JCMGA

Gardening Gourmet
By Sydney Jordan Brown MG 2000

No, not a typo. But more a gardener’s “Oh!” if it’s the first time you’ve heard about Perilla frutescens var. crispa, more commonly known as shiso. It’s also referred to as beefsteak plant — this author finds it difficult to visualize how this lovely herb resembles a piece of meat. But there you have it.

Even though this perennial herb (belonging to the mint family Lamiaciae) has been highly esteemed in Japanese cuisines and medicinal usages for thousands of years, it’s not so well known in our Western gardens.

Often cultivated as an annual, shiso leafs out with saw-toothed-edged leaves in luminous-lime color. It boasts as well of its other boisterous cultivar in brilliant burgundy. As with most richly purplish-red pigmented plants, this shiso provides nutrients aplenty.

Although green shiso has many benefits, its crimson-shaded cousin contains a potent dose of anthocyanin (antioxidant), Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids, calcium, potassium, and iron, as well as vitamins A, B2 and C. It also has a spicy zest with a hint-of-cinnamon taste somewhat like basil or coriander that’s sure to tweak any bland recipe.

Aside from its invaluable vitamin and mineral offerings, the entire plant may be consumed. How good is that! This includes leaves and stems, as well as its most beneficial seeds. Did you know these seeds are also made into an edible oil or ground for seasoning, as well as being used to color umeboshi and flavor the delightfully tangy-spicy pickled ginger?

Shiso is so extremely versatile in recipes, it’s a wonder it’s neither so well known nor used in our country. Not only does it add spice to the main meal but also spiffs up sultry soups, somber salads, routine rice, and tepid tempura, just to name a few.

If that weren’t enough, it also complements meats, seafood, and meatless dishes as well as desserts. Just imagine some icy shiso and berry sorbet sliding smoothly down during those sweltering summer days of being stuck on the home front.

Whether green or red, shiso is relatively easy and content to grow started indoors in early spring or direct sown in open beds or pots.

It’s a perfect plant for all who’ve recently partaken of planting gardens. Whether you’ve only a patio, porch, deck, or puny-sized plot, it will thrive in a pot.

Given a good mix of finely composted bark, morning sun with late afternoon filtered shade and regular watering, you should have plants O’plenty for the picking.

Usually shiso should be mature enough to start leaf harvesting by midsummer. Growing similarly as basil, regular clipping will produce bushier plants with even more leaves to indulge.

During late summer, flowering stalks result in seeds that may be consumed or saved for sowing your own next season.

What more could one want?

Gotta get, get, get,

get out and go do it!

Sow some shiso

and make it a hit!

Seed Sources:

Pinetree garden seeds

www.superseeds.com

Red shiso

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

www.rareseeds.com

Both red and green as well variegated with both colors

Johnny’s Selected Seeds

www.johnnyseeds.com

Both red and green varieties

Recipe:

Red shiso and raspberry sorbet

1/2 to 2/3 cup organic sugar, honey or agave

1 1/2 cups organic apple juice

1 good sized knob of fresh ginger, washed and grated

1 cup red shiso leaves, washed

2 cups fresh organic/home-grown raspberries (frozen also work) or black or boysenberries

Juice and zest of one organic lime

1/2 cup port wine (or frozen raspberry juice)

pinch of sea salt

Two 5.3 oz containers of raspberry Greek yogurt

To make syrup: In a medium saucepan, mix together sweetener of choice, apple juice, and ginger root. Bring just to a boil then add shiso leaves. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for an hour.

Place raspberries in a food processor or blender and add about 1/2 cup or more syrup, as needed, so they’ll puree. Strain puree through a fine sieve pressing out juices with a wooden spoon. Discard seeds, leaves and ginger fibers.

Add port wine (or raspberry juice) juice and zest from the lime and yogurt to syrup. Stir to mix well. Refrigerate until well chilled and freeze in an ice cream freezer following manufacturer’s directions.

By Janine Salvatti 

Master Gardener 2019

Well, summer is now in full swing. I don’t know about you, but despite knowing it’s coming, it always surprises me to see it barrel in loud and rambunctious. And while dealing with all this rambunctiousness, we need to remember that we have roughly 100 days until the first frost for any crops we are planting.

From the Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley:

Direct seed: Amaranth, beans, beets, carrots, collard, dill endive, escarole, Florence fennel, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, rutabaga, scallions, Swiss chard.

Sow for transplanting: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage pak choi, radicchio.

Adjust watering: Blackberries require 1” of water per week. Blueberries need constant moisture, especially during fruiting. Peppers – spray with a solution of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) mixed 4 TBSP per gallon of water to make them crisper and sweeter. Reduce water to potatoes when vines start to die back.

Fertilize established asparagus beds and check / control asparagus beetles. After cane berries have finished production, prune vines that bore fruit to the ground. Do not compost, instead burn or trash.

General for ornamentals:

Pest and disease control measures should be in high gear now. The honeymoon of early spring when our gardens were nearly pristine is over. It’s hard to keep up with the various wildlife, bugs, and bacteria/viruses out to get our prize veggies and ornamentals.

If you don’t have one already, try one of the bug ID apps for your phone or computer.

Potted and hanging plants need a regular watering schedule and a weekly fertilizer program throughout the season to keep the flower show going.

Regular deadheading is required for most flowering plants to encourage vigor and a long bloom season. Carefully deadhead rhodies and azaleas so as not to damage the flower buds for next year. They are ready for a good organic feed right after blooming.

Prune out dead, diseased, crossing branches on your shrubs and trees any time of year.

It’s not too late to mulch to conserve soil moisture and moderate soil temps.

Play time ideas for gardeners: Invite a friend over for a yard visit (with social distancing or masks!) to enjoy your garden, write in your garden journal, draw or paint your garden, photograph your flowers, bring your ukulele out and serenade your garden, eat breakfast outside, phone a gardening friend, or swap gardening magazines or books with friends to inspire your creative juices! Just enjoy your garden!

Resources:

www.extension.oregonstate.edu

Garden Guide for the Rogue Valley

Editor’s note: Cora Lee wrote this note to thank Ronnie and the Master Gardeners for the obituary in the May issue of The Beet about the passing of her husband, Haydn.

——

Dear Master Gardeners,

What a lovely thing to do – thanks for the memories. Our long association with the Master Gardeners were some of the best times in our lives. As volunteers you think you are doing something for someone – your community. Giving back. Yes we did spend a lot of time at Extension. And we had a good time, made friends, gained more knowledge and experience, and had the satisfaction of seeing accomplishment. It was far more than we gave.

I am sad to lose Haydn. He was my best friend. We have had a good life. A family of 4 children who are now as old as we were when we joined MG in ‘94. We’ve lived and traveled all over the US. We have lived out most of our dreams. The last 9 months we finally lived in Hawaii as many of you remember it was our hope to someday do that.

Now I am in Vancouver, WA, near part of our family. I have a small house and a yard where I can continue to garden. It is my solace. I have a new journey to make. And I have great memories.

Love,

Cora Lee

May 11, 2020

By Erika Szonntag

OSU Program Advisor 

Dear Master Gardeners,

Happy July! Summer is in full swing, and I hope this finds you and your families healthy and stable. I will highlight some key points about SOREC’s phased reopening, in addition to the new OSU Master Gardener Program vision and mission statements.

As of June 24, 2020, OSU Extension/SOREC moved into Phase II/Modified Operations. The front office is open to the public on a very limited basis, and faculty have been invited back to work, but only on a limited, necessary basis. Once again, OSU Extension operates under Executive Order 20-28, specific to institutions of higher education. This Executive Order is different from that under which county governments operate (Executive Order 20-27). You can read more about OSU Extension’s Resumption plan here.

Face-to-face volunteer activities within the Master Gardener program are still restricted. The Master Gardener Coordinator community, however, has received permission from OSU administration to resume work in demonstration and community gardens on a limited basis. Work days at the SOREC Demonstration Gardens are limited to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon, and to 20 people maximum per day. For now, GEMs and students have been invited to return. Depending on the number of people who sign up ahead of time to come, we may be able to open work days to other perennial Master Gardeners. Work in the gardens is limited to maintenance and is not open to the public or for educational instruction or events. Volunteers must register ahead of time to come work in the gardens, in addition to completing readings and a mandatory OSU COVID-19 training that Erika will provide if necessary.

OSU Extension regional directors and program leaders are developing an authorization process to conduct in-person programs, activities, meetings, and events over the coming weeks and months. Details are forthcoming, and any in-person Extension programming (including volunteer led) needs approval in order to be conducted.

We are still holding Plant Clinic virtually, and no in-person Master Gardener activities have been approved aside from limited work in the SOREC Demonstration Gardens.

The OSU Extension Master Gardener program has also updated its mission and vision statements as of June 11, 2020. This work began back in the summer of 2019 among all volunteer coordinators and Gail Langellotto. The advent of the current racial and social movement and the call to truly embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion have made this the perfect time to finalize our mission and vision to reflect how we want to move forward in serving those who need our services most, and how we can create the most inclusive culture possible within the Master Gardener program.

Our Mission: Cultivating resilient and healthy communities throughout Oregon through sustainable horticulture education and gardening projects that are rooted in science and that are supported by OSU Extension volunteers.

Our Vision: We provide accessible and equitable education programs that nurture life-long learners and volunteers who can expand the reach and impact of science-based sustainable gardening practices to benefit all Oregonians.

As always, stay tuned for more updates regarding reopening status, and please do not hesitate to contact me at erika.szonntag@oregonstate.edu with any questions you may have. Stay safe and healthy!

– Erika

By Sydney Jordan Brown | Master Gardener 2000

Garden Beet July ‘20

Get out for the pick-off,

Every gardener go shout

Decide on your shiso,

Then plant some out.

No, not a typo. But more a gardener’s “Oh!” if it’s the first time you’ve heard about Perilla frutescens var. crispa, more commonly known as shiso. It’s also referred to as beefsteak plant — this author finds it difficult to visualize how this lovely herb resembles a piece of meat. But there you have it.

Even though this perennial herb (belonging to the mint family Lamiaciae) has been highly esteemed in Japanese cuisines and medicinal usages for thousands of years, it’s not so well known in our Western gardens.

Often cultivated as an annual, shiso leafs out with saw-toothed-edged leaves in luminous-lime color. It boasts as well of its other boisterous cultivar in brilliant burgundy. As with most richly purplish-red pigmented plants, this shiso provides nutrients aplenty.

Although green shiso has many benefits, its crimson-shaded cousin contains a potent dose of anthocyanin (antioxidant), Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids, calcium, potassium, and iron, as well as vitamins A, B2 and C. It also has a spicy zest with a hint-of-cinnamon taste somewhat like basil or coriander that’s sure to tweak any bland recipe.

Aside from its invaluable vitamin and mineral offerings, the entire plant may be consumed. How good is that! This includes leaves and stems, as well as its most beneficial seeds. Did you know these seeds are also made into an edible oil or ground for seasoning, as well as being used to color umeboshi and flavor the delightfully tangy-spicy pickled ginger?

Shiso is so extremely versatile in recipes, it’s a wonder it’s neither so well known nor used in our country. Not only does it add spice to the main meal but also spiffs up sultry soups, somber salads, routine rice, and tepid tempura, just to name a few.

If that weren’t enough, it also complements meats, seafood, and meatless dishes as well as desserts. Just imagine some icy shiso and berry sorbet sliding smoothly down during those sweltering summer days of being stuck on the home front.

Whether green or red, shiso is relatively easy and content to grow started indoors in early spring or direct sown in open beds or pots.

It’s a perfect plant for all who’ve recently partaken of planting gardens. Whether you’ve only a patio, porch, deck, or puny-sized plot, it will thrive in a pot.

Given a good mix of finely composted bark, morning sun with late afternoon filtered shade and regular watering, you should have plants O’plenty for the picking.

Usually shiso should be mature enough to start leaf harvesting by midsummer. Growing similarly as basil, regular clipping will produce bushier plants with even more leaves to indulge.

During late summer, flowering stalks result in seeds that may be consumed or saved for sowing your own next season.

What more could one want?

Gotta get, get, get,

get out and go do it!

Sow some shiso

and make it a hit!

Seed Sources:

Pinetree garden seeds

www.superseeds.com

Red shiso

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

www.rareseeds.com

Both red and green as well variegated with both colors

Johnny’s Selected Seeds

www.johnnyseeds.com

Both red and green varieties

Recipe:

Red shiso and raspberry sorbet

1/2 to 2/3 cup organic sugar, honey or agave

1 1/2 cups organic apple juice

1 good sized knob of fresh ginger, washed and grated

1 cup red shiso leaves, washed

2 cups fresh organic/home-grown raspberries (frozen also work) or black or boysenberries

Juice and zest of one organic lime

1/2 cup port wine (or frozen raspberry juice)

pinch of sea salt

Two 5.3 oz containers of raspberry Greek yogurt

To make syrup: In a medium saucepan, mix together sweetener of choice, apple juice, and ginger root. Bring just to a boil then add shiso leaves. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for an hour.

Place raspberries in a food processor or blender and add about 1/2 cup or more syrup, as needed, so they’ll puree. Strain puree through a fine sieve pressing out juices with a wooden spoon. Discard seeds, leaves and ginger fibers.

Add port wine (or raspberry juice) juice and zest from the lime and yogurt to syrup. Stir to mix well. Refrigerate until well chilled and freeze in an ice cream freezer following manufacturer’s directions.

By Ronnie Budge

 Master Gardener 2011

JCMGA President

The frustration was palpable. When businesses reopened in Oregon and we could, if we chose, again visit museums, art galleries, and other places of interest – keeping six feet from others and/or wearing masks – still no one could be on the Extension campus. It seems that the Governor’s directive for education institutions like OSU has a different timeline than other organizations. But at last there’s some light: volunteers will now be permitted to work in the Demonstration Gardens, under strict guidelines. Because of the essential nature of the work we do, helping with food security, exceptions have been made for volunteers to be on campus. The numbers allowed at any one time will be limited, so work in the gardens will be spread out over multiple days instead of being concentrated on Wednesday mornings. This is for our own safety, but I know we’ll miss the congeniality of coffee and donut breaks. Master Gardener Coordinator Erika Szonntag and the garden coordinators will share the details.

At our regular June Board of Directors meeting (held via Zoom, naturally) each of JCMGA’s working groups gave an update on their plans for the coming months. The Fundraising Working Group and the Communications Working Group will together do even more promotion of the efforts already underway to raise money through the sale of our Garden Guides, bottle and can returns, etc.

My personal favorite of these is requesting that my purchases at the Grange Co-op be credited to JCMGA. Of all the local stores I used to patronize, the one I’ve continued to visit during the pandemic is the Grange Co-op, to buy fertilizer and other supplies for my vegetable garden. (I go during the first hour of the morning when the store is open only to seniors.) Each time I check out, even if I’ve bought only a package of seeds, when the clerk asks if I’m a member I say “No, but please credit the Jackson County Master Gardener Association.” It takes a few minutes for the clerk to locate JCMGA in the computer, but s/he always does find it. The amounts of these purchases add up, and at the end of the year JCMGA gets a percentage credit that can be used to buy supplies for the Practicum or Demonstration Gardens. The credit isn’t huge, only about $300 each year, but if we all remembered to do this I believe it could be much larger.

It looks as though “pop-up sales” of the natives and other plants raised by the Practicum, and which are still held on campus or being fostered by members at their homes, will not be possible until at least September. However, one of our Board members volunteered her large property for a “community garage sale” in August, with an emphasis on garden supplies and equipment. Several of us will pitch in as private citizens to help and to donate items to sell. This would not be under the auspices of JCMGA, but it is expected that proceeds will be donated to our organization after the event.

You may remember that last year there was a Holiday Gala in Greenhouse 2 where winter-blooming bulbs, wreaths, and other decorations were sold. Depending on the circumstances, we want to have a similar socially-distanced activity on campus, or a virtual Holiday Gala instead.

Our traditional Winter Dreams/Summer Gardens education event, normally held the first Saturday in November, is of course cancelled. There are many professionally produced webinars and YouTube videos available to learn about gardening, and we see no need to try and compete with these as an alternative to Winter Dreams. However, the Community Outreach Working Group would like to develop locally-focused virtual gardening lessons and demonstrations, but lacks equipment and expertise. If you have either or both to offer, please contact Jim Buck or Bill Gabriel.

Looking to 2021, what we do depends on COVID-19 and guidelines from the state and OSU. The Spring Garden Fair Working Group is starting to plan with two alternatives in mind: Holding it at the county fairgrounds as usual, or having a virtual event, with links to vendors (including JCMGA) who could take orders online and sell from their own locations. So, as they say, stay tuned.