Garden

The Completely Free Compost Bin

January is never a fun month. Between crappy weather, post-holiday blues and the reminder that weight does not come off as easily as it goes on, I feel like January is one long trip to the dentist.

This week, however, the flowers began to peek through my brown lawn and my husband started the seeds for the garden, sure signs that Spring is on the way.

We’ve been planning several improvements to this year’s vegetable garden, including using only heirloom vegetables, a second round of planting in the fall and experimenting with vegetables we’ve never grown before. It’s an ambitious plan, and it’s going to require some work on to get it off the ground. We started by constructing this completely free compost bin:

Since we need to recycle more, cut costs and improve the less-than-ideal soil quality of our raised beds, I decided a compost bin was overdue. My husband was skeptical, but I vowed to come up with something that wouldn’t cost us a penny. By the power of Google, I formed a plan to construct a container out of discarded wooden pallets, so it could keep our compost pile contained (and therefore less likely to tick off our neighbors). We scouted around the dumpsters of local businesses for the pallets, and found four in very short order. We screwed them together using wood screws we already had on hand, after cutting one side in half to ensure we can reach in to turn the compost as needed. My husband also found some leftover screen that the previous owners left in our garage, and staple-gunned it around the inside to further secure the compost from escaping between the slats.

Not too shabby for twenty minutes and no dinero.

And that was just a gratuitous baby photo. Why? Because it’s Monday, that’s why.

Fresh Tomato Pie=Garden Satisfaction


Our garden is, thus far, holding up to the 100 degree weather this week. Our water bill, however, may put us in the poor house. I’d do a rain dance if I honestly thought it would help.

Despite the depressingly oppressive heat, we are enjoying the fruits of our (ahem…my husband’s) labor. I made a tomato pie this weekend, and it was so good, even my gaggle of picky eaters loved it. Fresh tomatoes, cheese, mayonnaise and pie crust…what’s not to like?

Fresh Tomato Pie

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Notes

  • 2 pounds (approximately) tomatoes, thinly sliced (I used the Roma from my garden)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
  • 1 sweet onion, chopped
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground pepper, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Gruyère cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 9-inch deep dish pie crust (you can use the frozen kind, or make your own if you are so enterprising)
Preparation
  1. 1. Prebake pie crust according to package directions. Set aside, and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. 2. Place tomatoes in a single layer on paper towels; sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Don't be a lazy bum and skip this step. If you do, you will end up with a soggy pie that is short on flavor.
  3. 3. Meanwhile, sauté onion and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper in hot oil in a skillet over medium heat 3 minutes or until onion is tender.
  4. 4. Pat tomatoes dry with a paper towel. Layer tomatoes, onion, and basi in prepared crust, seasoning each layer with pepper (1 tsp. total). Stir together cheeses and mayonnaise; spread over pie.
  5. 5. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until lightly browned, shielding edges with foil to prevent excessive browning. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Summer Amnesia…or Denial…or Wishful Thinking

We are in what I like to call the “honeymoon” period of a Louisiana Spring. The flowers are blooming. My husband’s garden is thriving:

And the temperate weather is just enough make me foolishly optimistic. The yard and garden sure don’t seem like that much of a chore when it’s only 80 degrees outside.

But deep down, I know it’s coming.

The heat…dear God, the heat. By mid-June, I know my currently euphoric love of the outdoors will morph into bitter misery.

I’m already a big sissy when it comes to the oppressive Louisiana heat, but last summer traumatized us all. We had months of temperatures over 100 degrees (often reaching 110) and absolutely no rain. The record breaking heat and drought destroyed lawns, landscaping, trees, and crops. Our electric bill nearly put us in the poorhouse, and our kids dang near went stir crazy because they couldn’t play outside for most of the day. When we tried cooling off, we failed. Even if we waited until late evening to swim, the pool was still hotter than most people’s bath water. I really, really do not want to relive that.

