A Note From Josh

With the last crunchy leaves spiraling down on the frosty winds of December, the soil starting to freeze, and the vegetable crops finished for the season; this is a reflective time for us here at Edible Eden. Winter is our planning time, our business development time as well as some time to breath, evaluate and rest from the growing season.

This past year has been our best to date; we’ve reached new levels of functional design and productivity in creating and stewarding food gardens all over the Baltimore metro area. We’ve generated thousands of lbs of organically cultivated produce, grown our team in order to build our capacity and worked with more knowledgeable and dynamic employees than ever before. We’ve planted hundreds of fruit trees, berry bushes, and native perennial plants around the area and served an ever growing and diverse clientele of wonderful customers.

But this is not just about the success of a small business. 

Here at Edible Eden we believe that every square foot we have under our stewardship allows us to make the world a better place. We plant native plants to host native wildlife and strengthen eco-systems. We plant organic veggie gardens to help re-direct food sourcing from the industrial food system. We support our customers in composting and rain water management to ensure we are contributing to healthy soil ecosystems and mitigating harmful runoff. 

It’s not always easy - sometimes this means hand-picking pests, finding hard-to-source materials and a lot of explanation of our services. But the results are worth every moment of hard work. We see our successes reflected in the bio-diversity supported by our gardens, in the joy of seeing our customers taste and enjoy a new local, healthy food; in the pollinators buzzing happily around diverse blooms.

Next year we will continue to enhance our business systems, expand our operations, and hone and improve the products we offered in 2019. 

We know that we wouldn’t be able to do the work that we love without you, our customers and broader community! We want to thank you, sincerely, for being a part of this exciting experiment: Can we, together, vision and work towards a more sustainable, abundant and compassionate human reality?

So here is gratitude for a bountiful growing season, and hopes for a cozy Winter, and a new year full of diversity, deliciousness and joy.

Preserving Herbs

A lush lemon-thyme plant, ready for harvest and drying!

Here in Maryland, a commitment to seasonal and local eating includes thinking ahead for Winter. Although some crops like kale, arugula, and collards may be able to extend into the early days of Winter, and others like winter squash and potatoes may store well, very little is accessible during the dark days of February. 

We like to prepare throughout the year by pickling, canning, or freezing any extra produce we can get our hands on. There’s nothing quite like opening a jar of tomatoes in the middle of the Winter and being transported back to your Summer garden. 

While the days of canning may be behind us for the year, it’s not too late to preserve your herbs for some added zest and freshness in winter dishes. Below we will go over a few of our preferred methods for preserving herbs. 

Freezing:

Freezing is ideal for more tender and leafy herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, and chives but can also work well with herbs like oregano, thyme, and mint. 

You can freeze individual portions in water or oil using ice cube trays. Chop the herb (or herbs) of choice and scoop a spoonful into each well of an ice cube tray. Top with a tablespoon of water or olive oil and freeze. Once frozen, toss the cubes into a container or bag so they don’t get freezer burn. Herbs frozen in water are ideal for adding to stews while herbs frozen in oil are the perfect start to a meal; throw one into a skillet, melt, and proceed to saute up the rest of your meal in that flavorful, herb-infused oil!

Mint, Sage, Lavendar, and Thyme hanging to dry

Drying:

Drying works best for woodier herbs like rosemary, sage, thyme, and lavender. While you can go “high tech” and dry your herbs in the oven or a dehydrator we actually think they turn out better (and are lower maintenance and look delightful) when they are left to air dry. All you need is a piece of twine! Tie sprigs or small bunches of your herbs upside down by the stems in an area with good airflow and low light. Leave to dry for 7-10 days or until the leaves are crispy and crunchy. Crunch them up and store them in a jar or keep them whole in a paper lunch bag so they don’t collect dust. 

What are your tricks for preparing flavorful meals and eating locally in the middle of Winter?

How to Plant Garlic

For thousands of years and across the globe, garlic has been celebrated as a fixture in cuisine, medicine, and even religion! In ancient Rome and China, it was an especially common ingredient among soldiers and laborers as it was considered both a flavor enhancer and a cure for heat exhaustion. In ancient Greece and Egypt it was a common gift to the Gods. As late as World War I, soldiers used garlic’s antiseptic quality to ward off infection. 

