What Going Green Means

Great link

http://www.oprah.com/world/What-Green-Means

Mini Greenhouse

Here's the mini greenhouse we got at Big Lots (we lucked out - they were having buyer appreciation day - 20% off - sot it cost us only $25.00!).

It's on the back patio - southern exposure so it will get a lot of sun during the day.  You get a little starter tray with the Tower Garden but naturally we wanted more veggie starts to keep it fully stocked as we harvest our naturally grown veggies. 

So far, the snow peas and lettuce seeds have sprouted.  We bought bare root strawberry starts and a few have sprouted as well.  We are going to plant one Tower Garden entirely with strawberries.  Hope that we will be able to harvest them all through the summer.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to have freshly picked strawberries on your cereal, in smoothies and margaritas?   Breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Yum!

Tower Gardens - Aeroponic Vegetable Growing

 

I got this for my birthday - it's called a tower garden.  It is a self-contained unit that allows you to grow vegetables, herbs, or flowers with water.  It's not really hydroponics but sort of.  The water is pumped to the top of the tower and then the water falls down the center of the tower.  As it falls, it hits several different "ledges" and is aerated and which adds more oxygen to the water.  And as the water tumbles, it saturates the plant roots/

 

So cool.  The weather has been cool so the plants have not grown a whole lot.  But it is so nice to be able to pick your own baby greens for a salad right outside the kitchen door.

 

We were so impressed with this unit that got three more and are now distributors for it.  It make gardening and growing your own food so much easier.   

 

Everyone should get one.   



Growing Your Own Sprouts

Here's a great link for learning how to grow your own sprouts for salads, sandwiches, wraps.

http://mygardenguide.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1441&Itemid=27

Here's A Way to Start 2014 on the Right Foot!

http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/2014/1/6/9-ways-to-use-chia-seeds?xid=DISH010914WaysToUseChia

Homemade Baby Food

Pumpkins and Winter Squashes

 

 

Here's a link to make your own baby food for little ones.  Winter squashes and pumpkins are perfect for this. 

 

http://thegreendivas.com/2013/08/16/going-goo-goo-for-homemade-baby-food/#more-4248

Armenian Cucumbers and Homemade Hummus

                The Perfect Snack

 

 

After eating things that were bad for me on Friday and Saturday, I decided enough was enough.  We had an Armenian cucumber left over from the Farmers Market so I decided to fix some homemade hummus to go along with the cucumber slices.  Yum. . .  no more guilt for now.  

Armenian cucumbers are my favorite cucumbers.  They are not bitter, even with the skin on and seeds.  So nice to not have to peel them - skin is not tough.  

 

These would make great juicers, put in water for flavoring, in salads, etc.  Our friend gifted us with some that were pickled.  Going to dive into those this week.   

Sugar Pie Pumpkin Recipes

Sugar Pie Pumpkin

 



 

We are slowing getting pumpkins from the garden.  Last October at Cowboy Trail Ranch, Marilyn and Dwayne had a Harvest Open House potluck.  Someone made a yummy spread and it was just baked pumpkin with agave nectar.

 

 

The pumpkin was baked whole at 350 degrees for about an hour or until a knife could pierce its' skin.  Remove from oven and let cool. Then cut the pumpkin open, scoop out seeds.  Discard seeds or maybe you could try roasting them. Scoop out remaining flesh and add agave nectar to taste.  Use as a spread on crackers.  Delicious. 

 

Here's a link to other recipes.

 

http://www.marthastewart.com/267389/in-season-sugar-pumpkins

 



Acorn Squash in July

Our first year we grew acorn squash, we planted it in July and was lucky to harvest them about the end of September.

Our second year, we planted acorn squash in late spring but the weeds overcame the plants.  Weeds were terrible last year.

Our third year, in the new location of the garden, seeds were planted  about late April and whoohoo!  Acorn squash in July.

How exciting! 

Can't wait to try these . . .  here's a link to some yummy recipes.

http://www.thekitchn.com/10-ways-to-eat-an-acorn-squash-129731

The Green Divas Website

Red Ginger Flowers - Waialua Farmers Market

 

 

Can't sleep nights - so surfing the web I came across The Green Divas website.  Thought I'd share in case you haven't run across it during your sleep deprivation sessions.  

http://thegreendivas.com/2013/06/30/how-do-you-define-sustainability/

Beet Chips from Big Flavors Tiny Kitchen

 

                                                                   Golden Beets

 

Here's a link for making beet chips.  Sounds delicious and very easy to make.  I'm into easy these days.

http://www.bigflavorstinykitchen.com/2013/05/baked-beet-chips.html

Squash Frittata from The Lake House

                                                               Yellow Zucchini  Squash

We are invited to a friend's house tonight for a wine tasting and of course, we said we'd bring veggies.  Now, I have brought squash fritters a couple of times so thought I'd make something new.  Do you ever do that?  Make a recipe that you've never made before to take to a party?  Yep, I do it all the time.

After searching the internet, I decided on the squash frittata recipe from The Lake House, mainly because I had some prosciutto in the fridge and it sounded good. 

