Schlubbing Through Summer

Okay, I admit it: I've been a schlub this summer. That's Yiddish for an unkempt lazy butt.

Well, not totally lazy, but blogging has taken a back seat. Priorities. Work on that.

What have I been doing this summer?

Sitting on the porch, watching this little feller grow up. Miss Bonnie almost killed him, but he shook it off and survived. Bonnie is still patrolling the perimeter of the porch, just in case Little Bunnyboy gets careless.

Watching Mr. Robot while the lawn grows is an afternoon must. The rain has been amazing this year.

I've been outdoors a lot, pulling weeds and tending The Potager, which is a fancy way of saying The Garden.

We had asparagus and strawberries early in the season. Grasshoppers ate the shallot sets and the garlic was small this year since the rains started late.

The tomato plants look great, with lots of green ones, but the picking has been slow with all this rain and the clouds.  Hope reigns, though, since we a few moisture free days forecast. And those tomato bags may be my saving grace since we can take them into the Growing Dome if it gets too cold.

The climbing purple green beans are thriving, an homage to my dad who loved showing off his purple green beans. When they are properly cooked, they turn green. Magic. "Purpipple." He liked to say that.

The steers are growing large and still curious. Here's St. Thomas, saying hi.

We've had time for dinner with friends.

And I've been tidying up the fabric and sewing area. This is an ironic pic, don't you think? You may recognize this best selling book.

There are a few finished quilt tops and a couple quilts finally quilted, but minus their binding and a load of unfinished projects, but isn't that how it goes?

Next post will be quilts. Yep.

Raised Beds and Growing Dome Update-Late Summer 2013

Back in June, Mike Salman and his crew were building the raised beds which replaced the grass in the side yard. I wanted the veggies growing close and inside the stucco wall to discourage critters and because I am lazy. I like lettuce grown just a few steps from the house.

Even though it was almost a full month late, I decided to plant the stuff I had started in the dome.Why not, I figured. There was no room in the dome, so out they went.

I planted tomatoes, kale, cabbage, peppers, lettuce, carrots and purple green beans. There are also three melon plants with no melons.

Here are the green beans, called Royal Burgundy. When you cook the purple beans, they turn green. I like them because my dad always planted them and they're easy to find when it's time to pick. Today's the first picking of the outside beans! Yay!

I haven't killed the flower garden, yet.

Over in the Growing Dome it's a tomato jungle inside. I planted fewer tomato plants this year since they overwhelmed the other plants.

But they still crowded and covered the basil, cucumbers, peppers and one last crop of indoor green beans.

The other side is crazy, too. Note to self: You may need to revisit how to corral the tomatoes.

And it's the lonely, empty bee yard.  I saw their new mom yesterday, though, and she says the bees have easily adapted to their new terroir, which makes me happy.

Late summer looks pretty good, don't you think?

Green Bean, Tomato and Zucchini Salad

Who wants to cook when it's 100 degrees outside? If you're raising your hand and saying, "I do! I do!" then go back to the Trident gum commercial you escaped from. Summer is when my mom used to make a gigantic tub of macaroni salad in the morning which she served with cold sliced ham for dinnertime. Maybe we'd get a wedge of iceberg lettuce if she was feeling particularly health conscious, but it was about keeping it simple on a hot evening. 

Even though the temps here are more moderate in the summertime than in Southern California, I still like to make side dishes early in the day to reserve my afternoons for important stuff like sitting on the veranda, drinking wine and reading mysteries.

I picked a load of green beans from the growing dome a couple weeks ago along with some ripe, juicy tomatoes. At the farmers' market I bought some zucchini, both large and small, from a couple ladies who really know how to sell veggies.

Several days later I happened upon the green beans and zucchini in the produce drawer and since I didn't have any lettuce and wanted a salad, decided it was green bean salad time. I wanted the salad to be my main dish, so hunted around the internet and found a green bean and chayote salad recipe which was the inspiration for this one.
It tasted so good the first time that when we were invited to dinner at the neighbors' yurt I made it again. After we came home that evening I realized I had forgotten the cheese, but people happily ate it cheeseless, so it's a keeper, cheese or not.

Green Bean, Tomato and Zucchini Salad with Queso Fresco 


Ingredients:

2 medium zucchinis, diced into 1/2″ pieces
8 oz.  green beans, chopped into about 2” pieces (about 2 heaping cups)
2 ripe tomatoes chopped (I used a mixture of yellow and red tomatoes)
A handful of chopped cilantro or 2 T cilantro pesto
1/4 cup crumbled Queso Fresco or feta cheese


Vinaigrette (This is optional)
3 T. apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 t agave sweetener, honey, or sugar (taste the dressing and if it needs more, add another squirt)
3 T. olive oil (use only 2 T if you are using cilantro pesto)

Directions 


1. Fill a medium saucepan with water and set it over high heat to boil. While the water is fixing to boil, fill a large bowl with water and ice cubes. This is to blanch the green beans and zucchini.

