Savory and Sweet Summer Salads

Farmer's Markets are open and my salad greens are growing - it's time to make some salads.

Cannelini Bean, Red Onion, and Arugula Salad
Courtesy of Dave Lieberman at the Food Network

1 can of cannelinni beans I found in my pantry
1/4 red onion that may have been my roommate's
A bunch of mesclun greens cut from my garden
Handful of basil leaves
2:1 EVOO and balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper




I learned something about myself - I'm not a huge fan of cannelinni beans. If you are, though, give this one a try.


Parts of Plant Coleslaw
(For this recipe and others, see Tai's blog, Growing Stories) 
I learned this one while volunteering at an after-school garden club in Somerville. The kids get a snack before they come to us, but they always ask, "Are we cooking today?" One day, the answer was yes. To teach them the parts of a plant, the garden club teacher, Tai, chose one of each:

• cabbage, chopped finely (leaf)
• raisins (fruit)
• carrots, shredded (root)
• celery, chopped (stem)
• broccoli, chopped (flower)
• sunflower seeds for sprinkling on top  (seed)

For the dressing, we combined a little mayonnaise with cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.

When I think of cole slaw, I think of the mayonnaise-y, goopy mess you get ready-made from the grocery store. But when you're making your own, you can add as much or as little of each ingredient as you'd like. This salad balances different tastes - sweet, salty, creamy, and sour - for a delicious and refreshing summer snack.


Blueberry, Almond, and Gorgonzola Salad
This recipe is mine, made with what I had in the fridge.

Ripped up greens from the garden
Toasted sliced almonds
A cup of blueberries
Crumbled gorgonzola cheese
2:1 EVOO and balsamic vinegar
Sea salt

Toasted almonds release more almondy flavor and have a better crunch. To toast, I spread a handful in a dry frying pan. Set the heat to medium-low and leave for about four minutes. If I weren't so lazy, I would toss them halfway through. Remove from heat when you're just starting to smell the lovely almondy aroma.



Have a delicious salad recipe you want to share? I'm always looking for new ideas!

Garden Snapshots



Spring peas in the early morning



The largest spinach I ever grew! (Note: I have never grown spinach before)



Mesclun greens in terra cotta 





The Scent of Magnolia

When I was about 13 years old, my sister and I were sent to live with my grandmothers in Germany for several weeks during summer vacation. It was the first time I had been so far from home for so long, and my German was terrible then. But I have several fond memories, one of which is my grandmother's garden. Rain or shine, it was beautiful. I remember brilliant flowers standing out against wet greens, sweet scents wafting indoors, the large white flowers on the magnolia tree, the little path that winds around the back, the gooseberries that became my grandmother's gooseberry pie. I would have taken that garden back to the States if I could.

I'm not the only fan. My grandmother and her garden were featured in a full page spread in her local newspaper, the Heidenheimer Tageszeitung, on April 23rd. She talks about my grandfather's devotion to the garden, re-planting the magnolia tree over and over until the fourth tree finally made it through the winter. The garden holds memories of their time together, before he passed away 20 years ago. The fossils they collected on their many "nature walks" now line the garden path. And even though she can't work in the garden anymore, at 96, she still enjoys the changes with the seasons. Spring alone is a kaleidoscope of color:

"First the garden was yellow with winter aconite, then blue with 'scilla,' and after that white with snow bells."

I'm proud of my grandmother for what she and my grandfather built and maintained for all of these years.  Congratulations, Omi! I'd consider myself lucky if I can grow up to be like you.

Too much of a good thing is....not a good thing

Buddha said,

Do not dwell in the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind on the present moment.

If you don't, you will dump six gallons of water into your garden container.


I dutifully watered my plants last week, saving the self-watering containers for last. The sound of water pouring down the tube into the reservoir lulled me into mindlessness, until I suddenly noticed water seeping up through the soil and gathering in pools on the surface. !! I immediately turned off the water and poured out some of the water, but then I left it alone, hoping the soil would dry out.

