February Recipe: Cauliflower-Brie Soup

A rich tasting and sumptuous soup that will  help make a cook's reputation. Perfect with our new 'Amazing Taste' Cauliflower.

1 large cauliflower (1 1/2 to 2 pounds)
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups coarsely chopped onion
4 cups chicken stock
3 T unconverted white rice
1 T lemon juice
1 cup low fat milk
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
3 T chopped chives
3 oz Brie cheese
Salt and white pepper to taste

Garnish: Reserved cauliflower florets, 1 T olive oil, Parmesan cheese, chopped chives, paprika

Core cauliflower and cut into florets (approx. 6 cups) - reserving a few for garnish. In a large saucepan, heat butter and olive oil and sauté garlic and onion until softened. Add cauliflower, chicken stock, and rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until cauliflower is very tender. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice.

Puree mixture in a food processor or blender, then return mixture to saucepan.  Heat slowly, stir in milk, cayenne, nutmeg, and 2 T of the chives and cook, stirring constantly, until soup is hot. Cut off the outside of the Brie cheese if it is crusty and hard. Cut cheese into small chunks and add to soup, stirring until it slightly melted. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

To serve: While soup is heating, sauté reserved florets in 1 T of olive oil until slightly softened. Roll florets in Parmesan cheese and drop into soup. Sprinkle with reserved chives and paprika before serving.

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
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NW Flower and Garden Show Lifts the Spirits

by Sue Shecket - webmaster and NW Trial Gardener

The NW Flower and Garden show displays were absolutely wonderful this year and I spent a delightful day absorbing the sights and smells that inspire me to get those seeds started and pull out my pruning shears. The theme was “Art in Bloom” and the designers came through with some very creative and lovely displays – lots of glass (we do have Dale Chilhuly here for inspiration) and ideas for creating “natural” paintings and integrating art into the garden.
Despite the challenges of our Super Bowl victory parade on the first day of the show (which brought almost a million people to the downtown streets and created total gridlock) and an unexpected and very unusual snowstorm on the last day, there were plenty of smiling faces with arms full of purchases strolling the aisles and attending the many excellent workshops.  If you are in the area next year (or just need an excuse to visit) do consider coming for the show.  It’s a great place to get ideas and get pumped up for the next gardening season.

The "Darwin Orchid" is a huge glass work. The artist wanted to "bring to light the beauty that exists within the micro scale of nature" Live plants around it included many insect eaters.



This charming display included some delightful birdhouses inspired by Dale Chilhuly - who makes them for fun when he's not creating fabulous glass works.



The Arboretum Foundation display incorporated lots of glass art into the setting, including the windows filled with glass floats

Water features are still popular - even in rainy Seattle



West Seattle Nursery's team gave me some great ideas for "live" paintings



Their living wall was quite a hit.



 The finger-earth display was amazing -- the twig shapes are actually the artist's fingerprints and the earth is painted flat on the stone but when viewed from the front becomes 3D . 

 

Our friends at Ravenna Garden made our seeds available to show goers. With all that inspiration, let's get them started!

Seed of the Month: Cauliflower 'Amazing Taste'

Order today and get
25% off 'Amazing Taste'
Enter the code SOM14 at checkout
(good thru 2/28/14)

 

Cauliflower 'Amazing Taste' is an outstanding variety that yields dense, 6 to 7 inch, dome-shaped heads with tender, creamy-white curds and superb mild, sweet flavor. 

These top quality hybrid plants grow quickly, producing strong outer wrapper leaves that protect both the quality and color of the developing cauliflowers for harvestable heads extra early in the season. The heads are delicious whether cut up raw in salads, quickly steamed, or tossed with olive oil and roasted to nutty perfection.

January Recipe: Basque Chard, Lamb and Bean Stew

A wonderfully hearty, but not too rich dish that shows off the traditional ingredient combinations of Basque cooking. A great way to use your homegrown herbs and vegetables!

