What's in the Garden? Edible and Not

Almost bursting open sunflower. As Kevin says, my sunflower jungle is alive!

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

I'm amazed at how quickly the garden is taking over the backyard.

I'm sad that several icky pests are winning and eating as much as they can (slugs, earwigs, pill bugs, and aphids). Since I prefer not to spray my garden with pesticides, it's a daily battle to find those critters. Loss is expected.

Strawberries are still blooming, though they are exhausted!

But mostly, I'm happy to see this dirt produce food and beauty for our eyes, nose, hands, and tummies. I supposed I could add ears to that list, as the bees are a humming, though they classify as beauty not food. At least for us. The cats love to snatch and gobble them up.

Here are some things growing in the garden.

Oregano, much loved by bees, is heading towards full bloom.

Tea roses - beautiful though they were plagued by aphids early on in the season.

Creeping thyme, a walkable plant (you can walk on it). But watch out for bees!

Edible thyme is blooming.

Radishes are tasty and almost gone. Mmmm

Sunset lily. I love the color of these blooms.

Ripening Roma tomatoes.

The pumpkin plants that are threatening to take over our tiny backyard. Soon, it will be true.

Poor, sad, dwarfed okra. I've replanted 4-5 times. This is the best so far.

Wax beans love my back yard. Green beans? Not so much.

Dill entices more bees and is ready for canning.

Part of the sunflower jungle.

Lavender and friend.

Raspberries are coming on strong, much to the delight of the icky pests.

Baby zucchini

The parsley is blooming. Those tiny sweat bees love this stuff.

Garlic. I have no idea when it is done!

 

Kale.

Baby yellow squash. If you squint, you can see someone else was impatient to try it. Go away, bugs!

Sage. This is also in bloom. But there is more than enough to go around. Five times around.

That's my garden so far, all from the backyard. I'd be happy to share, especially the herbs. Has anyone else grown okra? What trick am I missing (other than heat, which I think it really needs)?

Happy tasting, smelling, seeing, touching, and hearing in your garden today!

Old Mother Hubbard Says It's Time to Go Grocery Shopping

A sweet potato and a few onions...

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

You do know the nursery rhyme about Old Mother Hubbard, right?

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her poor doggy a bone.

When she got there,
The cupboard was bare,
So the poor little doggy had none.

Presenting, on life's stage, Old Mother Hubbard.
Played by Angie.

Seriously.

Old Mother Hubbard needs to go shopping for groceries. Now.

I resist grocery shopping. I don't know why. I will scrounge, create, and do everything I can to make it last just one more day. All to avoid grocery shopping.

Maybe it's the lines, the crowds, the cost, the forgetting something on the opposite end of the store and making repeat trips, the foraging through produce to find the freshest, the struggle to open produce bags, touching raw meat packages...

Probably it's the having to take it all home and put it away.

But I so love having food to use when I prepare meals!

We are down to wilted celery, one sweet potato, a few onions, and garlic. Oh, I think there may be a dried up bit of ginger hanging around as well and some frozen peas and corn. Almost out of milk, yogurt, and bread.

Two pieces of frozen salmon and one package of frozen ground turkey make up the protein portion of our diet (per what is in the fridge/pantry/cupboard). I suppose I could count the canned chicken and tuna.

Well, that sounds like I have plenty for another day of Grocery Store Avoidance.

Yippee!


Frozen Food Tip:
Guess what?! The package directions actually work for frozen brussel sprouts! I've never even glanced at the directions, but did so last night on a whim. You can MICROWAVE the entire package - and they come out perfectly moist and not soggy and gross!

Container Gardens

Baby kale and lettuce mix win the mobile garden location

By Angie Quantrell Angie Quantrell

Container gardens are the way to go this year.

It's funny how I go through fads in my garden.

Last year, I didn't want many containers other than the raised beds and strawberry garden. I relished the empty patio space that left ample room for the grands to race wheeled vehicles around without crashing.

Previous growing seasons bloomed and produced according to my every whim and decorating idea. I loved grouping pots and plantings according to heat and watering zone. Notice I say heat instead of sun requirements. My afternoon garden is all a heat zone and any container has to be mostly in shade or capable of handling the crippling sun rays.

Baby kale

This year is once again a container garden year. But my reasoning is fresh and experimental.

This year I want to win against the garden predators. Slugs. Sow bugs. Earwigs. Aphids. And whatever else is chewing its way through my fresh veggie crop.

For instance, radish is languishing in an old turkey roaster pot that has holes in the bottom, mainly because every time I have planted them in the past, the sow bugs and slugs have eaten holes and rings around each beautiful radish.

Radish seedlings popping through the soil

Lettuce and kale are making a new home in a little red wagon and a washtub. This is my attempt to avoid the slugs and aphids.

