So, it is that time of year where the seed companies are sending out their catalogs full of glossy photos of beautiful vegetables, flowers, and herbs. We got our first catalog of the season on Friday and Bry and I have been thumbing through it all weekend, oggling the colorful vegetables. This spring’s planting will require a bit more thought since we will be moving in July/August due to my finishing grad school. So, we must plan for crops which we can harvest before that time. It seems like our main focus will be herbs, peas, and lettuce. We have already started on the lettuce front. One of our potted house plants wasn’t doing so well, so it was composted and the soil in the pot amended. In the pot went a few red romaine seeds and a few spinach seeds. Now, if we can keep the cats from pawing at the dirt until the seeds germinate, we will have a lovely coffee table centerpiece planter of salad greens. Yum!

The past two weekends I have been freezing stone fruits, mostly peaches but some cherries too. I wanted to put the recipe up here so that I wouldn’t forget.

Process of Freezing Peaches:

1. Wash peaches off.
2. Remove skins by boiling in water for 45-60 seconds and then removing to an ice bath. Skins should peel off with little effort.
3. Once skins are removed cut peaches in half and remove pits. I should note here that there are some varieties of peaches in which the pits are easier to remove than others. The white peaches seem to have harder to remove pits. At this point, you can either keep the peaches in halves or cut them into slices.
4. Sprinkle peaches with citric acid or lemon juice (enough to lightly coat). When you stir the peaches up with the citric acid they should look shinier, sort of glossy. This will keep the peaches from browning.
5. Dissolve 3 cups of white sugar into 6 cups of boiling water. Let cool.
6. Spoon peaches into 1 qt bag (note it takes about 4-5 peaches to fill 1 qt). Then ladle enough of the sugar water over the peaches just to cover.
7. Place in freezer.

We have been buying peaches in 1/2 pecks (yes, a half-a-peck-a-peaches … say that 10 times fast), which is about 12-15 peaches and we are able to get three quart ziplock bags to freeze.

Update on the 50 Book Challenge: While traveling to Colorado and California I was able to finish reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  It was a really great read and has inspired me to try harder at keep our (Bryan and I) food chain as local as possible. Since we moved to a new house right in the middle of the growing season we do not yet have a vegetable garden. So, Bryan and I have been taking Saturday morning dates to the local Farmer’s Market. Bryan also brings home a couple of bags full of fresh veggies each week from the garden-farm he works at. I think my favorite so far has been the acorn squash we bough last week. Here is the recipe for the most amazing acorn squash I have ever tasted.

1. Take 1 acorn squash and cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp in the center.
2. With a fork, mash together 1/4 c. soften butter (that is 1/2 a stick of butter), 1/4 c. brown sugar, a palm full of ground sage, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Smear the butter mixture on the insides of each of the acorn halves.
4. Place in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees F.

We have one more acorn squash at home and I can’t wait to make this again. It was so delicious!

Updated list of books read so far this year:

here is my updated list:

1. The Shack by William P. Young
2. Omnivor’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
3. Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
4. Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
5. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
6. High Five by Janet Evanovich
7. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
8. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
9. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer (link)
10. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
11. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
12. Dead Until Dark by Charaline Harris
13. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
14. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich
15. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich
16. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

I realized this weekend that I had been neglecting my book list updates.

Here is my current list:

1. The Shack by William P. Young
2. Omnivor’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
3. Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
4. Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
5. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
6. High Five by Janet Evanovich
7. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
8. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
9. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer (link)

# 6 – 9 are the newly added ones.  I hate to admit this but my obsessive reading defect kicked in while reading the Twilight series. I seemed to utterly lack self control while reading those books. It is taking all the self control I have not to run out and buy the third book in the series. Heck, last night I ended up reading the 300 page partial draft of Midnight Sun that Meyer has posted on her website just so that my brain would be satiated with another retreat into Bella & Edward’s world. Why do I get this way when reading fantasy novels?  I wasn’t even looking for escape when I picked up Twilight, I was just curious as to what all my girlfriends were talking about.  It hasn’t helped that I have been home sick that past four days and have used that as an excuse to endulge in my obsessive reading behavior.

(Note: I felt totally guilty reading Midnight Sun because Meyer had this whole explanation about how the draft had been leaked out and in the end she decided to just post it, but that she was so upset about the whole incident that she didn’t know when she would finish it. I felt guilty but the obsession of “I need to know” was full present … I couldn’t stop.  Now that I have read it, I am kind of sad that she may never publish a finished version.  It was so fascinating to essentially reread a story you have already read, but from the other perspective. Absolutely fascinating. So many little side comments that were made in the original story became clear. The stories of so many other side characters became more fleshed out. It made the story more complete and the character of Bella stronger.  Okay … enough of the note. If your a Twilight fan and you haven’t read Midnight Sun yet, follow the link above to Meyer’s page and give it a read.)

Anyhow, I am almost half-way to my goal of 20 books this year. If I keep going at the rate I am going, I think I can exceed 20 books easily.  Especially with they plane flights, long drives and relaxing on the beach time I have coming up next month.

Bryan and I (mostly Bryan) grew some organic broccoli this fall in our garden and it is so good. Normally, I don’t like eat broccoli raw. The stuff you buy in the store always has an odd taste when eaten raw. But straight from the garden it is awesome eaten raw. So crisp and fresh with a hint of sweetness. Delish!

Here are some pics:

A couple weeks ago I heard Terry Gross interview a UC Berkeley Professor of Journalism, Michael Pollan. He wrote an open letter to the then next President Elect (I guess now the letter is directed to Obama). The letter was published in the New York Times Magazine. I just finished reading it and there is a lot of really good stuff in there. I sincerely hope that Obama and his staff take a look at the letter and consider at least some of the ideas that are put forth as a part of their overall agenda to reduce foriegn oil dependency, engergize the economy and create new green jobs. A lot of the big ideas proposed in Pollan’s letter seem to fall in line with Obama’s agenda, so I have high hopes.

