Green Bean Epidemic

It seems like Summer is officially here. 

The green beans are ready, and they are growing fast and furious.

I started harvesting them for the first time about a week ago. I ended up with a 5 gal bucket FULL after one row. I planted six rows total, two varieties that were supposed to mature at different times: Trofeo (gourmet French cultivar with a rich, buttery taste) and Early Contender (one of the earliest producing green beans that is a favorite among gardeners for its high yields).

I was smiling after the first bucket of green beans

A couple of weeks after planting, the great washout happened with about a row and a half.
And the replanting project... so I thought I would be alright on them not all maturing at the same time. I was wrong. Way wrong, as wrong as a person can get. The later green beans caught up with the others because the weather has been so perfect and before you knew it, everyone was blooming and setting tons of little green beans. Overnight and with a little sun and warm temperatures, the little beans became the big green beans. The panic set in and before you knew it, I was contemplating the meaning of life and doing lots of thinking while picking buckets of green beans by hand!
If they are continually harvested, they will keep producing throughout the summer.

So far, approximately 35 lbs have been harvested!

Friends don't let friends plant six rows of beans... but if that happens, you might need to make a few recipes. And hope your friends and family needs green beans. And every restaurant and farmers market you can think of!

This is one of our favorites:

Pasta Ricotta with Green Beans & Tomatoes 

Linguine
Ricotta cheese
Green beans, ends removed
Grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to season

Boil hot water and add several drops of olive oil (so the pasta doesn't all stick together- a little trick I learned). Once boiling, add the desired amount of linguine and cook approximately 8-10 minutes until done. Drain. Add the desired amount of ricotta cheese and stir in.

Saute the green beans and garlic with olive oil. Then add the tomatoes and stir briefly so they do not burn (I usually just do this to warm them up). Add to the pasta mixture and lightly stir, trying not to crush the beans or tomatoes.

Season with salt and pepper.


Also if you like balsamic vinegar/ vinaigrettes, try this recipe out! 

Cold Green Bean & Tomato Salad

10 lbs green beans- ends removed but kept whole otherwise
Grape tomatoes, halved
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp red wine or balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to season

Boil water and 2 Tbsp salt, add green beans and cooked through but still firm.
Drain water and add green beans to cold water/ ice to chill.

In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and vinegar, salt and pepper (to season). Drizzle over the green beans and add the tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Picking Project

Earlier this week, I was dead set on picking strawberries.

I can't even remember the last time I had a fresh strawberry, until my friend Shannon brought some strawberries to a Tuesday garden party at the farm. Even though the strawberry season is so short here, they still put the large, hollow and flavorless strawberries to shame that you find in the stores. Those strawberries are 'improved' to handle the many miles to the Midwest and that means, flavor is usually sacrificed.

I was thinking about strawberry spinach salads, jams, strawberry shortcake type of desserts, and for snitching as a little snack.

Well.... that plan was sidetracked when I found out that the season had progressed the strawberries 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule. The disappointment was short lived because it was blueberry season at the Berry Patch in a surrounding town!

My friend Elizabeth and I were picking blueberries at the Berry Patch in Nevada

I honestly never thought that blueberries would do so well in Iowa. I had never picked blueberries but remember the few times that I would snitch them on a hot summer day. They were one of my dad's and my favorites but rarely did we have them in the house.

It was blazing hot and I probably ate three to each one that I picked... no, not really but it sure seemed like it! After a couple of hours, Elizabeth and I each picked about 3 lbs of blueberries. Then we moved onto the red raspberries but we were ahead of schedule on those. They would all be ripening in the next week or so, so we were late on the strawberries and too early on raspberries.

The blueberries were definitely worth it and that made the strawberries turn into a distant memory. For garden party, I made a fresh lettuce salad (from the garden) with blueberries, glazed walnuts, and a poppy seed dressing.  Also in the works this week are blueberry muffins, a strudel, and other recipes that I have been wanting to make but haven't had the chance. 

We also came upon this bird nest in one of the blueberry bushes.

