I think it must be the rain, but my squash and cukes are absolutely pathetic! I'm so disgusted with them that I went out and purchased new ones today.
I have worked so hard on this garden that I just don't see the point of keeping these sickly looking things and possibly waiting too late to plant new ones and miss a great squash and cuke harvest.
Himself's Herself wants to make Lyme and Bread and Butter Pickles.
I made a couple of hundred thousand jars of them about 10 years ago and ate my last jar a couple of months ago. So I am willing to torture myself once again and make them.
Another, thing that we made all those years ago was Watermelon Rind pickles. These are made from the white part of the melon rind. They were soooo good that my daughter Raleigh entered them into the Worcester County Fair and won first prize for them.
I got the recipe from a neighbor of mine when I lived on Dividing Creek Road and decided I wanted to be an Organic Farmer.
Once I moved to town, I joined a CSA Coop in DE and had a wonderful time planting and growing sharing and eating the wonderful things that came from the garden their.
However with the price of gas these days, we are keeping the garden small and have several beds throughout the neighborhood where we are all growing something different.
Back to the squash... You know the weird thing about them is that they have blossoms on them but almost all of the leaves have died. They look mutated. I'm planting the new ones.
Meanwhile, this bottom picture is a pic of one of the Artichoke Plants, and I must say they are doing absolutely beautifully. I can't wait to harvest those babies!
5 comments:
What is a good recipe for artichokes? I have been trying to figure out how to cook them.
Sorry, this has NOTHING to do with artichokes, but I wondered if you knew where to get the wonderful scented geraniums that smell like citronella when you rub their leaves.
I had them on my patio last year and had NO mosquitoes. Of course, it was a dry year so we wouldn't have had many anyway! But this year I can't find any of these plants.
Steph;
Cucurbits,(squash, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, gourds) do not transplant well because they do not like their root system disturbed. They do better planted as seeds. A couple of hills of squash containing 2 or 3 plants each will supply enough squash for the entire neighborhood.
Av.Girl,
My mother used to steam them whole in a steamer. The only preparation needed to do this to cut off the stem even with the bottom of the artichoke, so that it will sit up on the plate and won't fall over. Make a reduction of butter and lemon. Serve on a plate with the sauce in small bowl to the side, and simply tear the leaves off one at a time and dip the attached end into the dip. Place it in your mouth and using your bottom teeth slice the meat of the leaf off of the leaf. provide a bowl for discarded leaves. You get just he tiniest bit of meat but it is delicious.
My mother in law who is Sicilian takes it a step farther. Using kitchen shears she cuts all of poky ends on each leaf and cuts off the stem so it will stand up on the plate. Using her thumbs she spreads the leaves away from the body of the artichoke. Then make a mixture of Italian Bread crumbs and lots of parm and olive oil and a little salt and pepper and lemon juice. Using a spoon or your fingers place the stuffing in the voids you have created by pulling apart the leaves.
Place the Chokes in a steamer you probably want to have one for each person, and steam for about 40 minutes. When they are done the leaves will come off very easily.
Your can serve these with melted butter and lemon too, and the stuffing with offer a little bit more in your mouth than with them just plain.
Anyway as you eat your way through the artichoke you will come to its center. The leaves in the center are very fine and thing these leaf bottoms are also edible continue on until you are done with the leaves and you will be left with the bottom of the stem and very center of the artichoke. This is where you will find the reason it gets it's name there will be what looks like a cushion of spiky needles. Pull these off with your fingers, and be sure you get all of them off. What you have left is a button of artichoke meat. This is the prize at the end of your delicacy. Break off a piece of the button and dip it into your sauce or just enjoy it plain. The flavor is unique. The time that it takes to eat it is reminiscent of eating crabs; where you can enjoy good conversation over great food and have a really pleasant dinner.
These are great as an appetizer for summer dinners out doors, as it gives everyone something to do while dinner is cooking. Serve with some sangria, or my favorite a margarita!
Bon A petite!
Anon 4:12,
Scented Geranuims can be obtained at Thomas Gardens at T's Corner in New Church Va, about a block north of the Chincoteague Road turnoff on the the right side.
They have a wonderful selection of everything unusual and beautiful, that most garden centers just don't carry.
Dennis,
You are absolutey correct. However since every one of the seads I have planted have washed away I am babying these transplants.
So far so good.
My Mom; AKA THE Joan has my favorite recipe for artee chokes.
She washes them down real good.
The puts stuffing / dressing into the spaces between the larger leaves all the way around.
She used to cook 4 or 5 like that when we were kids in a big steamer.
It seemed like they cooked FOREVER but its probably around 45-minutes.
Then she lets them cool down and would serve them as a side dish.
One of my absolute favorite ways to eat the artee chokes...
When we were little she used to tell us kids the chokes were poison and would stick in your throat and that we should give her or my dad the bottom part....
It took a few years for us to figure out they would have us clean them down to the 'hearts' for them... but the story was its OK for adults to eat that part 'because we know how'...
Now that I am an adult getting down to the heart of a stuffed artee choke is still just as tasty... BUT the Princess nor he brothers would ever fall for the choke story and they would keep that for themselves.
I consider myself SO LUCKY every single day to be married to a wonderful woman like Wymzie...
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