Fresh Salsa from the Garden

“The mysteries of germination and flowering and fruiting engaged me from an early age, and the fact that by planting and working an ordinary patch of dirt you could in a few months’ time harvest things of taste and value was, for me, nature’s most enduring astonishment. It still is.” --Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma

I couldn’t agree more with Michael Pollan’s sentiment. Watching a seed transform before your very eyes into an edible or aesthetic wonder is nothing short of miraculous. And now, months after my initial sowing of lettuce seeds, I am enjoying a garden fresh salad almost every day.

The Swiss Chard and Sweet Peas are nearly ready to harvest as well. Since my last blog post, I have planted a Roma tomato, bell peppers (green and red), jalapenos and marigolds. I’ve utilized homegrown parsley, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper in several recipes including this Black Bean & Corn Salsa I made Memorial Day weekend:

salsa:
*1 (15oz.) can black beans, rinsed & drained
*1 can sweet corn, drained
*2 medium tomatoes, chopped
*3 bell peppers of different colors, seeded & diced
*1/4 cup diced red onion

dressing:
*1 clove minced garlic
*1/3 cup fresh cilantro
*1 Tbsp. minced fresh jalapeno pepper
*2 Tbsp. EVOO
*2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
*2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
*salt and pepper to taste

1. mix salsa ingredients in a large bowl
2. mix dressing ingredients in a mason jar
3. combine salsa and dressing, mixing well
4. chill at least 2 hours before serving

serves 6-8

serving suggestions:
*add chopped avocado just before serving
*this dressing gets better every day! (keep refrigerated)

Garden Year In Review

It has been months since I blogged about my garden so there’s lots to catch up on; and I thought I would review this year’s garden successes and failures. By all accounts, I was far more productive in 2010 than I had been in previous years. I may not have weeded as much as I could/should have, but I had a modicum of success with the hollyhocks, veggies, and herbs. Also, I hope to have some quality compost to add to the garden at the start of the next growing season.

Into the fall we enjoyed tomatoes, peppers, and fresh herbs. I definitely plan on growing Romas and Cherry tomatoes again, but I may look into other beefsteak and heirloom varieties since Big Boy and Mr. Stripey didn’t perform as well. Although by all accounts, this was a difficult year for growing tomatoes in my area. The unseasonably hot nights prevented the tomato flowers from pollinating and ergo many folks had smaller yields this year.

My tomato staking system worked well; at one point all of the tomatoes were taller than me and I had to attach them to nearby shrubs and walls for support. Just before the first hard frost, I harvested all of the remaining (green) tomatoes and brought them inside to ripen. We had home grown tomatoes ripening for almost two months after that!

I plan on growing more peppers, especially more hot peppers next season. The jalapenos were very successful. I may try my hand at a few other varieties including Serrano, Poblano, and Banana peppers too. The red peppers fruited so late that I wasn't able to harvest a red pepper, instead I plucked the ripening (green)peppers off the plants and made stuffed peppers with them. All of the homegrown peppers proved far superior to their store-bought counterparts.

The last of the parsley was harvested two weeks ago, as it was snowing; and I'm frequently cutting sprigs of fresh rosemary for various recipes. Next year I will keep cilantro seeds around to plant every few weeks as they will inevitably bolt before I’m able to make my homemade guacamole. Thanks little sis for my new mortar and pestle!

This fall’s garden maintenance mainly consisted of cutting back all perennials, veggies and taking out the tomato and pepper supports. This was made slightly more cumbersome by the mesh fencing I installed mid-growing season. Using two of my favorite garden accessories, West County waterproof gloves and Felco pruners, this task took about fifteen minutes.

[It’s important to note that like rose clippings, tomato plant refuse shouldn’t be composted because there is a high likelihood of diseases outliving the composting process. I have decided to burn such debris in our fire pit.]

The reason the West County gloves are worth mentioning is that not only are they waterproof and washable, they’re warm. It is still easy to grasp things and do slightly detailed garden work year round. Also, the insulating material makes pruning tasks blister free!

The Felco’s are garden essentials and with proper cleaning and sharpening should last a lifetime; all parts are replaceable. The ergonomic Felco 6’s fit my petite hand very well and are the best pruners I have ever used. This size easily cuts through branches 3/4" thick. But one should be careful, they are very sharp and powerful; I have inadvertently cut through a small rock with these pruners before.

I have daffodil bulbs to plant if I could find the time when the ground wasn’t frozen. October through December is the best time to plant spring-blooming bulbs. The two varieties I have to plant are ‘Ice Follies’ and ‘Mount Hood’. 'Ice Follies' is a large white daffodil with a bright yellow center. 'Mount Hood' opens up a pale yellow, and then quickly becomes an all white giant trumpet. Both of these naturalize readily and perform well in the south.

