March in the Vegetable Garden

March is nearly over, and it's been such a busy time in my gardens that I'm just squeaking in this post before the month ends. Anyone who thinks that Zone 7 is only for warm weather gardening is missing some of the best months of harvests. I've been doing every imaginable garden task this month - weeding, seeding, transplanting, thinning, harvesting, turning soil, raising seedlings, freeezing produce, drying herbs, and EATING great food.... but not having to deal with bugs, diseases or fungi. Unseasonably warm weather (in the 80s) for many March days has made some plants think it is time to flower, like my collards and kale, so I've been harvesting, chopping, and freezing bags of greens (beet greens too). I was concerned when the blueberry bushes began to flower, thinking it was way too early, but the bees appeared just as quickly, doing their pollinating job. I also blame the off-the-chart temperatures on some of my seeds failing to germinate outdoors - particularly several lettuce varieties I sowed, which won't germinate in hot weather. Our average last frost date is April 15th, so I'm still keeping my warm weather seedlings - like peppers, tomatoes, basil, eggplant, etc. - in their pots, rather than planting them in the garden.

Here's what is growing this month:

1. I've harvested greens every day since last October (for our daily green smoothies) and this bed of spinach has been a great producer, particularly since winter was mild. I will need to start pulling whole plants rather than just harvesting leaves, since crowding is one clue that makes spinach think it is time to go to seed. I will continue to harvest, wash, dry, chop and freeze spinach for future enjoyment.
2. I planted a bed of Sugar Ann bush pea pods here in February, and the plants are up about 5" now. Should be ready to harvest in late April.
3. This is a bed of lettuce which has germinated well, even in our March heat. It's an heirloom variety I am trying for the first time, Mignonette Bronze, which is supposed to tolerate heat better than other varieties. Further toward the south in this row were 3 other beds of various lettuce seeds which did not germinate, I think due to the heat.
4. Pointer ends at a lush grouping of Chiogga beet greens, which have generously supplied me since last fall. To the north of the beets I've transplanted Siberian kale seedlings from a bed in the next row where they were growing too close. It's been so hot since I did the transplanting that I have had to drag out the hose to keep the bed wet while the little plants get re-established. Further south down this row, to the south, is a fabulous patch of cilantro. As I've stated before, cilantro will quickly bolt (send up a flower stalk) in warm weather. Since taking this photo, I harvested a huge bowl of cilantro, washed, dried, and pulled the leaves off the stems (which can be stringy). I've now frozen the chopped cilantro in freshly squeezed lime juice, as ice cubes, to see if I can preserve the taste to use in my homemade salsa next summer. I'll report on my success.
5. My strawberry plants - June varieties - began to flower in early March. I have about 6 dozen plants, along this side of the garden and in other beds. 'Can't wait for harvest time!
6. I probably will regret this planting. I grew "Breadseed Poppies" last year, a pretty purple flower I photographed in June in the Vegetable Garden, which produces larger (though still tiny) seeds, suitable for breads and other baked goods. As with my red poppies, I scattered the seeds in one of my flower gardens last fall, but not many germinated. So during the winter, I scattered more of the seeds in the vegetable garden - and loads germinated! I've thinned and transplanted them (I have a very hard time throwing any plants or seeds away!) and now I have a bed of breadseed poppies about 3' x 8'. They will be beautiful, but my challenge will be to harvest the seed pods before they fall all over the vegetable garden and replant themselves. It will be Judy vs. poppies!
7. I took a chance and planted Oregon Sugar Pod Snow Peas in a bed here at the end of January. Peas tolerate cold very well. I was lucky, and they germinated well and now the bush-plants are about 8" tall and I expect they will begin flowering soon. They are twisting their tendrils on the sticks I've stuck in the ground around the plants to support them. I don't like to have to accommodate peas, beans, and other climbers on big supports, since I rotate my plantings all around the garden constantly, so I favor bush varieties. Did you know the leaves of pea plants are edible and very tasty raw? Flowers are beautiful and edible too, but you loose a pod for every flower you eat. Also in this garden row are curly kale plants and brussels sprouts. The brussels sprouts plants I started from seeds late last summer have grown well, but I think this warm weather will prevent them from forming sprouts. Next time I'll start the plants much earlier, perhaps July, keeping them in the window of my 60 degree basement to grow until fall planting time.
8. This row has yielded more beet greens, more lettuce, scallions, and collards all winter. In the front row of the garden are the plants I've awarded the "slowest grower" award - celeriac, a root vegetable related to celery. The seeds I started in July started plants which survived in the garden and in the cold frame all winter… but they are only about 2" tall now. I had hoped to be harvesting a big celery-tasting root during the winter, to use in soups and stews. I'll keep it growing, and I can harvest the green tops as I wait for the roots to develop - but the harvest will be small!
9. My patch of Florence fennel has reseeded itself behind the cold frame. I love the fennel seeds I harvested last summer, using them ground in baked goods or throwing a big spoonful in my breakfast granola. I think I will move these young fennel plants from the vegetable garden into my "excess garden" where it can grow and spread relatively unrestricted, where I grow horseradish, mints, jerusalem artichokes, and other perennial or reseeding plants considered to be invasive… that's where the breadseed poppies were supposed to be growing! Next to the fennel I have planted seeds for two types of Japanese edible chrysanthemums, a new crop for me. My regular flowering chrysanthemums grow well, without any pests or problems, so when I read about these greens I thought they might be successful for me. The curly parsley growing here has provided me abundantly all winter, and we enjoy tabouli salad from freshly harvested parsley, scallions, and mint (click for my tabouli recipe). The Italian flat leaf parsley has grown well in the cold frame, being a bit more cold sensitive.

