Fall colors are just starting on the east coast
Fall Colors 2011 - East Coast
Yup. Fall is here…and these are pictures from my recent visit to the east coast to visit my daughter. The leaves just started to change color during my visit and I took these pictures on the last day! I’m sure the colors are even more prettier now…
My big Tomato Pantano Romanesco plant in mid Oct in CA!
Autumn usually also means that it is the end of the season for the vegetables in my garden.. 
Although, I have to say that my cucumbers are still going strong – still producing 2-3 cucumbers every few days. I also have these Italian tomato plants (Tomato II Pantano Romanesco) that I planted this year for the first time. I planted them kind of late (in July) so I wasn’t sure if these plants were going to produce any fruit before the winter. Surprisingly, out of the 3 that I planted, 1 plant is doing extremely well and it has just started to produce ripe tomatoes – which is pretty late for northern California. The other two plants are still pretty small. Not sure why, since they are in the same garden box.
Anyway, the seed packet says that in warmer climates these tomato plants produce fruit well into autumn, so I think this will be a perfect way to extend your tomato harvest into fall in California. All of my other tomato plants (that I bought from the local nursery) are just about dead. Hopefully I can get some good seeds from this Italian tomato plant this year so I can plant it again next year!
Ripe Italian Pantano Romanesco tomatoes
Also, during the last few weeks, my perilla plants have lost all of their leaves and flowers. And they have these beautiful seed pods which I have been harvesting. Boy, I have to say..harvesting perilla seeds is a lot of work! I was able to shake off most of the seeds but I had to go through each pod to make sure there wasn’t any that was still lodged inside. I wish there was some easier way.. Anyway, I now have these fabulous perilla seeds which are called Deulkkae (들깨) in Korean. Deulkkae is used in similar ways to how sesame seeds are used in Korean cooking – as garnishes and seasonings and as oils. However, unlike sesame seeds, these have a pretty strong fragrance. The intensity of the taste and fragrance has been compared to mint or fennel in some articles.
perilla seed pods
perilla seeds from just 4 plants
The seeds shown above are from just 4 perilla plants! I can’t wait to plant them again next year. I’m also wondering if there’s anyway I can grow them indoors during the winter… we shall see…
Hi,
Great blog, like you I grew Korean perilla from seed this year, and they are 5′ tall in my back yard. Planning to harvest the seeds also, I would like to ask when the seeds are ready to be harvested? Fearing harvesting prematurely and ruining the seeds I hope you can give me some tips? Thanking you in advance.
Terence
Hi Terence,
Wow! 5′ tall? That’s huge!! The best time is when all the green leaves have fallen off and the seed pods have turned fully brown. One problem I found is that if I wait a little too long, the seeds already get dispersed from the plant and you only get one or no seeds left in the pod. So try to harvest the seeds not too long after the pods have turned brown. One tip on harvesting the seeds, put the cut stem with the pods inside a plastic grocery bag and shake it or hit it and the seeds will fall off into the bag. Good luck!
JinJoo,
Thanks for the tips I’ll wait till the pods start to turn brown and follow your bag method for collecting the seeds! I’m growing them in Toronto, Canada and it’s 8 to 10 Celsius here and the leaves are still green.
Sounds good! FYI – in Korea they try to harvest the seeds before first frost. I would advise try cutting the plants and drying them indoors if you think you are going to get frost before they all turn brown..
Thanks, this was helpful. My wife and I are going to [try] to harvest our perilla seeds for replanting soon. Our problem is that when the pods are ready, the birds come for snacks and leave us with little or no seeds.
We’ll try and share I guess.
oh dear! In Korea I have seen farmers put up twisted metallic ribbons on their fields to keep the birds away. I wonder if something like that could work for you? Anyway, good luck with your harvest!
do you use tomato in any of your korean food recipes?
Hmm..I don’t think tomato is really a Korean ingredient. All I remember from my childhood days is having tomatoes sprinkled with sugar. In today’s Korean cooking, tomato ketchup or sauce is used to make glaze for fried chicken, few fusion dishes (e.g. omelet rice) or even ddukboggi but other than that I can’t really think of any recipes…
Yeah, my dad used to sprinkle sugar on tomato slices when I was little…
Oh so it wasn’t just me!!
Yowzers! I live in Milton, ON (just about 1hour NE of Toronto) and I’ve always wanted to grow Korean perilla. But, I thought that my local climate would be too cold for them to really do anything. This year, I’ll definitely plant them!
Hope it grows well for you! Good luck! Thanks for stopping by.