#THE RADISH IS OMNIPRESENT

[tiffaluvr]

mute post

[agrotonomy]

Purple Kohlrabi growing outdoors on a Tower Garden during the cold months of winter in Ibiza, Spain 💜🌿

Kohlrabi is another cultivar of the Brassica family such as kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, arugula, watercress, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts. Like all its cousins, Kohlrabi can be considered as a superfood (as long as it is eaten raw) as it is packed with nutrients and antioxidants!

We highly recommend growing Kohlrabi and eating it raw instead of cooking it. Kohlrabi just needs to be peeled and either grated or sliced nicely using a mandolin. It has the crunchy texture of radish with an omnipresent pallet reminder of cabbage flavor. We love to grow & eat Kohlrabi!

Kohlrabi is not root vegetable since the edible part of the plant is a bulbous, modified stem which grows above the ground. Therefore it is perfect for the Tower Garden!

For more information, please read our blog post: Growing Kohlrabi on a Tower Garden

[bethestaryouareradio]

Sirius is Serious

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian

Sirius is Serious By Cynthia Brian

“When the ancients first observed Sirius emerging as it were from the sun…they believed its power of heat to have been so excessive that…the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid.”  John Brady, 1813, a Compendious Analysis of the Calendar.

Forever the optimist, when I penned my last column, The Dog Days of Summer, http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1413/Digging-Deep-with-Cynthia-Brian-the-Goddess-Gardener-for-August-The-Dog-Days-of-Summer.html

, I intentionally left out the part of the Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1817 that indicates, ��Make both hay and haste while the Sun shines, for when old Sirius takes command of the weather, he is such an unsteady, crazy dog, there is no dependence upon him.”

In the last few weeks, we have witnessed the ravages of Sirius with thousands of lightning strikes causing more than six hundred wildfires, millions of acres burned, gusty erratic winds, radically unhealthy air quality, and ash blanketing the state. More land has burned in the last few weeks than burned in all of 2019. Death and destruction are the horrific aftermaths.

Our Napa County farm was amongst the blazing landscapes. Everyone living in the valley where our vineyards and ranch reside was evacuated, yet, with firefighters engaged elsewhere battling numerous other infernos, my brother stayed behind on his tractor to cut roads, create safety zones, and clear debris. The hills and pastures burned. He saved the vineyards, barns, and our family home.

Between the brutal pandemic, perverse politics, sizzling heat, and suffocating smoke, we all have a reason to despair. To thwart a fire on my hillside, I have cut my dried perennials and annuals to ground level. The only beauty is offered by my faithful blushing naked ladies, lavender society garlic plants, and the passionflower vine that twines up my peach tree. The ground is parched. 

As I was repairing a broken water pipe so that I could irrigate this arid field, my optimism suddenly resurged. Swallowtails flitted through the smoke-filled air searching for a colorful landing place. A hummingbird settled on my string of patio lights before nuzzling my pink jacobinia growing in a cement urn. A five-lined skink, also known as a blue-tailed lizard, perched on a nearby boulder completely uninterested in my cutting and gluing efforts. I completed my project, picked a ripe tangerine from the tree, headed for the hammock, and savored the juice as it dripped down my chin. Swinging, I contemplated my future gardening desires.

This is the season to start making a list of what you want to grow for the forthcoming months. My succulent garden doesn’t need precipitation to thrive. Adding succulents to your want list is a smart idea. Bulbs are easy to grow and most offer yearly returns. Favorites to plant in late autumn for a spring showing include daffodils, tulips, freesia, ranunculus, hyacinth, Dutch iris, anemone, and crocus. Freesias are one of nature’s greatest gifts with splendid scents, a cornucopia of colors, and the ability to naturalize. Daffodils are probably the most popular and least expensive of all the bulbs. Deer, rabbits, and other critters won’t eat them, allowing their happy flowers to bloom for long stretches. When winter is nearing its finale, crocus will make you smile as they push through the soil to reveal their rich colors of blue, violet, yellow, and white. Treat yourself to a garden filled with tulips. You’ll want to buy your bulbs soon as they need to be refrigerated for at least six weeks before planting. For more impact, group colors, shapes, and sizes together in a swath. They are wonderfully interplanted with delphiniums, pansies, and other annuals or perennials for a very merry greeting. 

