Garden Plans

The shortest day of the year has come and gone and now it's just a matter of time before the days are brighter and warmer. I may be rushing things a little, but the first part of the year is when I start thinking about what I'm going to do out in the garden this year.

Not being pregnant will make it easier to bend over and reach the plants, but my little Buttercup may be starting to scoot around by then which will add a whole new challenge to my gardening efforts. Whatever the challenges, I'm really looking forward to getting my garden established.

We've lived in the new house for a year and a half now and it's high time that I start work on creating my new vegetable garden. Dad and Husband took down a bunch of trees that were creating shade where I want sun and they're all set to take down more this spring.

I got two 4'x4' raised beds put in place late last fall and the plan for this year is to add 6 more to the far side of the pool. I want to fence in the whole area so that Muttley doesn't tromp all over stuff. I am inspired by the look of Jamie Oliver's garden and I think I'd like to put gravel in the pathways.

I have to start all over again with my asparagus bed, but on the plus side, I now have enough room to plant enough to keep our pee smelling funny all summer. I have also decided to plant pears. We have plenty of apple orchards nearby but I'd love to have some fresh pears. I'm thinking bosc and anjou, but I need to do more research.

If we can get to the expanded patio this year, I have great hopes of building the herb bed. I miss having the glut of fresh herbs to work with all season long. My final plan for this year is to get some fruit bushes planted. I want to move the blueberry that was hacked down and I'd like to experiment with cranberries. If I can get the guys to build them, I'd like to do strawberries in planters on the rail of the fence and (hopefully) out of reach of the slugs.

I may not get to all of these projects this year but I am excited about getting started.

Shrimp Bisque

Since it's shrimp season, I'm stocking up while I can so that I have shrimp for later in the year. Of course, I have to eat some now and I cooked up a bunch for Christmas. There were a few left over so I decided to turn the shells and leftover meat into a coconut shrimp bisque which is a variation of my lobster bisque, which is a variation of Thomas Keller's lobster bisque from his cookbook The French Laundry Cookbook.

Coconut Shrimp Bisque

• 1 lb of Maine shrimp, cleaned and shelled, meat and shells reserved
  
• olive oil
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1/2 chopped tomato (Backyard Beauties are my out-of-season tomato of choice)
  
• 1 celery stalk chopped
• peal from one clementine (I also sometimes use lemongrass instead. Very different flavor, but it's an option for you to consider. I would do one or the other, but not both)
  
• 1 can of coconut milk (you can use the reduced fat stuff if you're a wuss)
• chili powder
• Thai red curry paste
  
• Salt and pepper

Place the shrimp shells in a stock pot over medium high heat with a little olive oil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add carrots, tomatoes, clementine peal (or lemongrass) and celery and cook for another couple of minutes. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour.

Using a colander, strain out the veggies and shrimp parts. Make sure you crush the shells with the back of a spoon to get all the juice out. Run broth through a fine mesh strainer to get any last chunky bits and put broth back into a clean saucepan.

Simmer until it is reduced to about a cup of liquid, then add coconut milk, red curry paste and chili powder. Simmer for 15 minutes, taking care not to let it boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add shrimp meat before serving.

Mache moments

It's taken a while, but I have finally learned how to say the word mache. It's pronounced mosh and after all the verbal stumbling, I should just call it lamb's lettuce.

Things have definitely slowed down out in the mini-hoop. I was kind of expecting that since it's been so cold. The radishes, kale, chard and scallions will hopefully hang on until it starts to warm up in the spring and then, in theory, take off and produce some really early vegetables. The mache, however, seems to be going strong. I'm torn between harvesting some for a fresh winter salad and letting them grow a little more. On the one hand, I'm eager to give the little green leaves a try. They are supposed to be nutty and sweet. On the other hand, if I pick them all now to make one glorious salad and really like it, I have to deal with the fact that I just didn't plant enough.

Mache is a fairly small plant. According to the seed package, the rosettes should be harvested when the plant is a couple of inches tall. My mache is about that size now. They say that it loses its flavor when allowed to over mature. There are no specifics about what constitutes "over mature" so I'm just going to have to guess at that one.

The thing that is very clear to me now is that instead of planting rows of the seeds, I should have planted a solid bed of it. Mache is fairly slow growing, so I imagine that if I planted more now, it wouldn't get a chance to grow before the ground really freezes up.

As for what to do with my lone winter harvest, Epic Roots - a mache producer - has a bunch of recipes that sound really good. Mache with caramalized onion and apple sounds mighty tasty right about now.

Back in August of 2003, NPR's Morning Edition did a piece on mache as the new hip salad green. I don't know if Todd Koons' hopes for the little lettuce have come true, but you can still listen to the story as reported by John McChesney. I will be out by the mini hoop, waiting for the perfect mache moment.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Hope yours is merry and bright!

