Speckled Lettuce

 

A large part of the fun with growing your own food is experimentation. Matthew takes this part very seriously, while I just poke fun at him. :D Speckled lettuce is a great variety because of it's juiciness and sweetness. It's also very easy to grow. Here in the south, it's the perfect green leaf to over-winter. Plant in November, mulch, cover with plastic during really hard freezes and January through March you'll have plenty of fresh greens. Remember early on to cut plenty of leaves off. Leave at least two for the plant to use in gathering sun for growth, but trimming always spurs more growth so don't be shy about cutting your first leaves off for a salad. You don't have to wait until the plant is full and lush (it wont' get that way unless you start cutting). Spring as a growing season doesn't really exist in Texas (groan). So come mid-March the lettuce will look beautiful but taste bitter. As pretty as it may be and as psychologically difficult as it is to pull up healthy "looking" plants, you'll be forced to do it. Once it turns bitter, the space can be better used to grow something else. The "winter" growing season is over and the "summer" growing season has begun.

Harvest

Our broccoli, carrots and cauliflower are yummy and harvesting makes us happy (and yes, I know I look funny :)!

 

 

Storing Green Beans

Unlike some of our other plants that we eat from through the season and then harvest for storing all at once (basil), green beans are so prolific, if you don't pick them every day, you'll end up with very large, untasty green beans and basically waste the harvest. In this way, they're a bit more maintenance.

Since I have difficulty eating the same food every day, I'll pick a meals worth and store it immediately. I use the popular blanching method. I don't clip the ends of the beans before I store them. It's a general rule that the less you can mess with a crop before storing, the better.

Lightly rinse the green beans, bring a pot of water to boil on the stove, have a bowl of ice water standing by. Throw the beans in the boiling water for 1 to 3 minutes then strain them and plunge them into the ice water. The cold stops the cooking process immediately. Put them in a container in the fridge for use later in the week. Or to freeze: lay them out on a cookie sheet to dry and try to spread them evenly so there isn't much overlap. You can put the cookie sheet in the freezer so they freeze individually and then you can put them all in a bag or jar together. This way, they don't freeze together and you end up with a clumpy mess. If you don't blanch them immediately, they won't be fresh for long!

Storing Basil

When November draws near, here in central Texas, we rev up our harvesting. One arctic blast of air and the plants are gonners! Just like cooking in bulk actually reduces work load, so does harvesting in bulk. When I look at the full basil plants, drooping with leaves, begging to be poured as pesto over al dente noodles, the first thing I do is make sure I've got all my pillowcases washed.

huh? Yes :).

Typically, I'll pull up the whole plant, take it to the kitchen table and start picking off the leaves, keeping an eye out for bugs as I go. Once in a big bowl, I wash them with a tablespoon of white vinegar, rinse them, then lay then out on a pillowcase (cotton is best) and spread them as evenly as possible. The rest of the plant goes into the compost bin.

I fold the pillowcase in half, place them in a cool dark place, most often back into the linen closet with strict instructions to my husband (though, who am I kidding? he would never think to change his pillowcase :D). Three days later, they're nice and dried, without much stress, so they retain that wonderful smell. I slip them into some cleaned out spice jars and we're ready for winter!

Basil Pesto

When summer is in full swing and temperatures climb past 100, I love the option of a quick fresh meal without lots of preparation or cooking.

Basil Pesto:

• 2 cups of fresh basil leaves from the garden
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (any kind)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Blend in the blender until pasty

• Saute a purple onion
• Cook angel hair pasta, drain, don't rinse, mix with pesto
• Shave fresh raw-milk Parmesan on top