Garden Report: Garlic Planting Day

Wow. Here it is, officially past the middle of October, and normal people are starting to think about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the upcoming Winter holidays, and I am thinking about Spring. If I want to have garlic scapes and garlic bulbs to pull from the garden next Summer, then I need to get my garlic bulbs in the ground now, a few weeks before the ground begins freeze.

If I wasn't so lazy, and didn't use my phone to take the picture, you'd know I planted Red German  hardneck garlic that I bought from Territorial Seed Company at the end of the Summer. Put 80 cloves into the ground and with much hope, luck...and some weeding and fertilizer, I should have 80 nice, fat garlic bulbs next year. Has worked every year for the past 10. Some types of garlic need to be chilled in order to produce a bulb. Learned THAT lesson the hard way.

I planted using the square foot method, used my trusty dibble to make holes about 3" deep and dropped a clove (root end down) into each hole spaced about 5" apart. Covered the holes with soil, watered well, and when we get close to a frost (usually around Halloween), I'll mulch the garlic bed with a few inches of straw in case we have a really harsh winter here in the Philly 'burbs.

It does seem a little funny planting for Spring, since my peppers, chard and tomatoes are still producing, but I know in a couple of weeks, I'll have yanked out all the dead plants and will be dreaming again of Spring. After all, it's only 155 days away.

Garlic, ready to plant for Summer 2014!

Fee, Fie, Foe Friday: It Was a Berry Short Season

All the Strawberry Jam with Vanilla and Lavender we'll get this year.

This is not actually a rant, just a complaint. And no recipe either. I know I have no control over the weather. Still, Momma Nature is a rough woman to contend with. Finally I have a good crop of strawberries and then we get about 7 inches of rain in less than a week. The result is mushy, moldy berries on the plants. Having already picked about 4 or 5 pounds, I can't say that we got none. We did get plenty to eat plain as fruit, and some berries made it into a strawberry tart, but there really wasn't enough to make as much jam as we'd like, or any to freeze. All the water, while its good for the tomato crop and most of the other plants in the vegetable garden, it has pretty much ruined any plans I had  for more berries. While these are everbearing strawberry plants, the largest batch comes in early June. So we're pretty much done.


It was a berry short season. Pun intended. What I've got to show for it is four really small jars of strawberry jam with vanilla and lavender. Was planning at least double that. If not triple. I won't post the recipe until I get to actually taste the jam, so don't ask. Cause who knows if it will pass the taste test? It's a mish mash of several recipes I found online, and while often that works, occasionally it doesn't. It may be too sweet for my taste; I like to taste more fruit than sugar. We'll see.


All I can say is gather ye strawberries while ye may...or something along those lines. Life is a berry short season.

Fee, Fie, Foe, Friday: Germination

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word "germ" didn't begin to take on the negative connection with disease until early in the 18th C. The older sense of the word is much nicer : from the Latin germen which means to sprout, to bud. Germination.

I like the idea of budding and sprouting, especially now, in the Spring. While things are sprouting and budding in the garden, I've got plans and ideas sprouting in my brain. It's all good. Some part of my mind goes into hibernation over the Winter, and the rest of me goes on autopilot. Apparently so do most of the people I know.  Once the days get longer, and the lawns green up, Everyone, and everything is fully alive. Wild violets are blooming in the hollows where the fairies dance at dusk.  This is my favorite time of year because it is so full possibilities. Time for growth.

Germination. A new start, and we get the chance every moment.

Germination: Vegetables for Summer

Cooked All Week and Nothing to Show for It but a Raised Bed

I warned you all this would be an odd week. Chuck had eye surgery that has forced him to face-plant himself for seven mortal days. Plus, complications from the general anesthesia that sent us to an emergency clinic and ANOTHER doctor. Lots of lost sleep and stress. Luckily, we got most of it under control by Friday, thanks to the huge help from Susan, and Merry and CC. Nonetheless I am pretty much pooped.

I've cooked every meal in, which is rare around here. Lots of blog-worthy dishes. I start taking pictures as I go, but by the time the food is ready to plate, there are eyedrops, pills or or a catheter to check, and swoosh I forget to shoot the final picture. All I wanted to do at that point was get it on a plate and get us all fed.

Funny thing, though. The weather has been glorious. I took some vacation time to deal with this planned operation, and the highlights have been the time spent walking Hobbes. It's peak Spring here, and cruising the neighborhood towed by a small dog on a leash has been a joy. While I can only go for a few minutes at a time, its a real gift since I am usually locked in a retail store at this time of year. Gave me garden-fever.

Since he patient is largely on the mend today, although still face-down, I assembled one of my two new raised bed gardens today. 18" deep.  Running in and out every 20 minutes or so to check on my patient, I managed to drill in 72 woods crews. Oy.  I'm planning a third, but they're a little pricy from kits (I'm not real skilled with tools) so I'll wait until later into Summer to order the third. Can't wait to get them filled and planted. I can taste the beans and tomatoes already!

