Firewood?!? Oh, weed . . . I didn't know thaaat . . .

Oh, it's too hot to eat (he says with a stomach full of cold cereal and blueberries ;o)! Record highs hereabouts yesterday afternoon and the "heat goes on"! I'm hiding indoors with the air conditioner today. It will be the 1st day since May that I didn't spend at least some time in the garden. Too hot!!

I ate a handful of cherry tomatoes and a left-over Yukon Gold potato cake out of the fridge between bowls of cold cereal for breakfast and lunch. Some combination, eh?

Well, I've got a ton of green beans! We had some for dinner last night. Bag after bag went into the freezer this morning. I see DW is fixin' some more green beans with our sweet onions and basil for dinner tonight. They'll go with a couple of halibut steaks turned quickly on the grill.

Shouldn't I get back to that idea of growing fish?? I could climb in the tank with 'em on a day like today. It's too hot!

Steve

Yes, you should grow fish! Why not?

And now we are eating lemon lavender shortbread!!

Not too hot up here to eat.

:)

Steve ;o)

Steamed up some country gentleman corn earlier and it was quite tasty along with a carrot and a variety of green beans.

Had a small salad as well. Some red leaf lettuce, parsley and cherry tomatoes.

It sure is nice to go into the backyard and get most of a meal.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Nice Jennifer. I would have liked to try that salad!

We've been eating grilled beets (taste like candy!), onions, got a zuch finally. Lots of herbs. Kale everyday for breakfast I know it sounds weird but I put in my smoothie every morning. Still waiting for the green beans and tomatoes (rather impatiently;)

Mmmm....

Charlene, I'm afraid that Kale smoothie doesn't sound too yummy to me, LOL!

The only things out of the garden that we've eaten recently are a couple of cucumbers, and some carrot bread. I haven't been paying much attention to the carrots lately, and I noticed the other day that one had gotten huge. It must have been 2 1/2" across! I figured it wouldn't be too good for fresh eating, so I grated it, threw in some raisins and chopped walnuts. and made a tasty loaf of bread, which makes a really nice breakfast if I slather on some of my homemade jam.

My lettuces bolted long ago, the tomatoes refuse to get ripe, but the peppers and cukes are started to come in, so it's about time to make some homemade pickles. There's a recipe in the Ball canning book for Lemon Cucumber Pickles that I want to try this year, and my sister's requesting some Bread and Butter Pickles, and of course I'll have to make the Dill Sandwich Slices for my son.

Anyone else doing any canning yet?

Bonnie

Kale in a smoothie? I'm not going to say anything other than, hmm, that sounds interesting! I do like celery and ginger in juice and smoothies, so I guess kale could work.

I've never canned but I think about it. Next spring, we are going to go back to tomatoes, continue lettuce and we are going to try lots more veggies. We are going to buy more raised tubs/planters as I just don't want to fence off any more of the yard from the dogs but I don't want them to be able to reach anything edible either!!

Steve, it is so nice up here! Oh, my, was it 80 yesterday? Okay, not fair of me! But really, it is cooler and the breeze is light AND we are surrounded by shade from the pines...

Yes, I'm bragging!

kale?

:)

I promise it's good! It's not just kale in the smoothie. I only do it because it's one of the healthiest things you can eat and it's full of calcium more readily absorbed than milk (Steve's bok choy is even higher btw).

So here's the recipe for my morning smoothie:

*1 cup of fruit (I usually do a combo of two of the following: frozen blueberries, raspberries, mango, or strawberries)
*1/2 cup juice (orange, fresh apple or superfood green juice)
*2 large leaves of kale or a bunch of the smaller leaves (spinach works too)
*Scoop of protein powder (I use JuicePlus vanilla)
*bit of ground flaxseed or flaxseed oil
*bit of Stevia liquid sweetener (I use vanilla creme-I get from the health food store)
Blend in a blender and add water if needed.
Sometimes I'll throw in yogurt or kefir and the kids drink it and love it!

Kale, mmm ;)

Well, I admit, it does sound good! We haven't done smoothies all summer due to the strange weather. Usually, when it gets super hot, we make smoothies using frozen fruit, too. So much easier than eating regular food. Or, I'll just live entirely on watermelon! Today, it might get up to 80 so I'll have tons of grapes and some cherries. Kale! I'll think about it!

:)

You know you can grow stevia yourself? Paulino's used to carry it in the herb section, and I'm sure other places have it too. It's WAY not hardy around here, so it would need to be replaced every year, or grown inside in a pot over winter.

But, sorry, healthy or not, no kale for me!

Skybird

Here's some info about stevia:

Stevia the Sweetener Herb

While shopping for vegetable garden plants at our local home store last night, I was elated to find the sweetener herb Stevia! After we got home, I picked a leaf, took a nibble and was shocked at how sweet it really was. In an effort to learn a little more about this plant, I did a web search and will share with you what I learned.

