Posted on 03/14/2020 5:49:13 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Shiitake lettuce wraps with basil chiffonade / serves 4
ING 2 large crushed garlic cloves
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger root
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne
2 tablespoons low-sodium Tamari soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons peanut or grapeseed oil
1 lb shiitake mushrooms – stems removed and discarded, caps cut in cubes
4 scallions – root ends trimmed, top trimmed from edge and very finely sliced (3/4 cup)
3 tablespoons roasted peanuts – coarsely chopped (use a mini food processor)
1 tablespoon lime juice
12 medium Boston lettuce leaves – rinsed and spin-dried
12 large basil leaves – cut en chiffonade, as garnish
METHOD Place the garlic, ginger, salt, cayenne, Tamari and sesame oil in a small bowl. Whisk until well blended and set aside.
Heat frypan over high heat. Add the peanut or grapeseed oil and mushrooms. Sauté for 7 to 8 minutes until the mushrooms are golden-brown, tossing only from time to time. Reduce heat to medium. Drizzle with the ginger-soy mixture. Quickly toss and sauté for only 15 seconds. Transfer mushrooms to a large bowl and cool until slightly warm to the touch.
When ready to serve, add the scallions and peanuts to the mushrooms. Drizzle with the lime juice and stir until well blended. Spoon about 2 tablespoons’ worth of the mushroom mixture into each lettuce leaf.
Arrange on a platter and garnish with the basil chiffonade. Serve immediately.
The only problem I see is if you have a very wet Spring and you lose some of that soil ‘yumminess’ to run-off.
I would bet greeneyes has an answer for you.
Yes on the dandelions, every spring growing up Dad made salads. Only the young new center greens are good. The old ones are bitter. “Salad” was greens, sliced hardboiled egg and vinegar and oil dressing. I still make it when I find some nice leaves but I add bacon bits.
I actually just went ahead and did it.
I did a couple packages yesterday, and this morning decided to inventory and organize the freezer. Found a whole bunch of stuff and put everything together in groups. Stuff had gotten scattered around quite a bit.
Unfortunately, between time constraints and the mild winter, I did not get to defrost it, but that will happen when we move in a couple months. We have a chest freezer at the new place so I can move it all there ahead of time.
I already put in spinach, swiss chard, and lettuce today. They can handle the temps at this time of year, especially since the spring has been so mild.
They have 50 days to maturity, which is well before I’ll be wanting to use the garden space for other summer crops.
Is there anything that needs to be done that’s different from pressure canning any other meat?
******************************************************************************
Not really. If it’s “strong flavored” type, it can be soaked in brine first to get rid of the gamey taste.
If you are grinding it, add 1 part good pork fat to 3 or 4 parts venison-cause it’s so lean.
Lots of rain here. Not much doing out doors. Hubby’s onions and arugula are coming right along.
My garlic, rye and cover crop are looking good. Impatient to get some Yukon Gold taters into the ground.
Like use, you must still be getting night temps in the lower 20's, so I am surprised spinach and lettuce could take that. Did you put them in from seed?
I’ve started making lettuce wraps instead of sandwiches to cut back on (store bought) bread.
Of course, homemade bread is consumed as fast as I can make it, LOL!
Good idea.....make lettuce wraps. We can all learn new kitchen tricks in the midst of the pandemic.
BTW, that bread of yours looks fantastic.
Got my 1st batch of seed start containers prepped and sitting in greenhouse on my newly arrived heat mat.
Putting seeds in tomorrow.
Wanted the fertilizer to sit in the moist soil for a day before I put the seeds in.
“...on my newly arrived heat mat.”
I have a grow light rack that has three shelves. The lights can be moved up and down as needed. My peppers were poking along (as always) and I had the BRILLIANT idea to take them out from UNDER the lights, leave the lights ON, and put the flat on TOP of the lights.
That gave them just enough heat to kick-start them into germinating, and now I’ve moved them back under the lights.
I’m going to try the same with my tomatoes that I plan on starting on Friday. Unless we’re released from our homes - them I’m going to go out and talk to real, live human beings! :)
I even impressed myself - and I’m not easily impressed!
It’s ridiculously easy. I switched to bread flour with even better results. Also, I just scrape the risen dough out of the bowl with a spatula, right on to the parchment paper. No more of this flouring my hands and shaping the dough. If you put it in the pot with the parchment paper, it makes a round-enough loaf just by the shape of the pot.
