Jim Inman's (jinman) Garden - 2007

[jinman]

We're looking forward to Saturday. Glenda's going to call Kathy tomorrow to see what we need to bring besides Rox's Olive Oil.

We opened the fruity tasting one tonight, I didn't have my glasses on but that's what Glenda said the bottle said. I liberally blessed some chopped jalopenas, garlic, onions, and fresh tomatoes with the Olive Oil.

Ooooowheee! It was the perfect complement to a large can of Mexican Homilee mixed with some of my chili meat.

This time of year there are two things I eat as much as possible. Garlic for the mosquitos, I swear it works. The other is cheap mustard for the muscle cramps, I know it works. And both of those go well with jalopenas.

Harvey and Glenda called on my cellphone yesterday morning to say they were on their way. I was in my usual Saturday morning place, the garden, picking purple-hull and blackeyed peas. It was pretty darn hot and muggy and I knew I had to finish and get a refreshing shower before they had time to drive the distance between Dallas and Sunset. I finished my picking and headed home with a 5-gal bucket full of peas and another full of tomatoes and a couple of small cantaloupes. With perfect timing, Harvey and Glenda knocked on the door carrying Rox's wonderful olive oil and a wonderful apple cake Glenda had baked.

It didn't take long to get past the greetings and get to the important stuff, tasting Mas Des Bories olive oil. Kathy had pre-sliced veggies for tasting and cooked a fresh loaf of italian bread in the bread maker. I finished up some tomatoes, and we put everything out in a lazy susan with the oil gently poured into small plates for easy dipping. For the next hour or more, it was nothing except "Mmmm's" and "Yums" and we tasted the three oil varieties. My particular favorite was the AOC, with the Bouteillan second and the Aglandau third. To me, the Aglandau had a very mild taste that was not nearly as flavorful as the other two, but it had that peppery kick on the end that was a subtle reminder that there was something warm going on on your tongue and the back of your mouth. All were nice. Rox, you and Nico have done a wonderful job with this oil. I now know exactly which one to buy and I'll get my order to Igourmet.com in a hurry. I want to have this early and in time to give as Christmas presents.

Most of our day was spent in casual conversation about Harvey's projects, Glenda's retirement, my companies rapid expansion, and Kathy's house and property we are putting on the market to sell. Of course, all these were interlaced with stories of our kids, grandkids, and friends. Harvey and I both are lucky to be here considering our escapades when we were a lot younger.

We made a trip to the garden where Glenda and Kathy picked okra and we all made a sweep through the squash patch to pick yellow squash, pattie pans, spaghetti squash, and zucs. After the garden, we came back to the house and fired up the grill for dinner. I sliced up some pattie pan "slabs" to grill and Kathy seasoned up some pork chops. Then, it was to the grill where I dipped the slabs into an olive oil and garlic solution. I didn't use Rox's oil for this one because it's flavor and delicacy would have been overwhelmed on the grill. When the pattie pan slabs and pork chops were done, we adjourned to the dining room and had a feast.

After dinner had settled, we had to sample Glenda's apple cake and Kathy's fresh baked peach pie. Which was my favorite? BOTH..of course.

At sundown, we decided to go give the catfish a nice dinner. We hauled some catfiish food down and fed the catfish as Harvey snapped pictures of the feeding frenzy. What a show! They really set the water to boiling. Harvey has some good photos, so maybe he will post them here.

So our day with Harvey and Glenda wound down just after dark as they headed out for Wiley. What a wonderful day we had! We surely gained several pounds, but we were introduced to Rox's delicious olive oil and just relaxed with friends. It just doesn't get much better.

Thanks Harvey and Glenda for taking the time to come visit. We gotta do this again. It's therapeutic.

 

[Bird]

That does sound like a fine party.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Thanks Harvey and Glenda for taking the time to come visit. We gotta do this again. It's therapeutic.
__________________
Jim

It was a wonderful visit. We got home about eleven thirty, after being stopped by this nice police lady in Lavon Texas, the infamous Lavon speed trap of Texas police. The Bravada had a license plate light out and I guess she figured a man who looked like me might be driving with an expired license and no insurance. But she let us go with a request to fix the license plate light.

The nice lady cop wasn't that big of a thing because we'd had such a wonderful day. If you like green salads loaded with fresh veggies I strongly recommend the AOC for a dressing. You'll have to get the recipe for the salad from Kathy and the AOC from Rox, but it was absolutely delicious.

I was the freeloader on this trip. Kathy, Glenda, and Jim cooked the food and I partook and partook and partook some more.

The light was perfectly wrong with the fish feeding. What I did was just held the shutter down and kept going in and out with the telephoto feature. There are some big fish and they are spoiled when it comes to being fed.

Occasionally Glenda and myself will do a treat day. That's a day where we just plan on it as a treat for us. When Jim invited us we accepted his invitation as a treat day. It was.

 

[txdon]

Jim and Harvey I guess we could call you taste buds.

