Category: Gardening

Gardening

Thyme: From pot to cupboard

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five sprigs of time on a wood background

Just as menus change seasonally – from crisp salads with freshly picked mixed greens and vibrant plump berries to hearty, wintery weather stews – my choice of herbs also shifts. Dried dill is among our often-used winter herb adding a smidge of flavor in a vegetarian quiche or a sprinkling of color to fresh Spätzli. Whereas thyme is a nearly daily summer additive on lightly sautéed yellow squash or roasted green beans (each later garnished with 25-year-old balsamic vinegar), it tends to be rare in my winter recipes.

Regardless of the season, basil and oregano are cooking staples and each has, for years, transitioned from backdoor terracotta pots to the kitchen shelf. For the first time and in an effort to prolong the lazy days of summer and its menus, I dried some of the potted English thyme.  It took two harvestings as the first snipping of tiny, dried leaves filled less than a quarter of one 5-ounce glass bottle.  With the words of the brilliant songwriter Jim Croce in my head while carefully monitoring the oven drying so as not to char the fragrant herb, I have thymus vulgaris in a bottle.

Gardening

Fresh to Dried

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close up of lavender with a bee on a bloom in a blue pot sitting in river gravel

With two large written notes, one on the stove dial and the other on the oven door handle, I carefully monitored yesterday’s oregano harvest as it dried in the oven at low temp.  Two fragrant bottles of dried herbs are now tucked on the cupboard shelf ready for future Italian menus after having paid attention – this time.

Earlier this gardening season, I destroyed three pans of oregano leaves.  Not right away, of course, which made my brain fade all the more irritating.  I had spent a morning washing and de-stemming the little green leaves and then I repeatedly checked the drying process from green to withered to brittle before leaving the baking pans in the oven to cool.  Later, focused on an afternoon task of making the next day’s rhubarb pecan scones, I set the temp to 450 degrees, totally forgetting the resting herbs until a scorched smell eventually reached my senses.

Still suffering from the indignant memory of oven burnt oregano, I dried the lavender with a more time-tested method.   Left to air dry on racks over many days, I captured the fragrance of potted lavender in sachets which will protect my wool knitting projects until they can find perfect homes. 

Gardening

Edible Fruit:   Cucumbers

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green cucumber with yellow bud watercolor painting on a pale cream background

Inspired by Mike Wohnoutka’s “cute little cucumber in watercolor,” I conducted a culinary cucumber audit.  I can count on one hand, fingers only without even using my opposable thumb, the recipes I use featuring cucumbers, a favorite in our summer garden.

  • The most prevalent and showing up almost daily is a cold cucumber salad, ala Grandma Kuster, with thinly sliced cucumbers, salt, pepper, and vinegar.  (I always use my thyme & peppercorn infused apple cider vinegar that I put up the previous growing season.)  Quick adds might include dried or fresh dill, chives, finely chopped green peppers, or bits of tomato making the salad look like the Italian flag.
  • Cucumber sandwiches for the English high tea at church complimenting the Yorkshire Gold tea, scones, clotted cream, and a delicious assortment of other sweet and savory delectable treats.
  • Cold cucumber soup – refreshing on a muggy day.
  • Tzatziki – that tasty blend of grated cucs, Greek yogurt, lemon, dill, and garlic, delicious on grilled vegetables or spread on pita wedges.

Mike is an award-winning author and illustrator.  A talented Minnesota treasure!  Check out the Goodreads list of his books.

Graphic credit:  © Mike Whonoutka

Gardening

A productive morning…

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… fresh from the garden direct to the kitchen!

four vinegar bottles on wooden table with a sprig of thyme
The robust potted thyme has been paired with apple cider vinegar and black peppercorns creating this summer’s herb infused vinegar.

five round rhubarb scone on a blue plate on a purple background
The last harvesting of this year’s rhubarb has been transformed into Rhubarb Pecan Scones and then tucked away for a chilly winter solstice breakfast. 
Gardening

Brought to you by the letter B

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a round basket filled with bright green basil leaves
fresh blueberries in a gray and blue porcelain bowl

If we were on Sesame Street, today’s harvest would be a B – day with a Basket of Basil, a Bunch of Broccoli, and a little bit of Blueberries.