See how the strawberry flower becomes the fruit.

In addition to what is in the vegetable garden, I also have trays of many different seedlings I've been growing indoors - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, beets, squashes, eggplant, stevia, hyssop, and others. My friend Judy's suggestion that my big patch of lemon grass would not survive our winter proved to be correct. Fortunately, I had dug up a portion of it and grew it in a pot in the basement window, so now I've replanted that outdoors. I've also been tending to the grape vines, blackberries, red raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, as well as to my perennial herbs - sage, chives, lavender, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, rosemary, mints, and others. I've started a bed of marigolds to transplant around the garden, but most of my flower beds are perennials. The ajuga is blooming in waves of blue, my fragrant irises are now open, the lilacs are flowering, lily of the valley are perfuming the air, and carpets of creeping phlox are cascading over my rocks. I love this time of year! 

By the way, in the garden photo there is a leaning flowering dogwood in the background. It had been uprooted when we had a direct hit by an EF-2 tornado last April and we propped it up, buried the roots in good dirt, watered it all summer, and hoped it would survive. It has been struggling, but looks like it might make it. It will probably end up with a lovely asymmetrical shape and much character, like a bonsai. Mother Nature does awesome things.

I've now done a monthly garden post for an entire 12-month cycle. I'll continue to update you on what is in my garden, but more sporadically. I hope this will allow me to devote more of my writing time to bring you new recipe ideas, nutrition information, food preservation tips, and other good food news. Please subscribe to this blog in any one of the ways listed in the right column, and share it with others too. Thanks for reading and for all the continuous positive feedback.

Mystery Plant Identified!

The unidentified plant pictured in my February garden post aroused much interest. A commenter said it might be a member of the mustard family, but when I google the commenter's identification of the plant as "Leavenworthia" the flowers didn't quite match my plant, although the leaves are similar. Someone else said it likely is a "Cress", which is indeed plant family related to mustard plants. I searched my books and online references and I finally have narrowed it down to two possibilities, both Bittercress:

Wood Bittercress
(Cardamine Flexuosa)
or
Hairy Bittercress 
(Cardamine Hirsuta) - "hairy" refers to the very tiny hairy spikes, which show best if you click on the photo on my February post to enlarge it.

And my research reveals it's an edible plant. The young raw leaves taste mildly similar to watercress, which you might know from gourmet produce markets - a bitter, peppery taste. Watercress grows wild in my creek (roots need moving clean water) and has very similarly shaped leaves to the Mystery Plant. As with many plants, once it starts to flower the leaves get more bitter tasting. My large photo matches one I saw on a good wild edibles website which said: "…when the leaves form a rosette on the ground, it's a small, insignificant weed. However, this is very early in the year when there's not a lot around that's worth eating…. ripe seed heads and stalks tend to be fibrous, therefore unpalatable." The young leaves can be mixed into a fresh salad or used in a sandwich, for a peppery bite.