Every year, a beautiful Spring makes me hope that maybe, just maybe Summer won’t be so bad. Maybe we won’t be constantly confined, or burning our hands on scorching seatbelt buckles, or dreading the double whammy of excruciating electric and water bills. Maybe my poor husband will be able to mow the lawn without the real danger of heatstroke. Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised.

And maybe pigs will fly…*sigh*

First Harvest

My husband picked our first vegetables of the year from our garden. About two seconds later, he found one of his pepper plants stripped bare of its’ leaves. He also found the fattest caterpillar on earth next to the plant, with an incriminating fleck of pepper leaf in the corner of its’ little caterpillar mouth.

My husband used words that are not fit for public consumption, but being the softie he is, simply relocated the guilty party to another part of the yard.

I’m going to laugh when he finds the caterpillar back in the peppers tomorrow.

 

Overcoming Garden Trauma—Where Do We Go From Here?

With Spring not too far around the corner, I’ve realized that I better come up with some type of plan to rehabilitate our yard.

Last summer, my little section of Louisiana experienced both record heat and drought. It rained only a handful of times for five months, and even when it did rain, it felt more like the sky was spitting on us than actual precipitation. We had more consecutive days of 100+ degree temperatures than at any other time in history, many of those days reaching 110 degrees, if not more. As a result, huge sections of our grass died completely, or were overrun by weeds that could probably survive an apocalypse. We also lost several azaleas, and many other plants that were significant to our landscaping. Our raised-bed vegetable garden was hit and miss, with the exception of a bumper jalapeno crop. Go figure.

My husband tried to water everything as much as he could, to the point that our water bill rivaled our electricity bill for which would be the biggest budget-killer. By the end of the summer, we admitted defeat and hoped for better luck next year. Consequently, our yard is a wreck, and our gardening enthusiasm is at an all-time low.

I know I’ll have to replace the azaleas and other landscaping plants, but I am clueless what to do about the lawn. Should we reseed the dead sections? Weed-and-Feed what’s left and hope for the best? We also are having the mildest winter in years, so does this mean that summer will be as bad, if not worse than last year? How can I heal my balding lawn and help it thrive?

I am still an abject gardening novice, not to mention inexcusably lazy when 100-degree heat is involved. However, if I don’t get my butt in gear and come up with a plan, our home is going to be a whole lot more scraggly-looking come Fall.

Can, Freeze, Burn My Hands Off, Repeat

I am drowning in garden produce this week, so I spent my Sunday making jalapeno salsa, so I could my use some of my burgeoning jalapeno crop before it overtakes my kitchen:

And, to be honest, I was the total idiot who decided to chop seventy-plus jalapenos without protective gloves. My hands are still burning, and I nearly cried when I washed my hair in the hot shower this morning. Let’s just file that under lesson learned, shall we?

Since our jalapeno plants continue to thrive like they drank radioactive Kool-Aid, I also plan on making and freezing some bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers next weekend, in hopes of having readily available appetizers for our busy holiday entertaining season. My poor Food Saver is probably going to go on strike soon, because it’s my go-to answer when I have a lot of fresh garden produce but not enough time for a marathon canning session.

So far, all my canning attempts have followed my trusty Ball Blue Book, but I think I’m ready to branch out a little. A trip to the bookstore may be in order soon, because I need to fresh ideas to preserve our hard-earned harvest. However, that’s a bridge I’ll cross later this week.

Despite the added workload that the garden poses right now, I still am so incredibly happy that we put in the effort to get it going during the Spring. The raised beds were both costly and time-consuming, but they accomplished exactly what we hoped: we have a thriving vegetable garden in an area of hard-clay soil, and we’ve taken a step toward more sustainable living in the midst of our urban community. Even more important, the heathens see their dad and I working together to plan, create and execute a shared vision for our family.

I’ll just keep reminding myself of that fact when I’m seeding seventy more jalapenos next weekend.

With gloves, of course.