4 T olive oil
2 pounds lean boneless lamb, cut into 1 1/2 in. cubes rolled in 2-3 T seasoned flour
4-5 large cloves garlic, minced
2 large onions, finely chopped
6 carrots, sliced 1/2 in. thick
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups white beans (soaked overnight in water to cover by 3 in.)
4 cups chicken stock
1 large bay leaf or 2 small
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 T chopped fresh thyme or 1 T dry
1 T chopped fresh oregano or 1 1/2 tsp. dry
2 tsp. chopped fresh sage
1 large bunch chard (about 1 lb.) cut into 1/2 in. strips, stems chopped fine
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Garnish: Grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese, olive oil to drizzle

In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, heat 1 T olive oil until very hot, add 1/2 lamb cubes and brown on all sides and remove. Add another tablespoon of oil and brown remaining meat and reserve.

Add the final two tablespoons of oil to the pot then add garlic and onions and sauté over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. Add reserved lamb and carrots, celery, drained soaked beans, chicken stock, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, oregano and sage.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for about 1 hour or until the beans and lamb are almost tender. Remove bay leaf and add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix in chard and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Taste again for seasoning. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

For more great garden-inspired recipes, see Renee's cookbooks.

Recipes for Gardeners Who Cook

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

From Arkansas: School Garden Winter Update from Melinda Smith

Melinda Smith and her colleagues at her Jonesboro, Arkansas elementary school have successfully created the kind of program that is vitally important in the world we are all facing today. In their hands-on “garden classroom” kids learn lessons that incorporate basic science, math, nutrition and the environment. They produce the vegetables and greens used in the “teaching kitchen” where they prepare and cook their produce, learning to make and enjoy healthy meals. Melinda’s challenge is to keep the garden going, move ahead and expand the program.  Read More About the Program

After our busy fall season, we use our garden classroom time in the winter months to be creative with the garden’s bounty both for learning, fun and to do fundraising planning.

(L) Last harvest before frost
(R) Salad making from last lettuce harvest - 6th graders

When the garden is quiet in winter we can cook and craft in the student kitchen with the herbs we harvested from the gardens that the kids have either dried or frozen in ice cubes.

(L) The veggie trug, purchased with Renees Garden customers’ donations, lets us grow
food for our rabbits even in freezing temps.
(R) Our two rabbits, Oreo & Coco live in one of our outdoor classrooms

There’s time now to research new things we want try for the next year, plan for our greenhouse planting for our Spring Sale and plan for our own school garden planting. Since we have unpredictable weather in Arkansas, we do have random and unseasonably warm days when the students and I can do outdoor activities or work in the garden to keep the beds clean.

(L) Greenhouse activity in the winter
(R) Yoga on a cool sunny day

Since our school has an important central theme of environmental consciousness, we look for “upcycling” crafting that we can add to our Spring Sale and for our local farmers market appearances. We received a large collection of wine corks and it was the students’ job to research possibilities and to come up with their own ideas to make items that we could craft and sell to raise money for the garden. From the corks and dried materials from the garden, they designed Christmas ornaments, cork garlands,  cork trivets, earrings, necklaces, key chains, and note pin boards. We also collected discarded CDs and DVDs and made into drink coasters.

(L)Trivets and wall plaque
(CTR) Cork Christmas ornaments
(R) Santa ornaments made from dried okra.

Our most current project is crafting aprons made from old jeans. The students have ownership because they have to find and donate the old jeans. Parents, grandparents, local master gardeners, school staff and fans of our school serve as volunteer seamstresses for the actual apron sewing.

(L) The Apron Project has been a big success.
(R) Aprons from donated jeans made with generous Master Gardener help.

All of these winter activities are both “hands on” learning opportunities for the students and also very helpful towards achieving our goal of our financial sustainability for our Garden to Kitchen educational program and for the care-giving of our school animals throughout the year.