I plan on baking it for gifts if we’re ever allowed out among the English again! ;)
Carrot Margarita / makes 4 margaritas
PREPARE GLASSES Moisten rims of 6 oz margarita
glasses w/ lime wedges; dip into coarse salt. Place glasses
into freezer to chill ice cold.
ASSEMBLE DRINK Layer in pitcher cup silver or gold
tequila, cup carrot juice, 1/3 cup lime juice, 1/2 cup
Cointreau. Then stir.
FINAL Remove glasses from freezer. Fill with ice.
Add Carrot Margarita mixture.
SERVE w/ shaved carrot curls threaded on decorative pick.
LOL! They think of everything, don’t they? Love. It.
I cannot picture in my mind what you are describing....can you please try again for my slow brain?
Small Vegetable Garden? Try These Layout Ideas
So you’ve been bit by the gardening bug, but you have a tiny plot. Don’t worry — even a small garden can yield big harvests. Before you start planting, though, think carefully about your garden’s layout. A well-designed space is critical in a small garden. To get you started, visit some of the sites below for helpful advice on small garden design:
Vegetable Garden Plans from Better Homes and Gardens offers 14 vegetable garden designs, ranging from a child’s garden to an Italian garden. Most plans are for gardens 7 feet by 7 feet or smaller.
Small Gardens from Garden Design offers a look at the renovation of chef James Beard’s New York City garden. Read about the winners of the 2011 Greenest Block in Brooklyn for other great small garden ideas.
Plan Your Garden Layout from the University of Illinois Extension. Here you’ll find expert advice on deciding on a garden size and selecting the appropriate crops.
Block Style Layout in Raised Vegetable Garden from the Colorado State University Extension. Visit this site for true inspiration. Neat rows of red leaf lettuce are nestled against spinach and Swiss chard, eking every last inch of space from the raised bed and managing to look gorgeous at the same time!
Short on Space? Grow Veggies Anyway! From Sunset Magazine. Go here to learn more about raised beds, container gardens and creative solutions.
Small Vegetable Garden Design from Garden Guides. Visit Garden Guides for a basic overview of small garden design.
More Tips for the Small Garden
Think vertical. You’ve probably grown peas or beans on trellises, but what about other crops? A trellis or pole takes up less space than a tomato cage and keeps the unruly plants tidy. Cucumbers are healthier and easier to harvest when grown on a trellis or fence. In both cases, gently secure the vines with a strip of fabric. Larger cucurbits like summer squash and zucchini can be trellised as well, but pick the fruits when they’re small. Otherwise, they’ll tear away from the plants, causing damage.
Choose compact varieties. Seed producers understand that gardeners have limited space. To solve this problem, they’ve developed compact bush varieties for almost any crop you want to grow. Try bush varieties of cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash—the biggest space hogs in your garden.
Grow some container crops. If your gardening ambitions are bigger than the space in your vegetable garden, plant a few crops in containers. Almost any crop can be grown in a container, but compact bush varieties do best. Try tomatoes, peppers, bush beans, lettuce or broccoli. Moisture and nutrients leach more quickly from containers so water them frequently and fertilize every other week with a balanced fertilizer.
Use raised beds. Not only do raised beds stay neat and tidy, but you can grow plants more closely together because the soil is rich and fertile. Even two or three raised beds can yield enough produce for a family of four. Make the beds no more than 3 feet wide so you can reach into them without stepping on the soil. Leave paths at least 18 inches wide between each bed.
Try succession planting. Succession plantings stretch your vegetable garden’s harvest well beyond the typical July to September time frame and you can grow two or three times the produce in the same amount of space. Succession planting is the practice of planting new crops as the previous ones are waning. For example, plant radishes or lettuce in early spring. Then, pop a few summer squash seeds in the soil in early summer, just before you harvest the lettuce and radishes. Then, at the end of the summer, plant some spinach and lettuce in the same spot for a fall crop. The mature plants help keep weeds down and also shade the soil so it stays a bit moister. One note of caution: growing so many plants in the same spot year after year can deplete the soil. Rebuild it annually with plenty of compost and manure.
LEARN MORE: Vegetable Garden Layout
While you might not grow enough produce to put away for the winter, small gardens have many benefits over large plots. For one thing, they are a breeze to take care of. You’ll spend less than an hour a week keeping your garden in tip-top shape, and you’ll still have room in the yard for a perennial garden or a quiet sitting area.
Links to all of the garden designs:
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