French Chef Marcel Boulestin believed garlic to be responsible for so much more. He claimed, "It is not really an exaggeration to say that peace and happiness begin, geographically, where garlic is used in cooking." While we will let you decide for yourself whether garlic is the key to world peace, it is undeniable that garlic has been an important crop in our history. 

Right now, in Maryland and our neighboring states, it is time to get garlic in the ground. Even today planting garlic has a ritualistic feel as it is the last crop we plant before putting the garden to sleep. The garlic will establish roots in the Fall, go dormant in the Winter, and send up a shoot in early Spring. Garlic is a low maintenance crop, only needing attention once during its long growing season - we snap off the garlic scapes (the flower shoots) in early Summer to encourage bulb growth rather than flower growth. (Read more about garlic scapes in our post from June.) Bulbs will be ready for harvest in mid-Summer.

So how do you plant garlic?

• First, select your variety. There are two main types of garlic:

Hardneck: Good for colder regions as these are the most hardy. They will develop firm stalks that produce scapes. Heads will develop a single row of large cloves. 

Softneck: Ideal for warmer regions as these are less hardy. Soft-neck varieties will not produce scapes. Heads will develop multiple rows of cloves in a variety of sizes. 

• Whichever you choose, ordering from a nursery or specialty garlic supplier is ideal. Grocery store garlic might sprout, but may not be the best variety for your climate and is often treated to discourage growth. 

• Separate cloves from one another keeping them in their papery coating. Choose the biggest, healthiest cloves to plant.

• Identify a planting area with soil that drains well and is full of organic matter (or add a bag of compost before planting). 

• Plant cloves root side down about four inches apart and two inches deep. Cover garlic bed with a deep layer of straw mulch. 

Need more guidance? Get in touch (as soon as you can!) to schedule a garlic planting in your garden!

Extending the Season

It may seem as though gardening season is nearing its end but with a little extra planning it is possible to keep growing some hearty greens and root crops growing into December. Cold season greens are packed with vitamins and can help you stay healthy through the dark Winter months. Not to mention, many Fall crops will sweeten as the weather turns cold! Farmers extend their growing seasons with high tunnels, low tunnels, and heated greenhouses but even in your own garden you can enjoy a long harvest. Here are a couple ways:

Row cover

Row cover is a fabric, usually made of lightweight polyester or polypropylene, that allows sunlight, water, and airflow in but keeps unwanted factors like insects, excessive sunlight, or frost out. It’s easy to find and not too much harder to work with. You can order it online from most garden/seed suppliers. You can also find metal “hoops” online or fashion some yourself to act as a frame to drape the fabric over without damaging delicate plants. Fabric edges should be secured with staples or rocks to the ground to keep the fabric from blowing away or letting in unwanted bugs or cold temperatures. 

Different weights of fabric are used differently. 

• The lightest weight fabrics will let in up to 85% of sunlight and are mostly used to keep pests out of veggie beds. 

• Mid-weight row cover will let in about 75% of sunlight making them a good shade cover for early season greens that you want to grow into the Summer. This weight will also offer some frost protection, but heavier weights can protect crops down to 25 degrees!

• Heavy weight row cover is ideal for extending the growing season into late Fall and early Spring, as well as providing extra protection for overwintering crops and perennials. This weight provides the most protection against the cold but may limit sunlight to 60% or less. 

To use row cover as a season extender in the Fall it’s best to set it up before the first frost to trap as much warmth in the soil as possible. Once temperature lows are consistently below 25 degrees, the row cover has done its job and it may finally be time to call it quits, although row cover can also be used on early Spring seeds and seedlings to give them a few weeks head start!

Row cover at our St. Paul’s School garden, used here to prevent cabbage loopers

Pest free Brassicas!

Cold Frames

Cold frames are a great, more permanent option for extending your growing season. Cold frames are structures, usually made from a frame with a transparent top and sides, that act as miniature greenhouses. They can be placed over existing beds and can also be used to store plants in containers or to start seedlings in trays. 

