Tag: gardening

Blackberries!

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, tweens

After an exhaustive search of my own backyard for blackberries, my take consisted of a small handful of berries from 

Blackberries picked at Susan's "farm"

 

some low-growing vines that I discovered had wended their way among the blueberry bushes. These I ate before I even made it into the house. 

My friend took pity on me. She invited me over to her house to pick some blackberries, so on Sunday, my daughter and I headed over. Well, I found out pretty quick why I only had a handful at my house…it’s because Susan has them all at her house! It seemed like millions of them. My hour and half (give or take) of picking did not even make a dent in the bounty of the blackberries. 

Now. What the heck does one do with a gallon of blackberries? 

Here’s a dozen ideas, ranging from easier to harder: 

  1. Eat them as is. No washing them off first; that’s for wimps.
  2. Stir them into your yogurt.
  3. Freeze them for use later on. You may have read advice about how you should place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer until they are frozen, the place them in a bag to prevent clumping, etc. I never do that; my freezer will not accommodate that on a good day (like, on the day before the food shopping). I just dump ’em all into a ziploc-type freezer bag and hope for the best. (It’s not ever a problem).
  4. Throw a handful into your (garden) salad. Really.
  5. Add some to pancake batter.
  6. Add some to a smoothie.
  7. Got a favorite blueberry muffin recipe? Try adding blackberries to the batter instead.
  8. Make a cobbler. Cobblers are pretty novice-baker-friendly. The Pioneer Woman Cooks has 2 versions of blackberry cobbler on her website.
  9. Make blackberry sauce for your pancakes, waffles, or other food of choice. This recipe has only 2 ingredients (one of which is the blackberries!).
  10. Blackberry pie would be great. If you use prepackaged pie crust, it’s even easier. Here’s a blackberry pie recipe from Mario Batali.
  11. Make a blackberry quick bread.
  12. Make blackberry ice cream. Okay, this is the most labor intensive, and you need (pricey) special equipment. Feel free to just look at the pictures of this one. 🙂

That’s it. That’s my top 12 list. I have done #1-4 so far (so many blackberries; so little time)…and I still have plenty left for other things on the list. And if I run out? Well, I know where to get more…heh heh heh…

Sad day for tomatoes

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, education, family, gardening, raising chickens
rescued tomatoes

Well, I have some distressing news today: they have come. The dreaded tomato horned worm has invaded my tomato garden. In all of the years that I’ve been growing tomatoes, this is a (terrible) first. I guess it’s true: if you plant it, they will come. 

It’s especially depressing because (for once!) this has such a promising year for tomatoes so far! They are plentiful, robust plants this year, which almost never happens. 

So, the time has come for me to admit the truth: I am a wimpy gardener. I hate picking the pests off of the plants leaves and fruits; it makes my skin crawl. Of course, that is the first line of defense against so many pests: remove and squish them. 

But I can’t really complain. I am fortunate. I am married to man who loves me more than he hates tomato pests. He is the one who hand-picked all of those repulsive, large, green wormy caterpillary horned creatures from my tomato plants and then fed them to the chickens (circle of life, baby; circle of life). 

Why not just turn the chickens loose on the tomato beds? Because chickens love eating tomatoes as much as the tomato hornworms love eating tomatoes, so there is a basic conflict of interest there. 

If you want to see what these disgusting creatures look like, click here, then scroll down for the pictures on the left side of the text. 

Of course, there are various and sundry poisons to use for most pests, but doesn’t it give you pause when you think about eating the food that has potentially internalized the poison that you are hoping kills some living thing? 

So, what do you do? Pick, squish, then hope for the best? or do you follow that with a good dousing with the poison of your choice?

Children’s theater

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, restaurants, tweens

Consider taking a break from the movies this weekend. There are shows this summer at the Ogunquit Playhouse for kids of all ages. If you have some free time this weekend, head over to the Playhouse to see this week’s show: Jack and the Beanstalk. The show times are Saturday August 7th at 10AM and another show at 12:00 noon. On Sunday, August 8th there is one show at 10:00AM. The price is reasonable, and almost any seat will give you a good view of the stage.

