Planting Garlic
If you’ve never planted garlic before, now is the time to give it a try. Garlic is a bulb that is planted in the fall and harvested the following summer. The steps are pretty simple: Acquire some garlic. Mine came from the garlic festival in Saugerties, NY. You can also find it at your local home and garden store or you can order it online. Separate the bulbs into cloves. Plant 2″-3″ apart in rows that are about 12″ apart. Label your rows (both ends). Wait for winter to come and go . . . harvest next summer You can find tips on how to harvest your garlic...
Read MoreScapes & Shoots
Fresh from the garden on June 13, 2011 – Pea Shoots, Sugar Snap Peas, Garlic Scapes and Lettuce. Pea shoots – toss in a salad or stir fry with garlic. Garlic scapes – substitute for garlic when sauteeing. Sugar Snap peas – you can throw these into a salad or stir fry. We usually just end up eating them raw. Lettuce – fresh salad greens don’t require a whole lot of dressing. They’re pretty sweet and tender so I would suggest keeping the dressing on the light side – a little olive oil and vinegar are all you need!
Read MoreApril Showers . . .
Bring May flowers. We had a very rainy spring followed by 80 degree, hot, humid weather. The garden is just loving this weather!
Read MoreThe Vegetable Garden is Mostly Dead
You Princess Bride fans know what I’m referring to. My garden isn’t all dead, just mostly dead. There IS a difference. Even though temps have dropped below freezing at night, this is what I picked Monday – NOVEMBER 1. I will definitely continue to harvest swiss chard, broccoli and cabbage. To further extend the growing season, I use a cold frame. I have romaine growing in it right now. The cold frame is a mini greenhouse. In March I’ll start planting lettuce again. Here are directions for building your own cold frame. A picture of my mostly dead...
Read MoreThe Heat Is On
Okay, it’s been six months and it’s official: I’m in love with my GE Cafe Dual Fuel Range! I originally blogged about it here. That was before I had the opportunity to really use it. When we got the stove there was still snow on the roof so Mark couldn’t install the GE Profile hood that came with it. To install the hood he had to remove the microwave that was over the stove and a cabinet. Thank goodness we still had some paint left over from when we painted the kitchen. I think he did an awesome job with the install. The hood is vented through the roof so all exhaust...
Read MoreHeirloom Tomato Salad
There’s nothing like a fresh tomato and this time of year they’re in abundance. This year I grew a variety of tomatoes. In addition to Roma and Jet Star I grew a few heirloom varieties – Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra and Brandywine. Black Krim and Green Zebra To me the secret to making a fresh tomato salad is to 1) use a variety of tomatoes and 2) salt and pepper the tomatoes for a good 10-15 minutes before putting the salad together. The other elements of the salad are cheese, fresh herbs and the vinaigrette of your choice. Here’s the basic recipe...
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