Pink cosmos, orange marigolds, and crayon-colored zinnias
are a gift from my father.
He died three years ago today, after a long illness that
kept him out of the garden for several years. But this spring, when I
resurrected his raised-bed gardens, I was rewarded with a small patch of
volunteers—seedlings of cosmos, marigolds, and zinnias. I carefully weeded the
area to allow the upstarts growing room, and voila, as summer comes to a close
we have Daddy’s Flower Garden and fresh-cut flowers for the house. Truly a gift
from the heavens. Laurie Lynch
Provider from
Providence: When he was living in
Providence, RI, nephew Wille gave me a packet of “Provider” green beans. I planted them this
year and love the variety. Now that I’m an
office worker, I don’t get into the garden as often as I’d like. The “Provider”
beans got away from me. When I found time to harvest them, they were much
larger than I’d normally pick, but I picked them anyway. I tossed them in a
little water with a sloshing of Fasta & Ravioli Co. garlic-infused olive
oil over high heat…and out came delicious,
tender green beans.
Hay-Bale Winner:
Although the hay-bale garden was less than a success, I must tell you one plant
thrived in the environment: Thelma Sanders’s Sweet Potato squash. This heirloom
is an acorn squash with cream-colored skin, and it is slightly larger than the
green type. I did a little investigating and read that Thelma vines are
sprawling, tough ladies that flourish in dry conditions, wet conditions, hot
conditions, and even cooler conditions. In other words, Thelma is idiot-proof
and hay-bale-proof.
Rainbow’s Other End:
No garden should be without Swiss chard. The rainbow colors of the stalks and leaf
veins allow it to dress up an ornamental bed, but I love to eat it. During the
Fleur-de-Lys years, I harvested Swiss chard often, keeping the plants dwarfed.
This summer, my chard plants are reaching skyward, past my knees. Beautiful,
but the vegetable farmer in me wants to
use (OK, eat) them. The three of us can only eat so much chard pie and
steamed greens. A thought came to me
while I was in the kitchen making German Potato Salad with hot bacon dressing.
Why not sauté a few chopped ribs of chard with the onions for the hot bacon dressing?
Why not, indeed? The debut of Swiss-German Potato Salad.
Craving Felt ‘Round
the World: I had a craving for smoked salmon this past week. I bought a
sliver at the supermarket and was inspired to make a simple pasta dish for
dinner: 1 pound of pasta, about ¾ cup of whipped cream cheese, three ounces of
smoked salmon, a small handful of home-grown Picasso shallots, and a sprinkling
of fresh chopped chives. After cooking the pasta, I drained it and mixed in the
cream cheese until the noodles were coated. Then I tossed in small bits of
salmon with the chopped shallots and chives. Craving satisfied, and an easy,
after-work meal served in minutes, with a side dish of sliced heirloom tomatoes.
As it happened, I mentioned this pasta while Skyping with
Marina. She replied that earlier in the week she had the same craving and came
up with a similar dish! She tossed cooked pasta with a little cream, cream
cheese with herbs, strips of smoked salmon, chunks of cucumber and tomato, and
a pinch or two of chopped dill. We laughed at the coincidence, though living on
two different continents. If you like smoked salmon, try the mother-version, or
the daughter-version, or make up your own!
Written on Slate:
“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother
always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” –Sophia
Loren
