Harlequins Gardens

Boulder's specialist in well-adapted plants

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Fruit and Food

Mouthwatering STRAWBERRIES on Sale THIS WEEK for 20% off!

When you buy fresh strawberries at the grocery store, are they ripe? No. Delicious? No. Expensive? Yes. Enough said.

Earliglow: Many people miss out on the best-tasting strawberries because they are “June bearing.” Why buy ‘Earliglow’ Strawberry when it only fruits in June? Because the flavor is fabulous and because it produces a lot all through the month, so even a small patch can produce enough berries for bowls or strawberry shortcakes you will remember. A bigger patch yields enough for preserves, too. “Earliglow is prized for its rich, classic heirloom sweetness, glossy red skin and firm texture. Highly vigorous and cold-hardy, this variety is exceptionally beginner-friendly and renowned for producing abundant runners (more plants). It is perfect for fresh eating, freezing and jams. It is also disease resistant.

Ogallala: A vigorous, very cold-hardy, ‘everbearing’ strawberry that “combines the sweet, intense flavor of the Rocky Mt. wild strawberry with the large size of traditional garden varieties.” (McKay Nursery) It was bred at the Cheyenne Horticultural Station to withstand drought, zone 3 cold, heat and exposure. It has a long season and is high yielding. A small patch can provide delicious grazing, offering a few ripe fruits just about
every day from June to September.

For a limited time, these two strawberry varieties are available at 20% off the regular price. ENJOY!

Fruit Trees!

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” This famous quote, often attributed to Martin Luther, symbolizes hope, faith, and the importance of stewardship. It highlights that planting a tree is a proactive, hopeful act for the future, regardless of current circumstances.

If you are wondering what the best fruit trees are to plant in your yard, join Mikl Brawner’s class this coming Saturday, Best Fruit Trees for Colorado  REGISTER HERE

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Curing Winter Squash for Storage

butternut squash

Butternut Squash

We’ve tried a number of ways to store squash, and we’ve been informed over the years by our friends at Seed Savers. If you’ve been canning, chopping and freezing, and cooking things down into sauce this harvest season, you’ll love the ease of storing winter squash whole.

First, be sure the squash are ripe. Each variety differs regarding color and sheen as indicators of ripeness, but as a rule we harvest when the thick stem connecting the fruit to the vine has dried. Cut the stem, leaving at least 1″ and up to 3″ of the stem attached. Be sure to harvest before the first hard frost – if you can’t harvest until after a frost, don’t try to cure and store the squash. Rather, either dice and freeze for later, or bake or make soup and freeze that for later.

Curing is a process that sets up the squash for several months’ of storage by allowing the skin, or shell, to harden.  After harvest, elevate the squash off the ground, keeping room between fruits for air to circulate, and leave in a bright, sunny space that isn’t warm or hot for approximately two weeks. You’ll know when they are cured when they pass the ‘fingernail test’ – press your fingernail gently into the shell, and if the skin bruises or breaks, it’s not cured yet! A fully cured squash won’t even dent.

Storage instructions do sound a bit like the porridge in the Goldilocks story – the place you store the squash can’t be too hot or too cold. It needs to be just right! That means not colder than 50 degrees and not warmer than about 65 degrees.  The warmer the temperature, the sooner you’ll need to use the squash. Find a cool spot in a closet, the back of a cupboard, a basement, or a garage (if it is temperature controlled). Wrap each squash in paper or straw and place in a box or on a shelf, leaving room for airflow. The paper or straw protects the squash and absorbs any moisture. If the squash does freeze, keep it frozen until you’re ready to use it. Inspect once a week, and use any damaged squash first. Here’s advice from Seed Savers:

  1. “Any damaged squash should be used as soon as possible. 
  2. Delicatas, Acorns, and Buttercups should be used within a month or two.
  3. Hubbards, Pie squash, and pumpkins can last up to four months.
  4. Butternuts last the longest in storage and can take you right into spring.”

And if you don’t have the appropriate space, you can always preserve your squash by dicing and freezing the flesh.

Seed Saving – Seeds last up to a year in your squash – so whenever you use your squash you can scrape out the seeds, rinse and dry, and plant in the spring. Just be aware that squash is a notorious cross-pollinator, and if you grew several kinds you will not necessarily grow a fruit exactly like the one you harvested!

And yes, pumpkins ARE winter squashes. Save them using these same instructions.

Custom Grass Seed Mixes!

Sorghastrum nutans

Instead of maintaining a Kentucky Bluegrass lawn, why not try an area of Natural Meadow, combining well-adapted grasses, wildflowers and perhaps some shrubs too. Such a Meadow can conserve water and fertilizers and should not require pesticides or herbicides. Like all gardens, the first 2-3 years will require more weeding, then less after plants grow together. It can be beautiful, provide habitat for birds, butterflies and beneficial insects, while taking water into the ground, preventing erosion and capturing carbon. [Read More]

Onions on the Way!

