How to get rid of pesky pests

Thankfully, so far, our garden has been spared from the nasty pests that are prowling around gardens this time of year. But I know lots of gardens are being ran-sacked by insect invaders. 

Hopefully I can help :)  

My family and I try to grow our garden as organically as we can so I'll share some natural ways to control pests.

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If you have whiteflies you can try home-made insect spray.


Whitefly Spray
2 Tbsp dish soap 
2 Tbsp safflower oil
1 gallon water


Pour some of the mixture into a spray bottle and shake to combine. Because the mixture contains oil, you will need to shake it well before each use, as the oil will separate from the water and detergent.

(I got this recipe from ehow.com, click here for the original link)

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If slugs have decided to inhabit your garden, you can try home-made garlic spray. This also works for cutworms, wireworms and whiteflies. 

Garlic Spray for Pests

1 garlic bulb, crushed and minced
1 quart water
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon liquid dish soap

In a large jar, measure the water and cayenne pepper. Add garlic and onion to the mixture. Wait an hour before adding the soap. The spicy ingredients must sort of stew or steep, almost like tea. After an hour, add the soap and your non-toxic spray is ready to use! This can be stored in the fridge for a week.

(I got the original recipe for the garlic spray from essortment.com, click here for the original recipe and more home-made pesticide recipes.)

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If cabbage worms are devouring your plant, try salt spray.

Salt Spray

1 gallon water
2 Tbsp salt

Just mix and spray!

(I also got this recipe from essortment.com)

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If aphids are your problem, you can enlist the help of ladybugs. 

Praying mantises are also helpful with pest control.

If fungus gnats are a problem you can try hypoaspis miles.

If you have a variety of pests, an abundance of aphids or whiteflies that won't go away, I suggest green lacewings.

Their larvae eat a variety of pests such as: aphids, thrips, spider mites, greenhouse whitefly, mealybugs, leafhoppers, and the eggs and caterpillars of most pest moths. Of all available commercial predators, this lacewing is the most voracious and has the greatest versatility for pests of field crops, orchards, and greenhouses. Lacewings are also known as "aphid lions".

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If you're looking to kill the bugs and you're not worried about having an organic garden, my great grandma always used "Sevin" dust. You can find it pretty much anywhere, including The Green Thumbers. The Green Thumbers also has a wide variety of organic gardening products, as well as employees with a vast array of knowledge about eliminating pests from your garden.

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I hope this helps! I would love to hear about your bug remedies, and if you try any of these ideas I would love to hear how they work out!

Strawberry Dessert Anyone?

Yesterday we got 15 lbs. of strawberries. Yes, you read that correctly. 15 lbs. of strawberries! Not that they'll last very long, our family LOVES strawberries! I thought with strawberry season in full gear I would share one of our favorites. "Strawberry Dessert" is a staple at Bonnstetter family gatherings and holidays, I don't think I've ever been to a Bonnstetter get-together where it was missing in action!

We tweaked the recipe a bit so it doesn't include any packaged foods, but it still tastes just as good!

Strawberry Dessert

1st layer:

1 c flour 

1/4 c sugar 

1/2 c butter

1/2 c pecans, chopped

2nd layer:

1, 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 c powdered sugar

1/2 c heavy cream whipped

3rd layer:

1 c sugar
1 c water
1/4 c cornstarch
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 c strawberries, sliced


1st layer: Combine all the ingredients for the first layer using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Press into a 9"x13" pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Watch it closely, it burns easily. Let cool.
2nd layer: Whip heavy cream. In a separate bowl cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. Spread onto the cooled crust.
3rd layer: Place all the ingredients for the third layer in a double boiler and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat until thick, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the strawberries. Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes at room temperature. Pour over the first two layers that have chilled. Chill for 3 hours before serving. 

Enjoy!

You can find the original recipe in "A Century Of Cylinder Cooking", a cook book made by the women of my dad's home town, Cylinder, IA.

