Outside

Bionic Basil

I have a confession. This year I bought basil plants from a big box store. Normally I purchase all my plants from a nursery, but this spring I stopped in a big orange store for something else and saw these big, lush Genovese basil plants. I bought them.

And look what I have now - the biggest, most lush basil I've ever had.

Some of the leaves are almost as big as the palm of my hand - and I have big hands. They are still growing like gangbusters. In the kitchen, I've been tossing basil into just about everything, and it's wonderful.

More Garden Spinach

Yes, I know, this looks very much like my spinach post from earlier this month, but I'm just so very excited about being able to grow - and harvest - spinach this year!

This time I've pulled some Plum Purple Radishes, which are quite pretty. We'll have salad the next two nights. Tonight I'll serve it with radishes, goat cheese crumbles and maybe some cashews. Tomorrow I'll top it with some beautiful strawberry slices, maybe some avocado, chive flowers and a raspberry vinaigrette.

What a great time of year.

First Harvest 2009 - Spinach and Radishes

Here it is, the first harvest from the garden in 2009 - Bloomsbury spinach and Cherry Belle radishes. I think I'll serve a simple spinach salad - radishes, chives, raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Mmmmm.

First Harvest

I harvested the first vegetables of the season on
Wednesday (6/18). I made a salad with the baby lettuce greens, snap peas and chives. I used the tarragon to make a sauce for pan grilled chicken breast. It was a wonderful dinner.

I'm wondering, though, why the lettuce is growing so slowly this year? I planted in early spring, and until this week we've had cooler than average weather - low 70's, mostly. I thought we'd be swimming in lettuce, but instead I just thinned it for the first time this week. Hmmmm, strange.

Garlic Harvest

When I was young, I never dreamed I would garden, and I certainly never thought I would be as enamored of something as I am of having harvested my very own garlic. What a wondrous thing, growing your own garlic. I always thought of it as an exotic, something that would never grow in my zone 4a garden.

But here it is, in all its glory.

Pictured are three of the four varieties I grew this year. I have practiced an enormous amount of restraint in not using the rest. My plan is to save it all until October, when it's time to plant again. Once I've planted what I need, I'll use whatever is left.

I planted twelve cloves of each variety: German Extra Hardy, Chrysalis Purple, Music and Siberian. I harvested twelve cloves of Siberian, eleven each of Chrysalis Purple and Music, and four of German Extra Hardy (all of which has been used, which is why it's not pictured).

I was surprised by the poor yield of the German. Part of the problem was overactive squirrels last autumn - about four cloves were dug up before I put on the straw mulch. However, I still should have gotten at least 6-8 cloves. But at least my decision about what to plant this fall is a bit easier.

In general, I was disappointed in the size of the cloves. I have a feeling it was because of our very hot and dry summer. Although I kept up with the watering, it seemed to me that the foliage of all the garlic plants turned brown very fast - much faster than I read about. I also harvested earlier than many other bloggers, but I felt I had to do it because the leaves had turned mostly brown.  In any case, we'll try again next year and see what happens.

Overall, Music and Chrysalis each had larger cloves, while Siberian yielded one extra clove. I think I'll probably plant all three varieties this fall and see how they do next year.

I Can Still Pick Tomatoes . . . .

My formerly dislocated shoulder has only been re-located for 6 days now, so I still can't do much. I'll find out more when I go to the orthopedist on Monday, but I can't imagine I'll be doing any weeding for a few more weeks, and digging and hauling may be even more weeks. This means anything but harvesting is on hold for the garden until I hear more from the doctor. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, but I had plans - big plans - for some fall planting.

But in the meantime, I can pick tomatoes, and last night there were lots waiting for me. Sitting on the counter are three Pruden's Purple, two Gregori Altai, two Cuomo de Toro, two Carmello, two Green Zebra and lots of Yellow Pear and Be My Baby red cherries.

As I start to thing of what I'll plant next year (Already? August is moving along fast!), I'm paying more attention to how each tomato variety tastes so I can make some decisions for next spring.

Cherry & Drying Tomatoes

This year I have Yellow Pear, Be My Baby red cherry, and Principe Borghese drying tomatoes. I love Yellow Pears - they have a "big tomato" taste and are very prolific - so those will be back next year. I also love the Principe Borghese when they're oven dried. I haven't dried any yet (they're waiting in the freezer, gaining critical mass), but last year I did, and they were heavenly.

As for the Be My Baby red cherries . . . they weren't as good as I had hoped, nor are they as prolific. Last year I planted Sweet Baby Girls, which were absolutely delicious and exceedingly prolific until they died in the Self-Watering Container Disaster of 2006. However, Fedco is not carrying the seeds any longer because the producer was bought out by Monsanto. (Monsanto produces genetically modified - GMO - seeds, which are controversial for a lot of people, including me.) So, Be My Baby was a recommended replacement. I think next year I'll try something else.

Oh, and I also have had a few Sungolds. When I was planting this spring, I managed to break off the top of the one Sungold plant I had. I left the stalk in the ground, and I now have a 1 foot tall plant that has produced two very small tomatoes. I'm sure this poor plant has not exactly enjoyed optimal growing conditions, so I'll reserve judgment and try again next year.

Main Crop Tomatoes

As for the main crop tomatoes, I've had at least one of each, and here's my ranking:

1. Gregori's Altai: This tomato has been a delightful surprise. For some reason, I thought it was going to be an early tomato, and hence a bit tasteless and tough-skinned. Instead, it's a wonderful main cropper, with pretty pink flesh and a delightfully tangy taste. The tomatoes are big - up to 1 pound - and fairly round. It's perfect for fresh eating. It's been moderately prolific - not a lot, but very steady. I really love this tomato and will grow it again next year.

