Monthly Archives: April 2010

O is for Oregano

Posted by Lesley on April 28, 2010 6 comments

The two plants in my herb garden that manage to survive summer after summer are rosemary and oregano.  I’ve already given you the rundown on rosemary, so this time I pulled out my Rodale’s Encyclopedia of Herbs to find some random facts on oregano.  The name translates to “joy of the mountains” and bald men used to rub it on their heads mixed with oil in the hopes of regrowth.  Oregano’s medicinal uses date back to the Greek physician Dioscorides in the first century.  The Greeks used it to treat aches, sores and bites from scorpions and spiders.  It’s fascinating what doctors are doing with oregano today.  Studies are finding it more effective in treating giardiosis, a parasitic infection, than one of the standard drug treatments…and no side effects!  Oregano is quite the superb herb! 

Lizard Resurrection

Posted by Lesley on April 27, 2010 2 comments

It wasn’t long ago I was Lamenting over Lizards… 

Lizards were neither here nor there. 

There were no lizards anywhere. 

Not in the garden, not in the house,

Not playing with the dog, not hiding with the mouse. 

But the sun returned and they’re back on the lam.

So I no longer miss lizards but tan, I am.

I found this one in a pot:

This one in a bag:

And these two (gasp) were having a shag!       

Amaryllis Art

Posted by Lesley on April 26, 2010 None comments

I’ve enjoyed my time with the amaryllises, but it’s quickly coming to a close.  Luckily, the amaryllis is one flower that keeps on delivering beauty after death.  As the deep red petals start to droop, they also start to drip.

As the drying process takes place, the oversized blooms turn into natural paintbrushes.

Alternatively, if the petals are fresher, you can press them between two sheets of paper for another quick and easy art project.  For the best results, cut off the petals toward the bottom where they’re green.  The green sections hold a lot of water and will soak your pages, although it’s nice to leave a little because the green adds more color to the final product.

But you don’t want too much color, so remove the stamens too.  The pollen dusted on the petals will transfer enough yellow onto the page.  Otherwise, too much pollen is transferred and a shimmer of yellow turns into a big blotch of brown. 

Once the petals are placed, cover them with another piece of paper and and a towel.  Now it’s time for the real fun.  Grab a mallet and start pounding.

The harder you pound, the deeper and faster the color will transfer.  Adjust accordingly, a light tap will leave just a hint of color.  Here’s my final product:

Although the petals are candy apple red, the ink dries purple.  Here are a few of my other pieces of amaryllis art:

You’re not limited to purple or to amaryllises.  This method can be used with a variety of flowers.  This set was made from a mixed bouquet of mums, daisies, roses, and carnations:

N is for Nasturtiums

Posted by Lesley on April 21, 2010 5 comments

There’s nothing not to like about nasturtiums.  Their petals are bright, vibrant shades of red, yellow and orange.  They help keep bugs away from your garden edibles, and the colorful blossoms are edible themselves.  Nasturtiums are my favorite salad topping – more for their color than for their taste, although I don’t dislike the flavor.  It’s along the lines of arugula – a little bit peppery.  They’re a great pick for Florida gardens because they’re low-maintenance and heat-tolerant.  They’ll grow no matter how sandy the soil and the more sun the better.  Shade greatly reduces the amount of blooms.  I like to mix my nasturtiums in with my vegetables because they’re common companion plants.  They repel insects, particularly squash bugs, and supposedly make cucumbers taste better.  Another random fact about nasturtiums: Back a few centuries when every bouquet of flowers came with a meaning, nasturtiums represented patriotism.

M is for Mating Monarchs

Posted by Lesley on April 14, 2010 2 comments

Luke and I did our usual stroll through Phillippi Estate today.  Since dogs aren’t normally allowed in the park, I always take full advantage of the fact that they’re allowed at the farmers market.  We go almost every Wednesday so when I locked the door and realized my camera was still inside, I shrugged and headed to the car.  I already had some m’s in mind for today…mums, mango, milkweed.  But then I spotted two Monarchs Mating on the hammock trail!  Nooooooooooooooooo!  Why didn’t I grab my camera???  To use a couple more M’s, the Mating Monarchs seemed to be Mocking Me More every extra Minute they remained Mounted like a Magnet in the trees!  This isn’t the first time YouTube has come to my rescue.  The video is a little long, but a couple of seconds will show you how the butterflies were perched in the trees.       

They flew twice to reposition, or one flew and the other hung on.  It reminded me of some research I came across when hatching Monarchs in the laundry room.  This is from The Last Monarch Butterfly: Conserving the Monarch Butterflies in a Brave New World by Phil Schappert.