Snow in the garden classroom

LET'S WORK TOGETHER TO HELP: When you donate money Renee's Garden will match up to $500 of the total donations.

Donation checks may be sent to:
Jonesboro Public Schools
2506 Southwest Square
Jonesboro, AR 72401
Attn. Finance Department: For Melinda Smith’s “Little Green Thumbs” Account

December Recipe: Lindsay's Wicked Good Thai Peanut Sauce

Organic Heirloom Cilantro

Add at the end to any kind of stirfry, steamed veggies or rice or put on chicken or fish – or just about anything! I've also used it as a salad dressing with delicious results.

Warning: this is very addictive stuff!

Ingredients:
3-5 large cloves garlic
large bunch cilantro
1 1/2 oz chopped ginger
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp hot chili oil or use Sriracha sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce (or to taste)
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp rice vinegar
hot water as necessary

Blend all of the ingredients – that’s all there is to do!

For more great garden-inspired recipes, see Renee's cookbooks.

Recipes for Gardeners Who Cook

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden

Sowing Cover Crop Mix

Cover crops are a beneficial and often necessary part of the seasonal garden to both protect and enhance garden soil. Cover cropping solves the problem of leaving garden soil bare during the winter when wind and rain and frost heaving erode top soil and leach out nutrients. The use of cover crops creates garden soil that is fertile with the best structure to grow healthy plants.

Our Cover Crop Mix is a blend of several legumes, grasses, roots, and rapeseed.
Components:  (Left to Right) Austrian Winter Peas, Daikon Radish, Winter Rye, Purple Top Turnip, Rapeseed Mustard, Hairy Vetch
The legumes, Austrian Winter Peas and Hairy Vetch, fix nitrogen from air into their root nodules. Winter Rye Grass has thick roots which hold the soil to prevent erosion and takes up excess nutrients in the soil. Purple Top Turnips and Daikon Radish have long tap roots which loosen dense soil and gather deep nutrients and minerals. Rapeseed takes up large amounts of nutrients that would otherwise be leached by the winter rains.

When these cover crop plants are incorporated back into the soil in the spring, they break down releasing the nutrients and minerals back into the soil and add plenty of organic matter which improves the soil structure.

 

Sowing Your Cover Crop

 

1. Prepare the bed

Prepare your planting bed: Remove all crop residue and break up any large clumps in the garden bed. Rake soil over evenly.

2. Prepare the seeds

Before opening the canister, shake it thoroughly to evenly mix the seeds with the rice hulls. Then open up the can, peel back the aluminum seal and pour some of the mixture into your hand.

3. Sow the seeds

Scatter the seeds carefully, giving them enough space so that they do not germinate in crowded clumps which will only stunt the growth of the plants. The rice hulls are easy to see and a good indicator of how far apart the seed has been sown.

 

4. Rake the bed

After scattering the seed, use a rigid rake to work the seeds down into the soil to a depth of 1/4 inch.

5. Water thoroughly

Water the seeds in thoroughly and evenly with a fine mist sprayer.

6. Success

A big bed of cover crop fully grown out.

Incorporating Your Cover Crop Into The Soil

Method 1: This method works best when the cover crop will be growing for a short time. When 5-6 inches tall, use a garden fork, shovel, weed wacker or rototiller to turn the cover crop into the ground to break down and enrich soil for planting. The breakdown process takes about a month.



Method 2: When cover crop is 1 foot tall, pull out the plants, shake off soil and then compost the plant material to incorporate into the soil later, when it has turned into rich, finished compost. Timing depends on how long your composting process takes. This method works well if it is planted in small areas.








Method 3: When the cover crop reaches 1 to 1 ½ feet tall, weed whack to chop it down. Cover the chopped material with black plastic to hasten decomposition, then turn the nutritious residue into the soil 2 or 3 weeks before sowing your garden crops.