2. Pruden's Purple: This is an extremely close second, almost tied for first. The only reason for the second place ranking is because it cracks very easily. Since it's the only tomato in the garden that's cracking, I can assume it's not a water problem. But, except for that, this is an excellent tomato. It has that perfect "heirloom" taste - balanced, with a bit of acid. It's extremely meaty without a lot of seeds. It's not the most prolific tomato, but it's much better than many of the classic heirlooms I've grown in the past. I've had seven very large tomatoes from two plants in the last two weeks, with lots of green ones waiting to ripen. Although Brandywine is the touchstone for heirloom tomatoes, our Minnesota climate doesn't allow me a long enough growing season to really enjoy them. I think Pruden's Purple is an excellent alternative.

3. Cuoro de Toro: This is a very nice tomato. It was the first to ripen for me this year. It has a nice tomato taste, and the fruits look supermarket perfect. No cracks, no catfacing, perfectly round. It's one drawback is that it's fairly seedy. Will I grow it next year? I don't know yet. It's definitely above average - a solid B+ - but I'm not sure that's enough to make it back in 2008.

4. Green Zebra: Many people are familiar with this one - a tomato that, when ripe, is green-yellow with green stripes. The fruits are small - about the size of a plum - and very seedy. The taste is unique - quite tangy. It's definitely a salad or fresh-eating tomato. I'm think they taste okay, but I'd rather eat a Gregori Altai. However, Spouse loves them. We had two last night, just sliced, and he commented twice during dinner that he thought they were great. So, I may have to grow them again next year just for Spouse.

5. Carmello: A nice tomato, but it doesn't stand out. The fruit is mostly round, with a few that are misshapen. The meat to seed ratio is about average. The taste is good, but nothing to write home about. Although better than many I've grown in the past, I probably won't grow this again.

6. St. Pierre: Unimpressive. Big, misshapen fruit lead one to hope that the taste will match it's "heirloom look." However, they're only average. Average meat-to-seed ratio, average taste. Also, I've only harvested two off of two plants so far. I won't grow this again.

Things Have Gotten Out of Hand

I've been pretty busy, so have been ignoring the upper garden for about a week. Last night I decided to see what was going on up there before I turned on the sprinkler, and for the first time in my gardening life, I found . . . .

Baseball-bat zucchinis.

I've never let something go to this extent before. I remember looking late last week and seeing little tiny zucchinis, but I guess our 90 degree weather has encouraged them to grow, and grow, and grow.

The upside is that now I get to make some zucchini bread and try this recipe for Zucchini Fritters that I found on Christa's Calendula & Concrete blog. (Original recipe from The Skinny Chef.)

First Tomato of 2007

Here it is, the first tomato of the 2007 growing year . . . . drum roll, please!

Yes, it's that tiny, ping-pong ball sized red thing on the left. The apple - included to give a bit of perspective - is a standard sized Granny Smith.

Ah, but I shouldn't tease. It's the first tomato, and even though it's small, and had a bit of blossom end rot, it was immediately cut into 4 tiny pieces and shared between Spouse and me. It was delicious.

Surprisingly, this first tomato was not a cherry and not a Gregori Altai, which I had planted as my potential earliest tomato. No, this was Cuoro de Toro, an Italian main-crop variety I got from tomatobob.com (which is also where I got the Gregori Altai seed). Ironically, the description says it produces "oxheart shaped fruits [that] weigh up to 2 lbs!!!" (The three exclamation points are courtesy of Tomato Bob.) As the season progresses, then, I should be seeing some big tomatoes, but not yet.

Garlic Harvest

Last fall, I planted garlic for the first time, and two nights ago I harvested it. I'm going to let it dry a little more here in the porch, then trim it up and store it for later use in cooking and for planting again in October.

I planted four varieties with the idea that I would try them out and settle on one or two for future plantings. Originally I planted 12 cloves each of Music, German Extra Hardy and Chrysalis Purple, and 14 cloves of Siberia. (All were purchased from Seed Savers Exchange.)

I haven't done a final count, but I already know that the German Extra Hardy did not do well - only 4 bulbs made it to the final harvest. So, after doing some taste tests (!), I'll whittle it down to two varieties to save for planting in October. Because I only have about 9-12 bulbs of each variety, I won't get to eat much of the two "winning" varieties - I'll have to save them for planting. But next year I'll have much more, and I'll be on the way to having my own garden-specific garlic.

A Springtime Garden Dinner

Last night we had a wonderful springtime - and mostly local - dinner: Grilled chicken with a sauce made with tarragon, chopped garlic scapes, lemon juice and butter; snap peas quickly sauteed in olive oil and sprinkled with a little lemon juice; and jasmine rice.

When I started planning the meal, I was inspired by Jaime at Greengirls to use the garlic scapes in some fashion. At first I thought I would saute them with the snap peas, but that didn't seem right. I poked around epicurious.com for recipes, and found a tarragon sauce that included shallots. I adapted the recipe to what I had on hand, and voila, a nice springtime garden sauce for grilled chicken was born.

I usually don't focus on how local our meals are - I do my best to buy both organic and local ingredients, but don't always - but in this case it was noticeable just how fresh the ingredients were. The grilled chicken was from Kadejan Farms in Glenwood, MN (140 miles away). The snap peas, garlic scapes and tarragon were from the garden (0 miles).

The only non-local item was the jasmine rice, from Thailand. I had originally planned to make wild rice (wild-harvested from Leech Lake, MN, 250 miles away), but it takes too long to cook, and it was getting late. Besides, the nutty jasmine rice was a better compliment to the other flavors in the meal than the heavier wild rice would have been.

All-in-all, a very successful weeknight meal!