Category Archives: garden

Cote adventures in gardening

A Rainy Week — Monsoon Season in Arizona

monsoon back yardWe live on a desert mountain. The excitement for this month comes in the form of almost 3 inches of rain.  For those of you who live in places like Oregon, that probably doesn’t sound too impressive.  To us desert dwellers, who have seen less than 2 inches of rain in the previous six months, it is a lot of water!

We had 5 straight days of rain starting last week and by Tuesday afternoon here is what our back yard looked like. I am just glad that everything planted in containers above ground. Any thing here would have surely washed away. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on July 26, 2012
Posted in fresh veggies, garden, tomatoes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Garden Update–July, 2012

wateringWe got the water bill. It was a bit of a shock. I know we live in the desert, but still. . . Good thing that summer electric and gas are so low, or I would be singing major blues!

My back knows that we use a fair amount of water – I have to lug the hose around everyday; sometimes twice a day to water. Great exercise, but kind of a pain.  I am lusting after an irrigation system. I hear that an irrigation system really cuts down on the amount of water you use.  Hmmm! (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on July 19, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Garden Attacks: Aphids and Javalina

Not a banner week.  Great reminder that no matter how smart we think we are we really don’t have control.

Waphidsent out to get some beet greens for lunch on Monday. The first leaf I cut had funny black dirt all over it.  Didn’t think much of it; figured it had drug in the dirt when we watered. Moved to the center of the plant and cut another leaf.  Black stuff all over it. I gingerly touched “the dirt” – it was soft and squishy.  YUCK!!

Well, I learned something new this week.  Who know that aphids come in black. My only up close and personal experience with  aphids were the white ones on our roses and hibiscus plants. I also learned that aphids are also called plant lice . . which explains the squirmy crawly feeling I got!

I guess the increase in ants should have given me a clue. But it has been so dry that I just figured they were out looking for water.  Never occurred to me they were setting up their own personal little farm on my beet patch. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on July 12, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Drowning. . .

S6300735

A ONE MORNING HARVEST

OMG we are drowning in tomatoes! This is one morning and we are getting that much again in the evening.

Do you feel sorry for me?  I sincerely, hope not!  We have great food and our neighbors and friends love us since we keep giving tomatoes away.

Last year, our first year in this very harsh environment, we had lots of tomato troubles:  diseases, fungi and pests .  Because we got here in May, we rushed to get the garden in. Unfortunately, we did not do a good job of tracking which varieties were the best producers, the most disease resistant or the best tasting. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 28, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden, tomatoes | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Beef of Vegetables???

kaleOver the weekend I spent a couple of hours surfing the net. I was on a mission:  finding some good kale recipes. Almost immediately I saw an amazing article title: Kale, the Beef of Vegetables. Of all the odd titles I have stumbled across recently, this has to top the list!

My first thought. of course, was, “no wonder I don’t particularly like it!” Then I cracked up (I do tend to amuse myself, easily). Look, I’m really, really, really trying to eat it and like it. Damn it!  It is so good for my body that I should at least eat it and hopefully, learn to like it!

When I finally quit laughing at myself, I settled down and read the article.  It was yet one more in a long series of articles extolling the virtues and benefits of kale.  Did you know that it is full of : (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 26, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I got my Mojo Back! Made Veggies au Pistou ( a fancy French name for a basic Veggie Stew with Pasta and Pesto)

I am GREATLY relieved to be able to report that I have my cooking mojo back!  This week everything I cooked turned out well.  In fact better than well. . . it was all downright good!

lunch beforeMonday morning I went out a picked a great assortment of fresh veggies. Spinach, yellow squash and tomatoes shown here.  I also trimmed a big basket full of basil and a bunch of onions.

In the fridge there were navy beans from last week, a head of lettuce and a big cucumber that we had gotten at Farmer’s Market.  It was obviously a Greek salad day.

We are now officially in summer and menus are guided by what I pick on any given more.  This morning I had LOTS of basil that was either going to get harvested or bolt.  I harvested.

I stood and inhaled the incredible aroma and thought “Pesto!”. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 21, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, entrée, fresh veggies, garden, menu, Mirepoix, Pasta, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

First multi-tomato harvest and garden pests . . .

S6300616The good news is that this week we have actually been harvesting and eating from the garden everyday.  We have had spinach (we are very close to the end of this batch), kale, cabbage leaves, beet greens, radishes,  zucchini, onions and tomatoes!

Tuesday morning there were actually 5 largish and 5 cherry tomatoes! We obviously got a little carried away on the whole watering thing (you can tell my the big cracks) but that seems to be a problem every year. . . takes a little bit to figure out exactly how much to water unless you invest in a moisture meter.  We, of course, wing it! (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on June 14, 2012
Posted in fresh veggies, garden, tomatoes | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy

My favorite part of gardening is watching the seeds sprout and poke up through the ground.  My second favorite part is harvesting the food. Third, is eating it.

It is immensely gratifying to actually see the results of all your hard work. Watering, weeding, keeping after pests and fungi is hard work. Never mind the transplanting and soil prep.  It’s definitely work!  But there are so few things in life where you can actually see, taste and experience such tangible and direct results.

Harvesting means menu planning.  Now, in the winter menus are usually about the finished product – casseroles, soups, stews and meatless meatloaves.  In the summer it is about making sure I have cooked rice and beans in the fridge, nuts in the pantry and a few things in the freezer.

by Genene Cote Posted on June 7, 2012
Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, entrée, fresh veggies, garden, Italian, menu, Pasta, salad, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When A Plan Starts to Come Together!

Small plants coming up in garden in a pool

Planting a garden is a small act in creating a long term plan.  You plant seeds, water, watch and wait.  And then one day you see a little shoot of green poking up the dirt. This is my very favorite part or gardening!

The miracle of life and growth always makes me happy!  I walk around with a big grin on my face all day. There is nothing like a little miracle to remind me how wonderful life is and how grateful I am just to be alive. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 31, 2012
Posted in fresh veggies, garden, menu, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lasagna

David found a package of rice lasagna noodles the other day and said, “you know, I am really hungry for lasagna.  Think you can make a vegan version that tastes good?”

Nothing like a challenge!  Especially since lasagna is one of those quick meals that is perfect for a crowd. The trick, of course is to bake it on low heat with lots of liquid so you never have to precook the noodles!  I really have not made this dish since we gave up dairy last year so I figured I just wing it and see what happened.

first zuchThe place to start was with my more or less standard combination of vegetables (carrots, zucchini, green pepper, onions, garlic and spinach). That was all easy!  The part that took a little thinking was what to use in place of ricotta cheese. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on May 29, 2012
Posted in additive-free food, Cote Home Grown Fare, diary-free food, entrée, fresh veggies, garden, gluten-free food, Italian, Pasta, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments