Category Archives: preserving the harvest

Learning to Cook Vegan Meals

I’m a gardener and love my herb garden. My cooking tends to have several meatless meals every week. In summer, vegan meals are practical and they celebrate my home-grown vegetables.

Quinoa-Stuffed Pepper with cannellini salad, pistachios.

After a life time of meat centered meals, sometimes, I simply don’t know what to use instead of ham or bacon as seasoning in vegetables. Thanks to the chef created recipes at Green Chef, I’m learning how to make crunchy stuffed bell peppers and savory stuffed squash without loads of meat or cheese filling.

Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffed zucchini with sautéed chard & roasted chickpeas, couscous salad.

“A nourishing veggie-centric dish perfect for spring nights. Sautéed zucchini, garlic, and shallot are mixed with a basil cashew cream, then piled into zucchini halves. Sprinkled with pine nuts and breadcrumbs, the stuffed zucchini are roasted to a tender finish. Israeli couscous studded with peas and carrots, plus cooked chard and chickpeas…” – Green Chef

The instructions for beautiful and tasty Stuffed Zucchini is on the Green Chef website. With all the chard and squash about to burst into production, this recipe is a gardeners treat.

In summer, recipes like vegan fajitas, tacos and wraps are going to show off my booming vegetable garden. They are also lighter and faster meals on hot summer days.

Super grain Collard Wraps with sunflower seeds & pepitas, mint, roasted potatoes.

I like the delivered meals and, I’m learning to make good vegan meals that my meat-and-potatoes loving husband will eat. Once I make something like Green Chef wraps or stuffed peppers, I’m confident enough to try my hand using the vegetables I grow.

One of my favorite things about these filling meals, is that they include seasonal recipes with fresh ingredients and herbs. Being a herb gardener, that’s a big plus. The recipes in these photos are on the Green Chef website.

Or try some of these meals for yourself. If you use this link, I get a credit and you get 4 free meals.

I’ve bought vegan cookbooks and pinned a ton of vegan recipes on Pinterest. But, I’ve been using butter and bacon all my life. And learning to prepare a really good meal without those familiar ingredients isn’t always easy.

After working so long and hard to produce great herbs and vegetables, it makes sense to prepare and serve them at their best.

Herb Pasta Primavera with asparagus, artichoke hearts, snap peas, tomatoes.

 One of my favorite meals was Herb Pasta Primavera. After learning to make this vegan recipe, it’s easy to take the recipe and use it as a basis for my garden grown creations.

This is not to say I am a vegetarian. But I’m eating less meat and dairy and my  cholesterol and blood pressure are lower. I’m proud that I’ve lost a little weight and I feel better.

We spend part of the grocery money at the farmers market every week. We don’t grow all our food, but I like to garden and have the time and energy to grow some of our fruits, vegetables and herbs.

My goal is to grow all the tomatoes we will eat this year. So for me, it’s the year of the tomato. Vegan style.

All the photos are from Green Chef.

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Getting Ready For Canning Season

Grow your own herbs

Time to refresh the spice cabinet.

Time to gather all the herbs and spices needed for canning and pickling this summer. I’m planting several herbs, including half a dozen different types of basil. And, I’m putting in an order to Penzeys to refresh the spice cabinet.

Learning about herbs

Add 1 bay leaf. Really? I always believed bay leaves were a lie. A pretentious herb. Maybe because they didn’t make a single bit of difference in any recipe when I was a kid. Pot roast tasted exactly the same whether you a 1 or 2 or 0 to the pot roast.

But the Kroeger tin box the held the little grey bay leaves above the stove had been there for years in the hot, humid kitchen. So now, 50 years later, I refresh my bay leaf supply every year.

Bay Leaves are Bay leaves are also spiciest when dried. But old bay leaves are tasteless. Today I proved to myself that bay leaves (Laurus nobilis)  do have taste and are also a fragrant herb.

Herbal Taste Tests

First, dump those herbs that have been in your cabinets for years. If you can smell nothing or haven’t used that jar of herbs for a couple of years, toss them. Buy a small amount of fresh herbs.

