Tag Archives: gardening

Seventies and Sunny

Posted on September 27, 2013 by AnnieRie

About four days ago, it was the forecast from Bob Turk, my favorite local weatherman. For days on end, it was to be in the seventies and sunny or partly sunny. Every day. It looks like this weather pattern will go on for almost the entire week ahead of us also.

It does mean I have to water the remaining plants in the garden, but that’s OK. It means lots of nights grilling. Lots of dining on the patio, watching the deer.

It means, because of the continued lack of rain, that our trees are starting to turn color early.

It also means I will be heading out to Larriland this weekend to get a few things. Like some crisp fall apples. Some tiny greenish tomatoes, to make my “famous” green tomato pesto pasta (recipe courtesy of Mario Batali). I don’t have any small tomatoes left. Just a handful of large slicing tomatoes out there.

This was my recipe post for that pasta. I love it, early in the fall with the last of the tomatoes.

I found a great recipe for green tomato chili, thanks to Kirsten. My leftover tomatoes will go into that chili (well, once the weather cools down). It doesn’t seem like chili weather yet.

By the way, pumpkin picking is all over the county. Larriland acquired a new farm just for picking pumpkins. They also have tons of activities on the weekend for the little ones.

So, tomorrow morning, visit to Breezy Willow to get a few dairy items, and some ground beef for the chili, followed by a trip out to Larriland for apples and green(ish) tomatoes. Need to remember to pack the cooler, or to go to Larriland first, followed by Breezy Willow. Their farm store is open, 10-2 on Saturdays.

The weather will be lovely, that’s for sure.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farms, Food, Foraging, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, West HoCo and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, grilling, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Of Gardens and Wineries

Posted on September 25, 2013 by AnnieRie

Or, a garden at a winery that inspired me to try new things next year.

This is Barboursville’s garden. I am definitely trying out the trellis method next year. I even bought a few seeds to try things.

I am going to plant that trellis of Malibar Spinach, and I am going to conquer that dislike of cardoons. It seems I didn’t do them the right way when I got them in the CSA last year.

You really need to peel that woody outer layer away. And I didn’t.

So, come March there will be cardoon and Malabar spinach seeds in pots on our windowsill.

Really love this spinach trellis.

Oh yeah, this is a winery I know. We are no strangers to Barboursville. We have enjoyed numerous lunches at Palladio, their restaurant that reaps the benefits of this garden. Have been drinking Octagon since 2000.

This was the 1998 release that we bought on our first trip there for my husband’s 50th birthday. We have many of them in our collection.

Barboursville can be crowded, so go during the week. The property is beautiful and you can picnic on the grounds, or check out the ruins.

For us, there will be combined trips to visit Early Mountain and Barboursville, as they aren’t that far apart.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Locavore, Restaurants, Wine and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, gardening, Locavore, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Garden Transitions

Posted on September 21, 2013 by AnnieRie

The garden is moving into its fall mode. My lone Thelma Sanders squash is getting bigger, but it hasn’t been joined by any others.

There are blossoms all around it, but no other squash. Could be a real bust.

I have a few dozen green tomatoes left out there.

Since it will still be warm for a while, I am hoping they ripen. Otherwise, green tomato pesto pasta, or maybe that green tomato bacon jam.

The basil has continued to flourish, even as I keep cutting it.

The African blue basil is putting out new growth.

The fall greens have started to spread in their boxes. I have chard and arugula out there.

This is the ruby chard. I may mix it with the French sorrel from the CSA box and make a quiche. It may be getting close to October but there is quite a bit left to harvest, on these lovely crisp days. We do need rain, though. I have been watering things again.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Weather, West HoCo and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Football Weather

Posted on September 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

Clear, sunny, perfect day for the Ravens to open in Baltimore. Good to see that they won.

We did lots of things outdoors today before and after the game. Some wire maintenance for my husband.

Me, checking out the lone squash in the garden, and bringing in almost all the remaining tomatoes. This year, they seem to be slowing down a bit early.

I only have about eight green tomatoes left on the vine.

The freezer is almost full. Today, between games, I cut up the habaneros and the jalapenos for the jelly. Found all the material to do the canning. Tomorrow will be canning day. I have to decide how hot I want this jelly to be. I got about 10 habaneros from the CSA. The recipe calls for 6-15 depending on what level of heat you want.

I also roasted the remaining paste tomatoes and put them away in the freezer. Took all the pesto out of the ice cube trays and divided the cubes up into small containers to keep.

Roasted three more heads of garlic, resulting in a full jar of soft tasty garlic to use in recipes.

