With careful planning (and a few learning mistakes along the way) my garden in Santa Barbara now provides an abundance of fruits, vegetables and herbs year around. Eating food made with seasonal ingredients fresh from the garden gives your meals incredible depth and flavor with fewer ingredients. The pleasure of apples in the fall or lemon cucumbers in the summer is a splendid reward for tending to all those seedlings throughout the year. My garden is in a great sunny spot on our property and consists of six large raised beds flanked by fruit trees and herbs along with a beautiful antique sink I found in Summerland.
Just Planted
July 2010
Sunflower – Mammoth Russian 6 to 10 feet
Sunflower – Goldy Honey Bear 4 to 6 feet
Pumpkin – Sugar Pie – Heirloom. There is no better cooking pumpkin. Marvelous pumpkin flavor with sweet, fine grained texture. Great for pies.
Carrot – Tonda di Parigi, Heirloom, 19th century Parisian favorite. Sweet and petite fun snack size great for a veggie platter.
Now Harvesting
July 2010
Emerite Pole Beans
Green and Yellow Beans
Arugula
Romaine Lettuce
Yellow Squash
Persian Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Mulberries
Mid-Pride Peaches
Santa Rosa Plums
Here’s a peek of what you will find in my garden throughout the year:
Vegetables: Cocozella zucchini, cucumbers, Hungarian wax
peppers, jalapenos, Thai hot pepper, red bell peppers, leeks, garlic,
Japanese eggplant, lemon cucumbers, bush beans – yellow and green, vine
snap beans – white and purple, corn, sunflowers, red leaf lettuce, arugula,
romaine lettuce, tomatoes, nasturtium flower, basil, purple basil and
Thai basil.
Fruit: Mulberries, nectarines, Santa Rosa plums, strawberries, French strawberries, lemons and limes.
Vegetables: Pumpkins, tomatoes, yellow and red potatoes, red and golden beets, radishes, butter lettuce, red leaf lettuce, arugula, carrots, green onions, white onions, broccoli, napa cabbage, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, amarath and Hokkaido Stella blue squash.
Fruit: Tangerines, tamarillo, pink lady apples, fuji apples and avocados.
Vegetables: Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, spinach, cauliflower, Napa cabbage, red cabbage, butter lettuce, lettuce mix, bok choy, celery, swiss chard, snow peas, parsnips and shallots.
Fruit: Meyer lemon, strawberries and French strawberries.
YEAR ROUND
Onions, Swiss chard, carrots, lettuces’ and most herbs with the exception of basil: Flat leaf parsley, savory, oregano, peppermint, chives, thyme, sage, dill, cilantro, lemon grass, lemon balm, tarragon, lemon verbena, bay and rosemary.
I just harvested the first of my summer squash. I pick them when they’re young and small. To me, the flavor is better when they are on the slighter side. When the squash is left on the plant too long, it tends to taste a bit like foam rubber — not that I make a habit of eating foam rubber, but you get the idea.
These recipes for squash appetizers are so easy to make and look beautiful when served. Exact ingredients are not necessary. It’s really just a matter of taste but be sure to use the best possible ingredients. I can’t reiterate enough about using the best quality ingredients you can find. Everything about these ingredients together is so classic and delicious, radiating summer in every bite.
Cold Yellow Squash Appetizer
Usually I use one squash per plate.
Slice squash thinly with a mandolin and arrange in a circular fashion on the plate.
Per assembled plate, use a pinch each of:
red pepper flakes
fresh oregano leaves
lemon zest
Squeeze lemon over the slices and drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.
Warm Yellow Squash Appetizer
For these “June gloom days” in Santa Barbara (whatever, Poseidon — it’s JULY!), where the fog is actually pissing on you and you crave something warm…
Heat oven to 200 degrees.
On an oven safe platter or dishes (depending on whether you plan to serve family style or individually), arrange thinly sliced yellow squash — I use a mandolin to make perfect slices. Then use a microplane grater to cover the top of the squash with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and place the platter or plates in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. The sides of the squash will turn upward slightly and the cheese will begin to melt.
Carefully remove the plate from the oven (oven mittens would be good, here) and then add a pinch each of:
red pepper flakes
fresh oregano leaves
lemon zest
Squeeze lemon over the slices and a slight drizzle more olive oil.
Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.
It’s warm yet still has a fresh crunch factor and texture. It’s zesty, salty, and spicy, and the fresh oregano absolutely makes it perfection in your mouth.
As the 4th is rapidly approaching, I have absolutely no motivation to plan for our traditional outdoor dinner. After a busy month of travel and such, I feel that summer has already zapped my party planning “mojo.” Prepared or not, we are still going to celebrate this Independence Day as every year.
