Gifts from the Wild- Spring Inspired Meals

It's good to have friends- especially friends who forage and fish. This past week has seen a few local spring delicacies bestowed upon us to inspire our kitchen creativity. The gifts from the wild were fresh caught salmon and Morel mushrooms. Both were so absolutely pristine and at the peak of their season that we really didn't want to fuss with them too much on the journey from the wild to our pots and finally our plates.

For dinner Wednesday night the salmon was lightly dusted with a spice mix similar to Old Bay, then sauteed until lightly browned on top and the skin crispy underneath. Cooking it until medium-done left it so tender and moist... yum. We served the fillets on a bed of braised Savoy cabbage topped with a scattering of sauteed Morels. The mushrooms were cooked in butter with a little shallot, thyme and a splash of Marsala wine.

We used the leftover Morels for breakfast this morning. Scrambled eggs with sauteed Morels in butter topped with Tails & Trotters pancetta-wrapped local asparagus. Served on toast and sprinkled with chive blossoms from Bonny's garden. All the flavors really shone through individually, yet worked so well together, almost like they had always known each other. The chive blossoms were the surprise star. Beautiful on the plate, but so tasty on the palate with their onion-garlicky savor.

The local Spring bounty has provided us with a great start to a season of good eats. Thanks to the generosity of our friends and the green thumb of my wife. Can't wait to see and taste what crops up next...

A new discovery for me in Ptown

I love having out of town guests visit because it gives me an opportunity to explore my home town with new eyes.

I typically take visitors up to the International Rose test garden in spring to check out the rhododendrons.

But, they were pretty closed up the weekend before, so I didn't want to risk disappointment.

A friend suggested that we check out the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in SE Portland which I had driven by for years without knowing that it was there - what a pleasant surprise!

My Aunt Joanie and I packed a picnic lunch and headed over to check it out. We were amazed by the variety of rhododendrons and azaleas to be sure, but the way that the other plants created interplay and contrast with them was a sight to see.

Lighter and darker primroses planted at the base of a rhododendron mirrored the color combination of the shrub's blossoms.





























Wild, native yellow violets danced in the dappled shade (sadly, not pictured).

I love how the bright colors of these azaleas contrasted with the maple behind them.








































With almost 9.5 acres, there is sure to be something interesting to gaze at through out the year. And, I think that it may be my new, in-town hot weather escape for kicking back with a good book in the shade.

Field Trip to Seattle

Last weekend Mark and I journeyed up to Seattle to visit with the cousins.

It was a wonderful trip and I had the fortune to hang out with Barbara most of Saturday doing "garden stuff." Here are some highlights...

Barb and I kicked off Saturday morning by checking out her garden. She and her husband Ted had planted their front garden beds about five years ago and the now well-established plants needed some pruning to reshape them.



Pictured here is a Nandina (common name heavenly bamboo) that has gotten leggy and heavy at the top. Barb wanted to shorten the height of the plant so that she could more easily walk the path that winds around the front garden beds.

Fortunately, Nandina like many other shrubs give us visual cues as to how and where to prune them. In spring to early summer Nandina send out new shoots of growth - the new growth on this one is burgundy-purple.

To prune, simply use sharp loppers and cut the stem back to just above the new growth.

Some general rules of thumb that I keep tucked in my head when pruning are:

If possible, prune when the plant is in a stage of heavy growth as this will allow it to rebound from the trim quickly.

Cut no more than about a third of the plant away during one year.

Plants are resilient, so if you cut too much they will oftentimes come back if given time and proper care.

Barb and I also talked about using some of plants from their front garden beds to fill in their back yard.

For example, the patch of Hakonechloa (common name Japanese forest grass) is encroaching on its neighbor shrub's space. By dividing the existing clump, Barb will help shape the front garden bed and gain planting material for the back garden area.

From there, we traveled up the street to the Seattle Tilth's edible plant sale at Meridian Park.

The sale was organized so that there were a variety of the same type of plant to choose from - e.g. mints with all sorts of scents like chocolate, peppermint, and orange. It was also a parade of flavors from the anise-like flavor of tarragon to the biting lemony taste of sorrel.

Barb picked up a few plants to add to her garden and I picked up some used jute bags that coffee roasters use to transport coffee in - I think that I will use these to grow potatoes in this summer (more on this in a later post!).

Pictured left is a mini green house at the Seattle Tilth demonstration garden...hummm ideas for how to use our old windows.

Before dinner on Saturday evening I took a few moments to stroll around the neighborhood and look at gardens. Here are a few snapshots.

Lady's mantle - love how the foliage holds water.












Now that Mark is a partner with Tails & Trotters it seems like I see pigs everywhere - this sculpture was on someone's porch.

Oregano mixed in with Berberis. Beautiful!

Golden hops with Berberis.

Inventive ways to utilize parking strips.

We stopped by the Maximus Minimus food cart for lunch before heading back to Portland. Delish!

On the way to the car Claire (pictured right) told me about the garden that she is growing with her family - so far squash and cucumber seeds have been sown.

Can't wait to hear more about your garden Claire!

Enjoying the fruits of our labor

Since this is Easter, I thought I would share some thoughts on a dinner party Mark and I had last weekend.

