Garden surprises

When we first started planting a garden several years ago, we just thought everything would grow just like the photo on the seed pack, but that just didn't happen. We had immediate success with some things like green beans, and then there were other things, like broccoli that just never seemed to mature and grow for us. It just immediately went to seed and produced a few little loose tops -- never enough to eat.

Later, we found that things like broccoli and Brussels sprouts had to be planted in the fall (in Georgia) if you wanted to produce a harvest. We didn't find out about that until this year. We did plant some Brussels sprouts and we just gave up on them. I haven't even looked at them for awhile. I don't think I have fertilized them or sprayed for worms or anything for some time. I just assumed we wouldn't have them this year. Good try but it just wasn't our year. We planned to plant more this fall and baby them through the winter for a good spring crop.

That is why I was totally surprised when my husband sent me this photo of our Brussels sprouts. I guess even though the conditions aren't perfect, you just can't stop some things from growing, if they want to grow. I don't think we are "supposed" to have them. We did plant plants, rather than seed in the early spring and I know they do take a long time to mature. I was just shocked that after the very warm weather, that we had anything like this at all.

I don't think we will have as many as if we had planted them earlier and I also don't think they will be as large before they seed, but I am very encouraged. What do I know? From what I have read, they aren't supposed to produce in a heat wave. Perhaps we are doing some things right to have something we aren't supposed to have. I am very thankful for this little surprise.

Why life should be like T-Ball

I had the opportunity of going to a number of my little grandsons T-ball games this year. While I was sitting in the stands, cheering him on, I thought how nice it would be -- just occasionally, if life was a little more like T-ball.

Here are the reasons why.

1) You always get to play. No one gets out and you run the bases every time.

2) No one loses in T-ball. No one is there to keep score. It really does only matter that you play the game and not if you win.

3) If you get nervous about batting or fielding, a parent or adult will stand beside you all the way to tell you how to hit the ball or when to pick the ball up and throw it to first base.
 

4) If you get distracted by an airplane or want to throw your glove up in the air and catch it, no one yells at you. In fact they just think you are cute.

5) If you fall down, you don't get anything worse than a carpet burn because the field is carpeted and padded.

6) If you do get a boo-boo, either your mom or the coach will kiss it and make it feel better. Even if it is between home and first base.

7) Everyone, on both sides is cheering you on. People don't yell at you just because you aren't on their team. You regularly hear those encouraging words, "Good job."

8) Every player gets to keep their uniforms and wear them wherever they go until they outgrow them.

9) At the end of each game, you get a snack.

10) Everyone gets a trophy.

The East Washington Street Garden

Every day when I go to work, I drive down East Washington Street. Very recently, I noticed that alongside the road there is a small corn, watermelon and pepper garden. It is just off the pavement and along the side of the road beside an embankment. It is very simple -- just a row of corn with some melons and peppers planted here and there.

What I noticed the last couple of days, besides the fact that the corn looks very healthy in this hot weather, is a "Corn" Santa is guarding the little garden. It looks like an old Santa, or at least an elf standing guard over the corn, protecting it from critters, I suppose.

He might be a Santa that has fulfilled his purpose in December and is looking out for children the rest of the year by saying "Eat your vegetables, please." He hasn't chosen a very hard task because corn and melons are pretty popular with the young (and young at heart).

The watermelon vines certainly do look good. I think a good harvest is very likely.

I am just amazed by someone who isn't limited by space. No room for a traditional garden? You, too could make it happen in a little strip of sunlight along a busy road. That is ingenuity, determination and ...

should be an inspiration for anyone who doesn't have the space, or the time ... but does have imagination.

Beets, a nutritional vegetable and great memories

Beets are a new vegetable for us this year. Well, we have planted beets before, but we really did not have enough to do anything with. But -- this year we have had enough fresh beets to cook for a couple of meals. I am not sure I have found the best recipe for cooking them. I just stewed them in a little water and added salt, pepper and a little butter.

I know we will grow them next year but I will be on the lookout for new ways to prepare them. I think pickled beets might be a great idea, and I would like to find new side dish recipes. Because of the deep color, I am sure beets are nutritional gold -- a healthy thing to add to my diet.

Years back, I spent a couple of years in the Red River Valley of the North, one of the most fertile farming areas in the world. The first year we were there during harvest time, the roads were swarming with huge dump trucks filled with sugar beets.

There was a sugar beet factory very close to where we lived and the dump trucks carried so many loads of sugar beets that the roads were littered with beets falling from the trucks on the way to the factory.

The piles of beets outside the factory looked like small mountain ranges. As I went to work each day I passed the factory and watched as front end loaders constantly transferred the diminishing piles of beets to the factory for processing. It is an experience I will never forget.

The beets were very large and mostly white -- and white on the inside.

I know my beets aren't the same variety, but I think of those sugar beets every time I grow or eat beets of any color. If you know of a great beet recipe, I would love to try it.

A pictorial garden tour

On Saturday we went to the garden to work for awhile and during that time I took a few photos. These were with my cellphone -- not the perfect camera for photos like these, but I think you can tell that the garden is coming along nicely, even with the lower resolution camera. I do seem to be having some issues with the blog spot photo entry software so I hope you can see the photos as I intended.

I am quite pleased with our garden so far this summer. We are beginning to get a few squash, cucumbers and even an almost ripe tomato. If the weather would just cool down a few degrees and we would get more rain, things would be perfect. Things really do look lush and green.

Our green beans are now running over the top of the poles and we are beginning to see blooms. Very pretty, I think.

We have recently fertilized and have been dusting with diotomaceous earth to prevent beetles from getting a stronghold.

