Last week, as she was driving away, I asked Cathy Alexander
what to do with them (because she loves
beets). Red velvet cake she says. I’m not much of a baker and I almost never
bake from scratch. However, I did some
research and it turns out that back in the day, beets were used to make the
cakes red before there was red food dye.
There are additional benefits to baking with beets, too. They add a natural sweetness (so that you can
reduce the amount of processed sugar) and they add moisture to the batter so
that they stay moist longer without adding lots of extra cooking oil. I
found a number of recipes for beet red velvet cake on the internet and used an easy recipe
on Friday night to make cupcakes for my intrepid volunteers who showed up on
Saturday. (Of course, it rained until
almost 3 p.m.). Sadly, I used dark
chocolate, so you cannot see the red color, but I have no doubt it would be
there if I had used regular chocolate. They
are still moist on Monday. I messed
with the recipe a little bit. I added
more than ¾ cup roasted/pureed beets (bad idea) and added ¼ cup lemon juice (to beef up the
color). I will be making these
again. And often.
As for our other adventures.
Sabrina worked really hard this week to catch up on weeding the food
pantry plots. It took her a few trips,
but the weeds are finally under control in there. I can even see cantaloupes growing. Her husband,
Tom, mowed our lawn. Cassie
stopped by on Tuesday, too, to do some light weeding in her plot and the flower
beds. Sadly, she did not make much
progress. She was able to harvest a lot
of neglected vegetables. Her butternut
squash had grown out to almost the alley and there was a large fruit forming
out there. There was no way to bring it
back inside the Garden and it was gone by Friday. I had to spend most of my time at the Garden
this week doing her chores since she refuses to make time to weed and prune the
flower beds. Grumble. Grumble.
Because we seem to be having a mild summer, I decided to plant some
extra impatiens in our flower beds with the hopes that they will not get fried
out and will spruce up our bare spots.
When I stopped by the Garden on Friday with new books for the kids, I used my time waiting for them to return from Alum Creek Beach by spraying weeds along the street and alley with Round Up. By the time I returned on Sunday afternoon, however, Sabrina had come and weeded the alley for several hours in the rain on Saturday. It hasn’t looked that good since we broke ground for the season in April. I’m always overwhelmed when someone goes over and beyond their chores and surprises me like that. She came to the Garden in the rain on Saturday hoping to get some red velvet cupcakes. She told me that I would notice her work and she was right.
When I stopped by the Garden on Friday with new books for the kids, I used my time waiting for them to return from Alum Creek Beach by spraying weeds along the street and alley with Round Up. By the time I returned on Sunday afternoon, however, Sabrina had come and weeded the alley for several hours in the rain on Saturday. It hasn’t looked that good since we broke ground for the season in April. I’m always overwhelmed when someone goes over and beyond their chores and surprises me like that. She came to the Garden in the rain on Saturday hoping to get some red velvet cupcakes. She told me that I would notice her work and she was right.
Sabrina and Christen are moving on to their second season crops and it is not even August. Christen doesn't like to keep plants -- like broccoli -- long after her major harvest. Secondary minor harvests just don't interest her. She pulled her cabbage and giant broccoli plant out yesterday and planted more carrots. This will create more sunlight for her watermelon and cucumbers. Sabrina will be pulling out her lettuce to make room and might pull out her bug-infested squash. The food pantry plot is near the end of its Spring crops (turnips, beets, lettuce, and carrots), so I need to start making plans for that space as well.
Squash Bugs. While Sabrina was weeding on Tuesday or
Thursday, I found some squash bugs in her plot.
The adults were hiding in Rose’s cilantro and on Sabrina’s cosmos
flowers. This was her first exposure to
the critters. They had already killed a
couple of her squash plants. (I think
they have also killed some of Mari’s plants, one of the boys’ plants and are
working on Cassie’s). I told her that
this year I wanted to burn them out.
This works well for the eggs, but the adults – believe it or not – do not
stand still to be burned alive. Sabrina used
her own lighter on the eggs, but opted to squash them with rocks and
bricks. While I chatted in the alley
with Cathy, we could hear periodic screams coming from Sabrina’s plot as she
discovered a new nest of squash bugs. It
was hysterical.
