Toasted Slaw & Cheese!

Hey Everyone,

Simple and Delicious!

I don't know if anyone has ever tried these but I found the recipe a few weeks back and it has been screaming fix me ever since!  Days have come and gone where the simplest of a toasted cheese sandwich has stuck with me as something I haven't had in a while.  As most Fridays go, I wanted something easy and fast and the fridge seemed to be barren of anything remotely resembling a left over meal.  Its time had come.

For ease in preparation, I did purchase a ready - made slaw mix and found the one Kroger's carries with the kale to have worked quite well.  Yes Rick, you did eat kale and loved it!  Nobody spill the beans on that one, our little secret!

Ingredients:

1 cup coleslaw mix per sandwich, no dressing.  The pre-packaged one with kale blended flavors quite well with the Havarti cheese.

Sprouts - Optional

1- 2 slices of Havarti cheese per sandwich

Sourdough bread - thick slices

Honey mustard

Margarine

Directions:

Mix together the slaw mix and sprouts if using.  I left the sprouts off as I didn't have any fresh in the jar and wasn't sure which ones would provide the best mix of flavor with the kale.

Spread margarine on the outside of sandwich slices.  Spread the opposite side with a light covering of honey mustard.  Place the slaw mixture on top of the honey mustard and top with Havarti cheese.

Skillet grilling on medium heat took about 2 - 2 1/2 minutes per side for the cheese to melt thoroughly and the butter to brown.

Dinner was delicious..........  Does anyone have some ideas what type of side dish would go well with this?

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

YES! Steps and another Picnic Table!

Last weekend Austin Flippo made our dream come true...we got a set of steps put in the terrace at the garden! We've been wishing, whining and wailing for ages and then they appeared.  Or at least that is how it may have appeared to anyone who wasn't at the May 17th workday.

 

Thanks very much goes to Austin Flippo for choosing us as his Eagle Scout Project and for all the hard workers in his Scout Troop. They did a great job! And thanks also to Rusty Simpson and John Purcell with Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs for finding a way to make our dream come true.

 

Actually, the construction of the steps wasn't that easy as there was a lot of hard work to dig out the spots for the steps and then move those heavy slabs of stone into place. I truly love how the steps are so broad and easy to walk on - you don't have to worry about where to place your feet, even when carrying a basket. Even better, now we don't have to worry about tumbling down the hill when it is wet.

We had been wishing we had a second picnic table to give us more seating when we have events in the garden. Voila! Now we do. Luckily for us, they are positioned so one is in morning shade and the other in afternoon shade.  Good thing since summer is here.

I didn't watch how the table was made since I was busy doing work day tasks but it was amazing how fast it came together from just a pile of lumber to a finished product.

It made our workday end on a wonderful note.

Yes - the steps are off set from the gate on purpose.
They didn't want to accidentally puncture the water line.

 

It's Tea Time!

Hey Everyone,

One of the best ways to enhance the growth of your plants while fostering long-term soil fertility is with the use of compost teas.  For organic gardeners, these teas are excellent tools for providing the bacterial nutrition that vegetables seem to love.  The beneficial microbes and organisms found in these teas also work hard as a first line of defense against many of the pathogens that can cause disease.  In addition, they work extremely well at keeping many pesky insects at bay.

There are several applications where compost and/or worm teas can be effective:

Both effective and inexpensive!

• A seed treatment - Soaking seeds in a solution of compost tea prior to planting inoculates your seeds against harmful fungi and speeds the germination process. 
• Transplant time - When the time comes to move plants up in pot size or transplant directly into the garden, this is a wonderful opportunity to use a compost tea solution.  The tea's not only provide a healthy dose of nutritious food but go a long way in preventing transplant shock as well as disease resistance, getting your plants off to a fast and healthy start.
• Foliar applications - Whenever you need nutrition to plants in a hurry, a foliar application of tea gets the nutrition there immediately.  Foliar applications are also an excellent method for awakening your plants defense mechanisms early.
• Root and/or soil drenches - Using compost teas as a root and/or soil drench promotes healthy plant development and growth as well as long-term soil fertility.  
• Standard fertilization - Compost teas are wonderful as part of a standard fertilization practice. Routine applications not only keep plants healthy and happy but are also known to increase both flower and fruit production.  