1. Bay Leaf  Tea

Add a few bay leaves to 2 cups of boiling water. Steep 5 minutes.

Do this test with any herb to learn about its unique flavor. Make a cup of tea. That’s it.  A cup of hot water and a tablespoon of herbs. Let it steep 5 minutes, taste the herb flavored water.

I add several leaves to a pint jar of hot water, put a lid on it and wait 5 minutes. There is enough tea for two cups, if you can talk someone into taste testings with you.

2. Herb Rice

Herb scented rice. Add a few bay leaves to the rice cooker at the beginning of the cycle.

Do this test to check how this herbs flavors food. Make a batch of plain white or brown rice. Add 2 or 3 bay leaves (or other herb) and cook the rice with no other seasonings, except an optional small amount of salt.

I use a rice cooker. So, I use a cup of rice and two cups of water, 3 bay leaves. When the rice is cooked, fluff and taste it plain and with a pinch of salt. I get light floral scent and mild earthy hint of flavor in every bite of white rice.

3. Herb Omelet

1 tsp butter, 2 eggs, 1 Tbs chopped chervil, 1 Tbs shredded cheese.

My favorite spring mornings begin on the deck or patio. Make the coffee and an omelet. Maybe through a slice of bread in the toaster. Dine outdoors with the humming birds and bees buzzing about. Songbirds sing and your plan for the day becomes clear.

Herb omelets are one of the delights of spring breakfasts on the patio.

A great way to educate yourself to the unique flavors of a fresh spring herb is in an omelet.

2 eggs

a buttered skillet with 1 teaspoon of butter.

1 Tbs fresh chopped chervil (or chives, cilanto, parsley*.)

1 Tbs shredded Swiss cheese ( or American or mozzarella, optional.)

The first herbs to pop up in the spring are some of the most delicately flavored herbs of all. A simple 2 egg omelet with a sprinkling of a teaspoon or two of fresh chopped herbs. Maybe add a tablespoon of mild shredded cheese, salt, pepper.

Herb omelet or scrambled eggs with chopped fresh herbs, it’s your choice. Try this method with just one herb per omelet to learn about the flavor of each herb.

I’m not going to get into how to make an omelet or scramble eggs. My mission is growing and enjoying herbs. An omelet made with fresh spring herbs is flavorful enough that you don’t need a lot of filling ingredients.

With more experience, experiment with herb combinations. My favorites are Fine Herbes: chives, tarragon, and parsley. Or any combination of these herbs.

This breakfast tastes even better served on the patio with a big cup of hot, black French roast coffee.

My favorite herb omelet is chervil and Swiss. A couple of slices of buttered and salted baguette with radish slices complete the perfect spring meal.

1 large Bay Leaf = 1/2 teaspoon broken = 1/4 teaspoon crushed

Substitute one fresh leaf for every two dried leaves.

More

Discover the flavor of  herbs with herb vinegar.

I show case single herbs in my herb vinegars. Save the flavor of delicate spring herbs by making herb vinegar while herbs are at their peak.

If you don’t think herbs have much to offer, it could be because you tasteless herbs are old. Buy a small starter plant and try some fresh herb leaves in your recipes this season. I don’t think there would be any point to raising tomatoes if  I didn’t also grow basil.

* Seed Sources

Renee’s Garden – Annual herbs are grown from seed. Chervil, cilanto, parsley and dill. Plus, chives, parsley calendula and nasturtiums.

Bay Leaves

The plant’s Roman name, Laurus nobilis, comes from the word laudare, to praise, and a crown of bay leaves has been a sign of  honor, as in the Olympic Crown of Bay Leaves.

 

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Missouri Lemon Harvest

When life gives you Meyer Lemons, Plant The Seeds because,

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I’m growing lemons in the middle of America.

Meyer lemons can be container grown, are small, hardy and fast growing. Start with a seedling, or plant the seed directly from the fruit.