That kind of day needs to end with the saying of the the late Mrs. Janke when she wrote the "Fedor News" in the local paper: "A good time was had by all!"

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Jim and Harvey I guess we could call you taste buds.

That kind of day needs to end with the saying of the the late Mrs. Janke when she wrote the "Fedor News" in the local paper: "A good time was had by all!"

Hmmmmm, I guess along that line we could say tonight's to die for supper was "after taste". We had sliced fresh tomatoes, fried onions and yellow squash, cooked peas with ham bone, and some country style ribs.

I'm sure there have been finer meals in my life, one that comes close was in Japan where I'd just spent six days without swallowing any food because of a fractured pelvis, that meal was special, even if it was military. Any hoo (yup, hoo) few things are finer than that which comes from the garden as a gift from a friend.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Any hoo (yup, hoo) few things are finer than that which comes from the garden as a gift from a friend.

Well said Harv. Loved TXDon's "Taste Buds". Harv...you are a "mythical superhero" in my book. Now I visualize two Superhero's in red shirts and capes. One with "Taste" emblazoned on the red shirt the other with "Buds".

What I did was just held the shutter down and kept going in and out with the telephoto feature. There are some big fish and they are spoiled when it comes to being fed.

Just when ya thought the water was safe. (It was shark week this past week on the discovery channel.)

A few of my larger variety tomatoes are finally blushing. I'm attaching a few recent pictures. My BIL thinks I need a garden locator map. We've been in a drought situation for weeks. Finally received a good rain Saturday night and another this morning. Over the weekend we had our first Texas inspired pan fried Okra with Michigan's own Drake's batter mix(made famous by Ronj), fried Zucchini, pot of green beans, potatoes & onions and chicken sauage. Jim, we had Okra in a variety of sizes and as you said, the smaller one's were more tender, the larger ones developed tough strings. No one left hungry.

Don

 

[Bird]

Don, I don't think I ever heard of "supersonic" tomatoes before, but that is a good looking garden and that picture of the stove should be enough to make anyone hungry.

 

[scott_vt]

Don, and that picture of the stove should be enough to make anyone hungry.

Mornin Bird,
Agreed !

 

[jinman]

Over the weekend we had our first Texas inspired pan fried Okra with Michigan's own Drake's batter mix(made famous by Ronj), fried Zucchini, pot of green beans, potatoes & onions and chicken sauage. Jim, we had Okra in a variety of sizes and as you said, the smaller one's were more tender, the larger ones developed tough strings. No one left hungry.

Hot-diggity, Don! Those veggies and sausage look soooo...good! Battered and fried, they might be a heart attack on a platter. But what a way to go.

Your tomato plants remind me of mine about two months ago. I think you have more than "blush" on those tomatoes. They look perfect for pickin' to me. Are you having any problems with setting fruit? Are you thinning so the fruit you have is bigger? We keep getting rain storms here that cause our tomatoes to explode, especially the cherry varieties.

Harvey: I'm so glad you got the peas shelled and cooked. This year's peas are just not what I'd prefer. The "seed" I bought at Wal*Mart are not the big California blackeye peas. They taste fine, but they are really difficult to pick and shell. One day too early and they are not mature. One day too late and they are drying up. Timing is very critical. I'll make sure next year I stick with real seed instead of just buying a bag of blackeyes and planting them. Anyway, I'm glad to have provided you and Glenda with some additional variety. The garden has sure spoiled me this year.

Hmm..."Taste" and "Buds" T-shirts...sounds like a possibility. Would you have to get ones for the wives that said, "Yumm" and "Ummm"?

 

[TBDonnelly]

Hot-diggity, Don! Those veggies and sausage look soooo...good! Battered and fried, they might be a heart attack on a platter. But what a way to go.

I'm the cook, not the doctor. Disclaimer: Fried food photo for demonstration purposes only. Try this at your own risk.

Your tomato plants remind me of mine about two months ago. I think you have more than "blush" on those tomatoes. They look perfect for pickin' to me.

I think they are embarrassed and are asking to be picked. Pick me, Pick me!

Are you having any problems with setting fruit? Are you thinning so the fruit you have is bigger?

Over the past couple of weeks the tomato plants have grown tremendously.
I'm way behind in thinning/pruning. They do have quite a bit of fruit on them. With the heavy rain I've been re-staking and tying the plants back upright. I need about 40 or so more of those great cattle panel tomato cages.

We keep getting rain storms here that cause our tomatoes to explode, especially the cherry varieties.

After the rains Saturday night, I had alot of the small yellow cherry tomatoes split open and some of the larger red cherry tomatoes split. I did not plant any of the 100's this year because, I had about a million little tomatoes split open last year.

Don

 

[TBDonnelly]

Had some special visitors drop by the 'yarden' this evening. They didn't care to much for lettuce and tomatoes however, they did break bread and partake in some liquid refreshment. They wanted us to see their new set of twins.

Don

After thought......