Typically, I like to see daffodils planted in large swaths (anywhere from 500-1500) to create a bold statement in the spring. Since my gardening area is so small, I will be planting mere handfuls of them here and there. Van Engelen is an economical source for large quantity orders; another daffodil source I use is Brent and Becky's Bulbs.

guarding my garden!

Despite the 4’ tall mesh fencing, some critter/person is still nabbing all of my ripe Roma and Big Boy tomatoes, and stomping all over my Sedum in the process. For whatever reason, the Black Cherry’s have remained safe, and I’m hoping Mr. Stripey will look so strange to the tomato thief that those will be passed by as well.

I think I reached the peak of exasperation last week when once again we realized we had been had; without sign of a struggle with the fence or remnants of the ill-gotten treasure, it was gone without a trace. I became convinced that stealing someone’s vegetables was the lowest form of larceny, and began devising plans for video surveillance of the garden.

Maybe garden surveillance is a bit extreme, but short of that I'm running out of options. The 'Roma' and 'Big Boy' are still growing so much and I'm hopeful that I will be able to harvest just a few more this season. They are growing so much in fact that I had to use the nearby Butterfly Bush branches for support!

It is extremely frustrating to not be able to enjoy the proverbial ‘fruit’ of my labor, and equally frustrating that I’m not able to share with friends and neighbors. On a positive note, I have discovered that grilling cherry tomatoes is absolutely fabulous. We now put them on skewers with other chopped veggies and they have such a great flavor!

The basil is kicking it up a notch and the Rose of Sharon has really hit its stride too. My peppers have slowed down, and I finally cut back the Baptisia. Thankfully, I was able to collect some Hollyhock seeds before I cut them back to the ground; I’ll start those in the greenhouse this fall.

I have especially enjoyed watching the Monarch butterflies flutter around the Butterfly Bush lately. To watch them float around the lilac blooms is like witnessing an ethereal dance that defies gravity. Their elegant movements will mesmerize any visitor to the garden. These are truly amazing animals and I feel honored to host them on their migration.

le jardin de pizza

It has been 3 weeks since my last blog post and all I can say is I’ve been busy; and so has my garden. Last night we made a pizza using homegrown Roma tomatoes, basil, and bell peppers. It was so delicious, it has inspired this ‘pizza garden’ blog!

Part of the reason I have been too busy to blog was that I read 'My Life in France' in record time for my first book club meeting. Julia Child's book was absolutely delightful in every way; I felt as though I was travelling and eating all over France with her, ergo the blog's title. [Pizza, however, was not a part of her French culinary escapades.]

Pizza gardens are gardens that simply contain the ingredients one may want to put on a pizza. Looking into it, I found that ‘pizza gardens’ all usually contain at least tomatoes and basil. The rest of the ingredients/plants could include sweet peppers, hot peppers, oregano, onions, parsley, eggplant, scallions, rosemary, jalapeños, cilantro, spinach, etc.

This theme could be wildly popular with kids too; picture a raised vegetable/herb garden actually in the shape of a pizza pie, with dividers made to look like ‘slices’ of pizza! It was a lot of fun enjoying the ‘fruits’ of my vegetable garden labor. And as the Roma’s continue to ripen and the garden yields more peppers, I hope to try another pizza soon!

There are ‘Black Cherry’ tomatoes ripening everyday, from the bottom of the plant upward. That tomato plant is now almost 7’ tall. I also harvested my first ‘Big Boy’ tomato over the weekend and will be trying that soon. ‘Big Boy’ only has a few more tomatoes ripening so I’m a little disappointed in its yield.

‘Mr. Stripey’ has yet to produce any fruit, but I am hopeful as it continues to grow and flower. The other no-name tomatoes are still growing, but remain fruitless as well. The jalapeño plant is producing lots, though I have yet to actually try one. And the red bell pepper is growing like a weed, but hasn’t set fruit yet.

The Black-eyed Susan’s are blooming profusely, and look great next to the sedums which are finally flowering. The butterfly bush and Verbena are flowering nicely as well. Although I was surprised that the butterfly bush I relocated across the drive has a lighter bloom color, almost a soft pink/purple as opposed to the lilac of the parent plant.

The Rose of Sharon are starting to bloom more, but are darker in color than I was expecting. Now, the blooms are lilac with a darker, magenta eye. The hollyhocks have completely petered out and I see no signs of seed pods so I’ll be cutting them all back soon.

The mint is almost taking over that planting bed, but it is nice to smell. The evening primrose is still blooming, and its fragrance is light and lovely in the evenings. We’ve received plenty of rain lately, so I’ve been able to cut back on watering. Also, our mid-to-upper 90 degree days have cooled slightly. Until next time, happy gardening!

the image used above is not my creation, instead i found it here.

tall tomatoes and such

Now my tomatoes are taller than me, 5'-5". Well Big Boy and Black Cherry are at least, with Roma (pictured) right behind. Mr. Stripey had a later start and I’ve even relocated him once so I’m not surprised his growth is dwarfed by the others. I may have to buy several more, larger stakes to secure the three larger tomatoes, which continue to reach for the heavens.

