Plant of the Week

Name: Garlic Chives
Latin Name: Allium tuberosum
Origin: China, or other parts of the Orient

If you've ever seen or grown chives, then garlic chives won't seem altogether strange. They have a very similar growth habit to regular chives, but have a strong garlicky flavor rather than a mild onion taste. (Ha, I bet that's why they're called garlic chives!)

Garlic chives have flat leaves, rather than the characteristic tubular leaves of most Alliums, including chives and onions. They also have clusters of white, star-shaped flowers that bloom in the late summer/early fall. (Regular chives usually bloom in the spring.)

Garlic chives, like regular chives, can be propagated from seeds or by division. They are perennials and generally hardy to zone 3.

Sunday Sandwich

Maybe this is what we should serve at our wedding reception...

Reception Sandwich

Equal quantities of bread of cold boiled chicken and tongue, put through food chopper; season with celery salt, cayenne, anchovy paste, and mayonnaise. Place mixture between slices of lightly buttered white bread with crisp lettuce leaf that has been dipped in tarragon vinegar.

Then again, maybe not...

Blog of the...er...Week?

It's been awhile since we've had a Blog of the Week, in large part, I think, because I don't do a lot of reading different blogs anymore. I just read the same ones every week. But I decided I needed more variation in my blog-life, so I did some searching for garden blogs.

Here's one good one that I found: New Sprout

Plant of the Week

Name: Winter Savory
Latin Name: Satureja montana
Origin: Southern Europe

Winter savory is a semi-evergreen herb that has been very common in cooking in the past, although it is currently somewhat overshadowed by other herbs. It is hardy to zone 4-5, and is really pretty low maintenance. It can get woody as it grows, but the early spring stems and the new growth are nice and tender and flavorful. It doesn't need much water, and herbs in general don't need a lot of fertilizer.

Winter savory is usually used with other herbs like thyme, basil, and oregano. It is supposed to go well with beans, chicken, and other meat.

Rain, Sun, Governent, among other things

We have this strange thing going on here today. There is a big, bright blob in the sky that seems to have the overall appearance of yellow. Some report having felt warmth emanating from areas where this strange feature is present. I myself am not too sure what this strange thing is...since it hasn't made an appearance in recent memory. (I thought I might have accidentally gotten transported to Seattle...) It seems like it's been raining for a month, although I think it really only rained for 2 or 3 days. Friday we got between 8 and 10 inches of rain in about 12 hours. Needless to say, that is more water than can be handled around here and one time. There was water over many many roads when I went to work on Friday, so it was a bit of a challenge finding the "dry" route to the office. That wasn't even the hurricane remnants! Luckily, the hurricane remnants went east of us, so we didn't get even more rain.

Speaking of hurricane-related things...is it really the job of the government to release part of the strategic oil reserves in order to keep fuel prices from spiking? I understand that the high fuel prices are crunching many people, many families, many businesses. But the point of the strategic oil reserve is to provide fuel for the armed forces in a crisis. Not a domestic supply problem...a crisis in which the armed forces need the fuel. For instance, if hostile countries tie up the majority of the world's oil. Yeah, not a hurricane.

Frankly, I don't think it is the government's job to protect us from the effects of natural disasters.
Yes, there is a role to be played in protection and rescue efforts of the direct effects on human life. Protecting human life is where the government plays a role. Making sure that none of us good little children..oops, I mean citizens...are inconvenienced in any way whatsoever...or that we are deprived of spending our hard-earned money on whatever frivolous desires we want rather than on things we need - this is not the job of the government. I wish the government would stop meddling in the economy. It started way back in the Great Depression, and obviously the things that the government "fixed" then are not necessarily "fixed" anymore.

Yes, there is a role for the government in creating regulations that protect citizens by preventing companies from taking unfair advantage. But I don't think the government needs to bail out people that made poor decisions regarding debt and mortgages. I'm sorry. Don't spend money you don't have. Don't get yourself out on a limb. If you are that close to not being able to make your payments, maybe you should reconsider your lifestyle. You aren't "deserving" of any particular lifestyle, type of house, etc. Get over it. It isn't the government's job to provide it.

If you haven't seen Wall-E, you should. It's good. And it is a pretty darn good social commentary too.

Sunday Sandwich

Cocoanut(sic) Sandwich

One and one-half cup of grated cocoanut, one-half cup of English walnuts chopped fine, one tablespoonful of rose water, three tablespoonfuls of sugar; mix well, moisten with three tablespoonfuls of thick cream. Spread mixture on thin slices of buttered white bread cover with another slice and cut in strips.

Cocoanut Sandwich No. 2

Roll out one-half pound of puff paste (I believe this is an older form of the term puff pastry...) until one-fourth of an inch thick, then place it in a baking tin and bake in a hot oven until a golden brown; when done, let it get cold; whip one-half pint of cream to a stiff dry froth, add to it three tablespoonfuls each of powdered white sugar and desiccated cocoanut. Cut the pastry into strips three inches long by one inch wide; spread some of the cocoanut cream on each piece, put two piece together and sprinkle powdered white sugar thickly over them.

Web Safari, etc.

August was Sun-Spotless...hence colder?

What does a community organizer do?

Evangelizing foreign students - consequences?

Have you heard what's going on in Orissa? Sickening!

Will the world really end if the "wrong" candidate is elected?

Mr. Rogers is disappearing...I guess it's probably time.

History and the economic plans...what do you think is the root cause of this study?

Asian smog is affecting U.S. temperatures? Really?

College financial aid...always an issue.

Plant of the Week

Name: Angelonia
Latin Name: Angelonia angustifolia
Origin: Mexico and the West Indies

Angelonia is a perennial flower that is hardy only to zone 8 or so, which means that most of us treat it as an annual. The flowers are sometimes called "snapdragon-like," probably because they are arranged on vertical stems like snapdragon, and the individual florets are somewhat similar to the open-type snapdragons.

Angelonia bloom more or less continuously throughout the summer (although I suspect they would take a few weeks off here during the worst of the heat). They are various shades of pink, white, purple/lavendar/blue.

Sunday Sandwich

epicurean - fond of or adapted to luxury

Epicurean Sandwich

Two medium sized tomatoes, three green sweet peppers, and one small onion, chop fine, mix together, salt, and drain in sieve for five minutes. Mix with a little salad dressing and place on a lettuce leaf, between thin slices of white or whole wheat bread lightly buttered.

Anyone have an idea what part of this sandwich is the luxury?

Beet and Cheese Sandwich

Slice bread thin. Spread one piece with beets that have been chopped very fine and moistened with mayonnaise dressing. The other spread with cream cheese. Press slices firmly together.

Plant of the Week

Name: Seaberry, aka Sea Buckthorn
Latin Name: Hippophae rhamnoides
Origin: Various species native to Europe and Asia

Seaberry is a deciduous shrub that has bright orange or yellow berries. It has become increasingly popular in Europe, particularly in the Scandinavian countries. The berries are very high in antioxidants, vitamin C, and other good things. The berries are pea-sized, and held close to the branches. Unfortunately, the branches are liberally sprinkled with large thorns. As you can imagine, this makes harvesting rather difficult. In fact, I believe it is most common to harvest by pruning off the berry-containing branches and freezing them, then knocking the berries off and making juice or puree.

You need a male plant and a female plant to get any fruit. The plants are quite hardy as they are native to maritime climates. They will tolerate salty air and soil, poor soils, wet soils, and they fix nitrogen in the soil similar to legumes.

They are hardy to -25 degrees C, or -15 degrees F. I think that translates to...zone 5.