How to Prepare Greens
There are many types of greens with varied taste and texture. Some greens, like spinach, chard or collards, are better cooked by themselves. Others like mustard, kale, rape or turnips are good as mixed greens. The intensity of the taste can be managed by the quantity of each type used. Mustard has a strong taste. Turnips, kale and rape are milder. Use the amount of each that is necessary to balance the flavor and obtain the desired strength.
Pick the largest leaves to minimize the effort (and back strain) of washing them. Each leaf should be picked up and examined. Some people like to pull the stems out. They can be tough and woody sometimes. Grit and bugs need to be removed before cooking and serving. The greens can be boiled with some type of cured pork or just your favorite seasoning. Young tender greens can be sautéed in olive oil with garlic. They really go well in stir fries. Try adding some sliced or diced turnip bulbs in either method. My favorite turnips are the Tokyo Hybrid Cross. The purple top turnips are good as well; but they need to be harvested while they are small. The Tokyo turnips stay tender and sweet at a larger size.
Greens furnish a lot of folic acid, b vitamins and vitamin c. They are great with vinegar or a vinegar-based hot sauce. Sometimes we use bouillon in the boiled greens instead of pork. The “pot-liquor” left from cooking the greens is great for making rice or cous-cous or anything of that nature. Some people like to drink it. In makes a great organic vitamin drink.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Broken Sprayer
Broken Sprayer
Habanero peppers and garlic makes a nasty looking and smelling mess when one adds a little cooking oil and lemon flavored dish detergent. I strained it first; but it still stopped up my sprayer. When I tried to clear the nozzle, I lost a spring. Now the sprayer doesn’t work. The tomatoes are the only thing that got sprayed. The deer have quit eating the plants so at least that much works.
Pearl Friar http://www.pearlfryar.com/ was on “Charlotte Talks” http://www.wfae.org/wfae/18_92_0.cfm this morning talking about topiary and his garden. As much as I enjoy looking at strange topiary, it feels kind of unnatural to me. I still want to furnish some links for those who wish to do it. The really important message is not the plants and the topiary; but the way gardening can shape lives and relationships.
There are 2 rabbits a squirrel and a pair of young cardinals in the back yard of my office, entertaining me as I write. A friend gave me a magazine about wildlife gardening. I think I may try my hand at this. These few creatures are really soothing to watch. Could I get more creatures if I planted for them?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Habanero peppers and garlic makes a nasty looking and smelling mess when one adds a little cooking oil and lemon flavored dish detergent. I strained it first; but it still stopped up my sprayer. When I tried to clear the nozzle, I lost a spring. Now the sprayer doesn’t work. The tomatoes are the only thing that got sprayed. The deer have quit eating the plants so at least that much works.
Pearl Friar http://www.pearlfryar.com/ was on “Charlotte Talks” http://www.wfae.org/wfae/18_92_0.cfm this morning talking about topiary and his garden. As much as I enjoy looking at strange topiary, it feels kind of unnatural to me. I still want to furnish some links for those who wish to do it. The really important message is not the plants and the topiary; but the way gardening can shape lives and relationships.
There are 2 rabbits a squirrel and a pair of young cardinals in the back yard of my office, entertaining me as I write. A friend gave me a magazine about wildlife gardening. I think I may try my hand at this. These few creatures are really soothing to watch. Could I get more creatures if I planted for them?
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Update
Update
The Swiss chard lasagna was delicious. It takes a lot of chard. The chard row will be longer next year. The first sugar peas were picked on Saturday (5/16). They have to be picked everyday or the pods fill out. They are really hard to find. It is like an Easter egg hunt. The last spinach has bolted and was pulled off Saturday as well. Egg plants and herb plants from the green house and from direct seeding are too slow for me. I broke down and bought some plants.
The squash is growing well. Cucumbers had to be replanted as the row just did not fill out. The watermelon is growing too fast. It was planted between the onions that are being allowed to go to seed and the sugar peas. I may have to pull off a few of the pea vines around the watermelon plants. The 1st crop of figs is not ripe. The second crop is coming out. The paw paws are growing nicely. I planted a short row of okra just because I had the space.
The eager eater bugs are coming out now. For mosquitoes I spray myself instead of the yard. I am making a spray of habanero peppers and garlic. I will let you know if it works. I have been procrastinating on doing it because we have had a prediction of rain everyday and rain will wash it off.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
The Swiss chard lasagna was delicious. It takes a lot of chard. The chard row will be longer next year. The first sugar peas were picked on Saturday (5/16). They have to be picked everyday or the pods fill out. They are really hard to find. It is like an Easter egg hunt. The last spinach has bolted and was pulled off Saturday as well. Egg plants and herb plants from the green house and from direct seeding are too slow for me. I broke down and bought some plants.
