Spring Garden Remembered

I’ve been working in the garden all morning and decided it was time to take a much needed break as well as grab some lunch. I am afraid those beautiful days from earlier in the week of low humidity and highs of 80 are gone for the summer

I thought I would share some of the photos of my gardens from last spring. First I should warn you, I have my gardens subdivided into several smaller gardens. I am definitely a perfectionist by nature and perhaps a bit of a control freak. This allows me to keep my sanity by being able to get in and work in a garden finishing whatever needs to be done. I also like to focus on different types of plantings in different areas. Let’s see, there is the…

• Raised bed vegetable garden — unfortunately, time got away from me this year and I only have a few herbs and tomatoes planted.
• Perennial sun garden — mostly drought resistant plants.
• Hydrangea garden — that boosts a gorgeous dogwood along with ferns, spring bulbs, and a liriope border.
• Deciduous garden — with an oriental feel, it is full of beautiful specimens of dwarf cypress, evergreens, and a Japanese maple.
• Shade or hosta garden — mostly hostas, astilbes, and bleeding hearts.
• Bird bath garden — partial shade/sun, really a mixture of plants, mostly spring perennials and summer annuals.
• Echinacea garden — small area near the shed where I decided to focus solely on all the beautiful types of echinacea.
• Butterfly garden — with three butterfly bushes as well as other wonderful flowers all chosen to attract butterflies.
• Rose garden — lines the front of our fence with roses, boxwood, and hostas.

And one garden that is still under construction — the fragance/herb garden. Someday on the list would be a night garden (only white flowers) surrounding the back patio and a small fruit tree orchard. I am thinking 2 apples, 2 pears, and 2 peach trees along with a handful of blueberry bushes. I have to admit though, being so spoiled by all the wonderful fruit and orchard vendors at the farmers market this one might not happen any time soon.

The Bird Bath Garden

Perennial Sun Garden

Shade or Hosta Garden

Shade or Hosta Garden

Climbing Rose on Shed

Over the years, I have collected quite a few chicken garden features.

Go To Cookbooks

I have lots and lots of cook books… some by celebrity chefs, a full arsenal of soup & stew cookbooks, and those with irresistible photos on the covers. But truth be told, there are only six books that really qualify as my go to cookbooks. What are they?

My most basic recipes from macaroni and cheese to apple crisp come from my Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. I can’t remember when or where I received this cookbook – I believe it was a wedding present years ago. My mother had one. My grandmother had one. If I was told to pick only one, this would be my first choice for its wholesome tried-and-true home style recipes.

I am not a big baker, I prefer recipes that can easily adjust to whatever ingredients are in season. I am definitely a dice and dump cook as I seldom measure ingredients. But even I will admit nothing beats the smell of fresh baked bread. When I am in the mood for baking these are the three books I go to:

The Best-Ever Book of Bread by Christian Ingram is my all time favorite bread cookbook. I don’t know of any type of bread that is not in this cookbook. Even when I receive recipes from customers or find interesting recipes in magazines or on websites, I always compare them to recipes found in this book.

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. This book revolutionized the way I think about cooking. It’s not so much about recipes as it is about ratios of ingredients.

Farm Journal’s Country Fair Cookbook. This is the book I turn to when looking to bake a unique cake, pie, or other sweet treat. It has an endless supply of great desserts and sweet breads. This was actually one of Corey’s cookbooks when he was in 4-H.

I love to can and preserve fruits and vegetables when they are at their peak.  Whether it is jams, jellies, pickles, relishes, or preserves there is a certain feeling of self accomplishment and preservation that comes from having a cellar full of canned food. I have two books I constantly go to during the peak of the growing season.

Home & Garden’s Home Canning and Freezing. This is a hand-me-down from Corey’s Grandmother. Open it up and you will find notes from three generations of women. (By the way, if you aren’t writing in your cookbooks, you need to. I am constantly making notes about what I like and don’t like as well as changes I have made to recipes.)

Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving.  This is a relatively new addition to my library. I love the new and creative twists it adds to old school jams, jellies, and relishes. Although I have only tried a few of the recipes thus far, it has twice as many as my H&G Home Canning and Freezing cookbook.

What are your favorite cookbooks?

Weeds

I recently heard the following sports quote…

“Slumps are like a soft bed. They’re easy to get into and hard to get out of.”  — Johnny Bench

That’s when it hit me, I was in a slump! No, not a batting slump, but a mental slump.

