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Tuesday, October 11, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
JENNIE
HAGEN
GARDENING WITH GRANDMA
Mark Torregrossa/MLive.com-TNS
Garlic bulbs dried and ready to plant in
October.
Time to
get your
garlic
in the
ground
Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Apple cider donuts are a seasonal favorite in fall, when Pennsylvania apple cider is widely available at markets.
By GRETCHEN McKAY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
F
a
know how to use an instant-read
thermometer.
This classic recipe from
Yankee Magazine features
dough that mixes together in no
time and is easy even for nov-
ices to work with. It delivers
doughnuts that are
wonder-
fully
moist on the inside and crunchy
on the outside.
Buttermilk and boiled cider
add a rich, slightly tangy fl avor
that’s irresistible. The tradi-
tional way to serve them is
sprinkled all over with cin-
namon sugar, but you also could
use confectioners’ or sanding
sugar or dip them in a simple
glaze.
To make boiled apple cider
(which is super-concen-
trated), pour 1 1/2 cups
of cider into a small
saucepan and cook
over low heat until
it reduces to 1/3
cup, about 25
minutes.
See, Recipe/
Page B2
v
a
o
f
r
l
it
l
Apple cider
doughnuts are an
autumn essential
e
My granddaughter, Greta,
and I have a lot in common:
We’re both always moving, easy
to smile (if occasionally cranky)
and love to be outdoors in the
sunshine.
We also share a passion for
apple cider doughnuts, which
she gets on Saturdays at a
farmers market in New
Jersey and I snag from
Soergel Orchards
in Franklin Park
whenever I’m in
the area. Made
in-house year-
round, they’re
one of Pitts-
burgh’s true
sugary,
guilty pleasures — if you can
stop at two, you’re a champ.
Luckily, and perhaps surpris-
ingly for those who don’t spend
a lot of time cooking, cider
doughnuts are easy to make.
You just have to be comfort-
able around (really)
hot oil and
123RF photo
The zucchini bounty, and putt ing your garden to bed
WENDY
SCHMIDT
BETWEEN THE ROWS
Ever had so much zucchini
that you left it in any unlocked
car (sometimes in broad day-
light)? If you were anxious about
getting caught, you waited until
after dark. ...?
Zucchini is a very productive
vegetable, and can be a blessing
to those who have no garden,
and too much of a good thing for
those whose garden is doing well.
There are ways to deal with
your problem blessing. Zucchini
bread, for instance. Freezing
ground up zucchini to make bread
later, like in the middle of winter.
Oven bake a whole zucchini that
got too big, with meat and/or sea-
soned vegetables in the middle
after cutting it in half lengthwise
and scooping out the seeds.
Then there’s zucchini relish:
ZUCCHINI
RELISH
10-11 cups zucchini
4 onions
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
3 green bell peppers (or use all green)
Add:
2 1/2 cups vinegar
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp dry mustard
2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp black pepper
Anastasiia Malinich/Shutterstock
Zucchini is an especially productive vegetable.
2 tsp mace
1 tsp turmeric
Grind together, let sit 1 hour, drain:
Cook 20 minutes and seal.
There’s even a use for lots of
extra yellow summer squash:
COUNTRY
CLUB SQUASH
(casserole)
6-8 yellow squash (can use zucchini)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp butter, 1 bouillon cube
1-2 Tbsp grated onion
1 egg well beaten
1cup sour cream
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
Coarsely cut up squash and cook in
a small amount of water until almost
tender, drain. Mash lightly with a fork;
add salt and pepper, butter, onion, and
bouillon. Add egg and sour cream. Pour
into a one-quart Pyrex dish. Sprinkle
with bread crumbs and (optional)
cheese. Bake at 350F for about 30 min-
utes. It’s good hot or cold.
I didn’t go into botanical
names and how to grow the
squash, but it is too late in the
autumn to fi ll in those details.
Hopefully you have neighbors or
your own generous garden. Now
is the time to enjoy the fruits of
the earth!
Put your garden to bed
This is also the spooky time
of year when the spiders seem to
be tossing their net webs in all
the trees and bushes. The land-
scape takes on a Halloween vibe.