Beware if you don't want this weed to re-seed. The Barbie-doll size seed pods which form after the flowers contain many tiny seeds. I often hear them "POP" and scatter the seeds when I bump into the plant… meaning many more plants in the future.

As with any edible wild food, be 100% sure of your identification before ingesting. One of my upcoming blog posts will be on more wild edibles now growing.

February in the Vegetable Garden

Our winter weather continues to alternate between full sun and rain, with very mild temperatures. Daffodils and lenten roses are blooming, and the forsythia will burst with yellow flowers soon. Even my purple verbena is flowering, sun-warmed by the limestone rocks in the "boulder garden." I've done gardening tasks never before attempted during the winter, due to this unusual weather. Here are the details:

TRANSPLANTING - This is one task commonly unheard of in winter, but I've successfully thinned the bed of cilantro I planted in the fall, replanted the little plants, and they have new growth. I transplanted a couple of rows of beets from a patch which had reseeded itself. I've also discovered that once you grow garlic, expect volunteers to appear long after you think you harvested everything. Those little stragglers are now moved into the garlic patch and are growing well too.

DIRECT PLANTING SEEDS - In late January I planted a bed of snap pea seeds, more than a month earlier than I normally would. Peas are very resistant to cold, although they will grow slowly. I figured the worst I had to lose was $1.25 worth of seeds. I've just begun to see green growth emerge from the soil, so my head start should be successful. I've also direct seeded corn mache (a salad green), romaine lettuce, and kale, but no signs of growth yet.

RAKING - My latest gardening reading is a book called Good Bug, Bad Bug and I recommend it to other organic gardeners. It prompted me to rake the leaves out of the low walkways in my garden, once I learned that many damaging insects will over-winter in matted leaves. I'll be revealing more tips from this book as the gardening season gets underway, like planting certain crops near others to deter bad insects or to attract good ones.

Please help me identify this weed, growing everywhere!

WEEDING - I've been weeding, which is usually unheard of this time of year. The warm wet weather has spurred on the growth of weeds which usually don't germinate in winter. Can any one tell me what the weed I've photographed is? I added my fingertip as a size reference. This plant is everywhere, and it is flowering now so more seeds will follow soon. There is so much of it, I'd love to learn that it's edible! Meanwhile, at the very least, I am trying to eliminate it from the veggie garden. Other weeds I've been pulling are mostly grasses.

HARVESTING - As I keep saying, I love those collards! My next recipe experiment will be using the leaves to make Stuffed Cabbage, since they are big and flat and not apt to break like cabbage leaves do. The few times the temps have dipped below 20, I've still been covering my collard bed, since I don't want to risk damage. The brussels sprouts continue to produce, so I keep harvesting from the same plants. Even the ones I started from seed last fall have been growing, so I might get a spring harvest out of those plants. Also continuing to pick spinach, beet greens, curly parsley (more cold tolerant than flat leaved, which crocked last month), lettuce, cilantro, mint, kale, onion tops and garlic greens.

PRUNING - It's time to prune my two Concord grape vines. The trick with grapes is to prune WAY MORE than you think you need to. Look online for lots of instructions, and your vines will reward you with much more to harvest. Unfortunately the birds or some other culprit beat me to the harvest last season, so I may need to cover the ripening grapes with netting this year.

INDOOR SEED STARTING - As I would normally do in late January, I've started a couple varieties of blight-resistant tomatoes, and sweet peppers in my south-facing window, as well as some lime basil and stevia - all in peat pellets. The store shelves are packed with seed-starting trays and pots, but I have those from previous years, so I just buy the replacement pellets. Once the roots start poking out of the bottom of the peat pellet, I transplant the seedlings to individual 3" square plastic pots I save and reuse year to year. This year, I struggled to find ingredients for my potting mix for the seedlings. In the past, I've been able to buy shredded sphagnum peat moss, and mixed it with vermiculite and organic potting soil. This year I can't find the fine peat moss for sale. Also, since I grow organically, I don't want to buy any soil starting mixes with chemical fertilizers added, as with the MiracleGro mixtures. I never thought I'd be reading ingredients labels on soil mixtures! With some searching around the garden center shelves, I've found some premixed seed starting which are organic and close to that which I mixed myself, one made by Jiffy (at WalMart) and one from NK Farm (at Lowes).