After a traumatic summer filled with climatic extremes, sowing seeds for a bountiful harvest of late fall to early winter salad greens and vegetables is a welcome endeavor. 

What seeds do you want? Try any of these for rapid results. Make sure to water regularly. Lettuce Spinach Arugula Swiss Chard Kale Beets Fennel Turnips Broccoli Carrot Kohlrabi Shallots Garlic Radish

With the seriousness of the sizzling Sirius and the dangerous air quality outside, stay indoors and peruse catalogs and gardening books to get ideas for fall planting. On Thursday, September 17th, I’ll be doing a ZOOM presentation, “Tips, Tricks, and Tonics in the Garden” for the Moraga Garden Club celebrating its 50th anniversary. For information on this ZOOM meeting, call Membership Chair Jane Magnani at 925-451-7031 for times to join in the conversation and presentation. We’ll keep it light, fun, and informative. 

Summer will soon be ending. This is an opportune time to check for sale and clearance items that you may want for your outdoor landscaping for next year. I have found great deals at  https://bit.ly/3aG6qOI including winter covers for patio furniture. As much as I love the heat, the chance of wildfires is omnipresent. Make sure to read my article on how to be prepared in the event of any emergency. This article could save your life. 

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1414/Are-you-ready-to-evacuate.html

  The Roman poet, Virgil described Sirius as “bringer of drought and plague to frail mortals, rises and saddens the sky with sinister light.” The veracity of his narrative has been realized in 2020.  The sea has not yet boiled and let’s hope the wine doesn’t spoil. I’m grateful to my brother for saving our ranch and thankful to the first responders and firefighters on the front lines of the flames.

Now more than ever, we need large doses of humor, hope, and healing. Let’s employ kindness and empathy for one another as we prepare for planting autumn bulbs and seeds.  A bright and beautiful spring display is only two seasons away. Embrace optimism and gratitude. 

Photos: http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1414/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Sirius-is-serious.html

  Happy gardening. Happy growing.

Cynthia Brian, The Goddess Gardener, is available for hire to help you prepare for your spring garden. Raised in the vineyards of Napa County, Cynthia is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, radio personality, speaker, media and writing coach, as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3. Tune into Cynthia’s StarStyle® Radio Broadcast at www.StarStyleRadio.com.

Buy copies of her best-selling books and receive extra freebies, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul, Growing with the Goddess Gardener, and Be the Star You Are! Millennials to Boomers at www.cynthiabrian.com/online-store. 

Cynthia is available for virtual writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. Cynthia@GoddessGardener.com

www.GoddessGardener.com

  #garden,, #dogs, #dogdays,#pandemic,#bulbs,#seeds,,#outdoors,#plants,#patio,#furniture, septembergardening, #hot, gardening, #cynthiabrian, #starstyle, #goddessGardener, #growingwiththegoddessgardener, #lamorindaweekly

[goddessgardener]

Sirius is Serious

Digging Deep with Goddess Gardener, Cynthia Brian

Sirius is Serious By Cynthia Brian

“When the ancients first observed Sirius emerging as it were from the sun…they believed its power of heat to have been so excessive that…the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid.”  John Brady, 1813, a Compendious Analysis of the Calendar.

Forever the optimist, when I penned my last column, The Dog Days of Summer, http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1413/Digging-Deep-with-Cynthia-Brian-the-Goddess-Gardener-for-August-The-Dog-Days-of-Summer.html

, I intentionally left out the part of the Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1817 that indicates, “Make both hay and haste while the Sun shines, for when old Sirius takes command of the weather, he is such an unsteady, crazy dog, there is no dependence upon him.”

In the last few weeks, we have witnessed the ravages of Sirius with thousands of lightning strikes causing more than six hundred wildfires, millions of acres burned, gusty erratic winds, radically unhealthy air quality, and ash blanketing the state. More land has burned in the last few weeks than burned in all of 2019. Death and destruction are the horrific aftermaths.

Our Napa County farm was amongst the blazing landscapes. Everyone living in the valley where our vineyards and ranch reside was evacuated, yet, with firefighters engaged elsewhere battling numerous other infernos, my brother stayed behind on his tractor to cut roads, create safety zones, and clear debris. The hills and pastures burned. He saved the vineyards, barns, and our family home.

