Garden Emergency! The Tomato Plants are Dying: Two Recipes for Green Tomatoes

My tomato plants are absolutely loaded down with green tomatoes of all sizes.  The Better Boys are big with attractive ridges, the Yellow Pears and Sweet 100s each have multiple fruits on each branch.  Alas, they won't make it to the ripening stage.  For some reason I have yet to identify (most likely a creeping fungus) every single tomato plant is dying.  The leaves and branches are turning brown from the bottom heading up.  Gardening is like that sometimes.  You win some, you lose some.  I am grieving the fact that I won't be able to indulge in my favorite summer lunch, the tomato sandwich.  I'll have to cry into my pillow later, though, because I have to save the green tomatoes, and time is of the essence.  I looked up two green tomato recipes in an old Mennonite Cookbook published in 1950, and tweaked them to suit our modern taste.  One is for green tomato pickles and one is for green tomato jam.  Remember to follow good canning practices .  Here are the recipes:

Green tomato pickles in a brine of vinegar, salt, sugar, and tears.

Green Tomato Pickles:  Wash and slice 1 gallon green tomatoes.  In a large bowl layer these with 10 thinly sliced onions, cover with 2 pints vinegar, 1/4 c. salt, 1 c. sugar and 1 tbsp mustard seeds.  Let stand overnight.  The next morning, pack mixture into sterilized jars and boil to seal for 10 minutes.  We used yellow pear tomatoes for this project, and I didn't like the texture, although the flavor was good.  Hubby liked them.   I also used this recipe for sugar snap peas, which I loved.

Green Tomato Jam: Wash 8 c. green tomatoes and cover with boiling water for 5 minutes.  Drain and slice, or use whole if they are cherry types.  In a bowl layer tomatoes and  2 sliced lemons, top with 1/4 c. vinegar and 4 c. sugar.  Let stand over night.  In the morning, cook over medium heat in a saucepan with 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground cumin and 1/2 tsp. ground cloves.  Cook for about 2 hours, or until a fork dipped in the mix becomes coated.  Pour into sterilized jars and seal in boiling water for 10 minutes. This turned out great.  I served it over goat cheese with crusty bread.

Garden Fashion: The Bonnet

I am in my early 40's and my skin still looks great (if I do say so myself).  For one thing, I live on the Gulf Coast and although I complain bitterly about the heat and humidity it does have its benefits.  The humidity means that our skin is continuously moisturized, so we Southern gals age slower.  The other reason:  I wear a hat whenever I plan to be outside.  At the beach, I have a huge cute bright blue hat.  I have lots of wide brim straw hats to wear to any outside event, picnics, farmer's market, sporting events (just kidding - I don't go to sporting events).  And when I garden I always wear a bonnet.  An old fashioned, Little House on the Prairie - type bonnet.  My cousin Val makes my bonnets, my great grandmother wore one, and I have yet to find a garden hat that I prefer.  They really work to keep the sun off your face and easily dangle down my back when I am going inside and outside.  I think I look adorable in it, but I am willing to concede that I may  be the only one thinking that.  At any rate, whenever you see me out in the garden you will see me in my bonnet.  It isn't uncommon for me to be outside and catch stares or honks and waves and laughs and I know it's the bonnet that is garnering so much attention.  It's irritating, but what can you do?  It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make, seeing as how a face lift is not in our budget.  We live on an acre in a suburban/rural area due south of Houston.  We are on the corner of a fairly well traveled street, and because we live in a small community where we are quite active, and Hubby has run for public office, we know a lot of people.  Hubby is well know as the neighborhood lawyer and it's not unexpected to have a knock at the door after dinner and there will be a neighbor, sometimes bringing a bag of sweet potatoes or fresh caught trout, in need of some legal advice.  Inevitably, when we go out to dinner in our small town we run into friends and neighbors.  That is what happened when Hubby took me out for a date night to one of the nicer restaurants recently.  As we were leaving we saw one of Hubby's business clients sitting with his wife.  As usual, we stopped at their table to say hello.  After a bit of idle chit chat the client looks at me and says:
"I was driving by your house the other day and you were out in your garden.  You were wearing your bonnet.  I honked and waved."
"Oh," I replied, "did I wave back?"
"No,"  he got a small smirk on his face "you flipped me off."
I almost choked but managed to say "Sorry.  I thought you were bonnet honking."

So, after a brief and well deserved lecture from Hubby I have decided to get a better attitude about my bonnet.  I love it, it suits me, and I will wear it with pride.  Grab your bonnets, girls!  Who's with me?

Me in my bonnet.  "Come at me, Bro!"