I am always looking for ways to recycle, and many plastic discards become part of my garden supplies. Plastic clam-shells from grocery store lettuce mixes and strawberries provide mini-greenhouses for seeds started in peat pellets. The air holes are already there, allowing drainage at the bottom, circulation of air at the top, and heat escape. You can open the lids when the temperature is warm too. Berry baskets are good for holding peat pellets too. I use 32 oz. yogurt containers to cut I.D. tags (I label everything - too easy to forget what each plant is!), and I also poke holes in the bottoms to use them as pots, both in the 6 oz and 32 oz sizes. Little grated cheese containers make ideal drain cups under the yogurt-container pots.

Next month will be a busier gardening month, so I am enjoying my non-gardening time with my other passion, painting. See what I've been working on lately in my Art Blog.

Valentine Chocolate Strawberry Bread

I bought a flat (12 pints) of fresh Florida strawberries and it inspired me to invent this recipe as a special Valentine breakfast bread. If you like dark chocolate, try this yummy, moist recipe, as quick bread or muffins.

• 1-3/4 c flour
• 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 c fresh strawberries, chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 c chopped nuts
• 1 c plain yogurt
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c oil
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 c honey

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 3 mini loaf pans or a muffin tin for 1 dozen. Mix the first 5 dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the berries and nuts to coat. In another bowl, stir yogurt and baking soda together and set aside - it will get foamy. In a third bowl, beat the egg and add the oil, vanilla, and honey. Fold together ingredients from all 3 bowls just until thoroughly mixed. Spoon mixture into prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

How To Alter Recipes

Low fat, sugar-free, meatless, gluten-free, low carb, dairy-free, no sodium, allergen-free, no alcohol… many people are trying to fill special dietary requirements for health issues and weight loss. If you are in charge of meal preparation for such diets, it might seem like you have to learn to cook all over again. Must you throw away all your old favorite recipes? Maybe not. Of course, 5-layer chocolate truffle cake with mocha whipped cream filling and buttercream frosting might have to be retired upon a diabetes diagnosis (unless you're Paula Dean!), but it's often possible to use alternate ingredients to make old standards still part of your favorite meals… and not feel "deprived" by the dietary restrictions.

I learned to cook when I was about 12 years old, with my mother's instructions on how to start dinner cooking before she came home from work. By the time I left home at age 20, I had a pretty good repertoire of meals, desserts, entertainment foods, and breads. I liked cooking from scratch, but didn't much relate what I cooked and ate to nutrition and health. Then in the early 1990s, when I began to educate myself about how diet could be used to build a healthier immune system and avoid health problems, I truly struggled with how to cook they way I was accustomed to. My goals were not too lofty:

• healthy ingredients
• good taste
• nutritional balance
• satisfying

I had to learn about nourishing foods, experiment with replacing ingredients, not be discouraged by failures, and be open to creative alternatives. Fortunately, my husband Rick is an adventurous eater, and always very open minded to trying new dishes. He is also a very honest critic, so there is never any question when I produce a failure!

Just a note about "prepared" foods for special diets… I've found that food manufacturers often remove one "evil" ingredient and replace it with other "evils" (and/or chemical non-foods), often in the attempt to mimic the taste of the original. Compare a block of regular cream cheese with a nonfat cream cheese, and you'll see a much longer ingredient list on the latter, sometimes with added sodium and sweeteners. I recently looked at Frontier brand Vegetable Flavored Broth Powder as an alternative to meat stock, and the first ingredient is "corn syrup solids," which is a sweetener processed from corn which I avoid, and it also included yeast extract - a taste enhancer - which, for some people, causes the same toxic effects and allergic reactions as MSG (monosodium glutamate). And, if you think you should deal with diabetes by using artificially sweetened "sugar-free" products, google-up "Artificial Sweetener Disease" (or search for "ASD" on http://www.naturalnews.com) and what you read might change your thinking. The bottom line for me is to use as few prepared foods as possible, cooking from scratch with whole foods.

When learning how to cook from scratch for special diets, start with some of your simpler recipes. For an example of a recipe which can be altered for many restrictions, let's look at a Shrimp Bisque I recently made. First is the recipe as I made it (it is very yummy), and below it are notes about my specific ingredients, suggestions for how to substitute for a few different dietary restrictions, and tips on how to change the flavor of the soup even if you don't have dietary restrictions.

