The Garden Diaries - Steps Towards Sustainable

I laid down several rows of spinach seeds, and we’ve been blessed with moderate rain, so I hope to see sprouts soon. They are planted in rows next to the bibb lettuce, of which I harvested two more overdue heads. The bibb sprouted from seed is growing much slower than the transplanted heads I bought. In fact, the heads that I have already harvested have almost regrown to their original size, and are ready for cutting again.

I also cut all the heads of broccoli, careful to leave the new heads budding below. Of the eight broccoli plants, seven have produced crowns, one remains stunted and has not gotten a crown. While washing the broccoli I cut I encounted some tiny caterpillar-like worms in the crowns. I think they are also munching on the leaves, but not ravenously. They are very small, but I bet they grow bigger on a diet of greens. So, what to do? I’m determined to stay as natural as possible, even if I loose a little product to pests. When the worms get bigger, they will eat more, but mayhap they will draw the attention of birds and other predators. I know I have a colony of ladybugs becaue I see them on the lettuce quite often, and in the past I have seen wasps, mantis and other carnivores in my other gardens. I’m doing squash again this year and a couple of years ago my squash was devestated by boring weevils and squash bugs. If I encounter a pest that really takes a toll on the plants, I have to consider steps to protect the garden. I know there are several reputed ways to do this naturally and without pesticide, so I will research those methods and give them a try.

The sunflowers and corn stalks have been transplanted and placed outside to strenghten before going into the garden. I still down’t see any signs of those sunflower stems toughing up. I wonder if I have to bury the sprouting stem when they go in the garden to provide greater support.

I have not been able to find herbs anywhere for less than $3.50 per plant, and that seems rudely expensive. I’m trying to sprout rosemary, mint and cilantro from seeds, and get them going to transplant as well. Cilantro should take pretty easy, it’s virtually a weed. Try and stop it from sprouting. I have always propogated mint from cuttings, but I haven’t really run across much mint that doesn’t taste more grassy than minty, except at S.’s mom’s house. But I didn’t take care of the cuttings I took from there and they all died. Imagine, being able to kill mint. Rosemary is so slow growing I probably won’t even see anything from these plants (if they take off at all) until next year. That’s okay, I have two rosemary plants growing out front now that supply my household culinary needs.

Time to trelliss the tomatoes, too. I observed the first fruits on the vines yesterday. They are tiny and green and low to the ground. These are the tomatoes in the garden, not the ones in the tomato planter. Those plants seem healthy but are not growing, so I’m going to get something to help the dirt and maybe give them a boost. They have had a couple of blooms, but no indication yet of fruit.

The lettuce made for more great salad, and the broccoli blanced up nicely.

Curried Creme Sesame Chicken

Diced chicken dredged in flour and cornstarch, fried and drizzled with a sauce made from red curry paste, creme fraiche, soy sauce, lemon juice, honey and cilantro. All piled atop sauteed squash, zucchini, oyster mushrooms, red onions and broccoli (fresh-cut from the garden), and whole wheat couscous.

The Garden Diaries - Eating Like Cows

First bunches of bibb lettuce coming in, and they are delicious. I generally go out, knife in hand, to the garden and cut a head at the base, just above the lowest level of leaves. A rich, milky juice bleeds from the stump and I wash and spin the leaves free of all dirt, flecks of wood and hitchhiking bugs. I cut up tomatoes, and cucumbers, if we have them, and toss them with the shredded leaves. Drizzle with a simple vinaigrette and we have delicous, home-grown salads as fresh as if we had grazed in the fields.

The bibb has a sweet flavor with just a touch of bitterness that I don’t find in store-bought versions. I like it. The heads where I have harvested are sprouting new leaves, so I will be able to go back in a couple of weeks and collect more leaves. I don’ know how many times I can get this to happen. I am thinking three or four before the plants exhaust themelves. We will see. Also, it might get too hot during the summer for them to produce. For right now, live, fresh from the garden lettuces are awesome.

The Garden Diaries - Off With Their Heads!

Of eight broccoli plants, five have some kind of crowns popping out. One is getting quite big and I’m wondering when the best time to harvest a broccoli crown is. Once I figure out the best time, there will be a brutal decapitation of cruciferous vegetables!

The first few blossoms have shown up on the tomatoes, the basil is still struggling, the carrots don’t seem to have grown any more, and the nasturnums have yet to produce flowers.

Recently sewn collards and squash have sprouted, nothing yet from the peppers or okra. This weekend I’m going to sow some spinach. Everyone tells me it will be too hot and the spinach will bolt to early, but my plan is to harvest it as baby spinach before such things become a concern. I’m also going to plant the sunflower sprouts and hope they will take off. The sprouts seem very thin and weak and I have a hard time seeing how they will become a sturdy stalk 6-8’ feet tall. A half dozen shoots of corn have come up and will need transplanting soon. I’ve never been able to successfully grow corn before either the bugs or the mold got to it, but I keep trying.

Cafe Sunflower

Did a meet-and-greet this evening with some new friends at Cafe Sunflower, a vegetarian restaurant in Buckhead. They are kind of an institution, doing fun and fresh things with foods, making the vegetarian dishes look great as well as taste great. Because it is in the heart of town, we don’t get down there to eat often.

Sonseeray had a very tasty Sesame Chicken, made up of golden crispy soy chicken with broccoli, mushrooms, snow peas, zucchini, onion and bell pepper in a sweet and spicy sauce with brown rice. She even got to eat it with chopsticks. Hard to tell it was meat-free.

I had Handmade Ravioli that were filled with kaboacha squash, spinach, grilled vegetable and tofu ricotta. Served with roasted shallot marinara, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and green beans. The raviolis were huge, about two inches across, and very good. The sauce was composed of actual chunks of tomatoes, and the green beans were perfectly blanced and arranged on top.

We both had soup; Sonseeray tried the cream of mushroom soup and I had the lentil soup. She said her’s was very good, my soup was so-so. I’ve had a hard time finding anyone’s lentil soup that is better than mine. That’s not bragging, because I’m not all that crazy about mine! I want to find or develop a recipe for a really great lentil soup. For now I am still searching.

As for dinner, we talked, we laughed, we shared food stories (one person told of her adventures eating bugs in Thailand), we played trivia. We had a fun time at a nice place that focuses on good food that is good for the body.

Creme Fraiche

Creme fraiche is super-simple to make and to me tastes smoother and better than sour cream, which has a tendency to be very gluey on the tongue.

In a clean jar I poured in about 15 ounces of heavy cream (organic) and 1 ounce of cultured buttermilk. I put the lid on the jar and gave it a good shake, then set it on the counter for 24 hours. Time may vary according to the temperature in the kitchen. 24 hours gave me a soft, smooth, slightly tangy curdled cream. From here it goes into the fridge where it has a realistic shelf life of a couple of months.

Tastes great with fruits, as the base for a dip, a dressing, or spread on pancakes.