Chicken Stir-Fry

This year we decided to plant snap peas, and in the last week or so they have been putting on blossoms like crazy! We've even gotten a few peas already. It got me thinking, snap peas are delicious in stir fries. My family already has a stir fry recipe that we love, so why not add snap peas to it? The recipe calls for summer squash so if you're growing patty-pan squash, crook-neck squash or zucchini, you can use your own garden produce when it is ready to harvest. I recommend using baby squash, otherwise the dish gets a bit seedy.

Garlic Chicken Stir Fry
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips
1 cup edible pod peas
2 baby zucchini, thinly sliced
2 baby crookneck (yellow) squash, thinly sliced
Patty pan squash, thinly sliced, can be used, as well as any combination of the above-named squash)
salt and pepper to taste


Saute the onion and garlic and onion until they become soft. Add chicken, salting with each addition, and cook until almost cooked through. Add the sliced squash and cook until they start to become tender. Add the peas and cook just until they are warmed through.

Enjoy!

In quiche you didn't know

As a gardener, I am always trying think of new recipes that use the produce I grow. One of my favorite dishes is the Quiche. I love how versatile it is, you can add almost anything to it to make the recipe your own. This one of our favorite variations.


Kitchen Sink Quiche

4 eggs

3/4 cup milk 

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup gouda cheese

1/2 cup white cheddar cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup cooked broccoli, mashed

1 chopped onion, caramelized in olive oil

1/2 cup cooked bacon or sausage

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp basil leaves, chopped

1 1/4 tsp thyme leaves, chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 single pie crust

Pre-bake your pie crust. Sprinkle the gouda and cheddar cheeses onto the hot pie crust. Caramelize the onion, take off the heat and add the herbs. Spread the onion mixture on top of the cheese, the broccoli on top of the cheese, and the  meat on top of the broccoli. In a large bowl scramble the eggs and milk together, add the garlic powder, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and mix to combine. Pour egg mixture over the crust and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before eating.

I hope you enjoy the recipe!

For Great B's lard pie crust recipe see "A Heavenly Dessert"

Strawberry Bliss!

    I think strawberries are one of my favorite parts of summer!
If you a have strawberry patch, beautiful red berries are probably starting to appear. Home grown strawberries always remind me of my great grandma, Great B. When she still lived on the farm she had the best strawberry patch. The berries were like candy! Yesterday a friend brought us some berries from Jost Picking, Pick-Your-Own Strawberries (near Elvira, IA, 563/522-2305). They are almost as good as Great B's! 
    The berries got me thinking about one of my favorite desserts, Mock Angel Food Cake. We like to serve it with strawberries on top. It also happens to be one of Great B's favorites.


Mock Angel Food Cake
2 c flour 
2 c sugar 
1 c boiling water 
6 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla 


Sift the flour and sugar into a large bowl, pour in the boiling water and mix to combine. Let the mixture cool. Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add salt, cream of tartar, vanilla and baking soda. Beat until stiff peaks form. When the flour mixture is cool, fold in the egg white mixture. Pour into an ungreased 9x13" pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.


Allow to cool and serve with strawberries and whipped cream for a delicious spin on strawberry shortcake.

The original recipe can be found in "A Century of Cylinder Cooking" - 
a cookbook put together in the tiny town where my dad grew up.

For more about Great B and some of her recipes, see posts 

"Summer is just around corner...," "A Heavenly Dessert,"

 and "Summer with a cherry on top "

Great is Thy faithfulness...

This has nothing to do with gardening, but I just had to share what happened to me today!


I serve a truly AWESOME God! Today I went treasure hunting with my friend, Natalie, at Salvation Army. We were almost home when, to my horror, I realized I had forgotten my purse. We went back and asked the cashiers about it, but no one had turned it in. I would not have been freaking out, since I had my phone with me and my wallet had all of $12 in it, but my iPod touch was in there! I was positive I would never get it back. 
Then...a wonderfully kind lady called to tell us she had found it. But wait - it gets better! When we got to her house all she had was my wallet and my iPod. My purse was not there. She said she had seen the iPod and wallet when she was checking out because it had fallen to the bottom of the cart. We kept thanking her and she kept saying "I had to; it was the right thing to do."
All I can think of is that someone must have tried to grab it and my wallet and iPod must have fallen out. So, unless some strange person was looking for used lip gloss, they weren't going to find much...except a small bible. The crazy thing is that I have dropped it upside down and nothing falls out, which is one of the things I like most about that purse. It was totally God! 
Later someone from the Salvation Army called to say that someone had turned in the actual purse - apparently they didn't need used lip gloss!
I am still in such awe of how faithful God is to me!!!

