by Susan | Jul 23, 2014 | LB Tutorial: Growing Food
Are you ready to harvest some herbs? By now the herbs we started in the spring should be growing strongly and have good depth of flavor. Today let’s use them in a very simple way… herb butter! You can find herb butter in many restaurants across the nation used on steak, baked potatoes or simply spread on bread.
Ingredients –
- 1/2 cup real butter (should be soft but not melted)
- 2 Tb fresh parsley
- 2 Tb fresh rosemary
A word about butter… I love Costco butter in the big 1 lb packages as it has a great flavor to start with. I also like the Irish butter from Trader Joe’s. It is about 1/2 the cost of the same Irish butter from our local specialty market. Kerrigold is the brand used in the photos.
If you haven’t already, harvest the needed herbs from your herb garden taking care to leave some on the plant. You will want to use only the leaves not the stems or flowers. Use clean scissors or kitchen shears to harvest.
Don’t have enough on your plant? Don’t worry, fresh herbs from the farmer’s market or grocery store will work just fine. Using the kitchen shears or a chef’s knife chop the herbs finely.
Gently stir the herbs into the butter with a spoon.
Chill in a decorative dish or shallow pan (great for using a small scoop to serve). Here I wrapped the butter in plastic wrap to shape into a log for easy cutting and sharing. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before using. This butter is great for making a day ahead for better flavor.
After your meat is grilled (or roasted if you are using chicken) simply place a scoop or slice of your fabulous herb butter as you serve and enjoy!
Here are a couple of combinations for other butters.
- basil ribbons and garlic (crushed) — garlic bread
- oregano and basil and marjoram — Pasta Primavera with fresh veg
- cilantro and sweet hot peppers — steak fajitas
- sea salt and oregano — hot grilled corn or other vegs
Use the same process outlined above and get cooking! We hope you enjoy making herb butter. Please share your creative cooking herb butters with us in the comments.
Up next is tomato basil bruschetta, YUM!
by Susan | Jul 18, 2014 | gardening
“Landscape archaeology is the study of the ways in which people in the past constructed and used the environment around them. Landscape archaeology is inherently multidisciplinary in its approach to the study of culture, and is used by both pre-historical, classic, and historic archaeologists. The key feature that distinguishes landscape archaeology from other archaeological approaches to sites is that there is an explicit emphasis on the study of the relationships between material culture, human alteration of land/cultural modifications to landscape, and the natural environment. The study of landscape archaeology (also sometimes referred to as the archaeology of the cultural landscape) has evolved to include how landscapes were used to create and reinforce social inequality and to announce one’s social status to the community at large.”
Above is the definition of Garden archeology or Landscape archaeology as defined by Wikipedia. I find it interesting that the evolution of this type of archeology includes how the garden/landscape was about social status. Growing up I always thought of people with gardens as poor. They had to grow their own food, not just go buy it. Somehow, in my mind, it was because they didn’t have the money, not that they would do it because they could. My Mom experienced this growing up. Their meals consisted of what her dad could catch, or they could catch as children. She grew to dislike clams, mussels and fish because that was all they ever got to eat. We (as kids) grew up eating meat, never fish or shellfish because of my mom’s view of what was acceptable and her idea of success. Now I view fish and shellfish as amazing and expensive and home grown produce as the freshest and best way to eat. Funny how the pendulum swings…
Now I know as I start to talk about the garden here at Beach Ave we aren’t talking true ‘archeology’. But this simple garden does have history and the evidence of its past can either be embraced or discarded at my whim. There is no definite historical significance to the garden here but there is a history of a place that was cultivated, planned, and enjoyed. Knowing that someone planned the ponds, put fish in them for grand-kids to fish for and places to swim adds a close emotional element as I plan their restoration.
I regret that I didn’t really try to understand or explore my last garden. The original owner (not the ones I bought from) had built a gazebo with Chinese characters around the walls, a concrete pond with waterfall, and an old oriental cart as decoration left out in the garden. Now I wish I would have found something out about the history. Those things are still there but their history is unknown. Is it important? It is not? What do you think?
