Gardening in a Small Space

Growing 500 pounds of food in a SMALL space. Who's with us?

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Pickle My Fancy



Ah!  The cucumbers have finally arrived. One of the side benefits of going on vacation is your plants have grown leaps and bounds while you've been away.  This year we planted some Iznik cucumbers.  These are smaller and have a smooth exterior.  I bought them purposely to can and make bread and butter pickles.  And so I have.

When I was a wee lass (I like to channel my inner Braveheart when pickling), I would only eat dill pickles.  My grandparents even canned cucumbers and made the most delicious pickles EVER!  They were so good we would eat them on white bread with butter.  As I have aged and matured so have my taste buds and I am now a bread and butter pickle eater as well.  A good friend of mine, Nancy E., made the first home canned bread and butter pickles and they inspired me to try it myself.  Sadly the recipe she gave me was one of a true cook... vague on details.  I am NOT a cook and need everything spelled out so I found a recipe online with Recipe Girl.  Her pictures are fantastic and her directions are perfection. http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/07/20/bread-and-butter-pickles/

First thing you do is cut your cucumbers in thick slices.  If you go too thin your pickles will be mushy.  I also have a crinkle cutter which makes them pretty.



Then put your cut cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle liberally with about a tablespoon and a half of kosher salt. Put the salted cukes in the refrigerator for an hour.

Then rinse the salt from the cucumbers.

While your cucumbers are sitting in the fridge make the pickling liquid.  Here you should just follow Recipe Girl's directions.

Bread and Butter Pickles


Yield: About 4 cups of pickles
Prep Time: 20 min + marinating time
Cook Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups (1 1/2 pounds) thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric


Combine sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.


After your cucumbers are rinsed off of salt, add sliced onions to them.  You can really add as many onions to them as you like because they taste nice a pickled afterwards.

This is where I differ a little with Recipe Girl... I put the cucumbers and onions in a Mason jar and then pour the liquid to the top.  I do let it sit out for an hour and then I put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

And then comes the masterpiece.

 
 They will stay good for about 2 weeks.  The Parkers eat them with sandwiches and hamburgers.  Super yum!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

What's Up Doc? Camping and Carrots





So the title is a little too expected right?  But what else do I think of when I think of carrots.  A smart mouthed rabbit chased by a gun wielding doof, of course.  I'm always amazed how long "60 days to maturity" really is.  Yikes!  So here we are harvesting some carrots.  5 1/2 pounds to be somewhat exact.

I decide to pick them while it is pouring down rain and when I have 2 hours before I'm going to a get together with friends.  We were going to make the lemonade but decided to bring fresh carrots instead.  Eat 'em fresh!  Carrots themselves seem a bit boring so Barry hooked up some of the buttermilk dressing with blue cheese that we usually put over tomatoes.

Now I'm somewhat of blue cheese connoisseur.  My whole family is, really.  So when I say this is the best dressing ever, I'm speaking on some authority.  Barry found this little gem on the Bon Appettit website.  It will become a summer favorite.  We've also done a low cal version with low fat buttermilk and it is also tasty.
Buttermilk Dressing with Blue Cheese
Read More http://www.bonappetit.com


Ingredients

Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallot
1 small garlic clove, minced
Coarse kosher salt

Salad
6 assorted large heirloom tomatoes, cored, cut into 3/4-inch-thick wedges
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Coarse kosher salt
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley leaves

Preparation

Dressing
Whisk first 6 ingredients in small bowl. Season dressing with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.

Salad
Place tomatoes and shallots in large bowl. Add oil and lemon juice; sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper and toss. Divide among 6 plates. Drizzle with dressing. Sprinkle with blue cheese, green onions, and parsley.





By the way, camping get together was fantastic!  Our friend, Jeff, put together a hilarious video of the annual camping trip the guys in the neighborhood live through.  His Camper's Delight might be paired with some carrots next year :)  At least they aren't chasing each other around with weapons.




Friday, July 13, 2012

In The Meanwhile: Let's Have Some Lemonade

There isn't much happening in the ole garden.  I mean, the basic stuff is going on; like growing.  There seems to be a lot of tomatoes getting ready and the cucumbers are finally looking like they want to vine and the greens on the potato plants are getting brown around the edges...but I haven't done anything worth mentioning.  The garden is doing all the work right now.

I thought I'd back track a little and tell you that we also garden in some containers on our deck to maximize your growing.  


We started our cherry tomato varieties in containers that we placed in raised, rolling stands (great for the back!).  These are wonderful because they don't need to be watered as much but I do make sure we put new soil in these every year or we add a lot of leaf grow to the existing dirt.  The nutrients, it seems, really get sucked up.




