Breakfast on Mary

Once upon a time in a garden far far away a girl who had never gardened before grew a sweet succulent melon. The melon was like ambrosia! Thank you Mary.

Pasta Alla Cecca

Ok, I don't really know what this is called but it's damn good and stupid simple to make.I had this for the first time on Sandra's front porch last summer and it's been a summer staple ever since. This is only good with fresh garden tomatoes so get on it. In a large bowl cut up several big juicy garden tomatoes and add salt, pepper, basil, garlic (3-4 cloves if you feel daring and I always do), then pour enough of a good quality  olive oil to cover mix. Cover with a plastic wrap and let sit on the counter all day, or at least a few hours (this really lets the flavors meld). Make your pasta, drain and pour the tomato goodness over the warm pasta. You can sprinkle with Romano cheese if you want (and I usually do). This is also great piled high on a toasted slice of LeQuartier bread. Make sure you wear a bib. To me this is the quintessential summer dish.

Garlic planting time is just around the corner

Hello fellow gardeners. Fall planting is the best for garlic. I have proved a link to the UNL  extension page. This is full of great information and most importantly it's regional. Here are a list of growers we can order from. I am thinking a local source (as close as possible as thy will have similar winters and growing conditions). There are a few in Iowa and Colorado. We don't want to buy garlic from the store - if you read the UNL NebGuide  you will understand why. I am not sure how much to order so any input would be welcome. Most is between $10 - $15 a pound. I don't know if we can grow too much? Maybe 4-5 pounds? RSVP

The Melon Saga Continues

In this corner weighing in at.....

 Mary being a good sport has documented the very large melon in Marni's garden. There have not been any accusations of doping but I know it's just a matter of time. 

Marigolds and Amaranth

I took a leaf from Christy--see how beautiful her spray is against the colors of her house-- and created this bouquet from some of the growing things in the community garden. 

In addition to marigolds and amaranth, there are a few late-planted sunflowers and zinnias hiding behind the melons and cucumbers in the 30th street garden. They'll need a few more weeks to maturity if all goes well. 

Please harvest some amaranth. It is prime right now for both bouquets and eating. I'll be making Amaranth Soup (Sopa de Calabaza y Elote con Amaranto) next week, using both the leaves (selling for $9.00 lb. at the farmer's market) and seeds along with corn and squash.

Kale

Our Kale is a dark green heirloom kale from Tuscany, also called dinosaur kale, cavalo lacinato, or cavalo nero. It is sweet and delicious, much richer in flavor and more tender than the curly variety, and so hardy it can be harvested under a foot of snow! Once categorized as peasant fare, it is now all the rage among Italophile foodies. 

I harvested a big bunch yesterday for use in the Portuguese national soup, caldo verde. Kale, potatoes, garlic, onions, and sausage if you are a meatatarian. Kale works in all kinds of soups, can be creamed like spinach, marries delightfully in sweet potato and squash dishes, is superb simply sauteed with lots of garlic. I've heard that kale can be deep-fried and it looks like green, translucent bubble-wrap.

Here is my favorite simple appetizer recipe. I can testify that a confirmed kale hater ate this (rather) happily last year.

Caseare  Casella's Black Kale Bruschetta

1 pound black kale

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic sliced plus 1 whole clove

2 teaspoons red-pepper flakes

salt & pepper to taste

1 quart vegetable stock or water

1 1/2 cups canned peeled tomatoes with juice

4 large slices hard crusted, firm-crumbed Italian or French peasant bread

Wash kale removing any hard stems. Slice or tear leaves into one-inch pieces. Heat olive oil and sliced garlic in large skillet over medium heat. When garlic turns golden add red-pepper flakes, kale, salt, pepper, and cook for about 30 minutes. Add vegetable stock or water and tomatoes with juice, and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently until the mixture is reduced. Toast the bread and rub each slice with the remaining garlic clove. Place mixture on toast and serve.

For a complete supper serve topped with a sunny-side up egg on top of each slice. 

Olympic Tryouts for Melons

"Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one."--A. J. Liebling

In today's blogosphere freedom of the press belongs to whoever handles the blog. Today I am writing to discuss the rivalry between Mary and Marni's melon patches, since neither of them have taken up the challenge to post. Mary has 4 or is it 6 in her alley patch? Marni has 4 or 6 in the community patch and some untold number in her own secret backyard patch. Mary's will ripen first she says. There are rumors that another neighbor has a patch with fifty ripening orbs. We're dying to see that. Here are Mary's melons in photos taken about 8 days apart in early August. 

Sandra & Mary bring home the bounty

It looks like our little patch is starting to produce. 