It started with a tiny, sad tree rescued from the garden center sale bin. In a week or two with the help of tree services, I’ll plant seed produced from the fruit of that rescued tree. (More about that later.)

The thick, shiny green leaves are beautiful. The fragrant flowers are welcome  when not much else is blooming. The lemons are as bright and yellow as fresh, free-range chicken eggs.

The lemon harvest is fast approaching

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Meyer Lemons

Meyer lemon trees arrived in the United States in the early 1900s. Native to China, the fruit is a cross between a lemon and an orange or Mandarin orange. Meyer lemon or Citrus x meyerii, grows best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9A through 11.

The tree produces less acid, or sour, tasting fruit than traditional lemons. They are sweeter, juicy and thin-skinned. The small trees grow quickly and are quite hardy.

Meyer lemon flowers

Meyer lemon flowers are pollinated by bees or insects. Grown indoors, they must be hand pollinated. Photo PBH

Movable fruit

I brought the entire lemon orchard indoors before the first frost. My entire lemon orchard is small. OK, it’s one tree. In a pot. The tree lives indoors during our zone 6 winters.

Growing citrus in southeast Missouri has always seemed impossible. Dwarf citrus trees, that can be moved into the house or green house for the winter, makes it possible. I really am growing lemons in the Midwest!

The little lemon tree is mobile. On milder winter days, I set the pot on the porch in the sun. After all chance of freezing is past in the spring, I gradually reintroduce the tree to outdoor living.

Lemon picking

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Don’t pull or twist the lemons off the tree. Use clippers to prevent damage to branches.

The harvest will begin sometime next week. The entire process should take two minutes. It’s my first citrus harvest, so I’m not really sure.

Meyer lemons continue to ripen and sweeten while on the tree. Lemons don’t ripen any further after they are picked.

Don’t twist the lemons off the tree. I’ll be using the small pruning shears to snip off the lemons. Cutting off the fruit will prevent any damage to the tree.

Preserving the harvest

Meyer lemons are thin-skinned, making them difficult transport. The fruit is sweeter and more juicy than most lemons available in grocery stores. The lemons are found seasonally here because they do not withstand excessive handling or shipping.

Whole lemon dressingObsessed with the first citrus harvest, I’ve been saving lemon treats, tips and recipes on my Pinterest board Lemon Tree Treats .

I have saved recipes for lemon curd, lemon pound cake, lemon shortbread, lemon cheesecake, lemon marmalade and lemon pie. I probably won’t make more than two or three lemony treats. Because a couple of recipes will use up the entire years crop.

The entire harvest is only 9 precious fruits. That makes a jar of lemon curd and a few lemon bars. Plus, a spritz of fresh lemon juice over steamed asparagus or broccoli.

As improbable as it seems, growing lemons in zone 6b is possible. It’s a challenge to grow citrus in Missouri. But, it will impress your friends and reaffirm your legendary green thumb gardening status.

sliced lemon

About You Can Grow That!

Welcome to the You Can Grow That! website. We believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. The individuals, businesses, and groups included on this site share this common goal. We are promoting plants and gardening because we know that if you’re looking for joy, inspiration, or relaxation, it can be found in a sunny window, balcony, or your own backyard.

I’ll definitely be making Lady Bird Johnson’s Lemon Cake. It is the best lemon cake I ever tasted.

Lady Bird Johnson’s Lemon Cake

Preheat your oven to 325° F. Spray or butter a bundt pan.

Cake

3/4 Cup Softened Butter
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
8 Egg Yolks
2 1/2 Cups Flour
3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Milk<
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Teaspoon Grated Lemon Rind
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until light and lemon colored. Blend into the creamed mixture.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Resift 3 times. Add the sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk.  Beat the batter thoroughly after each addition.

Add the vanilla extract,lemon rind and lemon juice.  Beat for 2 minutes.

