artitoes or portachoke?

we planted onions and garlic last fall, and it paid off with a huge basket of harvest. the garlic whistles we blended up with as many cleavers we could find to make a pesto dish. the pesto is a cheap and very tasty alternative to the more traditional pesto made with basil. cleavers* (Galium aparine) are also called goosegrass, and will stick all over you, you can use the leaves and stem in the pesto, the younger less woody ones are the best. it's a nutritious weed- containing calcium, silicon, and sodium. we don't really measure out pesto when we make it- just throw in the cleavers and garlic whistle with some olive oil. then toss it with warm pasta and tomatoes. nutritious and delicious.....yummmm. the potatoes and artichoke we planted in early spring. these potatoes are german butterballs and an early season variety. we also planted a late-season variety which should be ready in another month or two. we found the best way to plant the potatoes is to dig a trench about a foot deep, and place the potatoes about 6 inches apart. cover with dirt, and later, when the potato plants are the size of plant starts, with straw or leaves. leaves or straw can continue to be added on top of the plant as it grows. this allows the individual potatoes to be larger, and can also makes it easier to dig the potatoes up later.


*please note that if you are eating cleavers for the first time it's a good idea to start out with small amounts. large amounts ingested are said to be a diuretic and may cause other discomforts of the bowels sort.....we've never had any problems, but it's always better to err on the side of caution....

going ponding

there's a little pond in our patio area, mostly muck hardly water. i wanted more water and less muck....so i emptied the pond out (by carefully filling buckets with the water, and then pouring them through a strainer to save the gambusia mosquito eater fish.....this took some unpleasant hours.)



then i rode down to the fish store (which was the scariest bike ride i have ever been on....think of whizzing highway traffic passing you merely inches away because there is no bike lane...) and got two small koi and some floating plants. it was very nice looking until the raccoons took to dipping their muddy little paws in the water......i've taken to chasing them off at night with a broom.
at least mishchievous cats still enjoy the view and like to cool their tails off in the water......

lovin' the little green heads

i keep meaning to post 'stuff' more often.....but it never seems to work out that way. *sigh*
we planted some of the tomato seeds we saved last year, and are happy to report that our seeds are viable! That means big plans for the garden this year. Already we have tomato, broccoli, lettuce, cayenne peppers, sweet peppers, cumin, eggplant, celery, and basil all sprouting. It's so exciting to see all the little green heads popping up out of the soil.

in the next couple of days i'll hopefully catch up on some oh so delicious recipes and more gardening fun......

problems in the pea patch

About a month ago we planted some peas......and only two out of about 12 or so came up. Upon investigation, which consisted of digging around in the pea patch trying to find some remnants of the pea bodies, little greyish silvery slithery things were found coiled and twined around a pea full of holes that was still struggling to sprout. I say 'things' because I am not sure what they are. They are not worms as they have lots of squirmy little legs, but I don't think they're millipedes as they are so tiny and not quite as rotund in body shape. We noticed them last fall nibbling on the turnips, so they seem to thrive in damp soil (which we have for maybe 8 months out of the year.....). Other gardeners in the area have said they have also had low pea germination rates and noticed the mysterious 'things' as well. So we planted some peas inside (although they're said to not transplant well as they have long roots, not spreading roots.....) to try and give them a head start when put outside. They only needed about a week to pop their little heads above the soil and start forming leaves. We planted them outside yesterday, and then sowed about 15 pea 'seeds' around them as decoys. I WILL have peas this year.

B-Nutty Shake

nothin' like a nice cold shake on a cold and rainy winter day......

Ingredients:

4 small bananas (or 2 1/2 lg. ones)
2 T peanut butter
4 1/2 T cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cup soymilk
1/8 cup agave nectar
5-6 ice cubes

If you're like me and forget to always have frozen bananas in the freezer for the random day you feel like shakin' things up, then you rely on ice cubes. BUT if you do have frozen nanas in your freezer, use those and eliminate the ice cubes.
Throw everything in the blender till it's all smooth and creamy. this makes enough for two servings, with an extra gulp on the side.

Flooded and slug eaten

If you live in the northwest, this might be what your Italienischer lettuce is looking like......

Marigold Aurore

This is a good recipe for those colder days. We actually made this some weeks ago, when the garden wasn't so soggy, but I'm only getting around to posting it now. This is the kind of recipe that fills you up quick, as it's somewhat rich.

1 1/2 cups soymilk
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
2 large carrots, quartered
15 marigolds, petals removed
1 bay leaf
2 T flour
6-8 T margarine
1/2 cup soy cheese (mozzarella or monterey jack work best)
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of parsley
pasta

Put the soymilk, onion, carrots, marigold petals, and bay leaf in a small saucepot. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the carrot and onion are tender. Take the bay leaf out, and put the rest of the ingredients in a blender. Be warned that putting hot items in the blender creates a lot of pressure and the top will explode off and all the contents will erupt out and onto your walls.....so it's best to leave a little air space by holding the lid a little ajar while you blend everything together. puree the ingredients, then set them aside.
The next part is making a roux for the sauce. This was the first time I really made a roux, so I'm not really sure if the measurements are correct. If it starts getting too thick, add a little bit more margarine or even some soymilk. Melt the margarine in a pan, then add the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until it's somewhat smooth. Add the pureed contents, soy cheese, salt and pepper, and parsley. Simmer gently for a few minutes until you've managed to make the cheese look like it has melted into the sauce (even 'melting' soy cheese doesn't ever seem to melt all the way....), then serve over pasta.