Saturday, March 31, 2012

The Rock of Anger Management


Gardens collect stories.
My morning strolls reveal nightly critter activities, and memories tucked away in corners.
This rock takes me back.

I had spent a golden Indian Summer day planting out my first crop of Tuscan kale...

Once you grow nero di Toscana or Tuscan kale (Brassica oleracea) (also known as lacinato kale, dinosaur kale and palm tree kale) you won't want to bother with other varieties. It is unfair to pit any other kale against this superior Italian variety: it tastes better, is easier to use, and is extremely resilient. The bluish color is mesmerizing. Like all kales, it is extraordinarily nutritious and a rich source of organosulfur compounds that have been linked to cancer prevention. A productive plant for the small garden ,a healthy specimen of Tuscan kale can reach two to three feet tall, sometimes even taller. Individual plants look like they would be right at home in some prehistoric scene with their palm-like forms, especially as you trim off lower leaves.

So I'm smitten and digress, back to the rock story. We worked hard all summer laying out the new winter garden. Hours were spent clearing and grooming the soil, raising beds, installing irrigation systems, and plotting the fence. I had gently nurtured 45 seedlings of my darling kale. Eager to allure my new chef with Italian tastes, this was to be my winter masterpiece. The canvas was stretched, my kale babies filled in like brush strokes. Surveying the tidy finished rows, I ended the day feeling oh so accomplished.

Early the next morning, I discovered that the deer had trampled deep hoof prints into my perfect world and nibbled off the tops of the entire crop! Somehow the fence was up but not secured. I was fuming! Glad to be on his way to work, Craig (my sweetie) winced and coolly kissed a crazed maniac goodbye as she rambled, "I'm not mad at you dear, I'm mad at the #%**deer! "

Righteously upset, adrenalin shooting through my body, I headed outdoors and grabbed my trusty flat fork. Hell hath no fury like this gardener scorned. It was October full moon, the garlic needed to go in that day and the bed had to be turned. The fork hit the ground with a vengeance. Shaking with rage, I plowed in, removing small rocks the not so conscientious hired help had missed last spring. Beyond livid, I burrowed deeper. Clink! The fork hit another rock. I tried to pry it out but it wouldn't budge, Muttering something I wouldn't repeat to children, I turned direction and jumped on the fork with both feet. Digging deeper, I turned direction, dig, turn, dig, turn, deeper, clink, deeper, clink, what the... ?  Half an hour later, sweating with anger and exertion, I got down on my knees and lugged a boulder out of  two foot hole. Lifting and grunting and envisioning a venison barbecue, I tossed that puppy up over my shoulders and down the hill.

The garlic got planted and the next day, in a calmer state of mind, I looked with wonder at that rock. Who threw that thing down there? Normally I don't do heavy lifting. The next few weeks I'd look at that rock and reflect. It needed recognition. It deserved a place of respect, to serve as a reminder of how emotional energy can be managed for good. Finally, I asked one of the hunky construction guys to move it. He huffed and he puffed and he heaved it on to a makeshift pedastle.

It remains a monument surrounded by flowers. "The Rock of Anger Management" sits in a place of honor in the garden, and tells a good story. When I find myself in a foul mood I can go there, sit, and remember the strength that comes from adversity.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

IN AND OUT / MARCH LOG


Tuesday, March 6
harvest salad for fundraiser
cut back all endives in Bed 5
turn and amend Beds 3,5
plant lettuce in Bed 5, shaker method (Baker Creek Rocky Top Mix)
harvest last of mache
harvest chard for braising, frisee,escarole, and endive heads for chef
red mizuna up! spinach up! brassica micro greens up!
Thursday, March 8
plant lettuce in Beds 3 and 5, shaker method
(mesclun mixes, 2 rows each: Sassy,Valentine, Gourmet Baby Greens)
transplant fava beans to Willow Bed
plant radish seed in Gabe Bed/center: Easter Egg Blend and White Icicle
plant out Fox Gloves in Ray's Bed, Red Lobelia in Cherry Bed
take out flowering arugula in Cherry Bed, turn and amend
plant out wasabi arugula starts and broadcast roquette seed in Cherry Bed
plant poppies in big pot
Saturday, March 10
Yesterday: start 6 packs, indoors, orach, replant bronze fennel and shelling peas,
(for some reason the inoculated peas planted outdoors are germinating poorly)
Today: assemble shelving for new garden room, upgrade visual feng shui
MAGNIFY THE LIGHT!
Monday, March 12
plant out last pot of peas starts, Gabe Bed/right
seed plant 2 rows (sans shaker) rainbow radishes, Gabe Bed/right
dig up blue and variegated baby agave, transplant into decorative hanging pots on main deck
Tuesday, March 13
take out all red kale in Gabe Bed/left and Sam Bed, infested with aphids
put stalks in plastic bags, no compost
take out all curly kale on Edge 2
take out flowering arugula in Cherry Bed
Thursday, March 15
picking edible flowers for chef
orach up! bronze fennel up!
start herbs indoors: Italian Oregano, Spanish Thyme
start flowers indoors: Love Lies Bleeding, Exotic Love
(My sweetie chose the flowers, un guapo muy romantico!)
Tuesday, March 20
harvest for chef, still too wet to work soil
now sending "Artisan Spring Mix" Oh Joy!
rig work table in new room
indoor starts are up! radishes up! lettuces up! carrots up!
take off row covers
Thursday, March 22
plant arugula in Cherry Bed, shaker method, cover
pull broccoli in Scottie Bed, amend, plant 2 rows rainbow radish, 3 rows white radish,cover
turn in horse manure at end of Sam Bed
serious black aphid on chard in Sam Bed, cut back and spray with Safers
Tuesday, March 27
harvest for chef
clean up kale, aphids abound
thin arugula, red mizuna, brassica micro mix, radishes
thin out beets and transplant
shop for seeds
hunker down for 4 days of rain
Friday, March 30
In - start flats inside: 
watercress, bronze fennel, kohlrabi, cosmos, nicotiana,blue spike grass, borage
Out - take flats of seedlings outside to harden off 
Saturday, March 31
In - direct seed, Gabe Bed/left, French Breakfast Radishes, Long Standing Spinach
Out - sporatic weeding





Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Hot Sweet Dressing for Cold Bitter Greens


 Chicory, radicchio, endive, frisee, escarole, dandelions, arugula, Oh My!


Late winter/early spring greens are hitting their stride. Our mountain grown varieties take in the robustness of the mineral terroir and eclectic weather patterns that beget them. Once a taste for bitter salad is acquired its hard to go back.

Bored with Meyer Lemon dressings and ever ready to try new things, the idea of a sweet and slightly wilted bitter green salad tickled my fancy. So I researched a bit and concocted this melange of  savory sweetness to lift bitter greens to an alluring respectability.


3 T rice vinegar
3 T olive oil
3 T apricot jam (or whatever jam your fridge begets)
1/2 t chopped thyme
1 t chopped rosemary
1 T green garlic
salt and pepper to taste

using mortar and pestle (or improvise you guys) make a paste with green garlic
add vinegar to paste, keep pasting, set aside
Heat oil in skillet, add herbs, cook 2 minutes until they frizzle
stir in garlic/vinegar paste and jam, heat 1 minute or so, until dissolved
salt and pepper to taste
remove from heat and dress bitter greens immediately, let wilt slightly
top with toasted slivered almonds and feta

LOG:
harvest for chef
clean up kale, aphids abound
thin arugula, red mizuna, brassica micro mix, radishes
thin out beets and transplant
shop for seeds
hunker down for 4 days of rain

Friday, March 23, 2012

Rethinking Plastic


As of March 20, plastic bags are banned here in Santa Cruz County. That means businesses will no longer bag purchases in plastic. Customers can buy paper bags or bring their own. Inconvenient at first, but a start.  Now, rethinking how to use and reuse plastic packaging is a must.

I'm all for it. Necessity gives birth to invention.

Rustling through the fridge the other day, some annoying plastic apple packaging sparked an idea. Why not propagate seeds in it?  I'd been running out of starting packs with bigger surface areas for seedlings. My whole cache of pots, trays and flats are recycled from nurseries. Why not?

What else is out there and how can it be reused?

I finished the last Fuji apple, delicious I might add, separated the top and the bottom of the package, cut holes in the bottom of each circle for drainage. and filled them with starting mix.

Pleased with the results I rummaged through the tupperware drawer searching for bottoms with lost tops. They'd be thrown out eventually. Now, with holes poked for drainage, a topless carry out tray can carry on as a mini-farm.

Imagine it overflowing with micro-greens, a house gift for foodies!

Way back in the Back To The Land Movement of the seventies, when organic and compost and recycling were not household words, we counter-culture types looked to raise consciousness about a lot of things, waste being one of them. Now there are laws to regulate it.

I've been sending my produce to chef in recycled paper and plastic bags. There are no more old bags in the house. What's next?  Pondering... Any ideas out there?

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Mind in the Gutter

This is so smart!


Creative Urban Agriculture assures me there is still intelligent life on the planet!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Spring It On!


Thinking Haiku-ish
Equinoxing movements sway 
Change and make a Way


LOG:
harvest for chef, still too wet to work soil
now sending "Artisan Spring Mix" Oh Joy!
rig work table in new room
indoor starts are up! radishes up! lettuces up! carrots up!
take off row covers

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Led By A Carrot

Rainy Day 5 and counting. Time for gardeners to play in the kitchen.

