Peanut Soup

This recipe for Peanut Soup is inspired by a friend who made something similar for me while I lived in the Des Moines area. For my soup I used a Bon Bon squash, but just about any squash from Hubbard, Butternut, to pumpkin would be nice. I thought it was a delicious combination of ingredients and am finally getting it out to you!

Peanut Soup

1 bunch green onions             1 med. sweet bell pepper

1 T. peanut oil                        2 T. chopped ginger root

4 tsp. minced garlic                2 tsp. ground coriander

1 T. soy sauce                         2 tsp. ground cumin

 1/2 tsp. salt                            1 tsp. crushed red pepper

5 cups vegetable broth           2 cups cubed squash

1 cup creamy peanut butter    1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 can petite diced tomatoes    1 15oz. can crushed tomatoes

4 cups chopped kale               Chopped peanuts garnish

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

* Cook diced bell pepper and sliced whites of onions in hot

 oil for a few minutes over med/high heat in soup pot.

* Add to the pot, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, black pepper,

and red pepper. Stir for 30 seconds.

* Add broth, squash, kale, tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, salt,

and soy sauce. Simmer 15 min.

* Nearing the end of the cooking, scoop out about a cup of the

broth into a small mixing bowl. Wisk the peanut butter into

the broth, then stir into the soup.

* Serve hot with a garnish of crushed peanuts and green

onion tops chopped finely.

In the Organic Garden; Birds and Butterflies

Now is the time we start thinking about what we need to clean up in the garden. I can tell you from experience that leaving most of your flowers go to seed and leaving them in the garden is a good thing to do. There are many birds that love to eat those seeds as you can see the finches on my zinnias. The finches also adore cone flower seeds. I will also leave perennial flower plants as they die right where they stand to provide some protection from the frigid winter months. There is plenty of time to clean up any left over plants the bunnies didn't eat in the spring. 

 Now lets talk butterflies. We all know about the migration of monarch butterflies for the winter months, but did you know that leaf litter (fallen leaves) is extremely important to many other butterflies? Yes, it is true! There are some butterflies that over winter in the form of caterpillars, a chrysalis, or even a few leave their eggs in the leaves. I encourage people to leave as much leaf litter in your areas, in, around, and under plants and trees to assist our friends the butterflies.
I also have as many leaves as possible mounded on my raspberry patch area to not only mulch but feed them as well.

http://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/the-butterflies-of-winter

Here is one web site you can check out if you want to learn more about butterflies and how they overwinter. I am sure there are many other places on the web to learn more as well. 

Enjoy our last gasp of warm weather! I saw a flock of geese flying south on Oct. 15th, so we know our winter is not too far away!

Happy gardening!

Organic Garden; Swallowtail in the garden

This time of year there are so many beautiful things in the garden from your favorite juicy tomato to some sweet visitors. This butterfly is a swallowtail and I believe it may be the Tiger Swallowtail. These are my very favorite butterflies. In order to entice them to visit my garden I always plant parsley and carrots. These butterflies lay their eggs on carrot greens and parsley and their caterpillars eat them before transforming into a chrysalis. I can tell you that I don't grow the best carrots because our soil isn't really sandy enough, but I always plant them in the hopes of seeing swallowtail butterflies and caterpillars. I also plant zinnias somewhere close by too because the adults love them as you can see in the photo. So if you want to help this butterfly, plant carrots,parsley, and zinnias, you won't be sorry!

This is also the time of year that some blight might take over those tomato plants. We are far enough along in the season that I don't really worry about it, and hope that my vines have set plenty of fruits.

Take the time to enjoy the rest of our warm summer weather. It will be gone before you know it!
Happy gardening!

Organic Garden; Clean up that blight, pick some veggies

Today is the first day that I have seen a couple of monarch butterflies visit my flower gardens. It gives me hope for the future and I hope others continue to help the butterflies by planting flowers they love.

Now is the time to go around and cut off all those branches near the bottom or any place on your tomato plants that are showing blight.  Then they should be set for the rest of the summer as they should have set plenty of fruit. I was finally able to pick some green beans today! Slowly but surely the beans, pepper plants, beets, cucumbers, and collard greens are coming around. The Deer Stop spray has kept them out of the yard, and saved my garden and other plants too. 

I am excited to finally have 1 tomato ripen. It is only an orange sunrise but none the less it's a signal that there will be more to come soon. My eggplant looks great as well! Now the garden seems to be in full swing yielding many zucchini, pan squash, and a few cucumbers too. I love summer so much! 

Happy Gardening!

Organic Garden; Sometimes a set back

Today I was out in the garden surveying the damage one hungry deer made. And although I do not enjoy the fact that my beets, beans, peppers, and collard greens are eaten off, I realize that with gardening as with life you expect the unexpected. There is always something to learn, and this year I learned that a hungry deer can jump the outer fence and find my garden.

