A bed of roses (ouch)

[vgqn]

I pruned roses today. I pruned roses yesterday. I will prune roses tomorrow.

This is what comes of having 70+ rose bushes, despite giving away/shovel pruning a dozen last winter. There may be even more shovel pruning in the near future. Poor Charles de Milles had been entirely supplanted by Dr. Huey (an extremely vigorous Dr. Huey, I might add) and was removed today.

In other garden news, I am thrilled with my fennel bulbs which I am growing for the first time this year. Our winter growing season is kind of like a really, really extended spring, except that instead of gradually growing warmer and the days getting longer, it gets cooler and the days get shorter. Some veggies are quite happy with this, while others sulk, get sickly, or out and out die. Fennel, I'm delighted to report, are apparently quite happy being transplanted out in September here.

Brassicas (the cabbage family) are also generally happy with this regimen. But I planted them too close together at my community garden and am paying the price now -- stressed plants attract aphids. The cauliflowers are one-shots anyhow, so they're coming out as they mature, which will give the broccoli some elbow room. Here's a picture of my fabulous purple cauliflower, 2 1/2 lbs.



The results are in on my personal spinach trial -- no savoyed spinaches ever, ever again! I spent ages cleaning a mere 9 oz for dinner tonight. It's Oriental Giant from now on. Lovely, smooth, arrowhead-shaped leaves on long stems held high about the dirt, slugs, and snails. Yes!

Still, the Spinach with Lemon and Raisins was worth the hassle in the end. It's a recipe I adore -- quick (except if you're painstakingly washing your own spinach), delicious, and unusual.


Spinach with Lemon & Raisins
(Based on a Sunset magazine recipe by Jerry Anne DiVecchio which was based on a dish she was served in Venice, Italy.)

1 tbsp butter
1/4 c. chopped raisins
1/4 c. chopped whole lemon (including the peel, but not any seeds)
1 tsp sugar
1 lb (about 3 qt) spinach leaves, washed & very well drained
fresh-grated nutmeg to taste

In a deep pot or wok, melt butter and stir in currants, lemon, and sugar. Cook on high heat about 3-5 minutes, until the lemon starts to soften and maybe brown a bit. Add spinach and nutmeg, mixing until all the spinach is wilted, 2-3 minutes. Salt to taste.

Truthfully, I probably use more lemon and less spinach than this, and I've only remembered nutmeg once in all the times I've made it. Mmm, but something about the cooked lemon really does it for me.


Lastly, I planted my bulbs today. Finally. Yes, well, I know it's late, quite late. Probably too late. Poor things were sprouting in their little net bags. But they arrived in November, and December was so busy, and it's been raining so much in January, and I couldn't remember where I thought I was going to put the silly things anyhow. But M had taken advantage of the sunny day and moist ground to weed the fruit hedge (more on that later). Since there are already some daffodils residing there, I decided the new bulbs could join their siblings. Done! 2 1/2 months of guilt finally laid to rest. I swear, I'll never again order bulbs until I know exactly where I'm going to put them and have prepared it in advance.

Hah.

Comments

[eqe.livejournal.com]

Interesting recipe. I am having a hard time imagining how that turns out. Clearly this calls for Science!

(that is, I think I'll do the experiment.)

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's a sweet & sour effect, plus cooking the chopped lemon gives it a special flavor that I associate with really good lemon meringue pie filling. Hmm, that description probably just confuses the issue. Well, let me know what happens when you apply Science!

[dalmeny]

I wonder what I could use instead of raisins (dmw does not care for dried fruit).

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

Hmm. The raisins are adding sweetness and a certain deep flavor. Perhaps adding extra sugar and using brown instead of white? Like maybe a tablespoon of brown sugar?

If it's the texture of raisins he doesn't like, he might not mind these because between the chopping and the cooking, they lose that chewiness that I know some people dislike. Or is it something about the flavor?

Fresh black figs might be a good substitute. An interesting thought.

growing fennel?

[eleyan.livejournal.com]

great! Would love to do that here as it's amazingly expensive and we both like it. Don't know how it would do in the cold and wet, though, and that's our summers. My father grows it in Tasmania, where their summers are more like yours.

Re: growing fennel?

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

No, no, I'm not growing it in our hot, dry summer. I'm growing it in our cold, wet winter, so your cold, wet summer should be perfect! Our highs are typically in the 50s - 60s, low in the 40s, lots of rain. The fennel apparently love it. (Maybe headgardener can give you some relevant advice also.)