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...

Creamy Tomato-Potato Soup

Cooler fall weather always brings about a shift in our cooking habits. We've been enjoying soups and breads, and this soup was perfect for a rainy fall evening. It was good following the recipe, but uplifted to fantastic with the addition of some sage and thyme. This is modified from a recipe in Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World

Creamy Tomato-Potato Soup

3 tbsp olive oil or butter
3 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced and well rinsed
1 small onion, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, peeled (drained canned are okay)
Approximately 1 pound potatoes, russet or another non-waxy type, peeled and diced
Salt and pepper to taste
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup cream or half and half, plus more as needed
5-6 fresh sage leaves (in bouquet garni)
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme (in bouquet garni)

1. Heat oil or butter in large saucepan over medium-low heat. When hot, add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Do not brown the leeks. Seed tomatoes and chop pulp.

2. Stir in the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add potatoes, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Remove sage and thyme. Using food mill, inversion blender, or regular blender, puree mixture until smooth. If there is more than your blender can handle, work in batches. This is easier if the soup is cooled before blending, but it's not necessary to cool it. Reheat soup. Stir in cream and additional salt and pepper to taste. If the soup is too thick, thin with cream and water.

Lavender, Honey and Walnut Bread

I have a new toy--a professional series Kitchen-Aid Mixer that my wonderful husband got me for my birthday. It makes baking bread and other treats a fun adventure, so Scott and I have been playing with it. A lot. This is the first of many forays into bread baking. I'm looking forward to modifying it a little to make it my own. It comes from one of our favorite cookbooks, The Herbfarm Cookbook. If you enjoy playing with herbs in your kitchen, I'd highly recommend it. This bread was picked as one of the first experiments because we have some lavender from a friend's wedding. I enjoyed stretching out their celebration a bit to our house. Cheers to Joey and Nichole!

Lavender, Honey & Walnut Bread

Makes Two Loaves

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (105F to 110F)
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons medium-to strong-flavored honey (we use sunflower)
1 1/2 tsp coarsely chopped dried lavender buds
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups flour (we've been using a 50/50 mix of unbleached white and whole wheat in our kitchen lately)
1 cup/4 ounces coarsely chopped walnuts

1. Dough. Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle. Sprinkle yeast over water and let sit for several minutes to dissolve. Add honey, lavender, salt and flour and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Knead for about six minutes on medium speed. The dough will be very soft and should pull away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough sticks to the sides, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time. Spread the walnuts on a work surface and turn the dough out on top of them. Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and knead briefly until the walnuts are evenly incorporated, using a dough scraper if it sticks to the board. Place the dough in a large mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a clean towel. Let rise at room temperatures until it doubles in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

2. Shaping. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust with flour and pat into a 10-inch square. Fold in half, pat out a little, then fold into quarters and pat again. Cut the resulting 6-inch square in half with a sharp knife. Stretch each piece out into an approximately 12x4 inch oval. Transfer loaves to a parchment-lined baking sheet and dust again with flour. Cover loaves with a clean towel and rise again at room temperature until doubled, about 45 minutes.

3. Baking. Preheat the oven to 375F. Bake the loaves on the center rack until they are dark brown and osund hollow when thumped on the bottom, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely on rack before slicing.

Vodka-Spiked Cherry Tomatoes with Pepper Salt

Sense a theme? It's tomato season and we have loads, so I thought that it would be appropriate to serve them two ways at the party I attended last night. These are definitely an adult treat. If you serve them at a party where there will be children, try to make sure they're out of the way of little hands.

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Vodka-Spiked Cherry Tomatoes with Pepper Salt

1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, mixed color if possible

1/2 cup vodka

3 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp Sugar

Chopped basil

3 Tbsp kosher salt

1 1/2 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper

Cut a small X in bottom of each tomato. Blanch tomatoes 5 at a time in a 2-quart saucepan of boiling water for 5-7 seconds, then immediately transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water. Drain and peel tomatoes. Transfer to a shallow dish.

Stir together vodka, vinegar, sugar and basil in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Pour over tomatoes and toss gently to coat. Marinate, covered and refrigerated, for at least 30 minutes.

Stir together salt and pepper in a small bowl. Serve with tomatoes for dipping.

Bacon and Basil Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

These have been one of the most successful hors d'oeuvres I've made in my relatively brief history of cooking. There are really only two reasons I don't make them more: the short season for tomatoes and the tediousness of coring out tomatoes. I don't have a spoon that is quite small enough, and it's a bit of a chore. They're worth the effort though. I've been contemplating trying out our yellow stuffer tomatoes with the filling as a first course. I think it could be delicious with a little lettuce chopped up along with the basil. This recipe is adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook.

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Bacon and Basil Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

Makes 14 Hors D'Oeuvres

14 (1-inch-diameter) cherry tomatoes

3/8 tsp salt

1/4 pound bacon

2 Tbsp finely chopped shallots

1/4 cup finely chopped basil

1 Tbsp mayonnaise

1 Tbsp sour cream

Freshly Ground Pepper

Cut 1/8-inch-thick slice from the bottom and top of each tomato with a serrated knife. The bottom slice helps the tomato stand upright. Scoop out pulp and seeds with a small spoon or melon ball cutter. Sprinkle tomato shells with salt and invert on paper towels to drain for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and cool, then finely crumble.

Stir together bacon, shallots, basil, mayonnaise, sour cream, and pepper in a small bowl until well combined. Divide mixture evenly among tomato shells and arrange in a serving dish.