As for me, I will have to catch up in the garden and pick my mountains of green beans in addition to other veggies that will be available. It seems like I have been waiting forever to start cooking and now, I'm ready!

The Gardens... An Update

So, I've disappeared for a little while on here... but I've resurfaced with some great gardening ideas, recipes, and little projects that I've been busy working on.

For me, Spring means busy season for work and attempting to garden on the weekends.
Sometimes, my friend Elizabeth and I garden until dark. Lately I've been sneaking out early in the mornings with a nice, hot cup of coffee to work outside for an hour or so before the work madness starts.

Our gardens are much bigger than last year's. I wanted to change it up a bit, and this year I planted Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold potatoes- 100 pounds actually. Those, and the onions were the first to be planted. There is an old wives tale about planting potatoes on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter. That didn't necessarily happen for me but in all fairness they were in my farm store's shopping cart on Good Friday. That should count for something?

The potatoes are now all tucked in with straw and flowering.

I can't even tell you how many times my phone and car keys were also tucked in with the straw. To keep myself sane, I had to move them to some other vegetable landmark. And gardening is supposed to alleviate stress... leave it to me to make it stressful!

Soon enough (and I can't wait) these potatoes will turn up in all sorts of recipes: herbed new potatoes, roasted potatoes with carrots, mashed potatoes with chives, au gratins, and much much more!

Also in the gardens this year: basil, cilantro, dill, beets, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, onions, garlic, shallots, tomatoes (20+ varieties of interesting heirlooms in addition to Roma's and others for canning projects), peppers (sweet and hot, including one of the worlds hottest peppers- Ghost), sugar peas, squash, watermelon, French melons, and pumpkins. Of course, we couldn't forget the flowers...and lots of them. I'm growing gladiolas in memory of my great grandma Hughes who was known for these gorgeous flowers.

Growing up and working alongside her, I can honestly say her gardens were legendary and really sparked my interests in gardening and cooking.

Heirloom Veggies...

Since growing up, I can remember that first taste of summer. It was usually a red, perfectly juicy sandwich tomato that was sliced up. Then my parents would sprinkle a little salt or sugar on it. Delicious.

The taste of summer seemed even more vibrant with the vegetables coming from my great grandmother's garden. The flowers were also gorgeous- especially the gladiolus in a rainbow of colors. It was a mystery, up until the moment the buds showed their first tinge of color. It was one of my favorite places to be when I was younger.

As kids, I'm sure we had our battles with not eating our vegetables. Then again, our vegetables were usually sweet corn, carrots, green beans, onions, potatoes and tomatoes- the real hearty ones that were usually eaten with a pork chop or steak. Broccoli seemed foreign to us. Hard to believe, most of our vegetables came from cans even though we had a nice sized garden, with the exception of the tomatoes.

Since having the space now at the community garden and getting older, I want to go back to a simpler time. In my down time, I have an interest in food- learning about where it comes from, tips for gardening, and of course- lots and lots of cooking. This also compounded, as the slow food movement came into play. I was fascinated by Jamie Oliver coming to America and seeing firsthand, the ingredients that go into school lunches for children. It also opened my eyes as to how I was eating and changes that I needed to make in order to avoid preservatives or chemicals.

Here is Jamie dressed up as a pea, and helping to make vegetable a little more exciting...

This year with the warm weather and my interests in food, I am ready more than ever to get gardening. I'm especially focusing on heirloom vegetables (specifically tomatoes) because so many have a complex taste, the rainbow of colors, and variety names that will make you smile.