A Trip to the Farmers’ Market, a Day of Cooking and Gran’s Fresh Tomato Dip

With my husband out of town, doing whatever it is guys do on a “guys’ weekend,” I decided to split my time today between fun and productivity. First, the heathens and I headed out early to explore our town’s new and improved Farmers’ Market. We tried to support our local Market last year, but with limited vendors and few genuinely local products, we wrote it off after our first visit. However, the organizers must have really listened to the community, because they’ve tripled the size of the Market and I was amazed at the diverse offerings from many north Louisiana vendors. Because my garden is overwhelming me with my own produce, I was more interested in finding other handcrafted products in my efforts to buy locally whenever I can. Well, by the time we left, I had a pound of local honey (from Hummer & Sons), a bottle of Southern Hurricane wine (from On Cloud Wine) and a tub of sundried-tomato goat cheese from a central Louisiana goat farmer (WesMar Farms). In the meantime, the boys snacked on fresh beignets, bought various knickknacks from local artists with their allowance money, and charmed the honey guy out of a couple of fresh sunflowers.

The heat soon drove us back home, and I got started on taming my own mountain of vegetables that was overtaking my kitchen counters. First, I tackled the eggplant by making Baba Ghanoush, as well as a completely improvisational roasted vegetable ratatouille. Both are now chilling in the refrigerator, so the jury is still out on whether those experiments will be tasty treats or epic failures. Next, I popped about 30 tomatoes in the oven to slow roast, with the plan to make some roasted-tomato pesto, and save any leftover tomatoes to snack on throughout the week. Finally, I used up the remaining tomatoes on my homegrown tomato standby recipe: Gran’s Fresh Tomato Dip.

This dip is a weird in that it is neither a salsa nor a pico de gallo. If I had to describe it in a few short words, I’d say this dip is just a delicious way to appreciate the sheer perfection of a homegrown tomato. In fact, I usually will not make this recipe using store-bought tomatoes, so we seem to enjoy Gran’s Dip only during the summer months. Got a tomato invasion of your own? Here’s Gran’s Tomato Dip, step by ridiculously easy step.

First, let’s start with the players:

Gran's Tomato Dip

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Notes

  • 2-3 large tomatoes, preferably homegrown or locally produced
  • 3 green onions
  • 1 small can chopped black olives, drained (4.25 oz…I think)
  • 1 small can chopped green chilies (about 4 oz…I think…again)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (not pictured, because I am a dork)
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • Black pepper to taste and additional salt if you so choose
    • To make Gran's tomato dip, start by chopping the tomatoes and placing them in a medium-size bowl:
    Next, chop the green onions, including both the white bases and green tops:
    Add the green onions, green chilies, olives, olive oil, vinegar, garlic salt and pepper to the tomatoes:
    Stir gently until well-combined. Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 4 hours, but preferably 8 hours or overnight. Taste and see if it needs additional salt before serving, but it usually doesn't.
    Serve with tortilla chips, Frito's scoops or whatever similar chip you prefer.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    I’m going to make a cocktail now…I’m tired.

    It’s just not natural to have so much productivity on a Saturday…

    Avian Invaders and Greek Food—Yep, It’s as Completely Unrelated as You Think

    When I came home from work today, this little guy had taken up residence in the base of my deck. I gave him wide berth, but he somehow managed to give me the “Whatchoo talking bout, Willis” look from every angle.

    I am pretty sure that look is the “bleep off” version of bird. Hopefully, he’ll move along soon, because my boys will start thinking he’s a pet if he hangs around much longer.

    In completely unrelated news, the garden continues to produce food faster than we can eat, can and freeze. I got a little desperate this weekend, and did a frantic search for eggplant recipes, with the hope of reducing the pile of vegetables that is overtaking my kitchen counter. I landed on Moussaka (which I can’t even pronounce, by the way), and decided that a little experimentation was in order.