When to Plant What...A TX Gulf Coast Planting Guide for Vegetables

One of the biggest mistakes new gardeners make is not knowing when to plant what.  A lot of rookies assume that early Spring is the best time to plant anything, so they plop in their seeds and plants and expect them to thrive when the truth is, precious little survives our summer heat.  If, like me, you live in the Greater Houston area your best gardening days are in the fall.  You can't trust the big box stores to sell you plants that are appropriate for our seasons, either.  They will sell you the same kinds of plants that they will sell my cousin in Seattle and my girl friend in New Mexico.  Just because they stock Brussel sprouts seedlings in March doesn't mean you should plant them then.  Here's a guide for Gulf Coast planting month by month.  I have put in the ideal date for planting each item, but you can nudge a bit in either direction.  Note that some plants, such as tomatoes, have two planting dates.  The tomatoes I plant in July usually produce better for me than the ones I plant in March.  Happy planting!

January     1:  Sugar snap peas, leeks
               15:  beets, broccoli raab, arugula (although you can plant this year round successfully),                                                      
                      potatoes, radishes, green onion, lemon balm, fruit trees

February 15:  chicory, Swiss chard, mustard greens, kale, fennel, parsley, radishes

March      1: tomatoes, radishes
              15: cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, pole beans, peppers, summer squash/zucchini, watermelon,
                 cantaloupe, sage, corn, thyme, rosemary, beans for drying - limas, black, pintos, etc.

April      15:  basil

May        1: okra
             15:  sweet potatoes



June     Have a beer and harvest your tomatoes!

July       15:  tomatoes

August    1: Brussels sprouts, green beans/bush beans, summer squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes
             15: broccoli, cabbage

September 1: parsnips
                  15: cauliflower, beets, dill, carrots

October     15: chicory, garlic, lettuces, nasturtium, onions, fennel, spinach, cilantro, mint, radishes, arugula

November   1: sweet peas, sweet potatoes, radishes
                   15: strawberries, radishes

If I missed your favorite veggie it either doesn't grow well here, or I don't like it.  Do a little research to find out which is the case.  Oh, and by the way, the best time to plant any kind of roses is Valentine's Day, February 14!

For more on gardening in the Texas Gulf Coast check out this post:   Gardening 101

Glorious Greens: 3 Great Recipes to Use Greens

Sugar Snap peeking through the greens.

I came to appreciate the glory of greens late in life.  Neither of my parents, apparently, liked any sort of leafy green - kale, mustard, chard, spinach, collard, turnip, arugula or broccoli raab.  And I can understand.  My grandfather did the cooking in my father's house, and while he was a fantastic gardener, he wasn't the world's best cook.  I seem to remember him cooking collard greens in a saucepan on the stove for hours with lumps of greasy fatback floating in it.  The aroma was less than appetizing, and filled the house entirely.  So, I get it.  If your only experience with greens is stinky, greasy and overcooked, it would be enough to turn you off forever.  As a result, it wasn't until I was an adult that I discovered delicious garlicky greens at a chi chi Houston restaurant called  Catalan.  Hubby knows the chef, Chis Shepherd, who we see at the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market on Saturdays buying local produce.  We went there for my birthday several years ago, and Hubby ordered the Gulf shrimp with grits and garlicky local greens.  I don't remember what I ordered.  It doesn't matter, because once I tried the shrimp, grits and greens I wasn't going back.  Hubby generously swapped plates with me (it was my birthday after all) and I will never forget cleaning my plate  - just short of picking it up to lick it.  I asked the waiter what, exactly, the greens were.  They were mustard.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  My only other experience with greens is from when we first moved to Memphis.  At the local farmer's market there was a table loaded down with all kinds of greens - mustard, turnip, and collard.  I bought one of each, took them home and made a salad with a nice light vinaigrette.  One bite in and it was clear I had done something wrong. We sat there, Hubby and I, looking at each other and chewing and chewing and chewing.  Clearly clueless as to how to handle greens, I abandoned them altogether.  I never tried to cook them, never ordered them at restaurants, and never even tried them when we were in someone's home for dinner, which is a shame, because I'm sure they would have been very good.  Then, BAM, on my 37th birthday I get introduced to garlicky mustard greens and I went berserk.  I started buying them, growing them and really experimenting with them.  My favorite is broccoli raab.  It tastes nothing like broccoli, it is one of the more bitter greens, and I bought some on a whim at the farmer's market.  I now grow it every year.  My favorite lunch is a soft boiled egg with a side of gently sauteed greens with garlic.  Greens are really good for you  - they are high in iron, calcium and potassium as well as vitamins K, C, E and many B vitamins as well as small amounts of Omega 3.  Make sure when you use them they are clean, soak them in a bowl of water to get the sand and dirt off.  Here are just a few ideas for serving greens:

Kale chips  (Sugar Snap loves these)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Clean and dry a bunch of kale - use a salad spinner or pat dry with towels.  Remove the tough stems, using only the leaves.  Spray on both sides with Olive Oil Pam and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Bake on a baking sheet in a single layer until edges are just brown - 10 minutes or so.

