Cooking radishes

File this one under "you CAN teach an old dog new tricks."

For decades I relegated radishes to relish trays and occasional salad garnishes. Nothing else. (Can I pause to say it's weird to be able to use the word decades?) I never considered cooking radishes. Then the recent discovery that the leafy tops are edible, too, opened the door to all sorts of possibilities.

I like to sauté radishes and their greens in a little olive oil. To clean, swish the radishes (tops and bottoms) in a bowl of water and let dirt settle to the bottom. Scrub the roots well, peeling or scraping off "whiskers" if needed. Separate roots from leafy tops, and cut the roots into equal size pieces. Coarsely chop greens. Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Cook roots first, since they will take longer than the greens. When the roots are lightly golden brown add the greens and cook until slightly wilted but still vibrant green. Season with salt. If desired sauté garlic with the radishes.

This method caramelizes the radishes and adds a mellow depth to their peppery kick. Try grilling or roasting, too. The slender, white radishes I cooked are icicle radishes.

Tell us, how do you like to eat radishes? Got any more tricks?

Dad in the garden

Happy Father's Day!

I got my love of gardening from my father. I lived in several childhood homes, and in each yard my dad carved out a large vegetable garden plot. Our job as children was to weed the rows of corn, peas, beets, tomatoes, carrots and beans. Growing up I never saw a yellow pear tomato anywhere but at home, which made them special. I plant them still. We also had strawberries, raspberries and apricot and peach trees. One of my earliest memories is of my baby brother scampering through the garden in his PJs and throwing green fallen peaches like the fuzzy tennis balls they resembled.

Naturally we had zucchini in profusion. One evening when I was about 8 my father laughed during his evening newspaper reading ritual. He called my mother in from the other room so he could read out loud from his recliner. It was an article -- a humor column, I think now -- about the art of delivering zucchini by stealth to unsuspecting neighbors. My parents chuckled. I was more concerned: how did the newspaper find out about us?

Gardening was easy for my dad. Then we moved into a new area surrounded by beautiful woods. Like all the homes before, my dad built a big garden box. The deer loved it. So my dad built a fence around the garden. The deer got a bit more jumping exercise before eating, that was all. Never had my father's green thumb been so challenged! Finally my dad decided to put a net over the garden. But this was no ordinary net, oh no. Instead of buying a net, my dad MADE one out of a big spool of string, channeling his frustration at those deer into every single knot. It worked!

Today my dad is in yet another home with a new garden plot, this time back in his home town. I love to visit ... because I love this gardener.



What memories do you have of your father or grandfather in the garden?

Storing bulbs for next season

If you happen to come across spring bulbs as you dig in your garden this summer, don't discard them in defeat. Instead, selectively set aside those in good shape to plant in the fall.

Tulips and daffodils are among my favorite flowers and I love them in profusion. Yet I don't worship the ground they bloom on; once they're done, I need the space for something else. In some areas of my yard I've mixed early bulbs with perennials that emerge later in the season. I also plant annuals after bulb flowers die back. In these cases I just leave the bulbs in the ground all year.

But face it, landscapes change so much in the season that it's hard to remember exactly where a bulb may lie. My shovel inevitably finds a few!

Here's the most important tip of bulb storage: Only save healthy, whole ones. See my picture? Split happens. Don't save such a bulb. You know how you can save a whole onion for weeks and weeks, but once you slice it it spoils quickly? It's the same idea with bulbs. Cut surfaces invite mold and rot.

If your dug-up bulb has foliage, keep it on until it fades from green to brown. (Confession time: while I know that bulbs derive nourishment for next year's bloom from this year's leaves, I'm not positive if they get the exact same benefit once removed from the ground. It's easier, though, to detach the bulb for storage once you let the foliage die out. No matter what, they can bloom again, I promise.) Besides, if you accidentally dug them up what do you have to lose?

Remove excess mud or dirt from roots, then spread bulbs out to dry (they will have some moisture from being in the ground). A nursery flat is ideal for this. Let any foliage go brown. You can ignore them for a while, then eventually pack the bulbs in a paper sack, separating out any that are blemished. I haven't been too fussy about where I store them -- basement, shed -- it hasn't seemed to matter much. Probably more important (at least for me) is making myself a note on the calendar where I put them!