This year we felt like brainiacs and we grew lettuce, a spring variety, and spinach around the perimeter of each container.  We then put the tomatoes in the center.  Two plants per container seem to do the trick.  This was fantastic and we got some super tasty lettuce.  We have continued to replant lettuce but a summer variety.  The shade of the tomato plants make for a nice, symbiotic relationship and keeps us in some lovely lettuce.

Having little tomatoes, lettuce and herbs right on hand and an easy walk right out our sliding glass door to our deck is lovely for the lazy gardener.  Currently we have chives in one of those wooden barrels.  I'm not a big fan.  It is ok the first year but they seem to be a magnet for ants and after five years the metal rings holding the barrel together are falling off, leaving my chives in a precarious situation. Chives are wonderful and should be the first thing you attempt growing.  You can't kill them and they will make you feel super successful.  I'm not sure how they are going to like being transplanted once again.  This will be their third transplant and look at them... wild and wonderful.
  We also plant our herbs in these fantastic containers (have I mentioned that Gardener's Supply Company has been the best thing since sliced bread, or in this case beets).  These pictures are of when we first planted this year and what was left over from last year.  We had a mild winter and almost all my herbs made it through the cold.


One of my favorite herbs to grow is our basil.  We did Sweet Basil and Thai Basil (which has a stunning purple flower that attracts the ever helpful bees).  Basil is another herb for the first timer to start with.  I just made some Basil Lemonade for some friends and it seemed to be a big hit.  I thought is was refreshing and that the basil added a wonderful flavor to it that was unique.  I've added the recipe below.

Basil Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
5 cups of water
4-6 lemons
Basil



1.  First, make a simple syrup.  Pour a cup of water and a cup of sugar into a sauce pan and heat until sugar dissolves and the liquid is clear.  Place to the side.
2.  Juice about 4 lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice.  Depending on the lemons you might need more.  Our lemons were fairly big.
3.  In a container pour the simple syrup, the cup of lemon juice and four cups of cold water.  Mix or shake.
4.  Right before serving put in basil (chiffonade) and sliced lemons.  This is definitely better served over ice.

*If you'd like a more basil taste, put additional basil in the simple syrup and bring to a boil.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Just Beet It

Showin' How Funky Strong Is Your Fight
It Doesn't Matter Who's Wrong Or Right
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It
Just Beat It, Beat It

- Michael Jackson



 This just in.  Well, kinda.  We harvested the beets a week and a half ago but I've been avoiding my blog.  Beets aren't necessarily exciting or sexy.  And so I will tell you we successfully brought in 6 pounds of beets.  Not bad.  They look impressive, right?  They don't look as bountiful once you cut them down.  The greens can be used for salads and if you are Michelle from Callia's Corner http://www.callias-corner.com/, you'll mix them up in your Vitamix Blender and make a groovy shake.  She better make one for me soon so I can become a believer.  

We are going to try the recipe below from Culinary Art/About.com 
http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/salads/r/beetsalad.htm.  We'll let you know how it goes.  I'll be honest, I'm nervous.  I'm not sure I've ever eaten a beet.  They are always so red and yucky looking.   I hope it is good because I'm feeling all Barbara Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle right now.  But it doesn't maker who's wrong or who's right, just beet it.

Roasted Beet Salad with Crumbled Feta

Ingredients:

  • 2 bunch red beets
  • ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1 cup microgreens or baby greens, rinsed and dried
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lemon
  • Kosher salt, to taste

Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

  2. Tear or cut the beet tops from the beets, leaving about an inch of stalk attached. Wash and thoroughly dry the beets.

  3. Place beets in a roasting pan or on a flat baking pan or sheet pan. Drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Roast for 30-45 minutes, depending on size and the desired doneness. Test for doneness after about 30 minutes of cooking by piercing the largest beet with a knife. If the knife easily enters the beet with only a small amount of resistance, it's done. And the smaller ones will be, too.

  4. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes or so.

  5. Slip the skins off the beets by hand. They should slip off easily, but you can use a paring knife on any stubborn spots. Just be careful not to cut away too much beet.

  6. Cut the beets into ½-inch dice and toss in a stainless steel mixing bowl with enough olive oil to coat them.

  7. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice of about half of it in to the bowl, gently stirring to combine and checking the flavor as you go.

  8. Season to taste with Kosher salt.

  9. Whisk together 3 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp lemon juice and toss the greens in this dressing in a separate bowl.