Yesterday, Barb mentioned to me that she and Frank had seen
some tell-tale squash bug eggs in the Garden.
They – like Charlie – decided to not grow squash in their plot this
year. I told her that I had noticed
them, but I’m pretty philosophical about it this year. 2013 will be the first time in my adult life
that I will be harvesting zucchini in August.
I planted my squash among my invasive chocolate mint plants and it seems
to have disguised my squash plants from the bugs. The only place where I seem to find them is
where the leaves overhang Charlie’s plot (which is now so clean, there are no
mint plants anywhere near the vicinity). Fact is, I’m having trouble keeping up with
my zucchini harvest. I’ve also already
harvested 2 delicatta squashes from my plot and am hoping for a couple of
butternut and acorn squashes. It’s
almost surreal.
Ice Cream. Speaking of my invasive mint, I gave some
to Sabrina at the beginning of the season and she made ice cream with it
yesterday. I loaned her my ice cream
maker on Thursday and she emailed me last night confirming my warning: Most ice cream recipes are a lot of
work. My strawberry ice cream is easy to
make, but I don’t make a real custard with it.
She’s not ready to try again anytime soon and will be returning my
maker. I can only imagine what she
would have thought if I had loaned her a hand crank machine:-)
Dill and Water Guns. The volunteer dill in the food pantry plot
(left over from Rayna’s crop last year) is nearing the end of its useful
life. I doubt pantry clients will want
it, so I’m going to pitch it soon. Like
this week. So, faithful readers, if you
want some dill head seeds to make dill pickles or to otherwise store, please
stop by the SACG on Tuesday or Thursday evening and I will fill your bag with
large seed heads. We have dozens of
plants. However, be forewarned. Thursday is also likely to be the Second Annual Shootout at the CG Corral. The kids have been waiting all summer for me
to bring my super soaker water gun to the Garden. However, with the exception of two weeks ago,
it just hasn’t been hot enough. They
showed up yesterday with their new super soakers to attack me and I convinced
them to give me until Thursday to get my old gun and make it a fair fight. Assuming they remember this that long, the
plants will be getting an unusual amount of water and the gardeners and other
volunteers are likely to get wet, too.
Food Pantry Donations. Finally, for what seems to be the third week in a row, I
have been rained out again on Saturday.
Only this time, it was a heavy and sustained rain. I’m not complaining; .75 inch is always welcome. However, it made it a challenge to harvest
and make a food pantry delivery.
Luckily, my neighbors, the Pipinos have an extra refrigerator which is
usually empty. I harvested over 30
pounds of vegetables yesterday and stored about half of them in their extra
refrigerator so that I can deliver them to the food pantry when it is open
today. At this point in the season, we
are 300% above our donations for this same time in 2012 and 2011. Craziness.
This is what perfect growing weather will do. Even Mari is over the moon with her harvest
this year. The only downside is that the
weeds are a little more aggressive this year than in the past.
Upcoming Events. Well, on Wednesday, some of us will be
going to the ProMusica concert at the Franklin Park Conservatory. Thursday is
our second annual water gun fight. (BYOG
and filled water balloons). Be there or be dry.
On Saturday – weather permitting – we will put the Garden into the final touches for the bike tour of near east side community gardens on Saturday, August 10 by Yea Bikes! and Local Matters. We are thinking about scheduling a neighborhood litter pick up on the morning of Saturday, September 7. (Kickoff for the OSU/San Diego football game is not until 3:30 p.m. that afternoon). The Children’s Parade starts at 11 a.m. and ends at the Hot Times Festival in Olde Towne East that same day.
On Saturday – weather permitting – we will put the Garden into the final touches for the bike tour of near east side community gardens on Saturday, August 10 by Yea Bikes! and Local Matters. We are thinking about scheduling a neighborhood litter pick up on the morning of Saturday, September 7. (Kickoff for the OSU/San Diego football game is not until 3:30 p.m. that afternoon). The Children’s Parade starts at 11 a.m. and ends at the Hot Times Festival in Olde Towne East that same day.
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