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.

Spring Garden Goings-On

After a winter that stuck around way too long, spring finally arrived (although I did notice a chance of snow in the forecast). With the warmer temperatures, I've noticed sudden growth in the garden. Emerging are a few perennial plants that come back each year. We haven't done any clean-up or bed prep as it's still pretty wet. Traipsing through the plots now might cause soil compaction.

Annuals will be planted next month after danger of frost. The majority of our garden is grown from seeds with the rest, mostly peppers and tomatoes, purchased as plant starts from our local greenhouse. The frost free date for our area is around the middle of May. Find your frost free date here.

Our winter rye, planted last fall, will continue to grow until it's terminated (crimped, mowed, turned under). Cover crops specialists suggest you should avoid turning the cover crop under as tilling ruins the soil structure. We have ongoing conversations about tilling. Seems we have a hard time letting go of our desire for a "tidy" garden, concerns about weed suppression, etc. Hoping to experiment more this year. 

Pretty happy that the peach trees are budding. We lost a tree to the polar vortex in 2014 and with a similarly rough 2015 winter, I expected to lose another tree. But even in temperate winters, we've lost peach trees. They're finicky, and maybe not well suited to this climate. In any case, I'm always happy to see the buds appear. It lives!! 

Rhubarb is my favorite vegetable that acts like a fruit. It's one of the first foods we harvest each spring and gets preservation season underway with rhubarb sauce (freezer) and strawberry-rhubarb jam (canned). The bright, citrusy flavor is perfect in pies, cobblers and other baked goods. 

Chives are mature enough to cut! Chives are perfect when I want a hint of onion and they add a fresh flavor to dips and marinades. I think we'll have loaded potato skins topped with sour cream and chives this weekend!

Horseradish is just poking out of the ground. This might be the easiest thing we grow. It reliably comes back each year and one root provides us with flavor all year long. It's easy to grow and easy to preserve.

Not much to look at, but the blackberry canes are cool without their foliage. Like thorny medieval weapons jutting out of the ground. These native plants are tolerant of all kind of weather and produce a ton of berries. We've considered growing the thornless variety but they just don't do as well as the thorned variety. So we're careful when we pick.

Although cilantro isn't really a perennial, the plant does reseed itself. It fades during the heat of the summer and thrives in cooler weather. We'll continue to sow seeds throughout the growing season so we always have a supply of fresh cilantro. This plant is a volunteer from last year's seeds.

The strawberries are popping up. This is the second year for this stand, so we're hoping for a big harvest. This bed grows near (and sometimes into) the asparagus, which hasn't sprouted yet. Not too much of a concern as the asparagus is taller. Incidental companion planting.

Oregano is just peeking out. Cleaning up the plant will encourage new growth, and since it's in a raised bed, I don't have to be concerned with soil compaction. Just need to get some basil plants and we'll be ready for our fave pasta dish!

What's coming up in your garden? Leave a comment and let me know!

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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