Archive | Gardening

How To Make Weeding More Efficient and Faster

Filed under Eat, Gardening, Life by SusieJ on April 24, 2013 at 1:09 pm {no comments}

We’ve had gorgeous weather for the last few days. I planted the cold weather crops in the garden, and raided the refrigerator to plant lettuce and leeks. And, I weeded. It’s surprising how big the dandelions have grown in such a short amount of time. I couldn’t “pull” them out — their roots ran deep. So, I took a shovel, and dug them out, cutting out a virtual tap root.

There were so many dandelions. Luckily, I caught them before they were creating the seed… and as I dug, I thought about that… I remember reading that dandelion greens taste good when they are young and tender… before they have gone to seed.

So… my mind immediately set to work. I had not had lunch yet — and here were these dandelion greens, nice and tender… just like the ones I would find at the farmer’s market. Dandelion greens are such a good spring tonic… flushing out the system, the way we spring clean our homes. dandelion green salad001

This would be lunch. Sauteed in a bit of bacon drippings, with caramelized onions, sea salt and lemon juice on top. I couldnt’ wait to eat this lunch.

Needless to say, the edible fantasy I was having while I was shoveling out the weeds, certainly made the chore of weeding less like drudgery, and more like a quest, with a prize at the end. Did I leave any dandelions behind? No! Because greens shrink to almost nothing when they’re cooked — and if I don’t have enough dandelions, I’ll be hungry. And, I wondered if maybe all of these other “weeds” I was pulling out would also make a great lunch.

Once finished digging the dandelions — it took about an hour — there were that many — I chopped off the roots (I KNOW, it makes a great nourishing tea) but still threw them out, and soaked the greens in a bowl of water while I jumped in the shower.

Next, I heated the skillet, adding the chopped red onions and let them sizzle while I cleaned off the greens. Then, I threw in some chopped garlic into the skillet, and patted the greens dry before adding them to the skillet with the onions and garlic. I cooked and sauteed until the greens were were almost crunchy. Then, I squeezed a half a lemon on top, and ate the freshest lunch I’ve had in a long time, while I admired the weed-free yard.

dandelion green salad002

I Can Hardly Wait For Summer, So I Can Have Green Tomatoes

Filed under Eat, Gardening, Life, Try This by SusieJ on February 28, 2013 at 10:17 am {no comments}

This past summer, I had an abundance of stubborn green tomatoes that just would not turn in time for frost. I rescued them before we left the lake, so they would not be decimated by frost. green tomato chutney003

For some reason, the boys were adamant about “rescuing” them too. So, I had a lots of help gathering them up before we left. They don’t even like tomatoes…

green tomato chutney002

I decided to make green tomato pickles. They were beautiful… and quite horrible. Unfortunately, that’s how I used up most of the abundance of green tomatoes.

I made only two jars of green tomato chutney — which was quite an adventure because I have never even eaten green tomato chutney before. I did it just because I had the tomatoes, and thought, “this is what I should do.”

green tomato chutney004

As I mixed the ingredients… I was not even licking my chops. This didn’t even smell good. I was careful not to add raisins, as most green chutney recipes call for this. The idea did not even appeal to me to have raisins mixed with tomatoes. Even green ones.

green tomato chutney007

So, the two jars sat in my pantry, until I the night I had some friends over to share our mutual, but separate, experiences in wine country.

“This might be a good time to pull out that chutney and get rid of it!” I thought.

So, I pulled out jar of chutney, and slathered it on the top of a flour tortilla, and threw on some shaved Parmesan cheese, and heated it on low on top of the stove.

green tomato chutney001

Just as the cheese was starting to melt, I pulled off the tortilla and sliced it up.

To my utter surprise, the four of us devoured the little tortilla, and we all wished I had not wasted so much of that mess of green tomatoes on so many pickles.

What does it taste like? I won’t even venture to say… but I do understand now, why you would want to add raisins.

The next day, I popped upon the second, and last jar of green tomato chutney, and cooked it the same way. Only, this time, I was alone. So, I threw on a pile of Arugula on top, and ate this for lunch.

green tomato salad001

It just occurred to me, that the green tomato chutney calls for vinegar — so why not use all of those jars of green tomato pickles and make more chutney?!

Brilliant.

