Lag Time

Summer is officially winding down here in Delaware. The weather is still pretty warm but the angle of the sun is changing and the days are becoming shorter.... or so it seems. I know! it's the local garden stores that signal the start of fall! Richardson's up at the corner had mums, scarecrow lawn ornaments and ornamental cabbages on display nearly two weeks ago. Target, Wegmans and Super G are all stocked up and ready to go with halloween candy.
Ani DiFranco's album knuckle down was given to me back in the fall of 05 and ever since the song Lag Time reminds me of this time of year. Something about the music in this song evokes images of leaves changing, the rush of getting back to school and reminds me that cold weather clothes need to be pulled up from storage.

The garden.... overall a great experiment. Orion enjoyed helping me take care of our raised beds. The peas, cucumbers and cantalopes froze in fear when they heard the back door slam and Orion's loud, shouting voice follow; "mom, mom, mooooom!" The fun part was watching him get over the fence and then attack the veggies with reckless abandon. He would assure me he wanted a snow pea or a tomato and then quietly slip back up to the garage to hide the remaining evidence. Looking back it was a productive summer for the garden in the early months. We enjoyed peas, lettuce, and spinach before the heat set in. I was really good about watering so my efforts were rewarded in abundant basil, green beans and "sun gold" cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and oregano. Towards the end of july, the drought really took its toll and I lost steam keeping up with the watering. The roma tomatoes suffered as did the cucumbers and cantalopes. The cantalope leaves slowly began to be covered in a filmy white powder and now the leaves and stems are withering away. The cantalope we did harvest were tasty, very juicy and sweet.
I attended a composting class at the end of july so I am looking forward to starting my pile this fall with my new, simple composter. (open air model) I also cannot wait for next spring to get started on the garden again. I have a new found appreciation for the simple pleasures in life like a fresh tomato sprinkled with salt and pepper enjoyed over the kitchen sink.

The pursuit of higher education.... I finished up my Biology class! I was so relieved to be done and excited I passed. I started my nutrition class this past Wednesday.

I have come across some thought provoking articles and blogs the past few weeks and I am excited to share them.

http://www.everybodygoto.com/2007/10/12/what-people-eat-around-the-world/


The weekly money amounts are from 2005.


http://www.agriculturesociety.com/?p=5474

garden hijinks and pesto pizza recipe

Pesto Pizza
1 store bought refrigerated pizza dough or make your own
About a cup of pesto (recipe follows) you will have extra
3 tomatoes of your choice sliced into thin "wheels"
8oz fresh milk mozzarella, cut into thin medallions
Grilled, thinly sliced chicken breast
4 or 5 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade style for sprinkling over


Pesto (my original recipe!)
4 cups fresh basil leaves, not packed
1 garlic clove (you might like more garlic or less, if you want a hint of garlic, just remove garlic clove from oil and discard)
1/4 cup parm cheese
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
splash or two or balsamic vinegar (optional)

In a food processor chop basil with parm cheese and freshly toasted pine nuts. Put olive oil in glass measuring cup along with garlic clove and microwave for 20 seconds.
Pour oil and garlic slowly into spout of food processor or blender to blend with basil mixture.
Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasonings.

Pat out pizza dough in whatever pan you use whether it is a stone, cookie sheet or round pizza pan.
Slick the pizza dough with a very light layer of olive oil.
Slather on the pesto.
Layer with mozz cheese and tomatoes and then add chicken.
Sprinkle with basil chiffonade and a pinch of salt especially on the crust.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Dietetics and the Garden

