Garden in a Jar

I will admit right off the bat that this quick post is none-other than a shameless plug for one of my least favorite mega-stores: Target.

Okay, I don't actually despise Target, but I am still incredibly irked that the Target nearest to my home recently closed their garden center so that they could use it as "storage space" for their new in-house grocery department.

I mean, I do see the convenience of having groceries available at Target. And they do carry quite a few organic products, to their credit. And, to be honest, I have purchased a gallon of milk there. And maybe some peanut butter. And wine... on sale of course.

But what does it say about us, as a society, when we [more often than not] buy our "fresh" produce from the same store as our DVDs, nail polish, and socks? I have mixed emotions about the whole conglomerated concept.

Regardless, I did recently find a new product at Target that I love, love, love... so I wanted to share.

This is Target's newest soy candle line. I adore candles, but especially soy candles.

I love candles in glass jars, because they never get messy or drippy, and the jars can be reused.

I love the name of this candle, "Garden Blossom," and the cute red and white vintage yet modern-looking graphic on the label. It matches my kitchen exactly.

More than anything, though, I LOVE the scent. You know how most candles smell too sweet, or too strong, or too perfumey, or nice but totally artificial? In my humble opinion, this one doesn't.

It smells just like my garden.

Like the freshly-turned earth.

Like rays of sunshine filtering through the grape leaves.

Like buttery yellow tomato blossoms unfurling before me.

It just smells clean and real.

If you happen to be shopping at Target anytime soon (and I promise that if you do buy your broccoli there I won't hold it against you), and if you happen to peruse the candle aisle and find this one sitting there, beckoning you, you might just want to give it a chance.

I, myself, am going to stock up before it's tragically discontinued... just like my beloved [former] Target garden center!

Orchard Expansion!

About this time last year, I took some time to evaluate my progress at Pocket Square Farm. By the end of the summer season, it was clear to me which produce I had too much of (zucchini and cucumbers), and not enough of (fresh fruit, onions, potatoes, and garlic). Last year, we reached our sustainability goals with regards to veggies: we rarely had to purchase vegetables at the market during the winter, and never in the summer.

Fruit, however, was a different story.

My weekly grocery list always included fruit. Despite that we had already planted a lemon tree, a lime tree, boysenberries, blackberries, and four blueberry bushes, none of them had started really producing dependably. And my kids eat a lot of fruit... as they should.

My husband planted two apple and two orange trees for me for Mother's Day last year. It was the perfect gift for me, but I knew that, as far as feeding a hungry family went, it just wouldn't be enough fruit.

When we chopped down and hauled away a monstrous bougainvillea bush in our backyard this past spring, I finally saw my chance. The wall it had overtaken was a perfectly sunny yet sheltered space for a pocket-sized orchard expansion.

I sent my husband off to my favorite local nursery, where he brought home not one apple tree, but four semi-dwarf plants.

Each is a different variety, so that [hopefully] we will have different apples ripening throughout the year. The four species he purchased were Pink Lady, Dorsett, Fuji, and Gala. After creating a slightly raised bed with left-over wood from our fence addition, my husband moved the sprinkler heads forward so that the apple trees would not get wet when the sprinklers went off. (I've read that apple trees prefer to live sprinkler-free and without grass directly touching their trunks.) Before planting, we amended the soil with lots of steer manure, since the soil we were planting in was not all that great to begin with.

After the trees were planted, I pruned them according to the principles of horizontal espalier. The art form of espalier requires sacrifice and patience. I had to begin by lopping off several beautiful branches and shoots that were not positioned correctly. Based on what I've read, I can expect to wait approximately three years for the framework to be complete and the trees to really begin fruiting heavily. If you are looking to add some fruit trees to your yard, but you don't want to take up a lot of space, you can read about the art of espalier here.

Three years is a long time for my orchard expansion to come to fruition, and I hope the bounty will be worth the wait. At least we can expect a few ripe apples from Pocket Square Farm to taste-test this fall!