  10. Spoon the beet mixture onto the center of a salad plate and top each portion with about 1 Tbsp of crumbled feta cheese and about ¼ cup of the dressed greens. Serve right away.
Makes about 4 appetizer-sized portions.
 
Side Note:
 
Should I be worried about this little guy... 

 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

How Our Garden Got Soul: Collard Greens

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!  ~Albert Einstein



So… good news.  The slugs did not eat all of our collard greens (I’ll post pictures of the death traps later).  They actually left us 8 lbs 4oz of greens.  We had a great evening at dusk, the whole family collecting greens. 
 

Ok, well, Barry and I harvested collards.  Sophia picked peas.  Sadly, enough to make one serving!  Wow, you have to plant a lot of daggone peas to actually want a few servings of them.  Gabriel pulled dirt out of the raised beds and seemed to rub it into his skin.
 
Here’s a few pictures of our haul.  I’ve also added my mother-in-law’s recipe for collard greens.  Enjoy.

Linda Parker’s Collard Greens

I am writing this entry as Barry prepares the greens.  It’s nice to sit with him and reminisce about his mom, Linda, who we lost three years ago to cancer.  Linda was a fantastic cook.  I remember how the family would gather at the Parker house for many family dinners and everyone was welcome.  The Parkers always believed that you should cook enough for everyone to bring a few friends and that they all should take a plate home with them.

Barry learned to make these collard greens by watching his mom as he was growing up.  Every southern family has their own recipe.  The Parkers made them for every holiday and definitely for New Year’s Day.  They are considered good luck and represent the dollars that might come your way.  Collard greens are new to me, being a northerner and all.  I must admit I love the smell but they have not grown on me as of yet.  It has been 18 years since I’ve moved here and if they haven’t taken by now, I’m not sure they will.  I think I am an anomaly though because everyone else LOVES them.  Barry says he loves everything about them right down to the pot licker, which is the juice that is left over after you’ve eaten everything else.  He says they are a comforting meal for him and remind him of home.

We are so excited to make these now with our homegrown collards.  Barry commented that they are so tender that we can even use the smaller stalks and that our leaves are smaller than what he would get at the grocery store but we wonder if that is because they are organic. There is also very little grit, which is nice.


Collards are not a lot of work.  So says he. 

You will need:

·      3 ham hocks
·      A bunch of greens because they cook down.  Tonight we are cooking 
about 8 pounds but Barry says you get them in the grocery store in 3 pound packs.  He usually buys between 3 and 4 packs.
·      3 large yellow onions
·      About 10 cloves of garlic
·      About a tbsp of salt
·      About a tbsp of pepper
·      About a tbsp of seasoning salt
·      About a tbsp of sugar
·      About 2 tbsp of apple vinegar

SSorry about all the "abouts".  Barry is that kind of cook.


You first have to cut the leaves from the larger stalks.  Then wash them thoroughly.
 
Cook the ham hocks, water, onions, and garlic together to make a broth in a big stock pan.

Add greens and more onions (because Barry likes onions) to the pot.  Add the salt, pepper and seasoning salt to taste.  I tried to pin Barry down on amounts but the most he would give me is about a tablespoon each but I would really taste it because that is what he does.

Cook till tender.  This will take about 45 minutes.
 
Add about a tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  Taste.   Adjust seasoning to what you like and serve.

Goes excellent with BBQ, fried chicken or (who are we kidding) any large southern meal.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

There Once Was A Girl Who Loved Potatoes

I wish I could find the picture of myself at about 2 years old.  I'm in a highchair eating buttered potatoes, the butter dripping down my arms.  That began my love affair with potatoes.  I love them in anyway:  mashed, baked, roasted, scalloped, Au Gatun, twice baked, french fried, boiled.  It doesn't matter.  Yet there is nothing better than freshly dug up spuds.  My gardening guru, Mr. Greenstreet always said, "Eat them while their fresh.  If you don't, what's the point of growing them."

So what is a poor girl to do with limited space but a yen for a starchy tuber?  The Grow Bag.  Yes sir, for just $12.95 you too can grow a multitude of potatoes in your backyard.  And that's what we did.


We got our Grow Bags from Gardener's Supply.
 http://www.gardeners.com/Grow-Bags/GrowBags_Cat2,default,sc.html



So we bought Yukon Gold Seed Potatoes.

We first had to make sure the potatoes wouldn't rot so we cut them leaving the eyes.  We let them sit for a couple days and then they were ready to plant.

Cuffing the bags we filled them about 1/4 of the way.  We then put the seed potatoes, about 4 or 5 per bag, in the dirt making sure the eyes were up.

