One Amazingly Easy Container Vegetable to Grow This Year!

 Years ago I planted a decidedly non-trendy vegetable in the garden.  I'm not sure why I was compelled to grow something that I had no idea what it was, but for me that was typical in my early gardening years.  I was in the experimental zone with the garden as my laboratory and this promising new veggie was one of the first of my discoveries.

Tomatillo "Toma Verde"

The plants grew.  As a matter of fact, they more than grew.  They made their presence very well-known in my small garden space and I wasn't able to keep up with their fruits.  By the end of summer, I was pulling up seedling after seedling of this alien vegetable which was determined to take over the world, er, my garden and tomatillo was its name...

I didn't even know what to do with them.  I made up some salsa with them but was too afraid to eat it.  But the whole episode was not a loss.  I formed a connection with these super easy to grow plants that were prolific to boot.  I would be growing them again and I did but not until many years later.

Tomatillos in early summer.

Years later in the culinary scene, salsas were becoming "all the rage" and tomatillo plants were now showing up in garden centers (on purpose!)  I had begun to cook with them, actually buying them at the store for my White Chicken Chili and Roasted Salsa Verde.  So I decided to grow them again but realized I didn't have room for them in my small home garden and so I tried them at our community garden.

Early fruits and blooms

They grew well but were infested by a caterpillar that destroyed practically every fruit. Bummer.  I wouldn't spray my plants but decided to try them at our house again where the bugs weren't as voracious.  This time I grew them in containers.  

 Tomatillos are a member of the nightshade family and are a distant relative of our red tomato.  They originated in Mexico and are heavily consumed there after being fried, boiled or steamed.  With the hot pepper trend beginning in the U.S. over the last 10 years, tomatillos became sought after for their tangy, slightly citrus-y flavor and of course their amazing color.

Tomatillos in containers; late summer

Tomatillo fruits are covered by a thin husk that the fruit actually grows into after a small yellow flower blooms.  The husks continue to grow until you get a nice golfball sized fruit that means it's perfect for picking.

When I started my seedlings, I use the same growing culture as for regular tomatoes and grow them alongside them by starting them indoors at the same time.  The leaves of the tomatillo are definitely different than that of a tomato so no problem telling them apart. 

Why plant in a container?  Two reasons for me; first, I ran out of room in my garden and two, I didn't want their seedling volunteers to take over my garden then next year.  Not that I don't love volunteers, but they are very happy to multiply when they are happy where they're grown.  And besides, they grew very well in the 5 gallon pots I planted them in.  I didn't do much, just watered and fertilized with an organic mix a few times over the summer and gave them lots of sun and heat.  They did the rest.

A few pointers for growing them:

1. Make sure to plant more than one or two!  I only planted one container the first year and got all blooms and one fruit.  They need more plants in order to cross pollinate.  I also made sure the leaves and blooms all intertwined with each other so the bees would have no problems hopping from one plant to the other.  Four plants gave me enough for fresh eating as well as lots for freezing.

2.  To freeze them: Pick the fruit when it fills out the husk but before it turns yellow.  You can still use the yellow ones but the green ones are what you want.  Peel the husks and compost.  Lightly wash the fruit (they have a sticky substance on them) and dry.  Then place in a freezer bag on it's side in the amount you need to use for a recipe.  I used quart bags and filled them and placed a few hot peppers for instant salsa verde.  They freeze unbelievably well and last a long time in a deep freeze.  Just take them out to thaw, puree and cook when you need them.

So if you're a veggie risk-taker like me, then you'll love growing these plants and more importantly, you'll love eating them.

This is a great vegetable to add to your diet and perfect for a container garden!  You can find growing guidelines here at Organic Gardening.

Happy planting and blessings!


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The Easiest No-Can, No Fuss Storage Vegetable!

Photo Source

 I have been canning, freezing and drying for at least 20 years and if I can find a way to cut corners, I will.  One of the ways I do this is by growing a vegetable that not only tastes great and is super nutritious but is also self-storing...that makes this veggie is a keeper!

