Garden Plan, 2023

 (click any image for a larger view)

 

Aerial view of my plot, summer 2022. That's me in the hat.

This is the space I am working with. 

Pictured here is the 2022 Garden. 

Bearing in mind that I had serious health 

issues all winter, surgery in May and 

recovery all summer I was happy to

 be able to garden at all.  

 

Herbs for tea loaded for the dryer

 My idea of a fun garden is a space where I can try new things every year. I don't want a space that is set in stone. I want a space where I can try new plants every year. And I want a space where I can keep the elements that work. 

For instance, the center of my plot is an herb circle. I grew culinary herbs such as oregano and thyme and I also grew herbs for tea, 

A delightful herbal tea mix

such as catnip, anise hyssop, golden hyssop, mint and chamomile.

 

The Herb Circle was a big hit with the bees, 

seen here partying on the flowering oregano.

Oh how the pollinators love oregano!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Northwest corner I made a squash and bean tunnel. I really liked this and the squash and beans did great but the orientation was wrong because it ended up throwing shade on the Northeast quarter of the garden so in the plans for this season I am re-orienting it in an East-West direction.

Squash Tunnel, 2022. North-South orientation. That's me in the hat.

 On paper I have the squash, beans, cucumbers and tomatoes trellised on the North end of the garden. The peppers will be grown on the southeast side. In the southwest corner I am going to make a straw planter. This will be planted with culinary herbs but its main purpose will be as a backstop for the garden bench I plan to build and to create next fall's mulch. 

Garden Notebook, each square is one ft²

This is my plot now (facing north). Resting for the winter. 

I made the garden gate last year from scraps of cedar fencing

 

Bench brackets found at the Re Store for $10

About 3 years ago I found these bench brackets at Habitat For Humanity. I am finally going to build the bench and put it in my garden in front of the straw planter which will have something tall planted in it like a sunflower which will shade the bench in the afternoon.

The beginnings of a straw planter

 Today was a great day to do some of the prep work so I got the straw planter started.

 

 

20 ft. x 2 ft. beds.

I got my squash, bean, tomato, and cucumber beds covered 

with a light treatment of aged chicken 

manure and I started the trellis tunnel. 

Most of my soil prep I did last fall so I did not 

disturb the soil and I stayed on established walkways.

 

Squash Tunnel, 2023. East-West orientation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This years garlic off to a good start

2022 Garlic curing before storage

 

 

The western border, outside the fenced area, is where 

I planted my garlic.

 

 

 Last year I planted it on the eastern border. I had an excellent garlic harvest, seen here curing before storage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I planted the northern border last year with Phacelia. I love this plant because the bees love it so much.

The bees love Phacelis

 It is a heavy self-seeder and from the looks of things so far I think it is going to come back

strong in the same place (and in a whole
bunch of other places that I will have to remove).

 

Winter, 2023. It is re-establishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Along the east side I plan to plant my "exotics". These are not really exotic plants, they are just the new things I am trying this year. So far I have started...or attempted to start... Horseradish, Turmeric, Sweet Potato, Cumin, and Peanuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Sweet Potato and Horseradish have already sprouted. The Cumin did nothing. The Turmeric has not show anything yet, but it takes a long time to germinate. The Peanuts sprouted right away...too soon. I will have to start them again closer to the growing season.

 

 

 

 

 

My good old truck hauled the straw, compost and the extremely unwieldy 16 foot trellis panels.

 

It's really not that big

, but I would not want to be living in THIS house...

The road may have been closed but SCOFFLAWS were plentiful...

 

Landslide on River Road Dec. 23, 2021

 

Recipe of the Week, with modifcations...

Sorry about the low quality, indoor-at-night, with-a-flash photo

THE QUICKEST BLACK BEAN SALAD

  


I had to make a few modifications to this recipe. First of all, my local, amazing Co-op did not have water chestnuts...which is fine with me because I think canned water chestnuts are lame...so for the crunch factor I substituted half of a Chioggia beet (which is a beautiful thing) lightly blanched and cooled, and a few stalks of celery. Second, I added one fresh jalapeño, finely diced, to give it a little zip. Third, I love citrus so I used the juice and zest of a whole lime, not just a half. It improved the salad.

This salad is delicious and I will be making it regularly but next time I will cut back on the amount of onion. I find it too oniony.

Here is the recipe from Forks Over Knives and the link...

THE QUICKEST BLACK BEAN SALAD
By Ann and Jane Esselstyn
Makes 4 bowls
Ready In: 8 minutes

INGREDIENTS:
Two 16-ounce cans black beans 
(I used beans that I soaked overnight and then cooked. Why use canned beans??)
drained and rinsed WELL!
1 very large tomato, chopped
1 package frozen corn (I bought frozen organic corn from the Co-op)
½ Vidalia onion, chopped (next time I will use less than this)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
and rinsed (I substituted as noted above)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
½ lime, juice and zest (I used a whole lime)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or
more to taste (I used 4 tbsp.)

