My DH was in the hospital last week for a few days and Sunday afternoon before I went to pick him up I heard, much to my chagrin, a tiny “meow, meow” IN THE WALL OF MY KITCHEN. We have a gang of feral cats in our neighborhood which I mostly tolerate. Our dogs keep them out of the yard – one of our dogs will try to catch them if she can – she mostly can’t – so they can’t eat our birds. They do work on the gopher population, along with the owls and sparrow hawks. One of the things I do try to discourage is the mama cats having their babies in my attic. We have stuffed most of the holes with chicken wire to keep them out. Well, we must have missed a hole – apparently one of the latest batch of kittens was either dropped by mom, got kicked out of the nest by a bigger brother, or was wandering around in the attic and fell down into the wall. But however it happened, there he was, stuck in a big way.
At first there seemed like no way to get him out, and I thought he probably wouldn’t make it through the night. Well, the next morning he’s still carrying on and by evening, that was it, we had to figure out something or go absolutely nuts listening to his crying. My sister had called all possible authorities, and no one would come out. So out came the power tools. The first hole was a bust, there was a wall stud between us and the cat. The only other possible way in was through a cupboard that was too small for me to get a good attack on the board. We finally recruited our neighbor Bob, who was able to drill a hole big enough for the little guy to get out – I enticed him with tuna (the cat, not Bob)…. So we now have a very spunky little kittie who is looking for a home. Anybody that tough deserves a good life. He’s about a month old, black and white and not scared at all. We’re bottle feeding him and getting him used to people. Let me know if you want him – he’s up for adoption!
But this is a garden column after all – I was originally going to talk about herbs. This is a great time of year to grow herbs. I have a few that I keep all the time in pots – oregano, thyme, sage and several kinds of mint and I replant basil and parsley every year. I also have huge plantings of rosemary which I use for all kinds of things, including my last batch of chicken soup. Dill and lavender are also useful. I don’t usually bother to grow cilantro as it goes to seed too fast and is so easily available in stores. Having fresh herbs in the garden is wonderful as it is a real pleasure to be able to walk out and pick whatever you feel like adding to your meal or salad or whatever else you have in mind. Another item which I also like to have is green onions, not strictly an herb, but nice to have around. I usually just buy plants from the nurseries of most things, but dill and basil are especially easy to grow and may be planted anytime now in well drained planting soil, either in a pot or in the ground. Try drying herbs in the microwave. Just spread them out on a paper plate and nuke about 15-20 seconds at a time, they will turn out nice and crispy and easy to save. I also like making my own pesto to freeze – here’s my Italian mother-in-law’s recipe:
Pesto
2 – 4 cups packed basil leaves, no stems
Olive oil
Pine nuts or walnuts, about ¼ - ½ cup
Garlic cloves – 3 or 4 chopped up
Parmesan cheese – about a cup
Pack the basil leaves into your blender or food processor; add the nuts and garlic and process by pulsing while you gradually add a thin stream of olive oil. Use enough oil so that the leaves chop well, this is NOT low calorie. Once you have processed it up well and have a slightly runny paste, turn it out into a bowl and stir in the cheese. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper if you need to. This can be frozen and will keep for months – just cover with a thin layer of oil to keep out the air and freeze. Thaw to use and mix half and half with hot pasta water, then mix with the pasta, about a cup or so for a pound of pasta. Delicious, serve with more cheese!
Finally, we pulled up our garlic crop tonight. Last fall, I literally threw the cloves from a head of garlic in the ground and forgot about them. They were up in a couple of weeks, I watered them sporadically and this week the tops finally died and I dug them up. We ended up with a dozen HUGE heads of garlic, 2 to 3 inches across. I shook off the dirt and we’ll dry them and they should keep just fine until I use them up. I cook with a lot of garlic, so maybe next year I’ll plant TWO heads. Talk about easy crops.
What to do in your garden in June
- You can still plant summer vegetables and flowers (it’s a little late for flowers in the ground, but you can plant baskets if you keep them watered)
- Keep the snails picked up and out of your hair
- Keep your vegetables watered well and fertilize with a soluble fertilizer such as fish emulsion, manure tea or Miracle Gro if you don’t care too much about being completely organic
- Keep your flowers dead headed and they will bloom longer
- Station your lounge chair and/or your hammock in a nice cool spot in your yard
- Get out the sprinkle and the wading pool, the heat’s coming!
Quote of the month
If you pick up a dog that is starving and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
- Mark Twain
Let me know if you want the cat!
Jean
No comments:
Post a Comment