Category Archives: garden

Blown away by waterlilies!

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Of course I’ve always liked waterlilies. Who wouldn’t? But now I think I understand Monet’s fascination with them. The waterlilies at Villa Taranto are heavenly!

These lily pads, genus Victoria Cruziana, are native to the Amazon, were maybe six feet across, the largest members of the water lily family. Someone neglected to tell those flowers that they were supposed to be blooming in June and July, not now. No complaints, though, we were glad that some were still blooming.

Other waterlilies occupied outdoor pools, looking for all the world like they were waiting for Monet to come along and paint them.

Villa Taranto

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When you’re in a place for only a few days… a place where you could stay for weeks and still not see and do everything you might want to… you have to be picky. Villa Taranto was not on our list. Not that we didn’t want to go. Of course we did. But we intended to go to the Borromeo islands, which have their own amazing gardens, and, well, I didn’t want to lay too many gardens, one after another after another, on my patient husband. But the host at our hotel insisted that Villa Taranto was worth the journey and could be easily combined with a short drive to Orta San Giulio, one of (she said) Italy’s most beautiful towns.

So, we went. And we’re glad we did. Villa Taranto could be the most beautiful garden we’ve ever seen. That’s true, even though the day we went there was rainy.

I’m trying not to overload you with pictures here, so I’ve tried to leave out pictures of individual specimens. That last one–that single, lovely tree–is a Cornus Controversa ‘Variegata,’ in the same family as the more familiar dogwoods. It was too good not to include. And, oh, the dahlias! Here are a couple.

I wanted to say that I’ve saved the best for last, but the fact is, it’s all so good there is no ‘best.’ Instead, let me put it this way: I have so many lovely photos of gorgeous waterlilies that they will need a post of their own.

Ciao, till soon!

Help! I’m trapped in the kitchen!

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I think this may be the penance I have to pay for escaping on a vacation to Spain during harvest season.

It all started innocently enough with a five-cent wine sale at our local big-box alcoholic-beverage store. Buy one bottle of certain specific wines, and you can get a second bottle for five cents. Now, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I am not one to turn away from a bargain easily. And besides, since we were preparing for our trip to Spain at the time, I had a hankering for a good Rioja. But how could I know if this particular Rioja that was on sale would be any good? Never fear, they told me. If you don’t like the wine, just bring back the unopened second bottle, and we’ll refund half your money.

This seemed like a good deal. We bought the wine.

It was pretty bad.

So we returned the second bottle, got half our money back, and were left with an almost-full bottle of wine in our refrigerator that no one wanted to drink, but we were too conscious of waste to throw out. “Never mind,” I told Dan. “I’ll use it to make coq au vin.” This traditional French recipe calls for a bottle of red wine to cook the chicken in, and it doesn’t have to be your best wine. Your leftover undrinkable Rioja will do just fine.

A little bit of research–this was tricky–led to a couple of recipes for coq au vin that did not call for pork parts. It also led to some pretty interesting ideas for side dishes: a hash of Brussels sprouts and leeks, and something delicious-looking called “smashed potatoes.” I needed leeks anyway for the chicken recipe, so I bought a couple more, along with some potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and now I was committed.

Only problem was that our garden was producing tomatoes about as fast as dandelions shoot seeds; there were more cucumbers hiding under the cucumber leaves than we had thought possible; several fat zucchini were working up the bulk for sumo wrestling, and our delicate purple-flowered eggplant plants had finally set fruit.

The refrigerator was beginning to resemble a hoarder’s closet. And I’m not sure I can escape.

I made coq au vin from a whole bird–meadow-raised and purchased at our farmers market from Rossotti Ranch. This was quite good but impossible to finish before we went away, so into the freezer it went. I made Brussels sprouts hash and smashed potatoes–both a bit of a disappointment, and into the freezer went these leftovers too. I made ratatouille, which had to be finished, and seemed to call for brown rice; and I made endless helpings of cucumber salad and cucumbers with yogurt,and tomato salad.