I took a hiatus from the blog to go to summer school. What am I nuts?
Tonight, I finished Biology 150. The very first class I need to take in order to get a bachelor of science in dietetics. I have an even longer road ahead of me....roughly 3 years of classes. Most of these classes are based in science; biology and chemistry, statistics and math. Anyone who knows me knows that math has never been my strong suit and although I have always had an interest in science my grades in high school never reflected that interest. Yes, that's where it seems like I am crazy to go back to school to learn the very stuff I feared and banged my head over so long ago.
So, back to the garden!
And what a garden it is. I don't have a lot of pictures for this post but I can tell you I have cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes growing like mad. Unfortunately, this past july was so dry and hot that when I left for 4 days with no watering the garden, my sugar *SNAP* and snow peas died. It was sad but I thoroughly enjoyed them in the early part of spring and summer. I will definitely grow them again next year. I can't wait to take pictures of the 3 cantaloupe I have growing. How cool is that! I can't get over the cantaloupe. You know who else can't get over the cantaloupe? Orion! I am so excited to chop that melon up with him in a few weeks. Herbs are doing well except for cilantro. I let it go to seed and then it burned out. I have got the seeds and will plant them next spring. Last but not least carrots. I have got quite a few of them and I am waiting and watering hoping for the best. The soil we ordered is not very nice to the carrots because it is full of stones and rocks the carrots have to work extra hard to grow. When I pull a random carrot up to check on them most have hit a hard patch of soil and stopped growing or they hit a stone and split or have even grown around the stone. I have heard carrots grow best in sand. hmmm. Idea for next year.
I will also post a recipe for a pesto pizza that I made with tomatoes and basil from the garden...it was to die for delicious and simple! (not to mention pretty-i love the intense emerald green of pesto)

Snowpeas and Chicken Involtini

Made another tasty meal the other night. It was basically chicken stuffed with prosciutto ham, provolone cheese and fresh basil from the garden. I pounded out the chicken until it was a uniform flatness. I then sprinkled it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then layered the ham, the cheese and then the basil. I rolled them up and secured them with a toothpick and grilled! It was a fairly easy, super tasty dinner.
I love going out to the garden and snacking on the sugar snap and snow peas. I discovered Edamame hummus from Trader Joe's recently and I can't get enough of it- soo good to dip fresh veggies in!

Lots to share

First of all, I harvested some Swiss chard the other day and made the most amazing meal from it: Sauteed Polenta cakes with Portabella Ragu on a bed of sauteed Swiss chard.

Really interesting article from the backyard gardener in the news journal the other morning. I like this woman because her articles are helpful to the backyard gardener like me!

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100624/LIFE0402/6240329/1091/LIFE04/Scorched+earth+accelerates+harvests++pest+count


I must have lucked out in the lettuce department because mine isn't bitter or bolting but it is in a partially sunny spot and I have been watering the garden everyday like clockwork. Tomatoes are coming out in droves, I have been harvesting the heck out of the peas and lettuce. The beans and cucs are just starting to take off. I built a cool net contraption with the help of a neighbor. Originally I was going to buy some stakes and use some of my leftover fencing but when the guy at Always the Garden recommended this nylon netting I took him up on it. Works great so far. The cucs and cantaloupes are climbing it like mad. Perks of the netting are that it is reusable every year, won't break down and holds up to 60lbs of fruit and veggies.

Discovery Vegetables

Wow, it is so cool to see how much growth the garden has undergone in the past couple of months. Tonight I added a handful of fresh snow peas and a sprinkle of cilantro to our Thai Coconut Shrimp dish.
The coolest part about having a garden is watching the flowers bloom and then eventually turn to fruit. The peas are coming out in droves. The pepper and bean plants have tons of flowers but no fruit yet. The chard and lettuces are ready for harvest. The cucs, cantaloupe, squashes and watermelon need a bit more time although you can see they are looking for somewhere to climb and have flowers. My goal is to get out to Always the Garden tomorrow and get some more tomato cages and some stakes so I can build something for the cucs and melons to climb on. (They are "bush" varieties but they are looking like they need a lot of room to climb)

Orion actually ate a raw snow pea this morning and liked it so I think my experiment is turning out well. The kids were having fun digging in the beds and tasting the dirt.