The basil is drying in the oven, the broccoli is ready for tonight’s salad and the blueberries may make muffins, grace vanilla ice cream, or simply provide the perfect snack.  We anticipate a meager berry season as this first picking only yielded a cup and did not fill the Caradori bowl.  Thus, the tasty decisions must be made with careful deliberation.

After the Bs, my alphabet harvest gets a bit jumbled, as I also harvested Mini-Me™ cucumbers (a first time variety in our garden) and rhubarb for another dozen scones.

Gardening

One of four flowers in the cloud room

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large deep coral colored amaryllis

For decades, Dad tended a collection of amaryllises; staggering their move from a dark corner in the basement to the dining room window of my childhood home on 14th Street.  At some point (maybe 20 or more years ago) we brought one of his bright blossoms to Rochester. 

Each spring we monitor the green growth as it emerges from the large potted bulb through the brown brittle remains of last year’s color.  Will there be just a flat shoot that yields green fronds sans flowers or a fatter nub that will eventual break into riotous color with dinner plate sized flowers? 

Through trial and error we have identified some useful tricks that help ensure flowers and not just fronds.  Once the weather warms, the pots are moved outside.  While they do not add summer color in my perennial garden, the plants benefit from sunlight not filtered through energy efficient windows and from the magical qualities of rainwater much improved over purified tap water.  But even before the move from house to garden, Richard acts as bumblebee.  Armed with a Q-tip, he gently dabs yellow dust on the white tip of a central pistel rather than relying on gravity and hoping the pollen will simply drift its way to the “right” spot.  This spring, we are enjoying his pollination efforts and being treated to vivid color; an enjoyable contrast to our cloudy skies.

Gardening

Sage

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Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme . . .  

a small sprig of silvery green sage leave on an olive wood board

I have often wondered if the combination of these Scarborough Fair herbs in the traditional folk song, adapted by Simon and Garfunkel in 1966, was simply lyrical or a lost recipe for a marvelously concocted love potion.  The parsley, rosemary, thyme referred to in the popular song lyric are garden favorites and each fall my rosemary plant migrates to the basement to continue producing under a timed gro-light.

As botanical siblings neither sage nor mint are among my triumvirate of favorite herbs – basil, oregano, and thyme.  This summer’s sage was planted simply as a decorative variation in the greenery among my herbal pots. But, because I have it, I am drying a handful of leaves from my back door crop to preserve a touch of this summer’s wealth.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “in medieval Europe, sage was thought to strengthen the memory and promote wisdom” so it may be good for something other than Thanksgiving stuffing.

Gardening

Morning Harvest

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flat straw basket setting on gravel and holding green beans, tomatoes, red peppers and a spring of thyme

With Boston looming large on my calendar, followed by a week at home and then flying to Montréal, (I am still befuddled as to how I have 13 travel days in just one month) I am focused on home-centered tasks; the garden this morning and moving furniture this afternoon to prepare for the new living room floor.

  • Green beans – picked, blanched and frozen although an evening’s serving size has been set aside to sauté with thyme.
  • Blueberries – harvested and baked; this time in scones.
  • Tomatoes – just for eating; and likewise
  • Peppers – ready for some dish yet to be selected for our summer dining menus.
Gardening

First summer pesto

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Food writer, Beth Dooley offers a trio of pesto recipes in The Northern Heartland Kitchen: More than 200 recipes to satisfy appetites. Her traditional basil version of this “pounded sauce” is a favorite at our house.

As reported earlier, this summer’s basil crop is the best we have ever grown and a quick cutting this morning yielded five individual servings of fresh pesto – one for tonight’s 3-cheese tortellini and four for the freezer; so good when the cold winds blow and summer basil is only a fragrant memory. 

Happy Gardening and Bon Appétit!