Vegetable Markets Across the World

by Mila van de Sande
Assistant Trial Gardener


I am the Assistant Trial Gardener at the Renee’s Garden California Trial Gardens, where I work ten months of each year, taking a two month break each winter when it is miserably cold and wet here and the trial gardens need less attention. I take advantage of my time off to travel to faraway warm places. (I inherited the travel bug from my parents and my grandparents.)

In the last few years, I’ve spent my garden break time traveling to Mexico, South Africa, and India. Everywhere my travels take me, I love finding local farmers markets to see what they have to offer and how they display their goods. It is especially fun to see what unusual fruits and vegetables are available and sample them too.

          Boarding the train in India                         Zapotec Ruins in Oaxaca

I spent a month in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2008 taking language classes and we made a point of exploring the different markets. The markets I went to were very extensive and sold a bit of everything you might need from all kinds of food, including live turkeys, to fabric and household items like mops. There were rows and rows of fruits and vegetables, including big sacks of dried chilies, dried hibiscus, and a beautiful array of many dried bean varieties, one of my favorites.

There were pails with towers of oranges and bundles of onions with their greens still attached. One market I also went to was a small all Organic market with fruit, vegetable, and prepared food stands. This was not an abundant market, but it was good to see an Organic option. We had a lot of fun exploring all these colorful markets.

     Oaxaca: Dried chiles and hibiscus                         Dried beans

My next trip was to Chiapas, Mexico. One of the farmers markets I went to there was in the  town square of a small village outside of the city, with many vendors offering towers of colorful fruits and vegetables. Other vendors were selling their wares simply spread out on clothes on the ground.

One of the vegetables there that I was less familiar with was chayotes. They are related to squash and grow on a large vining plant. The big pear-shaped fruits are used like summer squash. We also visited a smaller Organic market in the city, which was teaming with beautiful vegetables, edible flowers, prepared food, baked goods, and honey.

   Chiapas: Edible flowers & vegetables              Chayotes and zucchini

My next year’s adventure took me to South Africa. In preparation for a week-long self-guided safari in northeastern South Africa with my mother, we went to a farmers market in Johannesburg to stock up on veggies. The market consisted of fruit and vegetable stands, prepared food, vegetable starts, and a wide range of crafts; one vendor was selling heirloom seeds along with vegetable starts.

One thing that stood out to me were the big beautiful pumpkins of various shapes and sizes. These are among my favorites, so we bought a yummy big blue one that we ate and enjoyed all week long.

         Johannesburg: Veggie starts                              Vegetable stand

In 2011, along with my friends Trial Garden Manager Lindsay and Josie, I went to India for my winter getaway. My experience of markets in India was different. In Bangalore, a city in the south, stands were set up in the street between the lane of cars and the sidewalk. These stands held a plethora of interesting and beautiful fruits, vegetables, and herbs, many of which I had never seen before.

Lindsay, Mila and Josie in Rajasthan, India

There were bread fruits, curry leaves, bananas of different sizes, dragon fruits, and summer squashes of many different colors and textures, just to name a few. I got to try some of these unusual fruits and vegetables while staying at my friend’s parent’s house; some I loved and others I found more interesting than delicious.

Another kind of “market” in Bangalore were the fruit and vegetable vendors that travel the streets with carts selling their goods. They call out what they are selling and will come to your front door if you ask them over. These vendors were a wonderful feature of that city.

             India: Traveling vendor                                 Vegetable Stand

I have had great fun going visit markets in different parts of the world. Where will my next adventure take me? I am not sure, but I am hoping to do more traveling in South America, where I can continue to discover what their markets and culture have to offer.

October Recipe: Glazed Pumpkin Ginger Bars

Pumpkin, spices and candied ginger perfectly complement each other in these bar cookies. All our pumpkin varieties work well in this recipe. For more great recipes check out Renee's Cookbooks.

1 3/4 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup cooked, pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup chopped candied ginger

Glaze:
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tsp. grated orange zest
3 to 4 Tablespoons orange juice

Preheat  oven to 350 F. Grease a 10 x 15 in. baking pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy then add brown sugar, beating until fluffy.  Add egg, vanilla and pumpkin, beating well. Add dry ingredients, mixing until batter is smooth. Stir in nuts and candied ginger. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until bars pull away from sides of pan.

