In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen
On August 24, when I sowed my broccoli seed in trays, I anticipated the first harvest, now fourteen weeks later. That occurred two days ago when I cut two sizable heads—one for us and another for a friend.
Premium Crop hybrid has been a reliable producer for two decades, finding the warmer winters of Southern California agreeable. After the main head is removed there is prodigious production of side shoots for several months which extends the season. This year I have twenty broccoli plants, including Jacaranda broccoli which is stunning as it grows and in salads. Thankfully, those plants are slower to mature this year.
Last night I made our favorite Chicken Broccoli Chowder from a Quaker Oats recipe book from the 1970’s. Ground oats thicken the soup and add heartiness. Recipes for such chowders abound. What can go wrong with chicken, broccoli and cheese?
The last of the spring harvested carrots, carefully stored in the fridge, went into the chowder. Only a few purple carrots remain for upcoming salads.
I continued to harvest bits of lettuce, arugula and baby leaf spinach but they escaped photo capture. Planting most of the garden in September and early October leaves December open for seasonal activities. The main events are harvesting and watering. The last two years required very little supplemental irrigation because of generous rains. This year we’ve had no more than a quarter of an inch on a couple of occasions.
We’re just beginning to harvest the Satsuma tangerines. The cool nights hasten the color change and sweetening of the fruit. The crop is abundant this year so we’ll be picking more in the coming days.
The late-arriving strawberry guava crop finishes its unremarkable run. The fruit has been small but plentiful. I had no energy for the last four pounds so I decided on a hot-processed strawberry guava-lavender shrub. It actually is quite lovely with a pleasant contribution of late-blooming Provence lavender. I shared some of the product with our son who had recently experienced shrubs in Copenhagen.
See my earlier posts on shrubs and take a look at Food 52 for recipes.. A Cranberry-Apple Shrub is my next project.
Advent commenced December 1 and my church foyer bouquet reflected the change of seasons.
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