Things in the Greenhouse

A list of some of the things in the greenhouse

Large Tomatoes

Chianti Rose-90 days. A beautiful pink-fruited tomato that is the result of an intentional cross between the famous heirloom Brandywine and Oxheart. Fruits are 8-16oz, mostly smooth, but some have furrows.  Flesh is thick and meaty with a distinctive rich flavor and few seeds.

German Streaked-80 days. Indeterminate.  Large 8-12 oz flattened fruits with some ribbing are beautiful yellow-orange red marble patterened.  Particularly attractive when sliced. Flavor is very fruity and complex and reminiscent of fruits from more tropical locals. Heirloom.

Marvel Striped-90-110 days.  Indeterminate.  Originally from Zapotec peoples of Mexico.  Produces 10-16oz fruits.  Fruits are yellow, orange with a lobed, pleated shape and very few seeds.  Complex and fruity tasting.  Heirloom SSF and LRF resistant.

Pomodorinir al Piennolo Sauce Tomato-Very rare Italian heirloom.  Sweet red fruits are 2” long by 1” wide and taper to a point on the blossom end.  Eat fresh or make into a delicious sauce or dry for “tomato candy”. 

Purple Tomatillo- 90 days.  Rare heirloom variety.  Dark purple fruits are smaller 11/2 to 2” and give sweeter flavor than green tomatillos.  Makes and attractive purple salsa and are great grilled.  Less sticky than most tomatillos

Wisconsin 55-75 days.  Indeterminate.  Large smooth red slicer that produces uniform 3-4” round fruits that hold very well off the vine.  Strong skin and solid walls give this tomato the workhorse characteristics.  Flavor is excellent and satisfying.  SSF resistance.  

Zapotec Pleated-80-85 days.  Indeterminate.  Deeply pleated, pink to dark red fruits from the Zapotecs of southern Mexico.  Rich, earthy flavor that is excellent stuffed, baked or sliced.  Large fruits.

Bulls Heart-87 Days. Indeterminate.  Plant produces good yield of giant 2 lb pink fruits.  This variety is very sweet and flavorful.  Excellent in salads and sandwiches.  A very old variety from Russia.

Cherry Type Tomatoes

Black Cherry-60 days.  Indeterminte.  A refreshing break from the ordinary, this purple-brown cherry tomato has incredibly abundant 1” diameter fruits wutg a complex rich flavor.  Very productive with vigorous vines that can reach 6 feet tall!

Brandywine Cherry-70 days. Indeterminate.  Same classic flavor of the famous heirloom but in a miniature size! Cherry sized fruits are pink, about 1” or a bit larger and packed with sweet flavor. 

Peacevine Cherry-78 days. Indeterminate.  Early and dependable delicious cherry tomato from breeder extraordinaire Alan Kapular.  Big trusses of sweet tomatoes lie the “sweet 100” type but open pollinated.  Contains compounds that are known to be calming and stress-reducing too!

Sweet Orange II-65 days. Indeterminate. A unique open pollinated orange cherry tomato that is exceptionally productive and very sweet.  Also very crack resistant.

Red Pear-70-80 Days. Indeterminate.  Very vigorous vines produce copious quantities of delightful pear shaped fruits.  Delightful sweet mild flavor really spruces up salads.  Crack resistant.  Originally brought from Italy.

Maglia Rose Cherry-70-75 days.  Indeterminate.  Truly unique, mottled pink, egg-shaped fruits with bright and lightly acidic flavor and a tinge of sweetness.  Attractive lacy plant foliage.

Sweet Peppers

Orion Sweet Bell-65 days green, 85 days red.  Abundant large green to red, blocky bells.  Plants provide good cover.  BLS resistant.

King of the North-The best red pepper for northern gardeners where seasons are cool and short.  Blocky uniform fruits are excellent for stuffing or fresh eating,  Great sweet flavor.  70 days from transplant.

California Wonder Orange Bell—Beautiful early, orange block bell type with thick, sweet walls and 3 to 4 lobes.  Productive  plants provide good canopy cover preventing sunscald.  60-80 days.

Purple Beauty Bells-This stocky bell pepper is ready to eat when the fruits turn a stunning deep purple with a green undertone.  Crisp, succulent and very productive.  70-80 days.

Yankee Bell Pepper-This is a blocky medium sized pepper with 3 to 4 lobes that ripen to a bright red.  Compact growth habit helps to shade the fruits from sunburn and it resists lodging.  60 days green/80 days red.

Eggplant

BSS 385-Very attractive fruit are purple with white stripes.  They have a great flavor without the bitterness and can be harvested young, fully mature or anywhere in between.  Enjoy roasted on the grill or pan fried . Thornless plants produce heavy yields.  70 days.

Fullness Eggplant-Silky smooth, uniform appearance with pale green flesh.  Violet blossoms and green calyx.  Lovely planted in flower beds! Fullness is highly productive and early.  50-55 Days.

Black Dragon-Long Asian style eggplant.  Smooth dark purple outside and silky white inside.  Never bitter.  65 days

Fullness- Silky smooth, uniform in appearance with pale green flesh.  Violet blossoms and green calyx.  Highly productive and early and wonderful eaten large or baby size.  50-55 days.

Summer Squash

Summer Crookneck-This is one of the best summer squash for buttery, rich favor and firm texture.  Highly productive and great to eat as a baby vegetable.

Early prolific-A very reliable heavy producer of lemon yellow, tapered, cylindrical shaped fruits.  Compact plants.  Great eaten in the baby stage.

Peter pan patty pan-Mini patty pan type with light green fruits that are meatier than most patty pans.  Distinctive, delicious sweet flavor.  Vigorous, early bearing pants that can be picked over a long time.  Also great in the baby size.  Oversized fruit make great vessels for summer flowers!