Combine confectioners' sugar with orange zest. Add orange juice gradually, adding just enough to give the proper consistency for spreading.  Spread on warm bars.  When cool, cut into diamonds or squares and store covered for a day to let flavors blend before serving. 

Makes 4 dozen

Recipes for Gardeners Who Cook

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
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Growing Great Garlic #1: Planting

by Renee Shepherd and Lindsay Del Carlo

Garlic is both easy to grow and takes up so little space that just about every gardener, even those with very limited space, can raise enough to be happily self-sufficient in this important and healthy cooking essential. Check out the especially flavorful garlic varieties available on our website.

We will be documenting of the whole process of planting, growing and harvesting garlic. Here is our first installment: (our second installment about Harvesting and Curing can be read here.)

The fall weather of early to mid October (the same time as you would plant daffodil or tulip bulbs to over-winter) is a good time to plant garlic in most of the country. (In very mild climates, it can be planted clear through November.) You want to get the garlic plants actively growing before the days get too short and weather turns cold, so plants will over-winter successfully and produce big fat bulbs in early summer.

Garlic varieties ready for planting.

The first step is to prep the beds. We chose a garden bed in full sun and amended with lots of well-aged compost, and worked in a high nitrogen, granular organic fertilizer. We are using Down To Earth brand “Bio-Fish” fertilizer which has a high nitrogen content to grow hefty garlic bulbs, but there are lots of good organic brands of fertilizer choices nowadays available at garden centers; availability varies from region to region. Dr. Earth and MaxSea are two other good brands.

Organic Fertilizer & well-aged compost.            Spread compost evenly over bed & mix in.          Add organic fertilizer evenly & mix in.

Garlic bulbs need to be separated into individual cloves for planting. Each clove is planted 6 inches apart and 1½ inches deep with its tip pointing up and the root end down. Garlic planted in fall will establish vigorous roots before the weather turns cold and days get very short, then plants will grow vigorously throughout spring while each clove grows into a full head underground.

Separate bulb into individual cloves.   Plant cloves with tip pointing up & root end down.   Space cloves 6 in. apart & plant 1½ in. deep.   

Mulch bed with 4-5 in. of straw.

After planting the cloves, we are careful to add a thick straw mulch to the planting bed. Garlic tops will sprout up easily through the open texture of the straw.

Mulching the garlic bed keeps soil moisture consistent while fall weather is still warm after planting, and performs the critical task of protecting the garlic bed from erosion and nutrient leaching during the winter weather. In cold winter climates, where the ground freezes hard, the heavy mulch will also protect plants from frost heaving.


 

As the garlic plants grow and mature, look for several blog posts on taking care of them and on harvesting and curing and enjoying big heads of plump garlic cloves.

September Recipe: Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Silky smooth and richly satisfying—everyone loves this dish! Roasting brings out the sweetness and nuttiness of the garlic to give more dimension to the mashed potatoes. It's even better with garlic you've grown yourself; check out our ready-to-plant varieties available now.

2 whole heads garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 Yellow Finn or other yellow potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup hot milk
salt and pepper

GARNISH
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped chives

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Slice tops off of the garlic, toss with the olive oil, then put the heads, tip-side up, in a small baking dish and cover loosely with foil. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until garlic is soft and tender. While garlic is roasting, boil or steam potatoes until tender. Drain well. Cool the garlic and squeeze out pulp. Mash pulp with a fork until puréed.

Mash the hot potatoes while mixing in the butter. Beat in the hot milk gradually, mixing until soft and smooth. Stir in the roasted garlic purée. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a warm serving dish, and garnish the dish with parsley and chives. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

For more great recipes check out
 Renee's Cookbooks:

Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
More Recipes from a Kitchen Garden