Some Random Bits Before Christmas
Never too late for a last minute herbal treat
Just a few more days until Christmas, are you still baking, cooking, shopping or cleaning your home preparing for guests? Yes, yes, yes and yes, but there is always enough time to put funny headbands on the pets and take several hundred photos of them. Here are my two pups, Dexter and Noodle.
I’m not going to start telling you what you should be doing in your garden now. Everyone is busy with holiday preparations, and for many of us on the West Coast we will be dealing with a great deal of rain over the next week. Make sure your drains and culverts are clear, leaves are removed or moved to areas where they will not be an issue for water flow, saucers are not underneath any pots so the pots don’t sit in water, and you have turned off any outdoor sprinklers. Hopefully you can snip some flowers and foliage to enjoy during your holiday entertaining, and use asome of the herbs which are continuing to grow out in your gardens.
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I do want to share one of our favorite holiday recipes with all of you, Cranberry Sage Chutney. It is easy to make, can be used both for savory and sweet cooking, and makes a great last minute gift. We served it during one of our early Open Houses and it was an instant hit. Now, chutney is not my jam, I hate it actually, but this chutney is truly delicious. You can use it as a glaze on your turkey, chicken or ham (it’s great on sandwiches and to use as a marinade), or to sweeten your breakfast toast with a bit of cream cheese, or on a savory platter with brie and crackers.
Cranberry Sage Chutney
This chutney is wonderful with a holiday turkey and turkey sandwiches, but it is also delicious as a glaze for summer barbecues.
6 cups cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 orange, unpeeled, chopped, and seeded
1 cup orange juice
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup slivered almonds
12 dried dates, chopped
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
3 tbsp chopped fresh sage
Place all the ingredients except 2 tbsp of the sage in a non-aluminum pan and cook over medium low heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil until the berries and the mixture thickens slightly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining tablespoons of sage. Ladle into sterilized jars, wipe the rims clean, and seal tightly. This chutney can be refrigerated for up to 6 months. To store for up to one year, process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Store in a cool, dark place. Makes 4 pints.
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We are open only 2 more days this year, Saturday and Sunday, December 20th-21st. We have sales throughout the nursery, everything in the nursery is 20% off! And if you are checking out at the register and it is raining (highly likely this weekend) be sure to ask for the Rainy Day Discount to receive an additional 10% off.
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This Week’s Project
We had one dry, non-drippy no fog day finally this week, so we had enough time to strip off the old plastic from our propagation greenhouse and pull over a new ‘skin’. It is two layers of plastic with an inflator fan to blow air between the two layers to create a layer of insulation for heating. It takes 5 people to properly put the plastic on this small 20 ft x 65 ft greenhouse, hopefully we will get 4 to 5 years from this covering!