Greenie Baebies

My mother-in-law, Kronk, lent me her new book on making cuddly creatures from old socks. I love that I have a fun new use for all those lone socks who have lost their mates in the laundry. I have a theory that there is a warehouse in Washington, possibly beneath the Reflecting Pool, that houses the Ark of the Covenant, Jimmy Hoffa and billions of lone socks.

I may have issues.

Sock critters are certainly a more interesting end for a sock than being used as a dust rag and definitely more interesting than just throwing those lone socks out. I have dubbed all the sock creatures I make as Greenie Baebies because, well, they're made mostly from recycled bits and stuff I have that's just lying around.

In any event, meet Carl. He is my first ever sock critter and is destined for a life with my little Buttercup. He enjoys ska music, chocolate milk, and shoe laces. His best friend is Rosco, a sock critter that is almost done, and loves to tease Claire, the sock critter that's going to Husband's aunt. Claire thinks that Carl is a complete slacker, but I think that she may have a crush on him.

Did I mention that I may have issues?

Christmas Greens

It just doesn't feel quite like Christmas without wreaths and other evergreens decorating the place. Since we're trying to do the holiday without spending a fortune, I opted for keeping the branches we trimmed from the tree and using them to make my own wreaths this year.

It was certainly cheaper than if we had bought a tree AND wreathes but it's not one of my favorite holiday tasks. I hate being sticky and the needles can be sharp. Yeah, I know I could wear gloves while wiring the wreathes together but I hate that too.

I cheated with the decorating and took a bunch of pictures of the pre-decorated ones at O'Donals. I liked how they flipped some of the branches over to create color variations in the wreath. I also liked how they mixed white pine branches in with the frasier pine base to give some texture variations. It seems like the hot color combination this season is red and silver and since AC Moore had red and silver balls for about $2 per box, I couldn't resist.

It's been about 15 years since I last made a wreath. I forgot that they assemble easier and look better when you cut the branches fairly small and gather them in clumps to wire onto the frame. As a result, one side of this wreath is beefier than the other. If you can't tell which side is which, I'll take it as a holiday kindness and won't mention it again.

I'm glad this holiday task is done and just in time for Christmas.

I wish I'd thought of this...

Looking for that last minute gift for your loved one in the Indianapolis area? Why not give them a vegetable garden? Noah Herron has a great company called Urban Farmer Seeds. In addition to selling heirloom seeds in recycled packaging, he offers the opportunity for everyone - even you busy people - the chance to grow your own vegetables. He'll come out and set your garden up and then you can tend it or, for a small fee, an Urban Farmer will come out once a week and and tend it for you.

What a great gift idea for an elderly person who may not be able to get out and garden themselves. It's so much more useful than some of the other options out there. Even if you live outside the UFS area, this could still be a great gift idea for someone you know that could use a hand getting fresh vegetables. They can pick out the seeds, you can provide the labor to install and maintain the garden. The benefits from a gift like that could be more than just veggies.

Photo from the Urban Farmer Seeds website.

Bay

I bought this sweet bay a few years ago at Skillins Greenhouse up in Brunswick. I love the flavor of bay in soups and stews, but I hate how quickly the leaves lose their flavor when stuck in a jar. When I saw that I could grow my own bay leaves in a pot, I jumped at the chance to have fresh bay leaf at my disposal when ever I needed it.

In its preferred Mediterranean habitat, the bay will grow into a 40 foot tree. The best I can hope for is a 6 foot shrub. It can't survive outside in the Maine winter, but it has done alright surviving on my mostly shady windowsills until spring shows up.

It's been remarkably forgiving of my inability to grow houseplants. I seem to forget about watering plants sometime around mid-January, but the bay seems to be alright drying out and then getting drenched in water when I finally remember. These harsh conditions have kept the plant very small, but each spring I repot it and stick it outside and it goes through a wonderful phase of growth. It's kind of like it knows that it better take advantage of good conditions while it can.

The flavor of fresh bay is like most things grown at home - unbelievably better than anything dried or transported. They aren't cheap. I think I paid $10 or $15 for a 10-inch plant with only a handful of leaves. It's worth it though. If you enjoy bay, see if you can get one of these great plants. It's a fabulous edition to any kitchen garden.

Baby eggplant to go with the carrot

In my continuing quest to delude myself that I can get my daughter to like vegetables (and gardening) if I make them cute and cuddly, I present my knitted eggplant. The top is not the quality that I would have liked. I picked up purple stitches when I closed the eggplant up and that messed with how the top looks.

My leaves were insolent and needed to be tacked down with a bit of yard. Pretty cute though and eminently squishable. If you'd like to make an eggplant of your very own, the pattern is from Jimmy Beans Wool and can be found in a printable format here.

Sausage & Pirogi Skillet

I saw the original version of this during the last MPBN beg-a-thon. I don't know what caused me to try it though. I didn't think I'd be fond of cooked cabbage but this is really an awesome dish. Very fast, pretty simple, cooks in one skillet and is one of those great, hearty dishes for a cold fall or winter night.