Easy Veggie Orzo

Do you have a bunch of random veggies in your summer garden, and you're not quite sure what to make with them?

Here's a super duper easy way to put them altogether and call it a meal. It's kind of an "everything but the kitchen sink" catch-all that is also a crowd pleaser. Serve it warm, straight off the stove, or chill it to serve the next day, and the next, and the next. It works equally well as a vegetarian main course or summery side.

Start with whatever veggies you have on hand. On this particular day, I had carrots, green beans, and zucchini that needed to be used.

Wash and coarsely chop your veggies. Remember to feed any discards [like carrot tops] to your compost bin... or hungry hens! Our ladies simply adore carrot tops. I adore that nothing goes to waste.

Saute chopped veggies in a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until tender (not mushy). Season generously with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

In the meantime, cook a package of orzo pasta according to directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Pour into a large bowl, toss with a drizzle of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Combine finished orzo with sauteed veggies; serve in a pretty glass bowl to show off your home-grown goodness! I love to use a trifle bowl to serve all of my layered and pasta salads... it just gives them a little something special!

The Corn is as High as an Elephant's Eye...

... An' it looks like its climbin' clear up to the sky.

That is to say, if you read my post about corn last year, I'm happy to report that this year's plantings did considerably better! In case you've struggled with corn, yourself, I wanted to share some tips I've learned along the way.

Tip #1: Plant your corn seeds very closely together. This year I planted them about 6 inches apart, in blocks, to ensure better pollination. It seemed to work, as I had many more developed kernels in each ear. The silks, down here...

... need to be pollinated by the tassels, up here.

Tip #2: Plant your corn blocks in an area that gets a gentle breeze. This also helps the corn silks to be pollinated.

Tip #3: Corn is a heavy feeder of nitrogen. Make sure your corn stalks get the nutrition they need by inter-planting with beans, which produce nitrogen in their roots and, in turn, feed your corn. This year I planted one bean seed in the same hole as each corn seed at the same time. Next year, I think I'll plant the corn seed a couple of weeks ahead of the bean seed, in order to give the corn a leg up on vertical growth. After all, the beans feed the corn, but the corn needs to be tall enough to support the beans (if you choose a pole variety).

The result of interplanting beans and corn looks something like this: a jungle of beans scrambling to the top of your corn stalks. I will admit that it made harvesting the corn and beans just a mite trickier... but the end product (at least with regards to the corn) was better quality.

Yes, in case you were wondering, corn and beans are part of Three-Sisters gardening, which I also blogged about in Corn 101. It turns out the indigenous people really were onto something!

No need to use stakes or bamboo teepees to support these pole beans... the corn stalks did all the heavy lifting for me! As an added bonus, the beanstalks [in their messy tangle of vines] actually did me another huge favor: they helped hold the heavy corn stalks upright. (Last year I had to pull a lot of immature stalks because they fell over onto my neighbor's brand-new Cadillac SUV. This year, I'm happy to report, the corn and the Caddy did not make contact!)

Tip #4: As the ears start to fill out, pull back the silks gently, occasionally, to make sure they aren't infested by corn worms. If you do find worms, they can be picked out and squashed by hand before they do any real damage. After you've sleuthed around, pull the silks back up around the tip of the cob and secure in place with a twist tie. Really! This method of pest evasion didn't seem to hinder the corn's development at all... and worms did not ruin my harvest.

Tip #5: When do you know to harvest? Wait until the silks become brown and dry... but not much longer than that. I found that the sweetest, juiciest corn was underdeveloped, rather than overdeveloped. Kernels left in the garden too long get tough and starchy rather than tender and sugary.

And my last tip: Don't overcook your corn! Once you've harvested those gorgeous ears, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, shuck your corn, and then toss the ears in for exactly three minutes... no more! Remove from the pot and serve immediately. Don't let the corn remain in the pot, as it will continue cooking and become soggy and tasteless. Eeww.

