In My San Diego Garden and Kitchen
Fruit season is underway in our garden, delayed perhaps by our cool spring. Yesterday we picked fifteen pounds of apricots, mostly Blenheim. They began to drop as we returned from a few days away. Later today we’ll strip the tree of ripe and near ripe fruit.
Plentiful winter rains likely contributed to the large, flavorful fruit and size of the crop. I’m estimating about 60 pounds total, down after we lost one tree to old age. So far the wild parrots, one errant squirrel and raccoons have not found the fruit. A few bird pecks knock fruit to the ground but the loss is negligible.
I’ll continue to make stewed apricots for the freezer and our favorite apricot-applesauce. Add to the list, apricot jam, apricot halves to be frozen and apricot mix for ice cream. Apricot-almond cobbler will be the next dessert after our apricot shortcakes last night.
About a week ago we harvested most of the Dorsett Golden apples from our espaliered tree. Since we were headed out of town we carefully stored some of them in the fridge. They keep much better than apricots.
The rhubarb plants developed wide stalks and the plants looked quite robust when we returned June 16 from a week away. With some of the smallest and less perfect apples I made various combinations of apples, rhubarb and guava puree for the freezer.
Since our Zone 10b rhubarb only sports a hint of red near the base, I add guava puree to my rhubarb-applesauce. When a couple off-bloom navel oranges dropped I added some zest and a small amount of juice to the sauce which adds a citrusy brightness. These various frozen fruits keep us well-supplied all winter and supplant the banana-apple-orange routine of winter fruit.
Cosmos from the street side garden join feverfew for the Sunday church entry bouquet.
Check the What I’m Planting Now page as I plant the summer garden. Then head today to Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Happy Acres blog and see what garden bloggers around the world harvested last week.
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