Black Beauty Zucchini- The straight, slender fruits of the black zucchini have an almost black skin and greenish white flesh.  Plants are easy to grow, mature quickly and produce lots of low calorie, versatile fruits.  

Winter Squash

Waltham Butternut-One of the most popular winter varieties.  Very uniform fruit with a small seed cavity.  Creamy tan outside with nutty orange flesh.

Burgess Buttercup-Flattened turbans with a thin, hard green rind.  Very sweet orange, stringless flesh.  Fine quality, medium keeper with a small seed cavity.

Acorn squash-Popular and flavorful winter storage squash.  Orange flesh is sweet and wonderful steamed, baked or microwaved.  Stores well.

Cucumbers-

Lemon-Small rounded, pale-yellow cucumber.  Pick at 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 diameter.  This versatile cucumber is sweet, flavorful and doesnt have much of the chemical that make other cucumbers bitter and tough to digest.  Though it is often served raw, it is also a good pickling cuke.

Wisconsin SMR 58-Great pickling cuke.  Black spined and slightly tapered fruit.  Very productive, crisp and sweet.

Suyo Long-60-70 days) From northern China. Ribbed, dark-green skin with heavy white spines. 10-18” long fruits are almost seedless, non-bitter burp less, crisp and tender. Very prolific. Heat resistant and powdery mildew resistant. Trellis for straight fruits. HEIRLOOM, SSF

Southern Biscuits

2 Cups Canyon Bounty Farms Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2tsp soda
1/3 Cup Shortening (I mix a little butter in for flavor)
2/3 Cup sour milk ( I love to use Cloverleaf Milk)

Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening until mix is like small peas. Add in milk then knead gently 20-25 times. Roll out dough on lightly floured board to about 3/4" thickness and cut with biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Makes about 8 biscuits. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

If you don't like them as sweet add 2 tablespoons of sugar instead.

Great way to use up milk that has soured.

Holiday Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

7 1/2 Cups Flour
3 T Pumpkin Pie Spice
3 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
6 Eggs
6 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Oil
4 Cups Pumpkin
1 lb Coarse Chopped Fresh cranberries

In large bowl combine dry ingredients. In small bowl beat eggs, beat in sugar, oil and pumpkin. Stir into dry ingredients then fold in cranberries. Bake at 450 for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

This makes several loaves. I think it is triple the original recipe but I usually make it for holidays and like to have loaves to freeze and share so I makes lots. Enjoy!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

1 lb fresh asparagus (we like McClaskeys or Idagro Farms at Capital City Public Market)
1 bunch lovage
31/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp sea salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste

Trim the coarse ends of the asparagus into one inch pieces, chop lovage. In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute asparagus in one cup of broth-about 7 minutes. About half way in add the lovage.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and remove from heat. Add the flour and stir well until smooth. Gradually add the remaining 2 1/2 cups broth. Return saucepan to the heat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

Add the cream, salt, pepper and cooked asparagus and lovage with liquid. Stir well and heat thoroughly.

Enjoy!

The season is upon us...

Just a quick update...We are very excited for the new season. We already have our germination boxes full. Our little greenhouse is warmed up and slowly starting to fill up. Here are some pictures from our day in the greenhouse.

One of our germination boxes!

Our other germination box!

Mom planting more seeds!

Joanna and I transplanting!
















Thanks! I hope you enjoy!
Sarah

We are going organic

January and February find us busily preparing for taxes, cleaning up the greenhouse, daydreaming of the moment we can get into the garden and doing paperwork to prepare for organic certification. A visit to Next Generation Organics took the worry out of some of the paperwork as they were in our shoes last year. It is always nice to have friends share the road with you.

We knew that the process of organic certification was going to be a time consuming but (hopefully) worthwhile experience. Over the past four years we have operated using organic principles trying to decide if certification and the accompanying work and expenses were worth it for the size of our garden. One acre seems so small compared to operations like Rice Family Farms or Peaceful Belly Farms but we made the decision that if we were going to "talk the talk" we needed to "walk the walk". We feel that it is important for our customers to know that we are willing to go the extra mile to provide the best product available with the certification to back that up. So we will take a deep breath, work through the mountains of paperwork, dig into our pockets for the fees and hopefully the ISDA will send us that coveted piece of paper after our summer inspection that states that Lazy Dog Gardens is certified organic!


Wintertime gives us time to reflect on the reasons we do what we do. We are already looking forward to our days at the market talking to our regular customers and meeting new ones. It is this kinship that reminds us that all the hard work and effort are worth it. Occasionally we hear negatives regarding prices which can be discouraging (would these folks like to have their work compared to Walmart?) but we know that we are constantly working to bring to market our best produce at a reasonable price. Healthy, excellent quality food is important to a good life.

We've been quiet lately

It's not so much that we haven't been cooking or thinking about the garden. Robin is getting close to ordering seeds for the year. Some of the garlic is pushing up through the ground. Sarah and her little family are enjoying adventures in solid foods and teething. Scott and Michelle are attempting a new adventure: cooking through Anne Willan's Country Cooking of France. They aren't very far in yet, but it's been fun so far. Scott's classes start back up at Boise State on Tuesday, and Michelle's looking at going back to school herself. The project is an attempt to set time aside for each other. They'll be looking for adventurous eating companions for some of the dishes. The book includes recipes for kidneys, ham in aspic, snails and homemade pate. It should be fun. If you're interested in following along, check it out at A French Kitchen in Boise

For now, we'll try to get better about blogging on occasion. Sometimes it's hard to think of what to say...