Sauteed greens w/ garlic and lemon
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet, add 2 cloves chopped garlic.  Cook until garlic is hot, but not brown.  Add a couple of big handfuls of clean greens - kale, spinach, broccoli raab, etc.  Toss until covered with oil.  If you are using Chard, spinach or arugula you can remove from heat when the greens are just wilted and eat them.  For the tougher greens like kale or mustard you will want to add a 1/4 c - 1/2 c water and cover.  Cook the greens down until tender, adding more water if necessary.  Right before serving squeeze the juice of one lemon over the top and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Serves 2.

Cream of Swiss Chard Soup
In a saucepan put a couple handfuls of washed Swiss Chard, 1/2 chopped onion and just enough chicken stock to cover.  Cook until chard is tender.  Allow to cool just a bit.  Put mixture in a blender and blend until smooth. Add 1/3 c. sour cream and whisk until blended.  Season with a sprinkle of nutmeg and salt and pepper.  For hot soup put back into the saucepan and heat gently.  For chilled soup after adding sour cream and spices do not return to the heat, put in a bowl and chill in the fridge until ready.  Serves 4.

Update:  Chef Chris Shepherd is no longer at Catalan, he is now the Executive Chef at Underbelly on Westheimer.

Sweet Potato picking arugula for lunch after church.

Repurposing: Vintage Apron Curtains

Here's another decorating idea.  I am a collector...(just this side of a hoarder).  I collect vintage papers, vintage clothes/hats/purses/shoes/sunglasses, vintage clocks, old teapots, colored glass bottles, maps, vintage salt and pepper shakers, and Fiestaware, among other things.  We also unwittingly collect snow globes.  My sister travels all over the world for her job, and when Sweet Potato was about two (and a very verbal two-year-old she was), my sister took a trip to London and sent us a snow globe from there.  "Cute," I thought.  Then my sister took a trip to India and sent us another snow globe from India (is it snowing often, at the Taj Mahal?)  I laughed aloud when we opened it.  "What is it?" asked Sweet Potato.  "Well," I answered her, "apparently your Aunt Julia thinks we collect snow globes."  The very next time my sister flew to Houston for a visit we picked her up at the airport.  The first thing out of Sweet Potato's mouth was "We do not collect snow globes!"  My sister took that as some sort of challenge.  "You wanna bet?" she said.  Hence, the snow globe collection on the bar just beneath the Velvet Elvis.  Of course when you have lovely, or in this case, interesting collections the challenge becomes how to use and display these items.  For a long time my  vintage apron collection sat in a drawer and I would pull one out now and again to wear.  When we moved to a new (old) house in 2003 a clear opportunity arose to display a few of the aprons - as curtains in our dining room.  I used the clip-on rings and hung them from a tension rod, so no sewing was required, and no aprons were harmed in any way.  I can change them out if I like, but the ones in the photos are my favorites.

How to: Recover a Dining Chair

None of my dining chairs match.  They have all been salvaged from (usually) a trash heap in front of someone else's yard.  I took four very different chairs and using vivid paint colors and some oilcloth turned them into a bright and fun dining set.  Here's what I did:
Pick your chairs.  They need to be sturdy, but other than that you can work with almost anything.
For wooden chairs, sand them lightly,
 Next, wipe all of them down with a wet cloth and allow to dry completely.
 For metal chairs I use spray paint, and for wooden ones I used acrylic craft paint.  It's super cheap at any craft supply store, and comes in a huge variety of colors. I chose four different colors, but obviously you can have a more matched look by using the same color.
Next apply a couple of coats of polyurethane to protect them.
For the seats, I removed them and covered them in oilcloth which I found by the yard at Casa Ramirez on 19th in the Houston Heights.  I did not remove the original covering except in one case, where it was badly torn and would not have laid smooth under the oilcloth.  It's pretty easy to recover the seats if you take a look at them.  Some of them require a screwdriver, some a hammer, and some just pop out.  Fiddle with it long enough and you'll get it.  Fold the oilcloth tightly over the seat and secure with tacks on the bottom of the seat, and replace it.

Voila!

New life to old chairs.