Here are some pictures of existing ponds and elements in their current state at the beach garden. I am excited to see and share the changes and growth of a new garden on old soil.
by Susan | Jul 16, 2014 | gardening, Plantswoman Design
Working in my once neglected garden I feel a little like a garden archeologist. Yes there really is such a thing. The garden I have now was once someone’s favorite project. The man who used to live here 15 years ago spent time creating this garden. He dug 3 ponds, had an elevated water aqueduct that spilled into a concrete waterwheel. An arching bridge past by it so the observer could enjoy the water wheel. It had two docks with a fountain in one of the ponds. I heard from my neighbor Jeanne that the gardener had died just 3 weeks after she moved in. In the following years the garden was left on its own. The ponds filled with algae, the stream beads were choked with weeds and alders, the aqueduct collapsed and wheel stopped turning. By then, Jeannie was engaged in her own project of remodel and garden. In the years to follow the garden she created grew and flourished, while the garden next door fell back into uncultivated earth again.
Have you ever wanted to borrow a garden? Kinda like borrowing a fancy dress for a party. You love it even though it’s not really yours but want to have the look for an evening. As I look over the acres of grass that is my ‘garden’ that is how I feel about Jeannie’s garden.
Jeannie’s garden is amazing. She has created a traditional cottage style garden with good bones. The garden by the house is lovely with aspen, hydrangeas and fruits with a small dock over the water. When they bought the small lot across the drive she created another stunning garden. Structure and texture are evident in all the beds with evergreen shrubs, arbors, garden house, and trellises. Pathways are gravel and mulch with care taken to maintain the edges.
She has beautiful plant combinations and has created an amazing garden of colors and textures with quiet (and not so quiet) places to sit and rest.
I drive by this lovely place every day, I mow next to it and have been invited to stroll its paths. I enjoy seeing her unusual plants, blooming things, and passionate use of color. She’s in her garden at 6 am and again at 8pm (her husband retired recently and she told him he could sleep until 7:30 then she wanted his help in the garden). She came over the other day and said, “Let me see what you have done.” Funny I didn’t think it was much but she immediately said it already looks like a garden. Indeed it does. I am so lucky to be next to a kindred spirit. We will watch together as it grows and changes. I’m sure we will share plants, ideas and failures.
Until next time grow on.
by Susan | Jul 11, 2014 | LB Tutorial: Growing Food, Little Bytes
Today we are going to plant beans in the lettuce pot. Jen’s lettuce and spinach did really well but now they are tall and straggly. The leaves no longer are mild and sweet but are starting to get bitter. We pulled them out and broke up the soil to prepare it for planting beans. The soil in the container still has lots of good organic matter and nutrients left for another crop.
Jen placed the beans in a circle around the edges and left a place in the middle for a cucumber plant. The seeds around the edges get pushed into the soil to about the first knuckle on Jen’s finger. Then she gently pushed the soil over the holes and firmed it down.
Her family loves cucumbers so we took a trip to the nursery. Even though the variety of starts on the shelves is dwindling we found pumpkins and cucumbers. The cucumbers have two seeds in each 4 inch pot. They are a little overgrown being about 20 inches long with blossoms and even a baby cucumber. If they were smaller I would gently tease them apart and give them each their own space about 12 inches apart. Since these guys are already so big their roots are very intertwined so I will leave them undisturbed except to gently rough up the edges. The pot is between the other two so the vines can scramble over to the other pots as it grows.
While we were there Jen added a cage around the tomato. It is growing well and needed some support to keep growing upwards. The basil is growing below it.
We also gave some fertilizer to the tomato and the cucumber starts. We used a fertilizer that is for blossom and fruit. Following the directions we mixed the fertilizer with water and added it to the containers.
Can’t wait to see what happens!
You can put together a quick container for fresh beans too. Take a look at THIS post to put your pot together and get out there!!!
by Susan | Jul 9, 2014 | garden food
As many of you know I just moved into a new house. It is wonderful with acres of grass (read between the lines –no garden beds). Before I left my old house I had already planted a vegetable garden. The email yesterday from the new owners said “thank you for the raspberries, rhubarb, arugula, and peas”. I do miss the fresh things from my old garden!! I usually fix meals for one or two, lots of family on occasion but on a day to day basis just for me. Can I just tell you that I have liquified so many bags of store bought lettuce and turned carrots and cucumbers into limp messy things. I don’t eat store bought produce fast enough to keep it fresh and the veg garden has been the perfect solution. I can simply get lettuce by the hand full instead of by the bag, one or two little sweet carrots leaving the rest in the ground, or a handful of beans and a little sweet onion. So great!