Hmm..."Taste" and "Buds" T-shirts...sounds like a possibility. Would you have to get ones for the wives that said, "Yumm" and "Ummm"?
Taste-Buds for the guy's. Another possibility for the gals: Vocal-Chords

 

[jinman]

Had some special visitors drop by the 'yarden' this evening. They didn't care to much for lettuce and tomatoes however, they did break bread and partake in some liquid refreshment. They wanted us to see their new set of twins.

Or maybe they came for the Drakes batter. How often do you see swans?


It's been very hot here this week. They say maybe 103 by this weekend. That makes pickin' peas a hot job if we don't do it early in the morning. Here is a photo of a couple of messes of peas, purple hulls and blackeyes.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Or maybe they came for the Drakes batter. How often do you see swans?

Swans show on a very irregular basis. There's a large colony of swan's that nest about 7 miles west of here. I tend to think swans land here when they're migrating. We've seen an influx of Mallard's and Geese this past week. The geese have only been "migrating" from yard to yard . We usually see an influx when the birds are migrating North or South. It's a little early for them to be migrating south, at least I hope so . It's still in the high eighties and low nineties. Maybe they already have snow in Vermont ?

I was getting a picture of the Swan's. I inadvertently picked up the 'not so welcome' group in the neighbors yard across the way.

Don

 

[TBDonnelly]

It's all about Okra & the lone Cowboy. Back on 07/10(post number 143) the lone Cowboy just fit under the Okra Canopy. Now, the Okra has really grown up!

Did you ever notice the beautiful flower the Okra plant puts out?

Don

 

[Bird]

Don, have you ever tried just eating the raw pods of okra? I love fried okra and pickled okra, and even like a little stewed okra now and then, but I used to have a secretary who carried her lunch to work and she frequently included just plain raw fresh pods of okra, so naturally, I had to try it; not bad, but not good enough for me to try it again.

 

[Tdog]

Bird - - yuk. Raw? Gotta admit I never tried it, but I know what okra tastes like when it is not quite done. Your secretary is tougher than I am.

BTW, does anyone have an okra & tomato recipe? That's not my favorite way to have okra, but I have enough of each frozen that I thought I'd try it.

Jack

 

[Bird]

Jack, I think I'd just about as soon have the okra raw as to have it cooked with tomatoes. As much as I love raw tomatoes, salsa, and even tomato sauce, I've just never cared much for cooked or hot tomatoes. How many remember when it seemed that all banquet dinners included a half a tomato baked with parmesan cheese on it? I always ate them to see if I could develop a taste for them, but never did.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Don, have you ever tried just eating the raw pods of okra?

Well..............today,

I harvested,

I envisioned Euel Gibbons ,

then, I ate the raw okra pod.


Would not recommend it.
Of course, if I was Bear Grills of 'Man vs.wild', I'd say, "Not bad".

Don

 

[Bird]

That's great, Don. I said it wasn't good enough to try again.

 

[jinman]

Well..............today,

I harvested,

I envisioned Euel Gibbons ,

then, I ate the raw okra pod.


Would not recommend it.
Of course, if I was Bear Grills of 'Man vs.wild', I'd say, "Not bad".

Don

Let Donny try it. He'll eat anything...

No, I never ate raw okra. It's too darn fuzzy for my texture sensitive tongue. Besides, I normally have to wear gloves when picking it to keep my hands from itching. That just doesn't encourage me to munch.

The okra bloom sure is pretty. Last year I posted a picture of one in my garden thread and asked if anyone could identify it. I don't remember who did, but it didn't take long. It was like the $100 dollar question on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

You don't have a big patch of okra, Don. I only have about half of what I planted left. I keep thinking I'll take a picture of the disease that kills my mature plants, but I haven't done it yet. Even with all the dying plants, we still get lots of okra. It loves hot weather and it is plenty hot here now.

Tdog: I can't believe you are asking for an okra and tomato recipe. You are in the middle of Cajun country where gumbo is more common than mashed tators. Is that what you are talking about? My wife makes a great gumbo that only has veggies. I personally never met a bowl of gumbo I didn't like. Here's a recipe I googled up that can be cooked without fish or meat. It also lists how you can add meat at the bottom.

Ingredients:
6-8 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1# frozen cut okra (or use fresh if available in your area)
2 28-oz cans whole or sliced tomatoes
salt, pepper and cayenne to taste
file powder (optional)

Seafood: 1# shrimp, cleaned and deveined, 1# firm fillets (such as sole, cod, roughy), 1/2# crabmeat... or whatever is available
OR... use a couple pounds of boneless chicken

Directions:
Cook the bacon in a large pot. Remove, crumble, and set aside. Leave about 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pot, and saute onion, garlic, pepper and okra. The okra will get nice and gooey, serving as thickening agent for the gumbo. Add tomatoes, seasoning and the cooked bacon. Simmer, covered, for at least a half hour, but can cook a couple hours.

Add seafood or chicken and cook until done. Add file powder if you want a thicker stew. Serve over rice.