This "Creamy, Dreamy Carrots" recipe is adapted from the fabulous Niki Ford, Culinary Fellow at Montalvo Artists in Residency. I have the privilege of providing her kitchen with weekly gifts from my garden and occasionally being her sous chef.

The dish had me at color. It looks so happy, like a party on the plate. The texture lives up to its name, and can voluptuous describe a taste?

Ever one to try new things, words to live by, I tweaked the recipe and then added Moroccan spices.

* To roast carrots, toss with olive oil and salt, roast for about 20-30 minutes or until tender.(careful not to eat them all and if roasted too long they'll turn brown, making dip look poopish)


*2 cups roasted carrots
1/2-1 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons of sesame tahini
1 clove of peeled garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt

Place carrots, water, spices, lemon, tahini and garlic into a food processor. Blend until completely smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of your machine. Add the olive oil in drizzles until it looks like a creamy hummus. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice as needed. Thin with more water if necessary.

Adaptations:
If you like garlic, use more.
Iffa you likah more spice, use more.
A drop or two of toasted sesame oil will enhance the tahini.
Smoked paprika is smokin'.
Substitute pumpkin, squash or sweet potato for carrots.
Substitute other nut butters for tahini, almond lends an earthy note.
Serve topped with olives, dip with pita or crudites.

                  Carrot/Tahini                  Pumpkin/Almond                    
Double the Fun! 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Still Raining

Still Life at Voss Gardens

What do gardeners do on the 3rd rainy day?
They take goofy pictures and write Haiku.
sopped by longed for rain
cabin fever setting in
don gear and set out

LOG:
picking edible flowers for chef
orach up! bronze fennel up!
start herbs indoors:  Italian Oregano, Spanish Thyme
start flowers indoors: Love Lies Bleeding, Exotic Love
(My sweetie chose the flowers, un guapo muy romantico!)





Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Keeping Clam

Day 2 of much needed rain.
Staying in.
Making clam chowder and trying out a dreamy carrot recipe.
Still Life at Voss Gardens

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Hunker Down Harvest


Harvest for chef in the rain:
raincoat-check
rainpants-check
golf umbrella-check
gloves-check
hat-check
boots-oops left them out last night and they're soaked
substitute plastic shoes-check
careful of landslides-check
hot chicken soup for lunch-check
hot toddy happy hour- double check!!

LOG:
take out all red kale in Gabe Bed/left and Sam Bed, infested with aphids
put stalks in plastic bags, no compost
take out all curly kale on Edge 2
take out flowering arugula in Cherry Bed

Monday, March 12, 2012

My Favorite Things

Ta Dah!
Announcing a new blog feature!
 "My Favorite Things" 

The Monkey Mind Upper Side says," What a cool idea! People will love it and your blog will go viral and you are so witty and clever!"
The Monkey Mind Downer Side (move over Debbie )says,"It will never work. No one cares about your blog and who do you think you are kidding?"

Yet inspiration is eating me. So I write about Eats. From henceforth, when moved, I will add to this list. Hey if Ellen and Oprah can do it, yes I can too!

To inaugurate "My Favorite Things," as befits a California grower in winter, I nominate:
 Citrus Fruit.
So many varieties, the color, the smell, the taste! A wonder of creation!
When life gives you lemons, making lemonade is only the beginning... 
LOG:
plant out last pot of peas starts, Gabe Bed/right
seed plant 2 rows (sans shaker) rainbow radishes, Gabe Bed/right
dig up blue and variegated baby agave, transplant into decorative hanging pots on main deck

"Brave the storm to come for it surely looks like rain...." Bob Weir

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Screwing Around

Shelved

This weekend I put the screws on some do it yourself shelving. I don't have a greenhouse, but a sunny garden room with a long wall of recycled windows. The vegetable and flowers starts, out of the bedroom at last, were taking over the window side of the room. Random trays and pots spilled over wobbly boards balanced on jerry-rigged saw horses and looked pretty screwy. The space called for a makeover.

After close observation of the sun's movements, shelving seemed the best solution to consolidate the space and maximize all that California sunshine beaming through those tall windows. I went on the prowl for some metal shelves and came home so smug with my easy fix,  a tidy kit ready to assemble... with oodles... of itty...bitty... screws.

I do manage to screw things up regularly, but this project involved a whole lot of screwing and then more screw overs.  Adjusting each shelf to catch the light properly took a number of frustrating trial and error moments.  A few "Screw you!" and 4 letter words were muttered, and my not so nimble fingers went limp from countless fine turnings of the screw.

At the end of the day, no loose screws, and I'm pleased with the results. The shelving cost about $50 and would spark the imagination of any space challenged urban gardener with their head screwed on right; indoors by a sunny window, or outdoors in a small garden area, deck or rooftop.