If you live in sunny So Cal and you've been wanting to grow corn and beans, I really don't think it's too late! If we have a warm autumn, as we usually do, you may very well be able to pump out a round of short-season corn and beans. Look for varieties that mature in less than 60 days, and you might just find yourself quoting Rodgers & Hammerstein by the beginning of October, too!

Disappearing Bruschetta

Here's a super fast recipe for the best bruschetta ever. It uses fresh ingredients that are in season now, either in your very own garden or at your local farmer's market. I've served this hors d' oeuvres to friends and family several times this month, all with rave reviews! The truth is, it's really very easy. And I must admit, sometimes my husband and I have a whole plate of this for dinner. After all, it covers three of the main food groups, so I have no qualms about serving this as a meal in and of itself.

To prepare this dish, you will need tomatoes, basil, olive oil, a bulb of garlic, kosher salt and pepper, a loaf of artisan bread, and fresh mozzarella cheese.

Start with: an apron full of sun-ripened tomatoes and several sprigs of basil of any variety. I usually use 4-6 medium tomatoes and an equal number of sprigs of basil. Head indoors and chop the tomatoes coarsely; remove the basil leaves from the stems and also chop them into small (1/4 inch) pieces. Combine in a bowl and set aside.

Next, get out a bulb of garlic and be prepared to use A LOT! This is the step that makes the dish. You can't skimp on the garlic and end up with mouth-watering bruschetta. I usually use one large clove of garlic per medium sized tomato; thus, if I use 4 tomatoes I use 4 large cloves of garlic. If you're thinking of making this for a first date, you may want to reconsider! You will sense a faint personal scent of Eau de Garlic the next morning, but trust me, it will be worth it.

Speaking of garlic (and why did no one ever teach me this until I started watching the Food Network?) the best way to chop garlic is to peel each clove and then smash it really hard on the cutting board by placing it between the wood and the flat side of a chef's knife. Pound the knife with your fist [with a lot of pressure but careful to avoid the blade] to flatten each clove. This helps extract the extra oils in the garlic, you have virtually no waste, and it also makes it much easier to mince into very small particles. I prepare all my garlic this way now-- and an added bonus is no more fumbling to wash the messy garlic press!

Add minced garlic cloves to tomato and basil mixture. Toss with a splash of good olive oil and a very generous sprinkling of kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper. The salt and pepper bring out the flavor of the tomatoes, while the garlic and oil mix and give off a heavenly aroma. Set mixture aside. Pour yourself a glass of wine and heat up your grill.

Once the grill is heated and cleaned, turn off the back burners and turn the front burner to low. You want to use indirect heat to keep from burning your bread. Slice a loaf of crusty artisan bread or a baguette into 1/2 inch slices diagonally along the loaf. Butter one side of each slice liberally. Place each slice of bread buttered slice down onto the grill. Quickly, place a 1/4 inch thick slice of fresh mozzarella cheese on each piece of bread. Pull the lid down over the bread so that the cheese melts on top as the bottoms turn golden brown. With a spatula, remove each piece of bread as soon as the bottom is crisp and the cheese is gooey.

Rest assured that if you aren't the grilling type, you can just as easily cook this in the oven under the broiler or on the stove. Just last weekend my family stayed at the Crystal Cove Beach Cottages where my husband and I prepared this on a tiny electric burner, just in time for sea-side happy hour! (Yes, I brought along lots of fresh produce from PSF.) Mmmmmm...

Immediately after removing from heat, top melted cheese side of each slice of bread with a generous scoop of prepared tomato mixture. Serve promptly so the juices from the tomatoes don't make the bread soggy.

If you serve this to a group, stick around to be sure you get your fair share of the bounty! I assure you that if you step away from the platter for even a few minutes, the bruschetta will have mysteriously disappeared!

