Zen and The Art of Lettuce Maintenance

Remember Lettuce Survivor? It's become my Neverending Story of Lettuce Transplants. I am overflowing with lettuce almost ready for a big juicy salad! I am so nervous that everything in my garden will ripen the week I am out of town coming up. With hope, I'll have good garden karma.



Oh and did I tell you? Garden anarchy (i.e. my reckless disregard for the Institution of Gardening Rules) won a hefty point this Spring - nature has her plan - the rain has repeatedly taken out all my carefully re-spaced baby lettuces (which has meant regular replacement of displaced soil and endless transplant experiments for me (i.e. endless toil!).



On the other hand, my big messy row of seedlings (that any Good Gardener would have dismissed as future compost) has positively flourished with no need for human interference. Those crowded roots are what helped the lettuce stem the torrential tides of a wet, stormy young New Brunswick summer. The lettuce is probably growing a little slower than well-spaced lettuce protected from the elements, but -- they are all green and sun-kissed still (Despite the crowding!) and look happier than anything else in the garden.

Turns out trusting in Ma Nature was the right thing. Every day I learn from B's naturally Zen attitude to life (and gardening!) - he never worried once; all while I fretted incessantly over lettuce babies and puzzled over the correct thinning practices. He knew it would work out all along, just as he always trusts that things will. He's my rock in torrential Spring rains.



Thank you my dear! <3

The perfect sweet and spicy summer salad

Spinach Salad with Ginger Mustard Vinaigrette
(with mesclun thinnings from the garden!)

basic salad ingredients:
baby spinach
black olives, roughly chopped
green pepper, diced

dressing:
1 part dijon mustard
2 parts olive oil
tiny knob of ginger, minced
a squirt of orange juice

extra:
baby mesclun thinnings from the garden

This summer salad was spontaneous magic. The black olives and green pepper were pizza topping leftovers from last night's dinner. The crunch and spice of the green pepper turned out to be perfect with the ginger mustard vinaigrette. Black olives gave a deep and savoury foundation to the flavour combo of sweet and spicy.

The light tones of the mesclun mix from the garden were probably overshadowed, but their taste combo was also a mix of hot and sweet, so I thought they were a pretty addition to my salad, and of course, eating what I'd grown myself made it that much sweeter.

<3 pamplemousse

Cheer Up Thunderstorm Pasta

Heavy days, heavy rain.

On top of all that's been happening lately, I came home from work yesterday to find the afternoon thunderstorm had decimated my baby arugula in the garden.

The day before, the half ripe first strawberry I had been looking forward to snapping a picture of (and procrastinating bringing inside to protect!) had been snatched early by a crow. My first strawberry. Ever. Gone!

I half-heartedly took some photos of the damage yesterday but my heart just wasn't in it. How can you take a good picture when you're sad? So instead I'm going to show you how I cheered myself up today: With a Cheer Up Thunderstorm Pasta.

Years ago, my stepmother imparted to me the perfect summer pasta, which involves little more than fresh summer tomatoes and fresh basil tossed around a pan for a minute or two.

My tomato plants are still just flowering and my basil plants are the tiniest sprouts in the garden (we grew them from seed this year), but I did have a pile of overripe organic tomatoes I left too many days on the shelf, and several pots of other herbs we bought as plants from the garden centre a few weeks ago. Plus, my garden chives from B's mom were out of control and desperately needed a haircut.

Chives are such a great summer herb because they replace themselves to full height a day or two after cutting - they grow like grass - and because snipping a bunch of chives into a dish takes a fraction of the time it takes to dice garlic and gives the same flavour. Summer cooking is all about fresh food and optimum laziness for me, so chives are a great garden chum to have around.

Here's what I did:

1. Put my pasta water on to boil.

2. Went outside with a pair of kitchen scissors, grabbed the whole bunch of chives by the hair and snipped them to an inch above the soil. Then I carefully picked a mixed handful of leaves from my oregano, rosemary and cilantro pot (any mix of Italian herbs would be great). I threw them all on my chopping board and went at them with my mezzaluna (that half moon blade Nigella uses to chop herbs).

3. Diced my tomatoes with a sharp serated knife.

4. Heated the pan to med-high, threw in the tomatoes, a pinch of salt and a glug of olive oil. Threw on the herbs and tossed for about a couple minutes to allow the tomatoes to sweat a portion of their juices and simmer lightly with the herbs and seasonings.

5. Turned off the heat and tossed it a few more times till the flavour was even (You can give a toss here or there inbetween draining and plating the pasta).

6. Threw the sauce on the pasta and tossed with a little olive oil, some sea salt, fresh ground pepper and fresh parmesan.

A bit of sunshine on a rainy day. :)

Yum. Can't wait till my baby basil grows up.


<3 pamplemousse