Bake in a greased Bundt pan in the oven for 1 hour or until the cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool 19 minutes before inverting on serving platter.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 T. fresh lemon juice
1-2 t. buttermilk
Zest of one fresh lemon


Meyer LemonHow Claudia Alta Taylor became Lady Bird Johnson

Claudia Alta Taylor was born in Karnack, Texas on December 29, 1912.  Named for her Mother’s  brother Claud. Her nurse said baby Claudia was “purty as a ladybird.” (I call them ladybugs.)

The nickname Lady Bird replaced her first name forever. The family called her Lady.

Her husband called her Bird, which was the name she used on her marriage license.  She married Lyndon Johnson in November of 1934 after a two month courtship.

Mrs. Johnson is known for her support of the preservation and promotion of wildflowers in America. Lady Bird is responsible for the Highway Beautification Act. She also founded the National Wildflower Research Center in Texas.

The First Lady will forever be known as Lady Bird Johnson.

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Julia’s Ratatouille

The Ratatouille harvest basket.

Ratatouille makings. Tomato, eggplant, peppers, squash.

An old fashioned vegetable dish, ratatouille is a combination of all the things I grow in my garden. Julia’s Ratatouille is garden gold in your freezer.

Once you master a great dish like ratatouille, you become confident enough to try variations.

I can hear Julia Child talking about this dish. The full name of the stewed vegetable dish is Ratatouille Niçoise. Her recipe is the classic, start there and then adapt it to your taste.

It’s time to make ratatouille when there is an abundance of eggplant in the garden. Usually the last main crop vegetable to produce in my vegetable patch, eggplant is the star of my version. If your don’t like eggplant then leave it out of the recipe. 

This dish very quickly uses up the seasonal glut of produce that happens in August. By now, I have all the zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant that I can eat. I grow every vegetable that goes into this simple French peasant dish.

This dish is a celebration of my garden bounty. It’s a thanksgiving meal at the peak of the growing season.

Cabin fever cure

Make a double batch because this stew reheats well for the next day or hoard it for your lunches. Make this dish and freeze it. This winter, when the snow is falling,  a reheated ratatouille meal will taste like a garden party in your mouth.

Reading seed catalogs while eating a steamy bowl of home-grown and homemade ratatouille is a ritual guaranteed to cure cabin fever. That vegetable casserole inspires my wintertime seed order.

Julia’s Ratatouille is garden gold in your freezer, A true example of your garden prowess.This versital vegetable casserole can be a featured entre, a side dish, lunch for many cold winter days.

I freeze it in portions for one or two.Serve it over noodles or rice for a heartier meal. Add a slice of crusty bread. Make plans to go to Paris some day.

Here is my version:

Ratatouille home-grown and homemade  IMG_2132

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It’s Garlic Scape Season

lavender, leeks, clantro, scapes

Herb bouquet with garlic scapes, lavender, leeks, cilantro flowers.

One springtime meal that I always look forward to is garlic scape pesto tossed into on a big ol’ bowl of pasta.

Only hard necked  garlic bulbs produce these tall flower spikes. For years I grew soft neck, not to be bothered by the need to cut off the scapes. When I read Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil by Doug Oster, I discovered garlic scape pesto.

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Garlic scapes are green stems and unopened flower buds of hard-neck garlic varieties.

Scapes have a mild garlic flavor and a slight sweetness, which makes them a prized addition in the kitchen. You can find them in the early summer at farmers’ markets. If you grow your own garlic, trim the scapes off before their flowers open. This forces the plant to focus on bulb.

The best way to keep scapes is to make garlic scape pesto and freeze. I freeze pesto in small 1/2 cup containers.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Garlic Scape Pesto

makes about 2 cups

  • Ingredients

10-12 garlic scapes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

  • Instructions

Rinse scapes in cold water, then roughly chop into half-inch pieces.

Process the scapes and chopped walnuts into the food processor. Blend for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl. Blend for 30 seconds, or until a fairly smooth texture is achieved.

With the machine running, slowly add olive oil, and process until thoroughly incorporated, about 20 seconds.  Add the Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, and blend for another 5 seconds. Taste and adjust more salt and pepper.