My new 18" deep raised bed. Will fit a few more in soon.

A Garden Update: Raised Beds, Figs and Whine

There's a lot going on here at our house right now. Chuck will be having some outpatient surgery this week, and while I'm here with him for most of this week, I am planning a few changes to the blog. I think it'll look a lot better and will work much better for you.

There isn't much cooking going on right now, but there will be soon since I can't stay home for more than a day without some sort of big cooking project. I also remembered that I haven't give you any sort of garden report since the end of last season. The annual raking has begun, including my annual snake-raking, and this year I'm converting the garden to a raised bed system. I've had it with the rocky, clayish tree-root filled soil in this yard.  The materials to build the first two should arrive this week, and hopefully will get some dirt--a good mix of compost, spent mushroom soil and topsoil delivered as soon as I can build the beds. They're kits and should fit together easily. I have a feeling that should is the operative word here. We'll see. I'll let you all know. Yes, I AM whining.

I do have news in the fig tree department. In the Fall, my little fig tree, named Fignatious, lost all its leaves like a good little deciduous tree should, and just as soon as the days began to grow longer, it began to sprout. I now have 4 tiny little figs growing on Fignatious. Planning to eat them all myself.  I have to find a permanent outdoor home for Fig this season, and the perfect spot, a west -facing wall near the patio is occupied by an old rangy looking lilac bush. I'd love to get it out of there, but it's huge, deep-rooted and has probably been there for 70 years. A shame, but it doesn't flower well, and it would be a great shielded spot for fig, where it would be less likely to be eaten by deer. Will have to work on that, hmmm?

Fignatious, my little fig tree has baby figs!

When I finally get the beds in, and planted and then find a home for Fig, I have the weedy lawn to deal with since I refuse to let Chuck use herbicide in the garden. Bad for everything.

From the Garden: Haricots Verts and Fresh garlic

This time of year all I do is trim, blanch, freeze, trim, blanch, freeze.
Haricots Verts.

Hmm, that title make it sound as if I've got a recipe for green beans with fresh garlic. I don't. I do have a nice non-recipe for haricots verts, which are delicious, skinny green beans with a French name. I was just announcing that on Sunday, my garlic was more than ready to dig up and cure. It really should have been a few days sooner, but the intense heat wave kept me from the job, even though it was only about 50 plants to fork up. When it's around 100°F, the only thing I'm forking up is fruit salad.

I was a little excited since last years wasn't nearly as good!

Anyway, the garlic's been dug up; 50 or so nice fat heads of German Porcelain Garlic, from Jung's Seeds. I ordered them late in October last year and had to hustle to get them planted before the ground froze. It was worth all the trouble, they look fabulous. I have them spread out in my garage to dry, and will store them in my "cold cellar," which was actually a room-sized area dug into the ground next to our basement that once held a heating oil tank. Stays just below 55°F most of the time, so it's a great place to store stuff. Like garlic, root vegetables or crocks of pickles. You can certainly use garlic fresh, (and I will) but I like to age most of it as the flavor will mellow and be less biting.

The beans have been coming on for a solid couple of weeks now, but the high heat and lack of rainfall are slowing them down. Even if I water them enough to boost my water bill by $100, it still isn't enough to make up for no rain. I can't even imagine how expensive and difficult it must be for the farmers in our region to irrigate. I really like haricots verts with their  fresh, grassy bean taste, and they are just as easy to grow as regular green beans. This variety you see in the picture getting prepped is called Maxibel, a bush variety. The pole beans should be starting soon, too. Bean City.

Haricots Vert, or Green Beans with Orange Oil
 in my favorite Sophie Conran bowl .

The non-recipe:

Haricots Verts with Orange Oil

My favorite way to treat any kind of green bean, French or not, is to blanch in very highly salted water for about 3 minutes if they are going to be drained and frozen, or 4 minutes if they will be eaten soon. Use a big pot of water so the water doesn't stop boiling when you add the beans. You only need to remove the end that was attached to the plant, the blossom end is a pretty curlicue and fine to eat. Put more salt than you think you need in the water. If you are using a gallon and a half of water, use at least 4 Tablespoons of kosher salt in the water. Have a big bowl of ice water ready to shock or chill the beans as soon as you remove them from the boiling salt water.

If you are going to freeze them, pack them in freezer bags in portion sizes, label and date, and freeze.

If you are going to eat them, heat some orange flavored olive oil, or some olive oil with some orange zest added in a medium saucepan. Use enough to coat the amount of beans you plan to eat. Toss in the beans, stir well to coat with the oil, and saute over medium heat until they are reheated through and are as tender as you and your family like them. Taste for salt; they may need none since they were blanched in salt water. Serve and swoon.