Gardening: 2016 (midyear)

[cakewalk]

Ah, never-ending plums, such hardship.  Enjoy them as I look on in envy and pay through the nose for a few measly ones.

KennethT - did you grow those huge basil leaves in your NY apartment?

[KennethT]

This is rice paddy herb (ngo om in Vietnamese):

I was in a thai restaurant that had some on the side... So I took a couple sprigs home to propagate. I love this herb - a little citrusy with notes of cumin.

 

[Jacksoup]

@Shelbytook this photo for you

[ElainaA]

@Jacksoup   Beautiful  garden and produce. What are the preserves in the last picture?

[Jacksoup]

It's plum chutney from this recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spiced-plum-chutney-239836,  It's

addictive.  Would have labeled pix but am fairly new to posting pix and commentary so gave up after one feeble attempt.

[Tere]

Delia's damson chutney recipe is excellent. Keeps and matures very well, too. I've used ground allspice in the past (getting berries is a pain)

 

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/spiced-damson-chutney?utm_source=rd&utm_medium=d&utm_campaign=otn&utm_content=recipes/type-of-dish/chutney/spiced-damson-chutney.html

[djyee100]

4 hours ago, KennethT said:

This is rice paddy herb (ngo om in Vietnamese)...I was in a thai restaurant that had some on the side... So I took a couple sprigs home to propagate. I love this herb - a little citrusy with notes of cumin.

 

I've tasted this herb and liked it a lot, but I haven't tried to grow it. Years ago I attended a cooking class with Andrea Nguyen (Into the Vietnamese Kitchen), and she mentioned this herb. IIRC, she said she's seen it for sale in aquarium stores because it's grown in fish tanks for decoration. Really.

 

Also info about this herb on Nguyen's website.

How to grow it:

http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/blog/2007/06/growing-rice-pa.html

How to cook with it:

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/07/uses-for-rice-p.html 

Edited July 31, 2016 by djyee100 (log)

[KennethT]

Yes, it grows very easily.  You can basically take a cutting, plunk it in a glass of water and it will start to root.  As long as you keep the growing medium moist, it'll be ok - which is convenient since I'm growing it hydroponically.  I saw it all over the place when we were in Saigon - commonly served with Pho, and various other types of dishes.

[Shelby]

Jacksoup, LOVELY!!!!  And all of those tomatoes.  Just looks like heaven in your garden   

[Tere]

First of the cornflower crop from the cutting beds:

 

 

And peas from Saturday's roast, to keep it on topic

 

[cakewalk]

Topic, shmopic. Oh those cornflowers!

[Shelby]

Oh my, beautiful blue flowers.  And the peas.....YUM.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

17 minutes ago, Tere said:

First of the cornflower crop from the cutting beds:

 

Corn is a vegetable.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Cornflowers (bachelor's buttons to me) are also edible! and so beautiful, especially in that clear ginger jar-shaped vase that allows them to splay out in a natural-looking arrangement. Have you tried tasting them, @Tere?

[sartoric]

The start of the peanami...the first pod. There will be nowhere near as many to harvest as the beauteous bounty enjoyed by @Tere. But, these are our first ever peas, not easy in a subtropical climate. I now have to try to not eat the last three peas until the gardener gets home in a couple of hours.

Edited August 2, 2016 by sartoric
Add photo (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@sartoric,

 

Beautiful pea pod and beautiful lighting, and contrast on your photo of it. Were you able to save some until the gardener gets there?

 

I tried a few times to grow English peas and sweet pea flowers in Tennessee. The peas were never successful. By the time it got warm enough to plant, it was well on its way to getting too hot to harvest any. Sweet peas were anemic too. I got some flowers a couple of years, but nothing like the profusion I used to "help" my mom grow when I was a wee brat in California.

[sartoric]

20 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

@sartoric,

 

Beautiful pea pod and beautiful lighting, and contrast on your photo of it. Were you able to save some until the gardener gets there?

 

I tried a few times to grow English peas and sweet pea flowers in Tennessee. The peas were never successful. By the time it got warm enough to plant, it was well on its way to getting too hot to harvest any. Sweet peas were anemic too. I got some flowers a couple of years, but nothing like the profusion I used to "help" my mom grow when I was a wee brat in California.

Thanks, I put it on the phone for scale and natural lighting just worked, lucky.

 

We're in the middle of winter here, it's the only time to try growing peas.

Motto, never give up, the gardeners third attempt I think.

He's not home yet.