We start with the local fireman’s pancake breakfast, followed by the parade in the Montecito Upper Village (which, btw, is the cutest darn parade in the world). A little beach and/or pool time is a relaxing midday treat, and then an easy family style meal outside on the patio with our nearest and dearest. Easy, right? Not so much. That makes for a colossal list of fun to maneuver and manage in a single day, regardless of the number of people you are hosting, and — the big clincher — two little ones “helping.”
Honestly, I feel like right now I should change my web site name to “the disorganized entertainer” — pulling off last minute events, one at a time! It all seems slightly overwhelming, but not an impossible task to manage in tribute to Lady Liberty. With a little effort today and tomorrow, a well-stocked panty, an abundance of party wine, and a flourishing garden, I know I can pull it together. Here’s to a great celebration of a holiday that allows us the freedom and independence to eat, drink and garden.
Menu — this menu is both kid friendly and easy to prepare. It covers all the basics and then friends can add to it, if they volunteer to bring something. The key to my success is to stick with my menu (no freelancing!) and to get all my shopping done today. Ready, set, go…
Eat
Grilled Party Wings (a staple appetizer around here … and an easy way to get some protein in the kids)
Chips, salsa and guacamole
“Ribs by Robles” (Rub – Friday / Braise – Sat / Grill – Sunday. Mr. Robles is actually letting me help him prepare them this year, I feel so honored.)
Old Fashioned Potato Salad, with fresh tarragon and homemade mayo
Watermelon two ways (Small melons are better. Of course, this is coming from a flat chested Newport Beach girl, bet you didn’t think we existed!)
Big wedges for the kids
in a mock Greek salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and basil
Corn on the Cob (White is preferred, shucked on Sunday by the kids … keeps ’em busy)
Italian Cheesecake, with blueberries and berry glaze (see photo)
Sunday Bar — it is Sunday, after all. Homemade buttermilk ice cream, fudge and raspberry sauce (Fudge I made a week ago, raspberry and ice cream will be made on Saturday)
Drink
Muddled Peach Cocktail with mint and agave nectar (My new peach trees are producing an abundance of delicious fruit.)
W2 x 2 (wine: red & white, and water: sparkling & flat)
Garden
Every year a mix of dahlias gets plopped into vases on the table, straight from the garden. Cloth flag napkins and white dishes are ready, so with the flowers the table is pretty much done. Shhh, I think my neighbor’s dark blue agapanthus might end up on the table too. Don’t they look just like fireworks on a stem? A bright mix of blue and white! Perfect.
Now that you’ve helped me get my list together, I am off to the market. Enjoy your weekend of celebrating.
A simple but delicious omelet-style preparation of an egg using fresh grated parmesan cheese, garden-fresh chives and sea salt. I originally learned this method from Chef Donald Link. Enjoy!
As we head into summer I am almost already overwhelmed by the abundance offered from my garden. Strawberries are spilling over my brick garden walls, tomatoes are dropping from their trellised domiciles and green beans are quickly shooting from once flowering stalks. And I have been on the road, traveling with the children, enjoying the break from the school year and the luxury of lengthy pajama clad mornings. These lazy days motivate me to do just about nothing.
One thing I do, do (yes, I said do-do) is freeze whatever abundance I know we won’t have the opportunity to eat while it’s fresh; it’s a lot easier and quicker than canning so it is my preserving method of choice. Believe it or not, there is a correct and an incorrect way to freeze, and it’s just as easy to do it the right way as the wrong. So pay attention and avoid freezer burn and clumping for tastier end results.
Tips for freezing:
I freeze tomatoes, green beans and strawberries whole. With zucchini I freeze diced or bite-sized pieces. Just remember to dry the pieces thoroughly after you cut them — I press a towel to the zucchinis to soak up any extra moisture. This technique can be used to freeze just about anything. If I have any pitted fruit left over (which is hardly ever), I cut them in half, remove the pits, and then freeze them in halves or quarters to use for pies or crumbles at a later date.
• Wash and dry well with cloth towels.
• Remove stalks or stems.
• Lay out your produce on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper — don’t allow your fruit or vegetables to touch each other.
• Slip that entire cookie sheet (uncovered) into the freezer and freeze until your produce is frozen solid — depending on size this can take anywhere from one to five hours.
• Pour your now frozen produce into a freezer safe bag (date it!) and store for up to 6 months.
Use as you would any frozen veggies. The kids enjoy the berries, grapes, and most veggies still frozen!