As a proactive optimist, I have always been one of those folks who could do anything I put my mind to. Expand the farmers market entrée menu? Love to. Return to school at 43. No problem. Deciding to coach high school soccer, cook for Virginia Lamb, be super mom, and go to school simultaneously? You bet. Adding physics on top of my math major? Why not. Somewhere along the way, I heard the warning signs. You know the nagging thought that one has crossed over into survive mode instead of thrive mode.

Then summer break hit. The crazy intensity was over. I looked around and was all but paralyzed by the amount of life that had piled up. The weeds had taken over my gardens, the sheep needed to be shorn, there was fence to be fixed and painted, and the list felt endless and overwhelming. Instead of digging deeper and finding strength, I just froze. I kept hearing over and over again in my head all the things I had to do. That is when the slump hit. I was functioning day by day. I still loved spending time in the kitchen. But somehow the spark had grown dull.

So I reached out to a fellow gardener from the northwest. Reading her daily gardening adventures, I slowly began to feel the need to play in the dirt. You see, gardening has always been a representation of life to me… the work that must be put in to reap a successful harvest… the often necessary solitude of weeding, watering, and transplanting to reflect on life. My gardens reflect my moods, my inner strength, and my clarity of vision. Lately, I had been avoiding the garden as the weeds seem to bear witness to the endless list of chores I had hanging over my head. Then it hit me. I always have an endless list of chores. And when it grows too short, I add all kinds of interesting to-dos to the list like learning to make pasta, wanting to making homemade soap as Christmas presents, or reading up on medicinal herbs.

It wasn’t my list. It wasn’t the weeds. I just needed to unwind and recharge. I needed a mental make-over. And the one thing that always brings me back into balance? Gardening.

Bear with me over the next several weeks, as there are bound to be posts that encompass weeding, tilling, and lessons learned as I recapture the beauty of my gardens.

I was so focused on the weeds, I almost missed the roses!

Art (via Smart Phone & Photoshop)

Chicken Barbecue Sauces

As the weather turns hotter, the count down begins. For those of you who have not found your way to the Clarke County Fair, I would definitely add it to your summer fun list! Yes, there are carnival rides, rodeos, petting zoos and all that exciting fair stuff, but the crowning jewel of the whole event, bar none, is the Chicken BBQ. Marinated just right. Slow cooked all day. Mouthwatering at its finest. For us, it has become the final exclamation point on a summer well spent.

Although the official barbeque recipe used by Clarke County Ruritan members is top secret, here are a few recipes I have collected over the years.  The following sauce recipes are enough to grill 10 halves, so you may want to reduce the recipes by half or store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. We recommend salting the broiler halves before cooking, so salt is not included in any of the recipes. By the way, these sauces also work well on pork, lamb, goat, and beef!

Garrison’s Famous Broiler Barbecue Sauce
2 c. cider vinegar
½ t. red pepper
1 c. vegetable oil
½ t. garlic powder
1 t. Tabasco

Spicy and Sweet Barbecue Sauce
1½ c. water
¼ t. Tabasco
1 c. vinegar
¼ t. paprika
½ c. vegetable oil
¼ t. black or red pepper
1 lemon or 1 oz. juice
¼ t. onion powder
2 T. brown sugar
¼ t. garlic powder

New England Sauce
2 c. vinegar
1 c. water
1 c. vegetable oil
2 t. black or red pepper

Chicken Barbecue Sauce
1 c. vinegar
2 t. Tabasco sauce
1 c. vegetable oil
3 t. prepared mustard
1 c. tomato catsup
1 lemon or 1 oz. juice
4 T. worcestershire sauce
¼ t. red or black pepper
2 T. sugar

Deviled Chicken
2½ c. vegetable oil
1 t. black pepper
¾ c. prepared mustard
1 t. red pepper
4 t. dry mustard
½ t. onion or garlic powder

Fruit Barbecue Sauce
1½ c. frozen pineapple juice concentrate
¼ c. water
1 c. vegetable oil
1 T. sugar
½ c. lemon juice
½ t. ginger

Spicy Chick-N-Que Sauce
1 c. water
2 T. chili or curry powder
1 c. vegetable oil
3 T. sugar
1 c. vinegar
2 t. red or black pepper
½ t. garlic powder
1 t. dry mustard
½ t. onion powder
¼ t. cayenne pepper
2 T. worcestershire sauce
2 T. Tabasco sauce
2 T. paprika

Do-It-Yourself Sauce

Use 1½ to 2 cups vinegar and 1 to 1½ cups oil as a basic mixture. Add other ingredients, listed or not listed in the above recipes, to season to your taste.

Many of these were developed by Ed Garrison, retired Extension Poultry Specialist with the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service.