Garlic scapes are available once a year for only a couple of weeks.  Make batches of pesto while scapes are in season.  Freeze in air-tight containers.

 

Pickled Garlic Scapes

Adapted from the “Dilly Beans” recipe from the Ball Blue Book® Guide to Preserving

Makes approximately 1 pint

Ingredients
1 bunch garlic scapes  (about 10 – 12)
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1 cup vinegar (white wine vinegar or cider vinegar)
1 cup water

fresh herb sprigs (optional)

 

Instructions

Combine salt, vinegar and water in sauce pot and bring to a boil. Keep hot.

Clean and trim garlic scapes , cut to 4 ½-inch lengths or coil scapes. Pack  into clean, sterilized one-pint jar until full. Add sprigs of fresh herbs (optional).

Fill packed jar with vinegar. Remove air bubbles with a chop stick. Cover, allow to cool, and refrigerate. Wait at least 24 hours to develop flavors.

Try one of the coiled picked garlic scapes on a steak sandwich. When the scapes are gone, mix the vinegar with olive oil for a garlicky vinaigrette.

Suggested herbs: dill, oregano or thyme.

 

 

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And so it begins

Zucchini season

It's Zucchini season

It’s Zucchini season

Be prepared for the summer squash explosion. My Pinterest has amazing zucchini recipes.

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Zucchini, courgette, summer squash

Find the best zucchini cake recipe on Zucchini Everything at Pinterest. And you have to try the Zuni Cafe zucchini pickles.

If you make just one zucchini recipe, Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze by David Lebovitz is a must. Can you believe, this guy has to BUY zucchini to make this cake?  See Zucchini Everything

lemon glazed zucchini cake

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Harvest time in the Cotton Belt

cotton bolls

Cotton bolls are 2 – 3 inches in diameter. This boll is considered a fruit because it contains seeds.

Soybeans and cotton

soybean field

Soybeans in the field in October.

Driving through the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas, and Mississippi, you can see the fields full and ready for harvest.

I don’t know much about growing cotton or soybeans, but the fields are beautiful.

 

 

 

The Cotton Belt

cotton fields

Cotton bolls.

The Cotton Belt begins at the back of the Carolina-Georgia tide-water and extends westward to the high plains of west-central Texas. It includes nearly all South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, the greater part of Arkansas and Louisiana, and most of southern Oklahoma and central Texas. It extends into substantial areas of south central North Carolina, western Tennessee, southeast Missouri.

Today, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Arkansas are the leading producers of the old cotton belt. The dryness of those areas makes it easier to control insect pests. Large quantities of cotton are also grown on irrigated land in New Mexico, South Arizona, and Southern California.

cotton fields

Photo taken in early October, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. This field is usually harvested in late October.

That’s enough American grown cotton to make over 250 million pairs of  jeans a year.

The cotton plant has yellow and pink colored flowers. They are beautiful in the summer garden and lovely in flower arrangements. In October or November the cotton bolls put on another show.

cotton

Soft yellow hibiscus-like flowers of the summer blooming cotton plants.

If  you’ve never seen cotton growing, there are different colored cottons. Plants can grow 5′ to 6′ tall. The plant requires full sun and a long growing season, typical in the cotton belt states.

Start plants indoors. Wait until temperatures are consistently above 60º before planting outdoors.

 

Gazpacho is a garden celebration in a bowl

The taste of summer

When the vegetable garden goes into full production, it’s time for gazpacho. Do have a peek at these guys to learn how to maintain a perfect garden. The best gazpacho is made with garden fresh produce at the peek of the season.

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Add pureed vegetables to the chopped vegetables.

Gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup. It’s a southern Spanish dish of blended fresh raw vegetables in a tomato base.

Use up a lot of vegetables. Tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, herbs.

When the garden explodes and the kitchen counter is covered with fresh produce, make gazpacho.

Don’t like  bell peppers? Leave them out. Add zucchini, roasted garlic, a few shakes of hot pepper sauce. The point is to make this recipe your own by adding the vegetables and herbs that you grow and love. Or, pick the best and most abundant produce at the farmers market.

