Category Archives: Food From the Garden

A Difficult Start, But Plants & Gardeners Don’t Give in Easily

April has come and gone and this means we are at mid-Spring. For a quick recap of early Spring I’ll write one word – ‘difficult‘. Difficult for gardeners anyway, (farmers too I’m betting) and who’s been waiting longer or more anxiously for its arrival!

The primary problem with this early Spring (around Boise, ID ) has been the wind, the drought and the freezing. Oh, I said problem? I meant problems – in plural form!

Well sure, it’s not unusual to have some wind and intermittent freezing during early spring but combining these challengers with almost no moisture takes a toll on a garden and of course the garden keeper.

In this part of the Intermountain West we only get an average of 11.5-12 inches of rain per year. So when a month skips its normal rainfall, we notice! That month was March and we missed about an inch of precipitation leaving us with very dry conditions. Statistically, we are 1.66 inches below normal precipitation since the beginning of 2013. It might not sound like a lot, but remember we are talking about a maximum of 12 inches per year. Nothing like the 36 inches of rain our neighbors in the Pacific Northwest experience.

Enough of the stats, just think about this…if you were outside trying to grow beautiful it would be difficult with wind blowing you in every direction every other day. Then the night cold arrives and it is so deep that you are left with no resort but to bow down and try to make it thru till morning. And remember there’s no water as a refresher – just more wind.

Now, that is what it’s been like for all the plants in my garden. Difficult.

Thinking about it from another perspective, it is amazing how many plants don’t give in and survive the challenges day after day. (The same can be said for the motivation of die-hard gardeners I suppose.) So even though the garden has gone through most unfavorable conditions this Spring I have a few highlights to share.

First, korean spice viburnum. A little shrub that I keep in a pot went from this to this in just a couple of days sharing its wonderful fragrance whenever I would pass by.

The one and only ‘Forest Pansy’ redbud (cercis canadensis) tree that survived the winter is surviving spring with its beautiful tiny blooms going from this to this.

The one shower we received in April did make for some very happy tulips! My bright ‘Orange Queens’ really loved the rain and seemed so happy that day!

I was also impressed with tulip ‘Hakuun’, planted in February in a pot and the raised beds. ‘Hakuun’ turned out to be quite a sturdy performer even in difficult conditions. I cut some from the raised bed to enjoy them inside as well.

Tulip ‘Purple Prince’ was happier under the crabapple tree rather than in pots. Here is a shot of its fleeting appearance.

New lily flowering tulips ‘Purple Dream’ in the garden. Too cold for them to fully open but I love their elegant shape.

And for my final highlight – glorious greens! Every die-hard gardener knows a few tricks to deal with unfavorable elements and I was able to overcome my challengers and grow a gorgeous bin of greens.

Arrugula and brocolli rabe went crazy in my steel planter while being protected by floating row cover. Mark one up for the gardenkeeper for not giving in to the difficult early Spring!

How about you? How has your Spring started? A favorable start with many highlights or some difficulties?

To see other gardens and what happened in April join Helen at The Patient Gardener’s Weblog.

You Can Still Go For The Garlic!

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I know it’s November and the leaves have fallen… Winter is so close that you can literally feel it getting closer each day. But you don’t have to let all of your planting aspirations disappear just yet, for you still have time to grow some garlic! It’s o.k. to plant garlic up until the ground freezes and is actually good to wait until it is consistently cool.

Garlic is really easy to grow as I found out this past year. I planted two varieties last fall in a small section of one of the raised beds. In July, I harvested the garlic and we’ve been enjoying it in soups, salsa, pastas, pizzas, etc… ever since. The flavor has been grand and it was so easy to grow that last week I was out getting ready to grow my own again.

This year I’m growing ‘Chesnok Red’ and ‘German Red’. Both are hardneck which means I will get two harvests instead of just one.

You may be thinking, “Come again, TWO harvests?”

Hardneck varieties of garlic send up a round stalk (a.k.a. scape) mid-season and when this stalk curls you can snap it off and use it as your first garlic harvest.

Photo Courtesy of Island Vittles

The scapes can be used just like scallions. Basically think of them as scallions that taste like garlic! The scapes have all the health benefits garlic offers and by cutting them you are helping the plant put more energy into the garlic bulb that is forming below the ground. It’s a win/win for garlic lovers!