The cucumbers are growing like crazy. They are responding to the really hot weather and I hope we get some rain soon because I hate to get thin cukes that balloon on one end because they suddenly get rain. I have already made a gallon of sour pickles and have had enough for salads and snacking.

The hot peppers have grown even more than I thought they would. We planted some cow horn peppers for my husband and I think they will grow quite tall. I don't have any experience with them -- until now.

We have a nice row of okra coming up, at left and the bok choy still looks pretty good. We do have another row of okra that is just planted but they haven't peeked through yet. The hot weather is really great for these okra plants. They love it. I don't think I have ever seen a plant that thrives so in hot weather. The only negative about okra is that deer really, really love it. Good thing they hate our electric fence. I am hoping for a good stand of okra in the next several weeks -- maybe even enough okra to harvest a bit.

It is a hard to see but the plants at the back are my spaghetti squash. I really love them. They are just putting on the second leaves at this point but should really shoot up and catch up with the other plants.

I think our corn and squash is really looking good. They would benefit from more rain but we will hopefully water them enough while waiting for rainfall.

The yellow squash plants are not as dark as the zucchini. I think zucchini is a really attractive plant and so far so good on the squash. We are looking for bugs all the time and things look good right now.

This is one of the different squashes we planted. I don't remember exactly which one it is. I know we will know soon. I love the coloring of the leaves. I think it is a kind of zucchini.

This should be our acorn squash. Acorns are one of my favorites, especially in the winter.

We planted a cherry tomato bed and it looks very good. We have red, black and purple.

I do like our tomatoes and peppers. We have a new staking system this year.

My husband found some six foot hardwood stakes with holes drilled in them on clearance at Tractor Supply. We tied wire at the top and bottom of the stakes that we put on the end of each bed and another stake in the center. We tied the strings to the bottom wire and then wound the string around the tomato trip and tied the other end of the string around the wire at the top.

The indeterminate tomatoes were staked this way. The determinate varieties are mostly caged.

Greenhouses stake their tomatoes largely this way and so far I really like it. You must pinch off the suckers so that there are not too many branches. Seems sturdy enough and I am hoping it works well to keep the tomatoes off the ground.

And the last thing would be our cantaloupes and watermelons. The cantaloupes are very small plants and the watermelon have just been planted so I can only show you dirt where they are.

Pretty good. I am just praying for rain.

Recipe Redo: Lasagna -- Cheesy, Gluten-free Lasagna

Here's a recipe that is dairy-free and gluten-free AND believe it or not, really delicious. This is not a vegan recipe because we used ground turkey to satisfy a 5-year old who eats spinach plain, but prefers not to see flecks of vegetables in his other food. I will be working on a vegan version and will blog about it at a later time.

The cheesy sauce contains nutritional yeast which has a cheesy flavor. That is what makes even the pickiest eaters in my family like this dish. This recipe contains a cup of cashews which can be bad for those with tree nut allergies. The cashews add most of the fat in this dish. There isn't as much saturated fat as regular lasagna, but it is not a low-fat dish.

"Cheesy" Lasagna 
(gluten-free and dairy-free)

2 pounds ground turkey
1  26-ounce jar of spaghetti sauce (wheat-free)
1 recipe of Cheesy Sauce (recipe follows)
1 10-ounce package of soaked brown rice lasagna noodles (we prefer Tinkyada, but use DeBoles when we can't find Tinkyada noodles)
1/2 cup water
1 cup Daiya mozzarella-style shredded soy cheese

Make one recipe of "Cheesy Sauce." This sauce can be made up to several days beforehand and stored in the refrigerator until ready for use.

Don't cook the rice noodles beforehand. Instead, lay the noodles in a dish and cover with boiling water for ten to fifteen minutes. While the noodles are soaking, brown the turkey in a non-stick pan. Add spaghetti sauce and cook for about eight minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Noodles should be partially softened and the lasagna is ready to be assembled. In a 9 x 13 pan, pour 1/3 of the turkey mixture and top with noodles and then 1/2 of the Cheesy Sauce. Repeat layers until all is used up. Finish with mozzarella-style shredded soy cheese. Pour 1/2 cup of water around the edges of the assembled lasagna.

Cover with foil and back at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes. Top and sides will be slightly browned.

Cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares. This also warms well in the microwave.

Cheesy Sauce 
(dairy-free)

2 cups water
1 cup cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (large flake, non-gmo)
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1-1/2 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients into a high-powdered blender jar and blend on high for 2 minutes. Pour mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook on medium until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and cool before storing in refrigerator. Keeps for several days. This is a good cheese sauce substitute.

Prized cabbages

While I am on the subject of cabbages, I had to show you the ones we picked over the weekend. The one above is the largest we had and it easily weighed well over five pounds. It was firm, the leaves were very tight and it is the best cabbage we have ever grown in our garden.

 I don't think it was quite the size of a basketball, but close. The cabbage on the right is our prized cabbage without the outside leaves. The one on the left is large, too, but not nearly as large as the one on the right.

My sister used this huge cabbage to make an enormous bowl of delicious slaw to go with the fish fry we had over the weekend. The ingredients, grated cabbage, carrots and onions from the garden, celery seed, lemon juice, salt and pepper and lots of Duke's mayonnaise.

I think I am bragging a little about our giant cabbage but I also think, anyone would want to show it off if they had struggled in the past few years, to have any cabbages at all.

We did do a few things differently this year. First, we planted early. The cabbage plants were in the ground by mid-February. We fertilized with a more balanced fertilizer and we sprayed often with BT or bacillus thuringiensis which did seem to keep the worms at bay when the weather became warm. We also mulched the cabbages and I think that was a factor as well.

The best thing -- it is an organic cabbage.