The three large tomato plants all have multiple baby tomatoes that grow larger and more numerous everyday. I need to prune out some of the excessive foliage and suckers ASAP. And, I have a baby jalapeño! So far, however, that’s my only pepper.

I won’t be posting photos of my herb pot anytime soon, it has seen better days. The thyme is doing great and the parsley is fine, the variegated basil even looks to be making a comeback. But the cilantro has ‘gone to seed’ and looking worse each day. I’m hoping I’ll be able to harvest some coriander, but I’m not holding my breath.

I have planted a new basil plant and hope to add others as I count more tomatoes everyday! The Rosemary is doing great and has probably doubled in size since I planted it earlier this year. And the mint is going gangbusters, taking over the driveway planting bed.

Also in the driveway planting bed, the last remaining Hollyhock flower buds are blooming. Still all white! And the Rose of Sharon (pictured) has begun to bloom! I have counted only two blooms so I’m hoping for more. It is one of my all-time favorite flowers; admittedly this may be because they remind me of my grandparents, but nonetheless, gorgeous.

Back across the drive, in the west side planting bed, the Black-eyed Susans have begun to bloom. They will look great alongside the pinkish reds of the sedums and daylilies close by. Along with the tiger lilies, the pink/red, orange, yellow combination is actually quite lovely.

Also, I have discovered that a beloved annual, Verbena bonariensis, has reseeded itself. While not the most ideal location (in the front of the flower border), it’s a welcome surprise! This annual has rose purple flower clusters at the end of slender square stems growing 4’ or more in height.

I prefer this plant in the back of the flower border, and often pinch it back a few times to induce a more compact habit. Once it starts blooming, you will have color on into the fall. Another benefit is this plant attracts butterflies and gold finches. The only downside is an occasional powdery mildew episode; if this occurs, I just cut back all affected foliage.

And finally, a favorite perennial planted on the bank at the rear property line, the evening primrose (Oenothera), has begun to bloom! I don’t know much about this plant, but I’m delighted that it seems to have spread and I now have at least twice as many plants as last year. [I believe it spreads by seed, because one popped up in a nearby pot.]

I’m amazed that this inconspicuous plant has thrived where it has, competing with the likes of ivy and euonymus. As the name suggests, swirls of buttery yellow blooms open up after the sun goes down. It’s great in combination with the tiger lily; especially since they both bloom at a height of 3-4’. The flowers are truly beautiful, and the perfect crescendo to a summer day.

baby tomatoes!

While replacing the tomato stakes last weekend, I discovered I had baby tomatoes! There are baby Roma’s, and Black Cherry tomatoes. Still no fruit on any of the pepper plants or Big Boy and Mr. Stripey, but all have flowers. I think I’m still on track to be harvesting the first tomatoes at the end of the month.

The status of the herb ‘garden’ is virtually unchanged. I did have an opportunity to use some mint in a recipe I tried last week, Jamie Oliver’s ‘mini shell pasta with a creamy smoked bacon and pea sauce’ from his book, Food Revolution. It turned out quite well, click here for a link the recipe.

The Hollyhocks are still blooming (all white) and while I get annoyed with the mint most of the time, it is nice to have something covering up the Hollyhock’s unsightly legs. Also in the driveway planting bed, there are many flower buds forming on the Rose of Sharons, and the butterfly bush and black eyed susan’s that I relocated to the driveway bed are also doing well.

Out front, the Hellebores still have flowers, and the Oakleaf Hydrangeas are doing so well. This seems to be a particularly good year for hydrangeas in our area. ‘Not of this World’ is the first of my Daylilies to bloom, and the tiger lilies are still going strong. In the west side planting bed, the sedum is also about to bloom.

I’ve only had to water a few times all season, thankfully; that has saved time and money. I’m still fertilizing the veggies and herbs once or twice a week with a liquid fertilizer, but that’s really the only maintenance I’ve had time for lately.

bugs are gone!

The ant/aphid infestation on my Rose of Sharon is completely gone. And since spraying my hollyhocks with Sevin I haven’t seen any more hollyhock sawfly larvae chomping away. They still haven’t bloomed, but I’m hopefully every day when I come home from work to catch a glimpse of color.

Last weekend I removed a portion of my Black-eyed Susan’s in the west side planting bed to make room for two more pepper plants and give my rosemary some more space. In addition to the new red and green bell peppers, I also planted an heirloom tomato in the driveway planting bed. I’m hoping it will get enough sun there, because I’m running out of space elsewhere.