And grow it I did, lots of them!  At the end of November, I still have a large supply and they are keeping quite nicely so far, thank you very much.

What is this vegetable wonder?  Winter squash of course!  Yes, I know you are able to can and freeze them, but why should I when most of them will be perfectly fine on their own?  And right now with the holidays upon us, there is an abundance of winter squash available for sale and it's the perfect vegetable to keep for the months to come!

Spaghetti Squash and Delicata Squash

If you're not eating squash now or only at Thanksgiving, now is the time to reconsider.  Winter squash is a great source of the anti-oxidants, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene.  It also is loaded with Vitamin C (one-third of our daily allowance) and a very good amount of the antioxidant mineral manganese as well.

Photo Source

"While winter squash should not be treated as a high-fat food, it does contain fats, including the anti-inflammatory omega-3s. One cup of baked winter squash will provide you with approximately 340 milligrams of omega-3 fats in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)."

Butternut Bush Variety

Nutrients in
Winter Squash
1.00 cup baked (205.00 grams)
Nutrient%Daily Value

 vitamin A - 214.1%
 vitamin C - 32.8%  fiber - 22.9%
manganese - 19% vitamin B6 - 16.5% potassium - 14.1%

 vitamin K - 11.2% folate - 10.2%
tryptophan - 9.3% copper - 8.5% vitamin B - 28.2%
omega-3 fats - 7.9% magnesium - 6.6%

Spaghetti Squash - Small Wonder Variety

Winter squash is pretty great for you and worth keeping through the winter.  How long does it last in storage?  Here are a few tips when buying squash for storage:

1. Make sure the fruit is bruise (no soft spots) and blemish-free.  
2. The winter squash with the hardest skins will generally last the longest.

Here are the varieties and their storage times:

Pumpkins at 50% to 70% humidity and 50 to 55 degrees - 2-3 months
Acorn at 50% to 75% humidity and  50 to 55 degrees - 5-8 weeks
Butternut at 50% to 70% humidity and 50 to 55 degrees - 2-3 months
Hubbards at 50% to 75% humidity and 50 degrees - 5-6 months
Spaghetti Squash at 50% to 70% humidity and 50 to 55 degrees - 2-3 months

However, I have kept all these squash with the exception of pumpkins WAY past these dates...especially spaghetti squash which I was able to keep all the way through spring with no loss of eating quality.

AND...I keep them in my 65+ degree utility room and not outside.  I do lose some but if I rotate them once in while and keep them fairly separate, they seem to do well.  I just watch for fruits that are beginning to get bad spots, refrigerate and use them up right away.   

Photo Source

I also choose small varieties (like the small Blue Hubbard pictured above) so I can cook one up fast and have about 4-6 servings depending on the variety.  If I were to buy the monster sized ones, I hate to process them because it takes so long, but the small ones I can peel or cook quickly and eat them every week.  

I am loving our winter squash and have been cutting them up, sauteing them and including them in soups, stews, chilis and even our spaghetti sauce.  We love them and here's hoping you'll be able to store some of your own this winter...Blessings!!

What's your favorite winter squash? 


References:
1.http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=63 
2.http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/hil/hil-24-c.html 
3.http://cedarcirclefarm.org/tips/entry/winter-squash-storage-tips 

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3 Amazing (Heat Tolerant) Summer Greens for Your Garden

There's no doubt about it.  Springtime means lots of great lettuce, spinach and various other summer greens.  This year I planted Broccoli Raab, Arugula, Mizuna and Giant Red Indian Mustard.  There's no doubt that these greens are wonderful during these cool springtime temperatures but as soon as the heat of summer sets in, these greens have bolted and finished.   I still will have kale growing but eventually it also will succumb to the cabbage butterflies who love to use their leaves for their voracious young. 

This does not work for me.  I don't spray the garden.  I don't want the pesticides, $$ and expensive as well as the labor involved.  Ultimately I'm a lazy gardener who wants plants who don't need to be coaxed, babied or pampered to produce.  That's where these 3 greens come in.  Easy to grow, very heat resistant as well as vitamin dense, these top performers deserve consideration for being grown in your garden.

