Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier

I want to cultivate taro to eat here in Maryland and need some advice.

Ans great as Mel Bartholomew’s All New Square Foot Gardening is, the fruits and vegetables listed by Bartholomew are pretty run-of-the mill -- no taro or other asian fruits or vegetables!

And while Better Homes and Gardens Step-By-Step Successful Gardening is certainly helpful for learning about gardening basics (fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs, vines, you name it!), the content is also pretty standard.

I've been told to get these books to learn about taro cultivation:

• Perennial Vegetables: From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro, A Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious and Easy to Grow Edibles by Eric Toensmeier
• Taro: Mauka to Makai by The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Any thoughts?

I already know that people grow taro (otherwise known as kalo and elephant ears) here in Maryland for landscaping purposes, but I want to know whether I can grow it to eat and whether I need to buy a specific variety for eating instead of just landscaping.

Economics of Growing Your Own Produce

In May, I started my first attempt at fruit and vegetable gardening with yellow pear and grape tomatoes, full size tomatoes, summer squash plants, eggplant, and much more -- reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben made me re-think the economics of food production and spurred me to action.

Click here to read a great article from the New York Times about the sharp increase in numbers of people who have started growing their own produce: "Banking on Gardening" by Marian Burros published June 11, 2008.

With the help of family and friends (and without any gardening books), I've become convinced that growing your own fresh produce is economical. My fruits and vegetables are fresher, taste better than what I've bought at the supermarket, and it really hasn't taken me much time to maintain it.

So far I've harvested:

• lots of basil and chives
• 5 large yellow straightneck summer squash, 6 small yellow straightneck summer squash
• 4 large Peter Pan summer squash, 3 small Peter Pan summer squash,
• 1 extra large Raven summer squash (zucchini), 6 large Raven summer squash (zucchini), 3 small Raven summer squash (zucchini)
• 23 cucumbers
• 1 extra large Bambino eggplant, 2 small Bambino eggplant
• 1 Early Sensation sweet pepper (green)
• 2 Valencia sweet pepper (green)
• 1 Big Bertha sweet peppers (green)
• 4.5 pints grape tomatoes
• 1.75 pints yellow pear tomatoes
• 6 Lemon Boy tomatoes
• 1 Superstar muskmelon
• lots of Radiator Ray’s Mortgage Lifter heirloom tomatoes ripening
• several Purple Beauty sweet peppers (green) ripening
• 6 or 7 Crimson Sweet watermelons ripening

I'm so happy with my garden that I'm going to expand it this fall with more garden beds and a fall planting -- broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, garlic, onions (the ones I planted this spring didn't make it), and a few other things -- and next years I'll get some strawberries, asparagus, potatoes, winter squash and other plants I missed out on this year by starting so late.

What a pleasant experience -- reading books that actually change your life!

Vegetable Gardening - eggplant

As you well know, I started my first attempt at fruit and vegetable gardening in May -- after reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben I couldn't possibly just go on buying all my produce at the local grocery store.

I had been worried about my Bambino hybrid eggplant since some of the leaves had large holes in them. But the few small blossoms have delightfully resulted in several beautiful and delicious eggplants!

These small 1 1/2" to 3" diameter round eggplants are so stunning that they almost look too good to eat.

I cook my eggplant like I do my summer squash -- sauteed in olive oil, salt, and garlic -- and I've recently discovered a new method of preparing both. Coat with buttermilk, dredge in corn meal or flour or both, and pan fried!

Yum!

Vegetable Gardening - tomatoes

As a consequence of reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben, I started my first -- and fairly successful -- attempt at fruit and vegetable gardening in May.

I've harvested some of my yellow pear and grape tomatoes and they were delicious! My favorite way to eat them is in a salad -- halved and mixed with olive oil, red wine vinegar and/or lemon juice, minced shallot, freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, and fresh basil picked from my garden. It's been a big hit at every summer party I've served it at.

I still haven't bought any gardening books but I'm pretty satisfied with the advice I've been getting from friends and family!

Vegetable Gardening - summer squash

In May, I started my first attempt at fruit and vegetable gardening -- the influence of reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben.

My summer squash plants (Raven, Yellow Straightneck, Peter Pan) are huge -- definitely as large as the 3 to 4 inches wide or 4 to 6 inches tall that you should harvest them at -- and while I haven't been brave enough to try deep frying any squash blossoms (I'm just awful with recipes that require frying), the squash taste fantastic just cooked in olive oil, salt, and garlic and the squash blossoms make a yummy addition to pasta sauce.