Fresh Pict from the Garden

Several weeks ago I finally pulled my sweet peas. Planted this past February, they sprouted, grew, bloomed, bloomed some more, and then became garden monsters, entangling everything in sight and simultaneously blocking out the sunlight.

When my sweet pea vines soared over eight feet height, and I could no longer reach the blossoming stems to cut fresh flowers without getting on a ladder, I realized that I had reached that sad but inevitable moment: they simply had to go to make way for more summer produce.

I cut every flowering stem within reach and filled glass mason jars with dense handfuls of their tender petals and tendrils. The scent of sweet peas (my favorite) filled my house for a few last days.

My neighbor also picked a bouquet of sweet peas, which he took to his father's grave for Memorial Day. "I never realized that sweet peas had such a wonderful fragrance," he said.

They truly do. I have tried so many sweet-pea scented soaps, candles, and lotions, and none of them are anything like the real deal. Try as the chemists might, they just can't replicate the simple wonders of Mother Nature.

I snapped a few photos of the arrangements around my home, wishing all the while that I could send a bouquet, that very day, to everyone I knew. And I realized that, while I couldn't send the actual flowers, I could send the next best thing.

It occurred to me that, with a few clicks of the mouse, I can upload photos of my fresh, seasonal flowers and produce and turn them into greeting cards with a little help from my favorite digital photo site, Shutterfly.

Voila! I'm now creating my new line of greeting cards, "Fresh Pict from Pocket Square Farm."

You never know... you might just find a gleaming ear of corn or a bushel of sweet peas coming to a mailbox near you!

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Over the years, I've been searching for a perfect homemade tomato sauce. I've tried a lot of good ones, but they usually seemed to be lacking something. Some were too watery, many were too mild. I wanted a pasta sauce that had a thicker texture and more robust flavor.

I finally found one that fit this bill in a cookbook I picked up off the bargain shelf at Barnes & Noble. Italian Country Cooking: The Secrets of Cucina Povera by Loukie Werle celebrates and explains (in very simple terms) traditional Italian farmhouse recipes using a few seasonal, fresh, low-cost ingredients.

Many of the illustrated dishes are not something you would expect to see on a menu at an Americanized Italian restaurant. These dishes are the real deal, or so it seems. Hopefully someday I can travel there to find out for myself. Regardless, I'm taking the author's word for it, and flipping through the beautiful photographs of tiny towns across Italy almost makes me feel as if I am there, sitting down at a centuries-old, worn, wooden kitchen farm table, about to enjoy a simple soup and some crusty bread amongst friendly faces.

The first recipe I tried was this Homemade Tomato Sauce. According to the author, you can make it from canned tomatoes, but I prefer fresh from the garden, of course! I also liked that it called for rosemary and celery, both of which are currently growing at PSF. I never did get my onion and garlic sets in the ground this spring. Oh well. Maybe next year!

Salsa de Pomodoro Casareccia

(Homemade Tomato Sauce)

Ingredients:

3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 red onion, cut into 1/4 in. cubes

4 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1-1/2 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary

1 celery stalk, cut into pea-sized cubes

14-ounces of tomatoes, fresh or canned (if using canned, buy Italian diced tomatoes)

Splash of your favorite red wine

Directions:

Combine oil and onion in large pot and cook over medium heat until onion browns, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, rosemary, and celery and cook 6 minutes more, until celery is soft.

Stir in diced tomatoes and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Lower heat to a simmer, set the lid at an angle so steam can escape, and cook until the sauce is thick, 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your preference for thickness. Remove from heat and stir in a generous splash of your favorite red wine (I used one made from organic grapes), to smooth the consistency and kick up the flavor another notch. Season liberally with kosher salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste.

This sauce will keep in the refrigerator up to one week, in the freezer up to 6 months, or you can even can it if you are so ambitious (remember tomatoes must be canned using a pressure canner, not just a water bath, for safety reasons).

Makes approximately 4 cups of sauce. Enjoy over your favorite pasta with a handful of fresh parmesan sprinkled on top!