 The bottoms looked a little funky and old to me.  I'm not sure if this was a big deal but we cut them again leaving a fresh bottom.


Then we covered them up so that the soil came up about 3/4 of the way.  We then unfolded the bag and watered them thoroughly, making sure the water came through to the bottom of the bag.  We currently have four to five plants growing in each bag.  

I may not eat them in a highchair this time or with butter dripping down my arms but I will enjoy them non the less.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Wanted: Dead or Alive

So the traps are set.  No hangman's noose, no firing squad, all it took was some pie tins and beer.



And as our garden becomes a haven of death, I said to Barry, "I bet there aren't even any slugs.  They are supposed to come out at night.  I don't see a one."  And just as my conscience was clearing Barry found this cute/ugly little dude on a plastic container in the garden.
Guilt is back on the table.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Hole-y Slugs, Batman!


So my plants are growing by leaps and bounds what with all the rainfall this spring.  And then I see this...


  So I put an all call out to my Facebook friends.  And three folks stepped up:  Helen, Todd and Shannon.  The word on the street is SLUGS.  Who knew?  I think of slugs creeping along my sidewalk leaving a slimy, shimmering gick.  Come to find out they will also crawl all over your plants, mostly at night leaving chaos and mayhem behind them.  Ok well, maybe not chaos and mayhem but definitely holes in my beloved greens.  Come to find out they not only love my green leafy plants but beer.  Or at least the yeast in the beer.  One of the top things recommended by several sites and the previously mentioned Shannon was setting out pie tins of cheap beer in your garden.  The tins will attract the slugs and they will dive right in.  Sadly, they will drown. I'm trying not to be squeamish as they will no longer pester my plants.  There seems to be some controversy whether the beer should be stale or fresh.  I think I'll go with fresh first time around.  I mean... it is their final meal.

So wish me luck tomorrow as I endeavour to take my slugs out on the town and get them drunk as skunks.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

What Happens When You Can't Find A Strawberry Planter

This is crazy, right?  It seems like you could find a strawberry planter at every Tom, Dick, and Home Depot garden center during the spring.  Yet I have been on this quest for the last 3 years with no avail.  But we would not be thwarted!  We made our own.  Quick, easy and fun.  And the side benefit?  Sophia feels a real ownership in these strawberries and takes care of them like her children.  The excitement of a new red, ripe strawberry is felt through the entire household.

So here we go.  First, buy three sizes of sand pals (this was surprisingly tricky and I had to go to several stores).  It was also a little difficult to convince Sophia there were plenty of sand buckets for the beach leftover.
 







Next drill holes in said buckets.  Make sure the holes are decent size as drainage is important.  We also put in some little white patio rocks in the bottom to help with drainage.

Fill with potting soil.  We added some Leaf Grow.  Leaf Gro is the butter of the gardening world.  Barry always says, "Mo butter, Mo better."  Same goes with Leaf Gro.  When filling the bottom larger

 

bucket, fill it about 3/4 full then set in the medium sized bucket.  Now you can fill the rest of the bucket up with soil.

Now the fun part.  You take the strawberries out of their market
pack container and loosen the roots.  You stuff, and I mean stuff, them into the the sides between the two buckets.  When you get them in there put a little more soil along the sides to fill in any gaps.  We put in 3 plants around the big, bottom bucket.  You repeat this with the medium sized bucket but put in 2 plants.  When you place the smallest bucket, plant only one strawberry plant in there.

Tah Dah!  You now have a colorful strawberry planter for your deck or stoop.  It took 3 buckets, a few rocks, a small bag of potting soil, and 6 strawberry plants.





Your final act is to water and pick your strawberries as the spring days pass by.

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Miss America Pageant of Tomatoes


So going into this years tomato buying, Barry and I have done a little research and were schooled by said delightful staff at Thorne Farm.  We now know the difference between indeterminate and determinate tomatoes.  Indeterminate will vine and keep producing fruit for as long as you keep picking but determinate have a definite growing time period and are more bush like.  We knew we wanted more indeterminate because vining tomatoes fit better in the square foot gardening plan as they will grow up and not out.
 
We know we have space for 12 plants.  This should give us enough for us to eat, share and can.  This is a bit of a guessing game for us and we tend to overdo things (Remember my husband’s motto:  Bigger Is Better).  With that said, we want to make sure we’ve bought the prettiest most talented tomatoes.  The contestants are…

Maraglobe Select:  They will produce in 72 days, which is pretty fast for a tomato.  It is determinate but we have loved these in the past.  They are sweet with not many seeds, which is a huge plus for me.  Seeds gross me out.  I think it stems from someone once telling me that if you swallowed a watermelon seed, it would sprout in your stomach.  Ummmm… yuck.

