries, sauces, smoothies and occasionally... margaritas!

When thawed, frozen berries will rend water. To avoid overly wet cakes, I use recipes where thawing isn't required. I've included one of my faves: Blueberry Buckle, a tender cake loaded with berries and topped with a lemony, cinnamon crumble.

Although we have about a dozen blueberry bushes, they're too young to produce many berries. Instead, we purchased about 10 pounds of big, sweet berries from a local grower. By volume, that's equal to about two gallons.

Freezing berries in a single layer prevents the berries from freezing in a mass, ensuring you'll be able to pull out just the amount you need. The method below can be used with most kinds of berries. We also grow and freeze strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.

Wash & dry berries and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Place tray in the freezer overnight.

When berries are frozen, remove to a ziplock freezer bag.
Place in freezer and use within one year. Easy peasy!

No need to thaw before using to make Blueberry Buckle.
Just scoop what you need from your freezer bag!

Frozen berries will hold their shape in baked goods. No more purple batter!

Buckle is perfect for dessert, breakfast or with afternoon tea.

Berry Freezing Process
Wash berries and place on a kitchen towel in a single layer. Gently pat dry. Place berries in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Place pan, uncovered, in freezer overnight. Next day, remove frozen berries to a ziplock freezer bag. Date bag, place in freezer and use within one year.

Blueberry Buckle
From King Arthur Flour

• 
  
• Crumb topping:
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

• Cake:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9" square or 9" round cake pan. If you use a round pan, make sure it's at least 2" deep.

Make the topping: Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt in a small bowl. Cut or rub in the butter with a fork or your finger tips until it reaches a crumbly state. Set aside.

Make the cake: Blend the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla. Alternately add the milk and the flour mixture to the sugar/butter mixture, ending with flour. Fold in blueberries. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the topping over the batter.

Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and set it on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: about 12 to 16 servings.

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