Gardening – Page 6 – Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Setting goals for 2018

We are taught at karate that goals we set are goals we get, and are encouraged to set goals for the year. These are some of the goals I have set for myself this year:

Test for my Tang Soo Do black belt – this is a no-brainer, it’s what I expected to do in October. The tests are held at our regional tournaments, which happen twice a year, so I expect to test in April.
Renew my Project Management Professional (PMP) certfication – actually, I completed this since I wrote it down. Yay! One down! Time to start on the next cycle. It’s a continuous learning opportunity, requiring 60 credits of training every 3 years, so as soon as I finish, I start towards the next cycle.
Add a new garden bed – this has slightly changed since I wrote it down. I entered a sweepstakes and won a discount towards a Garden Tower, so I’m adding that instead of a more traditional raised bed. It will be my first foray into vermicomposting, which involves worms.
The garage door lets in a little bit of light… and leaves… and air.

Garage door projects – this is actually two projects in one. The door from the kitchen to the garage is an interior door; it allows a bit of light and air in. It’s not terrible, but combined with the need to replace or improve the garage door seal, I’m paying more for heat than I should be.
Duolingo recently added Korean as a language option. Since we learn snippets of Korean at karate, I thought I’d try picking up a bit more. I don’t have time for daily lessons at the moment, my current goal is at least once a week.

I’ll come back to these later in the year with updates.

This year’s big harvest: tomatoes

This year’s favorite harvest recipe: tomato soup.

Each year, it seems to be a different crop that goes wild and leaves me scrambling to use it or freeze it. Last year’s tromboncino squash forced the discovery of new recipes (orange zucchini bread is fabulous), the purchase of a food processor, and is still taking space in various forms in the freezer.

A few good tomatoes — Ripe Glacier and Ananas Noire tomatoes.

This year’s bumper crop is Ananas Noire tomatoes. Cassandra will happily eat them raw, but they’re fairly large, so even she can’t keep up. I’ve been taking extras to work a couple times a week. The stellar find for dealing with the excess harvest is this tomato soup recipe.

I typically make a recipe at least once before tweaking it to my taste, but I don’t usually have plain tomato juice in the house, so I substituted V-8 juice (which is mainly tomato, with other vegetables added) the first time. I’ve worked up from there, adding onions (caramelized one time), green peppers, celery, and what pushed it over the edge to I could eat this every day, leftover beef. Some days I even remember to pick some basil for the recipe.

Tomato soup ingredients in the crockpot, then swirling in the heavy cream, and lastly, in the bowl.

I drop it all in the crockpot first thing in the morning, then run the immersion blender through it when I get home from work. After it’s mostly blended, I add the heavy cream and blend again before dropping the butter in. (Let’s be honest, that’s mostly because I like to watch the swirly pattern as the cream mixes in.) I leave the butter to melt for a few minutes, then stir and serve.

I’m not particular about which kind of beef I include, it just depends on what leftovers I have in the fridge. After a day in the crockpot, it’s all going to dissolve nicely. The first attempt was thin sliced fajita beef; I’ve also tried steak and short ribs (cooking on the grill, of course). They all work nicely.

In theory, we eat a little of it and freeze the rest for delicious soups in the winter. Last weekend’s soup – a full crockpot – never made it to the freezer.

Hardware is a strange name for a restaurant

That was my first thought when a friend asked if I had tried the place I’d been driving past at least once a week for the last year. “It’s a farm-to-table restaurant.” Wait, what? Really? I just thought it was a brewpub, which I don’t go out of my way for since I don’t drink beer. (Yes, I realize brewpubs have other good features.) So I Googled the restaurant and spent a while ogling their menu.

Last week, I had a chance to go with a friend. We opted for a high-top table, right next to their greenhouse. (They grow their own salad greens in the greenhouse, along with hops for their beers, and fruits and nuts in their micro orchard.) Then the waiter introduced himself and said these magic words: “We have 411 whiskies.” I could go every day for a year, have a different whiskey each time, and not make it through the entire list! I won’t go that often, of course, but I did set up a spreadsheet to track which whiskies I’ve tried there. The Templeton Rye from their Happy Hour menu narrowly beat some of their whiskey flight options for the evening.

Greenhouse, whiskey, wood grilled bread, meat & cheese plate at Hardware — The Greenhouse, Templeton Rye, Wood Grilled Bread, and a selection of meats and cheeses at Hardware in North Aurora

Their food was equally impressive, particularly knowing the greens are grown in sight of our table, and some of the meats are cured or prepared there. After our Wood Grilled Bread with hummus, olives, cucumber, feta cheese, and arugula, the waiter brought fresh baked rolls and honey butter to the table. I had almost finished my roll when dinner arrived – homemade ravioli for my companion, and a mixed platter of meat and cheese for me. The roll came in handy between bites of habanero tequila cheese, and my favorite of the meats was the duck bacon.

