Garden Recipes: Green Peach Salad

Sometimes there are so many peaches on your tree, you’re eating and drinking the beautiful fruit, but you’ve got to have something for lunch that is not quite so sweet.  Have this:

Green Peach Salad (for 4 to 6)
2 ½ lb. unripe peaches, peeled and sliced like you’re going to make a pie
Scant ¼ c sugar *
½ t salt
½ t freshly ground black pepper
2 T excellent, flavorful olive oil
2 T fresh mint chiffonade
A handful of arugula for each plate

Toss the peaches with the sugar and salt and let them sit for ten minutes. Add olive oil, mint and pepper and refrigerate for 30+ minutes.  Put a handful of arugula on each plate and then the peach salad. You can also add small or medium shrimp, some garlic mayonnaise and sliced scallions. That’s good too.

*Scant means “just barely.”

Photo Credit: Peach Salad, Creative Commons, Peach salad by viamarisol, is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

Garden Cocktails: End of Summer

Leaving summer behind is always a little bittersweet, but apples are making their way into the farmer’s markets and this refreshing cocktail lets us hold on to our sweet summer months while looking into the face of autumn.

END OF SUMMER
Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 oz. Karlsson vodka, or other potato vodka
• 2 oz. fresh apple cider
• Dash simple syrup
• Pinch of celery salt
• 3 dashes celery bitters
• Juice of one lime

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients over ice, shake and strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with a celery salt rim.

Photo Credit:

Creative Commons, 20141109-OC-LSC-0011 by U.S. Department of Agriculture, is licensed under CC by 2.0
Creative Commons, celery salt by Jax House, is licensed under CC by 2.0

Change in the Garden:  What To Plant in the Fall Garden

It’s that time of year where the weather gets a little cooler, we get some rain (maybe less in California), and changes are made in the garden. Eye of the Day interviews some plant experts on their Fall favorite plantings and best tips for the garden.

Alison Walker, a Texas native who recently moved to California, has worked with plants and nurseries for over six years. She is excited to be living in a cooler climate and to get to plant all her recommendations below.

What to Plant:

Herbs:

• Cilantro
• Chamomile
• Lemon Balm
• Mints
• Parsley
• French Tarragon

Veggies:

• Cabbages
• Lettuces
• Carrots
• Brussels Sprouts
• Kohlrabi
• Turnips
• Kale

Edible Blooms:

• Purslane
• Nasturtiums
• Oxalis
• Calendula

Evergreens:

• Lavender
• Rosemary
• Sages
• Thyme

Regular Garden Maintenance:

• Add and Remove plants per climate requirements
• Prune blooms and harvest bigger leaves on plants like Basil
• Plant or deadhead Marigolds to act as deterrent for bugs
• Fertilize, compost, and mulch as necessary
• Replace and refresh any leggy leaves

Mimi Richardson is our resident succulent expert but grew up around all types of plants. She has worked at nurseries across the central coast. These are here tips for your Fall garden.

 What to Plant:

Grasses:

• Fountain Grass
• Mondo
• Carex

Blooming Plants

• Coprosma
• Easter Lily
• Cotoneaster
• Gazania
• Strawflower
• Proteas

Other Recommendations:

• You can be more hands off in the garden at this time of year
• No Fruit Trees
• Succulents are always a good idea
• Have fun with fall containers and arrangements with:
  • Pumpkins, Warted Pumpkins
  • Artichokes
  • Oranges
  • Decorative Corn
  • Decorative Gourd
  • Butternut Squash
  • Ferns
  • Pomegranates
  • Celosia

Adrian Nunez is a Nurseryman at Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria, CA. He has focused on the retail side at Seaside for the last five years but has worked with wholesale nurseries for 17 years. He gives his best recommendations and tips for the Fall season.

No. 1 Tip for the Fall:  The most important and fundamental thing is to prepare your soil.  Get rid of weeds. Know your soil health, does it have enough nutrients? Use a soil tester that you can get at any garden store. Does it need nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium? Dig at least six inches into the soil, loosen it up a bit, and add organic components. Before you plant anything, know your soil.

What to plant?

• Bulbs
• California natives
• Shrubs
• Vegetables: broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, radish, spinach, kale

What to look for in buying plants?

• Check the laTbels, what size will it get in terms of height and spread. Check the growing information and know the size.
• Take the time to find the best shape plant. Look at it for health.
• Look for plants that haven’t bloomed yet—better chance of surviving transplants.

What to consider for water?