Don’t sweat it if you didn’t already know this…I learned about it this last growing season and actually missed the window to harvest my scapes! I gazed at the curly tips thinking they were “cool” but as I read other garden blogs mid-summer I realized the “pig tails” were more than interesting form.

So this year I’m reminding myself as much as any of you that are new to garlic growing – get two harvests out of hardneck garlic!

Thinking about one last act of planting and going for garlic? If so, read on and then don’t dilly-dally for “Winter is a coming”…

Continue reading →

R, S, T in the Garden

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A clever acronym for enjoying the long wonderful days of Fall? Not really, it stands for Raspberries, Sunflowers and Tomatoes – these are the beauties that have been attracting my eye and demanding my attention.

My fall bearing raspberries are in high GDP mode. It seems the more I pick, the more there are! I don’t really think that’s true but they do seem to be ripening faster than in previous weeks. The flavor is definitely getting more and more dynamic as the nighttime temps drop into the 40s and 50s and more of the sugars produced during the day are packed into the little jewels at night. I’m freezing some and we’re eating many fresh but I’d like to find a great raspberry dessert or cookie recipe to make where these berries can really shine.

Now in a class of its own, is the golden raspberry.

The flavor is amazing- so sweet and light that it hard to describe. You just have to try one. If you have space for a raspberry plant in your garden, I highly recommend a golden raspberry. Ours is just 2 years old and was teeny, tiny when I planted the start from a friend. This year we have quite a few more berries than last and usually just eat them right outside in the garden.

Occasionally, a few make it to the house!

The sunflowers ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Buttercream’ have been as delightful as any slice of wedding cake I’ve eaten!

I found these fancy name flowers in Johnny’s Selected Seeds after being inspired by some beautiful, yet different colors of sunflowers on Bumble Lush last year. One of the most fun experiences I’ve had as a garden blogger is seeing what other people around the world are growing and discovering new plants and varieties to try. If you are looking for new-found motivation or inspiration for your outdoor space, check out some garden blogs. I know it always works for me!

But for now…for me…I need to lay low on new ideas and inspiration until I handle this year’s crop of San Marzano tomatoes. I have never (in fours years of growing this variety) had a crop like this year’s. (To learn more about the fascinating, exotic history of this tomato click here).

Look at the bowlfuls and baskets of tomatoes this one plant is producing! The other difference compared to previous years is each tomato is perfect – uniform color, no cracking, splitting or dark spots. This is striking to me because every other year I get many nice ones but also many that have the imperfections described.

I wonder, has it been the weather that has made for the perfect crop? Or the amount of water or the soil enhancements? Puzzling for sure.

With all of these beautiful tomatoes I’ve been busy in the kitchen. Last week, I spent two mornings making marinara sauce that I can freeze and pull out in the cooler months. Although, we did have a first seating of it with some Fusili pasta last week!

I have two favorite marinara recipes and if you grow a plum tomato you may want to try one. Both are easy, classic and good! Most of the ingredients for both recipes come straight from the garden.

The first is what I call a ‘friendly marinara.’ It offers up a classic marinara flavor but with an underlying comfort food flavor. This is probably because of the classic vegetable combinations in it. This is definitely my children’s favorite. Click here for the recipe.

The second marinara is a bit more complex in flavor and tangy. It uses more herbs and some red wine. I like it a lot too so I had both of these “salse di pomodoro” going on the stove last week making me feel like I was Lidia of Lidias Italian-American Kitchen for a minute!

Here’s the recipe for the tangy sauce in case you are tempted to whirl some plum tomatoes.

Marinara with Fresh Tomatoes and Herbs:

3-4 lbs of fresh plum tomatoes, best if peeled but o.k. to use with peels

5 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion

1 bunch of fresh basil (about 1 cup)

3 sprigs of fresh oregano, remove leaves

4 fresh tarragon leaves

2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 cup of full-bodied red wine

Peel and mince onion and garlic. In a medium saucepan or dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium. In a food processor, place unseeded peeled or unpeeled tomatoes, basil, tarragon and oregano leaves. Process until liquefied.

Add minced onions and garlic to olive oil. Cook until sweating and translucent. Add red wine, cook for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and dried bay leaves. Stir and cover.

Allow to simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 20 minutes more at medium simmer, uncovered to reduce liquid. Enjoy!

When I began making the sauces I was thinking that I should be outside enjoying the weather and getting some Fall garden tasks underway, but it turned out to be more fun spending some time inside utilizing so many fresh ingredients from the garden and making something I know we will enjoy once the garden has said goodbye.

