TicTac

Do a side by side; for me at least, textural superiority of the Kampachi wins. Interesting comment regarding the fat, I find it somewhat the opposite.

Especially if you get a nice big cut, and in turn, a larger portion of the belly - the fat and texture of the flesh I find on the kampachi to be superior.

If you are wishing, might as well upgrade to Kampachi

At least buy him a drink before commenting on his rack....

Thank you for taking the time to share that info. Clearly you have done this a few seasons! I too have hand pollinated in the past with great success. I have done it both with a small paint brush and have also removed the male bit and painted it right onto the female bits. But usually the paint brush because I like to eat all those tasty bits 😛 I am with you as well, love zucchini at that size, about 4-6" tops, super sweet and no seeds. Will experiment with removing the female flower at various stages of fruiting to see what if any impact it has, but I also typically pick smaller fruit (though I do leave some to get mid size for zoodles).

Perhaps the fruit might benefit from the flower remaining (and slowly dying) on the flower vs removing it (and how big does the fruit ideally need to be before the flower can be safely removed). Love squash flowers in tacos!

Question for any zucchini experts....we love eating the flowers, I try to take only females once a fruit has been established (does that harm the fruit) and males if we have a lot of them. Any thoughts on the impact to fruit production this has on the plant? In years past we have had really vigorous production for about a month then it just seems the plant dies, slowly but surely. This year I have them in raised pots and am experimenting with that, so a new variable into the mix of the already lackluster track record! Fingers crossed. Oh, and I am messing around with growing them vertically!

Thanks for sharing - will have to take a look. Disney is certainly smart with how they are diversifying their offerings...now I do not feel as bad for having a subscription basically just so that my 4 year old daughter can watch Frozen and Frozen II on mass repeat.

A great tradition indeed. You Europeans are still ahead of us North Americans as far as the whole nature/life connection goes.... Solid spread as well. Though those poor plants need a drink (the non-alcoholic variety 😛 )

Echoing the thanks for taking the time to share your anniversary adventures with us (congrats on 25, btw!). The fish and seafood look amazingly fresh - any conch salad's on the island of note (one of my favourite things from the islands!)?

Must have been luck, but again I am using minimal amounts of oil in a non stick pan (one of the rare circumstances I use it), certainly was some splatter, but I did it on a lower heat this time and kept turning - came out well.

I still find the texture of the end result when cooked in hot butter/oil from the start superior to a dry fried mushroom (with fat added at the end). Experiment for yourself, but if you prefer a more moist and resilient interior, you will be in the fat camp.

Made my morning (and month!). Can check off ‘finding morels in the wild’ off my Bucket list! luckily I have some fresh local asparagus from the farmers market

Perhaps nothing!? I did not over pack, and also double wrapped to create a thicker wrapping and contain said juices. Some did escape, but I did it on a med-high non-stick pan, in butter and rice bran oil - so no crazy temps for massive splashage.

Deep orange flesh - will try to remember to take a pic when I slice this last one…

Small, but pack a punch!!!

A new creation for us; homemade dumplings using dried rice paper rolls. They turn out fantastic … chewy on the inside crispy on the outside, a new winner in our house! made two types of fillings for this batch one pork and dill the other pork shiitake ginger and carrot.

Ramps do not hold their true flavour when dried, or heated. I have done many experiments, drying, pickling, salting, curing, preserving, you name it - the best way to retain the original flavour is to mortar and pestle some leaves into an oil. Bulbs have too much water and tend to throw the oil off faster. Save those for cooking, or better yet, pickling. I enjoy cooked ramps, but they get very subtle in their pronounced onion profiles and take on a much sweeter note. Great for a potato or asparagus soup. The transplants on our ravine are doing well - sadly however; I no long eat onions/garlic so friends are always happy to leave with a few gifts.

@KennethT - Indian mangoes this year have been disappointing (as are the prices - $40-60/case!!!) Was told by a friend to check out the Colombian Sugar mangoes - they are small (think hardball size) but pack an unreal floral aroma and taste. Not fibrous, delicious - and at $2 a piece, somewhat reasonable....?!

Are they sunfish? Hard to tell from the pics - but if so, they are HUGE!!! Never knew they were good eating, always was told they were just full of bones (probably the old folks way of getting me to throw em back and save more for themselves!) 😛

Interesting - thanks! Will have to check this out further. For tonight at least, its leftover yogurt containers, large sturdy paper bags and bubble wrap (for those in cages) And they thought it could not get any weirder!

Well evidently the new queen of 'maters has shown up! Impressive selection. How much space do you have to grow on? We ended up planting yesterday, it was 27 and I couldn't help myself (plus the seedlings were getting root bound and after one transplant already, I was not about to do another to get a few more days of sun hardening) so I took the risk, will cover overnight with yogurt containers, paper bags, etc.

Yah.... @Shelby's garden would eat up these little seedlings of mine... Totally envious and not ashamed to admit it! With crappy city soil we went with some cloth bags. These ones are made out of recycled plastic water bottles and drain really nicely. First day of hardening under the real thing!

I have no doubt they will go beyond French; how far they venture outside of the core however, proves to be seen. Quite frankly, it will be their loss (and certainly not offering a full picture of 'our' offerings) if they do not venture in every direction to see the amazing diversity our unique population has to offer.

Not the worst thing in the world. Just make sure you have some good munchies on hand