 

SHRIMP BISQUE
1 lb. shrimp (not peeled)
1 c white wine
4 cups broth
2 bay leaves
1 T fresh thyme leaves or 1-1/2 t dried thyme
2 T oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 T tomato paste
4 T flour
1 cup milk
1 t hot chili powder
1/2 t salt
grated parmesan cheese

In a large pot, bring wine, broth, bay leaves, and thyme to a boil. Wash the shrimp and add to the pot. Remove from heat and let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Put another pot or bowl under a strainer and pour the liquid off the shrimp, reserving the broth and discarding the bay leaves. Run cool water over the shrimp to stop the cooking and peel the shrimp, discarding the peels and cut the shrimp into smaller pieces.

In the oil, sauté the onion, carrots, and celery until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes over medium heat. Ladle about 1 cup of the reserved broth into a cup and slowing mix in the flour. Add this mixture and the tomato paste to the vegetables and mix. Pour in the broth/flour mixture, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes. Add the milk, chili powder, salt, and shrimp, and cook for 5 more minutes. Ladle into a bowl and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top.

------
INGREDIENTS I USED: (NOTE: you can read more about ingredients which appear below in red, in the ingredients column in the right column of the blog)

• I used USA Gulf Shrimp, hand carried by my sweet friend Pam from the Florida Panhandle, frozen in water in zipper bags. Seafood shops label country of origin (if not, ask), so please buy only USA products... wild caught whenever possible
• For the broth, I used organic, free range, low sodium chicken broth, sold in 32 oz aseptic boxes. You could also use seafood stock, vegetable broth, or a water and bouillon mixture
• I didn't have any white wine open, so I used unsweetened apple juice
• I used safflower oil
• My onion, carrots, and celery were organic
• For such a small quantity of tomato paste, I like the type which comes in a tube like toothpaste and is refrigerated after opening
• For the flour, I used my own home-ground whole wheat flour
• For the milk, I used organic nonfat milk
• For the hot chili powder, I used my own ground dehydrated jalapeno powder, which is very hot. Of course, this can be omitted if you don't like spicy foods, and you can just flavor to taste with black pepper.
• My choice for salt is Real Salt
• I didn't have grated parmesan, so I used grated romano cheese

DIETARY SUBSTITUTES:

1. LOW FAT - instead of using oil, saute the vegetables in about 1/4 c of the reserved broth, and either omit the milk (the flour makes the soup thick) or use fat-free milk.
2. GLUTEN-FREE - The flour can be omitted, which will make the soup a little less thick but not change the taste, or gluten-free flour such as sweet rice or sorghum flour can be substituted. You might try ground flaxseeds will thicken the soup base to your liking, while adding good omega 3's to your diet.
3. DAIRY-FREE - Eliminate the milk and parmesan cheese, or try soy or almond milk and soy cheese.
4. LOW SODIUM - Use no-sodium broth and don't add the salt. You could pump up the flavor with your favorite salt-free herb blend, like Mrs. Dash, or add some lemony herbs like lemon thyme, which would accept the shrimp flavor nicely.
5. NO ALCOHOL - The white wine in this recipe imparts a mild flavor, but can be eliminated. I substituted with unsweetened apple juice, but you could also just add 1 c of water in place of the wine.
6. SHELLFISH ALLERGY - Use fish instead of shrimp, something with good flavor, like salmon. Do not do the initial boiling of the broth, and eliminate the bay leaves. Or make Chicken Bisque, with boneless breasts!
7. VEGAN (no animal products) - Instead of shrimp, use a strong-flavored vegetable as the "star" of your soup, such as fennel, sweet potato, or winter squash. Use vegetable broth or vegetable juice for the 4 cups of broth. Eliminate the milk or use soy or almond milk. Garnish with freshly grown sprouts or toasted nuts in place of the grated cheese.

FLAVOR SUBSTITUTES:

If you don't need any substitutions for your diet, or if any of your dietary changes leave the soup tasting bland, here are suggestions for altering the flavor:

• Use tomato or vegetable juice in place of the broth
• Use coconut oil for the fat, add 1 T fresh lime juice (eliminate the milk or it might curdle from the citrus juice), 1 T chopped fresh cilantro, and a garnish of toasted peanuts - for a southeast Asian flavor
• Use different vegetables in the saute mix: tomatoes, peppers, garlic, asparagus, okra (which will thicken the soup), chopped spinach

Experiment, and let me know how you do!