In the meantime, I re-read my pea seed packet. "Soil: MUST be well-drained. Water: evenly moist but peas cannot be waterlogged." Shit.

That was last weekend. It's still not dry. Today I borrowed my friend's power drill (thanks Jess!) and drilled a drainage hole. Water poured out of the bottom for a good twenty minutes. It still looks wet and it's due to rain tonight. I doubt I saved the peas, but at least the next crop will stay dry.

Self-Watering Containers = Happy Plants

I heard it snowed in Minnesota last weekend and it's still chilly in Boston. But technically, it's spring, and it is finally planting season.

This year, I took the advice of R.J. Ruppenthal in his book, Fresh Food from Small Spaces. I made two self-watering containers, which are as awesome as they sound.

In nature, plants want to get at the water table for a reliable source of water. A self-watering container mimics nature because it has a water reservoir in the bottom, with a "soil foot" that soaks up water into the soil level of the container. Plant roots reach deep into the container and get only the amount of water they need. Result? Happy plants! And happy plants are productive plants.

Serving size: 1 self-watering container

The Ingredients**

• Large container
• Container lid
• Wood blocks
• Plant basket or strainer
• Plastic or metal pipe
• Burlap
• Screws
• Power drill, jigsaw, and/or nice hardware store staff
• Challenge: Save money by repurposing old materials for all of the above ingredients. It can be done.

**For better customer service than the large chains, shop at a local hardware store. If you are in the Boston area, I recommend Tags Hardware.

The Recipe
Get the book for the complete recipe. Then come back here for some additional tips.


I cut six blocks of wood to support the lid under the weight of the soil - one for each corner and one on either side of the strainer.

Avoid my mistake and cut the lid before you screw the wood supports in place.



I used a jigsaw to cut the lid down to size, to fit inside the container. I also cut a hole for the strainer to sit inside the lid, and removed a corner to fit the watering tube.

See the duct tape? I'm not too handy with the jigsaw. I cut the lid down to size by eye, rather than measuring first. I did measure the hole for the strainer, but the saw slipped.




Voila! Ready for planting.
I watered from the top while the seeds were germinating, than began to water through the tube once a week.





Caveat: I used PVC pipes, because I am not growing a significant portion of my diet in these containers. But if you want to stay away from PVC, hardware stores sell metal plumbing pipes. They are narrower and more expensive but will work just fine.



How do you deal with lead in your soil, or limited garden space? Leave a comment and let me know.

Failure and Success

Changes
After a soil test revealed high lead in all of the garden beds surrounding my house, I decided to plant in a couple of containers. If I'd had more time, I would have researched self-watering containers, since I never remember to water my plants. (I think my plants have a sinister nickname for me. Something like "The Drought-Keeper".) There's a great chapter on creating your own self-watering container in Fresh Food from Small Spaces by R.J. Ruppenthal. Next year, that's my plan.

Failure: Grape Beets

By the time I got around to planting, I needed to plant my chioggia beet seeds, like, YESTERDAY. So I skipped the self-watering containers, and just bought some large containers from Ricky's Flower Market in Somerville. It's everything Home Depot is not: Locally owned, friendly, expert, and helpful.

I planted the beets seeds and a couple of weeks later had nice beet seedlings. I pulled out the sickly ones and the others became gorgeous beet plants, really pretty with big leaves and red veins.

A few weeks later, I saw brown spots on some of the leaves. I also spotted something that looked like a wasp sitting on top of a leaf, and it looked like it was eating it. Is that a normal wasp thing to do? Days later, the brown spots were taking over, and by the time I pulled up the roots, the leaves were completely keeled over and crunchy.

It was so sad - my beets were the size of grape tomatoes. I minced them and mixed them with a spoon of chevre goat cheese for the world's smallest beet salad. So, ok, not a huge success. Still, I planted something and actually ate the results. That's pretty cool.


