Balcony garden update (aka I have nothing more exciting to blog about...)

True, it's mid-summer, I've already taken my vacation, and Andrew's out of town at a conference in Germany, therefore I simply don't have much to write about. That's not to say I just sit around at home all the time twiddling my thumbs (as blogged last week I spend most of my nights editing or writing), but I don't do a lot of super exciting things that I think other people would care about (not that I think people care much about what I write ordinarily anyway). I suppose I could track my experience of training for a marathon, but I'm not a fitness expert, so my musings would be purely self-case study and as I'm well aware, an "n" of 1 does not equal sound scientific evidence.

And so I turn to our garden. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been the best for vegetable growing thus far (although the week that's passed since I originally wrote this has been quite nice). We've had a lot of rain and not much in the way of sun or heat. I pulled up the radishes a week or two ago as the thick prickly stalks and flowers sprouting from the stems seemed to indicate the were never going to blossom into an edible plant no matter how long I left them in the soil. I fear the carrots may go the same way as the radishes, although the planter shown below might yet turn out to be all right--I haven't peaked in on the roots to see how they're comming along. And the rhubarb has not done well either (I didn't think those things could be killed). The roots rotted due to over watering and although Andrew tried to perform a partial root-ectomy, its leaves have continued to yellow and wither.

Our carrots. I think they're looking pretty good.

On the bright side, some of our plants have flourished. Check out the tomato plant. Despite a stem-fracture caused by high winds (have I mentioned we live on the 12th floor?) there are at least a dozen little tomatoes sprouting all over. Then there's the zucchini. No sign of vegetation yet, but look at the leaves on that thing, its really going strong (and the lettuce isn't doing too badly either). Next over are our happy potatoes. I can't wait to dig them up in the fall. I suppose we could have pulled some up early and had baby potatoes--maybe next year if we increase our crop size. Finally there are the peppers. They're still pretty tiny, and very green, but they seem to be content hanging out on the side of the railing.

A couple of our furthest along tomatoes, still very green.

A full view of our tomatoes.

Our zucchini plant surrounded by lettuce.

One of our pepper plants. How exciting! I hope it matures into a bright red pepper.

The potatoes are huge! I can't wait to dig them up in the fall.

We'll continue to tend to our crops over the remainder of the summer and take stock when it comes time to harvest. I don't think we'll bother with radishes next year, and possibly no carrots either. On the other hand the tomatoes and the potatoes are pretty much a given. Perhaps some other types of squash might be worth while? Or more herbs? I've got a small pot of parsley and basil inside, but I wouldn't say no to chives, mint or basil.

Ciao,

Andrea

Broccoli potato onion garlic corn Cheddar soup

I like to cook, a lot. Sometimes I use recipes, sometimes I don't. I don't often use recipes when I make soups or stews, I just wing it. Sometimes they work really well, sometimes they're just okay. Yesterday, I made a fantastic soup, so I thought I might record the process for prosperity.

Ingredients
broccoli stalks (coarsely chopped--approximately 1 to 1-1/2 inches thick) (2)
bay leaves (2)
potatoes (pealed and chopped) (4)
chicken broth (one Oxo package, 1 tsp of regular broth powder)
potatoes (pealed and finely chopped) (3)
onion (finely chopped) (1)
garlic cloves (thinly sliced) (5)
flour (1/8-1/4 cup)
milk powder (1/8-1/4 cup)
frozen corn (1 cup)
Cheddar cheese (grated) (1/2-3/4 cup)
other cheese (I used Tete De Moine--a type of Swiss) (1/4 cup)

Method
1) Place broccoli stalks in a large Dutch oven. Add enough water to cover the stalks (sorry this is really fuzzy--I'd guess around 1L). Add in bay leaves and simmer on low heat for 1/2 hour.
2) Add the potatoes and continue to simmer for another 1/2 hour.
3) Once the broccoli stalks are a sickly green (i.e. all the nutrients have been leeched out) remove them and the bay leaves from the stalk.
4) Mash the potatoes in the stalk water and add the chicken stalk. Add potatoes and onions. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
5) Add garlic and cook for another 10 minutes.

**At this point I had to leave my apartment so I turned the stove off and let the soup cool. I worked directly with the cold soup so I have modified the method to how I think it would work if you just worked on the soup continuously.**

6) Remove approximately 1/2 cup of soup and allow it to cool completely. Add 1/8 cup of flour and 1/8 milk powder (I didn't measure this, so I'm guessing here) to the broth to make a roux. Mix thoroughly and add back into soup. More flour and milk powder may be required for your taste. Remember that you need to make a roux first, otherwise the flour and milk powder will clump in your hot soup.
7) Add frozen corn and cook until corn is heated.
8) Add in Cheddar cheese, stir until melted.
9) Add in second cheese, stir until melted.
10) Add pepper to taste.
11) Serve when hot.

I also served this soup with fresh homemade (Whole wheat with sun dried tomato and garlic) bread--very delicious (both the soup and the bread).

Ciao,

Andrea