If you want to try to make this chutney, I will send you over to In Praise of Leftovers. I searched long and hard for this recipe, evaluating the ingredients of many different sources. So much pressure to make something you have never tasted before, and wondering if you will like it. This one is simple and refined: like a little black dress. It does not involve raisins. The picture of the galette was what drew me to this recipe in the first place. So, do, remember to try this as fall approaches, and surprise yourself with this little harvest treat.

Shrub: Think of it as the Healthy Vintage Soda

Filed under Eat, Gardening, Life, Try This by SusieJ on September 30, 2012 at 12:59 pm {no comments}

It was only a matter of time before I would try making a shrub. Loaded with berries’ antioxidants, and full of all the healing power of vinegar — I couldn’t resist. Combining berries and vinegar, with sweetener, into a healthy soft drink seemed enticing. This could be my drink of choice this winter. Plus, this might be nice for the kids to drink when they need vinegar’s help in fighting off a cough or a cold.

To make one, you simply wash berries of your choice (frozen are fine!) and place them into a sterilized jar. Mason jars will work, as long as you put plastic wrap around the rim to keep the acid from corroding the metal on the lid. I used wine bottles, with a cork. Prettier.

Then, you pour vinegar on top of the berries and let it sit for up to four weeks. HARD. Waiting. Next, strain the concoction (save the berries for chutneys!) and mix this with sweetener to make a fruity/acid syrup. To drink, mix with seltzer water and serve over ice.

Here’s the formula:

2 cups fruit. Berries are the first choice — but you can also use peaches, pears and pomegranate seeds. I used cherries and blackraspberries.

And blueberries for another batch:

1 pint vinegar. Apple cider vinegar, with the mother, gives a milder flavor. Just make sure the vinegar you use has 5 percent acidity.
If you’re going to use sugar, sweeten with 1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar — but I will leave the sweetener out, to sweeten as I pour — with whatever I choose. I’d like to believe I can use Stevia, Agave Nectar or Molasses — anything besides sugar.

Here are the rules:

Sterilize your jars and lids. Here’s more information if you aren’t sure. Very important step!
Add the fruit.
Add the vinegar.
Store it for up to four weeks to let the berries infuse into the vinegar.
Strain it into another sterilized jar.
If you are adding sweetener now, place the vinegar and sugar into a saucepan, and boil until sugar dissolves. Pour into a sterilized jar.
Store it in the refrigerator — it can keep up to six months.
To serve, mix 1 tablespoon of shrub into an 8 ounce glass — adding more to your taste.

Waiting on the Fort

Filed under clean, Gardening, Life, Try This by SusieJ on September 28, 2012 at 9:33 am {no comments}

The design of this fort is

ingenious — using the top bar of the swing set bar to hold the strings, which come down to form the walls of the fort at an angle all the way to the ground. Each string is secured to a rock. Ingenious…

Especially over the last one — the maze of string.

Each rock is surrounded by 3 Jack in the Beanstalk seeds, and a few peas. But, there just may not be enough hot days left to grow those luscious thick walls that boys love so much.

Hmmm. We’ve had plenty of rain, and the temperatures haven’t been hot — but warm.

It’s just like the beans just know — you can’t fool them into thinking it’s spring, and they can just tear out of the ground as if they’re running a race. That’s what they do in the spring — the take off like race cars, and climb that string as quickly as they can.

The beans are definitely holding back. We’ll just have to wait and see if a growth spurt just happens to hit them just in time, and we have a luscious fort for fall.

Stop Storing Lettuce In Your Fridge

Filed under Eat, Gardening, Life by SusieJ on September 26, 2012 at 3:26 pm {no comments}

Who cares if the weather is getting cooler, and those endless days of summer are gone for the year. You can still grow something. This is prime growing season for lettuce. Lettuce, like peas and most greens, prefer those cool nights and cooler days. Yet, if you’ve ever grown lettuce by seed, you know what a painfully slow and typically “unfruitful” process it can be. Lettuce takes forever to grow from seed — often yielding nothing.

So, since I learned how to grow vegetables from food — I’ve been popping all of my lettuce cores into the ground –and the lettuce keeps growing — every single time. Because, wouldn’t you rather eat a fresh salad rather than an old one?

