Tomatoes add flavor to dinner

Not to brag, but I picked our first tomatoes today. You probably can't tell that they really are not ripe. I turned them to their best side along with low lighting and green Swiss Chard behind them to make them look riper.
We ate the Roma, sliced and plated with roast at dinner and although it wasn't quite ripe, it  was still good.

Recipes using fresh produce

Here's some recipes for fresh produce. I'm going to the farmers market this morning to hopefully buy tomatoes to make fresh salsa.

Swiss Chard

olive oil
1/4 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/8 tsp. dried crushed red pepper, to taste, optional
1 bunch of Swiss chard, washed and chopped
2 Tablespoons water
salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the onion, garlic and red pepper. (You can use a large saucepan or large skillet.) Then add the rest of the ingredients and heat on medium heat for 10 minutes. As a variation, substitute 1 tablespoon of water for vinegar and add smoked turkey or ham pieces.
(I love Swiss chard, even just boiled briefly with salt).

Blake’s Fresh Salsa

Combine the following and chill covered for 1/2 hour.
2-3 cups chopped Roma tomatoes (when canning salsa, its best to blanch and de-skin the tomatoes. This is not necessary for fresh salsa.)
½ cup red onion
½ cup green pepper
1 Jalapeno, 1 green chili and 1 Poblano or whatever you can find, (Use one Jalapeno pepper per two tomatoes, adjust to taste.)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ground black pepper
¾ tsp. salt
1 Tbs. white vinegar or lime or lemon juice
2 pinches finely chopped cilantro

Roasted root vegetables

Preheat the oven to 425F°. Peel and cut vegetables into approximately 3/4 inch cubes.

1 pound potato

1 pound rutabaga or parsnips

1 pound sweet potato

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2 tsp. dried rosemary or other herb

2 cloves garlic

salt

Use some of the olive oil to oil the pans. Mix the rest with the garlic, finely minced or pressed, and the rosemary. Using your hands, rub oil mixture all over the vegetable pieces. Arrange in a single layer on the prepared pans. Salt lightly and place in preheated oven.

Turn once, after 20 to 25 minutes (pull pan out of oven to do this) and continue roasting until done, a total of about 45 minutes. Vegetables can be roasted at a lower temperature for a longer time, if  necessary to accomodate other food being roasted.

Tabouleh 

1/2 c bulgar, cover with boiling water for 30 minutes, then strain very well.
1 1/2 cup of chopped parsley, maybe more
1/2 cup diced green onion
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1 Tablespoon fresh mint, optional
Mix ingredients and serve or refrigerate.

Hummus is easy to make and is often served with tabouleh. Empty a can of garbanzo beans in a food processor, along with 1/4 cup of the juice, add 2 cloves garlic, pressed, dash of salt, 1 Tbs. olive oil, 1 Tbs. lemon juice and process to a pulp. If you have tahini, add 1-1/2 Tbs. Add a dash of cayenne pepper if you like.

Fried Thai basil eggplant 

1 tablespoon oil

2 -3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 pound chicken strips, (optional)
2 green onions

2 chile peppers finely chopped or other hot peppers

1 big  or 2 small eggplant, cut irregular

1 tablespoon sugar or brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce or fish sauce

1 bunch basil, washed and stems removed 

Cut eggplant into uniform irregular shapes. Heat oil in pan and saute chicken, then add garlic and peppers and onion until lightly browned. Add eggplant, 1/2 cup water cover and simmer 5 minutes, until eggplant becomes translucent. Add more water as needed. Stir in sugar and fish sauce or soy sauce. Turn off the heat and add the basil, stirring gently. Serve with rice.

Picking herbs is good for the plants

Parsley

Sometimes I forget to pick herbs, because I think I'll wait until its needed for dinner. Then I burn dinner because I go out to the garden to pick herbs and find other things to pick or weeds to pull. I planted herbs in planters near the house, but they didn't do well. I had to replant out in my raised bed herb garden.

Picking herbs and greens is helpful to the plants because it prevents them from forming seeds. The best way to pick parsley, and many herbs and leafy vegetables, is to snip the whole leaf and stem from the stock. Sometimes you can twist them off near the ground, especially when you pick parsley and Swiss chard.
Basil's a little different. You should cut the stock or branch, just above leaves, well below the leaves you want to harvest. Picking in late morning is the best time of day, especially for greens and herbs.
Pick leaves often to prevent the plants from going to seed. Because once they go to seed, many of the plants lose their herbiness flavor.
For Rosemary and sage, cut 5 inch branches and hang to air dry or chop and freeze herbs in ice cube trays or clumps in a freezer bag.

I Love My Farmers Market seeks votes

The "I Love My Farmers Market Celebration" encourages consumers to pledge to support family farmers by visiting www.lovemyfarmersmarket.org and signing an online pledge form. A pledge is a commitment to spend $10 at your farmers market. Each week one participant and their favorite farmer will be selected to receive a free No Farms No Food hat.
Markets with the most pledges will be featured on an up-to-the-minute “100 Most Celebrated Farmers Markets” leader-board by the end of July.
Just as Americans begin to embrace the advantages of local farmers markets, many of these markets may be in danger of disappearing. American Farmland Trust’s I Love My Farmers Market Celebration draws attention to a stark reality — once farmland is paved over, it is lost forever. Moreover, the farmland closest to urban centers is at the highest risk of being bulldozed.