January in the Vegetable Garden

This week we return to 10 hours of daylight in Zone 7, and my new garden seeds will be arriving tomorrow. So my thoughts are on gardening 2012! Meanwhile, I am still harvesting fresh veggies from the garden daily. Our winter continues to be mild, with regular rainfall. I actually transplanted some of those tiny celeriac seedlings from the cold frame to the garden a few days before Christmas, and they are growing fine. I bought a big ugly celeriac root at the supermarket and tried planting it too - no sign of life yet though. Earlier this month the mercury fell to about 15 degrees for two nights and we had a light snow cover; I didn't bother to cover the brussels sprouts and they survived - I harvested some, halved them, and sauteed them with onions and tamari soy sauce one day last week… they tasted excellent! I've been picking and using fennel as a raw veggie dipper with homemade dips (cut like celery stalks), as well as sliced thin in a salad with apples, toasted almonds, and my Caesar dressing. I love the fennel seeds I saved last summer too - they are a great addition, whole, to my morning granola, and I've also ground them and added to biscotti recipes. A few beets are still in the ground from last summer, probably big and woody now, and they continue to provide fresh leaves for harvest. Many wild plants are growing well this winter too; the white clover we seeded as a ground cover has established itself in a healthy patch just off the front steps, and I use the fresh leaves in our green smoothies. My crocuses have begun to flower and daffodils are several inches out of the ground, so spring is just around the corner here.

More of my gardening time is spent indoors this month, as I plan what I'll be growing. Here are the basic lessons which my 2011 garden taught me:

• Don't grow plants which attract bugs and succumb to disease

I am surrendering to some of my bug battles, and simply not planting many of the vegetables most attractive to them. This means I will not grow squash-family plants, since I got little or no harvest last year, due to squash bugs. No zucchini, no butternut squash, no melons. I will try one new heirloom "pumpkin" called Cushaw (which is an edible winter squash) which is described as resistant to squash bugs. I am also planning to grow a gherkin instead of cucumbers, for fresh eating. I am not planting calendula, which is a very pretty edible and medicinal "pot marigold" - even the ones which reseeded themselves in late fall grew full of little bug holes in the leaves. The amaranth I tried to grow also succumbed to bug attacks, so that's off my grow list too, as well as oriental greens such as chinese cabbage, tat soi, pak choy and others I've tried. I now know that fall/winter is the best time for my cabbage family favorites, like brussels sprouts, kale, and collard greens, and, fortunately, their pests are not around in the cooler seasons, so that's when I will grow them from now on.

A solution to tomato blight still escapes me, so here is the 2012 tomato plan:

1. Plant "blight resistant" varieties only (I've found and purchased seeds for two heirloom varieties, Legend and Old Brooks Red)
2. Plant the tomato plants outside the vegetable garden this year
3. Try ground cinnamon on the ground around the plants as an anti-fungal (a tip from gardener friend John)
4. Don't start the tomatoes outdoors as early - makes them more susceptible to "early" blight
5. Clean all the tomato cages and garden tools, so fungus residue from last year is destroyed

•  Don't grow plants with little yield

The only snap beans I intend to grow are my favorite Blue Lake Bush beans. I planted yellow wax beans at the same time, and the yellow beans took forever to mature, with very sparse production. Meantime I was harvesting the green beans continually, and the Blue Lakes are great raw, cooked and frozen. The "bush" nature of this heirloom means it doesn't need trellising, since the plants only grow about 18-24" tall and stand upright on their own.
 

• Don't grow plants which take up too much space, when smaller comparable varieties taste as good

The Thai "long beans" were an interesting novelty, and tasted ok, but their long vines overtook and spilled out of one corner of the garden. Yes, I only needed about 2 beans to make a side dish for two, but they took a long time to mature. And the flowers attracted too many little biting bees. Fortunately, I used up the whole envelope of seeds.

• Grow plants with a longer harvesting season

I was disappointed with my sweet peppers last summer - even though I started the plants very early and grew one in a red plastic Kozy Koat, I didn't start harvesting any for a long long time. So this year I'm growing some described as early, and also described as "dwarf" which should result in quicker harvesting.

