Don’t try to read my mind, it’s scary in there.
“The holly bears a berry, as red as any blood…” but before it gets there, it’s green, and then brown. The holly outside our townhouse is currently very brown, but quite attractive.
I never would have planted this myself, but I’m enjoying watching
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.its development.
The first eggplant that I’ve ever grown was eaten on Friday, September 26th, 2008. It started out looking like this:
And then it became oven-roasted eggplant slices with an asian-inspired tahini sauce. (Sorry, no after photos - it didn’t last long enough!) I think it was pretty tasty, but I’m not sure that it was actually that fabulous. I was kind of caught up in the “I grew it myself” moment, so it might have just been kind of “meh”. I couldn’t even tell you. 
Several people have asked me about the Salvia guaranitica that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. I’m happy to answer individual questions vial email, but I thought readers might be interested in having the information at hand.
If you’re interested in some technical information, you can find it via the University of Florida Extension Service. You’ll see that this Salvia has a wide potential range of habitat. It is not, however, a U.S. native, so keep this in mind if you’re trying to keep your garden focus on native plants. Please note that there are several spellings for S. guaranitica. I’ve seen it also spelled “guarantica”.
If you’re interested in purchasing this Salvia, both times that I’ve purchased it, I purchased it as a mature plant from Home Depot (two different states). I’ve seen it at other nurseries, and if you do a google search, you should be able to find it easily. I’m going to attempt to grow it from seed next year, so we’ll see how that goes.
I really love this plant, and I’m glad to see that there is so much interest in it!
I didn’t intend to pick these… they kind of picked themselves. When I tried to re-stake the tomato plants, these puppies peeled away from the main stem.
As it turns out, this plant that I thought was a Cherokee Purple tomato plant probably isn’t Cherokee Purple. They are however VERY dense and quite tasty. I hope these guys will ripen on the counter - I’ll be sad if I have to throw them away.
Commonly known as ‘Black and Blue’ Salvia, Salvia guaranitica is one of my favorite flowering plants. The color is striking, the leaves smell lovely (it is also known as Anise-scented Salvia), and it’s a hardy plant overall. When I lived in the low-desert of Arizona, my Salvia guaranitica was perennial and returned year after year. Now that I live in a more temperate area in Virginia, most likely I will have to depend on the plant reseeding itself.
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
I have an obsession with William Morris designs. I find the botanicals so completely captivating, probably because of the organic yet stylized designs. Imagine my excitement when I found this. And this.
Paper sources is carrying the Victoria and Albert Museum aluminum bottles and vacuum flasks, as well as garden tools in both patterns. I’m not sure I can really justify purchasing one of the bottles, since I have about eight bazillion other reusable containers, but it’s nice to know that such cute things exist!
Nasturtiums are one of my most favorite plants. Easy to grow, pretty, and edible. You can’t really ask more than that!
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.
I made a baked falafel recipe for dinner last night. I wasn’t impressed with the recipe that I used - they are kind of dry. The flavor is pretty good but the texture isn’t quite right.
Things I like about the recipe: the falafel are baked, the batter came together in minutes, prep time was minimal, and they are pretty tasty. The key for me is that my falafel are baked. There is minimal oil, and yet they are still crunchy on the outside.
Any number of things could be changed for the next batch. I might have processed the ‘batter” for a skosh too long, in which case I will have to remind myself to under-process the chickpeas slightly. Or perhaps I should start with dried beans and do the whole soak overnight thing? The Moosewood Cookbook and Vegan with a Vengeance both include breadcrumbs in their recipes, and Moosewood includes beaten egg. I’ve seen other recipes around the ‘net that include baking soda and flour. Some recommend cooking the patties right away, while other recipes suggest letting the batter sit for a while. I think I’m going to have to try this recipe a few times before finding a good compromise.
If you have a suggestion or a recipe, feel free to send them my way. Post in the comments or send me an email.
I popped out to the garden this morning to check on things. The butterflies and bees are going nuts over the Coreopsis and the tomato flowers. They seem to like the sage flowers as well.
There are about five tomatoes on the Purple Cherokee tomato plant (that isn’t actually Purple Cherokee, but that’s another post) and one on the Pineapple tomato plant. The Better Bush tomato plant isn’t doing so hot. I finally had to transplant it from the upside down container into the ground. I think we’ll get a few more tomatoes from it, but I don’t know if it will survive.
If I’m reading the signs right, we have 3 eggplants incubating right now. I’m over the moon about eggplant these days, so I’m very excited to grow my own. I keep buying them at the farmer’s market and grilling them, and now I will be able to grill my own!
Because apparently, all you have to do is say the phrase “social networking” with the word food, and I’m all over it.
(with thanks to meanlouise)
