Lettuce Go Crazy!

If you see me and my nose is wiggling and twitching, you'll know its because I've been eating too much lettuce.  I got carried away when I planted my garden this year.  Last year it wouldn't have been a problem because the chickens would have loved the excess lettuce and greens but Lulu can only eat so much by herself.  FYI - my rows are around 25 feet long give of take a couple of feet.

I have 1/2 row of mixed greens from my own seed I gathered.  I originally had a package of Mesclun mix and saved some seed from the various plants that grew.  I love the variety of colour and texture in this mix.

This is my 1/2 row of Deer-Tongue Lettuce.  I got the seed from a Seedy Saturday several years ago and have since saved my own seeds.  I love it because it takes a long time to turn bitter.  You can usually eat this long after your other lettuce is gone.

This is 1/2 row is a mix of mustard greens that I saved from mixed seed packages grown over the last couple of years.  The mustard family plants seed earlier and easier than some of the other lettuce and greens.  They add a nice bite to the salad, a bit peppery without being really bitter.

This is my 1/2 row of Super Gourmet Salad Blend.  It is a mix of 5 varieties of red and green lettuce.  I started with at least half a dozen different blends of seed and planted a bit of each.  I've been trying to save some of each type of seed but haven't been successful with all of them.  These seeds are some of the original store bought seeds I have left.  They may be getting too old all they did not sprout as good as my own saved seeds.

This is some salad bowl lettuce from seed I received from Erin, a fellow blogger and gardener.  I also have a volunteer red lettuce and a sunflower growing there.  I planted sunflowers last year for the chickens and have a couple of volunteers from seeds they overlooked.

This is the last of my Bon Vivant mix that contains according to the package a mix of "exotic leaf shapes, textures, and colours ranging from deep reds, bronze tones, and various shades of green."  I have still have several types of lettuces seeds in this mix to collect including some with deeply textured leaves.

I finished that row with more of my mixed greens.  I love the look of a salad with numerous colours and shapes of leaves.  Many of the leaves have a different flavour as well - some peppery and some satisfyingly crisp.  I also use some spinach in my salads as well.

This last 1/2 row is an Ooops row.  I have a second garden that I am not using this year and we were going to till in some grass clippings.  I saw a number of volunteer lettuce plants that weren't big enough to eat but too nice to till under.  So I dug up the individual plants and planted them in an empty 1/2 row at the end of my cabbages.  It wasn't marked with a stake and I didn't bother to go into the house and check my map.  Several days after I planted the lettuce I remembered that was 1/2 row of cucumbers.  I was upset with myself for digging up my cukes before they sprouted.  I found that I missed many of the plants and they are growing alongside the lettuce.  Yippee!  :)

For new seed savers, I found that lettuce is one of the easier plants to save the seeds from.  The biggest problem is removing the flower fluff from the seeds.  I didn't bother to remove it all (too time consuming) so my own seeds get seeded thicker than store bought and as a result grow up much thicker.  If you have a particular lettuce you want to grow again, give it a try.  Really what do you have to lose and in the end you may even save money and have some of your proudly saved seed to share with friends.  ;)



Crispy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I saw this recipe and thought it sounded wonderful. 
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/crisp-grilled-cheese-sandwich-recipe.html
I love melted cheese but I also love crispy cheese that you get when you order cheese toast in a restaurant and they have grilled it so it is nice and crispy.  This recipe has both!


Ingredients
4 slices bread
soft butter or marg
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
1 c grated cheese - cheddar or cheddar-mozzarella mix

I grated both cheddar and mozzarella cheese because I like the extra gooeyness of mozzarella but wanted the taste of the cheddar.

Finely grate parmesan or use pre-grated (I didn't have any fresh so used the handy can).

Slice bread fairly thick and butter both sides of each slice.

Place 2 slices in preheated pan and cook until browned.

Sprinkle both slices with parmesan cheese.

Flip the slices over to brown the second side.

Sprinkle cheddar or cheddar-mozza on top of the 2 slices.

Cook until cheese starts to melt and bottom is nicely brown.

Quickly flip one piece onto the second and remove from pan.  Repeat with other 2 slices or as many sandwiches as you need.

Let sandwich sit a couple of minutes so the inside is melted and nice and gooey.  Slice in half and enjoy!  ;)

Mulching Fruit Bushes

If you remember my blog last year about using wood shavings -

http://mountaingardengleanings.blogspot.ca/2011/09/shavings.html , one of the uses were for a groundcover.  This year, we decided to buy some landscape fabric and cover the rest of the area in the back that is home to our small fruits (grapes, raspberries, saskatoons, blueberries, rhubarb and kiwi).  The newspapers I used last year are still working in the one row I tried but they probably won't last for many years.  With the landscape cloth and the shavings, I hope to have very little weeding back there.

First thing we did was do a good weeding and raked the area so it was basically level.

You can see the weeds between the grape arbor - they do have a tendency to get away from us.  Hopefully this will be the solution to that problem.

The fabric we bought allows water through it so we laid the drip hoses on top of the fabric and shavings so we can monitor it.  We found the drip line did not work well as the tiny holes would plug up so we added nozzles that mist the row.  We cut holes in the fabric where the plants were growing and then covered the whole thing with a thick layer of shavings.

We worked on one length at a time and kept the shavings away from the edge so we could overlap the next length. 

