Author: alisonml

New recipes

This week I made up a couple of new recipes to use up some CSA veggies.

Patty pan soup

The first I got no photos of- but it’s delicious. I roasted patty pan squash (4 parts) carrots (1 pt) potatoes (2 pt) with some onion, then stewed them with a broth, basil, garlic, paprika and chili flakes. Then I used the immersion blender. Great thick soup hot or cold.y

“Lemony” Kale Pesto pasta

The second recipe is also VERY good. I sautéed some garlic and chili flakes on olive oil then let kale and sorrel wilt in there. Then I put that, fresh basil, parmigiana, and frozen garlic in the food processor. It tastes really yummy and I’m going to put it on pasta. —- needs lots of olive oil for pasta

Little harvest

Still thinning out the carrots and watering the seeds I planted (arugula was the first to come up, some dill sprouts and beets sprouts visible today.) there are several thornless blackberries under there.

Weather was cooler the last couple of days, so the tomatoes are still ripening slowly.

Salad is ripening, holy basil is growing,

Wander, fertilize, and plant

Got some squash, Romano beans, remaining peas, thinned carrots, asparagus, rhubarb, berries, and a few more sungolds. I planted more beets and carrots in the bed with the old favas. I also planted some more peas on the back side of the pea bed, and the remaining sweet Loraines as a ground cover in the onion bed (I ordered another variety of fava for next year.) I also replanted herbs in pots, fertilized. thanks and put mesclun mix in the empty spinach and corn salad pots. i cut back the lavender and artichokes that were blocking the rock steps. I’m tired.

I’ll prolly start having other tomatoes (plum and Roma) in the next week. Yay!

Finally cooler

It’s been too hot lately- we had a week over 90- and I’ve been hiding out from the sun. Some plants are very happy though.

I cut the favas and pulled the beans. I think I want to try a different variety and next year, though.

I also pulled the rest of the garlic to cure.

It was the first good sized harvest- with Romano beans, patty pan, zucchini, yellow squash, plump blueberries, thornless blackberries, and thinned out carrots. And some nice sized artichokes.

The flowers are pretty too

Also- I planted the last straggler pepper into a bag, and moved one of the lavender stems I’m trying to propagate into a little pot.

New Volunteer plant

From WSU –

With its sculptured leaves and bold flower stalks, Bear’s Breeches is a stately addition to the flower bed. As it is often used in artistic paintings, this species may also be known in the trade as Artist’s Acanthus.

Morphology:
Bear’s Breeches is an herbaceous groundcover with large shiny dark green leaves. Mature plants can grow to a height of 5’ and equally as wide. The leaves themselves can attain width of up to 3’ with deep undulations. Lobes on the leaves each have a spine, which are not sharp. This species is classified as a groundcover in that any pieces of root cut from the original plant can easily contribute to further plant spread.

In late summer, Bear’s Breeches send up tall flower stalks which bear creamy white to slightly pink or purplish flowers.

Adaptation:
Generally adaptable to a wide array of sites, but it prefers ones which are slightly moist, highly organic, and acidic. Light to moderate shade is best. In warmer climates, outside of the Pacific Northwest, this plant has been considered invasive.

Favas

I obviously did not pay enough attention, and it looks like a lot of my favas started drying. That’s great, but since I had so much spoilage last year I assumed that the black pods were diseased and cut down the plants that had them. Fortunately I caught myself and consulted the trusty internet. I’m going to peel what I pulled and see what I got.

I pulled some more garlic today. The “silver and white” variety is smallish, and the size of the music is all over the place- but they look healthy. It’s very warm outside so I hope they (and your onions) cure in the shade spot I built for them.

Other things are looking up in the garden. I increased watering to 80 minutes to offset the heat. Had a few more sungolds.