Green Zebra:  Also a 72 day-er. It meets our indeterminate needs. I am not as big a fan (I mean… they’re green) but Barry loves them.  They also give a nice color splash to your tomato salads.

German Striped:  Ah, the love of my tomato life.  These 78 days to maturity beasts are delicious.  They have in the past taken a HUGE amount of space in our garden but now that we are using our new vocabulary-indeterminate, we can vine them upward.  If you haven’t tasted the sweet German Stripe you haven’t lived.

Yellow Lemon:  This is new to the Parker Garden.  We have not canned past Yellow Brandywine tomatoes, we just like them for the color it brings to our culinary presentations.  But the Brandywines always split funny and I’m not crazy about the taste.  So we are trying this type.  Indeterminate but 85 days to maturity.

Mortgage Lifter:  Well, we picked this one because the story behind it was cool.  M.C. Byles who bred these tomatoes took the biggest varieties he could find and bred them.  He sold the plants for a dollar a piece and was able to pay down his mortgage with the money earned.  Way to go M.C.  80 days to maturity, indeterminate.

Late Ripening:  I suspect this isn’t their real name and are under some kind of witness protection program or something.  These are also a test.  They are red, late ripening tomatoes.  You pick them, put them in a cool location and it takes them 2-3 months to ripen.  Yup, winter tomatoes.  I’ll let you know how this all goes or if it is a fairy tale of tomatoes.
  
Early Girl:  We haven’t been super functional yet.  But most of our plants are Early Girls.  65 days, indeterminate, and you have beautiful red tomatoes to eat and can.  This way I get my canning over early. 

Who will be crowned Miss Best Producer or Miss Tastiest?  Only time will tell.


Sheep and Wool Festival Side note:

                                
So I forgot to tell you all about the best $20 bucks we ever spent.  We bought a handmade broom.  It is FANTASTIC!!!!  It was made to be an outdoor broom and it sweeps up everything from our grass clippings to our piles of dirt on my deck from planting to our dried worms from the sidewalk.


Look at the inside of the broom… that’s the secret weapon right there!
The inside bristles are super thick.

I don’t care what Ray Montero, one of this year’s dragees, says.  There is no way you can get this quality broom from Home Depot.  Want the porsche of brooms?  Write Bob Haffly of Lone Oak Brooms, P.O. Box 160, Amberson, PA  17210

Here’s Bob on YouTube.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

I Can’t Pull The Wool Over Your Eyes




Ah!  At last one of my favorite days of the year.  The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival http://www.sheepandwool.org/.  Now I’ve posted about this lovely little event in the past but just in an “I went and bought my tomatoes at the Sheep and Wool Festival.  What a geek!” kind of way.  SO this year I’ll give you a little more detail.  This year the lucky dragees were some dear friends and my cousin Rebekah and her husband, Kyle.  Dragees, sadly, usually end up carrying a child, a pack of tomatoes and/or a Hulk size lemonade.

I’m going to digress this time and just tell you about our wonderful day and what you should do when you visit the Festival next year.   In the next couple days I’ll post about the tomatoes that will be joining us this year.

Your first stop will be the Thorne Farm stand www.thornefarm.com.
Their tomato plants are divine and they are so helpful and knowledgeable.  An added bonus?  I see they have a blog as well, which I will be checking out. And you may want to as well http://www.thornefarm.blogspot.com/ . They are the reason so many unsuspecting friends and family have been waiting in line with us to get into a sheep and wool festival. 

It will be a hot one so the only logical solution?  A lemonade.  A huge lemonade.  A lemonade that won’t even fit in the cup holders of your stroller.  There is something wonderful about a lemony drink with crystallized sugar in the bottom.

Next, you stop at the lamb concession stand even though it is only 10:30 a.m.  You stop because it is so yummy and you’ve seen the lines at noon before.  You stop even though a few feet away are live sheep smelling the cooking juices of their brethren.  You don’t care.

And because you have no shame, after your little luncheon you do walk through the sheep barns.  You will ooh and aah over the tiny little lambs as well as marvel over how soft yet oily their wool is.  You will watch your cousin commune with the sheep because, after all, you both are from Michigan and it is expected that you have some knowledge of sheep husbandry.

Finally, you will have had enough of bra-less women, wool skeins, the sun beating down on you and will want to get back to your home to start planning where all the tomatoes will go.  Your child will beg you for an ice cream, which if the most fitting end to a lovely morning.