You may wonder, what do bulbs have to do with running a backyard farm? I have had great success for several years with bulbs as place-keepers in my vegetable garden boxes. When I pull out tomatoes at the end of fall I plant the garden box with bulbs. They brighten my days when they bloom in the spring, and also take the space away from opportunistic weeds. Once the flowers fade I pull each stem and bulb from the ground; when the ground is just right I don't have to use tools for this, just my hands. The tenancy and removal of tulips seems to aerate the soil, too.  In a matter of weeks my box goes from this:

to this:

I'll revisit this topic in the fall with other tips for planting bulbs. Oh, better put it on the calendar!

Rhubarb crisp

Rhubarb crisp 
* see below for gluten-free options

I hardly ever measure for stuff like this; these quantities are guidelines.

2 pounds rhubarb, sliced into 3/4-inch pieces 
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour*

Crisp topping:
2/3 cup margarine or butter, softened (not melted!)
3/4 cup brown sugar (or more, to taste)
1 cup flour*
1 cup whole oats
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13 pan.

Add cut rhubarb to pan, mix with cup of sugar. Let sit for a few minutes to draw out juices, then sprinkle flour and stir well. 

Meanwhile, use pastry blender or your hands to mix crisp topping into pea-sized crumbs. Crumble over rhubarb mixture and bake in 375 degree oven until top is lightly browned and rhubarb is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Ice cream or yogurt are a delicious topping. 

*Gluten-free options: Replace flour in rhubarb mixture with 3 Tbsp. cornstarch. Replace flour in crisp topping with a cup of oats that you have processed fine in the blender or food processor. Add this to the other cup of whole oats with the rest of the ingredients.

How to grow peas without a trellis

By Jennifer

Pea plants want to climb and produce best when their tendrils have something to grasp. This often involves the man-made creation of a frame, such as the simple method of stakes at the end of a garden row with lines of string running horizontally between them.

Sure, that works, but guess what? You won’t need any structure at all if you plant your peas close together in blocks instead of rows. 

Think of the phrase “standing room only,” which describes an event so packed with people that there is no room to sit. If you invite enough peas to your party they will latch onto each other as they grow upward. Even the plants at the edges will be connected to the group and not fall to the ground where blossoms and pods are more susceptible to rot and pests.

I space my peas two inches apart and planted an entire 4x8-feet garden box this way this season. (That’s a lot of peas!) Far from crowding each other out, the peas grow strong. There’s no room for weeds.  You don’t need to devote an area the scale of mine –- try planting peas in a grid of 4 seeds by 4 seeds (16 seeds in a square foot). I learned of this spacing from Mel Bartholomew’s square-foot garden approach. Although I don’t have the same soil makeup he recommends, I have had great success growing peas this way.

Also, it’s not too late in the season to plant peas –- if you choose the right kind. I recommend the seed variety Lincoln, which can withstand high temperatures. These plants keep forming blossoms well into the 100-degree days of July. Then you can plant another crop at the end of summer for a fall harvest.

Second Chance for that Pumpkin

Don't forget to give that sad pumpkin a second chance in your compost bin!

When Life Gives You Apples

When life gives you apples, make applesauce!

I recently bought 2 bushels of apples from a local farmer.  Do you know how many pounds that is? It's about 100 pounds of apples!!! I thought it would be a really fun project to tackle with the kids and we set up an assembly line. Mason cut the apples in half and passed them to Maya. Maya would cut the core out and pass it to me. I peeled them and passed them to little Madelyn. Madelyn would throw them in lemon water to keep them from browning. Everyone was in charge of chowing down on the apple peels.

Next, we had to boil the apples to make them soft.

After that it was into my handy dandy Blendtec.

Then, into the canning bottles to be processed. 

It took about 4 hours and we barely made a dent in our 100 lbs of apples. My feet were swollen and I was exhausted and overwhelmed thinking about processing the rest of the apples! 

Luckily, a friend came to my rescue and let me borrow her MAGIC applesauce maker! It was amazing! It was so quick and easy that I was wishing I had more apples to process.

With this magic device, we just boiled the apples and threw them in, cranked the lever and out came the apples sauce. Then we put them in the canning bottles to be processed. Voila! 5x's the apples in about the same amount of time.

The Magic Machine! Food Strainer and Sauce Maker

And my studly little Mason making applesauce by himself. 

I have been learning lately that I need to start working "SMARTER" not "HARDER" 

Do a bit of research and asking around next time and find out the best ways to can your own food!

~Marisa