When you have just and handful of strawberries

I think most gardeners at MCGA grow produce for personal consumption,  I know we do.  Our strawberry patch this year is growing well but due to very wet weather in May, many of our strawberries have succumb to slugs, mold and poor production due to poor pollination.

The end result is basically only handful of strawberries at a time instead of little basket-fulls.  Most of the time the kids pick our berries and eat them out of hand before we leave the garden.  Two nights ago, I was at the garden by myself and actually came away with two handfuls; a bounty in my mind.  (Some had slug bites but cooked down, I knew the kids would not notice. )  Immediately crepes with strawberry jam came to my mind.  I have a really great recipe and they made a perfect breakfast the next day. I used to garden with my parents as a child and there was no sense of pride greater than producing and eating homegrown food, now my kids get to have a similar experience with me.

 Recipe to follow!

 Crepes with homemade strawberry jam

Crepe Recipe 1:  (from my own pantry)
1 C. flour
1 C. milk
1 T. sugar
1 T. melted butter
pinch of salt
3 eggs

Put all ingredients in a blender,  blend well until there are no lumps. (Batter will be watery)  Get two non stick pans ready.  Heat them up at medium heat with a dot of butter or non-stick cooking spray.  Ladle or pour some batter into the pan, less is more.  Shake the pan violently and try hard to distribute the batter all over the bottom of the pan. When the edges of the crepe become lacy and golden, see photo 1 above,  flip the crepe.  Re-butter the pan and repeat.

Crepe Recipe 2:  (From Julia Child)
1 C. flour
1 C. liquid (half milk and half water)
1 T. sugar
1 T. melted butter
pinch of salt
1 egg and 2 yolks

Strawberry jam:
2 handful strawberries
juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 T. water
sugar to taste
1 t. pectin

Cook everything together, mash the berries if they are large.  Taste for sugar and let simmer until thick.  Serve!

Will Basil Man Strike Again?

Traditions and 5k's.

Hi Everyone!

Sam here, moving over to the board blog to make things a little more streamlined!  So as you know last spring we solicited 6 gardeners to participate in the annual Big Backyard 5k that runs through Marymoor park.  This 5k raises money for the park system. Two weekends ago was the big race!

When we asked the garden to participate, we quickly got 2 couples Jim and Rachel as well as Kenneth and Tatyana.  As we got closer with two slots still open I volunteered along with my spouse and my son.   In one of the emails I made said that participants who dressed up as gnomes would get bonus points!  Little did I know....

 

Is that a red cap I spy?

Yes, yes not one but two red caps!  Could it be?? Does anyone else around them see?

Now wait a second...I see only one red cap but the beard disappeared, as if by magic?

Now two gnomes are spotted towards the end of the race...but the beard grew back!! Clearly these gnomes possess special garden powers.

Earlier these two were spotted in the garden before they mysteriously disappeared.  (Thanks Kenneth and Tatyana for being such great sports!) 

 Heidi and son seen here before the race...one last trip in the stroller!

 There were two waves of participants, the fast folks, and five minutes or so later, the folks walking dogs, and pushing strollers.

All in all it was a great day, great participation!  Afterwards there was music near the concert stage and things for kids to do.  I am hoping that this is the start of a great tradition with our garden, where all participants dress up as gnomes!  Could you imagine how great that would be?  Thanks Jim and Rachel and thanks Kenneth and Tatyana for starting this great PR campaign for the garden.  Next year let's try to make it an even dozen participants! 

~Sam