Here at Edible Eden we build large cold frames out of treated lumber and polycarbonate. We are currently developing a lighter more economical model that will fit securely over our raised beds. 

Some pros and cons:

• Cost - cold frames are a substantial investment and prices for generic frames usually begin at $200 a bed. Meanwhile row covers can be purchased online for around $50.

• Maintenance - While cold frames and row covers both trap heat, cold frames will not allow the same level of airflow as row covers. For this reason, it’s important to monitor the temperature and humidity levels within the frame. Most standard cold frames, including our custom designs, allow for the tops of the frame to open to varying degrees to help control these factors. 

• Permanence - While a little more effort may be required to monitor your cold frame, its sturdy structure will last much longer than fabric row covers. Row covers, though reusable, usually have to be replaced every two years or so due to wear and tear. 

• Effectiveness - Row covers will only be effective down to 25 degrees adding about an extra month to your growing season. Cold frames provide more protection from the elements and make it possible to grow all year round. 

A custom cold frame built by Edible Eden

Top slides open for access and humidity/temperature control

Want to give row covers or a cold frame a try this year? Get in touch with Edible Eden to schedule a quick row cover installation or to explore custom cold frame options!

American Persimmons

Photo of American Persimmons courtesy of fast-growing-trees.com

Have you ever tasted “the fruit of the Gods?” That’s what Diospyros means, which is the genus name of the fruit more commonly known as a Persimmon. If you’ve tried persimmons before, it’s likely that you ate an Asian variety like the Fuyu or Hachiya, but did you know that there are native American Persimmons, too? In fact, the word “Persimmon” comes from the Algonquin word for the fruit. Early American settlers enjoyed persimmon breads, puddings, and beers, and there are records of this sugary fruit in the journals of John Smith and hungry Civil War soldiers.

Persimmons can be classified into two types: astringent and non-astringent. Astringent persimmons have high levels of tannic acid when they are unripe: one over-eager early bite of an astringent persimmon will have you puckered up and unable to think. The proper time to eat these varieties is when they’ve passed their peak orange color and are starting to turn slightly brown and wrinkly. The flesh of the fruit will be soft, mushy, and sweet. Many cultivated varieties are non-astringent; this means the fruit can be eaten when it is firm, optimizing shipping and storage abilities and providing consumers with a more familiar eating experience. The wild American Persimmons fall into the former astringent camp, so eating them may be messier but so, so worth it.

American Persimmons grow from Florida to Connecticut and as far East as Iowa and Texas. Their fruits have a long and late growing season. While the trees flower in late Spring the fruit won’t be ripe until late Fall at the earliest. Fruit begins to ripen around the end of October but may hang onto the tree even throughout the Winter. 

So what should you do if you stumble on a tree full of persimmons on your next hike (or if you’re lucky enough to have a friend or a farmers market with a reliable supply)? Here is an entire website devoted to traditional American Persimmon Pudding recipes. Tell us which one you liked best!

Garden Pests and Garden Pals: Part 4 - Slugs, Snails and Praying Mantises

As the temperature drops, the insect activity in your garden will decline as well, but you may find a few lingering critters if you look closely!

The beautiful but ever hungry Leopard Slug!

This Fall, we’ve noticed a resurgence of slugs and snails in our gardens. These cute and slimy critters love to munch on our leafy greens. 

There are a number of “folk” remedies for garden slugs including sprinkling coffee grounds, eggshells, or sand around your plants, but we’re cautious about what we add to our soils (let us know if you’ve given any of those a try!). It is true that slugs love beer and will happily jump into bowls of beer that they can’t escape, but keeping the bowl full and tidy day after day is sometimes more maintenance than it’s worth! 

As with caterpillars, we think the very best thing to do with slugs and snails is to pick them off by hand and encourage beneficial species (including birds, toads, and praying mantids) to live in your garden and eat these critters as a juicy snack!

Carolina Mantis picture courtesy of extension.umd.edu

You may also see our friend, the praying mantis. Praying Mantises are elongated bugs highly adapted for hunting. They are recognizable by their long torso, triangular head, and name-sake folded front legs. 

