Monthly Archives: October 2011

Garlic pickled

This year I’ve a lot of garlic to enjoy. Some of it I will pickle and preserve. Here’s two recipes for pickled garlic which is a real delicacy. sweet pickled garlic from an 18th century Ottoman recipe from Turquoise: a chef’s … Continue reading

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Preserving herbs

Here are three more ways to preserve herbs. Freezing herbs is an easy way to preserve them for cooking. Clean herbs can be placed in  zip-lock bags and placed in the freezer. To use, quickly open, divide out what you … Continue reading

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Sesame seeds

Sesame is beautiful to grow. The plant is tall and striking with fragrant, trumpet shaped flowers. The fertilized flowers develop into furry pouches hugging the tall stalk. In the pods are the sesame seeds. I’ve not grown sesame seeds before … Continue reading

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Drying herbs

Frankly, I always pick my herbs and hang and dry them in bunches. Research indicates that this is not the best way to dry some herbs to preserve the most flavor. I wrote earlier about drying small-leaved herbs in bunches; … Continue reading

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Back to the land, reluctantly

One of my favorite blogs is New Dress A Day,  365 dresses for 365 days for $365, where Marissa takes some thrift sale item and remakes it into something fun and/or glamorous for herself. It appeals because it’s creative re-purposing. … Continue reading

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Garlic planting season

October is the month for planting garlic which will be harvested next July. You can plant into November — and several gardeners I know do plant late — but late planting reduces the number of days the garlic has to … Continue reading

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Herbs, part one

Small leaved herbs such as thyme, oregano/marjoram, rosemary and some sages can easily be gathered and dried in small bunches. Obviously, herbs can be harvested, used fresh or dried, anytime during the growing season. Since the weather is unseasonably cold, … Continue reading

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End of the year free for all

The ten days of Indian summer last week certainly was the last hurrah of this growing season. Over the weekend, I picked twelve pounds of red tomatoes, not counting cherries, and a dozen Japanese finger eggplant. All these came to … Continue reading

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Fall kale

Kale only becomes sweeter and sweeter in cool, fall weather. It’s sheer chemistry converting and concentrating the kale’s sugars. And, even after the first snow, it still will be thriving in the garden. As I’ve mentioned before, kale is a … Continue reading

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Final harvesting of basil

Harvesting in the rain is bone-chilling. However, today is probably the last chance to bring in the basil. Good chance, after today’s rain and tonight’s low 40 degree temperature, the basil will wilt by tomorrow morning. I’m sure you’ve all … Continue reading

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