Garden MVP 2014

I know it’s a little early to start thinking about next year, but I can’t help it.  I always say my garden is a work in progress; each year I seek to improve it, change it, shape it into a landscape. I also recognize what I like, what I don’t want to change.  Garlic, sungold tomatoes, zinnias, kale, fava beans are on this favorites list.  My new favorite thing to grow: lunchbox peppers.  

This year I bought several lunchbox pepper seedlings at our farmers market.  They come in yellow, orange and red, and yield precious little peppers, perfect for 1.  Their walls are crisp and lush, with juice practically spurting forth when you slice them with a knife.  These peppers are so good I have eaten one whole, right out of the garden.  Perhaps due to their small size, they are relatively quick to develop color, unlike some larger bell peppers which seem to take awhile to develop reds, oranges and yellows.  Anyhow, if you like peppers, consider adding these to your garden roster in 2015.

Maximizing the End of the Season

The time has come to pick the rest of the basil and every tomato with color.  Our temperatures have been dipping dangerously low, which some vegetables don’t appreciate.  Generally speaking, the more heat a vegetable needs to grow, the more sensitive it is at the end of the season to frost.  With this in mind, I just picked lots of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil.

Dinner Tonight

Dinner tonight: pesto potato salad over arugula with salmon.  Thanks Cucina Nicolina, you inspire yet again!   

Inspired by Nicole’s Roasted Potato-Pesto Salad:

10 red or new potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half

olive oil

1 clove garlic

small handful of walnuts (about a ¼ cup)

Bunch of basil, stems removed

large handful grated parmesan (about ½ cup)

salt and pepper

bunch of arugula

Bounty

August and September are the peak of Maine’s growing season.  One can go to the farmers market/into the garden and pick such variety of vegetables (and fruits!).  This time of year, I love eggplant.

I have loved eggplant since childhood celebration suppers of eggplant parmesan served alongside heaps of round tubes of spaghetti at Anthony’s Italian Restaurant.  Now I love eggplant because of my husband, K.  He lived in Greece for a year, and I joined him for a summer.  We ate Eggplant in the Oven whenever we could get it.  Tavernas routinely had large menus, of which generally a handful of items were actually available.  When Eggplant in the Oven was offered, we always accepted.  Slow cooked eggplant with tomatoes, oregano and chunks of salty feta, best after hours in a low oven.  

On Mulching and Micromovements

Well, my ambitious to-do list backfired.  Generally I feel peaceful while gardening.  I am connected to the system of life, part of something bigger.  Things don’t work out, it’s a learning experience.  Not today.  I was mad at the cabbage worms, mad at the irregular fall crop germination (due to cats and groundhogs), and overwhelmed by how to deal with my compost system.  

    So, I did what a good friend and mentor calls, “take micromovements.”

Garden To-Do’s

A dear friend (and inspiration for starting this blog) occasionally asks me what she should be doing in her garden.  Here’s what’s on my garden to-do list this September Saturday:

1. Take pictures of my garden beds for reference during winter planning.  Every year I mean to do this.  Every year I don’t and regret it in the middle of winter or early spring, when I’m trying to figure out what was there, and if that green growth is a beloved bulb, sprouts from a perennial root ball, or weeds.  

2. Research cabbage worms.  These pests are decimating my kale, (my blood boils just to write this) and are beginning to take bites out of turnip leaves.  (See evidence below)  After some preliminary research, it seems I must remove and destroy all plant matter as these troublesome caterpillars overwinter.  More coming on this matter.  If you have any suggestions, please share.

3. Weed and mulch fall vegetable beds.  A month ago I planted beets, spinach, chard, radishes, kale and mustard.  This bed desperately needs weeding and mulching.

Small Pleasures

Eating outside elevates any meal (one of the reasons I love camping).  Greens/rice/egg/turkey/tomato/cheddar/salsa-skillet + sunshine + ice water with lemon = rejuvenation.  How nice to take time to appreciate, to taste, to breathe, to give thanks (even if you’re not camping).

Beneficial Parasite

What is that foul picture you say?  It’s a tomato hornworm’s death by parasite.  Yes, that’s right, gardeners.  Let out a cheer because you have a natural ally in the war on tomato hornworms: the Braconid Wasp.  These beneficials are parasitoids, a type of parasite which generally kills their host.

Cat Baffle

Neighborhood cats.  Need I say more, town gardeners?  To be clear, I love cats.  I am guilty of treating my cat like a beloved family member, feeding him treats, cooing him, letting him sleep on my bed.  I do not love when he makes my garden bed one of his beds.  He has a sixth sense for knowing when I planted a new seed bed, which in turn becomes his prefered location for an afternoon nap and nest, sending my germination rates plummeting.  For years I have experimented with different techniques.  For a long time mulching well with straw seemed to do the trick.  Apparently, his tastes (and the taste of our neighbors’ cats) have changed.  The straw is no longer a deterrent.  

My new favorite trick is this simple fence.

Flower Cutting Tips

A few simple tips for extending the life of your garden's cut flowers

The sun is setting early, the morning is coming later.  The garlic is dried and trimmed, waiting for planting.  Apples have arrived in the market.  The air is still thick with summer, humid; the sky is dark.  My stand of zinnias is at it’s peak of fullness and color, and I’m picking the blossoms before the thunderstorms.  A good friend and colleague admired my zinnias the other day, lamenting the fact her garden didn’t get enough sun for such flowers.  I’m arranging this bouquet for her.