Garden – Grow. Cook. Eat.

February 16, 2011

Garden Agronomics

Every other day, it seems, another seed catalogue arrives in the mail. And to my surprise, I really enjoy just reading them. With the large mounds of snow still gracing my yard, it’s nice to fantasize about what I will plant this spring.

My typical routine is to buy seed packs at the hardware store, garden center or supermarket. The variety of vegetables is good, but if you want a specific breed of vegetable, such as a Kirby cucumber instead of the generic hybrid, then you should consider ordering through a catalogue.
In addition to having great variety,the Seeds of Change catalogue also has great information about “agronomics.” When planning your spring and summer garden, you will want to consider:

Growing Conditions:

How warm does the soil need to be before planting? Some seeds can be planted as soon as the ground thaws; others need a soil temperature of at least 65 degrees for germination.
What is the recommended pH level? You can have your soil tested. Carrots, for example, prefer a slightly lower pH level than tomatoes. Knowing the pH level of your soil can help you determine where to plant different crops.

Planting:

Can you directly plant the seeds in the ground or transplanted from seedlings started indoors? When seeds are started indoors, they often need to be “hardened off.” The seedlings slowly acclimatize to the outdoors. Bring the seedlings outdoors for the daylight hours, indoor at night for a few days. Then leave them outside for a few days before planting them in the ground. This staged process allows the plant to develop its hardiness for the winds, rain and drought.
How far apart should the seeds be planted? This will depend on the root structure of the plant as well as its size.

Harvest/Storage

How do you know when the vegetables are ready to pick? And when they are ready, how should you best store them.

What will you be planting this spring?

I'm still deciding, but on my list are:

Radishes
Lettuces
Turnips
Beets
Tomatoes – Pineapple and Cherokee Purple because they were my favorite last year.
Cucumbers – Kirby because they are the best for pickles
Snap Peas
Kale – Tuscan, delicious and prolific
Celery
Leeks
Basil – Genoa and Lemon
Broccoli – Belstar for its prolific side shoots.
Carrots – Yaya because they are quick maturing

June 21, 2010

Garden Updates – First Day of Summer

Though, I’m so happy in my new blogging home, the transition to blogger to TypePad has been rough. The bright spot has been reading old posts (as I fix links and reload photos).

A few weeks ago, I was looking at my “Garden Updates” for early June 2009.
Tomatoes and jalapenos were just taking shape behind their flowers. And I had the first kale harvest. I intentionally avoided a comparative “garden update” for this year because the progress has not been as robust.

Despite the warmer and drier spring, I still do not have a tomato-baby. I see several promises of tomato flowers, and one spent flower behind which I should soon see a little bum soon. I was especially surprised by the slow timing since the tomatoes were in the ground a full two weeks earlier than last year. My theory? Last year, I phased the tomatoes into the ground – I planted the seedlings in large pots on the deck before translating them into their final home. I think the deck gets better sun. Could it be the extra sun from the deck? Or the phased approach?

The tomato volunteer that I found in the mint patch is now puttering along in a private cage. Alas, it's not growing as vigorously as the other plants. But I think this is because of its less than prime location. By the time I realized I had this plant, the sunnier parts of the garden were already occupied with cucumbers, eggplant, broccoli and other tomato plants.

The first sign of jalapeno just appeared last night, almost 2 weeks later than last year.
The workhorse kale has already produced enough leaves for several sides dishes.

As I admired the bevy of raspberry potentials, I noticed one ripe berry.

The summer is off to a decidedly late start, but the spring has been prolific. I harvested tons of salad; a small patch still yields about 1 large salad every other day. The strawberries have been sweet and juicy. The mint, scallions and scapes have brightened many a meal. Even the radishes were a fun treat.

A note about the hydrangea plant — photo at the top. It's been said that the color of the flowers depend on the acidity of the soil. I'm curious about my soil since the one plant has several variations of blue and pink sprinkled throughout.

May 28, 2010

Volunteerism

My morning routine includes a pot of coffee, the New York Times and an inspection of the garden.

This time of year, I’m looking to see if radishes are ready to harvest, lettuce ready to cut and if the strawberries are ripe. And of course, I look for stray weeds. I want to catch them when they are still small and easy to pluck out of the ground. Obviously, I appreciate the aesthetic of having a weed-free garden. More importantly, given how hot and dry it’s been lately, I don’t want any intruder depriving my fledgling tomato and cucumber plants from their much needed water and nutrients.