The table was dressed with Easter egg candles that my mom got me some years back which went perfectly with some cuttings from my quince shrub. I purposefully waited to trim the quince until the flowers were just budding so that their coral-orange blossoms would look their best in the vase and last into this week (see photos of quince below).

The meal featured a ham from Mark's business Tails & Trotters which went particularly well with the spiced blueberry relish (to the left of the plate) we made with the berries from our neighbor Andrea's garden last summer.

We were all amazed by just how well the sweet, yet spicy flavor of the relish complimented the ham - a definite keeper in our growing canning project lexicon!

Mark gilded the lily by roasting the accompanying potatoes in goose fat and lightly poached the white asparagus in butter and lemon juice.

(Hummm...Perhaps a some chopped chives from the garden would have worked as a garnish and helped to break up the monochromatic color palette of the meal? Ah well, next time...)

The ham before plating.

We have enjoyed the ham in a number of dishes this week too...for example, today I added some of our peach salsa (also canned last summer) to a medley of veggies (chard, pepper, carrot) that I sauteed with some ham - yum!









I just love this quince. It has lovely flowers in spring and then it has tiny quince fruit during the winter.

The right of spring

I love spring. Our garden is filled with wonder, new growth, and the promise of the coming warmer months.

Each day I tour our Portland, OR garden to see what happened while I was away at work. Have the peas started twining the way up the trellis? Are there any new tulips that opened while I was away at work today? Have the summer blooming perennials peeped their heads out of the soil yet?

I also love-hate spring. It is filled with waiting for what might be. And, this spring seems to be off to a slower start than normal due to the cool, wet weather we have been having.

Is this Mother Nature teaching me to be patient? Or, a chance to get to all of those spring clean-up chores I often over look?

Each week or so I take photos of our garden to track its progress. Mark and I have been in our home for going on three years now and the photos certainly tell the story of a garden coming in to its own.

Pictured below is our front bed last spring and this spring.




























Perhaps I don't love-hate spring. Perhaps the waiting is part of the garden- a chance to reflect on what it was and to dream of what it will be?

Whatever the case may be, I have come to the conclusion that it is the right of spring to decide its own path. And it is my job to enjoy it for what it is - torrential showers, lush unfurling foliage, tightly spun buds, scattered spent petals, and pockets of sunshine.

Here are some photos from the past weekend's tour of the garden:






The whole front yard is literally dancing in the breeze.




















I love the strong presence of these purple tulips with the huechera peeking out from behind. Then, the huechera will take center stage as we move into summer.














The strappy yucca provides a striking focal point for bulbs - in spring for tulips and daffodils followed by allium in the summer months.


















Yay! The first bloom of a violet that comes from my grandmother's garden in Maryland via my parent's garden in California.









Veggies that overwintered are starting to take hold throughout the garden.

Field Trip to the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's Spring Sale

It was cold and blustery today so a field trip to the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon's spring plant sale was a welcomed escape.

My neighbor Andrea and I made the trek out to the Portland Expo Center from inner NE Portland and entered the large hall with the intention to mostly look, not buy, plants.

I even came with a notepad and camera ready to do "research." But, half way through aisle two both of our resistance broke down - mine for a Aloe Dorotheae and Andrea's for a fabulous white Agapantha.

After that, it was open season.

Along with the aloe I picked up a trio of succulents. (I have a bit of a succulent addiction, so I felt pretty restrained in my decision to just get four plants.)

The succulents will live in the kitchen window sill until it gets a bit warmer outdoors. Then I will place them as accents through out the garden for the summer.

I also got two hellebores - one Helleborus foetidus 'Gold Bullion' from Dancing Oaks Nursery which they describe as "uncommon eye candy for the woodland" and another almost black helebore (pictured left and right respectively). I think they will compliment the assortment I currently have planted on the north side of the house.

I read about the American Umbrella Plant (Diphylleia Cymosa) the other day. Beyond having fabulous foliage, it apparently has small white flowers that are followed by small blue berries - how cool! I plan to tuck somewhere in the back garden either in the same bed as the hellebores or under the camellia just to the west.

Finally, I picked up a Lady Tulip (Tulipa clusiana var. chrysantha) which will naturalize if happy - I hope I get the placement right - and Euphorbia griffithii 'Fireglow' which I first heard of about two years ago.

In the end, I walked away with a total of nine plants. VERY restrained.

Gardening by numbers

Yesterday was long, yet satisfying day in the garden.

We rented a pick-up truck and got two cubic yards of mulch to spread on the flower and shrub beds around the house.

We also spread a cubic yard of cedar bark chips along the path out front and between our neighbor's driveway and the raised bed on the west side of the house. The whole project took eight hours start-to-finish.



Since I had already weeded the beds on one of those rare sunny days in February the beds were fairly weed free. Adding a blanket of mulch will help to keep the weeds at bay for the rest of the year.

It will also help to feed the soil, keep it cooler and retain water throughout the hotter weather this summer.

Right now it also has the added benefit creating a uniform black back drop for my plants!

Three cubic yards of materials, two people, one truck and eight hours of work. Not bad for a days work.