My Current Use for Wine Corks

I have far too many leftover wine corks. In my defense I have not uncorked them all, some people give me theirs. I tried using them as mulch in one of my raised beds, but did not like the results. They were not very effective at keeping the weeds down and generally just got in the way. I removed them after a year or so. My latest and better use is to use them like crockery in the bottom of plant pots. We have all had the experience of having a good sized pot and needing to put some drainage material in the bottom before adding dirt. Rocks, gravel, and potsherds really make a big pot heavy. Corks work really well to allow drainage and are not nearly so heavy.  Yea! Let's hear it for leftover wine corks.

Look What Showed Up in my Yard Yesterday!

Sandhill Cranes are taking over Lake Helen.

Growing a Pineapple

I cut the top out of a grocery store pineapple in 2012 and planted it in a pot then forgot about it. Somewhere I read that it takes 2 years for a pineapple plant to produce a pineapple. Well sure enough it works!!! Take a look.

COLE SLAW MY FAVORITE

Original recipe makes 20 servings
1 medium head cabbage, shredded
1 large red onion, diced
1 cup grated carrots
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup white sugar
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dry mustard
black pepper to taste

Directions
In a large bowl, combine cabbage, onion, carrots, and celery. Sprinkle with 1 cup sugar, and mix well. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, oil, salt, dry mustard, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Pour hot dressing over cabbage mixture, and mix well.

Grilled Eggplant Recipe

Prep and cooking takes about 15 minutes not counting getting the grill hot:

Ingredients:

I like medium sized lavender eggplants - Dancer is my favorite variety. I find the big black ones in the store too bitter. If they are used get 1 large one, soak it in salt water for 30 minutes and pat dry. This recipe is better with 2 medium Italian or Japanese eggplants
3 TBS Olive oil
2 TBS Balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves minced
a few pinches of fresh herbs - Dill, Basil, and Oregano are nice
Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking: 

Get your grill hot. Combine oil, vinegar, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Cut the eggplant into 1/2 inch slices. Coat the slices with he herb, olive, balsamic mixture. Grill for about 5 minutes per side or until tender and brown.

December 2013 in the garden

Red Lady Papaya

Red Lady Papaya

Red Lady Papaya

Lemons

Cranberry Hibiscus (Hibiscus Acetosella)

Cranberry Hibiscus (Hibiscus Acetosella)

Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia)

Turnips and Lettuce up front with Radicchio in the background

Christmas Tomatoes

Eggplant and green tomato on the grill

I have a wonderful variety of eggplant called Dancer. Violet colored, medium size, and the tastiest ever. It has been producing all spring summer and fall. Planted 1 seed in a pot and it has produced enough eggplant for me and my wife from May to December.  I grilled some last night that was great. I have some green tomatoes in the garden also. I am thinking about grilling both the green tomatoes and eggplant, putting some cheese on the eggplant and then topping with a green tomato. I will post how it turns out.

10 reasons why I love Gardening

It is experimental - I am never sure of the outcome

I really love to pull weeds - It is easy and I can see what I've done

I like fresh veggies

The veggies communicate with me but they are quiet

The garden is beautiful

Peace

I am still amazed that such great things come from such small seeds

A little bit science and a little bit art

Digging in the dirt is fun - I never wear gloves

It reminds me where my food comes from

Garden Festivals

Atlanta Dogwood Festival, April 19-21, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, dogwood.org

Biltmore Blooms Festival of Flowers, March 21-May 31, Biltmore Estate, Asheville, N.C., biltmore.com

Boston Flower & Garden Show, March 13-17, Seaport World Trade Center, Boston, bostonflowershow.com

Camellia Walks, through March 23, Middleton Place, Charleston, S.C., middletonplace.org

Celebrate Spring, through April 30, Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga., callawaygardens.com

Chicago Flower & Garden Show, through 17, Navy Pier, Chicago, chicagoflower.com

Daffodil Days, April 6-28, Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum, Bristol, R.I., blithewold.org

Daffodil Festival, April 26-28, Nantucket, Mass., nantucketchamber.org

Dallas Blooms, through April 7, Dallas Arboretum, dallasarboretum.org

Festival of Flowers, March 21-24, Bellingrath Gardens, Theodore, Ala. (near Mobile), bellingrath.org

Garden Conservancy's Open Days (more than 300 private gardens in 18 states open to public on select dates March-November), opendaysprogram.org

Hatsume Fair, March 23-24, Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, morikami.org

Garden Club of Virginia's Historic Garden Week, tours at various sites April 20-27, VAGardenweek.org

Basic Beer Cheese Bread

I know this has nothing to do with gardening, other than throwing in some of my fresh herbs, but sometimes I use this blog to archive a few (very few) of my favorite recipes. I love this stuff.

Basic Beer Bread Mix:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon baking powder (make sure it's fresh!)