Looking at the thicket of mint, I noticed a few leaves did not belong. As I reached down to pluck them out of the ground, I realized it was, in fact, a tomato plant. An errant seed from one of last summer's tomatoes must have landed in the mint patch. A volunteer.

Who knows what will come up, but for sure it will be a hardy plant. Perhaps it will be a yellow cherry tomato…. I recall several tomatoes split from the combination of rain and heat. I few of those dropped on the ground. Did I not bother to clean them up? I thought I was pretty vigilant with the rampant blight. Or perhaps it’s a Roma tomato. I remember sharing a ripe tomato with one of my favorite four-year-olds. The plum tomato, dry and ideal for stews and sauces, was too mushy for his taste and he spit it out.

Though I’ve been better about labeling plants this year, I’ll mark this one with a big question mark.

May 25, 2010

Hello? Hello? Is Anybody Out There? (Recipe Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs)

About 6 weeks ago, I started a transition from Blogger to TypePad.

It’s been a rough ride, but I think I’ve finally landed. In case you didn’t notice, I’ve had a whole host of web-hosting issues – from having no template, just plain text to having a lone post from 2 years ago as the only content on the site. But now, after countless hours of calls and emails to tech-support, I think (*finally*) everything is fixed. If you used to subscribe to my blog-feed in reader or through RSS, please re-subscribed. If you didn’t already subscribe, now would be a fine time to start.

Though the blog has been an unhappy place, my garden continues to offer a respite.

With the unusually warm spring, the lettuces developed thick stems and spicy leaves. I like the flavors better now, but it requires a little more cleaning. The stems, though edible, are not palatable. So I trim them.

The garden yields about a gallon of leaves every other day. I realized this is far more lettuce than I can really eat on my own – I’ve been sharing with friends and neighbors, and bringing lettuce to client meetings. As I was strategizing where to plant tomatoes, I realized I could part with some lettuce. Out it went and in went the tomatoes.

I planted scallions several years ago. And when I harvest them, I only cut off the green stems and leave the white bulbs so they will continue to grow. By now, the scallions are quite thick and hardy – still pleasant as a raw garnish, but bordering on tough and fibrous. I planted a replacement crop of scallions, and as soon as those are ready to harvest, I will pull out the older ones completely.

Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs

In Chinese restaurants in Boston, they serve dried-fried shrimp on a
bed of shredded lettuce. I adapted the traditional dish to use soft
shell crabs on a bed of spicy lettuce greens. Serve with steamed white rice for a main meal.

2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. Sichuan peppercorns, ground
pinch Chinese Five-spice
1/4 cup corn starch
2 soft shell crabs, cleaned
1/4 cup plain oil
3 scallions cut into rings
1 red jalapeno cut into rings
salad leaves for garden

Mix salt, sugar, Sichuan peppercorns and five spice.
Dredge soft shell crabs in corn starch
Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. When oil shimmers, gently place crabs in oil, smooth side down. Cook for 3 minutes or until they start to get crispy. Flip them over and cook fro 3 minutes more.
Remove soft shell crabs from pan, and drain the oil. Return the crabs to the pan over high heat. Sprinkle about 1 tsp. of the seasoned salt on top, and stir to coat. Toss in scallions and jalapenos and cook for 1 minute more.
Remove from heat. Serve crabs with salad greens.

May 17, 2010

Impatient Gardener (Recipe: Pasta with Young Garlic, Tomatoes and Basil)

I’ve developed a strategy for crop rotation that, up until this year, has been pretty successful. I plant lettuces and spring crops in half the yard and then the summer crops in the other half. When the spring crops wind down, usually in late June, I prep the soil and get it ready for the fall crops which go in in August.

This year, I have a problem. I planted garlic for the first time with the notion that I would harvest the bulbs in late May/early June, just in time for the summer crops to go in. The stalks were looking thick, so I thought I’d pull one up to see how it progressed. It looks closer to a leek than a garlic bulb. They will need at least a month more.

The garden is quite full right now. Summer veggies that are already planted: celery, leeks, kale, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts. The spring veggies that will be harvested over the next few weeks: lettuce, radishes, strawberries and the questionable garlic.
If I want to plant tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplant, something has to go.

I’m not sure what I will do… which would you sacrifice?

