plant.plate.CREATE!

Architect, Gardener, Home Cook, and General Creative Cheryl Bicknell shares all aspects of her creative brain through photos, sketches, writings and recipes from her Denver, Colorado home, garden and neighborhood.

[plantplatecreate]

Southeastern Asia Meets Southwestern America

I wanted to enter the HGTV Chopped competition with a submission of a Southwest American folded empanada with a Southeast Asian inspired filling.....but I was a few hours late this morning.....such is life. However, I am sharing! The dish includes an empanada, sharp cheddar cheese sauce, avocado sauce, and cauliflower slaw. 

If you know Chopped, you know they have a secret basket of foods that are to be incorporated in your dish. The four ingredients in this case were cauliflower, crimini mushrooms, leeks and sharp cheddar cheese. For me, the cheese was the challenge. Since my husband has some sensitivity to milk products, I have done something very un-American and certainly, very un-Middle American. I’ve almost stopped cooking with cheese altogether. I recognize now that once I stopped relying on its rich, creamy, delicious texture that I was forced to be more creative by channeling experiences in China to create textures and flavors that were deep and full. Milk is such an important part of my life as a dairy farmer’s daughter that it really was hard to imagine changing. This meant adding in the cheese was tough.

With this dish crossing the Asian and American lines with as part samosa part empanada, I felt I could justify a cheese sauce for dipping or pouring because typically there would be a salsa or guacamole dip to go with the empanada. Chopped competitions don’t like when their chefs add extraneous dishes that don’t relate to the secret basket so everything I did had to have something from the basket flavors.  Since it would be a combination of white, cream, yellow and gold, color is created with an avocado sauce and a slaw that includes carrots and Granny Smith apples.

Recipes that follow:

Cauliflower, Leek, Potato, and Crimini Mushroom Empanada

Cauliflower, Leek, Carrot, Granny Smith Apple Slaw 

 Avocado, Leek Drizzle

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Sauce with Nutmeg and Jalapeno

Cauliflower, Leek, Potato, and Crimini Mushroom Empanada

CRUST:

4 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup cold butter (two sticks), cut into 1/2″ cubes

1/2 cup sesame oil

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons vodka

1/4 cup chilled water

1 egg, beaten to be used in assembly and not added to the dough

EMPANADA FILLING:

4 medium, golden potatoes

4 leeks, tops removed, cleaned, thinly sliced

15 crimini mushrooms, cleaned and chopped

Flowerettes from one medium sized head cauliflower. Reserve the stems and stalk for the slaw

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons mild, whole mustard seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons coriander

1/2 teaspoon cardamon

1/4 teaspoon jalapeno powder or 1 fresh jalapeno seeds removed and finely chopped

2 tablespoons water

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1-2 inches ginger root, microplaned - 

1-2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

2 tablespoons honey

The goal for the filling is comfort. The goals for the crust are flavor, flake, melt-in-your-mouth! The filling is a steamy comfort food that evokes tones of Southeast Asian cuisine with its combination of garlic, ginger, coriander, and turmeric. Two keys to the recipe are cooling the filling along with resting and cooling the crust’s dough before rolling. A hot filling will melt and sag the crust creating an unattractive and less delicious end product. Both can be started well in advance and created just before serving or well in advance of serving and frozen....together as an empanada or separate.

While I would love to take full credit for the crust, the instructions are a combination of Julia Childs’ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 2001 and Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, 1972. I have experimented and tried a variety of crust recipes with limited success. My mother made wonderful 4 ingredient crusts (flour, salt, fat and water). They were flaky and delicious. I have not had the same experience and needed the help of vodka (or vinegar if you don’t like the thought of hard liquor), an egg, and liquid oil in combination with the solid oil of butter or coconut oil.This recipe is reliably flaky and delicious. While it’s not vegan or pure veg for my SE Asian friends, it works for me every time....even if I over process it.

CRUST INSTRUCTIONS:

Blend flour, sugar and salt.

Cut in butter until particles are the size of peas

Beat egg and blend with vodka and 2 tablespoons of ice cold water.

Sprinkle liquid over flour mixture.

