Get Me Outta Here!!!

Nature has a funny way of making the unthinkable happen. Take for instance the power of the cucumber. Our cuke plants this year spread through the garden like wildfire. And when it ran out of room...they worked their way outside the backyard. And then last week, I found this curly guy. The cucumber somehow pushed out a panel of our fence as it grew. When it could push it out no more, the cucumber curled around the fence.
Needless to say, it was not easy to harvest this guy. I had to pull apart the fence further and then wiggle the cucumber out.

A Neglected Garden (and Blog)

What kills a garden quickly? No farmer around to take care of it. The combination of McCain campaign embed, two weeks in St. Paul, MN for the RNC, Hurricane Ike, and a couple half week trips to Cleveland, Albuquerque, and Maine have left the poor garden neglected and fading. My boss also mentioned that the neglect has also fallen on my blog.
This weekend, it was time to catch back up and give the garden a little pep before it goes dormant in a couple months. Today, I picked all the ripe tomatoes, a bell pepper, and two cucumbers. I also cut off damaged tomatoes and some bell peppers attacked and eaten by ants.


I figure the more I can trim and pick off, the less the plants have to worry about supporting.
It had been a good month since I fed the plants, so I took 30 minutes to do that as well. Hopefully with a fresh supply of food and cooler, dry temperatures, the garden can come back alive and give us some more goodies before Thanksgiving.

The Basil Was In A Bad Need Of A "Haircut"

Hanna In The House

It may not have been great for the folks in the Carolinas, but we needed the heavy rains the tropical storm brought to the Capital Beltway. Come tomorrow morning, I'll be out in the garden to do a lot of pruning, weeding, and feeding

Ooohh-lala, Saucey!!!

Since I'm in St. Paul, MN for the next two weeks, I thought this would be a good time to fire off some recipes. What good is a vegetable garden if you don't have anything to use the harvest for?

Before I start, I will apologize for the lack of specific amounts for the ingredients. I just judge it all by eye. A smidge here, a handful there, hmmmm...might as well use all those.

The main ingredient is of course the tomatoes. You can use a couple cans of crushed tomatoes; I'm using about 25 small fresh Roma tomaters.

Ingredients:

Roma Tomatoes, blanched
Half Onion, diced
Six Garlic Cloves, minced
Handful of Basil Leaves, chopped
Couple Sprigs of Rosemary, minced
Handful of Thyme, minced
Handful of Oregano, minced
Cup of Red Wine (and use some crappy stuff..save the good wine for drinking)
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper

Steps:
Heat up the olive oil in a pot. Bring a pot of water to a boil as well. Add onion to olive oil and cook for about 4 minutes. When the onion begins to turn clear, add garlic and continue for another couple of minutes. Add wine to the onions and garlic and let simmer. Meanwhile, take the tomatoes and cut an "X" in the bottom of each fruit. When water comes to a boil, add tomatoes and let them sit in boiling water for only 2-3 minutes.
Pull tomatoes out and rinse with cold water. Then grab the top of the tomato and squeeze the flesh out thus separating from the skin.
Discard skins and add tomato fleshes to onions, garlic, and wine. Add minced herbs along with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to let simmer for 15-20 minutes. ***Note: You can add Italian sausage to the sauce as well.***
Serve over desired pasta and enjoy.

There you have it. It may not be the perfect sauce recipe that your grandmama made when you were a little tot. But it's quick and fairly easy.

A Southern Comfort

It's probably not a plant most people find in home gardens. At least, not in gardens north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

With a little Cajun in my blood, I've always had a small place in my tummy for okra. So this summer, I figured I should try and grow my own since it's difficult to find in the produce section this far north (which is funny to say since the capital of the Confederacy is about 100 miles south of us).

I did a little research to see exactly what I should look for and do in growing okra. Like all other vegetables, there are several varieties of okra. The most popular seems to be a species created and bred by Clemson University....called Clemson Spineless. Part of the attraction to this variety is the lack of a tough exterior. Eventually I found one plant tucked away in the Home Depot vegetable plant section. A couple weeks later I found a second variety, the Cajun Delight, at our stellar nursery near the house. I planted both in a large pot along with two long stakes to steady the plants as they grew. I had read that okra plants could grow to 5 ft. tall.

The Clemson Spineless was slow to take-off, but the Cajun Delight was gangbusters. I have had plenty of okra..which have come in two waves. I had a great harvest in mid-July followed by a second jump in okra pods about a week ago.


It is a very interesting looking vegetable to watch grow and mature. It first appears as a pretty yellow flower. But the flower only blooms for about 12 hours and then falls off. Underneath that bloom is the young pod. Within a day or two, the pod grows several inches and ready to be picked. The prime size to cut off the okra pods is about 2-4 inches. Anything larger than that and the pod becomes too tough and not easy to eat.

Some folks don't like okra because of it's slimy flesh. But my grandpa claims cooking okra with a little vinegar can take care of that. I've found when you fry it, the slime disappears.

Either way, I'm happy okra has been a part of our garden.