You can order your tickets online at the Ogunquit Playhouse website (full disclosure: my daughter is in this play!).

Have plans already this weekend? There is one more event for children’s theater this season: My Son Pinocchio. There are 3 shows; the dates are August 28th and 29th (also a weekend).

After the theater, cruise (or crawl…it is a summer weekend in Maine, after all; traffic will most likely be heavy) on down route 1 toward Wells for lunch or a snack. There are so many great restaurants and ice cream shops that your only problem will be deciding which one to pick. 🙂

Midsummer garden update

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, gardening, health, italian
first red tomato!

Well, so far, so good. After the scary appearance of blossom end rot on two of the heirloom plum tomatoes (Juliets, I think, but since my husband buried its name tag during planting, it’s anybody’s guess, really) that led to me wildly flinging them into the woods, no more have reared its ugly (and I do mean ugly) head. 

There are 3 varieties of eggplant planted in the garden: the large Italian kind, the slim Japanese, and the variegated slim purple and white. With the exception of that first Japanese one that had the hole burrowed through it, there has been no further defacement of them. Each plant has 2 or 3 eggplants growing on it, except one of the Japanese eggplants has 6! 

The peppers have (so far) been problem free. No mishaps, like last year, when I mistook the small pepper seedlings I had just planted for basil and snapped off the tops of all but one of them before I realized my mistake. Each plant still produced, but not much. Quelle let-down. This year, they look amazing. Now excuse me while I go knock on wood. 

I pulled up one of the beets to see if they were ready. They were not. The beet was so small I could barely see it at the bottom of the greens. I will take another peek at them, and at the carrots, to see if they are nearing pickable size. 

The peas are exhausted, so I pulled those out and threw them in the compost. A zucchini that was growing from seed in a pot took its place. The string beans are winding down but still producing. Speaking of zucchini, those plants are continually producing one or two zuccs per day. It’s to the point that I am grating it into my salads to use it up before it gets to the stage where it is chicken food, vs human food. The yellow squash is a little less prolific, maybe one or two offerings per week. 

The lettuce is doing okay, but looking a bit bedraggled. I’m not sure what kind of spinach we planted this season, but it had no appeal, and seemed to go right from sprouting to bolting without any edible, pickable stage in between. Note to self: write down names of types of vegetables planted! Don’t count on finding stake with name after husband is through planting! 

The potatoes and watermelon look pretty good, but that is no indication that they will produce anything edible. My fingers are crossed though. 

Now, if I could only get some time to pick the blueberries! I priced blueberry rakes, but they cost more than I am willing to pay, so I am resigned to only actually picking a fraction of the berries we have. 😦 There are some wild blackberries snaking a thorny route in and around my blueberry bushes, but no fruit on them yet. 

How are your gardens doing? 

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Garden Update

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, books, gardening

Things are really doing well this year. I’ve been picking zucchini, yellow squash, string beans, and sugar snap peas for a while now. I thought I’d picked the last strawberry last week, but then the funky pink-flowered strawberry plant that I found at the Portland Farmer’s Market a few months ago produced a couple more!

Pink-flowered strawberry; still producing in July

The blueberries are in full swing and I can’t pick them fast enough. The black raspberries are coming along; only have a few plants this year but they are doing great, for the most part.

I’m eating the sugar snap peas and string beans as fast as I’m picking them. Good thing my family isn’t enamoured of vegetables.

The lettuces and basil is doing great; all of the herbs are kicking butt, actually, as usual. Herbs rock! They know what to do and they do it; they need very little help from us.

The bell peppers all look great. I have one eggplant that unfortunately has a hole drilled straight through the top. The pumpkins, winter squash, and potatoes (Yukon Golds) are doing well. Even the watermelon is still alive. That’s already better results than last year.

But here’s the real news: the first two (cherry) tomatoes have ripened! They are ready to eat! I can’t wait. Now, the bad news: one of the heirloom tomatoes has a disease of some sort. The bottom ends are blackened halfway up on two of the plum style tomatoes. 😦

I will be hitting the books tonight to figure out what to do, but I’m not optimistic. Other than removing the offensive tomatoes and keeping my fingers crossed, I haven’t found much that helps this.