For the home gardener, there are two simple methods for brewing compost tea with an aerated system providing the best quality brew.  For those who may be interested a link is below to a previous post with instructions on how to make the tea using both methods.  I also included a link to One Yard Revolution that has an informative video on making the tea with worm castings and using it appropriately.

My Favorite Recipes for Simple 5-Gallon Bucket Brew's

Worm Based -

• 5 gallons de-chlorinated or rain water
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups quality worm castings
• 1 - 2 oz. Grandma's Original All Natural Unsulphured Molasses

Compost Based -

• 5 gallons de-chlorinated or rain water
• Good quality compost - Biodynamic Blends such as Malibu Compost or Farmer D Compost are incredible for the garden and provide increased production.  Biodynamic blends also provide some systemic insect resistance due to their ingredients.  It is also possible to use things as simple as Black Kow Composted Cow Manure and make additions depending on your specific needs.
• 1 - 2 oz. Grandma's Original All Natural Unsulphured Molasses
• Extra additions of worm castings, liquid fish, seaweed, or kelp depending on application and foliar manipulation desired.

Green Meadows Healthy Garden Tip:

For compost teas to be effective, it is important to cover at least 70% of all plant surfaces. The pores or tiny openings on the leaves (mainly the underside) and stems called stomata act as a catalyst for the uptake of nutrients as well as aid in photosynthesis and transpiration.  When the temperatures reach 80 degrees, the stomata start to close and at temperatures above 85 degrees, they close completely as part of a defense mechanism to prevent moisture loss within the plant.  Therefore, by using teas in either the morning or early evening and making sure to coat the undersides of all vegetation, your plants will get the most value from the application.   Please keep in mind that compost and/or worm teas are not a substitute for good soil fertility practices but rather a partner in the process of keeping your vegetables healthy and productive.

Yummy!

For those who enjoy additional reading, the book "Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis has excellent information on compost teas and their use.  The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service also has some reading that is interesting on teas at the agricultural level.  This information is easily applicable to home garden practices. Their links are excellent and also below for your convenience.

Links:

http://greenmeadowscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2013/04/making-worm-tea.html - link to previous post on making worm tea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4VKLtDuzD8 - link to One Yard Revolution's video on making worm tea and using it appropriately 

https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/viewhtml.php?id=125 - link to "Notes on Compost Teas" from the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service

https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/viewhtml.php?id=286 - link to "Foliar Fertilization" from the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service

Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Maybe, possibly your Fig Tree is still alive

This winter was disastrously cold and one plant that is still showing signs of it are fig trees My neighbor has a huge fig tree that is taller than my (and his) 2 story house and it has JUST this week decided to attempt to leaf out. It will be interesting to see how much of it does leaf out.


Notice how sparse the leaves are so far. A couple here and there. I'm

wondering if the light colored branches are in fact dead as a door nail.

This morning my friend Rita emailed me telling me the status of  her two figs. Her fig trees are only 1 year old and therefore more twiggy than big like my neighbors tree.  One shows signs of leafing out and the other is still..... waiting.....  thinking.... maybe..... going to leaf out.

Walter Reeves was asked about figs being slow to leaf out this year in his column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution several weeks ago. His reply was - wait until the end of May to see if the figs really are going to come back or not. There was also a post about figs not leafing out on the Cobb County Extension Blog  Figs Slow to Leaf Out?  It has links to various publications and websites that talk about figs in Georgia and the southeast.

It will definitely be interesting to see what DOES happen with the figs this year. The next questions are - Is there even going to be any fruit if they do leaf out? And the 2nd question is -how much of the plant will leaf out?

Master Gardener Garden Tour Saturday May 10, 2014

Through the Garden Gate

 

Presented by

Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County

 

Garden Tour

Saturday, May 10, 2014

10 am – 5 pm

Tour Tickets: $15.00 in advance – $20.00 at the gate

Available at Cobb Extension Office: 770-528-4070 or

online at http://www.cobbmastergardeners.com