The Urban Orchardist

Just a quickie post before we go dumpster diving (again). Last night it was a lettuce avalanche. Our usual haunt was totally empty except for many EPT pregnancy tests. We hit the store around the corner and got about 8 buckets of perfectly lovely lettuce. The bunnies are in heaven.
Here’s the link for my latest article on SFGate.com:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/g/a/2007/09/04/moneytales.DTL

Went over to Max and Nina’s house yesterday. Max saw a freezer on the corner, and we need a freezer. So we drove around looking for it–but it was gone. Bummer. Back at their house, we sat around and talked about Lynda Barry, chicken farming, and pig slaughtering poems (Rodney Jones has a great one where he calls the pigs the “dolphins of the barnyard”). The topic of crocks came up and Max brightened: do we need a crock? Hell yes, I need a crock I said. Within moments I had a number 6 blue label crock (sans lid) in the back of the car. Thank the heaven and earth for people who like to collect things! The cucs are out of control, I’m going to start the crock o’pickles tonight. As soon as I wash the dirty thing!

Last night, after a rough day of biodiesel wrangling, I sat in bed and read The Compleat Squash by Amy Goldman. It’s total vegetable porn but with great information. I’ve been telling people, for instance, that the squash pictured here in my garden is a Marina di Chioggia (I lost the original seed packet) but now I know that it’s the Galeuse d’Eysines, a different kind of warty monster. Goldman says the squash was bred to look like this in the Burgundy region of France (the original species came from South America). Its flesh will be quite dense, dry, and orange. I have about seven of these; and about seven of the Gill’s Blue Hubbards–plenty to make it through the fall months.
I also learned that because I planted two kinds of Cucurbita maxima varietals fairly close to each other, I can’t save the seed. Or maybe I will, and see if I get some crazy cross-breed. According to Goldman, one should harvest the squash when the skin of the squash can’t be punctured with your thumbnail. The book inspired me for next year’s garden–I’m going to plant the Winter Luxury Pie (cucurbita pepo), Musquee de Provence (curcubita moschata), Marina di Chioggia (curcubita maxima). By planting only one varietal of each species, I can save the seeds and they’ll produce ‘true’ offspring.

My pickles taste gross. They’ve been in the cupboard aging for a few weeks after I canned them. Finally I took them down and had a tasting. Bill actually spit one out. Some became shriveled, others were too sweet, others were good but then they had a bitter yucky aftertaste. I fermented some in salt and a crock, and they are just painfully salty.
I did manage to make some really good sweet pickles (pictured here). It was an 6 day recipe–4 days of boiling water poured over the cucs in the morning, one day of soaking them in a sweet brine (1 quart vinegar, 8 cups sugar, pickling spices, 1 tsp salt), the final day I jarred them up. A sample taken before sealing was delicious.
But I don’t love sweet pickles. Tthe garden is filled with Parisian pickler cucs and Smart pickle cucs so I have to find the perfect recipe for crispy, dilly pickles. Please advise.

A friend of mine just sent me a link to join his “LinkedIn” network. I went there and signed up for his group, called Freelancers. For my job title I typed in “Scrounger.” It’s what I do best.
Tonight we went d-diving for the piggers and found a two buckets worth of raspberries (yellow and red). The big score, though, was six really ripe goat cheeses called Red Gold. Stinky! Probably good when it’s not bad. Then we cruised a bulky pick-up pile and found a million kitchen utensils: tongs, wooden spoons, spatulas, and yes, a rolling pin. I’m back in the pasta-making business!
Also today I hit the library, which is where the best things in life are free comes true every day. I found great books about weeds, turkeys, and brain-tanning. Look for some gross photos soon.
Here’s a photo of the latest score: 8 overripe pineapples. I’m slowly dehydrating them (my dehydrator can only do one at a time and takes about 12 hours).

Finally my broody chicken has returned to the world of the living. For almost two months (hens tend to brood–adamantly sit on their nest) she sequestered herself in the lot under the bougainevilla. Every once in awhile she’d get up, take a big one and run around clucking like a mad woman. She followed me back into the backyard last week and now is enjoying the company of the pigs, the turkeys, and her other chicken friend. She’s also laying eggs again. In celebration, I made some fresh pasta using her eggs. Of course when I was rolling it out (one blog said you’re supposed to roll the pasta dough until you work up a sweat on your back), I broke my rolling pin. Jesus. Needless to say, the pasta was a bit thick, but delicious. BTW, the stuff in the background of this photo is the leavings from the nocino, which I decanted today. I’ve got about 3 quarts of the liquor, which is supposed to age until winter. It smells like heaven, it tastes a bit medicinal.
P.S. Dumpster find of the week: 25 containers of champagne grapes. The pigs stomped them up in their trough and made the most glorious sucking/slurping noises.