Edited August 2, 2016 by sartoric
Add text (log)

[Tere]

4 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Cornflowers (bachelor's buttons to me) are also edible! and so beautiful, especially in that clear ginger jar-shaped vase that allows them to splay out in a natural-looking arrangement. Have you tried tasting them, @Tere?

 

Just the petals, I presume? They had a nice mild flavour. Would be so pretty in salads, so thanks for the tip

[Shelby]

On July 30, 2016 at 0:36 PM, ElainaA said:

The garlic harvest was yesterday. I'll let them hang and dry out for a a week or so , then clean and store them. Some are a good size but a lot are smaller than usual - I assume due to the dry weather. As usual, Arlo is helping.

Elaina, I keep meaning to tell you that I love this picture.  I would literally hang it on my wall.  I love your porch, your cat the garlic, everything!

11 hours ago, sartoric said:

The start of the peanami...the first pod. There will be nowhere near as many to harvest as the beauteous bounty enjoyed by @Tere. But, these are our first ever peas, not easy in a subtropical climate. I now have to try to not eat the last three peas until the gardener gets home in a couple of hours.

 

NICE peas!

 

I try to grow them every year.  I don't know why lol.  Like Thanksforthecrepes says, they grow and then it just gets too hot too quickly.  

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by Shelby (log)

[ElainaA]

The Day of the First Ripe Garden Tomato! Not many yet and only cherries but the rest are coming along. (A typical, for me, somewhat blurry picture.)

 

I also picked a few beans. And one cucumber, some basil, parsley and lettuce. I thinned out the carrots and decided these were big enough (barely) to keep. 

I pulled out the pea vines and planted some more beans today - I think they will have time to produce before frost. I really don't want to think about frost just now. Sadly, in a matter of days, my formerly beautiful winter squash plants have collapsed, infected with squash vine borers. The fruit look fine - i'm not sure if i should pick them now (they are not really quite as hard as I would like) or leave them on the dying vines. 

[Okanagancook]

Your basil looks like mine.  Really big leaves this year.  I made this lovely compound butter yesterday in my attempt to use these beautiful leaves:

 

115 g butter, cut into chunks
10 g basil leaves, coarsely chopped
20 g Parmesan cheese, grated
15 ml lemon juice
2 t lemon zest
2 garlic cloves, minced
s and p

Whiz in a food processor

wrap as a log in cling wrap and refrigerate until hard.

slice into discs

wrap in foil

put in bag labeled 'finishing butter for just about anything' :-))

 

[Okanagancook]

20 hours ago, sartoric said:

The start of the peanami...the first pod. There will be nowhere near as many to harvest as the beauteous bounty enjoyed by @Tere. But, these are our first ever peas, not easy in a subtropical climate. I now have to try to not eat the last three peas until the gardener gets home in a couple of hours.

 

I am making this tonight with some of my frozen balanced peas from June gardening.  Pics to follow on the Dinner thread.  I'm making a half recipe.  Good may to use excess peas.

 

http://www.curfuffled.com/2013/11/20/squid-with-tomatoes-and-peas/

[Okanagancook]

ElainaA, with the coming tomato crop I wanted to try a different tomato sauce.  I recall that some well known organization published a list of the very best ever recipes written.  Included in this list is Julia's Beef Bourguignon  and Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken.

I decided to try it yesterday.  Wow.  Be sure to let is simmer long enough for the butter to separate from the tomato.  Here's a link to the recipe:  http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015178-marcella-hazans-tomato-sauce

And if anyone remembers who put that list together I would appreciate remembering.  Sheesh.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

3 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

And if anyone remembers who put that list together I would appreciate remembering.

 

Could it be this one?

[ElainaA]

10 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

ElainaA, with the coming tomato crop I wanted to try a different tomato sauce.  I recall that some well known organization published a list of the very best ever recipes written.  Included in this list is Julia's Beef Bourguignon  and Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken.

I decided to try it yesterday.  Wow.  Be sure to let is simmer long enough for the butter to separate from the tomato.  Here's a link to the recipe:  http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015178-marcella-hazans-tomato-sauce

And if anyone remembers who put that list together I would appreciate remembering.  Sheesh.

I've made that sauce and really like it - and Marcella Hazan is one of my all time cooking gurus. My favorite tomato based pasta sauce is one with roasted peppers and roasted garlic. I make big batches and freeze it in quarts every year. The recipe is from the Harvest forum on GardenWeb. Let me know if you would like to have it.