Masher
Front Yard Vegetable Garden Redux
- by Laura, July 22, 2009
String Beans From the Garden
1. Send your son out with a colander and ask him to collect all the string beans. Send him back when he doesn’t come in with enough.
2. Wash string beans and snip off the tip of the tiny bit of the end with the stem.
3. Steam in an inch of water that is well salted. Let them cook until they get soft but not mushy. Drain and shock in a bowl of ice water.
4. Dress in good olive oil and vinegar. Add more salt if you like. That’s all.
Okay, so I know that every time you hear the hoopla about the vegetable garden on the White House Lawn, you think to yourself “Oh Michelle. That’s so last year. I saw it on Jellypress in 2008”
Well, it is… And we’re back with our front yard garden. And once again it’s beautiful, attracting honeybees by the dozens. We are growing broccoli, lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and chives, peppers, too, and more. Here are the Japanese eggplant. I was astonished by how beautiful the plant is. Such an ornament for the yard with its purple flowers and stems and glossy fruit.
This year’s new addition: David is growing potatoes in this special potato bin.
Quite the ridiculous yuppie invention, eh? You plant the spuds in the the container only partially filled with soil. When the greens sprout, you cover them with more soil. A week later, when they force themselves through again, you bury them again. Add more soil. This happens successively. Each time the green leaves surface you bury them in soil, and the theory is that it forces more tubers to grow. We’ll see. Of course, people do this in garbage cans and spare tires. But this is so much more attractive. I’m sure Michelle will want one too.
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