Blueberry Galette

Clearly I'm on a blueberry kick here but doesn't this look good? This came off this site.

Roll pastry dough into a large 12" circle 1/4" thick. Pile up 2 cups of blueberries and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of sugar. Fold dough up on edges. Egg wash the dough sides and bake at 375 degree for 20 minutes until the crust is golden and flaky.

Blueberry Coconut Tart

In my quest for yummy recipes to make with blueberries (also on a quest for coconut milk recipes), I came across this happy medley on project foodie

Makes 18 mini tarts

Coconut milk makes a richly decadent custard filling, replacing any need for eggs when using cornstarch for thickening.

• 1 recipe Key Lime Pie crust (see here)
• 1 tin (398 mL) coconut milk
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp (15 mL) vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) cornstarch
• 1 cup (250 mL) fresh blueberries 

Preheat the oven to 350°f (175°c) and lightly grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin.

Prepare the graham crust and press it into the bottom and sides of the muffin cups. Bake for 10 minutes, then cool to room temperature.

Pour the coconut milk into a saucepot and scrape in the seeds of the vanilla bean (or stir in the vanilla bean paste). In a bowl, stir the sugar and cornstarch together and whisk into the coconut milk, then turn the heat to medium and whisk until the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens, about 6 minutes. Scrape the custard into a bowl, cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled, spoon the coconut filling into the mini tart shells and top each with 3 blueberries. Chill for at least 2 hours in the tin before popping them out to serve.
The tarts will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

You can make the coconut filling up to a day ahead of time and chill it before filling your tart shells. But before using the filling, it's best to purée it in a food processor or use an immersion blender to make it smooth.

Two New Plum Trees

Two weeks ago, we planted two heirloom plum trees: the Blue Damson and Santa Rosa. Went to one of my favorite fruit tree websites, OrangePippin.com, and alas they didn't have descriptions for either tree, so after some research, submitted these descriptions to them. Hopefully they'll post it!

Oblong Blue Damson Plum with Yellow-Green Flesh

Blue Damson
An ancient variety originally grown in Damascus. A small to medium sized fruit with an oblong to round shape and green-yellow flesh with a sweet-tart flavor. It's hardy in zones 4-7. Being a European variety, it's self-fertile. Note: most blue skinned plums are European and self-fertile. In ancient times, it's skin was also used as a dye.

Small Blue-Damson Plum

Santa Rosa
An old Japanese variety introuduced in 1906 by Luther Burbank, a famous horiticulturist from California responsible for introuducing over 800 fruit and flower varieties (most famous for the Shasta Daisy and Russett Potato). A large, sweet, and firm fruit with red skin and red flesh. No longer commonly grown commercially but still popular at farmers markets. Hardy in zones 5-9. Somewhat self-fertile but will fruit more with a 2nd variety.

Santa Rosa Plum With Red Flesh

Plum, Apricot, and Pluot (hybrid)

May Fruit Inspection

Had a few minor setbacks last weekend. 1) all the apple trees show signs of multiple types of disease, the red and golden delicious ones being the worst. They have white thick spider web looking material between the crevices of the branches and have spots on all the leaves. Some are even curling up. 2) Upon trying to water the trees with the water hose and tugging a little too hard, I broke the metal pole off of the water spout. I found out just how good my water pressure was b/c I had a geyser about 30 feet tall. Fortunately it's been raining non-stop since then, so it's given me a little time to fix it. So sad.

On the bright side, the blueberries are doing GREAT. The pears looks great too (no signs of disease) but no fruit yet. The peaches show the occassional hole, a few yellow leafs here and there, and some oozing sap in the fruit (i'm guess some bugs are drilling holes), but have a good bit of fruit that looks good. The pecans are so-so. Time will tell.

Started some blueberry and blackberry seeds about 2 weeks ago. They take 1 month to sprout. So long!

JF190 Jumbo Thornless Blackberry Rubus fruticosus These plants provide abundant amounts of delicious sweet fruit in the summer, and the thornless stems make them very easy to harvest.
One of the most important advances in the blackberry industry was the development of thorn-less varieties, which need to be trellised, this is not often noted when you buy plants or seeds but it is necessary. We grow ours along side a fence for support. New shoots are tied to the wires with soft string as they grow. Pruning is fairly simple since you keep only 4 to 8 canes per plant. All weak canes and suckers are removed.
Hardiness zones: 3-9 Pre-stratified seeds need to be planted immediately upon receipt.

FDR97 Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosumA deciduous medium to large multi-stemmed sized shrub that can grow to 10 feet tall, but normally in the 7-9 feet range. The flowers bloom from May to June. The blooms are typically numerous and somewhat showy. The highbush blueberry fruits are small (1/3 inch), dark blue and covered with a white film. The berry ripens in mid to late summer. The fruits are sweet and delicious. For this tree the ideal soil is moist, high in organic matter and well-drained. It prefers an acidic soil (4.5 to 5.5). The blueberry tree likes to have mulch around the roots and full sun to partial shade. More sun translates into more into more blooms, more fruit and enhanced fall foliage color. Hardiness zones: 3-9 Pre-stratified seeds need to be planted immediately upon receipt.

D8509 Kiwi Fruit Actindia chinensisCold hardy to zone 4. Kiwis are vigorous vines. They cannot support their own weight and will spread up to 30 feet. They require strong support such as trellis, arbor, or fence. In nature, they grow up into trees. Training to the south side of a building is excellent for the small planting. Kiwi vines are heavy feeders and like their roots to be in warm soil. A mature kiwi vine can produce 200 pounds of fruit.
Kiwis require special training and pruning to produce good crops. When planted, the vines should be pruned back to 4 or 5 buds. From these a main stem should be selected and staked to grow to the top of the arbor or trellis, usually 6-7’ high. The trellis should be strong to support the heavy future fruit loads.
Kiwis are beautiful vines. Their vigorous spring growth is a spectacular sight. Excellent for a privacy screen, they will rapidly cover a fence and with support will cover a wall or steep slope. Kiwis grow in a manner similar to grapes but more rapidly. They are very high in Vitamin C. (Ten times as much as lemons.) They are excellent for eating fresh and are a tasty addition to salads and desserts. Ice cream, pies, jam and wine are other ways to use kiwis.
Very compelling plant names, eh? Easy to remember too.