While mantis egg sacs are sold in many nurseries and garden catalogues, Mantises are not always the most effective pest-control. Their aggressive nature can make them territorial keeping mantis populations from getting too concentrated. Their diets, though carnivorous, are very general; mantises will eat beneficial insects as well as pests and sometimes members of their own species! 

Still, it’s never a bad thing to see a Praying Mantis and to encourage their presence in your garden. They will catch the hard to catch pests with their advanced hunting techniques and serve as a telltale indicator of a healthy ecosystem. At this point in the season some species can get up to 5 inches long! They will lay eggs in leaf litter which will over-winter and hatch come Spring. 

Pawpaws

Pawpaws are a unique fixture in North American forests - they are North America’s largest native fruit and the only plant in the tropical Annonaceae family that grows natively on the continent. 

Photo courtesy of horticulturetalk.wordpress.com

While most Americans today may be unfamiliar with the Pawpaw, this fruit has its roots in many important moments of American history. A staple of many Native American diets, Pawpaws also fed Lewis and Clark when game was scarce, they were documented as one of George Washington’s favorite desserts, and they were grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.

These rich, custardy fruits found their peak popularity during the Great Depression as a cheap alternative to other sweet, exotic fruits (earning themselves the name “the poor man’s banana”) Their mainstream popularity eventually waned as more exotic fruits were introduced to the US and as more people turned to the grocery store rather than to the land for their food. 

Today, Pawpaws are mostly obscured from the public eye. Stocking Pawpaws in commercial stores is nearly impossible due to their easy to bruise skin and short shelf life. You may have luck finding them at a farmers market or, more likely, along a hiking trail in the “Pawpaw belt,” throughout the East Coast and Midwest. If you are lucky enough to find Pawpaws to enjoy, you’ll soon appreciate their silky smooth, yellow-orange interior and sweet, tangy taste. They’re commonly described as a mix between bananas and mangoes in both flavor and texture. 

In addition to bearing delicious fruit, Pawpaws are an important part of our ecosystem. They are the only host plant of the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly and their fruit feeds many forest mammals. Their tolerance of variable growing conditions (including those tough shady and moist areas) along with their natural pest resistance also makes them an ideal plant to incorporate into your landscape.

Looking for some creative ways to make the most out of Pawpaw season? Why not try Pawpaw pudding, ice cream, bread, or salsa!

And if you want your very own supply of Pawpaws, get in touch with Edible Eden to talk about growing Pawpaw trees in your own backyard!

Cilantro and coriander

A couple of months ago we wrote about bolted plants in the garden. When plants bolt they send up tall stems and flower, often changing the flavor of otherwise tasty leaves. This is a signal of the end of the plant’s season and is often triggered by hot conditions.

If you’ve left any brassicas or lettuces in your garden, you’ll likely have seen them bolt by now! But many herbs are also sensitive to the heat - basil, parsley, sage, and mint will all send out stalks of dainty, clustered flowers at some point during the Summer. But there is one particular herb that you should watch closely: Cilantro.

Coriander Seeds - Image from http://www.vegetablegardener.com

Cilantro is a unique herb insofar as it gives us two harvests! Throughout the Spring you can enjoy cilantro leaves on tacos, pad thai, in salads, and more. But if you leave the bolted cilantro flowers in your garden long enough they will produce seeds which you may know by the name of coriander. 

Coriander seeds are mainstays in Middle Eastern and Indian spice mixes like dukkah and garam masala, important ingredients in classic dill pickles, and are delicious flavor pairings with meats and citrus.

To harvest coriander seeds, wait until they have turned brown. You can either clip the whole stalks off, hanging them upside down within a paper bag. They’ll fall off and collect in the bottom of the bag when they’re all the way dry. Or allow the seeds to dry thoroughly on the plant and collect directly. Dried coriander can be stored in an air-tight glass jar. 