Between the brutal pandemic, perverse politics, sizzling heat, and suffocating smoke, we all have a reason to despair. To thwart a fire on my hillside, I have cut my dried perennials and annuals to ground level. The only beauty is offered by my faithful blushing naked ladies, lavender society garlic plants, and the passionflower vine that twines up my peach tree. The ground is parched. 

As I was repairing a broken water pipe so that I could irrigate this arid field, my optimism suddenly resurged. Swallowtails flitted through the smoke-filled air searching for a colorful landing place. A hummingbird settled on my string of patio lights before nuzzling my pink jacobinia growing in a cement urn. A five-lined skink, also known as a blue-tailed lizard, perched on a nearby boulder completely uninterested in my cutting and gluing efforts. I completed my project, picked a ripe tangerine from the tree, headed for the hammock, and savored the juice as it dripped down my chin. Swinging, I contemplated my future gardening desires.

This is the season to start making a list of what you want to grow for the forthcoming months. My succulent garden doesn’t need precipitation to thrive. Adding succulents to your want list is a smart idea. Bulbs are easy to grow and most offer yearly returns. Favorites to plant in late autumn for a spring showing include daffodils, tulips, freesia, ranunculus, hyacinth, Dutch iris, anemone, and crocus. Freesias are one of nature’s greatest gifts with splendid scents, a cornucopia of colors, and the ability to naturalize. Daffodils are probably the most popular and least expensive of all the bulbs. Deer, rabbits, and other critters won’t eat them, allowing their happy flowers to bloom for long stretches. When winter is nearing its finale, crocus will make you smile as they push through the soil to reveal their rich colors of blue, violet, yellow, and white. Treat yourself to a garden filled with tulips. You’ll want to buy your bulbs soon as they need to be refrigerated for at least six weeks before planting. For more impact, group colors, shapes, and sizes together in a swath. They are wonderfully interplanted with delphiniums, pansies, and other annuals or perennials for a very merry greeting. 

After a traumatic summer filled with climatic extremes, sowing seeds for a bountiful harvest of late fall to early winter salad greens and vegetables is a welcome endeavor. 

What seeds do you want? Try any of these for rapid results. Make sure to water regularly. Lettuce Spinach Arugula Swiss Chard Kale Beets Fennel Turnips Broccoli Carrot Kohlrabi Shallots Garlic Radish

With the seriousness of the sizzling Sirius and the dangerous air quality outside, stay indoors and peruse catalogs and gardening books to get ideas for fall planting. On Thursday, September 17th, I’ll be doing a ZOOM presentation, “Tips, Tricks, and Tonics in the Garden” for the Moraga Garden Club celebrating its 50th anniversary. For information on this ZOOM meeting, call Membership Chair Jane Magnani at 925-451-7031 for times to join in the conversation and presentation. We’ll keep it light, fun, and informative. 

Summer will soon be ending. This is an opportune time to check for sale and clearance items that you may want for your outdoor landscaping for next year. I have found great deals at  https://bit.ly/3aG6qOI including winter covers for patio furniture. As much as I love the heat, the chance of wildfires is omnipresent. Make sure to read my article on how to be prepared in the event of any emergency. This article could save your life. 

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1414/Are-you-ready-to-evacuate.html

  The Roman poet, Virgil described Sirius as “bringer of drought and plague to frail mortals, rises and saddens the sky with sinister light.” The veracity of his narrative has been realized in 2020.  The sea has not yet boiled and let’s hope the wine doesn’t spoil. I’m grateful to my brother for saving our ranch and thankful to the first responders and firefighters on the front lines of the flames.

Now more than ever, we need large doses of humor, hope, and healing. Let’s employ kindness and empathy for one another as we prepare for planting autumn bulbs and seeds.  A bright and beautiful spring display is only two seasons away. Embrace optimism and gratitude. 

Photos: http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1414/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Sirius-is-serious.html

  Happy gardening. Happy growing.

Cynthia Brian, The Goddess Gardener, is available for hire to help you prepare for your spring garden. Raised in the vineyards of Napa County, Cynthia is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, radio personality, speaker, media and writing coach, as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3. Tune into Cynthia’s StarStyle® Radio Broadcast at www.StarStyleRadio.com.