• Don't grow too many of one vegetable

If I grow any jalapenos or eggplants this year, I know that one plant of each is enough. I have a large supply of dried and powdered jalapenos, so I only need some to use fresh, in salsa and other dishes. I prefer eggplant used fresh also, and one eggplant at a time is all I need to harvest; one plant will give me a supply over many weeks. I will again limit my planting of basil, since I still have lots of frozen pesto. I am going to try "lime basil" as well as a large-leaf variety.

• Grow more edible greens in the hottest part of the growing season

Since we've adopted a routine of daily green smoothies, I've loved having cool weather greens to harvest. Now I want to be sure to have a variety of greens to harvest in warm weather, when spinach and many lettuces will not grow well. The "heat tolerant" edible greens I look forward to planting this year include: two variaties of edible Japanese chrysanthemums; leaves of black garbanzo beans (I can harvest the pods and beans too); two spinach-tasting plants which are not true spinaches: "strawberry spinach" which is related to lamb's quarters, and "red malabar spinach" which is a heat loving vine of greenery; and a bronze lettuce. Some of these are for fresh and cooked recipes - you'll be hearing more about how they taste later this year.

• Try new plants

I am adding okra to my garden this year. I've ordered seeds for a dwarf variety - only 3 feet tall! As you can tell, this is normally a very tall plant. It grows well here in the south, seemingly with no pests or diseases, and I've developed a taste for it. My friends Bill and Julie grill the whole pods (with a little coating of oil) until crunchy and eat them like french fries, and they are yummy this way. I am also planting more herbs, including lovage (celery flavor), stevia (so I can dry the leaves again, for a great natural sweetener), shiso (a red leaf, used to color pickled Japanese ginger), dock, and cilantro (a hot-weather cilantro).

Start planning your garden for 2012, even if it's just a pot of herbs on your porch!

A Kid in a Candy Shop

I stood in the center of the windowless little shop, turning in a circle to absorb the sight of floor-to-ceiling shelves, packed with glass jars. The air was filled with sweet fragrance, such a mingling of flavors that none stood out distinctively. I was amazed at the variety of offerings, every jar with something different, labeled with its name, ingredients, and origin. But, unlike the proverbial "kid," I was not in a candy shop. My experience was in a fabulous tea shop, in the town of Basel on the German border, with my Swiss friend Claudia. The teas in the shop were from all corners of the world - opening my eyes to the vast number of varieties, blends and flavors.

I am a tea fanatic, and I drink hot and chilled tea several times a day, year round. Here in the south, "sweet tea" is sort of the default drink - black tea with sugar, iced. But my choices of tea rarely includes black tea, and I find little need for sweeteners when the brew has no bitterness. I always have a half-gallon jar of herbal tea in the fridge, which I brew from a mixture of 6 tea bags - usually 5 fruity herbal teas along with one red tea bag (more info on red tea below). We drink it iced, enjoying the natural sweetness, and sometimes mix it with unflavored seltzer for a sort of homemade soda.

Here's a sampling of the many flavors and brands of tea bags which I enjoy year-round, hot and iced

The health advantages of GREEN TEA have been touted for several years, although I think we get more benefit from drinking it than from having it as a shampoo ingredient! I recently learned that green tea is the source of an amino acid, L-theanine, used to treat anxiety and stress. Green, black, oolong, and white teas all come from leaves of the same shrub, Camellia sinensis, but processing is different to attain different levels of oxidation. Each contains some level of natural caffeine, but less than coffee when compared cup by cup. HERBAL TEA does not use black or green tea as an ingredient, but relies on blends of other non-tea plant materials, and is naturally caffeine-free. Herbal teas are made not only from leaves (like mint), but also from flowers (like hibiscus), fruit (like cherries), herbs (like lavender), spices (like cinnamon), natural flavorings (like vanilla beans), or roasted roots (like chicory). RED TEA or ROOIBOS was introduced to me by my Swiss friend Claudia many years before I ever saw it sold in the US; it is now more common, but many don't know what it is. Rooibos is an Afrikaans word for "red bush", the common name of a plant from South Africa. It is a totally different plant than that used to harvest black and green tea. Its needle-like leaves have been used for  generations in South Africa for teas, but only in recent years in other parts of the world. Red bush processing produces a reddish-brown color. Nutritionally, rooibos is caffeine-free, high in antioxidants, and is reported to be healthful against allergies, asthma and skin problems.