Gently toss with a fork.

Gather dough together with clean fingers as it cleans the bowl.

Place dough on a lightly floured pastry mat. With the heel of one hand, not the palm which is too warm, rapidly press the pastry by spoonful bits down on the mat and away from you in a firm quick smear of about 6 inches. This constitutes the final blending of fat and flour or fraisage.

With the scraper or spatula, gather the dough again into a mass; knead it briefly into a fairly smooth, round ball. Sprinkle it lightly with flour and wrap it in waxed paper.

Either place dough in the freezer for one hour or refrigerate for two hours until it is firm.

Instructions from:

“Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” Julia Child, Louisette Berthole, Simone Beck. Alfred A. Knopf, 1961, 1983, 2001, pp. 140-141.

“Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook,” Nell B. Nichols, editor. Farm Journal Inc, 1972, p 343.

EMPANADA FILLING INSTRUCTIONS:

Prepare all vegetables. Peel potatoes and cut into small cubes. Remove stiff leaves from leeks; clean carefully to remove dirt from inside leaves; thinly slice being careful to remove any tough outer leaves that may remain. Clean and chop entire mushroom into small pieces. Clean cauliflower and remove only flowerettes from stems; reserve stems and stalk to shred for the slaw.

On low heat in a large saute pan, add sesame oil and mustard seeds. Cover pan and allow mustard seeds to “pop”. This reaction sweetens and deepens their flavor. Be very careful not to burn the seeds.

Just as you hear the mustard seed popping settle down, add all dry spices to toast. Reserve the garlic and ginger for later in the process as the garlic can become bitter if browns. Watch the spices and do not allow them to burn.

Add all the vegetables and water and stir. Cover the pan with a lid stirring occasionally. Really trying to steam the vegetables and have them soften.

About 10-15 minutes into the cooking process, add garlic and ginger.

Taste the mixture to be sure it is evenly spiced and tastes good to you!

Set aside to allow to come to room temperature or place in refrigerator until cool.

EMPANADA ASSEMBLY:

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a cookie sheet with either a silicone pad or baking paper. 

Remove dough and filling ingredients from refrigerator.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, beat one egg and reserve for assembly. 

Divide dough into 2-4 pieces. 

Working quickly to keep the crust as cool as possible, roll dough until it is very thin but still able to handle the sheet. This may take a little practice. If you think it’s getting too warm, put it back in the refrigerator to get it cold again and allow it to rest. 

Once the dough is rolled to the desired thickness, cut into 5″ circles. I use a cereal bowl to make a good diameter. It would be acceptable to make them smaller or larger or even square. It is really up to your preference!

Once the circle is cut, remove excess dough from the edges and stack with the rest to use in another rolling. 

Take about 2 tablespoons of filling and place on 1/2 of the dough leaving at least 1/4″ from the edge. The amount is a little bit of an experiment. The edge needs to be exposed so that the empanada can be sealed. To seal, brush egg mixture on the edge of the 1/2 holding the filling. Fold the other 1/2 of dough to match the egged edge. With a fork, gently indent along the edge to seal the pocket. If filling oozes out, remove in small amounts until the edges can be sealed.

Place on the prepared cookie sheet. Brush evenly with the beaten egg mixture. This will allow for a golden finish to the crust.

Keep about 1′’ between each pastry. Place in oven for 25-30 minutes until the empanadas are lightly golden.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the sheet. The pastries will be fairly delicate until they fully cool.

Always use a cool cookie sheet for the next batch of empanadas.

Serve warm or at room temperature. 

For reheating, place on a cookie sheet and into a 200 degree oven. They will heat in about 20-30 minutes. 

To freeze, make pastries but do not bake. Place in freezer in a sealed container to avoid freezer burn. To bake, preheat oven and follow preparation and baking directions #9-13.

