“I don’t know of anyone who relishes food from the garden as much as you.”
That was a friend’s comment recently as I gleefully pointed out a row of dwarf cabbages I was growing for the first time.
I admit to delight in all the food the garden produces. Perhaps, like most food gardeners, I also enjoy preparing and consuming the food.
We had just completed the last picking of prune plums on an old tree that had been slowly dying back in recent years. Compared with the mammoth harvests of past years, pickings now are sparse but the fruit is as juicy and delectable as ever.
I knew right away what I would do with my share of that last plum picking: plum custard pie, a dessert that sounds, and looks, fancy but the pie is quickly made with shells I always have on hand. I make a custard version of all my fruit pies, mainly apple, blueberry and plum.
I pre-bake pastry pie shells at 350 F for 12 minutes before filling them. This time, I filled the shells half full and scattered thinly sliced candied ginger and small cubes of almond paste on the plums before adding the rest of the fruit.
To create a custard-like consistency in a fruit pie, I pour this mixture over the filled shell:
4 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cream
Optional: vanilla and/or almond extracts
For a topping I use slivered almonds dusted with cinnamon.
These fruit pies are baked covered loosely with foil for one hour at 375 F and 20 minutes longer uncovered.
Garden whimsy. Every summer I can count on at least one bit of unplanned but pleasantly quirky distraction arising somewhere in the garden.
Late last month I noticed two wee flower faces peeking out at an edge of a window box type planter holding a row of dwarf, small-leaved basil. The flowers were little violas that had somehow sown themselves in the soil of the planter. Tiny, fleeting visitors offering up a charming surprise.
Earlier this summer, as a small group of sunflowers developed at a vegetable plot corner, I noticed dill seedlings emerging in their midst. I had sown Fernleaf dill in that corner last year. The dwarf dill brought a light and lacey contrast to the thick stalks and large foliage of the sunflowers. Another touch of whimsy visiting the garden.
GARDEN EVENTS
Plant sale. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd., is holding its annual Fall Plant Sale on Friday (members and volunteers only) and Saturday, Sept. 20 and 21, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All plants are reduced by 25 per cent. Master Gardeners, HCP staff, volunteers and horticulture students will be on hand to answer gardening questions and help with plant choices. Closer to the sale, the plant availability list will be on the website: hcp.ca.
Peninsula plant sale. The Peninsula Garden Club is holding a Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, Sept. 21, 9 to 11 a.m. at St. Andrew Anglican Church, 9691 Fourth St. in Sidney. Great prices on a wide selection of fall perennials.
Abkhazi day of peace. Abkhazi Garden, 1964 Fairfield Rd., is celebrating an International Day of Peace on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Featured will be performances by Joy of Life Choir at 11:30, Vancouver Island Chamber Choir at 1:30, and Kalyna Ukrainian Choir and Ukrainian Children’s Choir at 3:30. Admission is by donation. Parking is available on the street and at St. Matthias Anglican Church, 600 Richmond Ave.
Garden symposium. The View Royal Garden Club is celebrating its 75th year since inauguration with a symposium on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Victoria Scottish Community Centre, 1803 Admirals Rd. Guest speakers will be Jeff de Jong, UVic Instructor of Landscape Design, and Gary Lewis of Phoenix Perennials. Tickets are available at Eventbrite. Registration $25.
Plant sales. The Friends of Government House Gardens Society are hosting sales of perennials on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon in the Plant Nursery at Government House, 1401 Rockland Ave. Sales continue to the end of September.