It's really been a joy to grow a bit of my own food. I never would have guessed how easy it is! Just till up the soil and mix in "good' soil, plant, keep an eye on them, prune when necessary, but otherwise just harvest and enjoy!

I haven't had to water any of my plants on my own -- it's rained pretty frequently here and I've been warned that novice gardeners tend to over water their plants.

I'm looking forward to enjoying more of my home-grown fruits and vegetables!

My First Vegetable Garden - squash blossoms

In May, after reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben, I went out and bought plants for an ambitious attempt at fruit and vegetable gardening.

I still haven't bought any gardening books but my garden is looking pretty good!

My yellow pear and grape tomatoes have started producing fruit -- very small and green but I'm still thrilled!

My summer squash plants (Raven, Yellow Straightneck, Peter Pan) are huge and they all have all sprouted small squash and blossoms.

A friend of mine fell in love with squash blossoms in Italy and sent me a few recipes that I'm just dying to try.

Spaghetti with Poblano Chile & Squash Blossom Sauce
* 1 pound spaghetti
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 large cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
* 1/2 medium white onion, peeled & finely chopped
* 2 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded & cut or torn into strips
* 1 bunch squash blossoms (be sure to remove the pistil)
* 1 cup mexican crema or sour cream
* 2 sprigs epazote, chopped
* 4 ounces cotija, añejo or parmesan cheese, grated
* salt to taste

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions until al dente. While the spaghetti is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the garlic and onion, and cook until the onion is transparent.
Add the poblano strips, squash blossoms and epazote, and cook until the blossoms wilt. Add cream and heat through. Add salt to taste.
Toss with the cooked pasta, top with the cheese and serve immediately.
Serves 4.

Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossoms
* 8 good-sized summer squash flowers, pistils removed, with a tiny zucchini attached if possible.
* 1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
* 1 large egg
* 1/4 cup (1/2 ounce) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
* 1 small clove garlic, minced
* Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
* 2/3 cup flour
* 1 cup carbonated mineral water or seltzer
* Olive oil & vegetable oil
* Sea salt

Wipe the squash blossoms clean if necessary. If a small summer squash is attached, slice it lengthwise in thirds like a fan, leaving it attached to the blossom.

Mix together the ricotta, egg, cheese, garlic, nutmeg and a pinch of salt in a medium-size bowl.

Spoon or pipe the filling into the squash flowers, handling them gently. Each flower should have 2 generous tablespoons of filling.

Preheat the oven to very low. It will be a holding oven.

Place the flour in a large bowl & whisk in the water until smooth. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat the oil in a small, deep skillet to a temperature of 375 degrees -- if you drop in a teaspoon of batter it should float quickly to the surface &turn golden.

Dip one of the flowers in the batter, making sure it is evenly & thoroughly coated. If it has a small summer squash attached, make sure it is coated as well. Hold the flower over the bowl to let any excess batter drip off, then lower it gently into the oil and cook just until the batter is crisp and golden, up to four minutes, if that.

Fry no more than 2 flowers at a time. Use a slotted spoon to remove the flowers from the oil and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven with the door slightly ajar to keep the finished flowers warm while you prepare the rest.

Arrange 2 flowers on each of 4 small, warmed plates. Dust lightly with sea salt and serve.

Let me know if you've got any great squash blossom recipes!

Also, I'm a little confused about whether harvesting the blossoms with reduce squash production. Any advice?

My First Vegetable Garden

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, after reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben, I went out and bought plants for my first vegetable garden.

I visited my local used bookstore today and perused the large section on gardening.

I was quite tempted to purchase a few but decided to simply take down some notes.

Here are some basic vegetable gardening tips I learned (for you seasoned vegetable gardeners out there, I suspect you'll want to skip this post):

• Most fruits and vegetables needs full sun to grow.
• It's good to rotate crops even in a small vegetable garden.
• Some vegetables prefer cooler weather. These can be planted both in the Spring and in early Fall.
• Compost is the key to a great vegetable garden.
• Never water tomatoes with an over-head sprinkler, always water them at their base.
• To allow plants to grow deep roots, water thoroughly when you water, then hold off for several days before watering again.
• The best time to water vegetables is early morning, so the soil can warm-up before the cooler evening hours.

I will share more of my novice gardening tips as the season goes by.

