Green Beans

I was surprised when I checked the bush beans today. Lots of beans! I thought I had a few more days to wait, but instead I picked a large bowlful. We like green beans grown on bush plants. They are so easy to grow. We plant a couple rows planted about 2 weeks apart.  That way they don't all produce at the same time.  A quick wash, snip the ends, and then 3 minutes of steaming - delicious! 

The extras will be frozen for winter fare.  That's easy to do also.  Dump the beans into boiling water for about 2 minutes, then quickly transfer the beans to an ice water bath.  That's called blanching, and it's necessary to preserve the fresh picked taste after produce is frozen. Pack the drained beans in a freezer bag, label, and pop into the freezer.  I used to freeze the beans first on a cookie sheet before bagging them.  That way they can be scooped out individually, and you can use just the amount you want.  However, I've discovered if the beans are well-drained, I can simply freeze them in the bag and then knock the frozen bag once on the counter to separate the beans. 

My last bean tip:  If some beans seem to be a bit overgrown, separate them out and freeze them with the label "soup beans."  Fully mature beans actually are the best for vegetable soups.

Camp Grandma

It's been Camp Grandma week!  My 7 year old granddaughter, Maggie, spent the last week with us.  We had a lot of fun, but there was very little down time, or computer time.  We held a yard sale, picked lots and lots of blueberries, played with cousin Brodie, swam in friends' pools, made some garden art, and had a camping sleep-over in the backyard.  Whew!  Maggie did great, but Grandma is beat! We returned her to her parents yesterday at our family reunion. 

As for the gardens, I'm hardly able to keep up.  Both my husband and I have picked berries every morning and evening for the last week, averaging 8 - 10 quarts per day.  Everything we pick flies off the stand; we can't keep up with the demand.  I had made blueberry jam from the last of frozen '09 berries, and that has disappeared also.  Then there's that prolific summer squash.  Everyday my granddaughter hunted for the squash, and what we couldn't eat that day, was added to the stand under the "FREE VEGETABLES" sign.  It too seems to find a home.  We tore out the pea plants, ate a few beets, and had the first couple crunchy cucumbers. Yum!

Maggie used the gardens for a couple cooking projects.  First she discovered the chives, and after she chewed on a few leaves, decided that they were quite tasty.  So she cut a handful, we brought them into the house, chopped them into 1/4 inch pieces and stirred them into cottage cheese.  She ate some right away, and declared it to be delicious.  However, I can tell you it was even better the next day after the flavors had time to blend. Simple, but good.

Second, she tried out the mint.  Yes, Maggie, it tastes like gum.  She cut some sprigs of mint, brought it in, and stripped off the leaves.  With help from Grandma, we boiled water and made some mint tea.  First she tried it warm and plain - not for her.  Then we added sugar and ice, and she loved it.  (By the way, mint is such an invasive plant that I first planted it in a plastic bucket before planting the bucket into the flower bed.  I was hoping to keep it from spreading.  Good thought, but it didn't work.  It has jumped right out of the bucket.  Now I regularly pull it like a weed to keep it under control. Hard to contain, but great as a flavor or garnish!)

It's Blueberry time!

It's time to pick the blueberries.  The heat of this past week has really brought them on quickly.  Last year's calendar said we picked the first quart on July 13th.  This year I picked the first 3 quarts on July 8th.  Yesterday we picked 7 quarts, and today another 4 quarts.  I gave away the first quarts to neighbors, and then yesterday decided I better get my stand and signs out.  Neighbors watch for my simple sign at the corner, and all we've picked quickly left the stand.  It's been so hot this week that I picked right after my early morning walk (about 8 am).  My husband helped me pick this weekend; I always appreciate that.  It's easy to pick blueberries - no prickers and no bending - but it's time consuming and sometimes the bugs get after me.  It's often either very hot(during the day) or very wet (in the early morning).

Right now, at the start of the season, some of the berries I pick still have a rosy glow and are not fully dark blue.  That's ok; they finish ripening off the vine, just like most fruits.  Leave them on the counter over night and they will be fully ripe and dark blue in color by morning.  Put them in a brown paper bag and they will finish ripening even faster.

I had about 8 quarts of berries in my freezer left from last year's crop, so I decided to make jam.  I made 2 batches and put them out with the fresh berries.  Time will tell if anyone is interested.  Blueberry jam is good; I always give it away at Christmas time.  One of my friends calls it "summer in a jar"!