Baby lettuce mixes sowed in boxes made to fit could flourish on shelves. They are shallow rooted and prefer some shade. Dinner time? Cut tender leaves right into the salad bowl and let them come again. Or how about a steady rotation of  micro greens ready to be snipped just steps away from the table?  Does it get any more fresh and local than that?


Saturday, March 10, 2012

Feng Shui-ing Around

When allowed, there's an intuitive presence in the garden that gardens me. There are days I play the alchemist, a matchmaker of elements that show me where they go. (Slightly obsessive but call it Art.) The vision remaining calms the spirit and feeds the soul. It has been said that "Beauty is a Weapon," Ill will won't go there. Not to get all Bible thumpn' about it but there is some truth to resisting evil with good.
So much for garden philosophy...

LOG:
Yesterday: start 6 packs, indoors, orach, replant bronze fennel and shelling peas,
(for some reason the inoculated peas planted outdoors are germinating poorly)
Today: assemble shelving for new garden room, upgrade visual feng shui
MAGNIFY THE LIGHT!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

A Yen For Egg

I'm not one for gadgets but when my meatball buddy, Jon, heard I was on a crepe roll he gave me this ceramic-coated non-stick pan. Now I'm smitten. Its so slick you can cook with less fat and food just slides around the ultra-slippery surface.(from Bialetti Aeternum $30; bialettishop.com)

Lately, my food fantasies are  all about eggs. Its a rite of spring. After a morning of gardening and hungry for a high protein brunch, something quick and eggy stirs my appetite. No time for crepes, but a deconstructed omelet comes to mind.

So I scramble 2 eggs and cook them in the magic pan. Out slip 2 rounds ready to dress up.



The fridge yields leftovers, goat cheese and crunchy ginger green beans. They rise to the occasion.  Combine and reheat in the micro, lay in the egg, roll it up and Voila!
Looking slightly pale and naked, a squirt of sriracha gives a final touch of heat and color.
Call it a Crepelet? The New Egg Roll? Huevos Burritos?


Try this at home. Fillings may vary, let your fridge be your guide.

LOG:
plant lettuce in Beds 3 and 5, shaker method
(mesclun mixes, 2 rows each: Sassy,Valentine, Gourmet Baby Greens)
transplant fava beans to Willow Bed
plant radish seed in Gabe Bed/center: Easter Egg Blend and White Icicle
plant out Fox Gloves in Ray's Bed, Red Lobelia in Cherry Bed
take out flowering arugula in Cherry Bed, turn and amend
plant out wasabi arugula starts and broadcast roquette seed in Cherry Bed
plant poppies in big pot

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Bringin' in the Sheaves o' Green

Methinks me inner Irish Girl is kickin' up her heels.

Catch of the Day



LOG:
harvest salad for fundraiser
cut back all endives in Bed 5
turn and amend Beds 3,5
plant lettuce in Bed 5, shaker method (Baker Creek Rocky Top Mix)
harvest last of mache
harvest chard for braising, frisee,escarole, and endive heads for chef
red mizuna up! spinach up! brassica micro greens up!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Dinner Club

Once a month we rotate Sunday Dinner with our Santa Cruz Mountain Gourmet Dinner Club.
Last night was our turn to host.

Dinner for 6:
Voss Garden heirloom tomato soup with creme fresh and parsley
Garlic points
Voss Garden Artisan Salad with Meyer lemon vinaigrette
Hot and spicy seafood crepes / sweet and savory grilled salmon
Voss Garden ginger string beans
Lemon cheesecake with chocolate leaves 
Brilliant wines
Epic eggs from Soul Food Farms. 

Now back to the garden!


Sunday, March 4, 2012

Day Trippn'

Some days Gardeners get to go wine tasting in Napa Valley with good friends and blog from their smartaleck phones. Dawn found me picking arugula for house gifts, scusa me radishes but your planting is on hold.

Bumped into a pair of dandy winged lions on the fabulous Dell Dotto Barrel Tasting Tour. Its a bit like going to Venice but not so far.

Thank you my friends for another gala adventure.
Oh and by the way, the beets are up!



















Friday, March 2, 2012

Thursday, March 1, 2012

You Eat With Your Eyes First

As sensory beings, our human experience of eating begins with vision and smell to get the digestive juices flowing. As a visual artist I'm drawn to shades of red and purple to lend edible hues to the landscape. Seed Catalogs grow to be treasure hunts for color as well as plant genres and flavors. Oh the joys of getting a seed order delivered on this rainy day, assuring time well spent pondering the possibilities.

This tantalizing variety of Orach is called "Magenta Magic." How could I resist?  Orach is native to the Alps and also called "Mountain Spinach," just right for my neighborhood. With a slightly salty taste, it plays well with acidity.  Succulent and highly nutritious, with pollen that attracts a certain fly that wards off aphids - Voila! A keeper!