Gardening with kids

Between our family garden coach sessions and our lovely garden at St. Paul’s school, we have the great joy and privilege to help introduce a lot of children to gardening. Part of the reason we do what we do is to change the culture around eating, gardening, and living sustainably. Teaching children to find vegetables delicious creates a generation that supports local farms and promotes healthy eating. Teaching children to find bugs fascinating rather than gross creates a generation that celebrates biodiversity in their yards rather than squashing it. Teaching children to treasure habitats creates a generation of native plant advocates.

Not only do we consider education (of both children and adults alike) a huge part of our mission, working with kids can just be so darn fun. They’re open to discovery, they ask some of the best questions, and they really test our knowledge and communication abilities. 

That being said, we know it isn’t always easy getting your garden bed weeded while making sure the kids are happy, safe, and engaged. Here are some tips we’ve found useful for gardening with kids!

• Outline clear rules - To avoid the frustration of trampled arugula or snapped tomato stems, set clear rules and expectations about where is safe to walk and what is safe to touch. Use different mulches for the rows and beds of your garden to make the walkways extra clear. 

• Give ownership - Assign kids their own tasks to complete or plants to care for. Watching their own sunflower grow tall and bloom after daily watering will be rewarding and will teach children not only about plant growth but about responsibility!

• Short but focused tasks - Different kids have different attention spans. Instead of asking children to seed four straight lines of perfectly spaced beets, let them broadcast wildflower seeds in an empty part of the garden. Keep tasks short, clear, and focused, and have a checklist of other tasks to fall back on when your garden helper loses interest.

• Balance work and play - Although you may have 5 pressing garden tasks that you expect to finish today, your kids may have other plans. Make garden chores into games or reward hard work with play. One great example of this we see is how eager the students at St. Paul’s School are to weed as long as they get to feed the weeds to the chickens!

• Enjoy garden snacks - This one may seem obvious, but introduce your kids to the joys of eating garden fresh food. Make sure to plant kid friendly treats around the garden that are easy to pick and eat on the spot. Some of our favorites are peas, strawberries, raspberries, carrots, and cherry tomatoes.

What are your favorite tips for gardening with kids?

Spotlight on Comfrey

Long grown for its medicinal uses, Comfrey is a favorite among herbalists and permaculture gardeners alike. Traditionally, Comfrey is used as a healing herb to be rubbed raw or as a salve onto rashes, lesions, sore joints, and broken bones. But to gardeners, comfrey is also celebrated as an effective Dynamic Accumulator.

Dynamic Accumulators are plants that send down deep roots that access and collect nutrients too deep for many other plants. As a consequence of its deep tap root Comfrey leaves are rich in nutrients which can be shared with other plants in the garden.

One way to take advantage of Comfrey’s high nutrient yield is by using it as a “green mulch.” Comfrey is a hardy perennial that can easily return after being cut down. Chop down your comfrey leaves with a machete or a weed wacker and spread the resulting leaves around perennial gardens, veggie gardens, or fruit trees. Not only will this serve the purpose of a traditional mulch - keeping moisture in and shading out weeds - it will provide a slow release of nutrients and organic matter as the leaves begin to decompose.

Comfrey flowers are beautiful and great for pollinators, too!

Garden Transitions: Bolting

Bouquet of broccoli flower, chive flower, and lemon balm

Late May to early June is a transition period in the garden. We’re replacing bitter spinach with baby squash and planting tomatoes in the holes left by harvested head lettuces.

We don’t pull out Spring crops just to make room for Summer crops; many greens and brassicas (generally, the plants whose leaves we eat) will “bolt,” or flower, rendering their flavors bitter and their textures tough. You can spot the beginnings of bolting on most plants when the leaves begin to elongate and the plant begins growing tall rather than leafy. In the rosettes, or on the top of the stem, you’ll see a bud forming. You may be able to delay the process of bolting by removing the shoot, but for most crops, once it’s begun it can’t be reversed.