That was just a week ago and ‘lo and behold’ look what I have in front of me after today’s picking. Time to get the pots on again!

What about you? How do you balance your time during the harvest season, when the weather is grand but there is a need to spend time inside preparing all of the food you’ve grown? Also, if I may, do you have any favorite recipes using fresh raspberries that you’d like to share? You can use the contact page if you’re willing to share.

August Heat Leads To Cool Treats

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Oh my, August can be a hot one! And when the air as far as you can see is filled with smoke from wildfires, it makes you feel even warmer!

What to do, what to do? Try to play it cool, of course!

One way to play it cool (mentally and physically) is to take a trip out to the garden, gather some fresh, simple items and mix up some refreshing treats that are sure to please during the last sultry days of summer.

Here’s a simple sweet the whole family can enjoy without a lot of guilt. In fact, if you have children that are interested in cooking this may be a perfect chef-d’oeuvre for them to try their hand in the kitchen.

Where raspberries meet strawberries!

Healthier Fruit Pizza

It all starts with the crust right? I found this great crust recipe from Blissfully Domestic that uses whole wheat flour and is very easy to make. Here’s the recipe and if you want to see more tap the link above to see how the crust comes together.

Crust:
3/4 cup softened butter (salted or unsalted, I’ve made it with both and overall the taste is similar)
1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups WHITE whole wheat flour (This type of whole wheat flour is specifically recommended for baking. It is made from hard white spring wheat and contains all the benefits of whole wheat flour including more fiber, vitamins and minerals than all-purpose flours.)

Mix butter and sugar together until well blended. Slowly add flour and mix by hand until it begins to stick together. It will be crumbly for awhile, similar to shortbread, but as you continue to mix,it will begin to come together.

Once the mixture sticks together when you squeeze it, form all of the dough into a ball and place on buttered pizza pan. Press out slowly to sides of pan. (A cookie sheet or 9×13 glass baking dish will also work.)

Try to get an even thickness of about 1/4 inch throughout your pan. Now pop into 350° oven and bake for 15 minutes, watching the edges in case they get too toasty. When finished, remove from oven and cool.

Filling:
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whipping cream

Fruit:
1 cup fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh raspberries

Put it together: Beat Greek yogurt and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Once smooth, spread evenly over cooled crust. Arrange selected fruit on top and chill for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Of course, you get to be creative with the fruit! Use whatever you have growing in your garden or is available at the farmer’s market and you can even add a bit of tropical flare with bananas, mango, pineapple, etc… I used strawberries and raspberries because I have a good supply.

Here’s another way to cool down but this one is adult only. We’ve named it Mr. Pimms R&B but the R&B stands for raspberry and basil instead of rhythm and blues. Although, listening to a little rhythm and blues on a warm evening with a cold one of these in your hand would be rather nice.

Mr. Pimms R&B

2 shots of Mr. Pimms No. 1 liqueur
1/3 cup simple syrup (Bring 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to boil, stir until sugar is dissolved, cool)
Juice from 2 lemons
1/4 cup raspberries
4 large basil leaves
Sparkling water

Muddle raspberries, basil and 2 tblsp of lemon juice together in small bowl using back of spoon or mortar and pestle. Once mashed well, pour into cocktail shaker with Mr. Pimms, the simple syrup and rest of lemon juice. Shake vigorously and strain over glasses half filled with ice. Top off with sparkling water. Serves 2. Enjoy!

If by chance you’re wondering about Mr. Pimms, it’s a British thing. We discovered it in early summer and according to the New York Times it is growing in popularity in the U.S. And of course, with the Olympics being in London this summer we thought it fun to bring a little British merrymaking to our house!

How about you? What simple home-made treats do you enjoy during the sultry summer days?

With Bounty We Camp

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The garden is brimming as cool season crops stage their finale! I’m harvesting all of the cool season edibles and then pulling them to make room for the warm season crops to take over. The timing is perfect because we are preparing for our annual “big” camp trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and I have devised a plan to use all of this fresh food.

My plan isnt’t anything new to my family as we have taken the cool season harvest with us on the camp trip for three years in a row now. I find it slightly amusing when you consider our camp meals vs. what you might think of as a typical camp dinner.