Here’s the core of Romaine Lettuce,

and Red Leaf Lettuce that I just planted a few days ago.

Here’s the core of Romaine Lettuce that is 3 weeks old.

And here’s the core of Romaine that I planted 4 weeks ago — it’s almost salad time!

Stop storing your lettuce in the fridge — and stick those cores in the ground. If bugs and critters are a problem — sprinkle liberally with cayenne pepper.

Pesto Biscuits

Filed under Eat, Gardening, Household, Life by SusieJ on September 6, 2012 at 12:58 pm {no comments}

If you’re already busy making pesto to capture this season’s harvest, making these biscuits will save you time. All you have to remember is to NOT clean your food processor until after you’re done with these biscuits — and the dough will help to clean out all of the extra bits of basil leaves that you can’t reach with your spatula. Like I said, making these biscuits will save you time.

Make your traditional pesto, your regular old way — Basil, Olive Oil, Walnuts and garlic. Leave out the Parmesan Cheese if you plan to freeze your pesto. The basil will keep better without it — and you can add the cheese later when you’re using the pesto. Be sure to add some Nasturtium leaves — if you planted some last spring.

Once the pesto is all packed away, and in the freezer, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
In your messy food processor add:

2 cups of flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
3/4 teaspoons of salt
5 tablespoons of butter (or you can use olive oil for my variation of this recipe)
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

Pulse the food processor to get everything mixed together. Just a few pulses will make a nice, healthy looking ball of dough, speckled with pesto.

Then add 3/4 cup of milk… and process the milk into the dough.

Now, you can simply drop these onto a cookie sheet and bake them for 10-15 minutes. Or, you can roll them out and cut them.

Are you wondering why I have no picture of the cooked biscuit? Because they were gone before I was armed and ready with my camera!

Foraged Food

Filed under Eat, Gardening, Try This by SusieJ on June 25, 2012 at 6:36 am {no comments}

We spotted these daylilies, and we couldn’t resist them.

After picking them,

we soaked them in salt water. Then, dipped them in a mixture of egg, milk and salt.

Next, dredged them in flour,

and placed on a baking sheet lightly oiled with olive oil and salt.

Baked for 15-minutes – turning once.

Delicious.

Morning Tea For A Certain Place In Time

Filed under Eat, Gardening, the lake house by SusieJ on June 13, 2012 at 3:59 pm {no comments}

In the morning, I often find myself drawn to the back of the lake house, away from the water. At first I resisted and focused my eyes on the water, to see which fishermen were out, spotting the swans, and to just watch the ripples. After all, that’s what a lake house is all about, isn’t it, the water? Maybe not all the time.

There’s just as much not to miss in the back of the house. Lately, I’ve been following my impulse to go to the back, first thing in the morning. I grab my flip flops and open the door and look behind to see which flowers have opened, how many blackberries have ripened overnight, and to see what the rabbits left behind for me in my pitiful, rodent-infested garden.

Since the day I arrived, a bitter cold made a home inside of my head and has now dropped down to my chest. Could be allergies? Either way, my immune system is knocked out trying to fight it off. Thyme is good for respiratory things — that herb is an old friend and has nursed me back from the brink of bronchitis many times over the decades. Thyme is one of the things thriving in our garden, as the rabbits don’t seem to like it much.

So, I picked some, hoping it will once again rise to the challenge and bring me back to health. Then, I added some fresh black raspberries. The birds were not happy to find me fidgeting in their paradise. I carried my foraged goodies back to the cottage, rinsed them off, steeped some water, and added the thyme and black raspberries to my cup. I threw in my tea bag of black tea, and the juice of lemon. And here’s an idea, I found on Pinterest from Dr. Oz — I threw in some ground flaxseed.

As I waited for the tea to brew, I realized how spoiled I am to have access to such luxuries — fresh thyme (what I wouldn’t have given to have this fresh herb back in bleak January when I was fighting a cold then?!), fresh black raspberries, and a lake to look at while I drink. But, then, that’s what makes this tea memorable. You can only make it for a little while, in a certain place in time.