Way to go ladies this is a beautiful site.  -Melissa

Zucchini Love

We have done a most excellent job of harvesting zuchs at their young, tender peak. I've only thrown one overgrown fellow into the compost and passed on two that were a little too large to a neighbor who uses them in his tropical fish tank to feed the algae eater. Here they are in all their early perfection!

Rabbit Run

In early July, Marni discovered that her beloved cantaloupes were at risk. Thus, the heavy prison fencing was soon followed by protest signs erected by sympathizers who prefer to remain nameless. The adolescent perp was flushed out of the enclosure in broad daylight and had to be chased from the garden. He was brazen.

Mary Hawk has melons in her back yard. Marni will be so excited to see that melons will grow on 30th st. Lovely fruit set Farmer Mary! -Melissa

The new trellising system was installed by Marni and Myself last week. We used all found objects and are feeling pretty chuff about that. 4 metal posts hold it firmly in the earth and a heavy wire was lashed between the two. The Malabar spinach was soaked for a few hours before planting. If you have seeds with a hard coat it's always a good idea to soak before planting as it helps with germination.

Dick and Sandra and Christie pulled onions last week and they are being cured in Marni's garage. If anyone needs onions go get one. The threesome then cleaned out the beds these veg where planted in and it looks GREAT! Let's get it filled up again. No one is picking the kale? Mary Hawk is obviously not interested in kale. Talk to Sandra about ways to cook this leafy green if you are not sure. It's amazing good and simple.

Sandra sent an email out last week with a list of items that can be planted within the next few weeks. Fall crops are a very good thing so don't get burnt out there is still more work to do. Dick, the hard part is over.... no really, I mean it.

Everyone try and add something at least once a week. I get so excited when there is fresh stuff on the blog. -Meliss

The Twins

Pretty flowers

Onions!!!

Onions galore!!!

Phillip picked his 1st onion.

Gabriel gardens

Gabe loves to search the garden for something to eat!

Malabar Spinach

This great spinach is easy to grow, versatile in the kitchen, and delicious to eat. It is unrelated to true spinach but produces abundant large meaty leaves that are remarkably spinach-like in taste and form. The plant is much better suited for summer growing than its better-known namesake. I did order seed for this so I am hoping we will be able to plant as soon as it arrives and be eating 55 days from then. Tomorrow I will spread more grass. 

-Melissa 

(Click on the title for a great link and you can see my plagiarizing ; )

Midsummer Garden News

"I'm dirty, tired, sore, and my face is red;

and every damn weed in that garden is dead."--Michael P. Garofalo, Peeling Onions

The garden has been completely weeded. It is almost perfect at this moment.

Here's what's growing.

Melons

Melons enclosed (Curses on Rabbits)

The Center Prayer Garden

Valerie weeds the entire bed behind the newly pristine and mulched herb garden

Corn (It will be knee-high by 4th of July)

Marni in Onions

Tomatoes

The Littlest Gardener Gabriel who is indeed an angel

Mary Planted Beans

Mary planted beans and they sprouted in 4 days! And then they grew like wildfire--surpassing those planted earlier in May. Timing is everything.

June Fruits

Christy brought me 16 ounces of strawberries yesterday. I know there were 16 ounces because they came in a cottage cheese container that was chockful. These beautiful berries evaded greedy birds and marched straight from her garden to my house. Tiny little jewels with sparkling flavors of tart and sweet. And I ate every one myself, one at a time, dipped only in a bit of sugar. Selfish? Yes. Thank you Christy!

I will share the apricot jam I made this morning. Talk about small-batch cooking. I had about 14 apricots from California. Probably not the coveted Blenheims, but once boiled furiously with lemon and sugar they made an exquisite jam. The Blenheim apricot is a mid-season variety, considered to be one of the best in America. The bigger, prettier, earlier ones we get now from our friends in California make better cooked dishes than eaten out of hand. Too often these early specimens are mushy and tasteless, or lip-scrunching sour. I'm going to have to score more apricots, early or late for jam making. My favorite jam maker is a French woman, Christine Ferber. Her book, Mes Confitures, is nothing short of inspirational. For apricot options alone see: Bergeron (the favorite French variety) Apricot, Bergeron Apricot with Almond, Bergeron Apricot with Vanilla, Apricot with Mountain Honey, Apricot with Mango, Apricot and Raspberry with Citrus Zest, Apricot and Nectarine with Ginger, Two Kinds of Apricots with Vanilla and Gewurztraminer, Spicy Apricot and Apple Jelly.

A Good Year for Roses

A selection of photos from the community's gardens.