So the thought enters my mind, why do I garden? I don't have to, I want to, but with gardening there is so much more than just planting. It's a real connection with nature and soaking it all in even when completing tasks. Today I was tying up my tomato plants as they have grown higher, and while I am quietly working I hear the little wren yelling at me as I am too near his nesting box, a humming bird or two wiz by to check out the newly blooming bee balm, the chick-a-dee is telling me their name, a beautiful butterfly softly lands on a kohlrabi leaf, and the gentle wind is rustling the leaves on the trees ever so gently. These are the oh so meditative moments I soak in while I am outside. They are calm and soothing and good for the soul. It truly helps me center and recharge. 

So I will keep on gardening even if I encounter an uphill battle. I am interested in finding out if those plants can recover enough to produce this season. Time will tell! I will keep you posted.

Happy gardening!

Organic Garden; Thin the carrots

Now is the time for thinning the carrots, beets, and anything too close together. I will thin carrots and beets about an inch apart, then thin again in a few weeks.

These carrots are too small to do much with but bunny loves them!

White Bean Soup recipe

White Bean Soup

1/2 cup diced yellow onion               

 2 med. carrots- diced

1 tsp. minced garlic                           

 1 cup celery- diced

2 T. olive oil                                     

 2 T. flour

8 cups vegetable broth                      

 1 bay leaf

2 cans Cannellini beans- drained        

3-4 med. potatoes- peeled & diced

4 c. chopped spinach or kale              

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp. dried basil                             

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper             

 1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground thyme                        

 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 c. half & half                                    

*Optional: 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup potato flakes

* In a large soup pot over med/high heat sauté onion, carrot, garlic, &

celery in the olive oil until cooked through, about 5 min.

* Add the flour and stir for 15 seconds then stir in the broth. Take a couple of ladles out and place in a bowl. Set bowl aside.

* Heat to boiling, add beans and potatoes. Chop kale and parsley and add in. Add in salt, peppers, bay leaf, basil and lemon juice.  Simmer for approximately 15 min or until potato is cooked through. Turn off heat and remove from heat. 

* Add the half and half to the slightly cooled broth bowl you set aside. Stir to mix, then stir into soup. Serve hot. Sprinle cheese on top if desired.

* If you like soup a little thicker, sprinkle finished soup with about a half cup of potato flakes and stir to mix

 

Organic Garden; Watching it grow

Well, the garden is in for the most part. I have some grass clipping around the plants and most are growing pretty well. I have to admit that starting my squash in recycled plant containers proved to work so great I will hopefully remember to do that again next year! It puts my winter & summer squash, and my cucumbers at least two weeks ahead of where they would be. I just looked at my zucchini yesterday and they are ready to flower! (Sorry I get excited about that sort of thing)

I am starting to cut off bottom limbs of tomato plants that are about a foot or so high and steak them. I will continue to cut off lower limbs until I have at least a one foot gap. That being said, I sometimes cut off half a lower limb if it is close to touching the ground. I work hard at the start to ward off early blight so that I can relax a little when the plants are setting fruit.

You can see that my squash that were on the opposite end of the garden last year are now at the south side. (left side of pic) The tomatoes from that north end are also at the south end. I rotate in thirds to try to keep the plants from diseases as is recommended but the problem is there is only so much space so you do what you can.

As always, happy planting!!

Organic Garden - Warm weather plants

 The pepper plants and tomato plants are eagerly awaiting the warmer weather this week so they can be put into the garden. Most tomato plants had to be transferred one more time to a bigger cup but peppers don't really require it most of the time. As long as the weather gets warm, peppers catch up and grow pretty fast.

I know many people already planted warm weather crops in the garden but if the soil isn't warm enough they just don't like it, so I wait in this northern zone until my garden soil is above 68 degrees.

I have put some hot peppers in large pots and if my garden was all individual raised beds it would be fine to plant early. I wait for 2 reasons; warmer weather and unpredictable spring storms. Since I grow my tomatoes and peppers from seeds, most can not be replaced at the nursery so I don't want to lose them.

This is the first year I have ever started some warm weather seeds in pots. I started all my winter squash seeds (spaghetti, bon bon, and butternut), cucumbers, and zucchini. I planted the zucchini yesterday but the rest will hopefully go in this week. I have to make a new spot for my climbing squash as I don't have room for them to wander in the garden. 

I am pretty excited about these zucchini because I usually just throw in the seeds and hope for the best. Maybe I will even get some early! As you can see I usually plant them in a sort of "well" so they can more easily direct the water to the root area.
It is an exciting time of year because the anticipation of the garden and growing things fills me will a kind of joy that can't be replaced. Even if I could only plant in pots I would because growing things is really so enjoyable.
Happy planting!

