Sunflowers and the Sultan of Swing

My favorite flower is the sunflower (helianthus annuus). Something about that big, bright, sunny face chock-full of edible seeds that just makes me want to grow them. They’re happy looking. There’s nothing better than a garden full of happy looking plants … except for a garden full of tomatoes, but that’s another story.

Back to sunflowers. I have one hundred sunflowers in my garden right now. One hundred sunflowers with an average of 2,000 seeds per flower means I’ll have 20,000 seeds. Just imagine how many baseball games that would get me through!

We all owe Reggie Jackson a debt of gratitude that professional baseball players stopped chewing tobacco and started the spittin’ seed habit. Some teams go through as many as 12 cases of sunflower seeds in a season. What must the dugout look like at the end of the game?

Back in the 60s when Reggie was making seed history, he most likely just chewed the original salted and roasted version. Since then a flavor revolution has taken place. The seeds of a native American flower now spice up our national pastime. Dill Pickle, Cracked Pepper, Barbecue, Chili Lime, Ranch, Jalapeno Hot Salsa, Sour Cream and Onion, Sea Salt and Black Pepper, Old Bay, Heinz Salt and Vinegar, Red Hot Buffalo Wing, Bacon Salt Sizzlin’ Bacon - I’m looking at my sunflower seedlings in a whole new light.

I could create a new taste sensation. Like Thai Basil Seeds - the perfect accompaniment to Gai Pad Bai Gaprow. Or how about Chamomile Tea Seeds - a great bedtime snack. Or maybe even Chocolate Mint Seeds - great with ice cream. A little vegetable oil and a spin in the dehydrator and I’ve got a potential no spitter in the works.

With my 20,000 seeds I could hit a full-flavor out-of-the-ballpark home run in my rookie sunflower season. I see a signing bonus in my future; maybe even a spot in the baseball hall-of-fame.That’s why sunflowers point east. It’s not some scientific reason like heliotropism. It’s because that’s where Cooperstown is. I can see it now; me laying a bouquet of my sunny sunflowers, sans seeds of course, at the feet of The Great Bambino, the Sultan of Swat.

Now there’s a happy thought. That’s why I love sunflowers.

These are just about ready for me to pluck out the seeds and start drying.

Flowers Make Great Subjects

Valentine's Day found me and my guy in Los Angeles at one of our favorite artist's gallery for a "Romance In Bloom" show of her works. We stumbled upon Erin Hanson at the Capitola Art and Wine Festival about five years ago. Her work was a standout in a crowded field of pottery, sculpture, photographs, and a wide-variety of artisan crafts.

Her very large oil paintings are more than impressive, they're inspiring. She captures the boldness of nature with her "plein-air" style artistry, that takes a page from the great Impressionists of the 19th century and updates it with her dramatic viewpoint. With her brush strokes, the outdoors is brought to life in a way that draws you in and out.

As a gardener, this exhibit spoke to my love of all things that grow. These two were my favorites - date palms in Coachella, CA and wild poppies somewhere in Erin's great outdoors.

As winter winds to a close and spring starts to bloom, I'm hankering to be outside in my garden, inspired to create beauty much like Erin has done.

When Life Gives You Lemons ...

Another bushel of lemons came into my life this past week. This basket-full on the heels of a bushel-full a couple of weeks ago. I can't let produce, fruit or vegetables go to waste ... it's just wrong. So, first lemon-time around I made candied lemon rind and lemon ice cubes. Both of which I still have.

This time around - lemon cake and lemon marmlade. Not only were these both incredible taste sensations, but my house smells amazing. It's been raining for days here in California - so badly needed - but after so much rain, the house starts to smell and fell and little dank. Nothing like a house full of lemon zest to chase that away.

Lemon saturated cake, topped with candied lemon rind, accented by lemon slices and lemon rind zest. It's a lemon-stravaganza!

800,000 Tubers is a Lot of Begonias!

As a University of California Master Gardener I get to be a lifelong learner! The requirement is 12 hours of continuing education every year. Yippee! Here, in the Salinas Valley, the Salad Bowl of the World, there is so much growing going on that our continuing ed is generally at a local ag company.

This past week our group got to go on a tour of Golden State Bulb Growers, a local grower of California Callas, AmeriHybrid Begonias, Scilla Peruviana and Eucomis. The company was the first and is now the last remaining grower of tuberous begonias in the US. Operations Director, Michael Ferguson, walked us through the entire facility in Moss Landing, CA. Golden State grows bulbs, tubers and rhizomes for resale, as well as flowers the cut-flower market.
We got to see how bulbs are sorted and then packed for resale, the cooling sheds where both cut flowers and bulbs, etc are stored - 800,000 begonias in one shed!, 15 million throughout ... wow!; we walked through the greenhouses where are few trail begonia varieties were growing. We met employees who were happy to share their knowledge about their role in the company.

And ... Michael graciously gave us a bag of begonia bulbs for our home gardens and a bunch of cut flowers to remember our visit. It was a put-your-muck-boots-on great day!

Narcissus - aroma was
intosicating.

The grading shoot.

Cool ... literally!
Cut flowers in cold storage.

Begonia bulbs.

    

Flowers being cut and bagged for resale.
I'd take these!

Citrus is a Winter Fruit

I have a prolific Meyer lemon tree (citrus x meyeri). These trees are tiny but oh, so plentiful. So far this winter I've made lemon ice cubes (not so hard to make since all you do is freeze the juice in ice cube trays!); I'm currently pickling (salt and lemon juice is all it takes) a big jug of lemons, great for middle eastern cooking - in a month I'll let you know how those are; and I've made candied lemon rind - which is delicious dropped in a cup of tea, on top of a green salad, on my oatmeal in the morning and as a simple sweet-tooth fulfilling treat!

I'm thinking of making some marmalade. It's very labor intensive - a lot of peeling and scraping and slicing, but it sure would taste good on toast in the morning!

These are the last of them for now. They brighten up my whole kitchen and that sweet, lemony smell makes me smile.

On Second Look ... or Third ...

This from my hike last Sunday. What is it? It caught my eye because of the pattern. I'm fascinated by what nature creates. There's a heart shape here ... the image of a face ...  an amber jewel ... when actually it was a hollow in a tree trunk, probably created when a branch broke and just deep enough to collect water from the recent rains. Can't explain the face ...

"Keep close to nature's heart ... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. 

Wash your spirit clean." - John Muir

Umbrellas in the Grass

I'm fascinated by mushrooms right now. Probably because I haven't seen many in dry, drought-stricken California these past four years. I was walking in my upper pasture this weekend and scattered throughout the grass were these beauties. Even though most mushrooms are deadly, I find them quite whimsical. Something about little rooftops in the grass that make me smile.

It was lightly raining when I was out mucking so, of course, I started singing ... in the rain ... which made me think of Gene Kelly ... which made me want to dance with an umbrella ... which these reminded me of ... where's my yellow rain slicker when I need it!