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill (or 2 teaspoons dried)

1 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese

12 ounces beer

Optional glaze: 1 egg & 2 teaspoons water, beaten

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, dill, and cheddar in a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir in beer and mix just until combined. Batter will be thick. Spread in a greased 8-inch loaf pan, brush with egg glaze if desired, and bake until golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool 10 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Flavor Variations:

Add 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, and 2 minced garlic cloves (or 1 teaspoon garlic flakes) to the basic mix. For fresh herbs, use 1 chopped Tablespoon of each.

February Scenes

Monarch Mid January

The weather has been unusually warm of course.  I had a cool visit from a Monarch today, hungry for what a little marigold had to offer. You can tell this is a female Monarch by the absence of the scent glands (black dots on the back part of the wings). Basil rooting on the right. A spectacular day.

Fractal Cauliflower

I planted a variety pack of Cauliflower in one of my raised beds this fall and had a Romanesco Cauliflower come up.  I love these things.  Having been a fan of Fractal Geometry for years, this is the perfect vegetable for math people!

Sad Day for the Garden

Some critter got into my greenhouse and munched my tomato and eggplant seedlings down to nubs.  time to start over.  I may have to resort to buying sets this spring.  Can't figure out what type of thing did this.

Blooming Vanda Brought Into The Kitchen To Enjoy

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

The Gulf Fritillary Butterflies really love our Passion Vine and have made quite a home here

Planted Tomato and Eggplant seeds today

I usually start the seeds a little earlier, but the holidays and family took over this year.  This is a good thing. seeds can wait. I love my family.
I started Big Beef and Black Cherry tomatoes from Johnny's Seeds and Dancer eggplant also from Johnnys.  I use the starter cells with starter mix every year. I think the tray cost about $3 years ago. This system has worked well for me.  See the pics:

Anyone want any Canna Lily Rhizomes ...I'm in Lake Helen...leave me a comment if you want some

Someone gave me 6 a few years back. I decided to thin them earlier this week - Late December.  I must have over 50.  Glad to share.   They are the red ones.  The red ones almost took over my orange ones, and I do not have have those for sharing, only the red.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Slow-Roasted Heirloom Tomato Gratin This recipe is from Susie Middleton’s Fast, Fresh & Green, Chronicle Books. Susie appeared at the market on July 23, signed her book, and talked about her dedication to using fresh local ingredients, much of which she grows herself. If you want to follow her excellent blog, go to sixburnersue.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp plus ½ tsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 ½ lb large, ripe heirloom beefsteak tomatoes ¾ tsp kosher salt 1 tsp sugar 3 to 4 garlic cloves, sliced very thinly crosswise 2 tbsp loosely packed fresh thyme leaves ½ tsp balsamic vinegar
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub a 2-qt shallow baking dish with ½ tsp of the olive oil. 2. On a cutting board, preferably a channeled one to catch wandering juices, core the tomatoes. If they’re very large (3/4 to 1lb), quarter them. If they’re on the smaller side, just cut them in half. Turn the quarters and halves cut side down and slice them across into ¼-inch thick slices, keeping each group of slices (from the same half or quarter) together as much as possible. 3. Starting at one end of the baking dish, arrange one row of overlapping tomato slices across the pan from one side to the other, propping up the slices slightly against the end of the pan. (It’s easiest to pick up the slices from a tomato quarter or half and fan them out to make a row.) Season the tomatoes with a tiny bit of the salt and sugar and sprinkle the row with a few slices of the garlic and some of the thyme leaves. Arrange the next row of tomatoes so that they overlap the first quite a bit, and then repeat the seasoning. Continue with rows of overlapping, seasoned tomatoes until you get to the end of the pan. Every so often, you can stop and push the rows back a bit toward the end you started with to compact them somewhat. But don’t bunch them up too tightly. Sprinkle any remaining thyme leaves and the balsamic vinegar over all the tomatoes. Drizzle the remaining 3 Tbsp olive oil over all. 4. Bake until the tomatoes are very shrunken and the juices in the pan have greatly reduced (they should be barely visible below the edges of the tomatoes), about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The edges of the tomatoes near the center will be slightly browned and those around the sides of the baking dish will be a deep brown. The baking dish itself will be very browned from the spattering and reducing juices. Let cool and eat warm or at room temperature.
(Serves 4)

Sweet Potato Coins Recipe

Sweet Potato Coins - great for medium to small Sweet potatoes - I harvested a bunch that size this year
1 pound of sweet potatoes
2 tbs. of olive oil
2 tbs. brown  sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper - 12 turns of an average pepper mill
1/4 tsp - dried cumin
Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch thick circles (coins)
Place in bowl - sprinkle with olive oil
add other ingredients - mix by hand until potatoes are covered
Place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (spray a little PAM junk to prevent sticking)
Roast at 425 for 25 to 30 min. 
Super yummy snack, side dish or hors d'oeuvre