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Fall notes
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Monsoon mosquitoes
stay til cold nights, but they come back with mid 40's nights. Peppers
and tomatoes may still ripen but slowly now if you cover them nights and
not just when it freezes. I run the risk of weakening plants forcing them
out of season, but I try and keep them happy. A simple mini-greenhouse
is constructed over beds I want to protect and is also used to plant seeds
later for Spring transplants. Even without protection, the basil lasts
until a serious frost which can be after the winter solstace.
Dry grasses
and their fruit waft around in the winds of Southern Arizona dry Fall
days, hanging onto fur and fabric, constantly poking and irritating.
Monsoon green becomes Fall
yellow everywhere except the Mesquite green lingers into winter. Their
tasty pods have come and gone by late Fall. The creatures fattened themselves
on them. I picked some yellow pods and made a few baked goods to experiment.
Very tasty. With my vitamix blender flour grinder, I blend some seed parts
in for more protein with the pods, sifting out the rest of the hard parts.
I didn't even toast the pods first and they were still great in boston
brown bread and cornbread. Desert Harvesters is a local group with a hammermill
with which they grind beans into meal.
The barrel cactus fruit is
mostly green in Fall but yellows nicely in December and January. I use
them in chutney and preserves. Raw, they remind me a little of lemon cucumbers
and I use them with the seeds in smoothies and dips. Wild amaranth seeds
are nutritious too but small. The birds are fat on them now.
Javelina tracks reappear with cold weather. All garden areas need
protection from them and also from birds who lopped off some kale plants
prior to a fence overhead.
I love seeing all the baby lettuce, spinach, mustard greens and
cilantro for great cool season salads. Longer term veggies are broccoli,
cauliflower, cabbage, and head lettuce. I plan cuttings for herb transplants.
I plant lots of beets, garlic, onions, peas and carrots, and celery.
In case of a colder winter, I try some bok choy and pak choy. I use the
white part in salads like celery with superior flavor and no bitterness.
I save a medium sized clump of lemon grass in a pot for splitting
into many beautiful lemon grass clumps for the next warm season.
HERB FEATURE
Lemon Grass (see recipe)
Cymbopogon citratus (Gramineae)
HISTORY and USES Native from Sri Lanka and South India, lemon grass is now widely cultivated in the tropical areas of America and Asia. Its oil is used as a culinary flavoring, a scent and medicine. Lemon grass is principally taken as a tea to remedy digestive problems diarrhea and stomach ache. It relaxes the muscles of the stomach and gut, relieves cramping pains and flatulence and is particularly suitable for children. In the Caribbean, lemon grass is primarily regarded as a fever-reducing herb. It is applied externally as a poultice or as diluted essential oil to ease pain and arthritis. MAIN PROPERTIES: Digestive, antispasmodic, analgesic.
I have used my mini-greenhouse for late tomatoes and peppers. It's only plastic on a metal frame I constructed over the back 2 rows of beds. I wrapped any rough edges with rags to keep the wind from tearing the plastic. I wrapped the bottom edges around 2x2's and wedged heavy rocks over those to keep it from flying up at the bottom. I can seed these beds with summer plants whenever I harvest something and a new spot emerges.