(Via washingtonpost.com - A Cook's Garden by Barbara Damrosch)

Posted by admin to Cut, Quick, That, The, to, vegetables on 2007-08-22, 20:00:00

As a gardening cook, I always say that flavor is everything, but my evil twin, the lazy cook, knows otherwise. Sometimes I just want vegetables that are easy to slice.

(Via A Larrapin Garden)

Posted by admin to Other Gardens, summer, vegetables on 2007-08-18, 14:35:00

Hershel is my wonderful gardening neighbor. (I misspelled his name in my sign above. Note the Sharpie pen for size comparison....) He's been gardening in our neighborhood for about twenty years and his garden is fabulous. We often benefit from his ability to produce enormous quantities of the best green beans ever -- Kentucky Wonders. The tomato pictured is Hershel's own development and the one I photographed is not the prettiest or the largest he's ever shown me. I believe the parent tomato is a German Pink type. Hershel's tomato produces a slice for a sandwich that will overhang the bread! Really great flavor, nice firmness. To the left is one of the Cherokee Purple heirloom I grew from a transplant I bought at Old Soul Organics in Fayetteville. It is, hands down, the healthiest, lushest plant I've ever grown, incredibly productive and with a *perfect* tomato flavor in my opinion. Needless to say I'm saving the seeds on that one. It has a near potato type leaf. Here's a sliced one:


The other tomato tip I'll do again next year involves composted cotton burr compost. The bed where I was planting the tomato was too clayey so I added a half bag of the compost right in the end of the bed where the tomato was to go. I guess they LOVE this compost! I'll do this again for each tomato plant next year.

Here's a parting pic of Hershel's wonderfully huge tomato -- this one not completely ripe. I knew I'd lucked out when I moved to the neighborhood and after meeting Hershel he pulled a giant whole tomato out of the freezer to show me! This is my kind of neighbor! The tomato had been so huge and perfect -- indeed, it seemed half as big as my head -- that he'd frozen it so that folks would believe him when he told the story! Because we know that gardening stories and fishing stories can be similar in some ways...

Finally today some RAIN!! It smelled exquisite.

(Via A Larrapin Garden)

Posted by admin to edibles, summer, vegetables on 2007-07-25, 16:11:00

Like Connie, who responded to the "Do you know this flower?" post, I had no idea that okra has such lovely, if very brief, flowers. The Hill Country Red Okra from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds in the previous post continues to produce a good amount of BIG pods -- best eaten fried Southern style because it gets big so fast. Next year I'd like to try another variety in the Baker Creek catalog that has red stems, pods and leaves!

This photo is from 2006. I had leftover okra transplants and no room in the garden, so I put a few in various spots in flower beds around the house. I thought it was great. Plus, you could pick okra from the patio... This variety is Clemson Spineless and is great tasting and very productive. And all green.

(Via A Larrapin Garden)

Posted by admin to summer, vegetables on 2007-07-21, 19:26:00

Know this flower?
Originally uploaded by larrapin67.

Did you know an okra bloom was so lovely? This is an Alabama heritage red okra with gorgeous red stems and leaf veins...