In the meantime, I couldn’t let the young garlic go to waste… I rolled out fresh pasta and tossed it with tomatoes, arugula and shrimp.

From the garden: garlic, arugula, basil and tomatoes.

Pasta with Young Garlic, Tomatoes and Basil

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbs. olive oil
1 stalk young garlic chopped, or two cloves chopped
1/4 tsp (or more) chili flakes
1 – 15 oz. canned tomatoes
1/4 cup white wine
1 tbs. fresh (or frozen) basil
1/2 pound fettuccine

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season generously with salt.
Season shrimp with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute until it softens. Add shrimp and chili flakes and cook for 2 minutes until it begins to turn pink. Add white wine and tomatoes, continue cooking until tomatoes thicken and shrimp cook through. If the sauce seems thin, but the shrimp are cooked, pick them out and set them aside.
Cook pasta according to package direction, but for 1 minute less. When pasta is cooked, drain and toss with tomatoes.
Mix in basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

March 21, 2010

Garden Updates – First Day of Spring

It’s always a mad-dash to get ready to leave town for a week. In addition to the usual laundry and cleaning, I wanted to plant all my lettuces for a spring harvest before I headed down to the farm. Reading old posts from blog, I was reminded that the first week in March is a great time to get started. So I was quite proud of myself that I turned the soil, cleaned the yard and planted rows upon rows of lettuce before I left on March 8th.

As I was driving back last week, I was most worried about the state of my basement. I had heard horror stories about the torrential rains and flooding in New England — 7 inches in 3 days, road closures and most horrifically – raw sewage was being pumped into Quincy Bay because the treatment plant could not handle all the rainfall. I thought the bright spot in this rain was that my seeds would have sprouted. As I thought about taking pictures to share with you, I was quite excited.

Thankfully, when I came home, the basement was dry. The ceiling was dry. No water damage. Alas, I had damage of a different sort. Some critter, with 3 inch paws, ate every single lettuce seed planted. Can you see the indentations in the soil??

Today, I replanted everything, but with a different strategy. I went to the hardware store and purchased window screens to lay atop of the beds. They will allow the light and rainwater to penetrate, but hopefully keep the critters from nibbling at my seeds.

In other garden news: I had hoped that when the Brussels sprouts defrosted again, they would rejuvenate and I’d be able to harvest them. Alas, they did not survive. Totally bummed that I didn’t get a chance to harvest more sprouts before the deep cold of winter hit.

The scallions have resprouted again this year. I’m happy to have my garden supply again, so I no longer need to rely on the produce section of the grocery store for this staple.

The garlic is sprouting as well. I think it will still be a few months before that’s ready to harvest… though I’m tempted to dig up a plant just to see what it looks like at this stage.

July 5, 2009

August Will Come

"Midnight will come tonight as it does every night." Those were Frank King's famous words as he pranced through the kitchen I was working in —they were meant to be a comfort as we cooked as fast as we could on a busy Saturday night. At 8 o'clock, I could not see beyond the five skillets I was juggling on the stove-top and as many in the oven. Stacks of plates awaited roast chicken, seared foie gras and soft-shell crabs.

As I look out the window at the gray skies, I think of Frank, slightly modifying his famous words, "August will come as it does every year."

Last summer, I canned 24 quart jars of tomatoes, which I have judiciously used over the winter. With August just around the corner, I know I will soon again be knee deep in the coveted summertime queen of the garden. I’m more brazen using the last few jars of tomatoes in my cooking.

This week, I made ricotta ravioli, served atop garden kale and tomato coulis. The pea greens on top also came from the garden. Alas, I did not have much for more than a garnish.…

Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato Coulis

Filling:

1 ½ cups fresh ricotta
¼ cup parmesan
2 tablespoons fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix everything together.

Pasta dough:

2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus ¼ cup for dusting
4-5 large eggs as needed
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. salt

1. Sift 2 ¾ cup flour onto a clean counter. Make a well in the flour, and add 4 of the eggs, olive oil and the salt.

2. Beat the eggs with a fork, gradually bringing in the flour from the sides of the well, until the paste has thickened enough so the liquid will not run onto the counter. Switch from a fork to a pastry cutter. Bring all the flour into the already wet part and cut through the dough several times until it is evenly moistened. Start kneading with your hands until the dough forms a ball and looks homogenized, about 8 minutes.