Buy copies of her best-selling books and receive extra freebies, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul, Growing with the Goddess Gardener, and Be the Star You Are! Millennials to Boomers at www.cynthiabrian.com/online-store. 

Cynthia is available for virtual writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures. Cynthia@GoddessGardener.com

www.GoddessGardener.com

  #garden,, #dogs, #dogdays,#pandemic,#bulbs,#seeds,,#outdoors,#plants,#patio,#furniture, septembergardening, #hot, gardening, #cynthiabrian, #starstyle, #goddessGardener, #growingwiththegoddessgardener, #lamorindaweekly

[longislandweekly-blog]

Korean chicken

The obvious beauty behind the tapas or “small plate” concept is it gives seasoned eaters a license to weave through a vast array of flavors and preparations in the context of a single restaurant, without needing help hoisting oneself from a seated position.

The multi-ethic inspired Bar Plancha in Garden City, like most tapas restaurants, is perfect for the overzealous eater—someone whose eyes are indeed bigger their stomach, but who want to taste every plate that passes by their table.

Sharing is caring at Plancha, particularly on the boards, which contain a cornucopia of mixed cheeses, meats, fruits, nuts, olives and bread. The crown jewel of the meat board is clearly the jamón ibérico, a highly prized cured meat that enrobes the mouth in silky pork unctuousness.

Chicharrón

The best bet at Plancha is most certainly those small plates, of which the restaurant offers no less than 17 options. The omnipresent jamon ibérico appears here as well, served carpaccio style with pickled red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, marconas and a drizzle of high-grade olive oil.

Beyond jamón, the can’t-miss tapas include the patatas bravas, oyster mushrooms, chicharrón, marrow bone and Korean chicken. The patatas bravas are deceptively simple fried fingerling potatoes—crisp outside, creamy inside with flecks of salt crystals upping the flavor ante, they are served with brava sauce—ketchup amped up with garlic and chili—and cumin aioli, which would be good on just about anything.

Mushrooms

Fried fingerling potatoes

The oyster mushrooms bring meaty gravitas to the vegetarian party, with robust bite and earthiness served with charred leeks, barley, quinoa and a surprisingly spicy apple vinaigrette. The chicharrón is, of course, crispy pork skins—but this dish goes way beyond mere rinds with Vadouvan French masala, an Indian curry blend with aromatics like shallots and garlic. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also served with a black garlic aioli and mint gremolata.

It’s no secret to pro eaters that the thigh is far and away the best part of the chicken—Plancha delivers with the Korean chicken, a fried thigh that packs a juicy punch, served atop citrus salad with radish and gochujang aioli, a red chili paste that at once provides sweet, savory, spicy and fermented flavors.

Marrow bone

Then there’s the marrow bone—pure, unadulterated meat butter. Plancha’s is served with fennel salsa and persimmon jam, which are fine additions, but in all honesty the bone marrow just needs itself. A sultry food item, marrow’s plush luxuriousness is best spread on crusty bread, which Plancha happily provides.

Plancha is also known for its weekend brunch scene and boasts a hard-to-beat happy hour menu.

Bar Plancha, 931 Franklin Ave., Garden City; 516-246-9459; www.barplancha.com

Bar Plancha in Garden City goes big with small plates. Long Island Weekly's Steve Mosco reviews the tapas and wine bar restaurant. The obvious beauty behind the tapas or “small plate” concept is it gives seasoned eaters a license to weave through a vast array of flavors and preparations in the context of a single restaurant, without needing help hoisting oneself from a seated position.

[thesundiaries]

Cherry Jasmine Panna Cotta

Inspired by a spring week in Paris where beige limestone and spring flowers were framed by a colorless pale grey sky. There were brief moments of blue skies and sunshine, these were spent reading on the green metal chairs that surround the pond at the Luxembourg gardens, leaning my chair back as it sunk in the pebble-y floor and toy sailboats cruised by. And there were brief moments of standing under awnings, waiting for the splattering rain and dark, smoke-colored clouds to make their way thru as I once again made a mental note to own at least one waterproof rain coat.  But mostly the sky alternated between a soft pale grey and bright blinding white, as the sun tried and failed to glare through a dense fog of omnipresent clouds. 

