Last summer, our cucumbers took over the garden, sprawling and creeping out and beyond the confines of raised beds, protective wires, and onto the lawn where they produced prodigiously.  We jerry rigged sticks and twine, adding and improvising as the vines grew, but this proved a challenge because the plants took on a strength of their own, leaving us playing hide and seek come picking time with cukes growing in locations other than the most visible.  Though we enjoyed the crisp, watery results, we nearly ran out of ideas for recipes containing cucumbers, and even (almost) cried uncle for having too much gazpacho sitting around.  In brief, the heat and conditions made cuke production one of the most successful in years, as you may also have experienced.

This year, looks like the early humidity and heat are encouraging a repeat.  We are excited, but will be prepared this time.  I’ve planted fewer seeds and given them more real estate in the garden, so the plants can grow and sprout without cramping and tangling with other veggies.   Here’s a picture of our new design, a modified tomato (trellis) attached on one side by sticks and twine so as to create a canopy effect and promote growth within the raised bed.  If the vines reach outwards, we will train them back and around the bed, creating a looped effect so as to give space and air to the plants, and allow for easier picking.

Here  is a simple recipe for baked cucumbers that is sure to please.  From Julia Child’s kitchen, this dish surprises guests who usually need a minute or two to identify the vegetable correctly.   Cooked cucumbers change flavor as they simmer with butter.  Who would have thought?

Peel 6-8 cucumbers, cut into lengthwise strips about an inch long, then scoop out the seeds. Toss them in a bowl with 2 T. wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, a pinch of sugar.  Let them sit for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cucumbers in a buttered oven proof dish with a half chopped onion and a sprinkling of pepper.  Optionally, cut up and sprinkle fresh basil or dill atop the cucumbers.  Cook for approximately 1 hour, tossing periodically.  When they are tender and slightly crisp, remove and serve.  (serves 4-5 as a side dish)

Nothing like a gazpacho in the warm weather, and nothing like a good fistful of fresh cilantro to add zip to all its ‘from the garden’ summer ingredients!  This is my favorite summer recipe!  (4-6 meal-size servings)

Ingredients:

4 Medium-sized Fresh Tomatoes

1 Large Cucumber (outer skin removed)

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 Small Onion

2-3 Garlic Cloves

Handful of Fresh Cilantro

2 T. Virgin Olive Oil

1 T. Balsamic Vinegar (Modena variety is nice)

1. Boil tomatoes in water for a half minute or so until the skin curls off.  Remove and discard outer skin then press out seeds and juices.  Slice and put into a large bowl.
2. Chop peppers, cloves, cucumber, onion and cilantro and put in with tomatoes.
3. Finely chop garlic and add to bowl with oil and vinegar.
4. Fill an electric mixing bowl with about half the above ingredients, slowly at first.  Continue to mix and add ingredients until everything is mixed together.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Chill at least 4-6 hours before serving with French bread.

You can adjust ingredients depending on personal tastes.  I usually add more garlic and less vinegar.  Some folks also add a cup of fresh bread crumbs or an egg to the mixture as well.  Bon appétit!

I made these labels that you are welcome to use.  I am working out the printing of them  as we speak — but here is the .jpg for you to download and print on whatever label sheet you can configure it for.  Let me know how it works for you…If I can get it all working I am hoping to have some spares on hand tomorrow.

-Rochelle

You see them blooming all over Harvard right now, but what are those gorgeous spreading trees?  They’re Japanese Dogwoods, or Kousas.  Their four-pointed white blooms are actually not blooms at all but bracts below the cluster of inconspicuous yellow-green flowers.  The tree flowers in late spring, weeks after it leafs out.  Later in the season, and once the white petals are gone, pinkish spiky red berries 2-3 cm in diameter appear.  I’m told that the fruit is edible, though have never tried it in a late summer tart!  The ornamental value alone has kept us thrilled for over ten years, as we watch it rise and spread at one side of our house, so much so that we planted two more at the street.  They too continue to grow and produce the same spectacular display as the original one, all with minimal maintenance. Of benefit, too, is that these dogwoods are resistant to the disease, anthracnose, caused by a fungus and damaging to most other strains of dogwoods.

Kathleen Comstock

http://kcomstock.com

Clara Endicott Sears bestowed many admirable gifts to the town of Harvard, the Canning and Evaporating Club being one of them.  She created this Club as an outreach organization back in 1918, sending canned fruits and produce, as well as dried food, over to the soldiers during World War I.

Canning and preserving locally grown fruits and produce is a timeless process – both meditative and, when done with friends, full of comraderie and that sense of going back-to-basics.  When we read about the Club, and realized this year marks the 50th anniversary of Clara’s death, we thought it would be nice to reinstate the idea of gathering together in a kitchen and preserving our own fruits of the land.

Sooooo……We invite community friends and neighbors to gather to either learn or teach the art of jamming…or to just enjoy the company of local folks.  Our first jam session will be held Monday June 7; arrive anytime from 11:00 to 7:00 at the Old Post House, 53 Bolton Road in Harvard.  Bring your equipment and ingredients with you (See post below)  Plan on a good hour and a half for jamming.  We hope to meet once a month through harvest season.

We are also searching for any of Clara’s old canning or preserving recipes; any suggestions on where to look are most welcome.  Also special thanks to Fruitlands Museum for providing us with these beautiful old photos and information about the original Canning and Evaporating Club!

