How to keep animals from digging up newly sown seeds (bloodmeal!)

This squirrel sure seems to be enjoying the few raspberries I'm growing!

I'm pretty sure this gorgeous, sleek, fat squirrel is partially responsible for my garden failures early this season.  While my friends are posting photos of baskets full of green beans, tonight, I sauteed up a pan containing exactly 12 beans.  My family gathered around the dinner table where a plate of the 12 long beans lay straight as the tines on a fine-toothed comb.  Or maybe more like a wide-toothed hairpick. Each member of my family ate his/her 3 beans - not too fast! - lest he/she be accused of taking more than his/her fair share.  

What's the problem? Birds, squirrels, maybe a chipmunk...I'm not sure.  When I sow a row of beans, inevitably 70% of the seeds don't come up.  Sometimes it's because I'm a seed hoarder and put my faith in seeds that should have been tossed years ago.  But most of the time, I go into the garden and find a frustrating little hole where I planted a seed the day before.  Just a few plants make it and thus we end up with 12 beans for dinner.  

However, recently, my husband went to the hardware store and came back with a bag of bloodmeal as a "surprise" for me.  Whyever would you buy that, I asked??? For no other reason than, "Because it sounded like something you'd like".  

I have never used bloodmeal but turns out it supplies a good deal of nitrogen and has a side benefit of repelling small animal pests.  When half of my cucumbers did not come up (with the typical holes the next day where the seeds were just carefully placed), I started again with more seed and sprinkled some of the bloodmeal over the area.  No digging and seeds promptly germinated! 

So while we guardedly eyed each other tonight over the plate of 12 green beans, there is a bumper crop of cucumbers coming up. There will be peace once again in the Spray household and it's due to bloodmeal, a fertilizer with a name that people think gardeners would like.  Well, peace again until my addictive sweet/hot pickles are made - then they'll be eye-balling each other again!

Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe (and Bonus Bloody Mary Mix Recipe!)

Roasted tomato sauce, ready when I need it. A great use for all those summer tomatoes!

Like other backyard gardeners, I wait long weeks through most of the summer for those first ripe, sun-warmed tomatoes. But truth be told, there are only so many fresh tomato tastings, BLT sandwiches, and caprese salads a moderate tomato liker such as myself can handle.

On my first post-vacation harvest, I came in with a shirtload of our favorite heirlooms, the Cherokee purple. Far too many for BLTs...however, just the right amount for a batch of roasted tomato sauce!

Within an hour, these just ripe tomatoes, gently unloaded from the bottom half of my shirt were transformed into a couple of generous portions of sauce that I froze and will certainly thank myself for on some future busy weeknight.

And an instant gratification bonus for my smart planning and thoughtful food preservation? A homemade bloody Mary unlike any bloody Mary you've had.  Keep reading...

Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe

8 med-large tomatoes
6 or more cloves of garlic
a pinch of salt
a tiny pinch of pepper
a tiny pinch of sugar
a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
optional: fresh or dried herbs such as basil or oregano (I generally leave the herbs out so I can customize later on according to what I'm using my sauce for).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle olive oil in a large baking pan. I usually end up using a couple of pans to contain all the tomatoes. Evenly sprinkle salt, sugar, and pepper in the pan. Cut tomatoes in half (I don't like too many seeds in my sauce, so I squeeze the seeds out into a strainer set over a bowl.  The juice that strains through becomes the base for my bloody Mary. If you don't mind seeds and have no interest in the excuse-to-drink-early-in-the-day cocktail, you can skip this step). Place tomatoes cut side down in the pans. Throw the garlic cloves in with the tomatoes.

Halved Cherokee Purple tomatoes ready to go in the oven.

Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Pull off skins and break up tomato chunks with a fork or potato masher. Reheat if using, or pack, label, and store in the freezer.

*** Often, the tomatoes will release a lot of juice while cooking, making the sauce too thin for my liking.  I will either pour off some of the liquid (which I could use for another purpose like as a soup base), or I'll mash the tomatoes as usual and then cook the sauce down a bit to thicken it up.

Fork-crushed and ready to go! Puree with a stick blender if you prefer a more even texture.