Are you thinking about hotdogs and baked beans? Well, how about Caesar salad with salmon, taco salad, grilled kale salad, gardeners choice chicken salad, and bratwurst with a side of homegrown broccoli…

After washing the harvest and carefully packing it in coolers, I use it during the first 5-6 nights of our trip. I laughingly say, “eat up more lettuce it’s the stuff that puts meat on your bones,” to the chagrin of the rest of my family. My children roll their eyes but I love eating a fresh, healthy meal in a beautiful natural setting after a full day of activity. It feels great!

Oh, we’re not completely diligent with eating healthy on our camp trip. As my harvest runs out we treat ourselves to some of the typical “fun” camp food like hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, s’mores, etc… It’s a good balance and I love being able to use all of the fresh food I’ve grown.

For the broccoli I cut all the primary heads (enough for one meal) and left the plants to see how the side stems do while I’m gone. Many times I get a lot of production from side shoots.

This year I grew both green and golden snap peas side by side.

Lots of lettuce ready to go!

Grilled kale makes a wonderful salad. I’ll share the Recipe in a future post.

How about you? How is your cool season harvest going? Have you had much bounty?

Garden Favorites in Early June

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Much is happening very quickly in the garden this time of year. Some of my favorite true blue flowers are in bloom. This is Veronica austriaca teucrium ‘Crater Lake Blue’ and it is a real peach of a plant if you like perennials that bloom blue, grow at a moderate pace, need moderate water and are a perfect height for the front-mid border reaching about 12-14 inches in height. The only drawback to this beaut is that it only blooms for a little more than two weeks and is then finished (meaning a nice mound of green) for the season. Try as I might to get it to rebloom in the Fall by sheering it back right after bloom, I’ve never been successful. I have V. ‘Crater Lake Blue ‘ combined with some black foliage Antirrhinum (snapdragons) that bloom a deep wine color. I am a little crazy for the combination of black foliage and blue flowering plants in the garden. The flowers of the snapdragon are just a decadent topping (like vanilla-basil ice cream on a strawberry cobbler) when they arrive. Here is another shot of ‘black and blue’ in my June garden. This is a Pacific Giant Delphinium and Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolious ‘Summer Wine’. The foliage of this shrub can look black, brown and even a coppery deep wine color depending on the light of the day.

I really love delphiniums but have had a hard time growing them in previous gardens. Maybe I have finally found the right spot with this east-facing bed that is semi-protected from wind?

Now a foliage favorite from the same east-facing bed. The gray artemesia stelleriana ‘Silver Brocade’ at the back of this photo is a great front border perennial ground cover. In early spring it is very pretty combined with the yellow/golden Sedum rupreste ‘Angelina’ that is seen peeking through the top left corner of the photo.

But I like it today combined with perennial Euphorbia ‘Tiny Tim’ and the foliage of echinacea ‘White Swan’ that will show large white blooms with yellow/orange centers in a few weeks. What’s funny is that I didn’t plan this combination, I just needed a place to put the euphorbia and decided to stick it here. It’s very happy and I like it with these companions.

An unplanned success! A gardener needs those now and again to balance out the planned uh…shall we say mishaps!

And now a few shots of the Edible Alley. This is the name I’ve chosen for my raised bed food garden area. This space is long and narrow sorta like an alley…

This is the smallest bed and it contains strawberries, onions, lettuce, herbs and an artichoke. I’ve harvested a few strawberries so far and cut some lettuce and rosemary. Oh, I also have a cauliflower planted and this is my first try growing this veggie.

Here is a photo showing the entire alley and the closest bed is the first one I planted this Spring. It holds beets, arrugula, kale, lettuces, peas, carrots, garlic, onions, broccoli, a cabbage and calendula flowers. I’ve been harvesting lettuce, arugula and beet foliage for a few weeks.

The last bed I planted (just after the 15th of May) contains tomatoes ‘Juliet’, ‘San Marzano’, and ‘Navidad’ along with basil, peppers, lettuce, carrots, onions, kale, cabbage, and a new-to-me variety of snapdragon from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds that has black foliage.

The Edible Alley may look a little sparse now but in a few weeks it will be brimming with food to harvest. I actually like it at this stage where everything is easily managed because come July / August it can be a force to be reckoned with! (daily)

My last favorite to show is a new clematis, ‘Romantika’ that is blooming on the trellis the ‘wonder builder’, a.k.a. my husband, built last fall. The blooms are very dark plum reminding me of a yummy Port wine somehow. Maybe this is a sign I should plant some grapes!