If you have some time, I would recommending reading through the letter, “Farmer in Chief”, though it is rather long. If you don’t have time for that, you can listen to the Terry Gross Fresh Air interview with Michael Pollan which covers almost every topic covered in the letter.

Our garden for summer/fall 2008 was very successful. We installed a drip irrigation system on a timer this year. There was much more growth this year, and the harvests were much more bountiful. We are attributing most of this success to the drip irrigation system. Some of the problems we had this year:

1. We had too much of everything!
   The watering system was great, but we had way too much crop. We did not know what to do with half the veggies. We got a dehydrator as a wedding present and have been using it like crazy; sundried tomatoes, dried habaneros to make into hot pepper flakes and hot sauce, dried basil, dried peppers, etc. But despite our best efforts, we still had too much and a lot of good veggies went to the compost pile. I think our solution is going to be having more variety of plants with less numbers of each type of plant.
2. Did not harvest frequently enough.
   This is sort of related to the first problem in that we had too much and kind of got sick of things after a while. However, in the case of the zucchinis, if we had harvested more frequently, we would have harvested the zucchinis when they were smaller, and would not have had to deal with figuring out what to do with mega zucchinis.
3. Zucchini Vine Borers & Aphids!
   This pesky little pests have killed off our zucchini plants prematurely two years in a row now. We have been searching for an organic pest control method for this problem, but obviously have not found one that works. Next year, I would like to try Garlic Fire Spray.

We have been thinking about what we want to plant for next year. Here is what we have:

• 3 roma tomato plants
• 1 heirloom tomato plant
• 1 tomato plant that produces tomatoes good for making marinara sauces
• 1 or 2 habanero plants
• 4 basil plants
• 3 or 4 pepper plants each of a different variety
• 1 zucchini plant
• 1 yellow squash plant
• 1 Japanese eggplant plant
• 4 okra plants (planted around the yard, not in the boxes)
• 1 cucumber plant (one that sprawls less)
• 1 cantaloupe vine
• 1 types of beans (pole of bush, haven’t decided)
• 1 butternut squash vine
• leeks & onions scattered throughout garden

We already have some strawberry plants that will winter over and produce a crop of strawberries in the spring.

The other thing we would like to try next year is to get a rainwater collection system going.

We have 4 amazingly large basil plants growing in our garden this year. What better to do with basil than make oodles of pesto. I’ve been experimenting and this is the knock-your-socks-off recipe I have come with.

Ingredients
3 cups of basil leaves
6 cloves of garlic
2 cups of walnuts
3 tablespoons of champagne vinegar
14 ounce can of quartered artichoke hearts (drained)
1-2 cups extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Anyone who has ever watched me cook knows I hate to measure things, especially when I am experimenting. So, these measurements are all approximate. The basil leaves are enough to fill my small salad spinner. The walnuts I just dump into the food processor until it looks like about 2 cups. The champagne vigegar I add a generous splash of (which I am estimating is 3 tablespoons).

Directions

1. Rinse basil leaves if picking from garden.
2. Place basil leaves, garlic, walnuts, champagne vinegar, salt and pepper into a food processor or blender and start the blending process.
3. Slowly add extra virgin olive oil until get a smooth pesto like texture.
4. Add artichoke hearts and blend again. The color and texture will look more like a paste than usual pesto, but will taste oh so much better.
5. Makes several cups of pesto. It will save in the fridge for about a week. If you want to hold onto it for longer than that, spoon the pesto into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen the cubes can be placed in bags and frozen for a couple of months.

Serving Ideas

1. Over pasta … that’s the obvious one!
2. Last night we had it as a garnish to a panko crusted fried pork loin chop.
3. Spread on a sandwich. I have used it as a spread on a grilled cheese sandwich. Delish!
4. Throw a tablespoon into your rice which it is cooking. Adds tons of herbalicious flavor.
5. Add a tablespoon to a salad dressing vinaigrette (I can post a recipe for a killer vinaigrette as well if anyone is interested)
6. Here is the best one …. blend some of the pesto in with some cream cheese and sour cream. Then stuff the mixture in to some mushroom caps. Place the mushroom caps onto a glass pie pan that has some melted butter on the bottom. Sprinkle some bread crumbs over the tops and cook in the over at 350 F for about 10-20 minutes. Bake them long enough that the mushrooms become tender and delicious but not so long that they burn. These little appetizers are like heaven in your mouth with every bite. Yum!!!

Very well actually … except for one pesky bug which I will get to shortly. But first a few pics of the garden for your viewing delight.

First up is the sweet bell pepper plant. You can see the blooms are just starting to form.

Next, we have one of the cute little strawberry plants, recently acquired …

Next, we take a peek into one of the zucchini plants. This picture was actually taken a few days ago. The beginnings of blooms that you see have actually blossomed now.

Last, but not least, we come to the tomato plants. They have become infected with aphids. I did not know what they actually were until after this picture was taken. I wish I had a zoom lens so that I could have gotten a closer picture of them.

The aphids are the three little red bugs you see. Specifically they are called potato aphids. They aren’t too nice and are beginning to cause damage to our tomato plants. Not good! Since are trying to keep our garden organic, we have been looking for some organic pest solutions. I found a pretty good solution at a nifty little site called You Grow Girl. I think we are going to try the citrus spray solution first, and then, if that doesn’t work, try an organic insecticidal soap.

I’ll keep you posted.