Cauliflower, Carrot, Apple, Leek Slaw with Sesame Lime Dressing

Stems and stalk of one cauliflower, coarsely grated

2-8″ long carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

2 leeks, tough green leaves removed, cleaned, thinly sliced

1/4 cup loose cilantro leaf tops, thinly sliced

1 Granny Smith apple, quartered and cubed

SLAW DRESSING:

1/2 cup sesame oil

1/2 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons honey or agave syrup

1 teaspoon mild mustard seeds, roughly ground in a mortar and pestle

1/8 teaspoon jalapeno powder or 1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 inch ginger root, microplaned - not necessary to peel the ginger root unless you really want to and it makes you happy.

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

With a shredder or a food processor with a shredding attachment, shred the stems and stalk of one cauliflower and two carrots. Add the thinly sliced leaks, cilantro leaves and Granny Smith apple cubes.

In a small bowl, add sesame oil, lime juice, and honey. Add the roughly ground mustard seeds and blend. At this point, the mixture will emulsify. The mustard acts as a binder for the oil and juice. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Pour dressing over shredded vegetables, fruits and cilantro. Gently toss. Serve at room temperature or cold. Can be prepared two days in advance of serving. It will have a stronger cauliflower flavor after a day or two of storage.

Avocado, Lime and Leek Drizzle

2 avocados, removed shell and seed

1/4 cup fresh cilantro tops

2 leeks, tough green leaves removed and sliced

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon jalapeno powder or 1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Prepare all ingredients and add to a bowl reserving water until needed to create the desired viscosity. Use a immersion blender or a food processor to blend the ingredients into a smooth paste. Add water carefully so it has a good texture and not too liquid.

To create ‘lines’ of drizzle, place in a container with a small opening like an reused mustard bottle.

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Sauce

2 tablespoons butter

4 (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon) teaspoons all purpose flour

2 cups 2% or whole milk

1 3/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/8 teaspoon fresh, ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground yellow mustard

1/8 teaspoon jalapeno powder

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt butter. Allow to lightly brown.

Add all purpose flour and cook stirring constantly until flour and butter are lightly browned. Do not allow to burn. The browning adds depth to the flavors.

Slowly add 1 cup milk. Cook stirring constantly until it comes to a gentle boil

If sauce is too thick, add extra cup of milk.

Add cheese and stir until melted into the sauce.

Add spices and stir until blended.

Taste. If it is too thick, slowly add a little milk. If it’s too thin, in another sauce pan, melt a little more butter and add flour to repeat steps #1 and #2. Add to the cheese sauce. Bring to a gentle boil.

Taste. Make adjustments in the flavors and serve hot.

To re-heat cheese sauce, if it is very thick, add more milk and beat into sauce. Then heat to desired temperature.

We just ate our last empanadas tonight. I shared one with a neighbor so I hope she enjoyed it.

[plantplatecreate]

This is a resource to encourage everyone to live with their regional nature in their yards and gardens. Why not change the area you do not use for entertainment to native flowers and grasses?

[plantplatecreate]

The Science of Great Yogurt

Our yogurt method is based on the principles in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, and on the research by professors W.J. Lee and J. A. Lucey from University of Wisconsin-Madison on commercial yogurt making methods. These sources pointed out two important concepts for creating thick, creamy yogurt: holding milk at 195ºF for ten minutes before culturing,

I found a yogurt maker at my local ARC Resale store. I have wanted one for a while. My mother had a yogurt maker and used it for a while in the 70s. At the time, none of us liked plain yogurt so, after a while, it just became easier to buy a small amount of the sweet stuff from the store. Fast forward forty years and after a trip to India where I learned to LOVE plain yogurt, I found a maker for my northern climate. It was missing a cup so I ordered a replacement online. Unfortunately, my ‘new’ maker is no longer made so the cups had to be found via resale. All set? Yes.

I’m experimenting with different sizes of cups in my maker. The cups online were 1/2 the size of my family size maker but, based on research, it should work. It is a happy mistake so I have different sizes for my varied yogurt eating habits. 

Purchased, now it ‘s time to get started. I needed a recipe.

For my Indian friends where no appliance is ever needed, it’s just not consistently warm enough to set out a cultured milk container and have it magically create the lovely food product. Thank you for laughing and rolling your eyes.