Some of today's garden take (notice the first tomatoes!!!)

Will be consulting these books: Terrific Tomatoes (really old, found used copy at a bookstore years ago) “By the editors of Organic Gardening and Farming”, and Garden Primer (revised edition) by Barbara Damrosch…basically it comes down to a watering problem: too much after too little, or perhaps too little calcium. One book has the nerve to say a solution is to “choose disease-resistant plants”…OY! Are you kidding me?

Okay, note to self: next year, consult crystal ball to rule out plants that will likely develop blossom end rot due to watering problems.

In the meantime, I’ve thrown those two rotted bottomed tomatoes as far away into the woods as I was able. Hopefully the rest will be okay.

Now if i can only figure out what ate the hole through my eggplant…

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Garden update

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, gardening, health

The garden is looking so great so far this year (excuse me while I knock on wood). Again, I congratulate my self on holding back a few blueberries and strawberries long enough to take a picture before devouring them all!

blueberries and strawberries from the garden early june

In addition to these, the blackberries and raspberries are looking great, and should be able to harvest some of those soon.

The cherry tree has plenty of cherries, but most are way up high and, since this tree is now about 12 feet tall, the birds are reaping the harvest for themselves (not motivated to put up a ladder yet to gather those). Also, due to dealing with the pests that were trying to destroy the tree, we are concerned about sudden death following consumption of said cherries…better to wait for next year (so far, there have not been any avian corpses unexpectedly falling from the sky, thankfully).

The tomato plants all look well, and one of the 11 even has 3 tomatoes on it already! I’m guessing it’s the early girl; the stake with the name of the tomato  got buried during planting and I haven’t yet found it.

One of the eggplant seedlings had aphids and some other unpleasant looking bug on it, but my husband found them early and immediately sprayed it with the insecticide soap, and it looks okay now. Keeping my fingers crossed for this one. The other 2 eggplants seem unaffected.

The zucchini and yellow squash plants all have teeny tiny squashes growing. The bell peppers, beets, potatoes, pumpkins all look good. The melons look iffy, as they have for the past 2 years that we have (unsuccessfully) tried to grow them.

The herbs are all doing well.  The basil we planted from seed is sprouting, and the large leaf Italian Basil plants are still alive, green (not yellow, not black) and look healthy. Last year’s pineapple sage may even have reseeded; will be keeping an eye on the 2 little seedlings nearby.

We are still harvesting last years lettuce, and this year’s crop is growing very well.

How are your gardens doing? What are you growing this year?

They’re ba-ack!

by Karen, posted in gardening

I’m referring to those annoying Japanese beetles, that every year show up to wreak havoc in my garden. Last year it was the cherry tree and the highbush blueberries that they were targeting. This year, it’s the apple and the crabapple trees that they are busily destroying. (Can you say “murderous rage”?).

Estabrooks sent me an email warning me of their return…2 days after I had discovered them myself. The next day my husband inspected the garden and (of course) there was no sign of said beetles. Sigh. How to get rid of them?

Estabrooks  will happily sell you some poisons that are known to sometimes be effective in the war against Japanese beetles (and other offenders).  Either stop by their stores or you can purchase them online.

Speaking of annoying insects that are making me miserable in the garden (not to mention at the beach) this year…horseflies  are next on the list but no less annoying than the Japanese beetles (and don’t even get me started on the mosquitos!). How to repel and/or kill these bugs? Not much is out there online on this topic. I did find one article with some do-it-yourself methods to try. Since it can often make me feel better and more in control (even if it’s only illusory), I think it’s worth trying anything vs. doing nothing.

Have any of you got any reliable methods to get rid of Japanese beetles and horseflies?

Paul Parent in Kennebunk

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, gardening
Paul Parent broadcasting live from Estabrooks in Kennebunk

 

This Sunday morning was there was a nice treat for gardeners. Paul Parent, of Paul Parent Garden Club fame, was broadcasting his show live on 5/23/10 from Estabrooks on Route One in Kennebunk. Check out his radio  show on Sunday mornings from 6:00AM-10:00AM for great gardening tips. He even takes phone calls from listeners! 

If you waited to put in your vegetable garden, then you should be in the market for some seedlings this week.  

