Fun for the neighborhood kitty cats

 Nepeta, one of the biggest plants in my herb garden, is blooming.  Even though it is not a culinary herb, I love it because of its attractive blue flowers and blue green pointed leaves. Nepeta is also called catnip or catmint because of its effect on cats. Some claim that Nepeta tends to have a sedative effect on humans, but it has the opposite effect on cats, making them  high by pleasantly stimulating their  pheromones. This  is why my neighbor's Siamese cat is often seen hanging around. She rolls around in it which drives my poor claw-less inside cat crazy as she watches jealously from behind the screened door of the kitchen. I'll have to remember to cut her a bunch as a treat!

Nature's temple

Lush green meadows, panoramic vistas, rushing waterfalls, 3000 year old sequoia trees. A perfect week of hiking in California's Yosemite valley.

Garlic scape breath

I feel a little bit like Julie from the movie Julie and Julia blogging about recipes that I'm cooking, but I promise to only write about food that comes out of the garden. So tonight's theme is garlic, scapes that is. It seems that garlic scapes were not a big seller out in the garage market that I've set up so I brought them inside and looked up a couple of recipes. I decided to make chicken with garlic scapes and capers and I served it over mashed potatoes with garlic scapes. The dinner tasted pretty good, but it is clear that I will need to carry a box of tic tacs with me tomorrow.

Chicken with garlic scapes and capers
2 boneless chicken breasts halved
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp dry white wine
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 chopped garlic scapes
1 tbsp drained capers
Slightly flatten the chicken between sheets of plastic. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of butter and the oil over  med high heat. Saute until cooked through. Season with s & p. Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm. Pour off the fat from the skillet and add remaining butter, wine, lemon juice, scapes and bring to a boil. Simmer until scapes soften. Stir in capers and season with s & p to taste. Spoon over chicken and serve. Serves 4.
Mashed potatoes with garlic scapes
2 1/2 lbs russet potatoes peeled and cut up.
2 tbsp butter
1-2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup garlic scapes
1/4 cup hot milk
Cook potatoes until tender. Drain and return to pot. Over med high heat, melt butter with oil in small skillet. Add scapes and saute about 5 mins. Add potatoes and mash. Gradually add milk. Season with s & p.

Arugula pesto

The arugula is gone, but I did buy more seed and will plant it again when space opens up. I wasn't pleased with the slow growing, short leaf 'sylvetta' variety that I planted the first time. It was difficult to harvest and had a very pungent taste that is too strong for my liking. Instead, I prefer the standard arugula with long dark green lobed leaves that reaches maturity in 40 days. The sylvetta variety was good for making pesto, however. I have it for sale in the garage freezer. But beware, it is strong and only for true arugula lovers only!  

Napa cabbage and cilantro

The cilantro is starting to bolt so I wanted to pick it while I still had the chance. I use cilantro later in the season to make salsas and guacamole, but I wanted to pair it with something that I could harvest today. I decided to make Asian cabbage slaw, from a recipe that I found in Farmer John's cookbook.

2 cups shredded cabbage (I used the Napa chinese cabbage from the garden)
1/3 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup minced red onion
2 tbsp fresh mint
2 tbsp fresh cilantro
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp peanut oil
                                                      1 tbsp rice wine
                                                       2 tsp honey
                                                       1 tsp sesame oil
                                                       s & p
Combine cabbage, carrot, onion, mint and cilantro in a large bowl and toss. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl until mixed well and toss with the salad. You can refrigerate the salad for an hour before serving to combine the flavors.

I used Napa Chinese cabbage from the garden, a savoy type that has a fine flavor, tender texture, and thin crinkly green leaves. I also had the cilantro and mint in the herb bed. I will seed more cilantro to use later in the season. Time for dinner...

Beautiful harvest

I picked this basket of vegetables from the garden this morning. Bok choy, garlic scapes, radishes, Hakurei salad turnips, green and red leaf lettuce and Napa Chinese cabbage. I rinsed and bagged up the extra and put it out in the garage to sell to my friends. I am certainly encouraged by what the garden is producing so far and I'm looking forward to enjoying these fresh veggies for dinner tonight!

Eating out of the garden

 It is wonderful to be eating out of the garden again! This is a salad that I made a couple of days ago from some spinach that I had hidden away in the back of the fridge.

Working mondays

Hooray! My gardening buddies all working together ! What a great way to start the week! It seems that the best day to get together as a group is early monday morning. A simple twist of fate had me scheduled to work in the office so I missed getting dirty with all of you, but I plan to be free most mondays from now on.  You did a  great job of weeding and planting more beans and Swiss chard in the empty space created by removing the cold frame and harvesting the spinach and arugula. Over the weekend I squeezed some fennel, basil, and lettuce in between the squash and eggplant. The garden is now fully planted and I will have to wait for more space to open up before I plant anything else. I was also busy harvesting and have quite a variety of things for sale out in the garage, including mixed baby greens, red and green lettuce, bok choy, Napa cabbage, garlic scapes, and radishes. In addition, I made some arugula pesto to try, Colleen has refilled the freezer with her delicious soups, and of course there are fresh local eggs available. I am always amazed at how much can be grown in a small area and with great help from my gardening buddies, we are off to a terrific start to the season!

What are garlic scapes?

Garlic scapes are the curlicue flower stalks that appear on the garlic plants in June, about a month before the bulbs are ready to harvest. Garlic scapes can be eaten and enjoyed now while we wait for the bulbs to be ready. It is important to snap off the scapes because we'll get 30 percent bigger bulbs as the plant redirects its energy down toward the root. Garlic scapes have a milder taste than the bulbs. Just chop all the way up the green stalks, saute and enjoy the mild garlic taste in many of your favorite dishes.

Bok choy anyone?

Bok Choy is a satisfying plant to grow. It likes the cool spring weather, grows quickly, and is one of the first plants ready to harvest.

Bok Choy is a great nutritional gift and often touted as the garden vegetable highest in calcium. Bok choy is an excellent source of vitamins A, B-complex, C, and some minerals. All this for only 24 calories per one-cup serving!

My problem has always been what to do with it. My neighbor Jeri suggested I cook it in the bamboo steamer. So this is what I did:

I placed bok choy leaves in the bottom part of the steamer and laid a piece of salmon filet on top. Then I cut up the remainder of the bok choy, some scallions, garlic scapes, a Hakurei salad turnip and the turnip greens that I harvested from the garden, and mixed them with a combination of sesame oil, soy sauce, and honey, salt and pepper. Then I steamed it on top of the stove and voila! A yummy Asian inspired dinner!