Josie at the Library

High Summer Sights

Passsion Flower

Space alien? Sea creature? Flower?

Passiflora inarnata is a NC native -- though I've never come across one growing. So I purchased one and will plant it where I can keep an eye on it. The flowers are spectacular and the fruits -- called Maypops -- are edible. 

Left to its own devices, it will run along the ground and perhaps become invasive. I plan to plant it with a trellis to grow up, where it's bounded by our driveway and mown grass.

The name Passion refers not to mortal lust but to the Crucifixion. Long ago, Jesuits found religious symbolism in the different parts of this spectacular flower. See HERE for the story.

As a bonus, it has a lovely honey sweet fragrance.

73 Bags of Corn in the Freezer

That's what I've been doing for the past three days -- picking, shucking, de-silking, blanching, cooling, then slicing off the kernels and bagging them up to freeze.  I have officially run out of freezer bags at this point.

No time to take pictures or do much of anything else -- and there's still corn in the garden.

There's a traditional rhyme (slightly altered to fit our usual circumstances,) enjoining the gardener to plant four seeds for every plant she hopes to harvest:

One for the 'coon,

One for the crow,

One for the cutworm, 

And one to grow.

And I do always plant much more corn than I need because the coons and crows and wandering cattle usually take a heavy toll. 

But this year the corn has been untouched -- save for a few plants the deer knocked down in their haste to get to the beans and sweet potatoes. And in all the corn I processed, I found only one small worm. 

We've had corn on the cob, black bean, red pepper, and corn salad, spinach/artichoke ravioli topped with shrimp and corn in brown butter, and cole slaw made with red cabbage, carrots, onions, and corn.  I'll save the corn pudding and corn chowder for the cooler months.

Sunday's Sundries

Blue Skies and Corn -- Lots of Corn

After two and a half days of rain, it was time to start harvesting the sweet corn.

We pulled not quite half of it and spent the rest of the afternoon shucking, blanching, and putting it into freezer bags.

This is probably the nicest corn we've ever grown -- and not a worm on it. I don't know why -- we didn't do anything differently.  

The excellence of the corn somewhat offset the disappointment of seeing that deer had gotten past the fence and into the beans and peppers and sweet potatoes. They ate the tops off the bean plants and peppers and every last leaf of the sweet potato vines. I'll dig in the bed tomorrow to see if there are any sweet potatoes of any size. 

As I said in an earlier post, to garden is to know loss. But just look at that fine corn!

Gardening in the Time of Rain

We've had several days of rain -- welcome rain for the boost it will give the pastures and the water table. Too wet to get into the garden so I resorted to the little greenhouse where my fig tree is bearing as never before. In the past I've hauled the fig outside for the summer and back in when it gets cold. Finally, thanks to Justin who brought me big load of rich dirt to fill in what had previously been filled with water (and some goldfish till a water snake ate them all,) the fig tree has a year round home and room to spread its roots. 

 It's rewarded us with a bumper crop of figs and I don't have to fight the birds for them. Only a chipmunk who has found a way in and out. But the resident blacksnake may take care of that problem.

I've also set in the dirt all the potted amaryllis bulbs from years past. They didn't bloom at all this year -- perhaps the rich soil will inspire them.

There was still an expanse of soil so I planted some cucumber seeds a while back. They've grown but I don't think they get enough sun-- the crepe myrtle outside shades the glass. We'll see. I've also transplanted a bit of mint and some wild purslane. And I just sowed some beets for winter salads. And there are two little cherry tomato seedlings. I don't really have much hope that they'll make tomatoes but it's worth a try.

Between the showers I dealt with the bounty left by friends who'd seen my post about not having any Black Eyed Susans. Thanks to Suzie Morris and Nancy Lang, I now have a gracious plenty! And perfect weather for transplanting them!

This bed above the road has been ignored too long. Now there's a fine swath of Black Eyed Susans to inspire me to rejuvenate it. I think some Korean chrysanthemums are the next step, along with some Bee Balm.  

Oh, the pleasures of gardening in cool, rainy weather! I feel almost English.  Where are those Wellington boots I used to have? 

A Peach and Blueberry Galette

We had out of town company and I was inspired to make a galette -- a kind of rustic tart.  I'd had one at a friend's house a few years ago and the memory lingered. So I went looking for a recipe. 

Say what you will about her, Martha Stewart knows her cooking. This is her recipe. It was astonishingly quick and easy -- the pastry (which is tender and sweet and buttery) was a breeze to make.

THE PATE BRISEE

For two disks of pastry (one to freeze for another time)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. sugar

2 sticks cold butter, cut in small pieces (Here I deviated very slightly from Ms. Stewart's recipe -- she calls for unsalted butter and a teaspoon of salt -- I use salted butter and omit the salt)

1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar, and butter into a food processor and process till the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Now, with the machine running, add a little (about 1/4 cup) ice water in a steady stream through the little hole in the top. 

Pulse till the dough holds together, adding more water if necessary. (NO MORE THAN 30 SECONDS pulsing time or the pastry will be tough!)

Remove the dough and divide into two balls. On a floured surface, flatten each ball into a disk. Wrap each disk well and put in freezer. (One will stay there for future use, the other is just there to chill while you prepare the filling and the baking tin.)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 F

THE FILLING

1 1/2 pounds of blueberries and sliced peaches (I didn't weigh them but probably used about 2 cups) 

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 TB. cornstarch

Stir together then set aside while you prepare a rimmed baking sheet. First cover with aluminum foil. (For easy cleanup if the fruit filling runs as it is likely to do) Then cover with a sheet of parchment paper.  

Now remove the chilled disk of dough  and roll out into a circle on a floured surface till about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer it to your prepared baking sheet ( I found this a little tricky but the dough is forgiving and the edges can be pieced back together)

Heap the filling in the center of rolled out pastry, leaving a margin of 2 inches all around. Fold edges in, leaving an opening in the center. Brush pastry with a beaten egg then sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove and cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring the galette (still on the parchment paper) to a wire rack to cool completely.

We gobbled it up plain but a little vanilla ice cream or whipped cream wouldn't go amiss. And another time, I might throw some slivered almonds on the top before baking.

I'm also thinking about a savory galette -- tomatoes and herbs and cheese? Figs and prosciutto and goat cheese? 

Oh, the possibilities!

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