Fresh and dried plant materials which can be brewed for tea.

Many blends traditionally made with black tea, such as Earl Grey tea (with the added oil from the rind of bergamot oranges giving it a distinctive taste) and Chai tea are now blended with green tea, or with caffeine-free plant materials. Blends such as these were developed long ago in India, China, and Southeast Asian countries, combining the native tea leaves with native herbs and spices; Chai blends include cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and even black peppercorns. My standard morning beverage is either Earl Grey Green (Bigelow brand) or Green Chai (Stash brand). Traditionally, Chai tea is served with milk and honey, so some blends include sweeteners.  Beware of Chai teas sold in fancy cafes and in aseptic boxes - they are commonly very highly sweetened. My lunch is accompanied by Good Earth brand Green Tea, a mild tasting blend of green tea, lemongrass, rose petals and peppermint. At night, I enjoy Yogi brand Chai Rooibos, with the benefits of red tea and naturally sweetened with stevia leaves. One of my favorite herbal tea bags is Tazo brand Wild Sweet Orange, which is a blend of lemongrass, blackberry leaves, rose hips, spearmint leaves, orange peel, hibiscus flowers, rose petals, ginger root, licorice root and other flavorings.

I can't write about teas without mentioning MEDICINAL TEAS. Studies  show that populations with higher black, green and oolong tea consumption have a reduced risk of gastrointestinal, pancreatic, bladder, prostate, ovarian, uterine and breast cancer. Green tea is particularly rich in a polyphenol which laboratory studies show to inhibit cancer cell formation, proliferation, invasiveness, and metastasis - and it causes cancer cell death. Many are familiar with herbal chamomile tea, made from a white daisy-like aster plant, which is commonly used to help with sleep. Ginger root tea is wonderful for digestive discomforts, including motion sickness, as well as being my favorite remedy for sore throats (mixed with honey and lemon juice for their medicinal benefits too). When I did a post about air-dehydrating, many asked me why I dehydrated corn silk. Corn silk tea is an excellent medicinal remedy for kidney-related problems. It is brewed from fresh or dried corn silk, and has a very mild flavor. Yerba Mate is a traditional herbal beverage from South America, considered to have anti-cancer effects, boost the immune system, induce mental clarity, and support weight loss. There are teas for no matter what ails you, and loads of info online and in books. Learn more about healing teas from a respected herbal tea company Traditional Medicinals.

My prized antique silver tea strainer with saucer comes from England and is perfect for loose teas, like the chai blend shown.

Back in that wondrous German tea shop, they sold some tea bags, but most of the jars held blends of loose tea ingredients, sold by weight. Loose teas are often brewed by spooning them into a filtering container, such as a tea ball, and steeping them in hot water. Traditional "high tea" in Britain usually includes china pots of brewed loose tea, poured into the tea cups through a lovely silver strainer placed on top of the cup which looks and acts like a tiny colander to capture the steeped plant materials. For those who live near me, there is a nice tea vendor on Kingston Pike in Knoxville which I visited a few years ago. They are also a lunch and tea-time restaurant and art gallery (wow, so many of my favorite things!): Tea At The Gallery.

Like other prepared foods, teas vary in quality and price. Cultivation, growing location, harvesting, processing, and packaging are just some varying factors. Organic, natural ingredients are my preference, even though the cost is usually higher. For medicinal herbal teas, pharmacopoeial grade ingredients are important for effectiveness. Beware of artificial flavorings… I still don't comprehend an ingredient on a holiday tea offering from Celestial Seasonings brand, listed as "natural sugar cookie flavor!" I am a fan of their teas, but this left me feeling very curious and suspicious.

Various types of strainers for filtering brewed loose teas

It's not difficult to brew tasty teas from homegrown plant materials, which I do with mints, lemon balm, passion vine leaves, fennel, and lemon grass. As my knowledge of plants increases, I look forward to growing, wild-harvesting, and brewing my own plant materials for herbal and medicinal teas, including licorice root, dandelion, clover, anise hyssop, tulsi, dandelion, and others. I'll be reporting on my progress. If you have a favorite tea, let me know. In the meantime, brew yourself a satisfying mug of hot tea.