Lately with gardening and cooking, I’ve been taking the tact, “I know how it grows. I know how it blooms. Now, I need to know how to kill it.” While this seems like a negative way to approach success, it creates an understanding for the overall process of the science of the cycle of life. It’s part of the experiment that are cooking and gardening. With yogurt, I wanted to understand why I might not need the little machine I have and what it’s actually doing for me. There are a variety of happy, hopeful blogs about, “OMG! Use your (fill the blank) crock pot, oven, camping cooler, etc.” But that didn’t answer the questions I had about ideal temperatures, mediums, why no sugar in the starter, evaluating good starters, why my recipe suggested dehydrated milk powder as an addition to the milk base. This online article covered questions I didn’t know I should have. 

Looking forward to pulling out the yogurt from the maker in a few hours. I used my favorite brand of milk, my favorite plain yogurt and some powdered milk from my favorite Middle Eastern grocery. Let’s see what happens!

[plantplatecreate]

Summer flowers and pollinators! A birdbath is a great addition to the garden because it allows everyone including the birds to have a drink.

[plantplatecreate]

With snow on the ground outside and the sun mostly behind clouds, remembering spring and summer lifts my spirits!

[plantplatecreate]

Childhood Poverty and Food...Where Are The Research Studies?

Are you reading this? Do you have good information that might lead to innovations in this impoverished school? Tell me! Make comments. Pass this along to people who might help us.

Did parents and grandparents from across the country ask the USDA to make it’s sugar and food coloring standards what they are today? Did they rise up and say, “Our children need more sweeteners in their food! We demand it!” No, they did not. Working with a local elementary school with a 75% free and reduced lunch population, the food is hit or miss. The district has great programs to source local school garden produce and grows its own. However, they justify lemon flavored, sugar coated raisins with meeting overall USDA standards for sugar, flavorings, and coloring. That fakey lemon flavor only adds a certain number of grams of sugar so it’s okay.

I’m thinking, for the school in which I volunteer and also happens to be a Montessori, this could be a thought for innovation. Since I volunteer with the garden, I have a vision for the garden that interrupts poverty. We need to channel Maria Montessori. What would happen if this school within a larger district had its own menus? What would that cost? How would we get kids involved in making lunch? How could that fit into the Core Curriculum standards? 

Change happens from the bottom up. It's not a one year effort....it's more like 5 years. It's coming up with goals, writing grants, working with district food services. Working with local health organizations to ask to be a part of research studies on childhood health and poverty. Working with the school leadership to implement the changes. Who else in the U.S. and the world is working on this? Just because someone is poor doesn't mean they deserve to eat crap for food and not understand how to use local resources and grow their own food. Lemon flavored, sweetened raisins are B.S.....bad science.....and bullshit. :) 

Are you reading this? Do you have good information that might lead to innovations in this impoverished school? Tell me! Make comments. Pass this along to people who might help us. 

[plantplatecreate]

Direct from Gilpin Garden . . . . Bean Salad

All the raw ingredients came from the garden. It’s a fresh summer salad that I’m using for my dinner as you read!

8 ounces Phaseolus Vulgaris, cut into 1/2″ pieces

8 ounces Cherry Tomatoes, quartered

1/2 White Onion, finely chopped

6 stems Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, finely chopped

Dressing:

3 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar

3 tablespoons Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon Colorado Honey

1 tablespoon coarse ground Mustard

3 cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper

Mix the dressing thoroughly. Mustard is a common kitchen surfactant which means it keeps the oil and vinegar from separating while adding flavor to the dressing.

When the dressing looks evenly combined, use a spatula or spoon to mix it into the rest of the chopped and sliced ingredients. 

Serve with your favorite summer flavors or alone. The photo shows a garnish of Amaranth leaves that are a great fall plant for both color and flowers! 

[plantplatecreate]

The Economics of Happiness (2011)

65 minutes | Economic globalization has led to a massive expansion in the scale and power of big business and banking. It has also worsened nearly every problem we face: fundamentalism and ethnic conflict...

Are we listening? Is globalization, urbanization really conserving our resources and making us happier? Is rampant consumerism really making us happier? For the next 3 weeks, watch this thought provoking film for free.