Tomorrow there may be showers. That will be good as we are crossing our fingers that there will be no restrictions for the Equinox Twilight Hikes at the Conservancy, next Sunday night, the 22nd.

They should be fun, if the weather stays this lovely. Family hiking ending at the campfire for stories and s’mores. Followed at twilight by the adult hike.

It’s a “bring your own” hike. Musical instruments to play. A few snacks to supplement the s’mores for the adult crowd.

Check out the details on the Conservancy web page. If you want to enjoy the changing of the seasons.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, Weather, West HoCo and tagged community, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, tomatoes, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Perfecting Pesto

Posted on September 10, 2013 by AnnieRie

To me, pesto is one of those universally adaptable ingredients. Slather it on flatbread. Mix it to make dressings. Plop it on pasta. Spread it on fish. On chicken. Drop cubes of it into crock pot meals. Like chicken soup.

I love making pesto with all sorts of bases. Like basil. Like garlic scapes. Like radish greens, carrot tops and whatever else green looks good.

One thing that is always in my fridge and my freezer is pesto.

I have been working on my processes to make pesto. Like using the food processor to grate cheese.

Start with a few hunks of pecorino romano and/or Parmigiano Reggiano. Process it until the food processor stops migrating across the counter top.

Whatever doesn’t get used in the pesto goes in the refrigerator for later use.

Today I harvested three cups of African Blue Basil.

African blue basil has been my most prolific producer for the past two years. I still have at least 4-6 cups out there in the herb garden.

I toasted some pine nuts. Added some pistachios. My ratio: 1 cup basil to 1/3 cup nuts to 1/2 cup cheese. I add two cloves of garlic for every cup of basil.

This is my roasted garlic from yesterday. There were six cloves added to my three cup basil mix today.

I start with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper, then add to taste as I go along. I drizzle extra virgin olive oil into the processor to get the consistency I want. I don’t even think of measuring olive oil. It is just eyeballing the clump spinning around in the processor and getting it to that creamy mix, that isn’t too dry.

Today I put two cups of it away in the freezer. I also had a four ounce container to use for dinner tomorrow. This combination was one I really liked, and will try to duplicate in the future.

Here’s to pesto!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, gardening, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Cooking Up a Storm, Again

Posted on September 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today, with the cooler weather, I had crock pot, oven, stove top and food processor going, in order to keep up with the last of the garden harvests. And with some of the CSA veggies.

What did I get done?

Another batch of tomato sauce using all of my paste tomatoes, and the CSA roma tomatoes.

A foil package of about 30 cloves of garlic, put in the oven after taking out the chicken that I slow cooked for most of the day, which I had finished in the oven, to get it brown. I used the last of my previous batch of garlic to make dinner Sunday night. I always keep a container of roasted garlic in the refrigerator. Beats buying it from the olive bar at the grocery store.

Two quarts of chicken stock tonight, using the carcass and all the drippings from the all day crock pot chicken cooking.

Pesto, using the CSA basil from a week ago, and some of mine. I still have enough to do another large batch.

Add that to last night’s work. I made ajvar and roasted red pepper hummus while I had last night’s lamb on the grill.

Finally, I have to decide if I want to keep that rendered chicken fat skimmed off the top of the stock, and download Michael Ruhlman’s iPad cookbook dedicate to schmaltz. Now that’s a new adventure that I might just have to try.

Tell me. If I saute kale in chicken fat, do they cancel each other out? Healthy food. Serious fat. Could be interesting.

The freezer is filling up again.

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Posted in cookbooks, CSA, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Picking Fruits and Veggies

Posted on September 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

The end of the peach season is upon us. Soon, the rest of the 15 varieties of apples will be ripening at Larriland. We need to get back out there and pick some white peaches for the freezer. You can’t beat a day with this view.

I have also never picked grapes out there. Or, quite a few other veggies. This lovely weather makes me want to hit the farm and get a few more good items to put away.

The web site also tells us that the tomatoes will be good through October. I may go there and get a large quantity of romas, just to finish the sauce processing.

This year, my romas and paste were way down from previous years. Even with more plants. I know it is time to move the garden out to the field even if it means twice the length of hose to irrigate it. We are now down to seven hours of sun a day, maximum, on the current garden site.

I do have quite a harvest of heirlooms still ripening. Most get picked before I get stink bug or something chewing on them. I think it’s the squirrels. I need to get a dog. Seriously.

Not only are the squirrels getting into my plants, they are chewing on the cedar siding around our doors.

All in all, though, I did get, and I am still getting quite a haul of heirlooms. Finally, pineapple tomatoes, hillbilly tomatoes, and Amana orange, all producing fruit almost every day. Another full windowsill.