Here are some tomato varieties that I have started from seeds, or hope to in the very near future for this growing season:

Amish Paste- sauce tomato (red), originally from the Lancaster, PA area
Black Krim- sandwich tomato (black/ dark purple-red), from Krimm, Russia
Black Ruffles- sandwich tomato (black, fluted/ pleated tomato)
Black Sea Man- sandwich tomato (dark purple-red, red and green centers when sliced), from Russia
Egg Yolk- cherry tomato (yellow, very similar to an egg yolk!), from a Missouri garden
German Pink- large sandwich tomato (red-pink), Bavarian heirloom
Green Zebra-  small to medium sized (green and yellow stripes), from Washington in 1983- recent
Gold Medal- medium to large sandwich tomato (gold/ yellow and red bicolor), originally from 1921 
Lemon Drop- cherry tomato (yellow, tart flavor), found as a sport on a white tomato plant  
Japanese Black Trifele- (dark purple-red),  Russian heirloom that is great for canning!
Kellogg's Breakfast- large beefsteak (orange), from West Virginia and tomatoes weight 1-2 lbs.
Nyagous- medium sandwich tomato (black), almost blemish free tomatoes in clusters
Red Fig-  small cherry tomato with a fig like shape, from PA in 1805 and used as a substitute for figs
Rosso Sicilian- paste or slicing tomato (red- fluted/pleated), one of the prettiest tomatoes- from Italy
Striped Cavern- slicing/ stuffing tomato (red/ yellow bicolor), shape is similar to a bell pepper
Sweet Pea Currant-  pea sized red tomatoes, great flavor but I'm going to resent picking these
Wholly Blue Jay- I'm not sure... I ordered it from a Seed Savers Exchange member- we will find out!

And others such as Ferris Wheel, Pork Chop (I live in Iowa after all!), Berkley Tie Dye, and more!

Spring brings seed starting...

Lately, its been so nice outside...

Spring is right around the corner and I'm starting to think ahead about this year's garden.
Last year, I wasn't prepared and purchased my flowers and vegetable plants, unless I sowed seeds directly into the garden plot. Flying by the seat of your pants gardening!

This year, I'm planning on starting my heirloom tomatoes and peppers. Last Labor Day, Elizabeth (my friend and one of my gardening buddies) and I checked out the Seed Savers Tomato Tasting in Decorah, Iowa. We sampled 30+ tomatoes and then purchased seeds, and lots of them!

Here are some of my tricks and tips:

For a biodegradable seed starting option, try eggshells! Start saving eggshells a couple of weeks before you plan on sowing seeds. With each half, fill with seed starting medium or even a container planting mix. The egg cartons can be used as trays. Make sure there are holes in the bottom of the carton to allow for drainage. Follow your seed sowing instructions, and place on a heating mat or near a window. In a short amount of time, you should start seeing some great results...
When you are ready to move these to the garden, you can plant shells and all. 

There are also other great seed starting products available. Jiffy pots, peat pots, mini greenhouse seed starting kits, heating mats, Gro Lights, and the list goes on. Make sure you use a seed starting mix and then afterwards you can transplant your seedlings to a container potting mix and peat pots, unless you are using Jiffy pots. Make sure to follow the seed sowing instructions for best results- planting depth is very important!

Good luck!

Happy (be-lated) Valentine's Day! From me and Pewie...

So, this is a little overdue. Happy be-lated Valentine's Day.
This is the only picture that I have from when I was younger. I stumbled on it the other day. For reasons that I won't go into, I essentially started over with my life about five years ago now. When I left, I left without much of anything. This photo was from my grandma's house with one of my favorite friends, Pewie. Pewie was a small dog and I have no clue what breed.

Adam and I are going back and forth about a dog. We have a bet, but I'm not sure that I'm going to win it because of some recent setbacks. That means, it is going to be tougher to accomplish my financial goal for work. I am sure trying hard...

Adam grew up in Chicago with a black lab named Jessie. I could just see him spending hours and hours training and taking care of the family's dog. In the future, once we are settled in and under the same roof, he would like another lab.

In the case of opposites, I am more interested in a small dog. I would like a French Bulldog. Adam's cousin brought her French Bulldog to Chicago over the Holidays. Stevie is such a great dog! Since then, I've been letting Adam know that I need a Stevie... hence, the work in progress to get a Stevie!
I also love France and studied abroad during college.I would go back in a second if I could.

In high school, our mascot was a Bulldog. It might have been our principal or staff member, who owned a bulldog that made appearances at our Homecoming events. His name was Beans and he was massive. 

 

How can you say no to this little Frenchie?