[plantplatecreate]

Sometime in November, the 40th year of writing this column will roll around. How I have changed. Nothing could better highlight how much than my response to the following (summarized) email: “New to Anchorage. Desperately trying to maintain the impeccable lawn and the landscaping of the previous owner.”

“.... the very thing I was using to keep my lawn pristinely weed free was not healthy. It wasn’t healthy for the soil microbes or for the rest of the soil food web that existed everywhere around, but not in my lawn. I never saw a worm casting or a bird on that lawn. And it wasn’t healthy for me, my family and probably those within a 75-mile radius of my spraying, more because I live in a windy area. That is how far these sprays can roam. “ 

It has taken my husband and I many years to correct the issue of not seeing worms or birds on our lawn. This past year we’ve had two nests of finches and our second annual nest of chickadees. If we don’t like a weed, we pull it. If we see a ‘pest’, we hope for a bird or another bug to come along and eat it. It’s kind of lazy man’s/woman’s gardening but it makes life more fun. Great article. I hope all you lawn enthusiasts read it. 

[plantplatecreate]

Without Saying a Word This 6 Minute Clip From Samsara Will Make You Speechless

6 minutes | Can you put this video into words?

What does this video say about our world population; our lack of control over our food sources; our lack of understanding of the impact our spending; our lack of presence in our own consumption patterns? The more we rush around filling our lives with meaning, the less meaningful they become. What is necessary? Where are we going? Try growing something in a pot or in the ground. Figure out what it takes to feed yourself rather than feeding consumerism. What do you learn? 

[plantplatecreate]

Found this today as I’m researching native and honeybees for the Gilpin Gardens on Tuesday! Looks like some great information. 

[plantplatecreate]

Droopy Time of Year

It’s that time of year. Finally. 

What time? The time when Denver’s high, dry, breezy summer rears it’s head. I would say ugly but it’s actually nice for those who don't like sweat or to get chub rub. When the humidity moves below the 20% mark, it also affects the plants in the yard. We've had such a rainy spring that it seemed we would never have to water. Well, yesterday, I broke out the hose and rotating sprinkler to give my purple echinacea and blue/fescue blend grasses a drink. The flowers were looking a little like a centenarian with it’s drooping leaves and browning petals. 

While daytime temperatures suck the water from the broadleaves, night time temperatures are cool and lovely. Everything breathes a sigh of relief as the sunshine goes beneath the horizon and the moon begins to appear.

To confess, summer has never been my favorite season. Denver definitely helps with it’s cooler nighttime temperatures and glorious mid to late summer blossoms. When the temperatures warm, my muscle memory moves to an earlier period in my life. 

As a child living on a farm,summer meant isolation. Most of my friends lived in the small town. It was only three miles away but it might as well have been a hundred. When ‘conservative’ in the U.S. just meant you saved money and tried to use what you have rather than being ultra-religious, money-focused, human-compassion-lacking, political machine, we didn't make that trek very often. The last day of school was always sad. The first day of school was definitely better because it meant something social every day. 

Summers in Denver when it is mostly cool I am actually in a better mood. It reminds me more of the social spring and fall that happened in my childhood. It’s sometimes a little rainy. The yard sometimes looks beautiful. Flowers always continue to bloom. Neighbors are out with their children while visiting with friends and family. It is a lovely moment in time.

As I expressed a dislike of summer, I must speak from the other side of my mouth. This year has been particularly rewarding for a summer. I have new friends that surround a beautiful community garden at a school close to home. It’s a combination of the beauty that exists in us as humans and an external beauty that nature provides. I am surrounded by young families who are concerned for their children’s connections to the world and their ability to enjoy a summer of abundance. There are newborns and preteens; young parents and middle aged; mothers and grandmothers; women I've known for years and women and men I've known for weeks and months.

The garden draws me like no building can. This is a little unfortunate as I'm an Architect in Colorado by training, licensure, and profession! Perhaps not in that order! This makes me laugh just to put it in words. The garden’s daily changes and challenges compel me to continue to work toward beauty. It is frustrating and joyous all at the same time. The plants are silent but speak their needs loudly. They transform before your eyes. They are the building contractor and project manager as they grow and drape over the top of trellises and spread their vines and leaves over the soil of the raised beds. They move forward whether or not you are ready. It’s a place of design, construction and deconstruction.