Green Peas, Please!

Today I thought I would post one of my favorite summer recipes. I actually got this one from Giada De Laurentiis and put my own spin on it. Pea Pesto sounds a bit strange I know, but trust me, it is fabulous! I love it, and I'm not a big fan of green peas. Since I have limited garden space, so I don't have enough room to grow the amount of peas necessary for the recipe. Fortunately, frozen peas work great.


Pea Pesto
1 (10 ounce) package frozen peas, thawed
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (freshly grated, if you can)
1 Tbsp lime basil leaves, (if you don't have lime basil you can use regular basil and 1/2 tsp lime juice, it won't be quite the same but it will still be good)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 c olive oil


Place everything except the oil into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. With the machine running slowly, drizzle in the oil and continue to mix until well combined. 


And there you have it! I like to serve it over pasta, with halved cherry tomatoes, for a quick and easy (and might I add, delicious!) pasta salad.

Cucumber Salad with A Twist

    While my dad and I were working in the garden this past weekend I realized something ... come late summer we are going to have cucumbers coming out of our ears! You can only eat so many cucumbers fresh, and unfortunately you can't freeze them like you can tomatoes. I'm thinking some pickles might be in order, but it might be nice to have something to make with some of the fresh ones. And let's face it, nobody makes cucumber sandwiches anymore!
    How about a salad, something light and refreshing. Lemonade would go perfectly with this salad.


Cucumber Salad
5 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced
1/2 bulb fennel, sliced very thinly 
1 celery stalk, sliced thinly 
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half (optional)
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1/2 c plain greek yogurt 
1/4 c sour cream 
the zest of half a lemon
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp rice wine vinegar 
1 garlic clove, grated
1 1/2 tsp fresh dill, finely chopped 
1 Tbsp chervil, finely chopped (if you don't have chervil you can use parsley, it won't be quite the same but it will work)
1 tsp lemon thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste


Combine the first four ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredient and mix well. 
Add enough dressing to coat the veggies. You don't want to add to much as it will get watery as it sits in the fridge.
You can save the extra dressing in the fridge for later use.

For my lemonade recipe see "When life gives you lemons..."

Milk Crate Gardening 2

So this weekend I finally got my milk crate garden all filled up.

I added some different plants this year that I haven't grown before, and I can't wait to experiment with them!

I don't have pictures of everything, mostly just the new stuff.

Scented geranium and dianthus are on the left. On the right are coreopsis, and the flowers are edible.

I have never had scented geraniums before(I just learned about them, actually) so I can't wait to play around with those.

 Chocolate Mint(left) and Orange Mint (right) are both new additions.

 Sweet basil is a staple in my opinion. 

I started mine from seed. It's not quite ready for full sunlight yet, so we made a mini greenhouse out of an old juice jug. (Milk jugs work great too.)

Oregano is another staple for me. 

This happens to be Italian Oregano, which is a bit milder than its Greek cousin.

Lemon Thyme, one of  my favorites!

 Lavender - I have never grown lavender before - this fall I'm going to try to dry it and make sachets.  

Chervil is also a new one for me. It is sort of cross between tarragon and parsley.

Purple Sage, another one I am trying for the first time this year.

  Chamomile serves two purposes: It's a pretty flower and you can dry it and use it for tea.

Lastly Dill - these particular dill plants happen to have come from Great B's(my great grandma) house.

Dill is perfect in home-made ranch dressing!