Even with all this grass and being a little late in the season I thought, I can do a veg garden. Here is a little trick I learned along time ago and it still works today. This method uses cardboard as a barrier between soil and other grass, and weeds. As the cardboard breaks down it breaks down the grass underneath it also. It also gets rid of weeds that are there. Sadly it will not get rid of horsetail or morning glory but most perennial weeds will be dead. I know many great gardeners on Bainbridge Island that have reclaimed all their garden beds this way. For my use the veg garden will not put down deep roots and the 18 inches of soil will be sufficient. In the fall I can spread it out or turn it under and use the beds again.
First I spread down a thick layer of cardboard (Lots of moving boxes :)). Then I added some metal edging recycled from a precast concrete company (has to look good). The a couple of big scoops of great organic soil from my favorite supplier (Short’s family farm magical soil) and presto (or Shazam)I have a veg bed ready to plant.
I started this project on July 4th and the nursery’s are empty of all veg starts except tomatoes and basil. I grab tomatoes and go home to look for seeds. I looked at the packets and most of them are 60 – 90 days to maturity. We have had a great summer so far with warm weather. That means maturity by September 30 and that is totally feasible so why not? Yes some things are cool weather crops so lettuce, spinach, and arugula may have to be picked fast or shaded. The pumpkins will grow fast in the warmth (81 today), and basil LOVES heat. Beans, beets, and zucchini are good anytime. I got three 1 gallon tomatoes with fruit on them already, so it looks like a garden right away. They should be ready to harvest first. It is interesting that I’m really between seasons at this point. The spring starts are gone and our winter veg starts aren’t here yet. I never really realized that happened. Definitely a “Who knew” moment!
So today I planted ghost, fairytale, and halloween pumpkins. Basil and three tomatoes (black kilm, roma, and century). Rustic and regular arugula, Catalina and dolce vita spinach, flashy trout back and redina lettuce, and super sugar snap peas. The beans are tricolor and the beets are gourmet blend. I found a couple of seeds in a packet of romensco zucchini and tri-color patty pan squash. Remember that the packets tell us the average time to maturity. Even so, I really like to eat the babies, which means I don’t have to wait for full maturity. Small zucchini and squash are best and don’t forget fried squash blossoms.
I am amazed in my industry (gardening) how many people don’t do vegetable gardening. It is silly really. I will keep you posted as to what happens. What vegetables are hard for you to live without?
And just in case you feel you need special equipment or organizers for your seeds it’s a lie. Here’s my nifty seed organizer…
by Susan | Jun 27, 2014 | Plantswoman Design
Finally the dust is beginning to settle from our move earlier this June. What I am now affectionately calling the beach shack is starting to look like home. It is hard to grasp that every inch of this house needs some sort of work. Every appliance, most electrical, most floors, and most windows. The hot water heater is leaking and the heating system non-existent. When I feel overwhelmed I put on my boots and go into the ‘garden’. Well there isn’t a garden per se, just a massive expanse of lawn and weeds. It for some reason doesn’t feel as intimidating as the house. I know that it is just a matter of sweat, time and patience. All within my grasp.
When I look out my window now I see green, I hear birdsong and water running. The 3 1/2 acres of green I now own just needs tending. I need to clear a path to the beach, clear away the pond weed and horsetail so I can see the water and beat back the blackberry bushes that have overtaken what plants are still struggling to survive there. The making of a garden is a much less urgent task than the replacement of faulty wiring but for me it will keep me focused on the reason I am here… the beach.
I have helped clients on the waterfront with beach gardens for many years. It’s always one of my favorite places to garden. There is an inherent challenge with the salt air and the wind exposure. Soil can be blown or washed away. Delicate foliage can be burned by the extreme sun or wind. Things have to be a little tougher on the beach. Now I have a bit of beach of my own. It will be fun to experiment with growing things outside what I already know. To try new things, learn about frost pockets and evaporation first hand. I hope you enjoy these first photos of the new house. It is and will always be more about the land and less about the house (though I will get that unwieldy beast under control as well). Obviously there is much to be done here. Join me on my adventure into transforming this garden… again.
