The plot where the peas grew until harvesting finished in July now houses a beautiful salad garden. One section is filled with big, sturdy radicchio plants and red-tinged fall lettuces. Soon the three radicchio varieties will begin forming heads that will bring tangy flavour and vibrant colour to salads.
I'm also fond of radicchio baked in a covered, buttered dish. I chiffonade a head, place it in the dish and top it with goat cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, a little thyme and crushed garlic. It needs baking for only 10 to 15 minutes at 350 F.
In the same plot is one of the winter lettuce beds, this one devoted to Rossa Ricci-olina (Fancy Frills), an Italian heirloom (Franchi Seeds) I've found to be a vigorous, beautiful, hardy lettuce for cold-season use. It's actually a fine all-season lettuce. The Victoria source for Franchi Seeds suggests sowing all year round except for the period between November and January. To access the seed listings, Google "Franchi Seeds in Canada" and click on Old Country Seeds.
When I thinned two two-metre-long rows of Rossa Ricciolina last month, I gathered enough lettuce to have large daily salads for a week. In using this and some of the fall lettuces, I developed a salad that incorporated seasonal watermelon.
In a big salad bowl, I mixed together fresh lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper, Dijon mustard and finely grated garlic and ginger root. To this dressing I added chunks of watermelon and feta cheese, then the torn lettuce. Gently tossing it all together yielded an attractive salad with a pleasant combination of flavours and textures.
Across a main path from all this appetizing greenery is another, small winter lettuce plot and the tomatoes, which are still ripening fruits with the benefit of a heavy plastic night covering. The major attention-getter among the the tomatoes this year has been a variety called Indigo Rose, with its elegant, elongated clusters of glossy black, cocktail-sized tomatoes. As they ripened, red overtones appeared at the bottom, blossom end.
Everyone I shared Indigo Rose tomatoes with agreed they are delicious. I found this tomato as a new listing in the 2012 catalogue from Johnny's Selected Seeds, which describes the variety as the "darkest tomato bred so far, exceptionally high in anthocyanins." These powerful anti-oxidants enhance human health. The catalogue describes the flavour as having "plummy" overtones.
Indigo Rose was developed at Oregon State Uiversity "using traditional plant breeding techniques."
The plants are slender and compact, though indeterminate, which means the vines keep on growing and flowering unless the tops are pruned back - something usually done in August to help ensure full sizing-up and ripening of fruit already formed on the vines.
GARDEN EVENTS
Fall fruit show. The British Columbia Fruit Testers Association is hosting a fall fruit show today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Westshore Town Centre, 2945 Jacklin Rd. in Langford. On show will be the abundance of fruit grown on the Island and in the Lower Mainland, with many varieties of apples, pears and nuts, all identified. There will be experts on hand to answer questions and identify fruits.
VIRAGS meeting. The Victoria Rock and Alpine Society will meet on Tuesday at 7: 30 p.m. in the Gordon Head United Church, 4201 Tyndall Ave. Paul Spriggs, an intrepid plant hunter, will speak about "A Great Scot: David Douglas, The Man, The Legend and his Plants."
Orchid meeting. The Victoria Orchid Society will meet on Tuesday at 7: 30 p.m. in the Garth Homer Centre, 813 Darwin Ave. Peter Lin from Texas will be presenting a session on growing Phalaenopsis.
Winter planters. The City of Victoria Recreation Department is offering Winter Planter Design with Jeff de Jong next Saturday, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Victoria Parks Yard. Cost is $50 for those who bring a container (no larger than 50 centimetres across), $75 if a container is supplied. Annual plants and soil are provided. Perennials will be available at extra cost. Learn how to mix colour and texture to ensure season-long enjoyment. For more information or to register call the Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre at 250-361-0732.