For more about Great B and some of her recipes, see other posts: "Summer Is Just Around The Corner", "A Heavenly Dessert" and "Summer With A Cherry On Top". For my ranch dressing recipe see "Ranching Out".

Summer with a cherry on top

This recipe is for one of the pies Great B always had waiting for us when we got to her house. I think it's one of my all-time favorite desserts! With cherry season coming up I thought this might be a good recipe to share. If you have a sweet cherry tree, you could use your own cherries to make your own pie filling. That would be fantastic!

No-Bake Cherry Pie
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 c whipping cream, chilled 
1 can cherry pie filling


1 pre-baked 8" pie crust (see the "A heavenly Dessert" post for Great B's lard pie crust recipe)


Cream together the first four ingredients, in a separate bowl whip the heavy cream. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold gently. Pour the cream mixture into the pie crust, then pour the pie filling on top. 
Refrigerate for several hours before serving. 

For more of Great B's recipes see posts "Summer is just around the corner..." and "A Heavenly Dessert"

When life gives you lemons...

One of my favorite summertime drinks is lemonade, and in my opinion home-made is the very best lemonade you can find! Why not add some fresh herbs with lemony undertones to make it extra special? 


Lemonade 
1 1/4 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 c sugar
6 1/4 water
1 sprig lemon verbena 
1 sprig lemon balm
2-3 sprigs lemon thyme 


Place 1 c of the water, the sugar and all of the herbs into a small sauce pan and heat until sugar dissolves (this is called making a "simple syrup", it's quite handy for making lemonade and other drinks). Remove from the heat. Pour the lemon juice and the remaining water into a jar that can hold at least 2 quarts. Pour in 1-1 1/4 c of the simple syrup, depending on how sweet you like it(the simple syrup should make about 1 1/2 c, when pouring I like to use a little strainer to catch the herbs). Give it stir and enjoy!

I saw this idea in a book and I had to try it!
I used dianthus(a.k.a. pinks), but you could use any edible flower. Herb leaves or sprigs would work too.
I must say it worked very well! They make a beautiful garnish to summertime drinks.

I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Milk Crate Gardening

I have been wanting to make a planter for my herbs for a few years, and finally this year we made it happen. A few weeks ago I saw the idea of milk crate gardening(on a cooking show believe it or not). So I thought it would be a great idea for my herb garden. No worrying about pesky(even if they are cute) rabbits and elevated for easy access. This is how I, or rather we did it. (My dad did all of the work, I directed)

Besides herbs I also love hastas.
 We have had people tell us our hastas are on steroids 

Mint

Sage(front) and Rosemary

The finished product.

I love the way it turned out, no more wrestling with chicken wire to harvest herbs!!!

Rhubarb Season

Keeping with the dessert theme for the week, and with it being rhubarb season and all, I thought I would share one of my family's favorite rhubarb recipes. 


Cream Cheese Rhubarb Squares
Crust
1/2 c butter
1/2 c oatmeal
1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon 
1/4 tsp nutmeg


Filling
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese
3/4 c sugar 
1 egg 
2 c rhubarb, chopped very finely


Use your hands or a pastry blender to mix the crust ingredients together. Divide in half, pat half of the crust into an 8x8" square pan, set the other half aside.
With a hand mixer cream the cream cheese and sugar together. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Finally add the rhubarb and mix to combine. Pour the filling over the crust and sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the top begins to brown.

A Heavenly Dessert

So, this week is kind of turning into dessert week. Oh well, it could be worse! Today's recipes don't really have much to do with gardening(unless you have a coconut tree in your back yard...), but I love them! Today I'm posting Great B's famous pie crust recipe. The other recipe is for "Angel Pie", another Great B classic.


Great B's Lard Pie Crust
3 c flour
1 1/4 c lard (you CAN NOT substitute butter or shortening)
5 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 egg 
1/2 tsp salt


Use your hands or a pastry blender to mix the flour and lard together until it becomes crumbly. Mix the egg, vinegar and water together. Add the egg mixture to the flour/lard mixture and mix until it just comes together. Make sure you don't over work it or it will become tough. This dough freezes wonderfully!