When we finished one row, we continued onto the next.  At the ends we place slabs of wood to hold the shavings in and to cover the ends of the fabric.  That way we can extend the area if we need to.  We are thinking about added some raised beds for strawberries and such and think that we will do it in that area of the yard.

We hauled many, many loads of shavings on the van and the job took us several weeks to complete but it was worth the end product.  Doesn't it look nice?  It seems nice to as we got a variety of shavings - fir, pine, spruce and cedar.

Next year we will redo the row I did last year with the newspaper and continue out that side of the patch.  :)

Lunch With Lulu

Lulu explains lunch:

Come along my friends and join me for lunch.  Now lunch is never held at any certain time.  Lunch time is at 11:00 am or 11:30 am and again at 11:31 am and then once more at 11:34 am and on and on until it is time for snacks or coffee break or supper.

Now lunch can be lettuce - I will eat lettuce indoors but I do prefer freshly picked lettuce - especially if i pick it myself.  ;)

I prefer my lettuce growing in the garden as it is easier to rip off bite-sized pieces (since I seem to be lacking teeth!).  I will eat lettuce indoors if mom holds it for me or remembers to rip it into little pieces for me.

HEY!  Who ate all the lettuce!!  Somebody ate all my lunch while I was talking to you.

Oops!  I was talking and eating and I guess I ate it all myself.  Silly me!

Oh well, onto the next course.  I have layer pellets in one dish, scratch in another and eggshells in the third.  Decisions, decisions.  I really, Really, REALLY love scratch.  It is the best, but I need to eat the others so I can lay nice eggs.  Laying eggs can be a pain in the butt but I get to eat peanuts whenever I lay an egg - and I LOVE peanuts!!

Sometimes I get to eat yogurt or bread or sunflower seeds or cucumbers.  I really like almost anything as long as I see mom eating it.  I love to share with her.  I also like to drink out of a big person's glass instead of the dumb bowl.  I never see mom drinking out of a bowl so why should I?

I think I'm getting full so it is time for a nap then I'll have more energy so I can lunch some more.  Did I tell you yet - I love lunch.  Come again for lunch as long as you bring something to share with me.  :)

Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls can be finicky to make.  Instead of making them each time we want to eat some, I make up a bunch at once and freeze them.  Then it is easy to have cabbage rolls whenever the mood strikes you.

I prepare the cabbage in the fall when I have a crop ready.  First you pick nice firm heads, remove the outer damaged leaves, cut out the core and wash.  I blanch the whole head and then immerse it in icy cold water.  Drain well before freezing until needed.

When I am making cabbage rolls, I usually bring out a number of heads at once.  Thaw completely and drain.

I find this works best for having pliable leaves.  I've tried freshly blanched leaves but they are easier to tear and not as nice to work with.  The freezing process seems to do something to the cabbage so the leaves are bendable and not too fragile.

For the filling I cook 2 to 3 cups of rice and fry several pounds of hamburger before mixing together.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Amounts don't matter as leftovers can be used later.

I peel apart the heads of cabbage and use the smaller or torn pieces for the bottom of the container. 

To make the cabbage roll, place a leaf in your cupped hand.

Place a spoonful of filling near the end closest to your wrist.

Cup your hand and shape the filling into a nice mound.

Roll leaf over filling, tucking in sides as you roll.  Don't be too gentle because if you tuck it too loosely it may fall apart during cooking.

Roll top of leaf over to finish off.  Practice makes perfect but unperfect cabbage rolls still taste great.  :)

I freeze the cabbage rolls in ice cream pails or larger plastic containers.  Since I usually cook the cabbage rolls in my crock pot, I find a container that fits nicely in the crockpot.

Pack the cabbage rolls close together with rolled side down. 

When I have enough for a meal I layer on several pieces of wax paper as a divider so I can pry it apart when frozen.  That way I can freeze several meals in one container.

Continue filling and end with broken pieces again.  This way, you flip it to the bottom of the crockpot when frozen and have a layer of leaves on the bottom.

If you are cooking them fresh, you can cook them in a roaster instead of a crockpot.  Fill the roaster as above without the wax paper.  You can use crushed canned tomatoes or partially diluted tomato soup (I mix a can of soup with 1/2 can of water).

Cook at 350°F for 1 to 2 hours.  Cabbage should cut easily with a fork.

When I bring the frozen cabbage rolls out to cook, I place them cabbage pieces side down in a crockpot.  I add 1 to 2 cans of tomato soup depending on the amount of cabbage rolls I am cooking.  I again dilute it with 1/2 can water per can of soup.  I then cook on high all day until supper.  If you cook fresh cabbage rolls in the crockpot, it doesn't take as long since they don't have to thaw.

If I have rice-hamburger filling left, I mix in a can of tomato soup and top with cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350°F for about 3/4 hour until heated through and cheese is melted and browned. 

My mom does her cabbage rolls differently.  She uses raw rice and raw hamburger in hers.  She also often buys sour cabbage to roll them in.  She cooks hers on the top of the stove in a large pot.  She puts an old plate on the bottom of the pot so the cabbage rolls don't stick and burn.  Then mom covers them with tomato juice and boils them slowly for several hours.  I don't use this method because: 1. they may boil over (big mess), 2. I don't use enough juice so they are dry, 3. I don't cook them long enough so they are partially raw.  Mom has perfected this method over the years and hers are always tasty but I prefer my method.

Enjoy one or more of these ideas.  ;)