If you didn’t wait and took the risk of putting your little plants in the ground already, then the obsessive gardeners among you STILL may be in the market for some more this week. 

Reasons to get down to the farm store or nursery buy some more vegetable seedlings: 

  1. You were smart and waited until “all danger of frost has passed” and now have a blank canvas on which to plant.
  2. You planted already but were smart and left some room for future moments of weakness, like the Pineapple Tomato plants that you just couldn’t pass up.
  3. You find black bell pepper seedlings and find that you just couldn’t pass them up either.
  4. You’ve finished planting your garden and have no more room, but your friend is just starting to plant hers. You can vicariously experience the plant-purchasing thrill by watching your friend oufit her garden.
  5. You can split seedling 6 packs with your friend. After all, if those Pineapple Tomatoes really do get to be 2 pounds each, how will you fit (never mind eat) them all?

And of course, there are all those herb plants…many herbs will thrive in the worst conditions you can think of…but beware the invasive mint plants… 

So, what are you planting this year?

10 tips for a working mother’s garden

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, gardening, tweens
3 raised beds

10 things you will need to have a vegetable garden if you are a working mother:

  1. something to grow things in. now, it may be a patch of ground, a raised bed (if your lucky, your significant other will build it for you; i’m lucky), or even a half whiskey barrel or window box if that’s what you have time/space for.
  2. you will need a plan. trust me. i always make one. i never follow it, but it will make you feel virtuous that you did at one time have some sense of restraint. or, just some sense.
  3. you will need some time. this might be the hardest part of the list, especially if you leave for work before dawn and return after dark. i have no ideas here. you’re on your own.
  4. you will want some assistance. it may come from books (The Garden Primer, Second Edition by Barbara Damrosch is a great reference), friends who know what they are doing, and maybe your kids? hint: your kids probably are not interested in your garden agenda and will not want to help you. options: pay them; beg them; exclude them completely (reverse psychology).
  5. also, consider miracle grow, compost…take any leg up you can get. i have used this in the past with some success: Neptune’s Harvest Organic Fertilizer.
  6. depending on what you are growing (zucchini, string beans), you will need a dedicated appetite that celebrates monotony.
  7. you will need poisons of some sort. if you plant it, they will come: the invaders that love to search out and destroy what you have planted and (if you had time) lovingly tended. show no mercy; the invaders won’t.
  8. you will need protection of some sort from the mosquitos, black flies, dragon flies, and other insects that are hell-bent on getting in your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. a bug headnet is worth it’s cost. Cabela’s makes one. i’ll warn you; it’s not pretty, but neither is trying to extract a bug from your nasopharynx. the choice is yours.
  9. be prepared for surprises. the crookneck yellow squash seedling that you purchased just may surprise you and turn out to be just another ordinary green zucchini plant. these things happen.
  10. lose with dignity. if the invaders are winning, sometimes it’s better to sacrifice one plant for the good of the whole garden. rip it out. don’t look back.

(early!) on sunday mornings, Paul Parent has a radio talk show where you can call in and ask questions. check out his website for more information.

and remember: give yourself a break. we can’t control everything.

if things turn out well, share the wealth! maybe your neighbor or friend had good luck growing tomatoes this year, and you had good luck with string beans. share; everyone benefits.

and remember, in the real world, the working mother’s garden may turn out to be a Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter and a Chia Pet herb garden!

gardening

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, gardening

are you gardeners out there getting excited thinking about your vegetable gardens for this year? the rain last year left my tomatoes (and me) in misery; there was so much mold that when i finally did get a tomato or two that were edible, i had no appetite for it…and i love tomatoes. fortunately, this  is still vivid in my memory so i will not be going tomato crazy when it comes to plant buying time this year (the last two years i had in excess of 18 plants…).

so, this year i will try to do get more bounty from fewer plants. that is my plan. i hope i can stick to it when i am looking at all the different varieties of tomatoes seedlings for sale at Agway…

here are some helpful links:

http://www.agway.com/

http://www.gardeners.com/KitchenGardenPlanner/kgp_home,default,pg.html

http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/03/free-gardening-planners.html

“The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before.”~Vita Sackville-West