Looking forward to a bountiful harvest season and new adventures in the kitchen this year!

We Be Strawberry Jammin’….

Nothing speaks of Summer’s beginnings as does the strawberry.  We thought strawberry jam would be a great way to kick off our first jam session… easy for beginners, still fun for more seasoned preserve-makers.  Join us at 53 Bolton Road with the ingredients and equipment listed below.  (It might be best to stow everything in a laundry basket or box.)  For this recipe we won’t be doing a water bath, so no worries about actual canning pots; we’ll give that a go later in the season!  And feel free to alter/add to our suggestions (i.e. rhubarb, cointreau, etc…):

1 box sure-jell or pectin

2 full quarts of ripe strawberries

7 cups sugar

measuring cups

wooden spoon

large mixing bowl

cutting board

sharp knife

glass canning jars

new lids and rims

large 6 quart pot

drying cloth

PLUS anything else you can think of as necessary for having a good ol’ fashioned time.  See you Monday June 7th!

vintage Sure-Jell photo from RecipeCurio.com

Strawberry Jam, taken from the Sure-Jell packet.  Tried and true.

Ingredients

2 quarts strawberries, cut and crushed to yield 5 cups crushed berries

7 cups sugar

1/2 tsp butter

1 box Sure-Jell powder

Directions:

Pour crushed berries into large boiler

Measure sugar into separate container and set aside.

Stir package of Sure-Jell into strawberries.

Add butter.

Bring berries and Sure-Jell to a full rolling boil, then add sugar.

Stir constantly.

Stir in sugar, quickly.

Return mixture to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat.

Skim foam from top with metal spoon.

Ladle quickly into jars that have been cleaned and preheated.

Clean rims of jars with clean hot cloth.

Place heated lids (lids that have been placed in simmering water for 1 minute) on jars and tighten rings.

Turn jars upside down for five minutes to seal.

Return jars to upright position and let cool completely before storing.

What could be more natural, and pleasing in nature, than standing outside your door listening to birds, especially this time of year when robin bellies swell with eggs, and nests materialize under eaves and in lean-tos?  Really, let’s face it, if we take the time, birds and their sounds can be as compelling as a mystery to solve.  What is that species with the neat trill, the brilliant swatch of orange around the neck?  Who are the ones who swoop in droves and disappear at the instant they land?  Curiosity got the best of me this year, and I finally signed up for a bird watch, trying to dispel my own limited belief that I’d be part of an aged crowd.  You know the image, corny Bermuda shorts, wide brim hats, brandishing oversized camera lenses and pricey binoculars while rattling off erudite observations honed over years of bird-gazing with their retiree side-kicks.

In Provincetown, an area of spectacular spring migration, the Beech Forest at Race Point is the meeting spot for a weekly bird tour around the grounds.  Led by an Audubon expert, a group of eight of us (of varied backgrounds and ages, by the way!) took off on foot for a two hour adventure, seeking out the gorgeous sounding warblers, the flirty fly catchers, the territorial kingfishers.  As we circled a large fresh water pond at the center of Beech Forest, we caught glimpses of the native spotted sandpiper, a snapping turtle laying eggs, and winding, decorative sand tracks sculpted by painted turtles, also on their baby-making missions.  A few birds of note gave us glimpses into their habitat and song, namely a red-winged blackbird happily lording over a marsh, and a lone northern oriole, which made me feel proud as I’d already identified an oriole that performs in branches outside my Cape house.  Our barefoot instructor carried with him the “Peterson Bird Field Guide” and said this, along with many others, is a good one for beginners.  Whistling, chirping, and hooting, he mimicked birds so that we could appreciate a distant sound even though the bird in question opted for elusiveness.  Making their presence known while hiding out in trees, bushes, and sand dunes were towhees, Carolina wrens, chipping sparrows, and phoebes.  Except for occasional swarms of mosquitoes, our early morning jaunt gave me a new slant on sounds that we often take for granted, and embellished my day with a larger, more generous perspective of the outdoors.  All this and more for $7!  Oh and by the way, the retiree crowd on hand could easily outmaneuver me on the trail!  Check out the Wellfleet site and reserve. You won’t be disappointed.

Saturday May 15^th in Provincetown, MA, the farmer’s market opened for another season.  Several years into this venture, townsfolk and tourists alike enjoy morning strolls along the harbor street near the town hall where fresh veggies are offered from farms such as Lucky Field Organics (Rochester, MA) and Silverbrook Farm (Dartmouth, MA).  Samples of sumptuous oils from Olio di Melli (Westport, MA) entice as do strawberry jams and chutney preserves from other stalls where chatty vendors detail their cultivating, pruning, and harvesting methods.  The scent of fresh herbs rise from an adorable stand with hand-decorated sign ‘Thyme After Thyme’, and once again I am reminded of the dedication and attention that keep the whole in whole foods, the quality in final products, and the fresh in items that are grown short distances away.  If you visit the Outer Cape this summer, don’t miss this seascape delight of hand-grown, home grown.

Kathy Comstock

Do you garden and grow your own?  What do you do with all your extra zucchini?  Ample Harvest can help you to find a place for some of your extra garden bounty.  One out of six Americans needs food assistance, but can’t get fresh produce from the local food pantry. You can help though — through Ample Harvest, you can find a place close to you where you can take your locally grown produce and share it with people who will really appreciate it.