2. When the water in the saucepan is boiling, add the green beans and a teaspoon or more of salt.

3. Once green beans have boiled for three minutes, add the diced zucchini and cook for another minute or two. Taste a green bean. It should be tender-crisp and still bright green. Remove the veggies with a slotted spoon, and place them in the bowl of ice water. Let sit for at least five minutes to stop them from cooking further. This will make those greenie beanies nice and crisp. Drain the veggies.

4. Place drained green beans and zucchini into a serving bowl. Add the diced tomatoes, cilantro (or cilantro pesto) and cheese. Mix until well combined. Add salt to taste.

5. If making the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients and add the oil last. Whisk quickly until the oil and vinegar look fully mixed. Pour vinaigrette over the salad, a little at a time. Don't let it swim in dressing like I did the first time. A little goes a long way. You may have extra dressing which makes an excellent steak marinade.

Enjoy your veggies, peeps!

Growing Dome Update-So Far, Not Too Shabby

The Growing Dome has been up and running since the first week in May when I planted our inaugural crop of veggies. We chose the 18 foot diameter dome which is appropriate for a family of 2-3, but the dome people didn't account for hungry beef cattle who stick their heads into the side vents for a little snack. That's why some of the stuff I planted had an early demise.

This should be remedied soon, though, since we bought the posts and cement for a fence to keep out those living lawn mowers we call The Angus Boys. The plan is for an outside garden area along with a bee yard,  surrounded with a 5 foot barbed wire fence. When the bees arrive, Meg the Beemaster suggests electrifying the fence at night to keep out hungry honey hunting bears.

Even though there have been Angus Boy raids on broccoli, green beans, pepper and cucumber plants, I still consider the garden inside the dome a success. Come on in and I'll give you a tour.

Inside we have added a layer of shredded bark mulch to the floor, which is over a layer of metal mesh hardware cloth and weed barrier cloth. Makes it homey, I think.

I have the Earthboxes in front of the water tank. The tomatoes in there haven't done as well as the ones in planter beds along the perimeter. Could it be because I didn't follow the replanting instructions and forgot to add fertilizer? Nonetheless, we have had a supply of cherry and yellow pear tomatoes and all the cinnamon basil I want. I'm making pesto this week. On the right side are jalapenos and an Early Girl tomato plant that grew so big I had to prune it at the top and sides. Next year I will have taller tomato cages.

We've had a steady stream of these Early Girl tomatoes for the past month. I've had one of the big yellow tomatoes on another plant and more are ripening. I'm starting some arctic-cool weather tomato plants this week. We'll see how long I can extend the tomato season. I know I am insane to try this, but why the heck not?

This variety, Big Jim chile, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest pepper, growing to 12 inches long. They are mildly hot but aren't ready yet. So I can't tell you how hot that really means. I'll bet they will be awesome stuffed with a picadillo mixture of some sort.

These are the last 2 or 3 cucumber plants (and we've had a couple cukes a week), covered with blossoms and flowers. The other cuke plants were to the right until Mignon, the midget marauder, stuck his head in the vent. In front are the purple green beans, which we have eaten every which way. They've been producing for the past month and a half and I think this week I will pick the last of them since they are getting tired.

We have new green beans coming up for the next go-round on this side and its opposite. In the back are carrots. I just broadcast the seeds instead of making neat little rows.  I won't do that next time because it's too chaotic and the tops are a tangled mess, even though I thinned them. There's a new zucchini plant in there, too, along with two remaining yellow pepper plants. Earlier some cilantro grew there and now it's pesto, in the freezer.

The dome's water tank keeps it cooler, and since Tom hooked up the solar water pump, there's a peaceful sense of tranquility. Nothing like water therapy to make a body feel good.

Especially after you've had plenty to eat and drink.

Purple Green Beans?

My dad and I have grown Royal Burgundy Green Beans for a long time, he, with always awesome results, me, not always good. I attribute the difference in our green bean success to the more moderate temperatures at his Orange County home compared to the inferno temperatures in the Inland Empire where we lived. Orange was always a good 15 to 20 degrees cooler on the (almost) coast.

Why purple beans? Well, they're fun to look at. The blossoms as well as the beans are a pretty purple, or as my dad used to say, "Purpipple."

The beans are easier to find on the plants, their royal burgundy pods contrasting with the green leaves. That makes for faster bean picking. When you cook them, the beans turn green, which is good for people who need to eat stuff that looks familiar.

Aren't the purple beans and flowers pretty?