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Garden expedition
Sep. 21st, 2008 04:39 pmWhen I took Tess out to the pasture this afternoon I detoured past the garden on the way back. As I suspected, there were more peas and beans needing to be picked, and tomatoes ready too. Also, the depredations of a tomato hornworm were evident. I'd hoped I had escaped those disgusting pests this year, but their damage is obvious once they get past a certain size. Large bites out of green tomatoes, whole upper stems denuded of leaves, and frass (caterpillar droppings) on the ground below that are bigger than mouse turds.
After I finished my barn chores, I grabbed a large colander for the harvest and mentioned to Gary that I had a hornworm. "Ah ha!" he said, "Time for an expedition." So he joined me, and brought the aluminum ladder too so we could pick our lonely four apples, all of which were just out of my reach. Filled the colander with beans, peas, and cherry tomatoes, and started tying the straggling tomato stems up to the trellises. Gary spotted the culprit. We've had larger, but this one was about six inches long. They camouflage well, and there may be more than one, but that one was "terminated" immediately and, well, messily. They squirt when squashed.
We got the apples down. I thought that tree was Cox but he pulled an old diagram out of his files and it is apparently Esopus Spitzenberg. This is the first year it has bloomed. One apple had a large rust spot, so I cut it up as soon as we got inside. More than half was OK, so we both got to try it. Just barely ripe, in spite of the bright red exterior, it had cream colored flesh that was quite firm with an intense flavor. I tell you, those modern commercial varieties they have at the supermarket are pale ghosts of apples when compared to the old antiques. Spitzenberg dates to the 1700s and was Thomas Jefferson's favorite variety. He had many trees planted at Monticello, and wrote about his orchards frequently. This would be a powerfully flavored cider apple, and is not too tart though it has a definite edge that would have been sweetened by mixing in another variety such as Graniwinkle. In Jefferson's day, hard cider was the everyday beverage drunk with all meals and whenever one was thirsty and didn't trust the well water. We lost a great deal to the prohibition movement, and fine cider making was one of the largest things destroyed. Some varieties of apple actually became extinct because the temperance rioters burned orchards or uprooted the trees. Last time I checked, no known specimens of Campfield or Povisham could be found. Harrison was still hanging by a thread, but in the 19th century it had more acreage than any other cider apple. Spitzenberg is a good keeper, so we'll hold onto the other three for a few weeks to see how they develop.
After I finished my barn chores, I grabbed a large colander for the harvest and mentioned to Gary that I had a hornworm. "Ah ha!" he said, "Time for an expedition." So he joined me, and brought the aluminum ladder too so we could pick our lonely four apples, all of which were just out of my reach. Filled the colander with beans, peas, and cherry tomatoes, and started tying the straggling tomato stems up to the trellises. Gary spotted the culprit. We've had larger, but this one was about six inches long. They camouflage well, and there may be more than one, but that one was "terminated" immediately and, well, messily. They squirt when squashed.
We got the apples down. I thought that tree was Cox but he pulled an old diagram out of his files and it is apparently Esopus Spitzenberg. This is the first year it has bloomed. One apple had a large rust spot, so I cut it up as soon as we got inside. More than half was OK, so we both got to try it. Just barely ripe, in spite of the bright red exterior, it had cream colored flesh that was quite firm with an intense flavor. I tell you, those modern commercial varieties they have at the supermarket are pale ghosts of apples when compared to the old antiques. Spitzenberg dates to the 1700s and was Thomas Jefferson's favorite variety. He had many trees planted at Monticello, and wrote about his orchards frequently. This would be a powerfully flavored cider apple, and is not too tart though it has a definite edge that would have been sweetened by mixing in another variety such as Graniwinkle. In Jefferson's day, hard cider was the everyday beverage drunk with all meals and whenever one was thirsty and didn't trust the well water. We lost a great deal to the prohibition movement, and fine cider making was one of the largest things destroyed. Some varieties of apple actually became extinct because the temperance rioters burned orchards or uprooted the trees. Last time I checked, no known specimens of Campfield or Povisham could be found. Harrison was still hanging by a thread, but in the 19th century it had more acreage than any other cider apple. Spitzenberg is a good keeper, so we'll hold onto the other three for a few weeks to see how they develop.