I know it there a few strange ingredients, but it works for us every time.


Angel Pie
4 Tbsp corn starch 
1/2 c sugar 
2 c milk
1 Tbsp butter
3 egg whites


1 pre-baked, 8" pie shell, Great B's lard pie crust recipe above.
Shredded, unsweetened coconut to sprinkle on top


In a double boiler, over medium heat whisk together the corn starch and the sugar. Add about 1/2 c of the milk and whisk. Add the rest of the milk and the butter whisking until smooth. Cook stirring often until thick. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks are achieved. Gently fold the egg whites into the hot mixture. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and sprinkle with coconut. 
Bake at 350 degrees until the coconut turns golden brown and delicious. Watch closely, it doesn't take long. 
Let it completely before devouring. 

Summer is just around the corner...

    With summer just around the corner I've been on full garden planning mode, mapping out in my head where everything will go. And when I think of gardening, I can't help thinking about my great grandma and our yearly summer trip to Cylinder, IA, my dad's home town. When Daddy was young he would spend most of his summers with "Great B". She's the one who taught him about gardening.
    Cylinder is way northwest and has a population of a whopping 90 people. Whittemore, a neighboring town(where my great-grandma lived, she's almost 98 and in a nursing home now), has about 200 people. Algona, the nearest "big" town, has a coffee shop and pet store that belong on Michigan Ave., a few small stores, Hy-Vee and K-Mart ... and that's it! Even the big town only has about 5,000 people. 
    On really hot days if the wind blows one way you can smell cows and if it blows the other way you can smell pigs. The pigs also outnumber the people about 250:1. No lie!
    Despite the smell and the fact that there isn't a Starbucks or a Target for at least 100 miles, and WiFi is about as easy to find as a needle in a haystack, it really is a beautiful place! It's very flat and there are corn and bean fields as far as the eye can see. On a really clear day you can see seven different towns' grain elevators(each town has its own grain elevator).
    Some of my fondest memories from when I was younger are visiting my great-grandma. She always had at least two pies, a crumb cake, cookies, and a roast in the oven waiting for us when we got there. For supper we would have the roast with mashed potatoes, and strawberries, asparagus, and green beans, all from her huge garden. Then dessert! I don't think I have ever met anyone who could, and still can, cook like her! No-bake cherry pie and sour cream raisin pie with home-made lard pie crusts, and the BEST crumb cake EVER! I have tried several times, but I don't think my crumb cake will ever taste as good hers(even after having her one-on-one instruction). I think it's her hands (she always did the crumb part by hand), her pan, and her 40+ year old hand mixer. Or maybe it's just all the love she put into it, I don't know. While we ate she would tell us stories about this and that from her younger days, the same stories she still tells every year. It's almost become a tradition. I'm Looking forward to the 4th of July and seeing her again, when we can bring her back to "the farm" and cook with her again - at 98! Besides cooking, we'll get to happily listen to all of her tales yet again.
    Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Here is the recipe for Great B's fabulous crumb cake. Great B is adamant that if you change the ingredients or instructions at all, you won't get the same results!

Great B's Crumb Cake
1 2/3 c AP(all-purpose) flour
1/2 c white sugar 
1/2 c brown sugar
6 1/2 Tbsp butter, slightly softened and cut into cubes 
You MUST use butter.


Use your hands or a pastry blender to mix the flour, butter and sugar until you have fine crumbs resembling wet sand. 
Reserve 1/2 c.


To remaining crumb mixture add:
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 c buttermilk 
1 egg


When you have everything in the bowl, with a hand mixer beat it until it is light and fluffy and has lightened in color quite a bit. Pour into a greased 8x8" pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over the surface. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover it with tin foil while it cools to keep it moist. 
I does taste the best when it has had some time to cool.


If you make it, I would love to hear how it turns out!

Here are some pictures from last year's trip

Great B and her "Keithie" cooking  together. 
She is the only person allowed to call him by that name! 

At 97 she can still cook as well as ever!

The master at work :)  

 The finished product. YUM!