Use any variety of sun ripened tomatoes.

Use any variety of sun ripened tomatoes.

Some gazpacho is served puréed until smooth. I prefer a chunkier version that includes chopped vegetables. Choose vine-ripened tomatoes and the freshest vegetables.

Use any variety of sweet peppers.

Use any variety of sweet peppers.

Use what you have and what you like. I will use extra cukes in midsummer. Later, when all the pepper varieties are producing, I’ll use more peppers and less cucumbers.

Basic recipe.

Start with the basic recipe, then make it your own.

Ingredients

2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
tomato juice
1 or two cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium chopped red onion
1 small hot pepper, seeded and minced (your choice, jalapeño, poblano, banana)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar (herb vinegar)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
mixed herbs 2 tablespoons of your choice
2 tablespoons fresh basil for garnish

tomatoes and cucumbers

Chop vegetables, puree in small batches with the blender or food processor.

Combine half of the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red and yellow bell peppers, onion. Mince small hot pepper and 2 garlic cloves. Add 2 cups of tomato juice, half the salt and purée. I use a stick blender.

Add the rest of the chopped vegetables to the purée. Stir in oil, vinegar, salt pepper, mixed herbs. Taste and adjust seasoning. Cover and refrigerate.

The important thing is to chill the soup. Refrigerating the gazpacho allows the vegetable flavors to meld. The most flavorful a gazpacho will chill overnight.

SERVE – in chilled bowls with chilled soup spoons, with a chiffonade of basil to garnish. Pass around extra chopped herbs or grated Parmesan cheese.

tomatoes peeling in waterPEEL Tomatoes:  To remove the skins, mark a small “X” on the bottom with a sharp knife. Slowly lower tomatoes into boiling water for 30 seconds, then shock in ice water. The skins will slip off, and you can proceed with the gazpacho recipe.

chiffronadeCHIFFONADE basil:  Create ribbons of basil by stacking the basil leaves and roll them into a cigar shape. Carefully cut across the rolled basil with a sharp knife.

The taste of summer.

Your garden in a bowl. Even better the next day. For thicker soup, add a bit of tomato paste as you adjust the seasoning.

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Gazpacho and garlic cheese toast.

FINISH soup: add a splash of red wine vinegar, herb or balsamic vinegar, olive oil or extra chopped herbs.

ADD Herbs: parsley, basil, cilantro, oregano, thyme. Use roasted garlic instead of fresh raw minced garlic. Top with a dollop of pesto.

Grow vegetables – Make Soup

Grow your own soup. Garden fresh vegetables are loaded with nutrients and cost very little to make. If you don’t think you have time to make soup, make a double batch and freeze half for a busy day. Make soup in the crock pot. Soup usually tastes even better the next day. What could be faster than that?

Chili, chicken and noodle soup, vegetable soup and stews of any kind are better and usually have less salt when made from scratch. I love soup and will be sharing some soup gardening and soup making tips from time to time.

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It’s fresh garlic season

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Isn’t this pretty? Chesnok Red Garlic spread out to dry, or cure before trimming stalks.

Garlic bulbs just lifted from the garden.

The garlic bulbs are dug up, but there is much more to do to preserve the harvest. Handle freshly dug garlic gently. Bulbs can easily bruise.

Cure Garlic

Spread out bulbs away from direct sun with good air circulation. Allow the roots and entire stalk to dry, turning brown. The bulbs are ready to clean up and store.

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After a week, braid bulbs while stalks are still flexible. Braid garlic before the stems are too dry and brittle.

Cut the stalks about an inch above the garlic bulb. Clip off the roots. Carefully wipe off the dirt with a soft brush or cloth.  Try not to remove many layers of skin.

This year I grew two kinds of garlic, Chesnok Red Garlic and California Early Garlic.

With long, warm fall at planting time, I could have waited until November, instead of planting cloves in October.