And no, I may never get out of the kitchen.

Today’s garden harvest

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Things are beginning to get under control in the garden. Almost.

Well, I didn’t harvest any of the arugula or the basil, which I probably should have. And I didn’t scrummage around through the bean patch, either. It’s the beginning of the end of tomato season, alas. But on the other hand, despite being cruelly crowded out by the green beans, the basil, and the zucchini, the peppers are now starting to come in. This is our first.

Dealing with the garden, part 2

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You know the garden situation is getting out of hand when you turn down an invitation from friends to go out for dinner because you *must* *keep* *eating* *salads*.

Really, really good salads.

But today for lunch I made a zucchini frittata with one of the (er, many) garden zucchinis. Thanks to my friend Vicki Rowland for the idea!

Zucchini Frittata

Ingredients

  • about a half of a medium onion, sliced thin and then roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Olive oil, for sauteing
  • 1 medium zucchini, * thinly sliced into rounds
  • about half a red pepper, thinly sliced into rounds and then roughly chopped (quartered, perhaps)
  • a bunch of chopped herbs from the garden: oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil
  • 6 eggs
  • a tablespoon or two of milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan
  • 1/2 cup grated mozzarella

Ingredient note: 

* Our “medium” zucchini is equivalent to someone else’s “large” zucchini. Our large zucchini can be used for batting practice.

Directions

Preheat the broiler.

If you haven’t already thinly sliced the zucchini and the red pepper, I’d suggest using a mandoline. It’s really fast and easy!

Heat the olive oil in a medium nonstick saute pan on the stove. Add the onion and saute till transparent. Add the garlic. Saute for a short time and then add the herbs, the sliced zucchini, and the sliced red pepper. Cook until the zucchini is tender, but not cooked through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Blend eggs in a blender with a little bit of milk and some salt and pepper.

Pour the egg mixture into saute pan and let it sit for a minute or three, or until there isn’t much loose egg left in the pan, or until you don’t want to cook the bottom any more without cooking the top too. Add grated Parmesan and mozzarella on top, and place pan in the broiler for a minute or two–until the top is beautifully brown.

Take pan out of broiler, let it cool and set in the pan for 5 minutes. When cool invert a plate on top of pan and turn over. Take photographs (alas, I didn’t–but I should have!). Slice and serve.

The problem with the garden these days

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Since there’s not enough sunny garden area around our house for growing vegetables, that’s what we use the community garden for. And again this year, we’ve been lucky enough to be given one of the unclaimed plots as well. Despite this wealth of sunny land, we had to pack things kind of close in order to fit in everything we wanted to grow: tomatoes and cucumbers, of course; arugula, basil, peppers, eggplants, broccoli, zucchini (that space hog!), and this year kohlrabi and beans. A lot to grow in a limited space, and let’s just say that it’s our own private jungle out there. The vegetable jungle.

And it’s finally that wonderful time of year when the tomatoes are ripening. I am eating two tomatoes a day–two wonderful, sweet, homegrown garden tomatoes–and I’m falling behind.

Can you see the problem? The bowl on the right contains yesterday’s harvest. The one in front, the day before. The one on the left, the old ones we have to use up first.

Tomato salad for dinner, anyone?

 

My sweet little Garden City Beautification Award

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All unbeknownst to Dan and me, my mother submitted our garden to the Newton Community Pride organization, a nonprofit loosely affiliated with our city government, for an award. Each year, Newton Community Pride gives out a number of these. So behold, last week we got a letter in the mail saying that we’d won!

Our first thought was that there must have been some kind of mistake, and we’d have to give it back.

But no. They read me the description over the phone. “A steep hill was terraced into a gorgeous triple-decker garden complete with waterfall.” There aren’t too many like that. Definitely had to be ours.

 

 

Tonight I went with my mother and my delighted landscape architect Vicki Hibbard to the awards ceremony. Where I was presented with a professional-looking certificate suitable for framing, and my picture was taken for all posterity.