The squash is growing well. Cucumbers had to be replanted as the row just did not fill out. The watermelon is growing too fast. It was planted between the onions that are being allowed to go to seed and the sugar peas. I may have to pull off a few of the pea vines around the watermelon plants. The 1st crop of figs is not ripe. The second crop is coming out. The paw paws are growing nicely. I planted a short row of okra just because I had the space.
The eager eater bugs are coming out now. For mosquitoes I spray myself instead of the yard. I am making a spray of habanero peppers and garlic. I will let you know if it works. I have been procrastinating on doing it because we have had a prediction of rain everyday and rain will wash it off.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Mystery Greens
Mystery Greens
In one little corner of my garden I had a very successful planting. I just did not know what it was. It looked like spinach but bigger and lighter in color. It tasted like lettuce with a slight bitter aftertaste. I thought I had planted Swiss chard in that spot; but Swiss chard is supposed to have red stems. I brought a few leaves to the office and looked up Swiss chard on the internet. Not all Swiss chard has red stems. That is what I had.
It is good that I looked it up. There are so many great recipes for Swiss Chard. The simplest is just to sauté it with a little garlic and olive oil. http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000965swiss_chard.php There were other recipes for lasagna and Swiss chard pie. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/chard/index.html I even found a recipe for Swiss chard Tzajiki. I can’t find it again to give the link; but it is made the same as regular Tzajiki, substituting chard for cucumbers.
One of the keys mentioned in almost every article was freshness. Swiss chard is compared to sweet corn in that the sooner after picking it is used, the better it taste. That is probably why chard from the grocery store is not very good. It turned out to be really easy to grow. I will report on the flavor. Hopefully we will try it soon.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
In one little corner of my garden I had a very successful planting. I just did not know what it was. It looked like spinach but bigger and lighter in color. It tasted like lettuce with a slight bitter aftertaste. I thought I had planted Swiss chard in that spot; but Swiss chard is supposed to have red stems. I brought a few leaves to the office and looked up Swiss chard on the internet. Not all Swiss chard has red stems. That is what I had.
It is good that I looked it up. There are so many great recipes for Swiss Chard. The simplest is just to sauté it with a little garlic and olive oil. http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000965swiss_chard.php There were other recipes for lasagna and Swiss chard pie. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/chard/index.html I even found a recipe for Swiss chard Tzajiki. I can’t find it again to give the link; but it is made the same as regular Tzajiki, substituting chard for cucumbers.
One of the keys mentioned in almost every article was freshness. Swiss chard is compared to sweet corn in that the sooner after picking it is used, the better it taste. That is probably why chard from the grocery store is not very good. It turned out to be really easy to grow. I will report on the flavor. Hopefully we will try it soon.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Fig Wasps
Fig Wasps
It is nice to learn something new everyday. My friend and associate Chris Abrams told me this morning (4/30/09) about figs. Figs are not fruits, they are flowers. The petals, sepals and stamen are inside the fig. A tiny little wasp crawls inside and pollinates the fig. See a description here:
http://www.figweb.org/Interaction/Who_pollinates_fig_trees/index.htm
When I started thinking about this, I just wondered how it was possible, since this fig wasp lives within 15’ of the tree. Fig trees are natives of Asia. How did the wasp get here. I discovered that the fig varieties in the Americas are different. All of the flowers are female and do not require pollination.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig#Pollination.2C_propagation.2C_and_fruit
Figs normally produce 2 crops per year. The 1st is borne on last year’s new growth. The second comes on the current years new growth. My first crop is usually small; because I prune the tree very heavily when it goes dormant. The 1st crop typically freezes anyway.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
It is nice to learn something new everyday. My friend and associate Chris Abrams told me this morning (4/30/09) about figs. Figs are not fruits, they are flowers. The petals, sepals and stamen are inside the fig. A tiny little wasp crawls inside and pollinates the fig. See a description here:
http://www.figweb.org/Interaction/Who_pollinates_fig_trees/index.htm
When I started thinking about this, I just wondered how it was possible, since this fig wasp lives within 15’ of the tree. Fig trees are natives of Asia. How did the wasp get here. I discovered that the fig varieties in the Americas are different. All of the flowers are female and do not require pollination.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig#Pollination.2C_propagation.2C_and_fruit
Figs normally produce 2 crops per year. The 1st is borne on last year’s new growth. The second comes on the current years new growth. My first crop is usually small; because I prune the tree very heavily when it goes dormant. The 1st crop typically freezes anyway.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
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