The long, cold rainy spring is also part of the reason I had a smaller harvest of garlic.

  • Herb bouquet with garlic scapes.

    Herb bouquet with garlic scapes.

    Learn more about growing organic garlic, onions and shallots.

 

 

 

 

  • Summer harvest of onions and garlic.

    Summer harvest of onions and garlic.

    Herb Bouquets include garlic scapes.

 

 

 

 

 

Try these garlic varieties

Chesnok Red Garlic

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The purple-striped hardneck has large and easy-to-peel cloves. I’m growing it because Chesnok Red is a good baking and a good storing garlic. (4 – 6 weeks.)

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Garlic scape pesto.

The garlic scapes of the hardneck garlic makes for a secondary harvest. Use scapes for vinegar, stir fry, pesto. Expect about 15 garlic bulbs per pound and approximately 9 or 10 cloves per bulb.

These garlic bulbs grew smaller than the California Early Garlic. Chesnok wins awards as an excellent baker. I’ll be using those smaller bulbs to make creamy roasted garlic.

 

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Cut these artful garlic scapes to grow bigger garlic bulbs.

 

California Early Garlic

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California garlic is one of the earliest to harvest in my region 6, Southeast Missouri garden.

The California Early Garlic was harvested two weeks earlier. The bulbs are big and white. For the past three years, I have success growing this popular American garlic.

These California Early Garlic bulbs are mild enough to be used raw in recipes or fresh pickles. This is not a hot garlic. It’s a good choice for mild garlic flavor, not heat.

Known as a long keeper, California Early Garlic is a softneck garlic, good for braiding. I like the mild flavor and large cloves. There are about 12 garlic bulbs per pound and 10-16 cloves per bulb.

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Bake whole garlic bulbs wrapped in foil with a few drop of olive oil.

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Sneaky Zucchini

They’re baaack….

I’m growing three different kinds of zucchini. Before you ask why, let me just say I love zucchini. To me, it would be like growing only one kind of tomato.

As production picks up, I get creative. Chocolate zucchini cake is a favorite. Details and the recipe are on my Hub Pages.

Soon, there will be days when I wonder why I planted so much. What was I thinking? Well, it’s a test. Which is the best, the earliest, most squash bug resistant, is attractive, has the longest shelf life and, most important: best tasting.

Recipe for zucchini pickles is on my Pinterest page

Recipe for zucchini pickles is on my Pinterest page

Most of my recipes are gathered on Pinterest: Zucchini Everything – Zucchini, courgette, summer squash
baby zucchini

Baby Clarimore zucchini

Zucchini belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. The yellow variety is slightly sweeter. The round, “Eight Ball” or “Ronde de Nice” are bred for stuffing.

Clarimore is a pale green and slightly speckled. It has an almost creamy texture. Like most summer squash, no need to peel these fresh, young vegetables.

Dark green (almost black) Raven  and Golden Dawn yellow zucchini and  are the long, straight varieties we most often see when we think of zucchini.

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Pick zucchini at it’s best, 6″ to 8″ long.

I like Green Tiger, a European hybrid is named for its light-colored stripes. It has a mild and sweet flavor with a tender crunch. Green Tigers slightly nutty flavor is good cooked or raw in recipes. Not as straight and cylindrical as other zucchini and is best when served small.

 

Too many zucchini?

Zucchini prevention tips

To control heavy production, early risers can pick the flowers

Raven zucchini. Zukes are sometimes sold in farmers markets with the blossom still attached to baby zucchini.

Raven zucchini. Zukes are sometimes sold in farmers markets with the blossom still attached to baby zucchini.

for stuffed zucchini blossoms. Pick them in the early morning (or at night) when the flowers are closed. The closed blossom makes the perfect vessel for stuffing.

Try Pan Fried Squash Blossoms stuffed with ricotta, herbs and lemon. Most recipes call for deep-frying a stuffed, tempura batter coated flower. Always remove the stamen to prevent bitterness.

 

 

More blog posts about summer squash:

 

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