I have a project in the works where I am taking pictures of my neighbor's gardens. I hope to highlight how gardening can be as easy or elaborate as the gardener wants. I have talked to neighbors who simply throw a few seeds in the ground and watch what happens to people who meticulously sow their seeds indoors during the Winter for transplant at just the right time to their beds in the Spring. The two green pepper plants are from the neighbor who sowed them indoors.

Brandywine Buzz

A friend of mine who works at the Y sent me this link. It is chock full of fun things to do this summer presented in a fun, witty way. Check er out:

http://brandywinebuzz.com/

Breakthrough! (sortof Shrek 4)

I am happy to report that last Wednesday I bribed Orion into eating some fresh lettuce from the garden. Yes, it took a DVD purchase but I think we are headed in the right direction. I keep offering it, one of these days he will eat fresh veggies because he wants to, not because he will get Shrek 4.

In the meantime here is a pretty killer black bean salad recipe I created last week. It is full of lean protein and high in fiber. It is great on any freshly grilled fish. I used Tilapia. The cilantro used was fresh from my garden.

Black Bean Mango Salad
2 cups black beans
2 kinda ripe bananas, still a bit green, peeled and diced
1 mango, peeled and diced
1/2 small red onion finely diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
In a large bowl mix all ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Backyard Composting Class

I am going to take this class at Bellevue State Park in July.

Introduction to Backyard Composting

• DATE: Saturday, July 24, 2010
• TIME: 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

Learn how to build and care for an environmentally-friendly compost pile and how to begin your own vermi-composting bin with Master Composter and Master Gardener Hetty Francke. This popular program will include a tour of Bellevue State Park’s Compost Demonstration Site, handouts to help you begin composting at home, a power point presentation of compost demonstrations sites in delaware, and a question-and-answer period. Compost bins will be available for $20 each. For adults and families. Pre-register no later than 4 p.m. on Friday, July 23. Meet at the Arts Center. Free program

How does my garden grow?

Too Slow!!!!!! There are two things I am currently learning about the garden. #1 is leave the damn plants alone and let them grow. Sure you have to thin some of them down or get the suckers of off the tomatoes but it is so hard not to rip things out to see if they are growing. (mostly the carrots) #2 is utilization of space. Until you actually see things growing and how big they get it is hard to know what is going to fit and where. Next year we may see a lot less dirt and a lot more plants.
( I am keeping in mind things are still growing too, so we will compare pictures in August)
That said, I took a bit of a risk with the back right bed and planted cantaloupe and cucumbers. Both of these veggies love to spread like wildfire and take every bit of available space up, so we will see what happens. The beauty of a garden is that it is always a fun experiment.

The pictures you are looking at show the two different types of peas, the beans, the pepper plants, herbs, radishes, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce and Swiss chard. You can also see a tomatillo plant in the middle of the tomatoes. I am really excited about the tomatillos, they are the green tomatoes in a husk you sometimes see at the grocery store in the Latin foods section. I am going to make some salsa Verde with them.
I am wanting to build a couple of fence-like things for the cucumbers to climb also. More on that later.
I am happy to report we have harvested the lettuce and spinach almost everyday for cool, fresh salads. They are amazing with homemade vinaigrette. Mike asked me for something honey mustard-y and what I came up with was pretty tasty.
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
generous splash of balsamic, white or regular
mix together rigorously until well combined
add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper
Add high quality, fruity, pepper-y olive oil in a thin stream and beat well until emulsified. Add a splash of water to thin out if needed.
Serve over greens with grilled steak or cold, grilled pork tenderloin.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Thank you to all of our veterans and also those who sacrificed their lives for our country.
Ahhh, I love this time of year. The sound of kids playing, BBQ smoke wafting through the neighborhood and the taste of fresh watermelon.
I have been busy mapping out our summer plans and making sure Orion and Maeve have fun things to do but also some quiet, stay around home days too. I am amazed at how much there is to do around here to fill up the dog days of summer. We registered for Karate and soccer classes at the YMCA but here are some other fun ideas:

-buy a pass to a local state park. We have one right around the corner from us and it's pretty cheap, $27 for the year. They have free lunchtime summer concerts on Wednesdays at noon and evening concerts every Thursday and Sunday at 6:30 PM this summer. They also have awesome playgrounds, an equestrian center and beautiful gardens to walk.