Beet Chocolate Cake

Our beets have been out of control this year. Last year we had more kale and turnips than we knew what to do with. We even had a turnip bigger than Mom's head. This year, it seems like we'll be picking beets till the snow flies. Mom enjoys the tops, but we're still working on appreciating the bottoms. What to do with the market leftovers? We've tried cold beet salad with feta, shredding them on top of green salad, roasting with potatoes. We even added shredded raw beets to coleslaw for a little extra color. For something a little more adventurous:

Beet Chocolate Cake

Courtesy of From Asparagus to Zucchini

Serves 10

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate bar (not cocoa powder)

1/4 cup oil

4 eggs

3 cups shredded beets

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9-inch or one 9x13 cake pans. Whisk together dry ingredients. Melt chocolate slowly over low heat or in double boiler. Cool chocolate, then blend thoroughly with eggs and oil. Alternately add chocolate and shredded beets to flour mixture. Stir to combine. Pour into pans and bake 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

The cake turned out better than we expected. Sarah's no lover of beets, and even she liked it. We served it topped with mixed berries and whipped cream, but a cream cheese frosting or chocolate glaze would be delicious. The texture of the cake was similar to a chocolate zucchini cake: dense and moist.

Obviously not the beet cake, but Scott and I added some beets to our coleslaw to turn it a lovely shade of pink on the 4th of July. The earthiness of the beets meshed well with the sweetness of the carrots and freshness of the cabbage.

Potatoes!

We're excited to have red, white and blue potatoes in time for the Fourth of July this weekend. We'll have a combination of regular red, Yukon Gold, Purple Majesty and Red Thumb potatoes mixed together in bags for Market starting this Tuesday at Edwards. Potatoes are one of our favorite parts about the garden. There's not much better than roasted potatoes to go along with barbecue over the summer.

Along with potatoes, the other new produce we *finally* have are shelling peas. It's been a bizarre season so far. Peas took forever, and it's looking like we'll have a few tomatoes for home use for the Fourth.

We also have some baseball-sized watermelons that are growing quickly. Melons are Mom's favorite part of the garden. She's counting down until we have Crenshaws. With the recent hot weather, it's been fun to go out into the garden to see what new things we can find. It's sort of like an Easter Egg hunt for grownups. Sometimes, I feel like a little kid with how excited I get about finding goodies.

Chicken Breasts with Sage

One of our favorite things about the garden is the opportunity to experiment with different recipes. Sarah & Jeff and Michelle & Scott are part of what we like to call Lazy Dog Test Kitchens. It's a great way to give suggestions to customers on what they can do with our vegetables. I know sometimes figuring out what to cook is the biggest obstacle in making dinner.

Scott and I picked up Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World a few weeks ago, and this chicken recipe was a perfect match with the Lazy Dog Salad Mix. We're looking forward to trying it again when the potatoes are ready. We haven't tried the balsamic variation, but the lemon was delicious. The pan sauce is just calling out for roasted fingerling potatoes.

3 Tbsp olive oil, butter, or a combination

2 garlic cloves, peeled & lightly crushed

20 or 30 fresh sage leaves

4 chicken breast halves

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup chicken stock

Salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in deep skillet on medium-high. Add garlic and half the sage, then chicken skin side down. Brown chicken well, rotating breasts as necessary (don't worry about the bone side), for 5-10 minutes. Turn meat browned side up and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Add remaining sage, along with the 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice and stock. Turn heat to low and cover; cook until the chicken is tender & no trace of blood remains near the bone, 15 minutes or so.

3. Transfer chicken to platter. If the sauce is thin, raise the heat to high, stirring and reducing until it is thick and glossy, just a few minutes. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

The Garden

One of the most frustrating parts about no spray farming/gardening is the weed issue. It seems like a never-ending process, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. We skipped Tuesday Market this week to try and find the potatoes. Yes, find them. We had ragweed in the garden that was more than waist high. The poor potatoes were looking pretty spindly when we finally pulled out the weeds around them. We're not quite done yet, but we've completed enough to make it feel less daunting. Our fingers are stiff and sore, but today was a lovely day away from the garden.

We're so close to having peas. It's been a strange spring. This time last year, we had peas coming out our ears. Some of the volunteer pea plants in the garden have babies that are may

be half and inch long on them. There are plenty of blooms, and the plants themselves are looking great. I'm feeling a little impatient: peas are my favorite spring vegetable.

We're close to picking garlic. Mom and I pulled some for Scott and me to take to Elko. It was delicious. Mom and Curt are talking about putting on a garlic braiding clinic out at the house for interested customers.

Baby Joanna is growing. It's amazing to see how much she changes each week we see her. She's become a lot more aware of her surroundings and loves to watch people.

A New Member of the Lazy Dog Family

The Lazy Dog Gardens family is made up of the Caudills, Spragues and Loves. At approximately 6PM, we added another member. Welcome to Joanna Emily Love! We're excited for this addition to the family. As she gets older, we're sure to add recipes for Lazy Dog baby food.

Cheers!

Robin, Curtis, Michelle, Scott, Sarah, Jeff & Joanna

Basil Buckets, Petunia Socks and a New Member of the Family

The 2009 Market season is underway! We're enjoying getting back into the swing of Saturday mornings down on 8th Street. While the spring crops grow and get ready, we have petunia socks, basil buckets, plants for your garden, and eggs. This past week, we were able to bring down radishes, spinach and rainbow chard for the first time. Keep coming back to check us out as more produce becomes available. For now, we're looking forward to adding a new member to the Lazy Dog family: Sarah's baby may be coming tomorrow!