Success: Summer Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Farmer's markets saved the day. Back in June, it was strawberry season, and I decided I absolutely had to make a strawberry rhubarb pie. I took the recipe straight from Joy of Cooking. I'm leery of copyright laws, so I'll just give you the ingredients:

2-1/2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled, and halved lengthwise








About a pound of rhubarb, washed and cut into 1/2 inch lengths









Mix fruit with:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces, to sprinkle on top of the fruit

A bit of milk to brush on top for a golden crust. You can also sprinkle a bit of sugar.

Before:









After:










Yum!

Preparing Your Garden Bed

It's been a few weeks, and I've decided my garden plans are too grandiose for the small plots in my backyard. All the websites I'm reading are telling me to narrow down and choose a few varieties of vegetables, rather than plant one of everything. While I'm thinking about that, I'll share with you the research I've done on preparing a garden bed.

Some good guides:
Preparing the Garden Bed
Tips for Preparing a Planting Bed
How to Start a New Garden

One thing these guides have in common is that they all give different advice. To each gardener their own, I suppose. I've handpicked the advice that makes the most sense for my situation and made a simple 5 step list of what I need to do. I hope this is helpful for others too, in condensing all the information that is out there - but remember that my steps may be different for you depending on your soil. (Especially if you have clay in your soil, or your soil drains poorly.)

1. Check hours of sunlight.
If you have a plot of land in mind, take a sunny day and check continuously to see how many hours of sunlight that plot will get. This will determine where and what you plant. 4-6 hours is considered low light, 6-8 is considered good sunlight, and 8-10 is awesome. I already know I'm getting at most 5 hours in most of the areas in my backyard, which will really limit what I can plant.
Note: keep in mind that growing foliage will limit your light even further in the summer.

2. Test soil.
Google "soil testing" + your state to find out where you can send a soil sample. Here in Massachusetts, UMass runs a standard soil test for a reasonable $9. Soil testing checks for lead and the pH of your soil. It will also let you know the nutrient levels, so you know if you have good quality soil. Your soil quality determines how you will prepare the garden bed, which is why I've written two versions of step 4.

3. Cut sod.
Cut the sod with a flat-edged spade or sod-cutter. I have literally only a few square feet of land available, so I'm going for a spade. Dig 1-1/2" deep to remove the whole root system.

4.1 Remove sod, add elements for healthy soil.
If your soil needs to be adjusted, remove the sod and add it to your compost so you have space for what you will add. Dig out 6” of your garden bed, toss in a shovel of sand for every 4 square feet. Toss in 3-4” worth of finished compost (that’s a LOT of compost). (Add bone meal for poor quality soil if needed). Till, or turn the soil, to a depth of about 8 inches. Fill in the rest with quality topsoil (dark, crumbly), and till the soil again, as deep as you can.

4.2 Smother sod, add topsoil
If you have good quality soil, smother the sod by laying it upside down in the dug-out bed, and cover with brown bags and newspapers, about 8-10 layers. Wet down the newspaper and cover with good topsoil.

5. Mound topsoil.
Whichever method you’ve chosen, the garden bed should be noticeably higher than the surrounding area. If the bed is next to a wall, it should be highest at the wall, in order to drain water away from the house. If the bed is an island, it should be higher in the center.

Things I need to buy (and you might too)
Flat-edged spade (or sodcutter)
Shovel (or rototiller)
Tarp
Quality topsoil
Organic compost


Recipe of the Day
Since that's a lot of work, I'm leaving you with a very simple but tasty recipe. Just mix the ingredients below:

1 can of black beans
1 can of diced tomatoes (or 1-2 fresh tomatoes)
1/2 - 1 can of corn (or fresh corn)
1-2 cups of cooked rice
Cilantro or parsley to taste

Since it's simple, you can improvise! Please comment to post other ingredients you've added.