Sausage & Pirogi Skillet

• Homemade or frozen pirogi, cooked
  
• 1 lb of your favorite sausage, removed from casing
  
• 1 cup cider
• butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cabbage, chopped

Brown sausage & remove from pan. Deglaze pan with cider & reduce to about 1/2 cup. Remove cider. Saute onion in butter until caramelized. Add cabbage and brown. Add pirogi, sausage & cider sauce. Salt & pepper to taste.

Birches into firewood

Today's impending ice storm got me thinking about the birches.
I don't like birches. Yeah, yeah, I hear you. They are pretty. The white bark and the silvery-green leaves are an attractive addition to any landscape. They are great to look at all year long. The problem is that they seem to be a very soft wood. Last winter, the three little birches on the far side of the pool bent over the fence and into the pool. We had a winter storm in February that dumped ice on everything and as you can see, the top almost snapped off of this large birch. Of course, it wasn't courteous enough to come off entirely, so now I'm stuck with dead branches hanging 30 feet out of reach.

As I look around the yard and think about next spring, I have an eye on the rest of the birches and scrubby little trees out there. Not only will clearing them out give me more sunlight for my veggie garden, but I think we'll even get a few extra logs for next year's fire. Meanwhile, I sit by my cozy fire with all my running around done for the day and wait for the ice to build up, the power to go out and, inevitably, for more branches to break off from my birches.

First snow of the season

While it's not officially winter just yet, we did get our first dusting of snow yesterday. It didn't last long, but it certainly put me in the holiday mood.

I'm always excited about the first snows of the year. Christmas should always be white and there's a part of me that feels bad for the folks who live in climates where they have to put lights on their cactus or palm trees. Four seasons (OK, seven if, like me, you count "Mud", "Blackfly", and "Mosquito") are one of the joys of living in Maine. Although I'll be complaining bitterly about the snow come March, watching the little flakes drift around in the air has an oddly soothing quality to it.

Now if I just didn't have to think about heating bills and paying the plow guy, winter would be perfect!

Carrot!

I know I'm delusional, but I have this grand idea that if I make cute stuffed veggies for my little Buttercup that she'll grow up thinking they are cool and fun.

Hey, a parent can dream, can't she?

I had extra green and orange yarn left over from the eggplant and pumpkin hats, so I knit this carrot. It was super easy and Buttercup seems to love its squishiness. She may never love the real thing, but she likes chewing on this one.

Should you be pining for fresh carrots of your own, I present the pattern:

Knit Carrots
I used a cotton yarn so the veggies wouldn't be too hairy. I don't have swatch information or yarn thickness. Sorry. I just knit the things.

• Carrot orange yarn
• Bright green yarn
• 4 #6 double pointed needles
• cotton or poly stuffing
• tapestry needle
  

With orange yarn, cast on 18 stitches. Divide evenly between 3 needles. Knit every round until the piece measures 3 inches.
Round 1 : K2, K2 tog, K4, K2 tog, K4, K2 tog, K2
Round 2 & 3: K
Round 4: K2, K2 tog, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, K3
Round 5 & 6: K
Round 7: K1, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, K1
Round 8: K3 tog, K3 tog, K3 tog
Bind off stitches

Knit the leaves
Pick up 18 stitches around the top of the carrot and divide evenly between 3 needles. With bright green yarn K one round. The next round K, K2 tog and repeat to end of round. Start the individual leaves. On just one needle, K 4 stitches until they are the desired length. Bind off. Attach yarn to next needle and knit these 4 stitches to desired length and bind off. Repeat with last needle. I think it's visually interesting to vary the leaf length, but do what you think looks best. Stuff the carrot with cotton or poly fiber fill.

Finishing
Since I made this for little Buttercup, I left it pretty squishy, but if you want firmer carrots, add more stuffing. Using tapestry needle and green yarn, stitch up each leaf so that they form tubes, then close off the top of the carrot and weave in the yarn ends.

Little garden critters from old socks

My mother-in-law, Kronk, found the most wonderful book the other day. It's called Stray Sock Sewing by a guy named Daniel.

The critters he makes are just so charming. They remind me of the creatures in a Miyazaki film and they are so easy to make, I don't know why I didn't figure this out for myself.

I would love little beings like this wandering around my garden and as I've recently come into the possession of a lot of stay socks, I know what I'll be doing with them.

Shrimp season is here again!

Maine shrimp season started yesterday and will go until the end of May this year. I can't begin to describe how much I've been looking forward to shrimp. Sure I could go out and buy some at the grocery store, but ever since I read the Washington Post article about the shrimp from China that were laced with banned veterinary drugs. There have also been instances of shrimp being imported from China but labeled "from Indonesia". Who knows where some of these imports come from or what's in them. Scary.

So, as much as I love my tiger prawns with spicy noodles, shrimp from Away is no longer on my grocery list. I plan to stock up while Maine shrimp are available. They freeze well and are super sweet and they're a lot like potato chips...they're hard to stop eating once you've started.