Instructions:
1. Add beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, and water
chestnuts to a bowl (glass looks pretty) and mix.
Rinsing the beans well keeps the salad from looking
gray.
2. Add cilantro, lime, and balsamic vinegar and mix
again. Serve alone or with cucumber open-faced
sandwiches for a perfect meal.

Link to recipe on Forks Over Knives website

46 Recipes for 2015, Week Two

 Link to Last Weeks Recipe

This week I am doing the Rice Casserole with Lentils from Forks Over Knives recipe page.

If anyone is looking for some new ways to cook vegetarian meals, this is a great site.

I ended up making the various components of this recipe on different days. I made the rice one day, the delicious tomato sauce and lentils the next day and then by Day Three I had enough time to prepare the vegetables and finish the casserole.

Here are all the components assembled in one place. You can see that this ends up being a total meal all by itself. Brown rice, lentils, tons of vegetables and some good healthy oil from the cashew nut topping.

I followed it more or less to the letter. I used twice the amount of garlic and our local Co-op had some purple sweet potatoes so I could not resist using one. 

Obviously everything is organic, much of it locally grown.

Here is the finished masterpiece. 
I am eating some as I write this and 

I definitely proclaim this dish "Potluck Worthy"*

 

*"Potluck Worthy" is a phase I use to describe a dish I would be comfortable cooking for other people as compared to the various concoctions I throw together at home that I eat but would probably never serve to someone else. 

 Link to Last Weeks Recipe

Here is the recipe, copied from Forks Over Knives recipe section

RICE CASSEROLE WITH LENTILS

By Darshana Thacker

Makes one (9 × 13-inch) casserole

Ready In: 100 minutes

This dish is a real crowd-pleaser, and is especially

good for big gatherings like Super Bowl parties. I love

it with rice, but it’s also really good with pasta. Both

options are given below. The lentils need to be

soaked for at least six hours, so be sure to plan

ahead.

FOR THE CASHEW CRUMBLE

CHEESE

½ cup cashews

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon low-sodium tamari or soy

sauce, Bragg’s liquid aminos, or fresh

lime juice

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and soaked

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Sea salt

1½ cups brown rice, or 3 cups penne

pasta

FOR THE SAUTEED

VEGETABLES

2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed

and cut into ½-inch dice

¼ medium cabbage, chopped into

½-inch pieces

½ medium red onion, cut into ½-inch

dice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

2 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch

dice

1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and

cut into ½-inch dice

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with

their juice

1 teaspoon dried basil

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground white or

black pepper

Sea salt

1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil

Instructions:

1. To make the cashew crumble cheese, in a food

processor, grind the cashews into a meal (do not

overprocess into cashew butter). Transfer them to a

small bowl, and mix in the nutritional yeast. Little by

little, add the liquid of your choice, stirring with a fork

so that the mixture does not form clumps. The

mixture should be crumbly. Set aside to dry until

ready to use.

2. Place the soaked lentils in a medium saucepan

with the Italian seasoning, salt, and 1 cup water.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat

to medium, and cook, covered, until the lentils are

cooked but still firm, about 15 minutes. Be careful

not to overcook them. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, if using rice, place it in a medium

saucepan with 2½ cups water. Bring to a boil and stir

once. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and

simmer, covered, until the rice is cooked, about 25

minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand,

covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the cover and fluff

the rice. Set aside.

4. If using pasta, bring a large saucepan of water to a

boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the

package instructions until the pasta is al dente. Drain

thoroughly and set aside.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

6. To prepare the sautéed vegetables, in a skillet with

a lid, combine the sweet potatoes, cabbage, onion,

garlic, dried basil, and 1½ cups of the vegetable

broth. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring

occasionally, until the sweet potatoes are almost

tender but still resist a bit when pierced with a knife,

15 to 20 minutes.

7. Add the zucchini and bell pepper and cook,

uncovered, until the vegetables are completely

softened, about 10 minutes.

8. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup

vegetable broth and the arrowroot powder. Whisk

until blended. Pour the mixture over the vegetables

and stir gently to coat them. Cook over medium-low

heat, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from the

heat and set aside.

9. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce. In a

saucepan, combine the onion and ½ cup water.

Cover and cook over high heat until the onions are

very soft, about 10 minutes.

10. Add the tomatoes, dried basil, pepper, and salt,

and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens

a bit and the flavors merge, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the fresh

basil. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Set aside.

11. Spread the rice or pasta in a 9 x 13-inch baking

pan that is 2 inches deep. Layer the lentils over the

rice to cover completely. Spread the sautéed

vegetables over the lentils. Spoon the tomato sauce

over the vegetables. Spread the cashew crumble

cheese all over

the top.

12. Bake until the cashew cheese turns light brown,

about 20 minutes.

13. Serve hot.