Here is the house and surrounding “gardens”… 
And here’s the blank canvas in a shade of green. I get a little giddy just thinking about the possibilities…
As if the canvas of green grass wasn’t enough here is my beach. Did you catch it? MY beach!
So, there you have it, my beach shack. I’ve already started making little modifications here and there and I will keep posting updates as we go along.
by Susan | Jun 25, 2014 | Plantswoman Design
It was hard to do but I did it. I said goodbye to my garden…
It can be hard to say goodbye to children, parents and homes but it’s all a part of life. Ultimately we manage and at times even learn to embrace it. For a plantswoman, leaving a garden is also hard. The garden is like a child, you plant things as babies and watch them grow. Or like a parent as they teach you things you never knew, like trying to grow something different or test out a new skill (like air layering or starting something from seed). The garden also teaches you something about yourself and those around you (“you are crazy to grow a tree from a seed”).
My garden was my outdoor home. When I walked through it felt like it was greeting me, inviting me to sit and contemplate, to eat, to play, and of course to work. Renovation of a garden is similar to the renovation of a house. Take down that wall, get rid of that ugly thing, try a new color here. When I moved in this garden was a wire fence, five different kinds of gravel, landscape timbers, posts and ropes and junipers seemingly too numerous to count. A rotting deck was around the pond and basalt rocks were used as a ground cover to hold the upper bank. In the eight years I lived there fences came down, decking was replaced by flagstone, a new ledge-stone wall over flowing with plants replaced the basalt rock and we invited a lovely family of koi into the newly cleaned and maintained pond. One year my brother was married in the gazebo (rotting decking and railings replaced after a good pressure washing and annuals planted around). Then two years ago my sister was married there as well (lower pond wall built, leveled and lawn added to sit fifty people on it). Events have shaped the garden, along with trials of new plants and new methods. I had a greenhouse built under one of the decks so I would have someplace to overwinter the red banana and other tropicals I love to experiment with. A fabulous pond was built below the house by my then husband and his friend, both employee’s of a company with the necessary big equipment. A bad winter took down some pyramadalis around the shop and I replaced them with bamboo because it is so much more beautiful.
My small 1/2 acre lot never felt that way.
(I know you are getting it now)
Saying goodbye to my Garden was hard.
I am lucky that the people who purchased my house were very enthused about the garden. One of the owners grew up with a mother as a florist and was surrounded by plants. He was so excited by all the things blooming in the garden and the transition from week to week as the sale process took a long time to complete. The quote in the email I got today was “We love it here so much we don’t want to leave’.
Questions about watering, the ponds and the plants are all welcome because I still feel invested in that garden. I love it and want to see it continue to flourish. Things I started as young plants will become mature, the Davidia tree will bloom the first time and ground covers will become a lovely mat all for them… and that’s okay. It feels good to leave a beautiful space behind for someone else to continue to work, enjoy, and harvest.
The day I left for the last time I walked through and said goodbye. I touched plants and wished them growth and beauty. I remembered when I planted them and the love and care I gave them. I remembered successes and failures, good times and bad, love and hatred (slugs and morning glory). The stories that garden could tell could go on and on but maybe these pictures will help tell the story.
by Susan | May 21, 2014 | Plantswoman Design
I know I’m getting ready to move house, but I can’t help it. Yes some of my current garden will come with me and many things are already out of the ground and into pots but there are always new plants out there waiting for me to buy and grow. Things I’ve been searching for for years that suddenly become available. But what to do with them? I shouldn’t put them in the ground just to uproot them gain in a few weeks. I got it! I’ll clean out my containers that I usually fill with annuals and plant my new little finds. It is easy to tuck the small starts into spaces in the garden and just as easy to tuck them into containers too. With a little effort they will look just as great as the annuals and be easy to move.
This is a container on my deck that had an upright evergreen chamaecyparis in the center with two heuchera frosted velvet on both sides. I left those in place, removed an astelia ‘westland’ that did not make it through the winter and added Gladiolus tristis for a little height, Bergenia Tubby Andrews, a variegated pig squeak (hate that name), and trailing snapdragon Asarina procumbens. These make a nice contrast to the Heuchera. There is a small white heather also left in the mix that will continue to grow and be there again in the fall adding texture to the fall container.
