First Harvest Season

It's the start of harvest season, when most gardeners find that they have too much of something. (I've got a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes and yellow squash this year.) Meaningful work of any kind leads to a meaningful harvest, and that leads naturally to sharing the riches.

Agenda:

1. Define my harvest goals 

2. Harvest seeds

3. Prune my plum

4. Make freezer pickles

1. Define my harvest goals:

My food garden top priority is to harvest, eat, and preserve: I want to make time to harvest food when it's at its peak, and use it, which means experimenting and finding recipes I like, saving seeds, learning new preservation techniques, and just paying attention to when food is ready to harvest! 

But my philosophy has changed in the last few years. I used to think pretty much only about harvesting food for myself and my family. Now I also consider how best to serve the earth by leaving some for the wild birds, animals, and insects.

Birds weren't always welcome in my food garden, because they eat my berries. And Cabbage White caterpillars chew holes in my brassicas. And squirrels nibble on my pumpkins. But when my goal became to have unity with nature and integrate myself into the local environment, I began to look for solutions that allowed us all to thrive.

As Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Small-Scale Permaculture puts it, “by attracting birds, small animals, and insects to our yards, we not only increase biodiversity but make our gardens more balanced, disease free, and productive as well.”

I know that wildlife is beneficial to food gardens. For example, birds keep insect problems in check while gifting fertilizer. They loosen soil while they forage and scratch. And they are entertaining to watch! 

I'm not aiming for a purely native wildlife garden, because that would require me to outsource all of my food. And I'm willing to share some leaves with my bug  friends, but not my entire squash harvest. So I'm always looking for ways to create habitat and share my harvest, while still getting what I want from my garden.

Here are my harvest intentions:

I intend to harvest food from my garden when it is at its peak, and eat it - finding recipes that I love - or preserve it (including seed keeping, canning, pickling, and fermenting), and share some with family, friends, and wildlife (and also not worry about putting some back into compost), so that we can enjoy the fruits of our labor for months to come, while also having unity with nature, and integrating ourselves into the local environment.

2. Harvest seeds:

One vital part of my harvest is seeds to save for next year's planting, and to eat or share. This week I'm collecting peas, sunflower seeds, and dill, and I'll keep my eyes open for others. Collecting my own seeds saves me money, and lets me always grow my favorite varieties.

My intention this weeks is to "gather and preserve vegetable seeds in a sustainable and loving way, that honors the embryo of the plant in each seed, and the birds and animals that find sustenance with seeds; and use my creative fire to forge a stronger connection between me and the seed spirits."

I've stashed some envelopes and a pen in my harvesting basket, so I'm prepared. As I gather my seeds, I always try to leave some pods on the vine or stalk for the birds, squirrels, and the insects.

A note about peas: It's best to let peas dry on the vine, then collect them when they are starting to turn brown, with the seeds rattling inside.

A note about dill: My dill has flowered and set seed, so I'll collect it now for pickles. You want to allow the seeds to dry on the plant, but don’t leave dill seeds on the plant too long or they will eventually blow away. It’s easy to collect dill seeds - just snip of the flower heads over a paper bag; dill will also readily re-seed if some are allowed to fall to the ground. (And dill is also a host plant for the swallowtail butterfly caterpillar!)

Once I collect them, seeds need to be lovingly and properly dried so they will grow next year. Each seed contains an embryonic plant; the outer seed coats are designed to keep the embryonic plant and its food source well protected, but they can crack if the seeds are kept too dry, or rot if kept too damp. The trick is to dry them well, but not completely. For home gardeners, it’s an educated best guess.

Supplies: Shallow cardboard box, wax paper or screening, collected seeds, sticky notes, pen.

Mis en place for drying seeds: 

1. Prepare yourself: Take a few minutes to gather your supplies and clear a drying area in a cool, dark room; in my case, a counter in my studio. Then set an intention to honor each seed by giving it what it needs to survive. (If you create a love connection between you and the seeds, its got to help them grow better next year.)
2. Choose a small cardboard box for each type of seed, and put a layer of wax paper or screen mesh in the bottom (not paper towel or anything they may stick to).
3. Spread out the seeds so they don't touch - leave peas in the pods until completely dry. (If your seeds are wet, such as from a tomato, you will need to ferment them first - I have't tried that.)
4. Label and date each box, and leave to rest for a week to ten days before gently stirring them with your finger. (If you are like me, you will need to set reminders on your phone or calendar.)
5. Let them dry for another two to three weeks. At this point, they should be dry enough to put into storage for the winter.
6. Pack and label seeds with name, variety and the date you collected them. (Use saved seed within one year.)
7. Store in glass containers, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator.

3. Prune my plum:

Last summer's pruning: Year one.

While I know apples are best pruned in winter (unless you are trying to limit growth), I found out that stone fruits such as plums, cherries, peaches and apricots are best pruned in summer because they are susceptible to a disease called Cytospora canker, a fungal disease that attacks pruning cuts made in cold weather. So I'll prune my plum now to give the wound sufficient healing time before winter.

Last summer I started framework pruning, when new growth is trimmed back every year for 3 years, to produce new branching and train it into the desired shape. In this case, I want a modified fan shape, or kind of a flat vase shape - I want it to grow to the sides, to eventually replace a hedge, along our north property line.

Fan pruning

What I've read about fan pruning is very complicated. What I'm aiming for is something like the diagram here. The permaculture advice on pruning is to "Let all ideas of the perfect shape fade away and hold light at the fore front as you prune." - Ideally, sunlight can get into all the branches.

Another permaculture pruning tip is to keep the branches low, ideally about 3-feet off the ground. This makes it easier to pick and prune.

Last year (year one), I chose four strong laterals (two on each side), that were growing in the direction I wanted, and shortened them to 12-inches from the main trunk, pruning to an outward-facing or downward facing bud (a bud facing away from center). Then I gently bent the branches to the best positions and angles (45-60º from the vertical), and tied them to stakes with soft ties.

This year I have pruned the new growth back by half, again to an outward facing bud, and re-tied them.

3. Make dill pickles:

I've got enough cucumbers to make these easy refrigerator / freezer pickles.

Ingredients:

• 3-1/2 c. cucumber
• 1/2 sweet onion
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• Kosher salt
• 2 dill seed sprigs
• 1 Tbsp. mustard seeds
• 4 garlic cloves

(Makes 2 pints)

1. Sterilize 2 pint-sized jars and lids.
2. Wash and slice cucumbers 1/8 inch thick, in rounds or long slices. Slice the onion thinly, and peel the garlic and slice in half.
3. Place cucumbers, onion, and garlic in a medium heatproof bowl.
4. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring just until sugar dissolves. Pour over cucumber mixture; let cool completely, 1 hour. Let stand 1 hour more.
5. Fill the jars about halfway with cucumbers, onions, and garlic cloves, then add mustard seeds, peppercorns, and dill sprigs to each jar. Finish filling with cucumbers. 
6. Pour the vinegar solution over the cucumbers, leaving 1-inch of head room if you plan to freeze. 
7. Pickles will be lightly pickled in 2 days, but their best flavor will start to develop around day 5 or 6. Store in the fridge for several weeks, or freeze up to 6 months.