Now that berry season is here gardening chores will definitely increase.  We sell our berries off a little red cart on the front walkway.  The "honor system" has worked well for us over the years. People take what they want and leave money in a jar. It's hard to stay up with the berry demand, but it sure is fun to find money "magically" appear in the jar.

Daisies

He loves me ... he loves me not.  Who hasn't used a wild daisy to foretell true love?  I love daisies.  They mean summer sun is here.  I don't even care whether the daisy is a "Shasta" variety or simply a wild one that seeds itself in my beds.  I have 2 of the wild variety this year - 1 in my side flower bed and another one in the back.   I don't know where they came from, but I can recognize their jagged leaves when I'm weeding out my beds in the spring, and I do my best to leave them be.  The wild daisy in the side flower bed is huge and really very glorious.  I had to prop them up with some plant supports because of the number of blossoms.  -Very pretty and they didn't cost me a dime.  The larger Shasta daisies grow in the back bed.  I bought one plant years ago and each year since it has greeted the summer sun with its happy petal faces.  It's been a very hot week -90's - and no rain.  I've been watering all the potted plants every day, but not the daisies.  They seem to love the heat and the sun.  Rain is forecast for tomorrow.  That's good.  All the gardens need a good long drink.

Happy July 4th!

Yesterday was a great party day!  The weather was hot and sunny, but our shade trees and a nice breeze in the backyard kept everyone comfortable.  Well, that and the sprinklers set up for the little kids.  Simple pleasures for us!  Thanks to all the relatives who spent part of their holiday weekend with us.  It was great to visit with all.  My brother-in-law was bothered by the flower beds.   "...way too prim and proper." So he took it upon himself to add a little garden art.  Hmmm.

Today the temps reached 92 degrees, and what did I make? - vegetable soup. It was actually my husband's request, and I was able to get almost every ingredient straight from the garden.  I used onion, summer squash, peas and spinach from the garden.  I had left over beef stock from yesterday's Beef on Wick. Barley and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste gave the soup a little body.  Finally, some cooking sherry, oregano, salt and pepper rounded out the flavor.  We're big soup eaters, even in the summer.  Eaten lukewarm, it was very good.

Summer Squash

Just because summer squash grows easily is not a good reason to plant more than 1 bush.  We don't even like the yellow varieties very much - dark green zucchini is what we want.  So why does my husband have a whole garden full of summer squash?  Honestly, I don't have a clue, but here we go again.

They are just starting to produce, and we'll never be able to eat it all.  I try to check the plants every day, and pick the squash when they are small - very small!  Yes, they'll grow into baseball bats if you let them, but any squash larger than 2 inches in circumference is really uneatable.  What we can't eat, I'll try to give away.  Even that is a challenge; often the excess ends up in the compost.

I do have a good recipe for zucchini cake (bread), and that's what I used today.  Tomorrow is July 4th and family is on the way.  The grandkids will devour the cake and never even realize there are veggies in it.  The cake is moist and spicy.  If I want it to be more like a quick bread, I simply add a little more flour.

Zucchini Cake (or Bread)

Mix together and bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini (or any summer squash)
2 cups flour (or 3 cups for bread)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup walnuts

Geraniums

Cemetery Flowers - That's what my daughter-in-law dismissively calls the geraniums.  Yes, they often appear in cemetery urns because of their hardiness.  I started about 4 years ago with 10 small geraniums chosen for their red color.  I wanted something red for the front of the house to match my red front door.  Little did I know that my husband would become a geranium fanatic.  He brought those first 10 geraniums into the basement after the summer was over.  Using a folding table and 1 old florescent light, he started by cutting them way back.  Of course, he couldn't throw the cuttings away, so he stuck those in potting soil.  The original plants continued to grow and even bloomed in the winter.  Everytime they got leggy, my husband cut them back again. The cuttings took root easily and 4 winters later those 10 original plants have become more geraniums than I can count.  Everyone who visits gets a geranium or 2 to take home.  We take them to family gatherings by the tray-full. Right today, I counted 33 geraniums in our gardens, and another 6 still waiting in the basement. 

They do have several qualities to commend them.  The bright red blossoms make a striking statement. The blossoms last quite a long time, and continually renew themselves throughout the summer.  I like to plant them in pots because then I can move them around to wherever I need some color.  Perennials are great, but they only blossom for short periods.  Geraniums look great tucked in between the greens of perennials waiting for or finished with their blooms.

Cemetery flowers?  Is that a bad thing?  Not for me.  My geraniums have earned their places in my gardens - and they keep my husband occupied all winter long.  :)