*****************************************************************************

Brie's Bodacious Bloody Mary Recipe

No part of this process goes to waste!  With the tomato juice that I've strained into my bowl, I end up with one perfect portion of the base for one of my favorite cocktails (I just add a few ounces of vodka). While I just make a single serving of my friend Brie's bloody Mary mix, she is a huge tomato grower and mixes up zillions of mason jars full of the stuff - chilled on ice and ready to add merriment to an annual summer bash she throws. She knows her bloody Marys. Here's Brie's recipe below for a big invite-your-friends sized batch of the mix. Haven't tried her spicy tomato juice yet. I'm saving that one for after this weekend's pepper harvest!

I squeezed the seeds out of my tomato halves and ended up with this jar of juice. It's ready to use in the freshest, lightest-yet-most-flavorful bloody Mary I've had! Thanks for the recipe Brie!

Summer Garden - July 2013

How to make stuffed pumpkin blossoms & tempura green beans

I love summer when I don't have to work every day and can just while away the hours picking, stuffing, frying, and savoring decadent little treats like these herb cheese stuffed pumpkin blossoms.  

While I could sit and be despondent that my Seminole pumpkin plant keeps blossoming but not fruiting, I decided I would not wait around for the pumpkins and eat the blossoms instead.  I'd not done this before and thought about using these open flowers, but I'd have to fight the bees first.  There were two nestled in the flower below. I decided the just-spent blossoms were the way to go.  I chose the male flowers in case the females decided to ever fruit.  The females have their little female bumps at the base of the flower and the males have the penises inside.  Just kidding.  Well, not really - they have little flower penises.  Or I guess I should call them pistils and not be so ignorant and crude.

Below, I carefully rinsed the insides of the blossoms, stuck a finger in there and broke the pistil off, and pulled the slightly prickly green sepals off.  I shook them as dry as possible because they'll be deep fried in oil, and I'm not trying to be splattered by burning oil.

I decided to make a cheese stuffed blossom.  It's a busy day, so I cheated a bit by cutting some ricotta with some Boursin shallot and chive cheese rather than creating my own filling from scratch.  All kinds of filling recipes are out there so create something you like.  When this little one heard "filling" she insisted on piping.  A good idea.  I turn around and she's got a bag in a cup and is filling it up.  This kid's watched too many cooking shows.

She has carefully piped the filling in, and we've gently twisted the tops.  I used a light tempura batter - 1 cup flour and 1 cup club soda.  The blossoms were dipped in the batter, excess dripped off, and then deep fried in vegetable oil on medium-high until lightly browned.  Since we don't fry too much, I looked for other things to fry- I made some latkes (my kids' favorite) and found some beans in the garden.  The tempura beans were also amazing!

Green tomato chutney

This fall, pick all those green tomatoes and do something with them.  Put them in a box or bag with an apple to hasten ripening, dredge in cornmeal and fry, or make a green tomato chutney!  I tried to recreate this recipe with waning fond memories of a delicious condiment to the black bean patties I had at The Mustard Seed restaurant in the Low Country of South Carolina.  I get to be there again in a couple of weeks and see how close I came to the inspiration.  The chutney I made below is a sweet concoction spiced up with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.  The recipe will be in the fall issue of Heirloom Gardener magazine.  

GBBD - June 2011

Checkered lily seedpod above. Below, June blooms! Check out May Dreams Gardens to see what else is blooming all over the world.

GBBD - July 2010

Wow, is it July already? Lilies confirm yes. Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what others have blooming on this month's Bloom Day. Don't forget to come back here - first ever GIVEAWAY to be announced very soon!!!

My 5-year old said the orange lily looked like a pumpkin squeezing out weenies. I hope I didn't just ruin it for you - but isn't it so true?

From a bargain bag of daylilies used to dot the slope in my backyard. These were all planted in slightly amended clay (virtually brick!) and rocks in mostly shade and after a few years, are finally starting to thrive.

The peach-colored sibling of the pardancanda above.

A very reliable and very pretty shrub rose.

The trifecta for every long-blooming perennial garden - echinacea, moonbeam coreopsis, and Russian sage.

Echinops - ehhh...comme ci comme ca.

Verbena - I love it!

Finally, clematis crystal falls - currently reblooming and color-changing...

I hope your flower garden is full of color, life and constant reblooms and free of rust, mildew and Japanese beetles.