Sunburned Peppers, Corn, Fried Sage (YUM!) and the CSA

Hello Everyone!! It's me again! :)

Things are pretty "status quo" around the garden here in Darien, however, I do have a few interesting things to report!

First, last winter my husband wanted to throw out this potted pepper plant we had going. I said, no, let's bring it in and see if we can nurse it along to get it through the winter and plant it in the ground next spring.

WELL!!!! During the winter it produced one whole, good-sized green pepper!!! He was shocked and of course, I was smug! When the time came in the spring to plant it outside he (we?) decided to leave it in the pot and just put it outside.

Lo, and behold!! We have about six peppers on it! We have already picked two. Mmmmm. :)

Anyway, yesterday I went out to look at the garden, as usual and guess what?? Three of the peppers were SUNBURNED!!! Yup. Sunburned! How does a pepper get sunburned??? I immediately picked them and cut out the sunburned portion and put the rest in my fridge. I mean...the strangest things happen sometimes!!!! Sheesh!

Alright, my corn... My corn is growing AMAZINGLY!!!! It appears I have about 16-17 ears of corn coming in!!!! I am SO happy.

Originally, when I told my husband I wanted to plant corn he thought I was nuts! (He's not that far off the mark.) He very generously made a spot for my "experiment."

Well!!! It is growing so well! Of course, I remind him every time we look at it how well it's growing. I can't help it!

Now, my dad told me each stalk only gives you one ear of corn, but in very rare occasions you may get two. It doesn't look like any of my stalks have two on them. I figure my dad got up in Heaven too late to help me out with that this year. But I'm pretty sure I'll have a "double" next year!!! (PLEASE, Dad???) Anyhow, it looks like we'll do well with the corn.

The herbs are looking great. I absolutely must get to the cilantro this week. I let the side of the house go to seed, so I will have to deal with them as well.

This week we'll also pick the basil and store that...freezing, food processing and putting it into ice cube trays and making basil pesto!!!

The BIG news is that the sage is ready! Didn't get too much of it but enough for a couple rounds of fried sage! Pick the leaves...and coat them with a fairly thick batter. The batter should be flour, water, garlic power and some beer. Heat some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil as Rachael Ray would say!) throw the battered sage in carefully.

These cook very quickly and you will want to turn them over, so do not walk away from them while they are in the pan!! Then when they are light brown take them out with tongs and place them on a plate covered with a paper-towel. (You can also make these without a batter, just throw them in the heated EVOO. They must be watched this way as well.)

Be sure to take these out when they are light brown because they will cook a little longer on the plate, and you do not want them burnt. Fried sage makes a wonderful garnish and also a nice little side dish. As a garnish they go well with a nice, medium-rare steak or a nicely grilled marinated chicken breast.

CSA vegetable pick up this Tuesday. I will let you know how that goes!

We have our cousin coming from the Czech Republic for three weeks so it will be interesting to see what she thinks of our garden and how we do what we do.

Once again, I am going to do a "shout-out" to the CSA. Please folks, if you can support your local CSA do so. These people rely on the kindness of volunteers to help them. It's a great group of people, so if you find yourself with nothing to do on a Saturday or any other day during the week, give them a call and see if there's something you can do to help on the farm!!

Alright, sorry for the "bland" blog...with Little Lucie coming, my Musical Theatre/ Glee Club performance, planning our trip to Europe and Mom's yard-sale, I am in "crunch time."

Have a great week everyone! Eat well and enjoy your food!!