Peas, potatoes and pests

I'm happy to report some of my garden is flourishing, but unfortunately it is also under attack by the so-called cucumber beetle.

First the good news. I'm attempting to grow potatoes for the first time this year and they are doing great! As you can see in the picture, they are already over a foot tall and growing more every day. As with all root vegetables, I always have a hard time figuring out when exactly I should pull them out of the ground.

Also doing well are the Asian snap peas, which I'm also attempting for the first time. I'm quite proud of the trellis I built for them to grow up on. For all you who need instant gratification, peas are a good vegetable. They germinated in just a few days and have quickly grown to about two feet tall.

I came out to do some weeding over the weekend and that's when I spotted my cucumber seedlings, totally eaten away. That's when I threw the idea of my organic garden right out of the window. This is war! The cucumber beetle can flourish in compost, which is exactly where I found the little mother bleepers.

But the cucumber beetle doesn't just like cucumber, oh no, he also loves similar seedlings like melon (check), eggplant (check) and squash (check). They also seem to have a penchant for my radishes, which as you can see are also all chewed up.

So bring on the pesticides! I've been eating them for so long anyway, what's the difference?

Sun-dried tomato and arugula pasta

Peppery arugula is a wonderful green to add to your salad, but also is perfect in a pasta dish like this. In addition to the arugula, I also used some basil from my garden for this recipe. Remember: Fresh herbs should be added at the end of the dish, dried in the beginning. I've also become a big fan of fresh-grated cheese, particularly pecorino-romano, but feel free to substitute a handful of your Kraft parmesan from the jar. I also used whole wheat pasta, but again, your regular pasta would be just as good. And don't forget the wine! You should always cook with a wine that you would drink, not too expensive, but still tasty.

• 1 box whole wheat pasta, cooked al dente. (Reserve about a cup of pasta water)
• Olive oil, enough to thoroughly coat the bottom of your saute pan 
• One small onion, chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• One small jar of sun dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c. hot cherry peppers, coarsely chopped (more or less, depending how spicy you want to go!)
• 1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• a few basil leaves, chopped
• 2 c. arugula, coarsely chopped
• 1 c. white wine
• 1 c. pasta water
• handful of freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
• 3 tbsp butter

While pasta cooks, heat large saute pan with olive oil. Saute onion and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes, cherry peppers, and beans. Let cook for a couple of more minutes and then add white wine, Italian seasoning and salt.

Before you drain the pasta, take about a cup of the pasta water and add to saute pan. Return the pasta back to its pot and toss with the butter and cheese. While the butter melts, stir in the arugula to the sun-dried tomato mixture. Combine the pasta mixture and sun-dried tomato mixture and toss well to coat. Plate your dishes and sprinkle the basil and a little more cheese on top.

Strawberry crunch muffins

Strawberry season is just a couple of weeks away and I can not wait to get over to Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, which is near my house and offers pick-your-own for all types of fruit, including strawberries. Pick-your-own is a wonderful way to get fresh fruits on the cheap, plus it's a nice way to spend a little time outdoors.

Topping:
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c flour
1/2 c chopped pecans
1/4 c oatmeal
3 tbsp butter, melted

Muffins:
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c milk
1 c sliced strawberries

Combine all the ingredients for the topping and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the ingredients for the muffins. Fold in the strawberries. Scoop mixture into muffin tins. Sprinkle the topping over the batter. Bake 20-25 minutes 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in center muffin comes out clean.

All about herbs

Aaaaahhhh, herbs. I love their smell, their taste, their beauty. There's nothing better than pinching off a bunch of thyme (left) and inhaling its sweet, lemony fragrance. That's the joy of gardening -- taking time out to reconnect with nature and with your senses: feeling the warm earth between your fingers, listening to the chirping birds, breathing in the wonderful aromas, and then savoring the taste of fresh food.

Herbs are a wonderful addition to your garden, for many reasons. First, they are perennials, which means once you plant that basil, it will continue to come back, year after year, with essentially no work. Two, herbs are a natural insecticide. Their fragrant leaves repel pesks that can eat away at your tomatoes. For that reason, I have several bushes scattered throughout my garden. An oregano here, a rosemary there.