I do love this mild, low humidity weather that we are experiencing. I could get used to working outside without that heat and humidity.

hocofood@@@

Fall Sneaking Up on Us

Posted on September 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Signs that we are heading towards that change of season.

My first Thelma Sanders squash, hidden under the leaves in a corner of the garden.

Berries on the crab apples. A bumper crop of berries. Here’s hoping we get the cedar waxwings who love to feast on the berries.

Rhododendron buds are really plentiful this year as well. Last year there was lots of growth but not that many blooms. This year, all the rain was good to them and they put out huge amounts of buds, which means lots of flowers next May.

Morning glories completely out of control. I didn’t prune them back this year. A friend who grows grapes told us in rainy seasons to let the flowers and weeds get close to your garden. In the case of a very wet summer, their competition for the moisture will be beneficial to keeping your veggies and fruit from diseases caused by too much water.

A basil plant that decided to rise from the ruins of the bunny devastation of last spring. I have no idea how it came back from its puny little nub left after the rabbits got to it.

Newly mowed meadow. Ready to be baled. Driving my sinuses nuts, but it really looks forlorn, where once there was all this tall lovely grass.

Lots of green tomatoes still out there, hiding and in plain sight. I figure we have about four or five more weeks before the weather changes for good, and I have to bring them in if they don’t ripen. Right now I am still getting lots of slicing tomatoes, but all the paste tomatoes are about finished for the year.

Weather is lovely, isn’t it? Temps in the low eighties and high seventies. Cool nights.

The blue basil is going to seed. Time to do the last big harvest and make another boatload of pesto.

Enjoy this weather while we can!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hobbies, Howard County, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Garden Update

Posted on August 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

The garden is hanging in there but the stink bugs are out in force, so I have resorted to picking the tomatoes just before they get ripe and sweet. Cuts down on the damage.

The one on the top left is an Amana orange heirloom. It will turn orange on the windowsill. The other larger heirloom is a mortgage lifter. This year they are not getting huge. The weather hasn’t been hot enough. A couple of orange romas, one Polish linguisa, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and one lonely sun sugar.

The supersweet 100s are done. I have yet to get a ripe pineapple tomato, even though right now there are dozens of green ones on the vines. Got what looks to be the last Paul Robeson yesterday. The hillbillies and the boxcar willie plants also have dozens of green tomatoes on them. Hope we continue to have nice days, in order to ripen them.

I am glad I put in 48 plants, as many of them are underachieving this year.

I have gotten my share of weird plants too. Like this one.

I could have put it in the fair for strange looking plants.

The CSA has also given us some winners. Like this eggplant with a “nose”.

Garden and CSA veggies played well tonight for dinner, where I made my ratatouille pie. Using Breezy Willow bacon and feta, England Acres eggs, Trickling Springs milk, and a combination of CSA squash, eggplant and onion, and my tomatoes for the ratatouille base. I really love this pie. Like a quiche.

I used store bought pie crust this time. Being lazy. Bake the pie crust until almost done. I used two crusts for this. One on the base, and one hand torn and placed around the top of the deep dish.

Mix two cups of ratatouille with 1/4 cup grated cheese and about 6 strips of crisp bacon, torn into pieces. Dump on top the crust. Mix together four large eggs with 2 tablespoons of milk and 2 tablespoons of flour. Dump on top the ratatouille. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

Great with a Cabernet. Enough left for lunch this weekend.

hocofood@@@

Making Like a Squirrel

Posted on August 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

Putting things up. Preserving them. Buying to fill the freezer. It seems most of August is spent getting ready for winter.

Yesterday Breezy Willow sent us an email announcing the availability of bulk tomatoes, for you to can or freeze. $25 for 25 pounds of organic canning tomatoes. If I wasn’t drowning in roma and paste tomatoes from my garden, I would be all over this offer. Organic tomatoes for $1 a pound? Amazing! This is a bargain.

Also yesterday England Acres posted the availability of the next batch of roasting chickens. Pasture raised chickens. 4-6 pounds each. Plus, corn for freezing. I headed out there today to get chicken and corn.

One of those chickens went into the oven tonight.

I have been using up tomatoes almost every two or three days, making sauce, or oven dried.

The freezer is getting full again.

Discussion today on facebook about what to do with hot peppers. I think there will be pepper jelly made this weekend.

Larriland keeps sending notices. The newest fruits to ripen are the apples. They are starting to trickle in.

I have to admit, I am glad the weather has been mild, as my stove and my oven are going every day. This winter I will love having flavorful foods out of the freezer, to make locally sourced meals.