    I certainly did not have high hopes for this recipe. First, it contained a bunch of ingredients that regularly send the heathens into riot-mode. Second, I am a Louisiana girl, and my pathetically underdeveloped palate is still confounded by the spice combinations that are in a lot of Greek food. Indian food too, for that matter. Lastly, just the simple fact that eggplant is the main ingredient was enough to have my husband doing the dramatic choking/dying pantomime. *Sigh*

    Well, lo and behold, we all liked this dish, and I got to rack up the cool mom points for a garden-fresh meal. It was deliciously rich and cheesy, and the eggplant was well-disguised from the heathens’ vegetable-laser-vision. I don’t know how “authentic” this recipe is, but our simpleton taste buds sure enjoyed it, and I was able to reduce my vegetable invasion for at least a day.

    I served the Moussaka with a simple Greek salad (also using veggies from the garden):

    And got to feel like the Saturday dinner superstar. Want to have a Moussaka adventure of your own? Here’s the recipe I used:

    Moussaka

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    Notes

    Ingredients
    • 3 eggplants, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices
    • salt
    • 1/4 cup olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon butter
    • 1 pound lean ground beef
    • salt to taste
    • ground black pepper to taste
    • 2 onions, chopped
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • 1/2 teaspoon fines herbs
    • 2 tablespoons dried parsley
    • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
    • 1/2 cup red wine
    • 1 egg, beaten
    • 4 cups milk
    • 1/2 cup butter
    • 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    • salt to taste
    • ground white pepper, to taste
    • 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    Directions
    1. Lay the slices of eggplant on paper towels, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set aside for 30 minutes to draw out the moisture. Then in a skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil. Quickly fry the eggplant until browned. Set aside on paper towels to drain.
    2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, onions, and garlic. After the beef is browned, sprinkle in the cinnamon, nutmeg, fines herbs and parsley. Pour in the tomato sauce and wine, and mix well. Simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, and then stir in beaten egg.
    3. To make the béchamel sauce, begin by scalding the milk in a saucepan. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Lower heat; gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly until it thickens. Season with salt, and white pepper.
    4. Arrange a layer of eggplant in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover eggplant with all of the meat mixture, and then sprinkle 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese over the meat. Cover with remaining eggplant, and sprinkle another 1/2 cup of cheese on top. Pour the béchamel sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the nutmeg. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
    5. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    Why My Husband Deserves a Cookie

    My husband has been working his proverbial behind off on our garden this year, and he deserves a cookie, some kudos and a vacation. On a completely unrelated tangent, am I the only person that remembers the Kudos granola bars? When I was a kid, my mom used to buy the Price Club in L.A. out of Kudos bars, because she knew that they were a sure-fire afternoon snack for our eternally hungry household.

    Hmmmm…Kudos….but I digress…

    After realizing last year that we now live in an area of hard, compacted clay, my husband and I spent our Spring constructing raised vegetable beds, in hopes of transforming our new, urban surroundings into something that nurtured our inner farm-kids. I think we both felt drawn to the comforts and convenience of city life, but we still yearned for some of the creativity and self-sufficiency that we both experienced during our country upbringings. Since our new city home just happened to be situated on a double, corner lot, we were blessed to have plenty of room to goof around with…relatively speaking, of course.

    We spent a considerable amount of time this Spring building the raised beds, and transforming them from empty shells to an actual garden.

    Well, to be honest, my husband did the building, planting and caretaking, and I…supervised… but you get the idea. These vegetable beds were definitely more costly and time consuming than we initially anticipated, and after my husband moved approximately 200 wheelbarrows full of dirt with only his wits and a shovel, I think we both wondered if we should just abandon our urban, overly-optimistic homesteading vision. At the time, we had to constantly remind ourselves that the initial investment would result in years of culinary dividends.

    Luckily for me, my husband is stubborn with a capital S. He has spent EVERY single day watering, weeding and babying our little garden, including my often neglected herb garden:

    Long after the first few 100-degree days drove me into complete garden apathy, he’s still been spending his mornings and evenings ensuring that our early efforts continue to pay off. And Holy Cow, has it ever:

    He’s picking veggies faster than I know what to do with them. Meanwhile, my youngest heathen continues to take credit for his eggplant seed selection:

    As you can see, it’s a daily freak-show at my house. But a dang-tasty one…