Just Gardening, Sipping and Taking Pictures

Filed under Gardening, Laugh, reviews by SusieJ on June 4, 2012 at 12:29 pm {no comments}

Want to know a secret? The best way to rid your garden of English Ivy that has “gone wild,” is to use a half-moon spade. Just wedge the blade underneath the soil about two inches and shove. Up comes Ivy runners and roots, giving those flowers, shrubs and trees a chance to take a deep breath. But, this is not easy work, and not for the faint-hearted. You’ll have your share of pulling, and digging, and you will only continue if you are craving that open space between plants – a clear sign that there is a gardener at work. I learned all this from my neighbor, Linda, a proper landscape architect. More importantly, Linda is also a gardener. Did you know there’s a difference? Linda’s landscape is not just artistically balanced, but reveals a subtle color wave that moves slowly through the months, starting in March and flowing all the way through to November. Her front step pots are not just a showcase for summer annuals, but are part of that subtle wave that moves the flower parade up to her front door. Clearly, there is an evolving master plan. Although Linda would love nothing more than to visit all of her neighbors and dole out gardening advice and plans, she is now a exceptionally busy mom of two. Yet, I managed to convince her to make a clandestine trip down to our house. Not a plan,” she cautioned. “I have no time for that – I’ll just walk through and give you some ideas.” Perfect, I thought. “Just don’t tell the neighbors what I’m doing.” Understood. Linda made it down to our block right after dinner. Overall, her prognosis for our established overgrown landscape was good. There is that matter of the ivy. She gave us her certified approval to pull out some hideous looking bushes, (the urban hillbilly method at work here) and to replace them with some color – specifically, Knock-Out Roses, and to add a bit more lavender plants. The night was hot, and the arrival of the evening did little to stop the beads of sweat on our brows. When she reached our herb garden, she paused. “Come with me back to my house to see what I’ve done,” she said. “It’s easier to see, than to explain.” “OK if I bring my camera,” I asked. “Of course.” When I ran inside the house to grab my camera, I saw that six pack of Anheuser-Busch’s Michelob ULTRA Light Cider, sent gratis for my review here. Beads of sweat were building up on the glass, and it looked so light, cold, and refreshing. I pulled out three bottles – doesn’t everyone drink a brew made with crisp apples while gardening with neighbors? I thought so. I was happy to slip those long necks between my fingers and slip out the door. So, we took off, while Linda was generously doled out her advice. But, we both genuinely liked the cider. My husband, not so much – “Too light,” he said. So, instead of talking about flowers, we started talking about the cider, which reminded us of the wine coolers we drank in the 80s, but far less syrupy sweet. It’s a bit bolder than wine, and more like the refreshment that can only be described as, “nothing like a cold beer on a hot day.” Yet, Linda and I, like so many of our health-conscious friends, have turned our back on carbs – because of the effect they have on our hips. Precisely because of cabs, it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been able to enjoy a brew in a bottle – I only drink wine now. Beer, for many of us today, is a carb-loaded drink of the past. But this cider is made with apples – totally gluten free.

Linda and I both felt that sipping this Ultra Light Cider, straight from the bottle on a hot summer night, was kind of liberating.There are 120 calories in this 12-ounce bottle – one third less than the 180 calories found in a hard cider. The cider’s sweetness comes from Stevia, and as a gardener, Linda knows all about Stevia – the herb in the Chrysanthemum family that has 300 times the sweetness of sugar, yet has a negligible effect on blood glucose – which means that Stevia is not fattening, like sugar. As gardeners, we can only appreciate the simplest ingredients – apples and Stevia.

Of course, all the neighbors were out that night – in their front yards.Perhaps, maybe, we looked a bit odd, the three of us walking down the street, dirty and sweaty. I was taking notes on a notepad, with my camera slung over my shoulder. Each one of us taking swigs of our cider. (Thank goodness, we didn’t have to fiddle with a wine glass.) Linda continued, graciously, with her gardening advice, as we waved to neighbors, and continued our stroll.

However, one neighbor, interrupted Linda, asking quite loudly, from across the street, “What are you guys doing?” Just going for a stroll, I said. I turned my attention back to Linda. Yet, the neighbor was persistent and said, a bit more loudly this time, “With a CAMERA?!” This brought a pause to everything. Not knowing what to say, I just kept walking. Thank goodness, my husband knew exactly what to say. Without missing a beat, he said, “Yep, we’re just drinking and taking pictures.”