-the local movie theatre (Brandywine Regal Cinema) sometimes offers free screenings of kids movies during the summer in the mid morning.
-local libraries offer free story hours for the kids
-Pump It Up, a bounce house park in Newport offers all you can bounce for the kids every Friday morning from 9:30-11:30. The cost is $8.
-play dates and picnics with friends. So many great parks around here to bring a bagged lunch to, watch the kids play and catch up with your friends
-Cape Henlopen State Park offers camping on the beach in the summer for $20 a night.

And of course when you have those days when things are a bit challenging see if your school or daycare allows drop in services. Thank goodness, ours does.

If you have any other ideas for things to do this summer please feel free to leave them, I would love to hear from you.

Fried Kale, Boiled Kale, Braised Kale, Sauteed Kale, Kale soup, Kale with beans....

I had a meeting at my son's school this morning to discuss the end of year picnic. At one point the conversation turned to Community Supported Agriculture and how Margie the music teacher subscribes to Highland Orchard and gives her extra veggies to some of the teachers at MLC. The other mom's in the meeting were curious about the CSA programs and what they involve, the quality of the fruits and veggies, how much does it cost, etc. Our conversation inspired this blog.

I would not have known about CSA if it was not for my friend Kym Kelly. She participated in a summer CSA in 2008 and brought some of her extra veggies and greens to me at work. We would chat about it and discuss cooking methods . One day she came into the office, her cheeks flush with excitement, clutching a plastic bag full of what appeared to be thin, orange slices. "No, not orange slices!" Kym exclaimed. "Darce, I found a food dehydrator at a yard sale this past weekend and guess what I did?" Of course I blurted out, "You dehydrated something?" "Yes", she tells me. "I dehydrated the cantaloupe I got this week in my CSA box." "Try this." She placed two white powder covered orange strips in my hand. "What's the white powder?" I asked peering down. "It's all of the natural sugar that results from the drying process." So, I bit into the hard orange flesh and was instantly surprised. "Kym, this is amazing, I mean, unbelievably good!" "Everything I love about cantaloupe, fruit in general, is in this perfectly dried little snack!" It was so incredibly good, the sweetness of the sugar but the essence of a cantaloupe was in each bite. The texture was chewy but substantial like a thicker fruit roll up. It was the ideal healthy treat and the flavor still stands out in my mind, like a bit of summer captured in a dried little snack.
I decided then and there to participate in the CSA as soon as I could. It was a 6 week Fall subscription out of Calvert Farm in Rising Sun Maryland. I picked up our box of food every Wednesday at Marini's Produce on Veale Road. I paid $170 plus a $10 fuel surcharge. (this was back in 08 during the gas crisis)
Each week there was a variety of veggies and sometimes fruit. We received apples, a lot of beets, onions, Swiss chard, broccoli and cauliflower. There was more Kale than I care to admit and various salad greens including spinach. There were potatoes for a few weeks and also a veggie that I had heard of but never cooked, kohlrabi. I am sad to say it went bad before I had the chance to try it. We also had a ton of radishes, beans and a few eggplant, peppers and garlic.

That Fall I made broccoli and cauliflower gratins almost every night to accompany dinner. I felt like Forrest Gump after a while; braised kale, sauteed kale, baked kale, kale with bacon.... We were eating salads everyday with the greens and spinach with grated or cut up radishes. The beets were a messy proposition, I highly recommend disposable gloves when peeling, but otherwise when roasted and added to the spinach along with some goat cheese, orange segments and a nice vinaigrette, you will be a happy subscriber. The Swiss chard with it's brightly colored stems alluded me because I had no idea how to cook them. It would be later on I would find out that after removing the thick stems and stalks Swiss chard is amazing sauteed like spinach in olive oil finished with a little bit of salt, pepper and red wine vinegar.

