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27 November, 2011
Gardening at Year's End
I hope all of you enjoyed Thanksgiving and resisted the temptation to go shopping instead of watching football. Looking back on your Turkey Day munch fest was there anything on the table from your garden or a guests garden. Where did your feast come from? How far did the rutabagas have to travel to each your table and were they fresh?
"Fresh rutabagas"? you might ask. Well that may be a stretch since the lowly rutabaga is often an after thought it is just something that is always on the table even though few really eat them. Then again it is one of those yellow vegetables we keep hearing we should be eating. But they just taste so................(fill in the blank expletives deleted).
Well the problem therein may not be so much the taste but the source. Grant you I do not think there is much you can do to improve on the flavor of rutabagas and their taste cousins turnips. They just taste the way they taste. I like turnips and rutabagas in small doses. My wife will not even let them be stored in the fridge. She cannot stand the aroma let alone the taste.
But does everything just have to taste the way it tastes? There are certain inherent taste profiles that science cannot change no matter how GMOing they try to do. I think the same can be said about heirlooming our gardens to death as well. A lot has to do with in my opinion fear of change or love of old. Remember when Coke got in trouble for introducing new Coke. That was the first Occupy Movement. Downtown Atlanta was packed with protesters claiming new coke was horrible. In Actuality blind taste tests proved otherwise with new Coke winning hands down.
So could it be the same with our gardens. Do we fear Franken-beans because they were made in a laboratory by men in white coats and pocket protectors? Do we love Grandma's variety of beans because they are so familiar? Could be. There is more truth in clinging to something old than venturing into the great unknown.
But let's get back to Thanksgiving dinner, or what is left of it. I ask again do you know where your food came from. I know the herbs used in the stuffing and in other dishes came from basement. Fresh parsley, basil, thyme and more are thriving under grow lights growing in a rich oxygenated bath of nutrient wealthy water. Some onions came from a sort of root cellar known as the unheated extra bathroom just off the kitchen. My onions are much smaller than what one buys at the market but the flavor is huge due their being fresh from this years garden. In fact onions were one of the few crops that thrived this year in my garden.
Need some proof to my pudding? While it may not be possible to grow rutabagas indoors this winter you can grow a Simon and Garfunkel garden, Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme whether or not you've ever been to Scarborough Fair. To get a bigger crop quicker place them under grow lights where they will get 12 hours of light a day. Check out a system of hydroponics called Deep Water Culture where plants really take off and grow like crazy.
And consider where your food really comes from....................
Will rutabagas make it to your root cellar next year, how about onions and potatoes?
Whatever makes it to your table will taste better if it is local..........and nothing is more local than your backyard.
24 June, 2011
garden article: Demystifying Herbs for cooking and more
Herbs are as popular as ever despite the fact there are not many new varieties overtaking the market. Seemingly every day there is a new variety of some outrageous ornamental flower that promises to revolutionize the floriculture industry. It is very strange to see how many new flowers are coming on to the market being the economy and garden trends are for more home food gardens rather than flower gardens. There are a few new varieties of vegetables that have come to market or at least become popular such as Patio Tomato and grape tomatoes. Herbs on the other hand have seen little in the way of new varieties with claims coming anywhere near those of flowers. So what then leads to herbs continued and ever growing popularity in the home garden?
The answer is actually quite simple. Herbs continue to do this day what they have done for centuries, outperform most other crops in their ease of growth and dependability. Yes holistic and medicinal uses have helped support and spur the growth of herbs in the gardens. But the natural home remedies are not enough to keep the herbal engine running. Good old fashioned "word of mouth." I mean word of mouth in the eating sense not just the talking sense.
I have determined in my opinion that the huge increase in "foodies" and wannbe foodies has been the driving force behind the continued and growing popularity of herbs. simply put herbs taste great and add multiple dimensions to any dish no matter how few the ingredients. I love perusing cookbooks to read how recipes are derived at. What I do not like are recipes that call for huge numbers of ingredients. Yes they do add a lot of ingredients add subtle nuances to the flavor palette. But multitudes of ingredients are not necessary to improve the flavor and taste of any dish.
The best way to take the mystery out of herbs is to group them together in a themed garden. That way a simple trip to a themed garden plot in the backyard promises instant success in the kitchen. And by themed gardens I don't just mean a cooking garden vs. tea garden. Break it down all the way to a particular cooking style or ethnic region.
Start with your favorite style of cooking. Italian, French, Mexican, Thai, Fish etc. There is even a plan for salt substitute garden. These gardens do not need to be large. The size is determined solely on how many you are cooking for or how much room you have to grow, and store dried herbs while drying and then stored for use later on. Since you can't pick basil outside in winter and fresh herbs are a hard find as well a jar of dried herbs labeled "Italian Herb Blend" makes for a wonderful and very inexpensive spruce up to a winter meal.
Here are some themed herb garden ideas:
Italian: basil, bay, dill, fennel, garlic chives, marjoram, flat leaf parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme
French: basil, fennel, lavender summer savory thyme
Mexican: bay, cilantro, garlic, oregano, thyme, lemon or lime basil
Thai/Asian: Thai basil, coriander, garlic,lemon grass, ginger, mint
Fish: bay, fennel, lemon basil, lemon grass, lemon thyme, parsley, tarragon, savory, sage
Salt substitute: basil, bay, dill, lovage, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory (winter or summer) thyme, tarragon
Tea: chamomile, lemon balm, lemon grass, lemon verbena, mints, pineapple sage, lemon thyme and stevia for a dash of natural sweetening.
To cheat a little on a tea garden simply mix a bunch of mint varieties together harvest when needed, dry and make a pot of tea.
Of course these herbs can be used fresh right from the garden for immediate rewards. But remember to save some for drying to use over the winter months. Drying is best done by cutting new growth in the late morning tying bunches together with a rubber band. String can be used but as the stems dry they become smaller and tied bunched fall apart very easily. When dry as fallen autumn leaves strip the leaves from the stems and place in clean dark containers. Label them according to their uses of kind. Stored in a dark place at room temps they remain fresh for about a year.
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