This swirl of grey - in the marbled skies, the dark asphalt, the smooth sidewalks and the stone buildings - could have painted a bleak picture. But it was interspersed with bright green shoots of new grass, blooming lilac trees, vivid yellow tulips, swaying sycamore trees and the rainbow colored spring produce on the markets - piles of nectarines, tangles of rhubarb and bunches of radish. Cherries are a little later on in the season but it's what we have now and it works out pretty well.

RECIPE:

CHERRY JASMINE PANNA COTTA 

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons of water, lukewarm

1 1/4 teaspoon (3.5 grams) unflavored gelatin

1 cup of plain whole milk or 2% Greek yogurt

1/2 cup of half and half or cream

1 tablespoon of loose leaf jasmine tea or 2 bags of jasmine tea

1/2 cup of water

3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup of honey

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla paste

1/2 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice

To serve: honey to taste, cherries, edible flowers

INSTRUCTIONS:

Makes 4 cup servings. Lightly coat the inside of the cups with olive or canola oil if you plan to unmold the panna cotta before serving. 

Place the lukewarm water in a small cup or bowl, add the gelatin, mix in and let sit until the gelatin softens for about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat the 1/2 cup of water until boiling, remove from the stove (or microwave) and add the jasmine tea and let steep for 5-10 minutes. Once steeped remove the tea, add the gelatin-water mixture into the tea, add honey into the tea and then mix everything until well incorporated. If necessary heat a bit so that everything dissolves well. 

In a larger bowl, whisk together the yogurt, half and half or cream, the tea and gelatin mixture, the lemon and the vanilla paste. Pour the mixture into a mold or cups and chill in fridge for at least 3 hours for small cups and ideally overnight (~8 hours) for larger molds.

If you want to unmold, fill a baking dish with 1-inch of boiling water. Dip the panna cotta mold or cups in it for a few seconds, and then flip it out.

Before serving top with fresh cherries, edible flowers and honey.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Whether you use half and half or cream, this panna cotta still turns out lovely and velvety, mostly due to the yogurt (which should definitely be at least 2%). These are fairly lightly sweetened so serve with honey so everyone can sweeten to taste. Lastly if you don't have cherries, strawberries, rhubarb, stone fruit or other berries would be wonderful too. But the cherries are quite nice. 

[agrotonomy]

Purple Kohlrabi growing outdoors on a Tower Garden during the cold months of winter in Ibiza, Spain 💜🌿

Kohlrabi is another cultivar of the Brassica family such as kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, arugula, watercress, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts. Like all its cousins, Kohlrabi can be considered as a superfood (as long as it is eaten raw) as it is packed with nutrients and antioxidants!

We highly recommend growing Kohlrabi and eating it raw instead of cooking it. Kohlrabi just needs to be peeled and either grated or sliced nicely using a mandolin. It has the crunchy texture of radish with an omnipresent pallet reminder of cabbage flavor. We love to grow & eat Kohlrabi!

Kohlrabi is not root vegetable since the edible part of the plant is a bulbous, modified stem which grows above the ground. Therefore it is perfect for the Tower Garden!

For more information, please read our blog post: Growing Kohlrabi on a Tower Garden

[agrotonomy]

Yes! We love growing Kohlrabi on our Tower Gardens💜🌱. Not only are they easy to grow, but they are delicious!

Kohlrabi is another cultivar of the Brassica family such as kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, arugula, watercress, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts. Like all its cousins, Kohlrabi can be considered as a superfood (as long as it is eaten raw) as it is packed with nutrients and antioxidants!

We highly recommend growing Kohlrabi and eating it raw instead of cooking it. Kohlrabi just needs to be peeled and either grated or sliced nicely using a mandolin. It has the crunchy texture of radish with an omnipresent pallet reminder of cabbage flavor. We love to grow & eat Kohlrabi!

Kohlrabi is not root vegetable since the edible part of the plant is a bulbous, modified stem which grows above the ground. Therefore it is perfect for the Tower Garden!

For more information, please read our blog post: Growing Kohlrabi on a Tower Garden