How about you? How is your June garden starting off and what are your favorites? Do you have color or foliage combinations you get a little ‘crazy’ over? Do share!

Now Serving…

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I should probably start out with “Now Growing” but I am just in a “Foodie” state of mind today. It is such a treat to eat fresh tender greens every night. I have been fixing summer salads for our dinner and it feels great to eat fresh and backyard local! I even have a recipe to share for those of you craving or harvesting your own Spring greens.

But first, some exciting news in the world of legumes…Last week I harvested pea shoots for the first time. Did you know snow, sugar snap and shelling pea plants are entirely edible? We usually just eat the peas or peas and pod BUT the entire plant is edible…

I learned about the deliciousness of pea shoots from a great gardener, Willi Galloway at Digginfood.com. Willi grows many peas in her garden and eats the pea shoots as a Spring delicacy. She even plants small pots of peas just to enjoy the pea shoots as a snack in the outdoor eating area.

Inspired, I planted my peas (‘Oregon Sugar Snap’ and ‘Golden India’) very close together with the idea that I would harvest some of the shoots as a way of thinning the plants.

Last week, when the plants reached about 8-10 inches tall (before they get too big and tough) I simply pulled shoots until my plants were spaced appropriately – about 2 -3 inches a part. Then I cut up and washed the pea shoots and enjoyed a summer salad of homegrown butter crunch lettuce with a bit of extra crunch and sweetness with it. Not Foodie material but still good!

If you grow peas and haven’t tried this yet, make a note of it. It’s really fun and easy and the pea shoots are absolutely delicious. Sort of like a fresh pea but more tender and sweet.

Harvesting

Thinned

Dinner!

This week, I’m harvesting:

Also cilantro from my cilantro/calendula bowl.

Now for my humble attempt at being a Foodie! Here is a recipe that incorporates all of these Spring greens and this herb plus a few other things to create a very tasty dinner. The fun part is most ingredients can be gathered from a Spring garden.

This is my adaptation of ‘Gourmet Chinese Chicken Salad’ originally published in ‘Portland’s Palate’ cookbook. Since I’ve simplified it quite a bit I’ve decided to name my version, ‘Gardener’s Chinese Chicken Salad.’

Gardener’s Chinese Chicken Salad:

For the salad:

Good sized bowl of Spring greens (arrugula, beet foliage, mix of lettuces, etc…)
1/2 cup of sliced radishes
1/2 cup diced scallions

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup chopped almonds
3-4 tablespoons sesame seeds (if desired)
1 – 1.5 lbs grilled chicken

1/2 package of Maifun rice stick noodles

To prepare rice stick noodles, heat 2 cups of oil (we used coconut because it is supposed to be very stable under high temps as well as offer many health benefits. Google it if you want to learn more) in a pan or wok on high to 400 degrees. Put in one rice stick to see if it puffs up immediately. If so, put in small handful and turn rice sticks over to allow all sticks to puff. Remove immediately and set aside to cool. Continue until all rice sticks are cooked.

For the Dressing:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon soy sauce or Tamari sauce

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/3 cup rice vinegar

In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, garlic, soy sauce, pepper, sesame oil and vinegar. Set aside.

Preparation:

In a large bowl combine washed greens, scallions, radishes, cilantro, almonds and sesame seeds. Add grilled chicken and rice stick noodles. Toss entire mixture with dressing or drizzle dressing. Enjoy immediately! Serves 4.

How about you? Do you have some favorite summer salads where you can get most of the ingredients from your garden? Do you grow a lot of greens in your garden? Do you grow more cool season crops or warm season crops?

‘First Cuts’ From the Garden

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Last weekend the weather was beautiful and the weekend was even more beautiful because we enjoyed the ‘first cuts’ from the garden. Fresh greens…tender, light and so delicious.

Some of Johnny Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds arugula came from a small section of a spring pot I planted few weeks ago. I like to mix edibles with ornamentals in pots and the arugula looks pretty with spring flowers and serves as a nice little flavor booster to the first salads.

The next cut was some Tom Thumb buttercrunch lettuce (lactuca sativa) from the raised bed garden. A few plants of this variety germinated last fall due to my effort towards planting fall crops. The little lettuces didn’t really do more than germinate last fall but they held on during the winter and began to grow in early March. They looked absolutely ready for harvest last weekend.

