This weather we have had the last few days has been
nice. It’s pleasant enough to be outside
in the middle of the day but not warm enough to mess with the plants life cycles. I finally finished planting some daffodil
bulbs I had dug out of an overcrowded bed.
I admit some of the last few plantings were basically holes with bulbs
dumped in them - but hey - they got planted.
There will be daffodils everywhere in the spring if all the bulbs I
planted make it.
I noticed something else that the unusual weather this year
must have caused. My euonymus bush which
is 6 feet high and wide is covered with tiny red berries this fall. It blooms every year but this is the first time
I have seen more than a handful of berries.
Since it is evergreen it may make some good Christmas decorations. (Yes, its time to start thinking of that.)
Thanksgiving comes first though and the mild weather should
let everyone roam the woods and fields for some interesting table décor. There are abundant grass seed heads, milkweed
pods and interesting seed pods of every type out there. Pine cones, nuts, gourds and even fruits like
apples also have uses. You can use them
as they come from nature or add glitter or a frosting of metallic paint. (Metallic colors are “in” this year.)
Add a potato
A large potato can be the base for a centerpiece or even a
swag or wreath. It will help keep greens
from wilting if the stems are stuck in a fresh potato. They will take moisture
from the potato. To make a swag or
wreath with a potato first drill a hole in one end or the center, depending on
your desired finished product, to insert a hanger if you are going to hang the
item. Use a small paring knife or a
screw driver and slowly carve a small hole through the spud. Insert a ribbon or soft rope for a hanging
loop, not wire as it will cut through the potato.
If you are going to use the potato to make a centerpiece you
may need to slice off a thin section of the potato on one side so that it sits
flat. It works best if you let this cut
area dry for a day or so before finishing the centerpiece. You may want to add a piece of felt or
cardboard to the cut side after it has dried a bit.
Cut evergreens or woody plants like Sweet Annie and lavender
so that the ends have sharp points and insert them into the potato. For some pieces you may need to make a
starter hole with an ice or nut pick. Usually
the potato itself will not show much in the finished decoration but if the
thought of a bit of skin peeking through bothers you paint the potato or cover
it in cloth or colored foil.
Whitehouse
Thanksgiving menu
The President is inviting his extended family for
Thanksgiving dinner at the Whitehouse.
The Whitehouse chef Cris Comerford says that many of the vegetables served will come
from the Whitehouse garden, which is said to still be producing many
things. On the menu is multiple 20
pound turkeys which have been soaked in thyme laced brine before roasting as
well as honey baked ham.
Two types of stuffing, cornbread and oyster, mashed potatoes
and sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, kale salad and rolls will also be
served. The kale salad recipe was
released by the Whitehouse and I have included it below so that you can serve
it at your Thanksgiving feast if you would like. The President loves pie and 6 kinds of pie
will be served at the white house Thanksgiving, including huckleberry.
It makes you wonder if the diners at the Whitehouse loosen
their belts after eating and light matches in the bathroom. Do kids slide on the marble floors and run
screaming through the rooms? Is there an
argument about politics at the table? At
least with a full staff there should be no complaining about who does the
dishes every year. Ah, Thanksgiving
meals.
Whitehouse Kale Salad
- 2 bunches young kale, washed and dried, cut into
thin slices
- 1 bulb fennel (fronds, stems and outer layer
removed) cored and thinly sliced
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded and thinly
sliced
- 1 green onion, white and light-green parts, trimmed
and thinly sliced
- 4 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved or cut
into slivers
- 4 ounces spiced Marcona almonds, about 1 Cup
Marcona almonds can be purchased in some stores or you can make them. Combine 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 1/2
teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika in a
bowl. In another bowl beat an egg white
add about a cup of almonds and toss to
coat. Then toss the almonds in the bowl
of spices to coat them. Place on a
cookie sheet and bake at 350 until lightly browned. Cool before use in the salad.
Dressing for salad
·
1 Cup olive oil
·
1/4 Cup red wine
vinegar
·
Juice of 2 medium
lemons, about 6 Tablespoons
·
1 medium green onion,
minced
·
Salt
·
Freshly ground black
pepper
Mix the vinegar, lemon juice and
onion together and gradually whisk in the oil.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Put the kale in a bowl and pour
the dressing over the greens about 10 minutes before you will be serving the
salad and toss well to coat. Just before
serving add the rest of the salad ingredients and toss. This recipe is enough for 6-8 servings.
Some food statistics
254 million turkeys were raised
in the US Canada Minnesota
768 million pounds of
cranberries were produced this year in the US Wisconsin
2.7 billion pounds of sweet
potatoes were produced, North
Carolina
1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins, Illinois
73.1 million pounds of tart
cherries, normally Michigan Pennsylvania
2.27 billion bushels of wheat
were produced in the
Next week the garden notes will
be back to more traditional garden topics.
I am going to discuss the AAS selections for 2013 and MSU’s annual trial
results and tell you about some new plants I have heard about for 2013. And I will keep you updated on any other
garden topics I find interesting that have popped up in the news.
I would like to mention that a
reader sent me this link to an amazing story about Japanese farmers turning
their rice fields into works of art. The
art, huge designs in the field, many extremely complicated, is all done with
rice that has different colored leaves.
I was unaware that rice came in so many leaf colors. You learn something every day. The farmers used to make simple designs every
year but now of course they have computer technology to guide them. Anyway it’s pretty amazing. You can see their work at this link http://www.kawaiikakkoiisugoi.com/2010/02/12/amazing-rice-field-art-at-japanese-farms/
If you have rotenone in your
storage shed please read this.
Now that the
garden season is winding down it’s time to clean up your garden supply storage
area. It’s particularly important to examine all your pesticides to see what needs to be discarded and that everything is
stored correctly. Gardeners use more pesticides than farmers and even those who
garden organically often have organic pesticides on hand. These organic
pesticides need to be handled just as carefully as conventional pesticides. Read more by clicking on the link.
Here’s a new herb article I
wrote you may want to read.
If you are a
cook you know that the best tasting herbs are fresh
ones, plucked right from the plant just before using. But if you live in a spot
where herbs aren't available in the garden during the winter your source of
fresh herbs is limited to what you can purchase in a store- and those herbs are
never the same as fresh picked. The good news is that some herbs can be grown
indoors during the winter either on a sunny window sill or under grow light.
Read more here - http://www.examiner.com/article/how-to-grow-herbs-inside
I hope everyone has something to be thankful for this year. I am thankful that my family has made it through some serious trials this year. I am thankful to have known so many of you wonderful people and thankful that I can keep writing this newsletter to you. Thank You so much to all of you who write to comment and tell me interesting things. I enjoy hearing from you.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and
yours
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