I did bring half of my platter home, so we didn’t look at the dessert menu while there. I did, however, look it up afterwards, and suspect that I’ll be ordering just an appetizer and dessert next time. And a whiskey, of course. Only 410 left to try.

It’s grilling season!

Many years ago, on this day, my father was born. It seems appropriate to celebrate with this topic, since he taught me how to cook on a grill. I can’t make it to his birthday party, hopefully someone at the house is lighting up the grill to make something delicious for him.

My Big Green Egg (with a side of weeds) and other people’s backyards.

I’m always excited when grilling season arrives, though I don’t grill nearly as much as I think I should. Growing up in Miami, grilling season was year round, and I continued that tradition at my old house, where my grill was on a covered patio. Calling it a “grill” is almost insulting, my outdoor cooking is done in a Big Green Egg, which is a ceramic smoke oven. In addition to having a fun name, it cooks faster than a regular grill and retains more moisture in the food. It’s similar to cooking in an oven, with the added flavors that come from cooking over charcoal.

Delicious grilled salmon — Grilled salmon. Yes, it was as good as it looks.

I finally fired up the grill for the first time this season because of a grilled salmon recipe I found in a magazine. I don’t eat fish often, much less when it’s cooked; I prefer it in sushi. But the recipe sounded good, calling for garlic and fresh herbs. I’m a sucker for garlic, and was able to harvest fresh chives and cilantro to add it. When it’s warm, I’d rather not overheat the house by baking, so I took my cooking outside.

Once I’ve started grilling for the season and have a taste for it, I’m more likely to fire it up any given weekend. I realize it’s more work than a gas grill, but I think it’s worth the extra effort. This weekend’s grilling plan is a lime cilantro flank steak (pre-seasoned, not using my cilantro this time), garlic artichokes, and a jalapeño with peanut butter (to see how it compares to the baked version). Just thinking about it is making my mouth water. (If I touch my eyes after cutting the jalapeño, they’ll be watering too. I’ll try to avoid that.)

Happy grilling, and happy birthday, Dad!

And rain will make the flowers grow.

I took photos of the garden last week, thinking I’d be writing about it after Razor Girl, and it wouldn’t hurt to get ahead. We then had a warm, wet week… everything with full sun grew at least at least six inches in that time… including the weeds. (OK, I may be exaggerating… but not by much.)

Star bed, early July 2017, growing mint, sunflowers, chives, cilantro, basil, and hopefully dill — Growing mint, sunflowers, chives, cilantro, basil, and hopefully dill

Star bed, late July 2017, showing mint, catnip, sunflowers, and chives — 12 days later, from the other side… chives, mint, catnip, and the open sunflowers.

When we moved in last year, before moving any furniture in, we set up raised garden beds in the back for some vegetables. About a month later, we added a bed to the front, specifically selected a decorative pattern (a star) rather than a plain rectangle… curb appeal and all that. The star (and grass around it) was overrun last year by two tromboncino squash plants, with chives and mint somehow peeking through. (Most herbs are actually weeds, so this isn’t hard to believe.) This year, the star is a full-fledged flower and herb garden, with a different herb planted in each of the five points, and sunflowers sprouting tall above the other plants in the center.

Keyhole bed, early July 2017, growing cauliflower, eggplant, tomatoes and peas — Growing cauliflower, eggplant, tomatoes and peas

The back garden did nicely last year, particularly my okra plants, but I felt I needed more planting space. And less grass to mow. I assembled a keyhole raised bed from Costco in the back, significantly closer to the house. This set is a first for me on several counts: assembled on my own, tall (almost two feet), and with a built-in composter. I’m enjoying the ease of reaching my plants, though it’s disconcerting to have to weed the open composter as well as the growing area. I planned my layout with the taller vegetables – corn and okra – in the low beds, saving this bed for somewhat shorter plants. At the rate they’re growing, I may end up with tomatoes towering over me!

Low beds, early July 2017, growing corn, pumpkins, beans, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, honeydew, peas, and salad greens — Growing corn, pumpkins, beans, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, honeydew, peas, and salad greens

The low beds are growing slower, being partially shaded by the back neighbor’s white mulberry tree. It still has berries on it, so I can’t trim any branches yet. I can assist with the harvesting though.

Like the keyhole bed, the star has no shade at all, which is perfect for growing sunflowers. Most other flowers in there are random seeds, hoping to attract more pollinators, with a few bulbs like hyacinths for the spring. I expect to add some tulip and daffodil bulbs in the fall. Beyond that, I’m not likely to do much, as my focus is more on the plants I can eat.

I have a long term goal of reducing the amount of grass in the yard. There will always be some – I like walking barefoot in it – but it shouldn’t be the main feature of my yard. I’m three garden beds into that goal already.