When you’ve got lemons–so the saying goes–make lemonade. The same applies to eggplant. We’ve got plenty of it in the garden right now. In fact the plants themselves have long given up trying to stand upright, they are so weighted down with fruit. They just spread themselves on the ground. (Note to self: stake the [...]
Entries Tagged as 'eggplant'
Okra Gone Wild
August 10th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Recipes, garden
It’s that time of year when we are racing to harvest our okra. It grows so fast in the heat and humidity here in the District of Columbia that we have to check our okra plants twice a day. You can practically hear the okra pods getting bigger.
But my purpose here is not to bend [...]
Tags: basil·coconut oil·eggplant·okra
Peppers & Eggplants
May 6th, 2010 · 1 Comment · garden
This week has been hot here in the District of Columbia, plenty hot enough to move the eggplant and pepper seedlings I started in flats out into their new beds in the garden.
This is more peppers and eggplants than we’ve ever planted before. But there’s still plenty of room in these beds. Should I start [...]
Germination!
March 14th, 2010 · 2 Comments · garden
The miracle of seeds sprouting never gets old. Only the annual ritual of showing photographs of seeds sprouting gets old.
Did you know that seeds are actually little embryos, waiting to be born? All they need are the right conditions: moisture and warmth. Some, like these tomatoes, need more warmth than others. I sprouted these in seed [...]
Tags: eggplant·germination·peppers·tomatoes
Kids Make West African Eggplant Dip
November 6th, 2009 · No Comments · Ethnic, Recipes, kids
Here’s further proof that great food doesn’t have to be complicated. This delicious dip relies on just three ingredients. It’s a great way to introduce kids to eggplant, a vegetable that even some adults find difficult to get used to.
The preparation is reminiscent of Middle Eastern baba ganoush, except that here the eggplant is fried [...]
Fried Okra, Eggplant And Green Tomato
September 21st, 2009 · 4 Comments · Recipes, garden
I normally don’t require a recipe to fry my okra. But I took a cruise through my cookbook library to consider my options and ran across this intriguing entry from Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking. The so-called lowcountry refers to the area around Charleston, South Carolina, and its coastal plain. It boasts it’s own culture and [...]
Tags: eggplant·fry·green tomatoes·okra
Preserving Eggplant In Olive Oil
September 3rd, 2009 · 14 Comments · Recipes, garden
Thank the genius who discovered that eggplant (other things, too) can be stored almost indefinitely when covered with olive oil. My wife normally does not care for eggplant–she especially dislikes the texture–but we served this preserved eggplant at our wedding and have held a special fondness for it ever since. I like to pull out [...]
Tags: eggplant·olive oil·preserving
A New Season on the Farm
February 21st, 2009 · 4 Comments · Uncategorized
This is the first in what we hope will be a regular series of articles about Leigh Hauter and his CSA operation at Bull Run Farm in The Plains, Virginia. Leigh has been farming in the Washington area for 15 years, first at the Cheseapeake Bay Foundation’s Clagett Farm in Prince George’s County. He [...]
Tags: broccoli·Bull Run Farm·CSA·eggplant·local farming·peppers·seeds·spring·tomatoes
Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
October 13th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
This is a perfect time of year for roasted vegetables. Making lasagna with them can be quite a process. But there’s a payoff in the end: lots of food, either for a crowd or to freeze for later.
This particular lasagna is time consuming but not difficult. All it really takes is a little knife [...]
Pickling Marathon
October 1st, 2008 · 4 Comments · Uncategorized
I will be giving a Powerpoint presentation on “Pickling for Dinner” later this month at the Historical Society of Washington, DC. That means getting very busy pickling just about everything in the garden and taking photos. Our Asian eggplants are heavy with fruit…
For our wedding reception about a century ago, my wife and [...]
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