1. Swiss Chard.  I mention this green a lot because it deserves attention.  Most people are unfamiliar with it unless they have grown it themselves and that's too bad because it's one of the most reliable greens to grow.  It germinates very easily in pots or directly sown in mid-spring and that's about all the work you'll need to do.  Love.  It also comes in a variety of colors including, yellow, white, orange, and red. 

 Health benefits?  Lots of them.  Swiss Chard is a great source for vitamin C and vitamin K.  Vitamin K is believed to help with bone formation and strengthening as well as helping to limit neuronal damage to the brain.  This means it's thought to be useful as a treatment for those with Alzheimer's.
 
It is also rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, B-complex group of vitamins, and minerals like copper, calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus.  Need I say more?  This summer green can stand the heat, is very insect resistant and doesn't bolt.  If left to overwinter, it will come up in the spring and produce leaves before it finally bolts.  I manage to harvest as many as I can before my new plants have gotten big enough to harvest.  This green is a win-win.

 2. Mustard Spinach.  This is a new green for me.  I grew this one year in the garden and it not only grew well and quickly but was also hardy and very heat resistant over the summer. It's not a mix of two greens but rather a mild Chinese mustard and native of east Asia. This ancient green is making a comeback with the emerging trend of nutritious greens being fashionable on the dinner plate once again. Its mild flavor makes it popular as a cooked green.  I found my seeds in the grocery store seed rack and not in a seed catalog.  Don't worry if you can't find the seeds easily, one packet should be enough.  I planted mine once and had LOTS of volunteers the following spring.  You won't want to let this go to seed if you don't want lots of it around.  I like mine to set seed as it's a great way to get your seed for next year.  

It's also a very fast growing and large leafed green.  You won't need too many of these plants as the leaves of one or two plants as these plants become quite jungle-like in nature.  That's a bonus for me, it's less leaves to have to wash and more to cut up in soups, stews, as well as sauteing in garlic.

.This green is also loaded with vitamins C, A, Folate and B-6, Calcium and trace minerals.  It packs a big bang in the nutrient department.  This is a great green on its own or to mix with others.

3. New Zealand Spinach.  This isn't a true spinach either but rather a long vine-like plant that produces edible leaves.  It was said to have first been introduced by Captain Cook from his South Seas expedition.  It has a mild flavor as well and has thicker more succulent type of leaves. It likes a moist environment and will thrive under those conditions even with the heat of summer.  Mine grows in an area with some part shade which might explain why it loves to grows so well.  

It's said to be difficult to germinate so you may want to soak the seeds for 2-8 hours before planting.  I however had no problems getting mine started and once established in the right environment, it needs no maintenance except for harvesting.  I planted mine five years ago and I haven't planted it since.  It reseeds itself readily and I often end of weeding it out of the garden.  This could be called invasive, but I call it handy because it has shallow roots which make it easy to remove.  

New Zealand Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin C, A, Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus.  It also contains antioxidants which adds to its already rich nutritional profile.  I like it because while regular spinach is gone with the heat of summer, this green grows steadily on for months through the fall.  


There you have it, three amazing greens that are easy to grow, withstand the heat of summer and are loaded with vitamins and nutrients like their spring cousins. Did I mention these greens are highly resistant to insects and pests too?  Another great bonus as a garden vegetable.  There are more great summer greens for your garden, but this is a good place to get started now...happy eating!

Blessings!




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References:
1.  http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/swiss-chard.html
2. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/nutrient-listing-mustard-spinach-vs-spinach-3672.html
3. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/new-zealand-spinach-nutrition-1220.html

What Happens when Vegetables Talk?

Couldn't resist this little garden humor that I found on a site on Facebook...I well understand this one as I've cut, sliced, chopped and diced more onions in the last 20 years than I would care to remember.  Not that I don't love onions; I actually do a lot...That's why the tears have flowed! Viva la onion!! Have a great week!!

Blessings! 

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