This container had a Cimicifuga Hillside Black Beauty in it. I added another bergenia Tubby Andews, a Corydalis ochruleuca, (one of my favorite corydalis white blossom, ferny blue tinged foliage), and Aurinia saxatillis “Dudley Nevill Variegated’. The combination of White and Black with a little Variegated White Yellow and Green make a fun combination. The Aurinia is a variegated ‘basket of gold’, often planted as an annual, liking dry rocky soil it probably will be an annual in the container. Once I get to my new place I can tuck it someplace more suited to its growth habit and see if it survives.
This container has a sedum ‘Black Jack’. I added a Tancetum hardjanii (the silver leaved spilling plant), Honey Bells, (Hermannia verticillata) the orange bells hanging on side. and Sisyrinchium striatum ‘Aunt May’. This variegated iris relative is so great but hard to find and hard to keep growing. It is hardy to mid teens but needs divided when it gets to be a large clump so it keeps growing. The honey bells plant is a sweet smelling annual.
Here is a picture of the blossom as it starts to bloom.
Succulents are very popular right now and I have several containers with succulents. I could not resist this happy little Jovibarba heuffelii ‘Xanthoheuff’ . Wow what a big name for a sweet little hardy, bright green succulent. It is already spreading. I can’t wait to see how it grows.
I love the small specialty nurseries in my area. Their selection of unusual things is better than any big nursery you will find. Their will to survive must be based on their love of plants not on the big income they get. They sell mail order and have open days to sell to the public. I’m looking forward to doing a post on small specialty nurseries soon. In the meantime check out these links for just some of the ones I love.
Sequimrareplants.com, farreachesfarms.com, sundquistnursery.com.
by Susan | May 7, 2014 | garden travel, Traveling Plantswoman
This weekend I ‘ran away from home’ again to the Soleduc River in the Olympic National forest. It was an unbelievably beautiful weekend with a mix of sun and showers. Though it was not warm, Spring was still in evidence and showing all the fresh green that we so look for after winter. This is the time that the leaves are coming out and they are so light green they seem to glow in the forest. Later in the year the same trees are various colors of green but never as vibrant as they are right now. By the time summer winds around they are tired and saturated colors of green change to bright yellows and oranges throughout the fall. In the Pacific Northwest we have a lot of evergreens but we also have a million shades of green.
Can you spot the new snow on the peaks? It was 41 at the river this morning after a couple of days of 48 – 52 degrees. It doesn’t stop the relentless march of spring.
Trails through the woods have unrehearsed vignettes to view, proving that nature can be the best teacher.
The contrast between hard and soft and dark and light is everywhere. The fresh green pops with the darker colors of decaying wood on the sides.
Few designers can make this happen ‘in captivity’.
Native Trillium grandiflorum (Wake Robin), Oxalis oreganum (Wood Sorrel), tiarella cordifolia, (foam flower), and Dicentra formosa (bleeding heart)
Check out the recipes here at Wild and Slow (click on the link and then choose the wild edible you want to explore, e.g. wild sorrel). Sorry I sometimes get distracted by other posts from other lovers of things that grow wild.
Small wood violets (viola orbiculata) with rain drops.
Devils club (Oplopanax horridus)
Even Devils club (Oplopanax horridus) looks lovely and soft this time of year.
The Ferns are just unrolling and sending up sharp spires of green with soft fuzz on the stalks.
One of the most amazing things as I left the accounting world and started my own design business is that Spring happens one day at a time. I was amazed to see every day something new happening. Many of us (and me at that time) look up from the computer (desk, cash register, book, etc) and say ‘Wow, how beautiful! It’s Spring” . When really it happened just a little more yesterday, last week, and the week before that. If you find yourself being surprised by Spring’s sudden appearance I encourage you look a little closer, a little sooner, and a little more often. The beauty that surrounds us gives us the spark that makes each day worth living and it’s just waiting for us to see it.
Today’s challenge… Get outside today and take a snapshot of the beautiful nature around you. Send it to us at info(at)plantswomandesign(dot)com, we would love to see it!