Didn't have a pic of green zucchini which I used hence the pic of the yellow.   Will report back on how it tasted. 

http://new-hampshire-inn.com/lake-house-summer-squash-frittata/

Vegetable Pictures - Summer in Sandy Valley

 

 

With the higher temperatures, the vegetables have started to increase in size and production.   Our squashes are starting produce - zephyr, green zucchini, yellow zucchini are performing well.  A little behind in production are patty pans and 8 ball but they should catch up with the others soon.  The squash bugs are also out in force so that's another challenge.  

 

We have our very first cauliflower - orange too!   And our beets are becoming rotund.

 

Nothing could be finer.

Bee Awareness Day - The Springs Preserve- Saturday June 22

Bee Awareness Day

Join the Springs Preserve and Whole Foods Market for a special lecture and film screening to raise awareness and understanding of honey bees.
We'll start the buzz with a presentation by a bee expert, followed by a screening of the kid-friendly film "Vanishing Bees" and conclude with a question-and-answer session afterward. Guests will enjoy a honey sample from Whole Foods Market.
Honey bees are the most abundant pollinators of flowering plants and are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat. Despite this, U.S. honey bee colonies are declining at a rate of 30 percent or more. Join us to learn how intricately linked humans are to bees and how you can help "bee" a part of the solution!

---

Event Information

Date & Time

Saturday, June 22, 2013
01:30 p.m. - 03:00 p.m.

Location

Big Springs Theater

Admission

Free for members or included with paid general admission

RSVP

No reservations required.













http://www.springspreserve.org/apps/event/details.cfml?id=579&query=honey+bees

Salad in a Jar - Emergency Meal in Minutes

Loved this post - quick, easy and healthy!  




http://www.greenplaterule.com/recipes/mason-jar-salads/

Collard Green Enchiladas Recipe from Going Home To Roost

 

 

We are growing some awesome collard greens at the farm.  The variety that we've grown for the last 3 years is called "Flash" and it is a vates type  hybrid variety.  It has a smoother leaf and slow to bolt which is beneficial to us in the high desert. 

 

I was on the Etsy website listening to an on-line forum with Bonnie Forkner who writes Going Home To Roost blog.  While listening,  I looked at her website and found this recipe.  It must have been kismet.

 

It sounds so yummy and it is sooo good for you.  Give it a try on a meatless Monday, or Tuesday or Wednesday . . . . . whenever.

I'm going to make it for a company picnic at the farm.

http://www.goinghometoroost.com/2012/seasonal-recipes/collard-green-enchiladas/

Suddenly Collards, Kale, and Beets

Suddenly Collard Greens, Red Russian Kale and Beets

 

 

Know the saying, "Hurry up and wait"?  That sort of applies to our garden every year.
We plant the seeds around mid to late March and then the waiting begins.  Little by little, the little seedlings emerge.  But what's funny about gardening in the high desert, once there's consistent warmer temperatures, most things just jump.

 

The collard greens are looking fabulous, the red Russian kale are gorgeous, and our red and golden  beets are finally filling out.

 

Good things come to those who wait . . ain't that the truth.

Green Pac Choi

                                                              Green Pac Choi

I love Asian greens.  They are so versatile.  You can eat them fresh when small, use more mature leaves in stir fries and also in soups.  Pac Choi is one of those greens that have a mild taste so it does not overpower any dishes.  It is not bitter, sometime it can be mildly sweet.  

This is a vegetable that when harvested, it is cut from the main stem so the entire head is cut off.
I am not sure if it will grow back from the roots, but we'll see. 

This is another new green we decided to try this year.  It performed well but the leaves got a bit of tip burn from our spring winds and the bugs are discovering it too. 

We'll probably plant this again for fall and maybe try the white stemmed variety as well.

Juane d' Or - Yellow Gold French Radishes

Jaune d' Or Yellow Gold French Radishes

 

 

One of the first things that are ready in the garden are radishes.  They are a very short season vegetable and although we try to time their planting so that they are ready when several other crops are ready, they seem to jump ahead of the rest.

 

 

These radishes are a pretty yellow almost gold color.  They are white inside.  Mildly spicy when small, quite spicy when larger. 

 

 

Our friends, John and Tikva had a wine tasting party last Saturday and I brought these radishes.

I used Ina Garten's recipe for Radishes with Butter and Salt below and tweaked it just a little.

 

2 bunches radishes with tops intact, root tips cut off

 

Sea Salt (I purchased Fleur de Sel de Guerande at International Marketplace on Decatur)

 

Herb Butter - recipe below

 

1 French Baguette, sliced diagonally and lightly toasted

 

Herbed Butter

 

1/4 lb. unsalted butter - room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. minced scallions  (I used green onions)

1 1/2 tsp. minced dill (used dried lemon dill mix that I had - couldn't find fresh)

1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh parsley leaves (Used Italian parsley)

1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Pinch freshly ground pepper

Looking Forward to Our First Farm to Fork Dinner!

http://www.meetup.com/The-Chef-s-Table/events/112457092/