Chives and a random sunflower are living in yet another washtub.

Chives and a sunflower plant

Germination has commenced and plants are popping through the soil. What has yet to be found is how successful the plants will be in growing to full-size and giving me tasty treats.

Kale? Check. We've already had baby leaves.

And that's all I know for now. We shall see. Let the experiment commence.

Until then, kale, strawberries, and herbs it is.

Spring strawberries

Tomato Experiment Results

The after picture of heat-dried tomatoes. Yummy, right?

The tomato experiment was a success, though I did dehydrate them a little too long.

Now, instead of sun-dried tomatoes, I have heat-dried tomatoes. Ready for soup, casseroles, meat dishes . . . you name it.

The tomato experiement before drying

Ready to go experiment some more.

Tomato Experiment

Beautiful tomatoes in the dehydrator

As per many wonderful suggestions on a certain social site, I am embarking on a tomato experiment.

Let me shout out a great big thank you to all who contributed ideas. Thank you!

These ideas are a necessary part of my life right now as I work my way through 50 pounds of potatoes, 50 pounds of onions, and a huge box of Roma tomatoes.

The very ripe tomatoes need immediate processing. One can eat only so many in a day, juicy though they be. Lacking adequate freezer space for that sort of preservation, and an absence of canning supplies, I decided to take the short cut and fill the dehydrator with sliced tomatoes.



Quart-size storage bags of dehydrated onions

What could go wrong except they take days to 'heat-dry' or get all crispy crunchy, which would be odd for tomatoes?

I suppose experimenting with tomatoes could prove disastrous, but I am willing to take a chance. The other viable option is throwing overripe tomatoes at the big black and white bully cat that is daily harassing my kitties and chasing them through the cat door.

So here we go.

Vines in my backyard, gorgeous colors for me to enjoy

Onion update: approximately 8 large onions fill my tiny dehydrator. One dehydrator of dried onions fills one quart-side storage bag to the brim. I now have two quarts of dried onions.

Potatoes: Still considering my options.

In the line-up: sage and parsley. As long as there is no overnight freeze I can safely plan on popping them into the dehydrator ASAP. Alas, an overnight freeze is looming, perhaps this weekend.

The view on my evening walk

Let the tomato experiment commence.

Bounty of Harvest

The bounty of harvest is in full production in October. This makes me very happy.

Usually I spend hours each fall dehydrating apples, parsley, sage, and any other produce I can get my hands on. Many foodstuffs come from the generosity of family and friends. Some are purchased. But the the parsley and sage are clipped straight from the garden, as they have aggressively taken over most of one raised garden bed.

This year, I have yet to fill the little dome of delight with sliced apples. But I have made a huge crock pot of applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon. The fragrance of cooking apples and cinnamon is a signature fall scent. Ahhh.

Yesterday our family was blessed with massive produce in the form of 50 pounds of potatoes (and I mean BIG spuds - I have never seen them this large), 50 pounds of onions, and a box full of Roma tomatoes. The overabundance is amazing. I do not want any of it to go to waste.

As of last night, the dehydrator has been running non-stop. The withered forms of onions rest inside, slowly drying out and waiting for me to scoop them into a container for future meals. The neighborhood is filled with wafts of onions (we got smart and put them on the patio, as our eyes were going crazy with burning).

The potatoes - what to do with the potatoes? Mashed? Baked? Gratined? I fear that one is enough for a small army, they are that huge!

And the tomatoes - soup? Sauce? Stewed? Dehydrated? (No, that does not sound appealing at all.)

I'm off to go another round with the tear-inducing onions. Last night was French onion soup. Tonight?

Ideas would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and if you need a spud or two, a few onions, and a handful of tomatoes, drop on by.

 

Thank you, dear friends, for sharing the (food) wealth!

Putting the Beds to Sleep

putting the beds to sleep

 

 

by angie quantrell

 

 

shorter days

 

colder nights

 

water is shut-off

 

falling leaves

 

dying stalks

 

fading blooms

 

sagging fruit

 

life cycle ending

 

though a few gallantly bloom on

 

time left is not sufficient for success

 

putting the beds to sleep

 

leaves, trimmed herbs, branches

 

no cats may visit here

 

tucked in securely

 

decay, compost, turn back to dust

 

good-night, dear beds, to sleep you go

Peas, You Gotta Love 'Em

I love peas!

Especially fresh from the garden, raw peas. They are little green globes of crunch, sweetness, and green.

Yes. Green is a flavor.

Today I fought slugs, bees, sow bugs, daddy long legs, and wasps to dig for ripe pods. Taunt, miniature sleeping bags of garden delight abounded for this harvester.

Shelled. Washed. Blanched. Cooled. Bagged. Frozen.

Now there is a veggie to look forward to!