Male Monarchs use their size and mass advantage to aggressively ‘attack’ and subdue other Monarchs, grappling in the air and falling to the ground, where they attempt to mate.  If successful in obtaining a copulation the male will carry the female to a shrub or tree to finish mating.  An intriguing side issue of this tactic is that smaller males are often the target of attacks by larger males and male-male interactions among Monarchs are relatively common.

Yikes!  If you didn’t know this was Lettuce Share, you might think I was talking about the behavior of prison inmates over sweet delicate butterflies!   

Opening Day

Posted by Lesley on April 13, 2010 None comments

It’s right back to me, me, me today – especially because my Amaryllis started to bloom. 

Also known as St. Joseph’s Lily, you only need one for a complete bouquet. 

It doesn’t always have to be about me…

Posted by Lesley on April 12, 2010 2 comments

Blogs are so me, me, me…look at my flowers, this is my grapefruit tree, blah, blah, blah.  But not today, today the camera is focused on some plants other than my own.  These are the flowers that my neighbors are growing and to bring it back to me – the flowers that I’m wishing were in my garden this month. 

Orchid Tree

Azalea

Wisteria   

Bye Bye Birdies

Posted by Lesley on April 8, 2010 None comments

What a weird day in the garden…or should I say ominous…eerie…dismal?  I just don’t know!  A few weeks ago I hauled our punching bag out to the back patio.  The weather had gotten too nice to be working out next to the lawn mower in our crowded garage.  The bag is bright red and stands about 5-feet high.  This morning I found a dead Mockingbird next to it.  John came home during lunch and buried him.  When I got home this afternoon, I found another dead bird!  This one was in the rose garden – death by window.  It’s not the first time.  The punching bag, on the other hand, is new…two dead birds in one day is also new.  I don’t know what else to say about it other than that I drove very carefully back and forth from the office tonight and checked the calendar to see if it was a full moon.  It isn’t.     

L is for Lettuce

Posted by Lesley on April 7, 2010 5 comments

What else, right?  Lettuce brought us here.  After planting and harvesting a full square of it, we couldn’t give it away anymore.  The garden was still new at that point, and I wanted to start a blog.  It was a perfect match, but I didn’t have a name.  So one day, surrounded by lettuce, John turned to me and said, ”Your blog should be named Lettuce Share.”  And that was it…another perfect match.

This head of Bibb is a remnant of that first square!  It popped up amongst the broccoli and Nasturtiums.  We just ate it on Sunday.  The Nasturtiums are in full bloom, so the combination made for a beautiful and festive Easter salad.

I love broccoli…it’s in my genes!

Posted by Lesley on April 6, 2010 None comments

I couldn’t stop thinking about or eating broccoli last week.  It started when John pointed out these burgeoning broccoli buds in the garden… 

…and continued with this beautiful head of Romanesco broccoli from Worden’s stand at the downtown farmers market.

It’s always a good day at the market when I come home with a head of Romanesco.  All three of us love it, mostly because it’s so strange-looking…the inspiration for Sideshow Bob’s hair, perhaps?   

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Beyond its oddly pointy allure, it also has nice flavor and texture.  For our tastes, it cooks better than the plain Jane broccoli.  We like our vegetables crunchy.  Although the stalks cook similarly, the flowers on the Romanesco hold up better than those of regular broccoli.  Even if it’s slightly overcooked, it doesn’t get mushy.  I used it in some vegetable quesadillas, a breakfast bread pudding, and a pasta dish from Rachel Ray’s website.  Although I don’t always find her meals to take only 30-minutes, this one was right on time and really tasty!  I undercooked the broccoli and used whole wheat pasta; other than that, I followed the recipe to a tee.  Pecorino-romano cheese makes the sauce rich, while a touch of lemon and a pinch of crushed red pepper give it a layer of zip.  Toasted walnuts add some protein and so does the broccoli. 

Broccoli contains five percent protein, although this may not be true for Romanesco.  While me and most of North America believe it’s broccoli, the French call it Romanesco cabbage.  Très difficile!  It’s broccoli here, and these are a few other tidbits I came across last week:

*Broccoli is loaded with fiber, vitamin C, beta-carotene, cancer-fighting compounds, and chromium, which is a mineral required for insulin to function normally. 

*Broccoli comes from Calabria, Italy.  It became a commercial crop in the United States during the 1920′s.

*Researchers have identified a gene that makes certain people not like broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage!  It’s a reaction to the bitter-tasting compounds.   

Sources: The Big Broccoli Book, Reader’s Digest Magic Foods for Better Blood Sugar, and The Vegetable Book