Do you have a small backyard and limited space in your garden? Herbs do wonderful in containers. Even though I have the space, I still love putting a couple of herb planters on my back porch as decoration. I even love to clip a large sprig of herbs and put them in water in a vase in the house. (right) It's decorative, it's fragrant, and it's great to have your herbs on hand when you're cooking.

Which brings me to the best reason for growing herbs in your garden: the wonderful flavor they bring to your food. Parsley and oregano in homemade salsa -- delicious! Basil for your bruschetta -- mouthwatering! Rosemary chicken -- yum! The new motto in my house lately has been 'halt the salt'. Fresh herbs are a wonderful way to help cut your salt intake and add a flavorful punch to any dish.

Cute garden accessories!

While browsing the craft fair at the Meriden Daffodil Festival this weekend, my husband spotted these adorable garden markers. He knew it was something I would totally want, and he was right! Now I just need to wait for warmer weather so that I can actually plant the squash, eggplant and melons. Contact nancydesjardins91@comcast.net to get your own!

Cool weather crops

It's finally time to get planting! The ground is good and soft, the weather is getting warmer and it's time to get some seeds in the ground.

There are many types of vegetables that thrive in the cool, spring weather and can tolerate a frost. Some of the cool weather crops that I planted last week are:

• radishes
• arugula
• lettuce
• spinach
• potatoes
• peas

This is first time that I'll be growing peas and potatoes. I decided to go with the Asian snap peas; you can eat them raw or cooked, and you don't have to shell them like traditional peas. I just couldn't see myself spending the time to shell the regular peas. As for the potatoes, I bought the "special" potatoes at Agway where I bought my seeds this year. The guy at the store told me that they do differ from the potatoes you buy at the grocery store, but I'm not sure I'm buying that. I'm going to try and plant some regular potatoes from the store and see what happens. Either way, the method is the same: Quarter the potatoes and make sure they are buried under a good mound of soil. Each quarter should yield one potato. For the most part, because of my very rocky soil, root vegetables that take a long time to grow don't do very well in my garden, so we shall see...

Radishes are also a root veggie, but they grow very quickly. If you're turning up your nose at the thought of radishes, you really should give them a try. They add a nice crunch when sliced thin and tossed in your salad and are a really tasty addition to a stir-fry.

Remember when you're planting to pace yourself. You don't want to plant 10 rows of radishes or 8 rows of lettuce -- at least not all at once. The key to a vegetable garden is spreading out your crop so that you are not inundated with one type of veggie. For example, I planted two rows of peas last week, four potatoes and one row of everything else. Next week, I will repeat that and plant the same thing again. By the time the first batch is ready for harvest, it will be time to plant the warmer weather veggies, like cucs and squash.

The joys of composting

Ok, composting is not really that joyful, but it can become an intregral part of your garden. It provides vital nutrients to your soil, plus it cuts down on your household waste.

I have several composting piles scattered throughout my garden, but I have a pretty big space, so you might only need one or two piles. I also have a spinning composting bin, but there's really no need to go out and get one. I find the piles are the most efficient, because composting requires three things: air, water and time.

So what can you compost? Well, basically anything that comes from the earth, can go back to the earth - it really is the circle of life! This includes your paper products, like your junk mail, paper towels, and napkins. But beware-I learned the hard way not to just throw all my junk mail into the compost. I'm still picking those pesky plastic envelope windows out of my garden. And I'm always amazed on how long those things stick around, because guess what? Plastic does not break down! It's an eye-opening lesson on plastic and how we really need to do our part to reduce our use of plastic. But I digress...

Food products like coffee grinds and egg shells are wonderful composting ingredients. You can also add a layer of grass clippings or leaves to your compost pile periodically. And of course, any of your garden clippings or old plants. That's how I wound up with so many compost piles now - As I was cleaning up at the end of last season, I put those old plants into my compost.

But what should NOT be composted? Meats and oils are a big no-no. That's what will attract the animals to your compost.

So what's the best method? I have found that small layers work best. I would start with a layer of paper products (minus any plastic!) and then place food products on top, adding any grass clippings or leaves. Then cover it lightly with a bit of soil from your garden. I like to keep a plastic container with a lid on the kitchen counter for any kitchen waste so that I can add it to the compost piles whenever it gets full and I tend to cover it with a little soil each time. AS it begins to break down, you can start to pull the rich compost material from the bottom.

Remember, just like when you're growing, the most important thing you need is time and patience when composting.