July 18, 2013

Pop into popsicles and summer to fall vegetables

Despite our little breather this week, the heat’s not off the griddle yet. So how about cooling down with Trisha’s yummy, healthy popsicles?

This week, she mixes up easy-freezey recipes with fruit, yogurt, herbs, and even avocado (a top hit with the KLRU studio crew). Get her recipes and head for the freezer!

Here’s some eye-popping color from my visit to Annie’s Annuals at the Garden Bloggers Fling in California.

On a past CTG, Trisha shows off zinnias big and small, including tips to waylay summertime problems. Even in containers, zinnias feed our butterflies and bees when perennials take a break.

On the home front, our anoles cool off between acrobatics on the patio “percussion” pots, a gift from Darrel Mayers of Mundi.

Nearby, the containerized calamondin sweetens summer breezes with fragrant flowers that keep on coming, promising lavish harvests in a few months.

Also on the patio, here’s a lovely edible combination: Cuban oregano and ornamental peppers (edible and very hot). Neither are cold hardy so they get to hang out on the patio in winter when we frame it in plastic. I’ve also overwintered the Cuban oregano indoors where it gets bright light.

The success with our grafted tomatoes means more next spring!

To get our summer crops through the heat and gear up for fall vegetables, Sari Albornoz from the Sustainable Food Center joins Tom this week.

See how they’re prepping first-time beds in their new location on E. 17th, where they’re actually amending sand on an old brick factory site. Soon, in their new Teaching Garden, you can visit beds like this one at Graham Elementary.

They’ll be showcasing hugelkultur, ollas, drip irrigation, trellises, companion planting, organic gardening, composting and much more. Find out about workshops, Citizen Gardener registration, Sprouting Healthy Kids and their Farmers’ Markets.

At The Happy Kitchen, they’ll be cooking up recipes for food and nutrition.

I’m a big fan of their blog, Katy Cooks, for super yummy recipes. I’m also getting the book online!

As Sari tells us, mulch really helps temper the heat. But, more than one of us (count me in!) have reserve bags sitting around. Those humid, hot bags are great breeding grounds for mold. This week, Daphne answers Maritza’s great question about what to do about that moldy mulch.

On tour, visit Sunshine Community Gardens, where friendships and food grow together.

Daphne invites you to the Extension class on Fall-Winter Vegetable Gardening, presented by the Master Gardeners on August 8 from 10 a.m. – noon. Register online for just $10. You can also see their wicking beds and other test beds in person to see how they’re growing.

Thanks for stopping by! Join us next week for our succulent extravaganza. Linda

Comments