Organic Garden: Time to transplant seedlings.

 Wow! What a great day it was outside today!! Around 70 degrees and the garden soil was perfect for cold weather crops to go in. I planted spinach, beets, and kale today.  I hope to get a few more things in this week. As you an see my tomato seedlings were getting big so a few days ago I transplanted them for the first time. I will say that this is how I do it from years of practice, but by no means think that there probably aren't other ways to do it. This is just what works best for me.

First I take the potting soil out of the bag and put it into my large bin to hydrate it.

I use water I get from my outside spout so that it has no salt in it, and pour some into the bin with the soil then stir it up to get it partially hydrated.

 Next I count the first variety of seedlings to transplant and mark the small cups. I reuse as many as I can from year to year. I drill small holes in the bottoms for drainage, three in each cup. I hold 4 or five in a stack and use my trusty drill to make the holes.

I use an old baby spoon to scoop out my plants and put a tiny bit of soil in the bottom of the cup.

I place the plant in the cup and fill in soil around it. Tomatoes will grow more roots if you bury as much stem as you can so each transplanting will have this happen and then finally in the garden with only a few leaves and stem above the dirt in the garden. I won't move to the next size of cups until the plants have matured a bit more.

After as much soil as can be put into the cups fills them up,  I place the cups in a container with water to let them now soak up as much water as they can before they are put into the tray. You can tell they are ready because the top of the soil looks really dark when wet.

Once they are all transplanted and hydrated, they are put into a tray and back in front of my south facing windows. When days are not too windy and mild I will let them get some outside time for a half hour or so, and give them at least a half hour of light fan action each day.
I will do the same for the pepper plants in a few days and wait a few more weeks before the next transplanting.

Organic Garden; Getting Ready

Spring is upon us (or just about!). I have started some seeds. I like to pick seed varieties and grow them indoors early. I use an organic seed starter and as you can see some are in regular 6 celled containers. I also started some peppers in some of those expanding pellets. I am not really happy because of you look closely there is some mold starting on some of them and that can be a problem. I have been running a fan part of the day to try to avoid that and also to help start to harden the plants.

If I don't have the seed starters with the clear top, I just set them in a food bag with a twisty until most  or all of the seedlings are up. I also have them sitting on a seed warming mat. I found that helps them start much better. I start pepper seeds at the end of January and tomatoes in early March. But even if you start some now, they will catch up once they go outdoors, usually anyway.

Then I wait until they have a good set of true leaves before transplanting them. This seedling isn't quite ready yet. I will wait until those true leaves are bigger or there are another set to have a better chance they will grow.

When the seedlings are big enough I use tiny cups to transplant them into so I can write on the cup which variety it is. These cups work great. I just drill holes in the bottom for drainage and reuse as many each year as I can. They don't stay in these that long, but it's a great size for that first transplant.
If you don't grow your own plants from seed but get some 6 packs of small plants early from the nursery, you can transplant in the same way. I will do that for eggplant and some other varieties if I see something I think I need.

Dr. Seuss Quilt

This is a baby quilt I made for my friend Anna. I knew she was a big Dr. Seuss fan so when I saw this fabric I knew it was perfect!

Mom's Log Cabin Quilt

This is the quilt I made for my mom last year. We gave it to her on her birthday. It's just a simple log cabin block but the design pattern turned out great!

Little Fox Baby Quilt

This was a baby quilt I made with a fabric that had the cutest little foxes on it. I was trying out a new quilt block called the Milky Way.

Rising Star Quilt

I finally made a quilt for myself! This is a queen sized quilt. There was no pattern except that I saw the rising star quilt block and liked it. After I worked out how many of those I wanted I added the nine patch, the strips in between and then the flying geese on the sides. It turned out pretty good.

Spicy Vegetable Soup

As you can tell, I love soup! This is a new twist on what you might think of as vegetable soup. It really is delicious and easy to make. I hope you try it during this really delicious soup!

Spicy Kale & Vegetable Soup

8 cups vegetable broth                            28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes         15 oz. can black beans-rinsed

11 oz. can nibblet corn-drained               1 small bunch kale-chopped

1 small turnip-diced                                 2 medium white potatoes-diced

2 stalks celery-chopped                          1 medium yellow onion-diced

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper (+/-)             2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. salt                                                1/4 tsp. gr. black pepper

* In a large soup pot place the veg broth. Add the onion, potatoes, and turnip.

Heat to boiling and add all the other ingredients. Cook long enough that the

potato and turnip are cooked through.

* Makes one large pot and freezes well.