Kerrplunk

This weekend I went to the Golden Gate chapter of the California Rare Fruit Grower’s Scion Exchange, and if that is gobbledegook to you you are not alone but you are also missing out.

Plants can do many things humans cannot. One of the most useful properties possessed by many plants is the ability to be propagated asexually from cuttings. (Of course, if you have plants that you don’t want that are capable of propagating themselves asexually, like for instance invasive blackberry, it can also be one of the most annoying properties.) The simplest way to use this property is by cutting a piece off a plant you want, say a neighbor’s superior fig tree, and potting it up with a degree of care. Skill and luck both play a role in getting the cutting to root properly, but once it does it is a new plant that is genetically identical to the one it was taken from. Certain plants do this well–figs are one of the easiest. A side benefit is that many plants propagated this way tend to bear fruit earlier than those started from seed. In some cases, though, their lifespan may be shorter—the plant’s age doesn’t reset to zero the day you take the cutting.

Many fruit trees are not so cavalier about bits getting broken off and stuck in the ground. All is not lost, however—the ancient technology of grafting permits the gardener with a little skill and a lot of chutzpah to cut a piece of a plant and surgically attach it to another, compatible plant. This can be done for many reasons—apple trees don’t produce true from seed, for instance, so all named varieties have been produced by grafting cuttings onto an apple rootstock. If you have an apple tree that produces apples good enough to eat, chances are it was grafted—look at the trunk close to the soil line for a bulge or irregularity in the bark.

Then again, you might have an apple tree that produces two or more varieties, also through the magic of grafting—you can graft a branch onto an established tree to produce a different variety of the same fruit. In fact, because stone fruit are often compatible with each other, some gardeners with small yards benefit from a “fruit salad” tree that bears plums, apricots, and nectarines throughout the spring and summer.

Grafting is a skill that any gardener can develop. It takes attention to cleanliness and detail, and tools such as a sharp grafting knife and some grafter’s tape or parafilm. There are good videos to get you started (peruse the right hand column for more). Not every gardener wants to graft, but if you want to grow fruit trees and you have limited space, it’s an excellent tool in your toolkit.

For the community garden I’ve been volunteering with, I brought back several figs to start from cuttings, as well as pepino dulce, goji, a superior variety of loquat discovered by Katie Wong that she calls Doxie’s Delight (it produced loquats as big as hen’s eggs in her East Bay yard, and there is a loquat seedling sprouting in the garden that needs to be moved anyway), some pluots to try grafting onto a plum or apricot tree, and a couple varieties of apple to try on our apple tree. It’s a $4 donation to get in the door, and scionwood is free. You can pay $3 for rootstock and $3 for custom grafting to be done for you. If you’re in the Bay Area and have never been to the Scion Exchange, keep an eye out for announcements next January. If you live in a different region, look for a scion exchange near you… FOR SCIONS!

While visiting the state I grew up in, I’ve made the acquaintance of a few delicious wild foods that I’d like to introduce to you.

Sea Purslane—Sesuvium portulacastrum

Sea purslane grows on sunny beaches and salt flats, often near mangroves. It is a low-growing groundcover with fleshy, succulent leaves. It takes up salt from the soil, giving its leaves a pleasant, salt taste and crunch that will delight pickle lovers. It propagates easily from cuttings and prefers sun and sandy soil. Since it is a very salt tolerant plant, it can be used where salt is a problem. Growing it and removing it (by eating it, for example, rather than composting it in place) may help remediate salty soils. Just remember that plants that take up salt may also take up other minerals, some of which may be dangerous. Use it sparingly as a treat or a garnish.

Wild/Creeping Cucumber—Melothria pendula

This plant, with its cute mini-watermelon-like fruits, is widely listed as toxic. When the fruits ripen to black, they may have a laxative effect, but even the ripe fruits have been eaten by people of the West Indies and Central America. The unripe fruits are safely eaten by many people—including me—who find their cucumber flavor tasty. Many people add them to salads. The vines can be vigorous and can take over a large area if not pruned back regularly. It will thrive along your fences, especially in sandy, low-lying or marshy areas. The vines are said to be suitable livestock forage, however.

Natal Plum—Carissa macrocarpa

This is actually a South African plant, an exotic that can sometimes escape cultivation in South Florida. It is often grown for its glossy ornamental foliage and pretty, fragrant white flowers that resemble jasmine, but it is also thorny and makes a good hedge to deter intruders, if you’re in need of that sort of thing. It tolerates partial shade but does better in full sun. Its fruit is reputed to be delicious—I had my eye on one growing along a sidewalk, but before the fruit were ripe, the homeowners pruned back all the branches drastically and I missed my chance to ask them for one. The plant has a milky latex, and all parts other than the fruit are said to be poisonous.

As always, if you decide to try new wild foods, try a little bit at a time first to detect if you’re sensitive to it, and eat only plants growing in uncontaminated soil that have not been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides.

In preparation for my permaculture class tomorrow, when I’m signed up to bring food and when it also happens to be my birthday, I thought I’d run to the grocery store and pick up a couple of things to bring to share with the class for lunch. Quick things. Maybe even a cake, if something looks inspiring, but nothing that would take any work–after all, tomorrow is my group project presentation, and I’m not done with the presentation yet.

So predictably I came home with morels and asparagus.

I’ve never cooked morels before, but I’ve wanted to for ages, so I sliced them in half lengthwise, rinsed them, and tossed them in a bowl of salt water to soak while I tried to figure out what they wanted to be. I had shallots and a bit of green garlic left, and I always have quinoa. So I took out my newly reseasoned cast iron pan and warmed up some olive oil, diced a large shallot and tossed it in, then drained the morels and patted them dry like little wrinkly babies, and finally (unlike babies) dropped them into the hot pan among the shallots and sprinkled them with salt and pepper and a little dried thyme.

I started the quinoa in the leftover morel soaking water, adding the white part of the green garlic (diced) and some salt and pepper. Then when the morels were nicely cooked (I tasted one hesitantly; it was delicious even to this recovering fungophobe, and not a bit like rocket fuel) I added them and the shallots to the quinoa, covered it, and turned it down to a low simmer. Then I started some young spring asparagus in the pan with the leftover morel oil and sprinkled the green parts of the green garlic into it along with a squeeze of lemon. I sauteed the asparagus until it was almost done and then tossed it into the quinoa, which was still steaming. Then I stirred the quinoa mixture (bad, bad haphazard chef!) and covered it again to finish.

It tastes great hot, although maybe it could use a little more seasoning. I’ll see how it goes over tomorrow.

Then I needed something fast but delicious so I could get started procrastinating properly, as I’m doing now. That meant toast. I put a couple slices of bread into the toaster over to warm up, chopped up the last of my jalapenos, and sprinkled them on top of the bread and covered them with slices of Spring Hill Farm smoked cheddar. I let the cheddar melt until it bubbled. It was simple, fast, and supremely satisfying.

Now I really can’t procrastinate any more.