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December Second Saturday
December 12th 10am to 4:30pm
Redeem the Fruitcake!
The butt of jokes and a ridiculed gift, the fruitcake deserves better. We
aren't talking about the typical store-bought model with artificially colored,
candied fruit and loaded with preservatives. No, truly delicious and nutritious
fruitcakes are made from whole grains, dried fruits like prunes and figs, and
walnuts and filberts. Wrap this dense, flavorful cake in brandy-soaked cloth
and you will never joke about fruitcakes again. You simply won't believe the
difference! We'll also treat you to hot cider, Sea Berry juice and dried fruit.
Plus, you can pick up a Gift Certificate, unique book, or special plant for
your gardening friend.
Hear Jim Gilbert on KBOO
Tune in to 90.7 FM on Wednesday, December 9th. From 11AM to noon, Jim and host
Glen Andreason will talk about fruit and vegetable gardening and take calls
from listeners. Their special guest will be Glen Mills, organic grower of
Walnuts, Prunes and Kiwis from Newberg. Glen is an Oregon treasure. In addition
to being an innovative farmer, he has invented numerous, mind-challenging toys
for OMSI and the Gilbert House in Salem. Jim is a regular guest on Glen
Andreason's program, The Dirt Bag. Catch him on the second Wednesday of every
month at 11AM. KBOO is also available on the internet at
www.KBOO.fm/listen or on Itunes.
Solar Panels Generating Juice
Not only do we produce plants, we are now producing electricity. Put on line
on November 25th, our new solar array will generate over 12% of our annual
electrical needs. When you visit us you will see these silent and productive
devices on the roof above our store. We are grateful for the tax credits and
grants that helped us complete this project and to continue moving us all to a
more sustainable future.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is
now”
-old Chinese proverb
Featured Fruit:
The Olive!
On the windowsill near our kitchen sink are several quart jars full of water
and happy green olives. Picked on Nov. 20th, these now bitter fruit are
undergoing a slow but safe process that will make them edible. After
changing the water in the jars every day for 30 days, we add a saltwater brine
and have our own home-grown fruit, the tasty olive we all love in salads and
Italian cooking.
It is still hard for many people to believe that we can grow
Olives
in the Northwest, but they are surprisingly hardy and well adapted to our warm,
dry summers. Even our wet winters are OK as long as they are grown on
well-drained soil.
One of the best varieties for western Oregon is
Arbequina.
This productive Spanish variety is very precocious, flowering and fruiting a
year or two after planting. Olives are wind pollinated and we have found that
obtaining good crops with one plant requires some creative spreading of pollen.
This is easy to do - take a small brush and move pollen from flower to flower
when the plant is in bloom. This little bit of extra work will reward you with
many tasty and nutritious fruit.
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