Summer Treats

     Summer has been good but very hot, unfortunately. My fig bush is my best treat. Every single day, I pick what has ripened. My favorite way to eat them is fresh picked. My poor tomato plants have suffered but I've managed to get a few. The squirrels and rabbits have thoroughly enjoyed my parsley.  I agree with them, the herbs are my favorite. I enjoy incorporating them into my make-shift dinner, as well as drying them to chop and save for the winter. It's easy, trust me. Just cut and wash your herbs and once dry, place each kind in its own large paper lunch bag with holes punched through it for air, fold the bag shut and staple. Put it in a dry warm spot and in several weeks you can chop them up for your jars. I've saved my sage, dill, basil, and what parsley I cut early on. Visit my scrapbook for pictures!
     Recently, my neighbor, Martha, took me on an adventure for a tour of the Ela C. Lomax Incubator Farm off of Hwy 49 in Concord.  By mid-morning, with hats and water in hand, we met with Ms. Lynn who graciously drove us around on her golf cart. She introduced us to each garden plot worked and tended to by volunteers.  Impressive! Ms. Lynn herself has grown some nice tomatoes that have made their way to Gianni's Trattoria Restaurant, in downtown Concord.  That's the kind of thing I love to hear!  While Ms. Lynn walked us through her patch, she shared some beautiful tomatoes, egg plant, basil, and peppers. She also offered a few little potatoes so I began digging and rolled a few right up from under the soil. Oh and that soil! At first glance, you wouldn't think it would be soft enough to just dig your hands into it, but it was. How is that? I learned that constantly tilling a garden (versus no-till) eventually hinders your soils ecosystem and also creates a type of crusty top which then affects water absorption.  I realize tilling works for most, no judgement.  My neighbor uses the no-till and lasagna method so like Ms. Lynn, her soil is soft and silky black gold! For more about no-till and preparing your soil, Mother Earth News always has information, like the Lasagna Gardening.
     Recipes in the summer seem so much easier to me. I've put a few pictures in my scrapbook for that too! The potatoes I brought home took no time to prepare. Wash and dice, throw them in a pan with olive oil, sea salt and pepper, fresh chopped parsley and a little dill, then bake at about 400 until soft to the fork. And those tomatoes were very good chopped and blended with the fresh basil mixture.  So, I hope this post finds you well and that all of you gardeners have managed to survive the heat long enough to relish a few tasty rewards.