Hardy Har Har

It's good to know
That when it snows
I will have lots
Of parsley.

Crushed Red Peppers

Peppery Deliciousness

Months ago I strung up my cayenne peppers to dry in the kitchen window.  I added more and more peppers all summer into the fall as they ripened.  I tried crushing up the dried peppers a variety of ways.  Every knife I used just seemed to spray the peppers everywhere as I chopped them.  I tried putting them in a plastic bag and smashing them, but they just smashed in to very large pieces. 

Then I remembered this beauty:

It's the Microplane Herb Mill.  You can get it here or here or even here for about $20.  I think I even saw it once at Ross for $10.  Basically it has a compartment you can put herbs in and the handle presses the herbs into two very small sets of blades. 

Just watch!

Cut off the stems

Insert 3-4 cayenne peppers

Rotate the handle to grind grind grind.

Store in a totally cute container.

I bought a set of shakers for red pepper and parmesan cheese months ago here. I made the label using my beloved Brother Label Maker. 

Helpful Hints:
- Wear gloves when working with hot peppers.  I scrubbed my hands after working with the peppers and I still burned myself when I touched my eye later.
- The herb mill works best with dried herbs.  It says it works with fresh herbs that have been patted dry, but I find that they just gunk up the blades.


Happy Gardening,

Christine 

Back to Basics

Although January 7th is about 3-4 months before zone 6-7's last frost date, some plants can be started whenever you'd like. I've decided to start a crop of basil indoors now. I can transplant it all to the garden in May or continue to grow it indoors.

I'll be tracking the growth of the basil from planting to germination to centimeters high. Hopefully other container gardeners will find this information helpful.

So here we are: Jan 7th, 2013 at 1 pm. Approximately 8-10 basil seeds have been planted in a 9 cm tall, 12 cm wide pott with Miracle grow potting soil and about 4 tbsp of water.

Winter Gardening

I am too embarrassed to show a picture of what my garden looked like after the first blight.  Basically, the tomato plants turned brown, the basil turned black, and all the peppers shriveled up.  Zone 7 winters just aren't conducive to most leafy plants.

So what can you grow?

Trimming up a sad plant.

Start small, grow tall.. not DOWN!

This is a tag-along post with my entry about things I learned while gardening.  One very good lesson is to always stake your tomatoes. I put those metal cages around both of the plants but the cages only went about 3 ft tall and the tomato plants grew to about 8 ft tall. Next year I will use gardening twine and keep training the tomato plants up the railings.  

So, how to deal with this problem....

What I Learned

I've learned a great deal from my first year of gardening. Some of these lessons are specific to gardening in Maryland, others are universal.

Lesson 1: Furry Leaves make for Furry Fungus

The biggest gardening foe I faced was fungus. My pumpkins, zucchini, and cucumber all suffered moldy fungal growths that halted growth and shriveled produce. Maryland gets irregular and sometimes heavy rains and high humidity- the perfect growing conditions for fungus on the backs of leaves. I doubt I'll grow any more furry leaf veggies.

Lesson 2: Some Plants Need Lots of Space

I really should have done a bit more research on pumpkins before growing them. If I had, I would have learned that pumpkin vines will take over your entire yard and make it really hard to mow the grass. My tomato plants also grew far too big. Next year I will only be planting one tomato plant instead of two.

Lesson 3: Don't Let Plants Outgrow Pots

This no-brainer is brought to you by my bell peppers. I bought several plants mid-May . The gardener recommended they hit the soil within a week. It took me a while to build the raised bed garden, so the plants didn't hit the ground until mid-June. As a result, only the super hardy cayenne pepper flourished.

Hopefully these tips help. I'm planning out next year's garden now with some exciting new plants as well as some garden staples. I'll start sprouting the first seeds in March, though there will be a few posts before then regarding garden prep and a surprising herb that is currently toughing it out in the garden.

Keep on growing,

Christine

Caprese Salad!

This caprese salad brought to you by:

• 1 garden-fresh tomato, 
• 1 handful of sweet basil leaves, 
• 1 wedge of fresh mozzarella from Giant Food, 
• 1 sprinkle of sea salt, 
• 1 drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Cut up and combine.
2. Try not to eat the entire plate in 3 bites.

If you've got balsamic vinegar it can be nice to add a little to the mozzarella for a kick.  I love how fresh tomatoes are so rich inside that they're practically purple.  If I get a few more tomatoes I'll post a goat cheese bruchetta recipe.  

Happy October!

Christine