Around the Calender In Two Weeks

Willow and Lark go for the berries

This past week, it was acting like August where I live. The tomatoes and peppers that I put in my garden blossomed overnight, and the seeds I planted sprouted within just a couple of days!  I kid you not.  Had I planted them a couple of weeks ago or longer when it was acting like March, they’d likely be to exactly the same point they’re at now. And we had pleasantly cool weather to boot. At one point, I commented to a friend “We’ve had heat indexes close to 100F, frost warnings, rain, sleet, hail, tornado warnings and fog all in 10 days. All we need is a good blizzard and a nice typhoon and we’ll have had just about all the weather on offer.”

My herb garden is well underway, too. I have more oregano, chives and cilantro than I can use, at least until the tomatoes and peppers ripen. At that point I can make salsa or pasta sauce, and I’ll have plenty of the right herbs to use in it. I also have quite a lot of thyme, lemon thyme, sage, various mints, and lemon balm. I’ve got basil and dill coming from seed (rapidly!) and still need to get marjoram, rosemary, tarragon and maybe parsley plants. The last week, we’ve been vacillating between those hot temps and rain showers every couple of days, so this is prime planting weather for quick germination.

So you’ll see lots of herbs in the menus for the rest of the summer. You can plant herbs in containers, Square Foot Gardens (like mine); even a rain gutter nailed at waist height along the side of your deck, shed, balcony or house. You’ll save a ton of money and your food will taste better. Plus there are many vitamins and minerals in herbs.

But if you really have no space? You live in a high rise with no decent window space, as I did at one point? In most recipes, you can substitute dried at half the quantity specified. But not in the chimichurri this week!

Chimichurri is a South American condiment/marinade that’s a bit like pesto, traditionally made with parsley. It’s sometimes made with oregano or cilantro, as it is here. But if you’re hungry for pesto, there’s some in the Untato Salad. We’ll also do some Korean-style grilled chicken; a seasonal Midwestern chicken and berry salad; a shrimp salad that would be home in Key West; and French and Italian ideas on what to do with a grilled steak. The bonus this week is chocolate-covered strawberries! Yum!  Lots of grilling, but you can do the grilled items on the stovetop if it’s cool or pouring rain outside.

Southern Hemisphere menus this week finally stop the grilling and start the soups, using seasonal produce like squash and pears in dishes like Roasted Chicken with Squash and Pears;  Cauliflower and Gruyère Soup with Sausage;  Looed Chicken; Carnitas in a Bowl and more, with the same style of shopping list.  All of it without sugar, artificial sweeteners or grains/starch.

Today, I’m taking all four kids (including one of my son’s best friends) to pick strawberries at a new organic farm that just opened in my area.  I anticipate making lots of those chocolate-covered strawberries!  Wish I had space for a strawberry patch like I had growing up.

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