Stevia Rebaudiana is a small perennial shrub which belongs to the Chrysanthemum family. This plant is the only known species that has the ability to sweeten.

Stevia in its natural herb form is 10 to 15 times sweeter than granulated sugar. Here are some wonderful benefits of using Stevia:

~It's diabetic safe

~It's calorie free

~It does not adversely affect blood sugar

~It is non toxic

~Inhibits the formation of cavities and plaque

~It can be used for cooking

Growing it:

It's best to start with plants because it is difficult to grow from seed. Young Stevia plants are sensitive to low temperatures, so don't plant it out until danger of frost is gone and soil temperature is in the 50's or 60's. They should be planted 18 inches apart. They grow to about 30 inches tall and 18 inches wide. It likes a rich soil and its feeder roots are near the soil surface, so adding a mulch of compost is a good idea. Stevia roots are sensitive to excessive moisture, so be sure the soil drains easily. It is a perennial, but the plant is sensitive to frost, so don't leave it outside through the fall and winter months if your area gets frosts.

It's cooled off around here, J - in a big way. Highs went from 90's to 82° to 66°, after a thunderstorm and 1/4 inch of rain.

I got Stevia plants from Richters and kept them thru the summer several years ago. Primarily, I wanted this sweetener to see what Mom thought of it. But, she wasn't going to give up honey in her tea.

I wasn't too happy with the "green" taste of the herb. Later, I learned that the flavor changed with drying. Of course, I'd abandoned the Stevia to the frost by that time . . . shucks.

Sweet Onions!!

No, you wouldn't want that in tea either. But, I've got lots and lots of them. Actually, I've got all sorts of onions right now!

The shallots were harvested a week or so ago and we've just started to use the Tokyo White bunching onions as scallions. However, the sweet onions are flopping over as their season comes to an end. I've got nice Walla Walla's grown from seed and nice big Walla Walla's from Dixondale. I wish I could "top" Dixondale in the size of the ones that I grow myself but it hasn't quite turned out that way . . . yet.

One thing Dixondale did NOT do for me this year was send me the leeks I ordered. AND, I didn't start any plants myself so I was relying on those folks! Instead, they sent me their "storage" sweet onion, Sterling. By the time I realized this, I was planting them out and just swallowed hard and went ahead with putting them in the garden. They seem like a nice onion. I've got those 2 and some nice Utah sweets.

I'm really going to miss leeks this year. It means I'm missing out on leek soup. If someone has a good substitute recipe using sweet onions . . . .

Stevia â«â¼

I planted my leeks in a bed, maybe 12 plants across x 10 feet. The sizes are all mixed up in there, some ready to harvest, some still tiny. I'm thinkin' on how to harvest some out - you can't just go in an pull them, they're waaaaay too deep.

I grew them from seed this year. Along with bunching onions that have an 'issue' with bunching, now being about an inch in diameter and only a few are shooting up new ones.

This later may go down in the annals of '52 gardening. I bought a package of Evergreen Bunching onions, and read up on them, and from all I could tell, if I started them early and set out the slips about 6" apart, they would grow and bunch and about now, I'd be able to go out and pull up a clump of scallions.

This did not happen. They grew to about an inch in diameter and 2 feet high.

That was my experience with Evergreen, David. I grew them last about 15 years ago, I think. The Tokyo Whites do the same thing. I think the term "bunch" may just be how they are marketed to the consumer, in a bunch.

As far as those that bunch, as in grow in bunches: the only one that has done that for me is 4 Seasons. I thought these were wonderful onions - tender and sweet. Germination of seed wasn't all that great in 'o8 and terrible in 'o9, with new seed each year.

Long after the green onions from sets are gone and after the sweet onions have outgrown their usefulness as green onions, the Tokyo's are still available. I think I need to sow the seed in flats just about the last frost date. That way, so much of the tougher, outer leaves won't need to be stripped away. The stand of them is fairly impressive. They look like Colorado blue spruce . . . ornamental. I'll get a picture if'n I can remember the camera tomorrow.

Steve

On the positive side, Steve, I've been selling the heck out of the big Evergreens at the market, 4 for $1, a 4 inch dia bunch, for which seems pretty cheap, but then they don't know how many of the things I've got :-). I fill up 3 X 5 gal buckets with the things, and maybe bring a few home.

They're starting to look a bit scraggly now, and I still have 80% of the things left. I may just whack the tops back and see what happens......

Tokyo Whites, in a bit of a breeze:

Tokyo Blues might be a better name. They were planted at the same time as the sweets, which have all bulbed out and flopped over, and the sets, which are only a distant memory.

d'S',
enjoying breaded eggplant and sautéed Fushimi sweet peppers as he types . . .