American Farmland Trust’s I Love My Farmers Market infographic helps local food consumers go beyond their appreciation for fresh local food and see the bigger picture of how keeping farmers on the land benefits us all. The infographic can be downloaded and viewed at www.farmland.org/infographic .
I Love My Farmers Market Celebration is part of American Farmland Trust’s No Farms No Food Campaign. The celebration marks the fifth year that American Farmland Trust has hosted a summer-long event to honor our nation’s hardworking family farmers and to raise national awareness about our bountiful farmers markets.
For more information on the I Love My Farmers Market Celebration or to pledge, visit www.lovemyfarmersmarket.org/

Time to plant again

If you have any room left in your garden, now is a good time to plant for fall harvest. You can plant peas, spinach, lettuce, parsley, green onions, leeks and cabbage. Also cilantro,  for making salsa in early September. The seedlings will need some extra care; cover with shade cloth or plant them near taller plants. Be sure to water frequently.

Picking the beans

This is my favorite time of summer. It is HOT as it should be. Sadly the greens and broccoli don't like that, but the tomatoes and peppers love it and looking out today, it looks like we'll have plenty of peppers at least. Johnny Pepper Seed got a bit carried away.
Since our daughters set up the cold frames so we could put the plants out early, it looks like we're going to have tomatoes earlier than we ever have. The tomatoes are still green, but they're growing and some will probably be ready in two weeks.
We are picking bush green beans now, my favorite garden vegetable. Well, next to Swiss chard.
I was talking to a coworker this morning about replanting beans after they're done producing. As long as the plants are healthy, just leave them, because they will bear more fruit with a second season of picking in 4 to 6 weeks. I didn't know this until a neighbor told me, after I had pulled my plants and replanted. That was many years ago and I never forgot that lesson.

The beetles are back

The Japanese beetles are back in full force. They started with our Wisteria tree/bush and are now attacking our green beans, Swiss chard and asparagus. Pseudo Seven by Ortho did not help last year, so we went straight to Organic Captain Jack, which is currently keeping them at bay,  but only till the next day, then we have to spray again. We think the spray is working sufficiently in addition to picking beetles off one-by-one. (yes, ooohhh).
We hope to win and continue to have beans and chard to pick.
If you're having other pest problems, here's a link to the National Gardening Association library for pest identification.
http://www.garden.org/pestlibrary/http://www.garden.org/pestlibrary/

Workshop for better soil is in Birmingham, July 16

Southeast Oakland County Water Authority, (SOCWA) is hosting a free program "Earthwise Gardening:  The Secret Is The Soil,” 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 16 at Baldwin Public Library, 300 W. Merrill St., Birmingham. The program features speakers Lillian Dean and M.C. Haering. They will discuss soil health, compost benefits, fertilizer selection for Rouge River protection, information sources, and cultural practices for pest and disease prevention. Registration is requested by email to LFDean2@gmail.com.

Eco-friendly gardening workshop offered at retreat

Manresa Jesuit Retreat House will host The Master's Garden, a day-long workshop on eco-friendly gardening, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, July 13 at 1390 Quarton Road in Bloomfield Hill. The following speakers will give presentations: 

Janet Macunovich, of Michigan Gardener: “Earthwise Gardening”

 Rick Vespa, WXYZ-TV's Home Gardener: “It’s All About Balance”

Mike Stafford, Cranbrook Institute of Science: “The Disappearing Honey Bee”

Cyndi Ross, Friends of the Rouge: “Planting with Natives”

Fr. Bernie Owens, SJ, Manresa: “Spirituality of Creation”

The event includes lunch, entertainment, access to stroll Manresa’s 39-acre grounds, tour of the retreat house and marketplace, raffle, riverside demonstrations and gardening experts. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the entrance and can be ordered online at www.manresa-sj.org.

For more information, contact Rita Tinetti, Development Director, Manresa Jesuit Retreat House at rtinetti@manresa-sj.org or 248-644-4933 ext. 15.

More varieties of produce are ripe and ready for picking at farmers markets

While the cold spring slowed down the arrival of berries and vegetables in the area, there is a great variety of locally-grown produce ripening, at last.
Produce that you can find at farmers markets right now include: lettuce, greens including spinach, Swiss chard, kale, green onions, celery, peas, herbs, broccoli, cabbage, beans, zucchini, summer squash and rhubarb. You might even find cucumbers, egg plant, peppers, potatoes and raspberries. Asparagus and strawberries are pretty much done. But coming soon are cantaloupes, beets, cherries, blackberries and blueberries and little tomatoes (cherry and grape tomatoes, maybe even Roma). But you will probably have to wait until August for locally-grown big tomatoes, Brussel sprouts (plants behind basket in above photo, pea plants are further behind), watermelon, sweet corn and apples.
The outlook is good for locally-grown apples this year. Last year, we barely had any, due to a late frost after the trees had flowered.
For a list of farmers markets, visit The Oakland Press or see the farmers market page on this blog.