Summer gardening roundup

It was really tough not having my own space this summer, and not having the money to set anything up at my new place... But, I scrounged together some cash and threw some plants in the dirt.

I started with putting down cardboard on the area that I wanted to use for my first few beds, and I held it down with potted plants. After a couple months the grass stopped trying to fight back and the cardboard lay flat on the ground. By then I had a bit of money, and I bought a cedar board that was on sale at Homely Despot, got them to cut it into lengths, and got some cheap corner hardware to put it all together. Then I filled the center with some hay from my dad, a bag of composted manure, and a couple bags of cheap dirt from the grocery store garden center. It didn't quite fill the box, but I mounded it up on one side and used the other side to trench-compost some kitchen veggie scraps.

Pumpkin soup

Pumpkin Soup

• 2lbs pumpkin (pie variety NOT carving type)
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• butter or butter substitute
• salt and pepper
• cinnamon and nutmeg
• milk
• 1 litre of vegetable stock

Rose hip syrup with honey

Rosehips contain 20x more Vitamin C than you find in oranges, and you can find them growing on rose bushes everywhere. Some are larger and others smaller, but they're essentially the same. If you pick them after first frost they're a bit sweeter, but they're ready once they go all red.



Ingredients

Honey
Rosehips
Water

Kitchen sink stew

Kitchen Sink Stew


Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 leek or small onion
• 2 Tbsp flour or thickener of your choice (I use tapioca flour)
• Enough stock to cover the contents of your pot
• 1 cup beans, fresh or tinned (kidney, lima, etc.)
• 1 cup chopped, cooked meat (optional)
• 4-5 cups chopped vegetables of your choice- whatever you have in season in your garden- kale, carrots, beans, potatoes, etc.
• Salt and pepper
• Mixed culinary herbs- fresh or dried to taste (dill tastes good with fish, rosemary tastes good with everything else, but I like to put in a bit of parsley, sage and thyme as well).
• Milk or cream (optional)

Wildcrafted local mustard

Garlic Mustard-Mustard               
makes about 1/2 c.

7 Tb ground garlic mustard seeds
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tb water
2 tsp honey or 3 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp turmeric

1. Grind the seeds using either a mortar and pestle or clean coffee grinder, then stir together with the salt and turmeric. Add the water, honey and vinegar and stir until smooth.


Let it sit, covered, in the fridge for a week, and then stir before use. It will darken up a bit. Keep it covered, and use within seven months.

The only ingredients which aren't possibly local are the salt and turmeric. Not bad!

Wildflower mead

This is a good time of year to make mead, and I'm going to try. Again. Last time didn't work out so well because I forgot about it in the closet and it went... stinky. I was a bit disappointed. Plus, it was such a large carboy that it was unmanageable.

However, this recipe seems like a good way to start- one gallon jar, local honey, and flowers from my own garden (and hopefully some of the ones which I've planted out there in the wild this past spring).

Wish me luck.

And this time I'm using a calendar.

Thrifty garden goodness- pea pod soup

Pea Pod Soup

Ingredients
a colander's worth of empty pea pods (use fresh pods from your garden)
water
1 large onion
1 large or 2 small potatoes
a handful of fresh mint leaves (from your own garden if possible)
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
garnish with chopped green onions and/or cream or yoghurt