Pico de gallo

Yummy but hot! I used tomatoes, chiles, and cilantro from our garden.

Pico de gallo
Yields about 1 1/2 cups

1/4 cup coarsely chopped white onion
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
3 fresh serrano or jalapeno chiles, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 ripe medium tomatoes, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper

*Put the onion, cilantro and chiles in a food processor, and pulse until very finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the tomatoes. Season with about 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. This salsa is best served within an hour.

Cherry tomatoes stuffed with mozzarella and basil

Here's a delicious way to use up cherry tomatoes, and you could probably use other varieties just as well. I also improvised and used regular mozzarella rather than fresh.

Cherry Tomatoes Stuffed with Mozzarella and Basil

1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella, cut into tiny dice (to yield about 1 1/4 cup)
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pint (about 18) cherry tomatoes, rinsed and stems removed.

*In a medium bowl, stir the cheese, oil, basil, lemon zest, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours before assembling.

*When ready to assemble, slice each tomato in half and scoop out the insides with a teaspoon. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Invert onto a paper towel, and let the tomatoes drain for 15 minutes.

*Fill each tomato half with a scant teaspoon of the cheese mixture, and arrange on a serving tray. Serve immediately as an hors d'oeuvre, or wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.

Summer Garden 2009

Sowe Carrets in you Gardens, and humbly praise God for them,
as for a singular and great blessing.
- Richard Gardiner
Profitable Instructions for the Manuring, Sowing and Planting of Kitchen Gardens (1599)


So, how did your gardens grow this year? We're enjoying a warm September, but the forecast is for frost on September 24, so the season is almost done here in Saskatchewan. I view gardening as a big experiment, and had fun trying some new things this year. I enjoyed my wide rows and permanent paths. Instead of using a grass or straw mulch, I decided to use my compost as a mulch, and this worked very well. Since I don't plan to till my garden anymore, it doesn't matter if the organic matter I add to the surface is completely decomposed. I experimented with organic garden remedies-- compost "tea" for the blight on my tomatoes, and a baking powder spray for the powdery mildew on my squash. I didn't notice that they made a difference, however, I think they might have if I'd applied them preventively, or just as soon as the problems appeared.


Our garden




The last of the carrots, being overtaken by the acorn squash




This cucumber plant yielded only one cucumber



Northern Spirit pumpkin--this is a bush rather than a vine. Takes up less space, but it only produced this one pumpkin.



Watermelon--hoping these grow a lot over the next week!



Roma tomatoes ripening on the vine. I also grew Big Boy and cherry tomatoes, interplanted with lettuce and spinach.



The butternut squash plant sprawling on the lawn



Hoping these grow a lot too before frost




I included lots of flowers in the garden this year--mostly sunflowers and cosmos. Together with the flowering herbs, they attract many beneficial insects to the garden.



Close-up of a sunflower



My idea for an Indian "Three Sisters" garden didn't work at all. Neither the corn nor the pole beans did well. I did have a nice crop of bush beans and snow peas though.



I planted asparagus crowns this year, and many of them did well and developed into ferns. I like it that asparagus is a perennial, and since it's not a cheap vegetable to buy, it should save us money once they are producing well.



This zucchini plant reminds me of an octopus. It produced well, as did my yellow pattypan squash.



Chili peppers--they are supposed to turn red, but I assume they can still be eaten green?



I added more raspberries as well. These are ever-bearing, and spread quickly by suckering. I would like to add strawberries next year--berries are so expensive in the store and never last long.

The bugs ruined my kale, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower, so I'm done trying to grow them. The Swiss Chard was excellent again, however, I can't seem to think of enough uses for it! I have a neighbor who plants carrot and lettuce seeds in the fall for an early spring crop--I definitely want to try that this year. I'm also considering trying "lasagna gardening"--I'll probably do a post on that soon.

And the winner is....

My friend, Bethany Michelson, a homeschooling mama of four living in Alabama. Congratulations Bethany!!! You will be sent a signed copy of BlueBeary. Thank you to everyone who participated. Happy reading everyone!

BlueBeary! Who wants to win a copy of this new children's book?

I love this new book written by Kathleen McMillan and illustrated by Rebekah Joy Plett. Although she currently lives in British Columbia, Kathleen lived in Caronport for many years, where she was a well-loved preschool teacher. BlueBeary is published by Siretona Creative, founded by my friend and another former Caronport resident, Colleen Taylor.

BlueBeary introduces us to a girl named Samantha and her beloved stuffed bear. You'll have to read the book to find out what happens, but I can tell you that both my 2 year old and 5 year old had smiles on their faces the whole way through. The colorful illustrations add to the fun! This is the first of a series of books following Samantha and BlueBeary through one school year, as they discover treasures and share stories with family and friends. Themes include starting school, gratitude, nature, growth, celebration, birthdays, weddings, seasons, illness, family, vacations, and more. I appreciated the pages at the back of the book with suggested questions and activities for parents and children. My kids and I are looking forward to hearing more about the adventures of Samantha and Bluebeary!

Now for the contest! Below you will find 25 children's book titles. If you want to play, copy these into an email and write down your guess of who authored each one. Send them to me at eriort at sasktel dot net. The person who gets the most correct will be sent a signed copy of BlueBeary! It doesn't matter what country you live in or whether I even know you personally--you are eligible to win! I am assuming that all my blog readers are honest and will not go looking on Amazon or your own bookshelf for the correct answer before guessing. ;) The deadline is Thursday, September 10, 8 PM (CST).

25 children's book titles--name that author!

1. Goodnight Moon
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
3. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
4. Where the Wild Things Are
5. Each Peach Pear Plum
6. Mole Music
7. Curious George's Dream
8. Good Morning Sam
9. Lentil
10. Madeline
11. Hedgie's Surprise
12. Katie Morag Delivers the Mail
13. Are You My Mother?
14. Winnie the Pooh
15. The Tale of Peter Rabbit
16. Love You Forever
17. Anne of Green Gables
18. Tikki Tikki Tembo
19. A Wrinkle in Time
20. Freckleface Strawberry

21. The Velveteen Rabbit
22. The Snowy Day
23. Corduroy
24. The Story about Ping
25. The Little Prince

If you don't win, I'd still recommend ordering the book for yourself, which you can do here.