3. If the dough becomes stiff, and refuses to bend, rub in a little of the remaining egg. If the dough becomes too moist, add a bit of the flour.

Work the dough by machine:

4. Divide the dough into 3 balls, and let rest under a damp towel for 20 minutes. (This is a good time to make the rest of the recipe). Start working the dough through the pasta machine starting with the widest setting. After running it through the machine, fold it into thirds, and run it through again. When the dough is smooth, run the dough through the machine through successively small settings. The dough will stretch out, and be rolled very thin.

5. When you have achieved thin sheets, you can let the dough rest for a few minutes before filling and cutting. Use the remaining egg as glue for the ravioli sheets to stick together.

Tomato Coulis
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon chopped shallots
1 – 16 oz. can best quality tomatoes
¼ cup white wine

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 3 minutes, or until soft. Add tomatoes and white wine.

2. Cook tomatoes until much of the water has evaporated.

3. Puree tomatoes in a blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

December 18, 2008

Smoked Salmon Celeriac Cigars

Like most vegetables, there are many cultivars of celery. Some are grown for the stalks and some for the root. The root, called celeriac, has a mild celery flavor with a hint of turnip. When I planted celery this spring, I had visions of utilizing the stalks through the summer and then enjoying the root in the fall. When I dug up a plant a few weeks ago, I discovered I planted the wrong variety.

Nonetheless, celeriac is a prominent feature on my winter menus: pureed with a little cream and lemon juice, poached in cream and tossed with pasta or raw in a remoulade. The globes should be firm. With their knobby, funky shape they’re easier to peel using a paring knife rather than a peeler. If you cut them and discover a hollow, stringy center, you should it cut out and discard.

Smoked Salmon – Celeriac Cigars
4 oz. smoked salmon slices
1 small celeriac knob
spring roll wrappers
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

1. Peel celeriac, and cut into ¼” x 1/4” x 1” pieces

2. Put in a pot of cold water, salted water. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Let cook for one minute more, or until celeriac is tender. Drain.
3. Cut salmon slices into 3 pieces. wrap each piece around a slice of celeriac. Wrap each salmon/celeriac in a spring roll wrapper.

4. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Fry cigars until golden brown on all sides.

5. Drain on a paper towel. Serve with green goddess dressing.

December 9, 2008

Garden Updates – First Snow

My fall growing season was cut short by a long frost in the middle of November. The temperatures didn't rise above freezing for almost a week. After the first overnight frost I thought to myself, "Terrific, the brussels sprouts need this to sweeten them up." And I know from talking with Brett that the lettuces can withstand an overnight of below freezing temperatures as long as they during the daylight hours.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. The broccoli raab began making valiant efforts to recover, but with the first dusting of snow followed by another bout of freezing temperatures, I think I will need to wait until spring.

Throughout the summer, I enjoyed stalks of celery. I never did harvest a full head. Flacid celery is unattractive, but the flavor is fine. So I continue to harvest stalks when I want the celery boost.
The leaves on the brussels sprouts are droopy but the flavor is sweet and bright. The sprouts continue to grow and been enjoying them a handful at a time. The scallions seem to be content and sturdy despite the snow and frost.
And surprise, surprise… the sage still looks full and lush. A few sprigs made a wonderful accompaniment to Dina's braised duck legs with lentils.

November 17, 2008

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are the number one underrated vegetables, with beets coming in a close second. Of course, I love them both, perhaps because they are perfect vehicles for bacon. Or that they are both nutritional powerhouses. It wouldn’t be beyond me to love them because they are both beautiful: brussel sprout plants are so fun, and beet puree – how can you not love that color??

This year, I planted 4 stalks. All survived the aphid attacks on the brassicas, though one plant’s growth was stunted because it was sowed into what became a rather shady spot. The sprouts grow just above the leaves. You can harvest the sprouts when they are just ¼ inch in diameter or you can wait until they are larger. Since the sprouts don’t uniformly grow at the same rate, its best to harvest just the ones that are the desired size. While the whole stalk makes an impressive presentation at the Farmer’s market, it’s not the most practical.

My favorite preparation is roasted with bacon and horseradish, though the olive oil roasted brussels sprouts at Toro fall into a close second. Blanch the sprouts first in salted boiling water and toss with rendered bacon. Roast the brussel sprouts with the bacon in a 450 oven until the sprouts are tender. Toss with prepared horseradish.