Sunday, August 10, 2008

Back to the Garden

Guardian of the Beach
The wizened old man who watches over Bethany Beach, Delaware is the first one to greet you and the last to say, "farewell." I would love to bring the old man home to my garden. Maybe I can find a big log and create my own someday. We had a great time at the beach and it seems we have been running ever since. But today I am determined to give you some updates of my suburban homestead as I am becoming to consider my plot of suburban land.

Back to the Garden
Some great things are happening in the garden. I am in love with the fresh herbs. The are beautiful and so fun to use in my cooking. I picked my first lovely white eggplant yesterday and plan to cook it tonight with dinner. I have made some awesome pesto. I will share a lite version with you at the end of this article.

Planters on the Deck
My new garden addition is five new railing planters for my deck. I saw them when we were at the garden center looking for a display solution for the wooden spirals Brian bought at Shorty's Shop in Bethany Beach. The wooden spirals have found a home next to the vegetable raised bed garden and a looking good there.The planter is plastic, but looks convincingly like clay. It has groove on the bottom so you just set it on the railing and plant. No brackets or screws. It's great. The pots come in two sizes of groove, 4 inch and 6 inch. The garden center had five 6 inch pots left on the shelf and I got them all. My raised bed is brimming over with plants and I have several packets of lettuce, spinach, collard greens, beans and more that I wanted a chance to plant. Late July to early August are the time to plant fall crops and a great time to plant some lettuce for fall. I plan to replant just as soon as I harvest the spinach and lettuce and if lucky, I may get several crops in through mid October.

I planted spinach and lettuce in one pot and then planted the others in three varieties of bush beans. In just a week, the seedlings are popping up. It's fun to have the plants on the deck and so close to the house.
Recipe of the day:


Pesto Sauce, Light
2 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh basil
1/4 cup fresh oregano
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 T olive oil
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth

Instructions:
  1. Add all fresh herbs to blender, then add the rest of the ingredients on top.
  2. Blend on low for 5 seconds then increase to medium speed for 15 seconds. You may need to tamp the ingredients down.
  3. Blend until just combined.
Serve as a dip with crackers and fresh cut vegetables such as carrots or celery. May also be used as a sauce over pasta. 8 servings; 2 Weight Watchers Points per serving.

(Zucchinis are on the way!)




Buzz it up

2 comments:

Price said...

What a great recipe. We'd pretty much given up pesto (kiddie food allergies and all with the nuts), but I was just thinking the other day how much I missed it!

(Am envying the rain barrel...may have to try that...)

Liberally Beautiful said...

I just bought two more rain barrels. We are going to have one at each corner of the house. It's amazing how much water you can get from your roof! My husband is really getting in to this stuff. What started as a garden is now becoming a suburban homestead.

Now I am going to start researching solar panels and wind turbines. The recycling center we got the barrels at had a turbine that wasn't any taller than a typical TV antenna and you can mount it on your house. I would like to see if I could get that past the city codes. :)

Then...if I could just get a few chickens and maybe a goat or two...that would really push the limits of the city codes. :)

We may just have to move out to a more rural area.

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I have actually broken up my post into two posts... the rain barrel post is now the next post...if anyone reads this and wonders where the rain barrels came in. :)
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