Great Lakes Foodie » Gardening

Chives…Make you cry???

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:18:29 +0000

It’s that time of year when I look at what I have left in the garden and try to find ways of using/preserving it so it’s not wasted. This afternoon, I went out into the garden and started pulling chives and mint. For chives, I like to clean them and then chop them up finely. I’ve found that I can put them into a freezer-safe container and will have chopped fresh chives on hand throughout the winter. I chopped off the bulk of two chive plants in my raised beds and netted two 2-cup containers full of the chopped, onion-scented bits. I had a little epiphany this afternoon along with it. If you chop enough chives, they can have a similar affect on you as having chopped an onion. The tears were definitely coming!

Technorati Tags: Autumn, Crops, Fall

No More Wascally Wabbits!!!

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:29:28 +0000

Are the rabbits getting to you this year? The population in our area is crazy. For the past two years, we had hardly any foraging in our yards. This year, I can’t keep them out. After spending weeks and weeks working on seedlings indoors, I put my prized seedlings in the garden. As you saw in a previous posting, the rabbits decided to partake in some head lettuce. Their latest is a foray into peppers. My pepper plants were chewed off a few times. Most recently, they were hacked beyond repair. I went to a local garden chain, Steins Garden and Gifts, to buy my replacements. Two days later, pepper plants purchased with peppers growing on them were hacked!!!!

It was war. As of this afternoon, we have a 2 foot fence of poultry wire around each garden bed. Though the bunnies can jump, there is enough other vegetation around that I don’t think they’ll be interested in the extra effort. Now, I might have a chance for some peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes. The one thing that successfully has survived all attacks is my herb plot. With tarragon, oregano, cilantro, basil, parsley, chives, sage, rosemary, thyme and dill, the bed is absolutely flourishing. In fact, I need to spread some additional cilantro seeds down to ensure that I have leaves later in the season. Though Dale has the gene that leaves you feeling like you drank a bottle of dish detergent, I’ve started to really enjoy the verdant taste of cilantro.

Technorati Tags: Gardening, Herbs, Pests, Rabbits, Raised Bed, Vegetables

Basil Chicken with Fig and Gorgonzola Salad

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:48:49 +0000

Given the fact that I have a lifetime supply (okay, a week’s supply) of chicken breasts in the house, I decided to make a series of chicken dishes this week. Tonight, I pulled again from the garden and grabbed up some basil. I marinated the chicken with olive oil, basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Unfortunately, the flavor didn’t permeate through the chicken. The chicken was finished off with a chiffonade of basil that helped provide a bright flavor. For sides, I made two. The first was your basis mashed potato dish. I put a little butter, sour cream, nutmeg, and garlic powder in the potatoes. For the other side, I wanted to make a salad. Since I was going with an Italian theme, I pulled out some dried figs, hazelnuts, and gorgonzola cheese. The combination was great! Pictures to come later.

2010 Vegetable/Herb Garden – Late May Photos

Great Lakes Foodie — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:25:52 +0000

Shown below are the four raised beds I use for my annual vegetable garden.

We’re on our fourth year using these beds.

Some of the pieces are starting to fail.

In 2011, I’ll likely have new beds to play with.

The bed to the left of the vegetable garden is our main flower garden. We have iris, peony, daffodil, day lily, sedum, phlox, and a few others in there.

This bed provides some height and color from the street thus hiding the garden a bit.

Southeast.

This bed contains tomatillos, tomatoes,

peppers, onions, basil and parsley

Southwest.

This bed contains tomatoes, onions,

basil, parsley, swiss chard, beans,

leaf lettuce and peppers.

Northwest.

This is the herb bed. Dill, thyme, basil,

rosemary, sage, tarragon, oregano,

parsley, and cilantro

Northeast.

This bed contains tomatoes, peppers,

eggplant, cucumber, broccoli, leaf lettuce,

head lettuce, and peas.

Buds on the tomato plants on May 30th!

A rare event for Wisconsin. Usually my

buds show up in mid to late June.

Multi-color leaf lettuce. So far so good

with the rabbits!

Head lettuce. The heads that were

chopped by the rabbits are coming back

strong. I’ll have to put a fence around this

section soon.

Technorati Tags: Herbs, Lettuce, Onions, Peppers, Tomatoes

2010 Vegetable/Herb Garden – Early May photos

Great Lakes Foodie — Sun, 30 May 2010 02:24:44 +0000

These are pictures I took in early May before I planted these plants outside. The parsley, as stated in the last post, really took off well. The tomatoes have since done a great job out in the beds. Sadly, the head lettuce, though grew well, perished to the rabbits in the area. I’ve saved one of the heads that were “mowed down.” Two of the plants are still in good shape. One is lost.

Parsley (Lettuce in background)

Head lettuce and tomato plants