The final cut was the result of my seed planting efforts in early March and is Lettuce Rocky Top Mix from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I made a light-weight hoop house for this raised bed which kept the temperatures just a tiny bit warmer and protected young seedlings from the cold spring winds. (The strawberries have loved it too!) This lettuce should probably be thinned but this time I just cut figuring I’ll get to it later.

I was pleasantly surprised at being able to harvest enough mixed greens to make a salad for six allowing my family and parents to enjoy the freshness. I topped the greens with shavings of parmesan cheese, roasted beets and pistachios, then drizzled with an olive oil/balsamic salad dressing. Delish!

How about you? What are you harvesting in your garden? What was or will be your ‘first cut’ this season?

Northwest Flower and Garden Show Is A Gardener’s Ultimate Gig!

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Last weekend I visited the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and it was a trip to a Gardeners’ promise land! Stocked to the max with superlative seminars, overflowing with fantastic display gardens and awash with wondrous plants, garden art, containers, decor, bulbs, etc….made me think…”Why did I fly here? Really…the airline only lets you bring two carry-ons!”

You get the idea, right? Anything a gardener would imagine or want could be found here. And with so much garden speak and garden variety brimming about it was more than a little hard to be disciplined.

New Info:

I managed to stay quite focused and calm during the seminars and my favorite ones were Joe Lamp’l's “Growing a Greener World – Gardening to Make a Difference,” and Graham Kerr’s (formerly known as the ‘Galloping Gourmet’) “Eat. Grow. Gather. Share. (E.G.G.S.).” Both of these talks were entertaining and more importantly focused on amazing people and projects currently underway helping people across America to get growing some of their own food. Whether it be to improve personal health, build a sense of community amongst neighbors, be more resource-efficient and earth-friendly or to help feed those that are hungry, it is amazing how growing food can have a positive impact! To learn more about Joe Lamp’l's work go to www.growingagreenerworld.com and to consider becoming a part of Graham Kerr’s proposed food initiative got to eggscartonclub.com.

Another favorite was Colin McCrate’s “The Peak of Perfection” which put forth a key concept that can help any edible garden grower. The message, “every plant’s single goal is to flower so it can reproduce and spread itself.” As elementary as that sounds, it plays a key role in knowing when to harvest edibles. The realization that edible crops have a harvest window based on the rate of their growth and that these plants find a way to get to the flowering stage no matter what, helps understand when it is time to harvest.

For example, a short season, fast-growing crop such as lettuce has a short window of prime harvesting. Furthermore even the ‘cut and come again’ varieties will burn themselves out after two cycles and begin to just throw up flower stalks instead of continuing to produce leaves. I found this helpful because oftentimes I find myself distracted with other things during what is most likely the prime harvest window of some crops because I’m thinking they can “keep” awhile longer since they are still in the ground/growing. To read more of Colin McCrate’s work check out www.seattleurbanfarmco.com

Exquisite Displays:

After many good seminars on Friday, Saturday was left to enjoy a leisurely cadence exploring the display gardens and finding some “garden must-haves”. The display gardens were exceedingly creative embracing this year’s theme, “A Floral Symphony,” in many different ways ranging from incorporating musical instruments such as pianos and harps to including subtle sounds found only in nature.

The People’s Choice Award was awarded to Sublime Garden Design for their holistic garden “Resonating Sounds of Nature ~ Finding Peace and Solace in the Garden.” A favorite as soon as I saw it! I love how they used classic design principles and embraced natural sound in the garden via water droplets rhythmically falling on drums. Think how relaxing it would be to sit in this garden on a rainy day when you can’t be out working in the dirt anyway!

Here are a couple of photos of other display gardens that offered unique beats…

The "green" or floral wall displays were all the rage...this one made form a wood pallet I believe

The fine seating areas in the display gardens are always a draw for me. They are so inviting and offer different ways to relax in your garden. Here are a few pics of ones that struck a chord with me.

Love the "raised" seating with fragrant blooms underneath...

ground-level, "comfy" seating

Many gardens featured panels for privacy, structure and ambience

Garden Must-Haves

After picking up some lily bulbs and black-foliage Dahlia tubers, (items easily packed in my suitcase) I found myself in the steady rhythm of a full-blown shopping spree. I had no one to help me resist temptations. My friend that was with me shares a passion for beautiful plants and garden art and was picking up things at a tempo faster than the song “Walking on Sunshine“. This was NOT helpful…plus, she had a car to put everything in…(a little garden envy here )

We walked the isles ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ over some fantastic items:

Love this table!