The garden keeps you in touch with the specifics of your region. You see it’s changes. You recognize the movement of life. The garden is really a year-round experience that expresses the process of life in a year or maybe two. you can embrace the needs of the beings within it. You can try to control the process. Ultimately, its the joy of building community that surrounds any garden including the one in your own yard.

[plantplatecreate]

Helping with a school garden has unexpected beauty. The blooming of runner beans, the aubergine of the eggplant flowers that match their shining, smooth skins, the pale blue of the purple potatoes are all pieces of the garden that create a design aesthetic that welcomes the visitor into a peaceful world.

[plantplatecreate]

Wildlife Habitat in the City

http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create-a-Habitat.aspx

Our yard is now a Certified Wildlife Habitat. The link allows you to see what is required and apply! 

There are six items that must be provided:

1. Provide food for wildlife. We achieved this by leaving seed heads on flowers and grasses through the winter. WIth the elimination of herbicides and pesticides, we have lots of grubs and bugs for birds and other creatures including other bugs and grubs!

2. Supply water for wildlife. We have a birdbath that attracts both pollinators, birds, squirrels and an occasional domestic house cat! We haven’t seen any dead birds so the birds are either fast or the cats are slow!

3. Create cover for wildlife. We have a good size Colorado spruce along with grasses and dense groupings of plants that help hide birds and other little beings. Our cat is mostly indoors and old. She doesn't really look for little mice and birds these days.

4. Give wildlife a place to raise their young. We had two nests of house finches this year. One nest was built into the top of a wasp nest that we preserved on our front porch and have hanging in a corner. The second nest was built in the Colorado spruce tree. The chickadees inhabited one of the birdhouses my dad made for us. This is the second year they have graced us with a late spring brood amongst the honeysuckle and in the shade of our neighbor’s aspen trees.

5. Help wildlife with a healthy habitat. This means eliminating the use of herbicides and pesticides. It allows for bugs and grubs to live in the yard so those hungry chickadee chicks have enough food to fly the coop. In the application, these are actually categories 5 and 6. If you are using these two items in your yard and you have children, I think your first question should be, “If I am not supposed to use them with wildlife present, then what is it doing to my children?”

My husband and I are proud of our achievement. There is not a Wildlife Federation cop coming to our yard to check. I didn’t submit photos. But I was truthful about what we have in our yard that is contributing. It includes native flowers, water wise plants and grasses and careful planting of grasses so they are water-efficient. Hopefully, there is enough for the native pollinators to feed and create their own homes. While we are one house on our block, we are hoping others will follow. You can become a block and a neighborhood Certified Wildlife Habitat. Click on the link above to begin your own certification!

[plantplatecreate]

Designing Your Garden for Fall Planting

It is time to start planning your garden for fall planting. Really. I know it seems that we are in June almost July. The solstice is barely past. Why on earth would someone suggest that it’s time?

My husband and I had dinner with a lovely friend and her husband last night. They have a huge 1/4 acre lot in a city in Colorado. They are thoughtful and have started to remove items they knew they didn't want to be a part of the final pallet. Thereby they have created a blank slate. This is actually kind of a great way to do it. In the interim, they do have to deal with a yard full of weeds including bind weed. But it gives them the freedom to rethink, design, and create a final project that meets their contemporary aesthetic and mountain theme.

If you are like me, you may not have very much room in which to move. Or your’ve found that you are happy with the general layout but have a few holes to fill in the garden. Whatever your story, this is a great time to engage your inner designer or hire someone to help with selection of a design and fall plants.

I think fall is the best time to not only put bulbs in the ground but also plant perennials. The ground is cooling so plants don’t take as much water to establish and perennials may die have their greens die back in the fall but their roots are still working to establish the plant up until the ground freezes completely. Depending on your yard and it’s microclimates, this may or may not happen. I have more plants survive their fall planting than their June planting. It’s sad to put something in the ground only to have it shrivel in less than a week to something that is undetectable as a once living thing. Not only is it disheartening for the beginning gardener but it is also a waste of time and money. If it’s free....then it’s just disheartening! 