• Once you’re done planting, mulch the area to reduce water loss. If we end up not getting any rain, just do a once-a-week deep watering which will further prevent water loss.
• In case we get water, do it every other week and reduce watering depending on how much rain we get.

Any other common FAQs for Fall gardens

• When is the right time? Plant at end of October, early November. Ground is still warm enough to plant even with cooler weather.
• What’s going to bloom through Fall? Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, ornamental grasses, Red Hot Poker or Kniphofia
• Other tips? Feed plants now if you haven’t already done so in the summer. Good season for feeding.

Photo Credits:
Creative Commons, mint by yoppy is licensed under CC by 2.0
Creative Commons, brussel sprouts on stalks by Nick Saltmarsh is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, sage by Isaac Wedin is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons,  starr-120403-4187-Carex_buchananii-habit-Kula-Maui by Forest and Kim Starr is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, Protea. by Mark Freeth is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, farmersmarket09095 by Kel and Val is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, Kale by Clyde Robinson is licensed under CC by 2.0 
Creative Commons, Red Hot Pokers by Ian Parkes is licensed under CC by 2.0 

Garden Recipes: Fresh Basil Ice Cream

How can you NOT want to eat this all summer? Walk out to your herb garden and grab a handful of that basil. The only thing that could make this better would be some fresh basil ice cream to go with it.

FRESH BASIL ICE CREAM

2 cups whole milk

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup sugar

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup well-chilled heavy cream

Bring milk, basil, 1/4 c sugar and a pinch of salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let it steep for 1/2 hour. Transfer to a blender and blend for 1 minute.

Beat egg yolks and remaining 1/4 c sugar with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Add milk mixture in a stream and mix well. Pour into saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until temperature reaches 175 and coats the back of a spoon (do not let it boil). Immediately remove from heat and strain the mixture into a metal bowl. Place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice water and stir until cold, about 10 minutes.

Stir in cream and freeze in an ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours.

YUM.

Photo Credit: Fresh Basil Ice Cream, Creative Commons, Basil Ice Cream by Eugene Kim is licensed under CC by 2.0 

Garden Recipes: Shrimp and Green Peach Salad

Stone fruits are in season! Arugula is going wild in the garden!  If you have a peach tree, it’s hard to wait for all of them to ripen. We made this for my 92-year old mom and she loved it too.

SHRIMP AND GREEN PEACH SALAD

Serves 2-4

1 pound small or medium wild-caught shrimp, cleaned
1/2 c dried chorizo , cut into 1/8″ slices
1/2 c mayonnaise
1  large clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 handfuls baby arugula
2 1/2 pounds unripe peaches , sliced
2 T mint, chopped

Bring a medium saucepan filled with heavily salted water to a boil.  Add the shrimp and turn off the heat.  Let the shrimp rest in the water for 3 minutes, then drain and run under cold water for 15 seconds.  Slice into 1/4″ pieces.

Whisk together mayonnaise, garlic and lemon and add salt if you wish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine shrimp, chorizo, scallions and half the mayonnaise mixture.  Taste and adjust seasoning, add more mayonnaise mixture if necessary.

Make a bed of arugula on each plate, then a layer of unripe peach slices and mound the shrimp salad on top.   This is also great as a sandwich filling using a Ciabatta.

Photo Credit: Peach, Creative Commons, Unripe peach by Mary Madigan is licensed under CC by 2.0 

GARDEN RECIPE: Apple and Butternut Squash Soup

It’s beginning to look like autumn, and on some days it feels like it too.   The summer vegetable garden is sad and scraggly, so I know that it’s time for apples, persimmons, pomegranates and winter squash.  And soup.  This one.

• ½ c unsalted butter (or ½ c good olive oil, if you would rather)
• 3 large leeks, white part only, cleaned and chopped
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 ½ lbs butternut or Kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
• ½ lb of your favorite variety of apples, peeled, seeded, cored and chopped
• Chicken broth or vegetable broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ c chopped flat leaf parsley
• Crème fraiche

Cook the leeks in the butter until soft and translucent. Add ginger, squash and apples and pour enough broth to cover 1/3 of the vegetables.  Add salt and pepper to taste, bring to a simmer and cover the pot.

When everything is completely soft, puree the mixture in batches and return to the pot.  If it is too thick, add more broth to get the consistency you like.  Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve finished  with a sprinkle of parsley and a spoonful of crème fraiche.

Photo Credit: Soup, Creative Commons, Soup by monikalohmann is licensed under CC0 Public Domain.