2014 Garden Preview: Starts, Earwigs, & Dripline

When you plant a garden, you ultimately must agree to be humbled and sometimes humiliated. Expecting everything to work out just right doesn't  allow you to grow as a gardener. Instead, you want to maintain non-attachment to the outcome, while learning from your mistakes and nature's curveballs. The key is to monitor and adjust (taking detailed notes always helps me, too).

So in this post, I'll share what I've been up to in the garden, including some challenges, workarounds, and the joys of drip irrigation. But first, a brief overview of this season's crops.

What's in the Dirt

I toned things down a bit this season, with plants spaced further apart (which is an adjustment I pledged to make after last season). So here's my first failure: I started seeds inside, under lights, for cherry tomatoes and red peppers -- but they didn't make it, I think as a result of germinating them in the kitchen bay window, where the cool evening temperatures likely retarded their growth. 

Instead, we got a two tomato starts and five pepper starts from Camp Joy Gardens in Boulder Creek. They all look really happy in their new home:

I also moved the strawberries into a permanent home, where they're already stretching out and flourishing, and planted two kinds of beans. We have our usual pole beans, which the kids love to pick and eat right off the vine, and new for this season are dry shelling beans. They grow on a stout, bushy plant and are allowed to fully ripen and then get dry before they're harvested. I'm guessing there's some kind of curing process before they're stored.

Speaking of beans -- that brings me to the annual attack of the earwigs. 

I Really Hate Earwigs

They hide out in dark, dank places and come out at night to feed. Earwigs are those little blackish-brown bugs with pinchers on their butts and an appetite for young vegetable seedlings. In my experience, they only go after beans (but they also devoured the dahlias I planted a couple years ago). Have I mentioned how much I truly despise these little critters?

My solution is to keep planting more and more seeds; place cups of beer slanted at an angle (they are attracted to beer and will drown in the cups); place wet, rolled-up newspaper near the plants (they'll hide out there when the sun comes up, which allows you to capture them in the morning); and sprinkle a little Sluggo Plus around the vicinity. 

As you can see, it looks like the earwigs lost this battle and my beans are off to a great start. I wasn't so successful last year.

Drip: It's the Only Way to Go

The big addition to our garden this year is a drip irrigation system. And honestly, with the drought that's scorching California and much of the Southwest, my ethical choices were to either install a drip line or just not garden until things get better (which is not guaranteed). I got my supplies from Mountain Feed and Farm Supply in Ben Lomond and online at DripDepot.com.

So far, I really like drip irrigation. I let it do its thing for about an hour, three mornings a week (per local water restrictions) -- which is plenty, so far. Not only is it easy (once you've put together your system) but the plants all look much healthier and more vibrant. I'm probably using  about 1/3 less water than I did last season, but with much better coverage and precision: No overwatering, no underwatering, and very little water evaporating off the top. 

Here's a closeup shot, showing one of the valves (I put one on each bed):

I'm also really happy with our perennials and fruit trees, and I think the consistency of the drip system is making the biggest difference. The asparagus and blueberry bushes really came to life this spring after getting the right kind of watering.

That's all until next time!

Cheers,

Steve

Leeks are for Braising

Leeks are a nutritious part of the allium family, kind of like onions or scallions but much thicker and with a milder flavor. They're pretty versatile, but until recently I had only used them for chicken stock or potato-leek soup. So when I saw a recipe for braised leeks, I was skeptical. But man, braised leeks have become a favorite around our house (at least for Liz and I -- the kids aren't into them).

Like fava beans, leeks are one of the vegetables that I don't recall ever buying at the store or farmer's market, but which come in our CSA farm share box nowadays (so they're in season, at least in the Bay Area). In other words, I may not have discovered how delicious these are if we didn't subscribe to a CSA (challenging yourself with unfamiliar veggies is one of the best reasons to join).

And if you aren't familiar with braising, then you should be. It's a great way to break down connective tissue in tougher meats (I know, that doesn't sound appetizing) but also magically transforms leeks and other veggies into something unbelievably delicious. To put it simply, you cook them in butter over moderately high heat (about 5 minutes or so), allowing them to get scorched just a little. Then you finish them in a stock reduction, covered, until they're juicy and tender.

This recipe for braised leeks with lemon from Epicurious is pretty great. All you need are leeks, butter, lemon zest, and a small amount of chicken stock or broth.

That's it for today. My next post will be a 2014 spring/summer garden preview.

Cheers,
Steve

Fava Beans: Are They Worth the Work?

When you see them in the produce aisle or at the farmer's market, they're in large green pods. They look less like a food and more like something you'd find on the ground while strolling through a city park -- but with a lot (a lot) of elbow grease, a little butter and garlic, fava beans are super tasty. The beans also pack a nutritional punch: Vitamin B1, manganese, folate, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and fiber.

There are numerous ways to cook fava beans, including hummus-like purees and as an accompaniment to other dishes. I've heard they also go well with liver and a nice glass of Chianti. Personally, I prefer just sauteing them in butter with some minced garlic. In fact, the simpler the better -- which brings me to the question in the title: are they worth the work?

I guess it depends. I've never gone out of my way to buy fava beans, to be honest, but I always take the time to prep and cook them when they show up in our early-season CSA farm share. To be blunt -- they're a real pain in the ass to shell, blanch, remove from the "second skin," and then cook. What you see in the picture above is enough for a family of four, but it came from pods filling two brown paper bags and took more than an hour from pod to table.

So here's how I do it:

1. Remove beans from pods (you can use a paring knife, but it's not always necessary)
2. Blanch them in salted water for about 5 minutes, drain and rinse with cool water (so you can handle them again) 
3. Using a small paring knife of just your fingers, remove the beans from the fleshy outer skin (usually a pale green color)
4. Saute in butter with garlic, season with salt and pepper
5. Serve

I personally don't think it's always worth putting in this amount of time for a side dish, but you really ought to at least find out for yourself. They are tasty.

Thanks for reading,

Steve