Fall is a time when landscape companies may have openings to create your dream garden. You have to be ready for them! The best way is to begin your planning now so your lists of dreams are on the table and ready for implementation. Come spring, you’ll be happy to see the leaves from your new bulbs popping up and those fall-planted perennials beginning to set leaves and buds for the new summer garden.

[plantplatecreate]

MMMM.....Watermelon, chopped lemon basil and lemon balm with chunks of creamy feta drizzled with a balsamic reduction on a bed of arugula! This is maybe the best late Friday afternoon lunch EVER. Fresh herbs from the garden. Delicious and fast.

[plantplatecreate]

Saving Herbs for Fall, Winter, Spring Use

Do you have herbs coming out of your garden that you can't use right away? Do you purchase packets of fresh herbs from the grocery store but you can't use them all by the time they go bad? Do you have a cilantro that you purchased from a box store and it’s bolting two days after you put it in the ground? Do you have mints that are exploding and you can't make enough mojitos and mint juleps for you and your neighbors to keep up with the plant’s growth? There are so many ideas out there for saving your herbs for future use. I have some of my own but I thought I would link you to a few in an effort to spread the wealth and support other bloggers and their websites. 

1. Make and freeze your favorite pestos. I like traditional made with basil and parsley. I've also used a variety of herb combinations including chive flowers with lovage leaves and parsley, sage leaves with rosemary and parsley, and chimichurri. Chimichurri is not technically a pesto but uses cilantro, oregano and parsley with garlic, jalapeno and olive oil to create a base for a lovely, green dip or salad dressing, sandwich spread, or meat marinade. Frozen, they maintain their green color. One must be careful with cooking as the green can easily move to gray if allowed to heat too long. I did find a suggestion not to add the cheese to pesto because it doesn't keep well. My pallet may not be well developed; but I think it’s fine and would not hesitate to add it. Here are some basic freezing instructions for pesto:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pesto-Freezing-Method/

2. Encapsulate your herbs in a favorite oil flavor in a similar fashion to freezing pesto. This link suggests using olive oil. I'd suggest changing it up depending on the herb and your end use....sweet or savory. Perhaps walnut oil could be paired with rosemary, pineapple sage, chocolate mint, fragrant geraniums, flowers like violets, nasturtiums,  roses, pansies and lavender to add sugars and drizzle over sweet breads and pastries. Sesame oil might encapsulate cilantro for use in Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern cuisines. 

http://www.joyzz.com/article-1191.html

3.  Probably the easiest, you can also just put the fresh leaves into a freezer bag and pull them out as you need them for cooking or salad dressings or pestos! Make sure to label your bags with the name and date of storage because many herbs look the same when they are placed in the freezer. You'll still be able to perceive the herb’s scent. Labeling is easier.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/herbs.html

4. Drying herbs is always an option. There are options for hanging them in a cool, dry place out of direct sun to putting them in a dehydrator to microwaving them. I think I'm impatient because I don't want to wait for the herb to dehydrate. While I live in an arid environment and drying is easy, it’s also messy and I'm not a diligent housekeeper, When leaves and seeds start to fall, I'm not good about picking them up or vacuuming.   

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry/herbs.html

Hopefully, this list gives you a few ideas for using your garden abundance through the winter. Sometimes when a sunny window is available, growing the plants to take fresh cuttings year ‘round is a great way to bring the flavors of summer through the rest of the seasons. When this is not an option, saving your savories and delicious edibles through the seasons can be achieved through a little creativity and experimentation. 

[plantplatecreate]

45 Things To Do With Purslane - Chocolate & Zucchini

Have you ever cooked with purslane, or Portulaca oleracea as it is known to botanists? It is a succulent plant …

At Gilpin Gardens, we have relabeled “pulling weeds” to “harvesting purslane!” While I consider purslane a weed, it is edible. This website provides ideas for pairings and culinary delights!