Fruit and Vegetable Gardening

My first real attempt at fruit and vegetable gardening -- influenced by reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Deep Economy and started a few weeks ago -- seems to be going well.

My tomato plants -- Radiator Ray’s heirloom Mortgage Lifter, Lemon Boy, heirloom Yellow Pear, and Grape varieties -- have grown several inches since I planted them.

Still, I've seen some of my friends' gardens and their tomato plants are a good two feet taller than mine and that got me worried.

Reading Anna Raver's June 5, 2008 New York Times article "Tomato Catch-Up" this morning made me feel hopeful that my plants will grow well. As she says:

If you jump the gun you will stress those tender plants, which are native to the mountains of Chile and Peru. Their leaves will turn a sickly yellow, they will cease to put out new leaves and their roots, shocked by the cold soil, will not grow until the heat comes. In short, you achieve nothing by planting early, except setting your babies back. The same is true for peppers, eggplants, basil and many other heat-loving annuals.

So though my plants aren't quite a large as my friends' plants just yet, I'm hopeful that mine will produce a bountiful harvest!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Cucumber Yogurt Soup

You know I love to eat fruits and vegetables (I mentioned that a few days ago in this entry).

Really, I love food in general. Especially soups. Roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Wonton soup. Split pea and ham soup. Chicken and corn chowder. Guinness French onion soup. Spring asparagus soup. New England clam chowder. Egg drop soup. Southwestern pumpkin soup. Tom kha gai. Cream of mushroom soup.

But I've never liked chilled soup. Gazpacho? Take it or leave it. Chilled beet soup? Ick.

What I like about soups is how they warm you up, whether you like it or not.

So it was with a good amount of hesitation that I tried the recipe for Cucumber Yogurt Soup on page 192 of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp. (By the way, click here to read all of my posts related to this book.)

I'm definitely still not a chilled soup lover but this one was pretty tasty. Probably a good recipe for others who, like me, are wary of chilled soups. :)

Planting a Vegetable Garden

After reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver and Michael Pollan's The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (and Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben), I decided to plant a vegetable garden.

I don't know the first thing about gardening. I did plant rosemary a few years ago and put it in everything I cooked that year. Still, that's the extent of my knowledge.

Well I went to Valley View Farms in Cockeysville, Maryland and bought:

• 4 varieties of sweet peppers (Big Bertha, Early Sensation, Purple Beauty and Valencia)


• 4 varieties of tomatoes (Radiator Ray's heirloom Mortgage Lifter, Lemon Boy, heirloom Yellow Pear, Grape)


• 1 bunch of yellow Granex hybrid onion


• 3 summer squashes (Raven, Yellow Straightneck, Peter Pan)


• 1 thing of Silver Queen Corn (which seemed to have lots of plants in it)


• 1 artichoke


• 1 Crimson Sweet watermelon


• 1 Superstar muskmelon


• 1 Burpee hybrid cucumber


• 1 Bambino hybrid eggplant


• Genovese basil


• Tuscan Blue rosemary


• cilantro


• parsley


• garlic chives


• and a few other things.

I'd also like to get some strawberries, raspberries, and asparagus but apparently you have to buy those earlier in the year?

I don't know what got into me. I suppose reading about Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods by Gary Paul Nabhan also had an influence on me.

Wish me luck!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Asparagus and Morel Bread Pudding

I love to eat fruits and vegetables. I love a good steak too but something about how my mother cooked has made me especially enjoy fruits and vegetables.

Mangoes, lychees, guava, persimmon, papaya, pomelo, nectarines, and clementines are among my favorite fruits.

As for vegetables, I love just about any greens sauteed in garlic, onions and oil. I especially love artichokes, Japanese eggplant, taro (kalo), avocado (technically a stone fruit) and Okinawan sweet potato. And I love asparagus and have been known to eat an entire platter at a time.

And mushrooms are probably my favorite food full-stop (click here to read my entry on Part III of The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan to find out more about my mushroom obsession).

So when I read this recipe for Asparagus and Morel Bread Pudding on page 84-85 of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver, I was dying to try it! (By the way, click here to read all of my posts related to this book.)

I substituted a variety of reconstituted dried mushrooms for the morels and increased the amount of mushrooms and let me tell you it is every bit as good as it sounds. :)

I haven't tried any of the other recipes yet but I want to make the Pumpkin Soup in its Own Shell, Holiday Corn Pudding a Nine-Year Old Can Make, Chicken Recuerdos de Tuscon, and Cherry Sorbet.