Mr. Stripey, as he’s called, is an old-fashioned beefsteak that will have yellow and red stripes outside and mostly yellow coloring inside the fruit. It has tiny leaves and the flavor is supposed to be sweet and mild. We’ll see in approximately 56 days!

I think I initially underestimated the support my tomatoes would require. But now I regret skimping on the stake size, because my ‘big boy’ and ‘black cherry’ tomatoes have already grown almost to the top of their stakes. So, I will have to purchase taller/stronger stakes to support these veggies and re-tie all of the tomatoes. Bummer.

I also (finally) replaced the pansies in my pots by the front steps with a ‘lemon chiffon’ million bells (Calibrachoa) in each pot. I’m not usually one for monochromatic pot plantings, but my front door is hardly used and there’s enough going on in the nearby planting beds to warrant simple pots.

My oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) have started blooming on both sides of the front door and look really great behind my patch of catmint (Nepeta) to the right of the front door. To balance that, the Nepalese columbines I planted on the left side of the front door bloomed well and are slowly taking over one side of that planting bed.

The Hellebores are still blooming and look great next to the sensitive ferns (Onoclea sensiblis) out front. My Iris have finished blooming and I need to weed the bed by the mailbox to get it ready for the daylilies which will start to bloom soon.

The only other annual I have added this season is a ‘Mini Blue-Veined’ Supertunia. I added this to my blue pot with the Salvia and Spirea. The salvia has already started blooming and the Spirea will soon follow.

My herb pot is not looking so good. The cilantro started to bolt last week, so I cut off some of the flower buds. The basil, which has been looking ill ever since the floods, now looks awful. My parsley and thyme are the only things doing well. They seem to have had good drainage and decent sun where they are. I may have to start over with new cilantro and basil, maybe even from seed.

taking up space, in a good way!

I finally planted my herb garden (in a pot), Roma tomato (with stake), and all of my hollyhocks. In order to plant the tomato, I had to relocate some Black-eyed Susans and realized I just have too many. So, in addition to the previously offered sedum, mint, and creeping jenny, I would also like to offer some Black-eyed Susans.

When planting the tomato, I was reminded that all tomatoes are virtually vines. Because tomatoes try to root wherever the stem touches soil, planting lower will create more roots and better support. I removed the lowest pairs of leaves and then literally back filled the hole just under the first leaves. I put a 4’ green stake next to it and will use flexible cloth ties to secure it as it grows.

I also finally got to plant my new blue pot! I relocated an existing Salvia and ‘neon flash’ Spirea to the blue pot and will add some sort of flowering, trailing annual as well. The pot itself was already quite heavy and the thought of filling it with soil was less than attractive. For this reason, I put two empty plastic bottles in the bottom to take up some space (pictures). This is a great way to save soil and reuse some of those plastic bottles too!

The aphids (and ants) are still coming back on my Rose of Sharons, so my next step is to spray them with a soap solution. There are a variety of homemade soap spray recipes on-line. I think I’ll just mix some dish soap and water in a small hand-sprayer and see how that works.

a redneck garden

After moving to Nashville I kept hearing the term ‘Redneck Garden’. This term refers to an ornamental garden that includes edible plants normally associated with a vegetable garden. [I’ve chosen to ignore other components of said ‘redneck garden’, i.e. beer can wind chimes and the like] I’ll concede the idea was a foreign one to me, having grown up with a separation of ornamental and vegetable.

However, when you think about it, it really makes sense. I don’t know many people that have the space for fully separate ornamental and vegetable gardens, at least in an urban setting. Also, I think most people forget how aesthetically pleasing some veggies can be. Not to mention, growing your own vegetables saves money! So why not grow veggies in our flower beds?

I’m totally on-board and look forward to having my very own redneck garden soon. Just think of the positive consequences this idea could have if implemented in low-income ‘food deserts.’ We could all be eating better and/or more cheaply if we grew a few tomato plants in with our holly bushes, as an example.

The attached photo shows peppers grown alongside Salvia and Black-Eyed Susans. The color combination is phenomenal. I think I’ll achieve a similar effect planting veggies next to my Butterfly Bush and Black-Eyed Susans. Aesthetic benefits aside, growing some ornamentals like Marigolds with your tomatoes will actually prevent pests.

At the garden center this week I found a variety of herbs and vegetable starters available. For $15, I picked up Italian parsley, variegated Basil, a variety of Cilantro, and a Roma Tomato plant. Those herbs, along with the thyme and mint (and Rosemary) I already have will complete my herb ‘garden’ (which will actually be a pot to ensure good drainage).

The Roma tomato plant caught my eye because my boyfriend really likes Roma’s. But I’m also trying to grow several different varieties of tomatoes to hedge my bet that some will thrive. I should be able to plant all of these this weekend, and I’m still searching for more tomatoes and peppers to add.