Probably the most profound lesson learned with my CSA experience was how I began to question the source of my groceries and began to look for seasonal produce at the grocery store. I could not believe the difference in taste between an apple shipped in from California mid Spring and the small, red delicious apple from Calvert Farms in October. It's an experience with any fresh veggie or fruit you must try at least once in your life, even if you just grow a little pot of your own fresh herbs.

CSA is a good idea for a few obvious reasons:
-supports your local farms by keeping them in business
-keeps you and your family eating nutritious foods
-tastier and fresher than anything in the supermarket
-some CSA's even deliver to private homes for a fee

A few more things to consider:
-organic, fresh food goes bad quickly so you have to know how to prepare them quickly, or cook them and freeze them for future use. This is where canning or preserving skills could come in handy.
-the summer subscription at Calvert Farms is $450. A $50 non-refundable reservation fee and $400 for the food. ($20 a week x 20 weeks) See registration form.
-Get into a subscription with a like-minded friend or family. You can split the cost and still get tons of fruits and veggies at half the price.
-do your research on the fruits and veggies and have some recipes ready. This way you will be able to quickly saute or grill something or tackle a more involved recipe if you have the time.
-subscriptions are popular and fill fast. For summer subscriptions the farm starts taking reservations in March.

Here is some more helpful information if you are considering becoming a subscriber or a shareholder in a local CSA farm:

http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Calvert Farm Subscription Form and info:

http://calvertfarm.com/csa_app.htm

The latest in Garden

May 18, 2010 | Everywhere

ShopTalk: How Does Your Garden Grow?
11 Ways to Flex Your Green Thumb

Don’t be an herb.

	Shake These Bonbons Don’t eat them. Moulton’s garden truffles ($15) look candy-licious, but they’re meant to be planted, whence they’ll sprout into Italian herbs and tea leaves.
	Roll Up Your Sleeves Just because you’re playing in mud doesn’t mean you have to get your hands dirty. Protect delicate phalanges with a stylish pair of Ethel gloves ($20).
	Urban Zen Leave it to the French to create the chicest mobile garden ($128) we’ve seen. The portable container is the perfect place for growing a few crops, and it’s affordable to boot.
	Bombs Away Toss seed-and-soil pods ($6) into your garden; in a few weeks, wildflowers indigenous to your region will attract the birds and the bees.
	Let Your Hair Down Just because your thumb isn’t green doesn’t mean you can’t look the part. Ban.do’s halo ($300) of vintage blossoms and berries says flower child in the best way.

There's "bean" some pretty unpredictable weather around here.....

......the past couple of weeks. Temps have ranged from the mid 60's during the day to mid 30's and 40's in the evening. Last weekend the wind was so incredibly gusty it would take your breath away. The good news: the pea sticks my niece and brother accidentally burned in the campfire last weekend reappeared after the windy weekend so I was able to get them in the ground. I made sure to keep up the watering during the windy and cold times and the garden seemed to make out OK. I took some quick pics this morning and I will post a link to an interesting article on wind erosion that was in this mornings News Journal.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100513/LIFE0402/5130313/1091/LIFE04/Equanimity+is+gone+with+the+wind

Notice the beans are starting to sprout!A friend of mine who is a native Pennsylvanian offered: "when we have incredibly cold and snowy winters remember the magic date of May 15, that is when it is OK to start planting." So, I am somewhat relieved I did not put in the plants I wanted to this past weekend.
The forecast for Saturday and Sunday is looking great so I may take the opportunity to put in the tomatoes, cucs, herbs, watermelon, zucchini and peppers .