The shopping craze reached its crescendo when I was in a discussion about a very cool solar green house (retailing for a couple of thousand dollars) and whether I should order one since two others were being delivered to the Boise area next month. I needed it! And if they were already bringing some to my area…

Thankfully, there was a ‘ritardando’ written into my shopping symphony and it arrived just in time to keep me from going through with that purchase! I ended my spree on a pleasant note settling on an amazing wicker basket for harvest gathering. Of course, it was too big for the plane so my friend is keeping it for me until the next time I get to Portland.

The NWFG show was a true hit! If you’ve not taken in a garden show for a few years or perhaps ever, I highly recommend it. Lots of opportunities to learn about new ideas combined with creative, positive people makes for a great gig!

My friend showing no restraint and just plain 'giddiness' over her new garden must-have!

My February Edible Garden

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February is here and I’m getting excited as my seeds arrive, the 2012 growing season is about to begin. Fresh ‘green goods’ from my garden no longer seem like a pipe dream as I look out onto the bland back yard. I’m imagining how wonderful they will look and taste in just a another couple of months. But something strikes through this imaginative state and I think about my edible garden from last year that is in the freezer? With a new growing season on the horizon have I forgotten about some fresh, admittedly frozen, ‘goodness’ from last year’s garden?

I spent valuable time in-doors last season carefully preparing and freezing various items. I can’t let myself forget about them even though I’m currently focused on going to grocers that offer high-quality fruits and vegetables so that we can continue eating fresh during the winter.

However, the whole purpose of preserving the harvest is to enjoy it once production has stopped, so last week I decided to break my current routine. I looked in the freezer before I went to the grocer. I made food from my February edible garden!

To start, blueberries. Remember the 50 lbs of blueberries I picked in the Pacific Northwest last summer? Little bags of frozen berries were stuffed everywhere in our freezer. You may be surprised to hear that only 4 bags are left! No, I have not gone wild adding a bit of blueberry to every dish no matter what it is.

Instead, my daughters (also sometimes referred to as ‘garden mates’ ) have developed a wonderful habit of eating a bowlful of frozen blueberries each night before they go to bed. It is so routine for them that they don’t even ask about dessert anymore, they just know they’ll get blueberries if they eat a good dinner. Now this is not to say that if I offer something different they wouldn’t snatch it up in a heartbeat with their little sweet-tooths. But they are completely content having a snack of blueberries as their dessert.

How did this happen? I don’t actually know…maybe it’s one of the positives that can happen from taking your children u-picking and forging a real connection about where their food comes from along with its beauty and taste…

Back to my February edibles…with only a moderate amount of blueberries left I decided to try one new recipe that would be healthy in nature and offer my family something beyond “blueberries straight-up!” I chose ‘Best Blueberry Muffins’ from Eighty-Twenty, a food blog that I like. These were easy to make and quite a good little ‘starter’ in the mornings as they include rolled oats, yogurt, blueberries, etc… with just a modest amount of sugar. Here’s the recipe if you want to try it.

Through the process of looking around in the freezer I found some packages of my homemade spaghetti sauce. You may be thinking, “o.k., some tomatoes from the garden”…but there are onions, carrots and lots of herbs in it as well. So really, lots of fresh produce straight from the garden, with a stop in the freezer, to the table.

Spaghetti is always easy but having the homemade sauce with deliciousness from the garden and a different flavor than store-bought sauces makes it seem special.

And my third choice for the week was a sour-cherry pistachio crisp. Again, while searching the freezer I found several containers of wonderful sour-cherries that I picked from my mom and grandma’s trees. I looked for some recipes with a healthy bent and came up with this one from Martha Stewart. I was intrigued with combining these intricately flavored cherries with pistachios, a favorite nut around our house. Interested?

The crisp was a hit with my family ! Lots of cherry flavor combined with an earthy-nuttiness, just enough sweet and easy to make!

So I made a dent in my February edible garden and still have some ‘garden goodness’ to pull out. How about you? Do you spend time preserving your harvest and then find yourself forgetting to eat it during the winter months?

If so, hopefully this will be a reminder to go to your freezer or pantry to find your February edible garden!

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For those that need a regular dose of garden speak, garden envy and garden variety…