We just received word that our onion plants were shipped today and should arrive and be ready for sale by Friday or Saturday! We’ll be offering onion plants in bundles of approximately 60 to 70 plants, and half-bundles of approximately 30-35 plants.

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Wonderful Winter Squash Recipe

Buttercup winter squash

Buttercup, one of the sweetest squash with dry, golden flesh.

This past season Harlequin’s offered several delicious varieties of pumpkin and winter squash, from arguably the finest tasting pie pumpkin, Winter Luxury, to Buttercup, Butternut and Kabocha.. With cold weather on the way, this week is the perfect time to try a nourishing recipe with your harvests (just in time for Thanksgiving!).

Here’s a recipe from Boulder’s Mitten Lowe and Journey to Wellness for Apple Cider-Glazed Butternut Squash. It’s sure to keep you warm from the inside out. [Read More]

Harvest Guidelines for Vegetable Crops

Okay, you prepared your soil and planted your vegetable garden with all kinds of wonderfully flavorful, nutritious foods, you’re watering and watching them grow, and wondering ….. When can I start to eat them, how do I harvest them, and how do I get the most out of these plantings? Here are some tips on vegetable crops harvest timing and techniques that may not be self-evident. Even if you’re a seasoned gardener, you may not be aware of some of these procedures! [Read More]

2019 Tomato Tasting Results

This year’s tomato tasting was a great success, with a total of 41 tomato varieties present over the 3-hour event!

Participants brought in some wonderful new varieties this year, including Pink Bumble Bee Cherry, Gajo de Melon, and Blue Cream Berries. We always take people’s votes into account when deciding which tomato varieties to carry, so look for the most popular varieties from this year and previous years when you come to buy your organic tomato starts next spring at Harlequin’s Gardens. Every year we grow 80+ great varieties for all kinds of uses and growing conditions! A huge thank-you to Growing Gardens for providing our the location, helping us publicize the event, and for bringing us some fabulous volunteers. Thank you also to the volunteers of Slow Food Boulder County. We couldn’t have done it without you!

2019 Taste of Tomato Vote Tally

 

 

 

 

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Lycium (Goji Berry)

Whoever heard of Goji Berry 20 years ago? Now, with the current interest in superfoods, phytonutrients and antioxidants, Goji Berry juice and dried fruits can be found in many urban grocery stores. The 70+ species of Lycium are found on most continents and one species, Lycium pallidum, is native to Colorado. But the best known and most grown Goji is Lycium barbarum, the Chinese Wolfberry, also known as Matrimony Vine, Desert Thorn and Boxthorn. What is not commonly known is that this exotic superfood can be easily grown in Colorado.[Read More]

2018 Taste of Tomato Results

This year’s Taste of Tomato was a blast! We love the new location at Growing Gardens’ Barn, with its’ beautiful view of the Flatirons, easy access, and wonderful staff. The tasting featured 44 different varieties of tomatoes, with Aunt Ruby’s German Green winning the greatest number of votes. Participants brought in some wonderful new varieties this year, including Brad’s Atomic Grape, Thornburn’s Terracotta, and Indigo Cherry. Look for the most popular varieties from this year and previous years when you come to buy your organic tomato starts next spring at Harlequin’s Gardens. Every year we grow 80+ great varieties for all kinds of uses and growing conditions![Read More]

Harvest Guidelines for Summer Crops

Here are a few harvest guidelines for summer crops: 

Eggplants should be picked while they are still firm and glossy.  Once their skins have become dull, they will be softer and have dark seeds, which can spoil the flavor. Eggplants don’t keep long, so use them soon after harvest.

Bell peppers and sweet frying peppers are sweetest when allowed to ripen fully to their mature color, yellow, orange, red, purple or mahogany.  Bell peppers are often picked green, but their flavor will be a lot more pungent and they may be more challenging to digest.

Some of the hot peppers are traditionally enjoyed green – poblano, mulatto, jalapeno, Anaheim-type, while most of the rest are allowed to ripen to red (cherry, habanero, cayenne, lanterna, any chile dried for a ristra, etc.) orange (Bulgarian Carrot), or dark brown (Pasilla).[Read More]

How Do We Manage Fireblight

Colorado is said to be the worst state in the US for fireblight, and 2018 was considered by many to be one of the worst years in Colorado. Fireblight is a serious disease affecting apples, crabapples, pears, Mountain Ash and hawthorn, and sometimes quince and pyracantha (supposedly up to 73 species of plants).[Read More]