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Weekly Garden Thread - December 7-13, 2019
December 7, 2019 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

Posted on 12/07/2019 6:42:01 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin

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To: Diana in Wisconsin

SUGARPLUMS / as in the night before Christmas / makes about 18 confections

ING 1/2 cup ea fine-chp pitted dates, nuts, 1/4 cup ea fine-chp dried apricots, dried figs,
pistachio nuts, 2 Tb brandy, Tb all-fruit apricot preserves, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves.

Directions: Proc/combine dates, nuts, apricots, figs, pistachios, brandy, apricot preserves, cinnamon, cloves. Pulse til mixture begins to clump together.
W/ teaspoon, scoop up rounded spoonful, press together, roll between palms into compact ball. Roll in sugar. Place on sheetpan. Repeat w/ rest.

Fridge firm an hour. Store airtight in fridge up to 2 weeks.

81 posted on 12/09/2019 8:49:07 PM PST by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: Liz

We used to make these with my Mom, but we’d use pitted dates, stuff them with almonds, then dip in egg white and roll in colored sugars. Looked pretty tucked in with a plate of Christmas Cookies. :)


82 posted on 12/10/2019 6:13:39 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

83 posted on 12/10/2019 6:15:20 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Stuffed dates....yummy.


84 posted on 12/10/2019 7:03:37 AM PST by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: All
Bruschetta Recipe by Chef/Owner Fabio Trabocchi of Fiola in Washington DC. Let's not kid ourselves.
Look at that bread. We're never gonna get bread like that. Unless we dine at Michelin-starred "Fiola."
Just get the best bread available from an authentic Italian bakery.

METHOD Whisk 1/2 cup mascarpone, 1/4 cup chp fresh basil, 3 Tb Dijon. S/p to taste. Spread on crusty bread.

85 posted on 12/10/2019 8:58:45 AM PST by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: All

The Curse of the Honeycrisp Apple

Bite into a Honeycrisp apple and you understand why consumers are willing to pay so much for a piece of fruit: the crunch.

That’s no accident. In the pre-Honeycrisp era, apples had just two textures: “soft and mealy (that nobody liked), and then we had the good apples, the hard, crisp and dense,” said David Bedford, one of the original breeders of the Honeycrisp.

Unlike the vast majority of modern commercial produce, the Honeycrisp apple wasn’t bred to grow, store or ship well. It was bred for taste: crisp, with balanced sweetness and acidity. Though it succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, along the way it became a nightmare for some producers, forcing small Northeastern growers to compete with their massive, climatically advantaged counterparts on the West Coast.

The Honeycrisp wasn’t an immediate success. The original tree, known officially as MN1711, was discarded in 1977 over concerns about its winter hardiness. But Bedford, who joined the team in 1979, found four small clones that had miraculously escaped the garbage and decided to see if they’d yield fruit. “In 1983,” Bedford wrote in an email, “those small trees bore a few amazing fruit and the rest is history.”

The Honeycrisp variety is now so popular, consumers will spend three times the cost of other apples to experience it.

*SNIP*

So why do farmers put up with the hassle? They simply don’t have a choice.

The demand for this one apple exceeds supply—it’s all consumers, and therefore supermarkets, want. So growers are planting with almost reckless abandon, pulling out old varieties, like the tired Red Delicious, and putting in Honeycrisp trees—even in places where they don’t grow well.

*SNIP*

Still, the industry is on the lookout for the next Honeycrisp. Something just as delicious, but less troublesome to cultivate.

Broetje Orchards in Prescott, Washington, is devoting 10 percent of its 7,000 acres to the non-browning Opal, Paul Esvelt, the orchard’s post harvest manager, told Bloomberg at a New York City event to promote the fruit. That’s the same amount of space the grower sets aside for the Honeycrisp. Esvelt expects 3 percent growth for the Opal next year, while Honeycrisp acreage will remain stagnant.

Washington State University plans to introduce the Cosmic Crisp as early as next year, said Gallardo. Tangy, sweet and—as the name implies—crispy, the apple could account for 5 percent to 10 percent of the state’s production.

86 posted on 12/11/2019 6:42:51 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-curse-of-the-honeycrisp-apple?utm_source=pocket-newtab


87 posted on 12/11/2019 6:43:16 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: All

We have one Honeycrisp that has produced 3 apples this year, so I can attest to how difficult large-scale production must be.

Looking forward to some of the new cultivars, but if you’re going to add just ONE apple tree variety, make it the spray-less, ‘Liberty.’ You’ll need at least a while-blossomed Crab Apple nearby for pollination, or 2 other varieties of We have 6 apples in a group near the Liberty and one white-blossomed Crab Apple (Spring Snow) in the center of the house yard.

You’ll never regret it.

My old farm had really old apple varieties that I never was able to positively identify. As they died off (they were most likely there slightly under 100 years; they put them in when they built ‘the big house’ in 1906, versus the settlement shack that was on the property) the wood was excellent for smoking & charcoal grilling. I sold bundles of it at my little farm stand. Waste not, want not! ;)


88 posted on 12/11/2019 6:51:59 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: All
Root Cellar Goals!


89 posted on 12/12/2019 6:09:36 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I want one!!!!

It’s gorgeous!


90 posted on 12/12/2019 6:05:06 PM PST by Califreak (If Obama had been treated like Trump the US would have been burnt down before Inauguration Day)
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To: Califreak

I KNOW! I’d trade one of my kids for a setup like that! ;)


91 posted on 12/12/2019 8:18:37 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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