Cold Climate Gardening

Here is my entry in Idaho Gardener’s Garden Olympics. I have to say, there didn’t seem much time to mull things over and pick my three entries. Here’s what I came up with under pressure.

The Secret Garden Path

The path to the Secret Garden fulfills its job of luring you in by looking attractive throughout the year.

My Mosaic Birdbath

Acquiring this birdbath was a triumph of aesthetic appreciation over miserly practicality. It was an agonizing decision, but the right one. It’s beautiful, and it inspires me.

No one entering these Olympics has more kinds of Colchicums

And then there is my colchicum collection. I have over two dozen kinds. How many kinds do you have?

Have fun judging, Mary Ann. You’ve got some tough choices ahead of you.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Mary Ann Newcomer, at Idaho Gardener, is sponsoring what she calls Olympic garden events. Her rules are quirky but eminently attainable:

Three rules:
1. You must link back to IdahoGardener.com.
2. You must show me the best of the best of your garden. You decide what that is: single plant, single fabulous piece of produce, collection of tomatoes, collection of hoes, a garden vignette, whatever. Three entries per garden.
3. Deadline is Sunday night at midnight.

Prizes will be “will be smallish but very meaningful and thoughtful.” Go for it!

Popularity: 2% [?]

A lot of the plants from last month are still blooming, though most of them look a bit weather-beaten and are past their peak. Goldenrod, asters, and Joe Pye weed are starting in the fields. A careful inspection of the wooded hillside reveals the first flashes of red. I’ve always maintained that, for cold climate gardeners, autumn really starts in the middle of August. I suppose you could just as easily say that cold climate gardeners should start their “fall” planting in late summer. But it’s time to start thinking about it, that’s for sure.

Photo Gallery

Click on any thumbnail for a medium image, and click on the medium image for an even bigger one, if you want to see detail. If you click on the first thumbnail, you will be able to go through all of them without coming back to the main post to click the next one.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tomatoes the Old-Fashioned Way

I’ve been reading the The Little House on the Prairie series to my six-year-old at bedtime. We just happen to be on The Long Winter and were reading “Fall of the Year” just a couple of days ago, where the Ingalls were surprised by an early hard frost. Ma and Laura picked all the ripe tomatoes from the blackened vines and made “almost a gallon of preserves.” I wondered if this was just an old way of saying canned tomatoes, but later on it is referred to as sweet preserves by Mary. So did they have tomato jam on toast for breakfast? Does anyone know how people used tomatoes in the 1870s-1880s? Or canning and preserving practices in general back then?

Ma then goes on to make green tomato pickle. People still do this today; Frugal Upstate has a recipe for Fireballs–try them if you dare. [Read more →]

Popularity: 3% [?]

She says, he says

She says: “Mom, you’d better cut that plant back. It’s blocking the entrance to the house!”
He says: “What gorgeous color! Don’t touch it! I’d be happy to inconvenience myself for that plant!”
I have this dilemma just about every year. To chop or not to chop. Many years ago, I ordered a packet of Malva sylvestris subspecies mauritiana ‘Bibor Felho’ from Thompson & Morgan. The best of the original plants attained shrub-like proportions, with blossoms three inches across. Those plants died after the first year, being more of an annual than a perennial for me, but every year since then new plants have grown from seed. [Read more →]

Popularity: 4% [?]

Improvisational Container Planting

I am pretty lackadaisical when it comes to container plantings. I have three window boxes hanging on the porch fence-cum-railing and a rusting metal washtub that I found in the barn when we moved in. I never really plan or purchase plants for these containers. I count on something showing up due to the kindness of friends or excessive seed sown, and then I try to make it work. Let’s call it improvisational container planting to give it some credibility. (Click all photos for larger–and sharper–image) [Read more →]

Popularity: 5% [?]

We don’t have any green beans ready quite yet, though they’re getting close. And even when we do have green beans, we’re quite happy eating them boiled in water until crisp-tender, drained, and then tossed with garlic sauteed in olive oil, or maybe just butter, salt, and pepper. However, there comes a time in the life of every cook when she is called upon to produce A Dish to Pass. In my husband’s family, you are often specifically told to bring a green bean casserole. Before I married into the family, there was only one green bean casserole. You know the one, with the condensed cream of mushroom soup and store-bought French fried onions.

Either of the green bean casseroles below is a wonderful replacement to that tired standby. I’m sure each would be even better with fresh green beans, but I almost always use frozen whole beans. Store-bought frozen beans, because we always eat all our homegrown beans before they ever get near a freezer.

Tangy Green Bean Casserole

This came from Taste of Home June 1996, p. 17

2 pounds green beans — 1-1/2 inch long
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 minced garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon melted butter

Cook beans till crisp-tender; drain. Add onion, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Transfer to ungreased 2 qt. baking dish. Toss crumbs, cheese, & butter; sprinkle over bean mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or till golden brown. Serves 6.
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 97 Calories; 5g Fat (42.0% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 6mg Cholesterol; 167mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Green Beans Au Gratin
I clipped this one out of the newspaper. Left out the lemon peel the first time I made it, and never felt the need to buy a lemon for subsequent repeats.

1 pound green beans
1 large Spanish onion — sliced and separated into rings
1 tablespoon parsley — minced
3/4 pound mushrooms — sliced
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon lemon peel — grated
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
3 tablespoons butter

Stem, wash and cut green beans diagonally into 1″ pieces (or leave them whole). Cook in boiling water till barely tender. Drain. Melt butter, add onions and parsley. Simmer over medium heat till onions are limp. Add mushrooms. Continue cooking. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and lemon peel. Mix well. Blend in sour cream. Arrange half beans in bottom of greased 2 quart casserole. Cover with half of sauce. Repeat. Sprinkle cheddar over top. Combine bread crumbs with melted butter. Sprinkle over cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 6.
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 386 Calories; 28g Fat (64.4% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 73mg Cholesterol; 1034mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 5 Fat.

Green Beans and Cabbage with Coriander Butter
This is not a casserole, but a stove top saute that is both unusual and good.

4 tablespoons butter
3 cups chopped cabbage
1 1/2 cups fresh cut green beans
1 teaspoon ground coriander

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until butter just begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and add cabbage and green beans; toss to coat with butter. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon ground coriander and toss well. Return to stove and cook over low heat, covered, 10 to 15 minutes, until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Serves 6.
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 85 Calories; 8g Fat (78.0% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 21mg Cholesterol; 86mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat.

Popularity: 6% [?]