There are cloth ghosts in trees,
and jack-o-lanterns on steps and
porches. Soon smoke will be in
the air from burning leaves, fi elds,
and bonfi res for cocoa and marsh-
mallow roasting.
The spiders and fl ies sense
winter’s closeness and try to live
in our houses. (Those are the kind
of squatters we really don’t want.)
At least the spiders are quiet
roommates.
It is time to think about
bringing the houseplants in from
the porch. If your tomatoes and
herbs are growing well, think
about digging them up, potting
them, and having them in the
house. You won’t have to lose your
whole garden when it freezes.
It is time to share. Dig up
some of your extra plants (or cut-
tings you have started), and share
them with gardening friends.
There’s always room for another
perennial.
Some pruning has been done
earlier to the yard bushes, and the
rest of the pruning will be done
when trees, grape vines, roses,
etc. are dormant.
The leaves will need to be
raked later, and mulch added
before the fi rst frost. If you intend
to start cuttings in the future,
think about buying a bale of peat
moss.
I’m starting a garden web blog,
which will be a format for dis-
cussing garden tips and prob-
lems, and I’ll install a garden cal-
endar of chores and when they
need to be done (it’s from the Mis-
souri botanical garden). The blog
address is: GreenGardenWhimsy.
com.
█
Wendy Schmidt is a longtime gardener
who has been a Master Gardener since
1997. She lives in La Grande.
It seemed like centuries ago when
I fi rst started gardening on the east
side of the Cascades, but we’ll just
say four decades and call it good.
Summers were short and hot.
You could always count on the fi rst
killing frost on or shortly after Labor
Day. Always. We all talk about
how odd this weather has been this
fall. But I do think a lot of us have
secretly been glad to see our fl owers
blooming on into mid October. My
marigolds are bright and numerous,
the perennial asters are smothered in
blossoms, and the bees can’t seem to
get enough of any of them.
My garden is very, very much
alive. I am pleased.
Here is one fall assignment for
anyone contemplating harvesting
garlic next summer (usually August).
You still have time to get your garlic
in the ground.
Garlic is one of those delightful
plants that wants its feet frozen in
winter after setting on new root
growth. Spring-planted garlic will
always disappoint you and I am sad-
dened each spring by the number of
retailers and even some seed compa-
nies that off er garlic for planting. It is
a waste of your money.
When you separate the cloves
from the bulb, select the largest ones
for planting. This will yield increased
results for what size the cloves are
usually decides the size of the bulb
next year. Just plant the cloves 6
inches down and 6 inches apart
(pointy side up!). Mulch with a small
amount of steer manure and loamy
soil. Steer manure is usually recom-
mended unless you have well-com-
posted horse or chicken manure.
Do you like saving seeds? I do.
The number one reason why seeds
fail to sprout when planted next
spring is that they weren’t saved
properly. Seeds like to be dried
before being thrust into whatever
makeshift containers we have on
hand. If stored in an airtight con-
tainer they absolutely have to be dry.
If not, they will mold. I speak from
experience!
All the beautiful leaves we will be
inundated with before long will make
excellent mulch, just not yet. Please
do not place them on your garden
areas too soon. Our soil freezes, and
needs to freeze, solid in the winter.
Most plants that are grown suc-
cessfully in our tri-county area are
used to this. If leaf mulch is applied
before the ground freezes, the cold
period so many of our fruiting trees
and perennials need may not be
reached.
When mulch is applied after the
ground freezes then it stays frozen
until spring and is not subject to frost
heave. Frost heave occurs when the
ground freezes and thaws repeatedly,
this action has even been known to
shove new plantings completely out
of the ground.
Until next time, this is Grandma
hoping all of you had fun gardening
this year. I certainly did!
█
Jennie Hagen is a native Oregonian who has
spent 40 years gardening east of the Cascades.
She is a member of the Garden Writers
Association and has previously written for the
Home & Garden section of The Oregonian, and
for The Observer, the Baker City Herald, and the
Burns Times Herald.