Bolting normally evokes groans from gardeners mourning the end of tender greens til Fall - but bolting isn’t all bad! Most crops send up tight clusters of small flowers whose close proximity makes them favorites of pollinators. These flowers also add pops of bright color to your garden and, in many cases, are edible! For example, kale or broccoli flowers are just as pleasant in a vase as they are on a plate, sautéed with garlic and a squeeze of lemon. The petals of chive flowers add a subtle onion flavor and act a beautiful garnish when sprinkled on top of pasta or fish. The peppery Arugula flowers lend themselves well to salads or scrambled eggs, and basil flowers can be used to make infused oils for salad dressings, dainty dessert toppings, or fragrant centerpiece bouquets!

So go ahead and take out your bolted plants when you’re ready to put in new crops, but enjoy the flowers while they’re there!

Tomato Tips

Nothing says Summer quite like the fragrant smell and succulent flavors of the tomato. Friends, family, and clients have been asking about it for months and it’s almost here - tomato season. While getting our plants in the ground, we collected some basic tomato tips to share with you.

As with planting all seedlings, it’s important to start with healthy plants. Wherever you buy your tomato plants, check the seedlings for signs of pests or diseases: discolored foliage, spotted leaves, holes, and dried up branches are all symptoms of an unhealthy plant.  

When you get your tomato seedling to your garden, it’s essential to find the right spot for it. Tomatoes thrive in full sun and they’re prone to diseases that occur in damp conditions, so good drainage and air flow are a must. Caging, staking, or tying up your tomato will help increase air flow around the plant and will expose fruits for easy harvest.

Tomatoes are one of the only crops that should be planted deep. Snapping off any leaves that might get buried, plant up to ⅓ of the tomato stem. New roots will grow along the buried stem and will provide a more robust root system for feeding and support.

Because tomatoes are so sensitive to damp conditions, observing proper watering technique is especially important. Avoid overhead watering by watering the base of the plant rather than the leaves. It’s best to water in the morning so that any excess moisture can evaporate during the day rather than sitting on the plant overnight.

Once your tomato is established, it will start to grow fast. Pruning will keep growth in check, encourage airflow, and produce a more flavorful crop. When pruning tomatoes, look in the joints of the main stem and primary branches for side growth. These branches are called “suckers” and can be removed with pruners or shears.

Harvest tomatoes when they are plump but have some give and when their color has fully changed. They should come off of the vine easily with a twist. Store deep ridged heirloom varieties upside down to discourage pooling moisture and rot.

Fish Emulsion

The sense of accomplishment after getting all of the Spring plants in the ground is hard to beat. It’s a beautiful sight: the vibrant greens and purples of the lettuce leaves, the tiny curly-qs of the pea shoots, the bright pink stems of the radishes about to bulb up. But after a few weeks, those colors might have faded and your plants might not looks so fresh. What’s a gardener to do?

To keep our plants healthy and growing with vigor all season long, we use a product called fish emulsion. Fish emulsion is made of ground and fermented by-products from the seafood industry. Much like the rice hulls we wrote about last month, fish emulsion is made of materials that would otherwise go to waste.

High in ready to use nitrogen and other nutrients, this organic fertilizer gives our seedlings an extra boost. You can read the general nutrient break-down of fish emulsion and other fertilizers by the N-P-K number. The N-P-K number provides the percentage by weight of nitrogen to phosphorus to potassium, the three major nutrients required for plant growth.

We apply this fast acting, liquid fertilizer to all of our transplants to help them acclimate to their new homes and help them grow quickly early in the season. We may apply a second helping a few weeks later to plants that look a little droopy due to insufficient watering or nutrients. We also focus particularly on plants in the Brassica family, such as kale, cabbage, and broccoli,  which can be heavy feeders.

So how can you use fish emulsion at home? Most garden centers will carry a few brands of fish emulsion or fish fertilizer; these will be heavily concentrated and will need to be diluted. In a sprayer or watering can, add two to three tablespoons of fertilizer for each gallon of water (double check the instructions on the label as it will vary depending on brand, nutrients, and concentration). The resulting mixture should look a little murky but should not be thick. You can apply fish emulsion by watering the plants with the mixture as you would normally, or by spraying it over the leaves as you would with a foliar fertilizer. Applying fish emulsion can be a bit smelly, but there are products that have been “deodorized” with wintergreen or lavender. We recommend trying these out if you want to apply fish emulsion on your houseplants indoors!