Having four chickens live in your backyard is a little ridiculous. Case in point: right now three of our hens (Inky, Bumble, and Boo Boo) are molting, and it looks like a gigantic pillow fight took place in our yard. The feathers swirl around in the breeze and get stuck in the most unlikely of places, including my hair.

We allow the girls to wander the backyard, where they snack on grass, roost on our ladder, and do their best to destroy our vegetable garden. Right before my birthday party in July, we installed a wire metal fence to keep the chickens and our dog, Domino, out of the garden. The girls had been inviting themselves in to sample the lettuce, snack on bean shoots, and generally wreak havoc. And Domino decided that digging up the carrots would be fun. Twice. So up went the fence and I was happy for approximately six hours. Then my dad reported he had seen our Araucana hen, Clyde, squeeze her fat body through the four-inch holes in the fence and head straight for the vegetables. So much for our fortifications!

And last week, while I was harvesting some tomatoes, I glanced down and saw a pile of three eggs. Apparently the girls have decided that the plush confines of their coop aren’t good enough; they’d rather lay their eggs in a hollow between two kohlrabi.

Silly? Yes. But discovering the eggs made my day.

I have a simple request. I would like garden centers and hardware stores to stop selling plastic tools. Sure, they’re inexpensive, but they are also cheap. The tools are too lightweight to be useful. Plastic becomes brittle when left out in the sunlight. It breaks, cracks, and chips easily. It’s ugly. And it’s made out of petroleum.

I’m staging my own personal rebellion by slowly filling my tool shed with high quality tools. My favorite new tool is a 2 gallon, galvanized metal watering can. It has a very nice rain nozzle that delivers a gentle stream of water. It’s perfect for watering in newly planted seeds and fertilizing mid-season, and I think it will last for decades.

Some other tools on my shopping list, include:

5” stirrup hoe from Johnny’s Select Seeds. This is my all-time, favorite tool. The blade slices right under the soil’s surface, cutting off the roots of young weeds without disturbing the soil. This version has a solid ash handle and comes with replaceable blades.

3-Tine Hand Cultivator from Red Pig Tools: Hand cultivators simplify weeding between rows and make digging evenly spaced furrows easy. This particular cultivator is from a line of gorgeous, hand-forged tools made in Oregon by Rita and Bob Denman. All of their tools are simple, handsome, and heirloom quality.

Felco hand pruners. The gold standard for pruners. You only need to buy this tool once because pretty much everything on it is replaceable, including blades, springs, and handles.

Lee Valley Stainless Steel Digging Fork. Stainless steel won’t rust, is sturdy, and looks pretty, too. I use a digging fork for weeding, gently loosening soil, and dividing plants.

I’m going to add these tools into my collection over the fall and winter so I’m ready to roll next spring. What about you? What are your favorite tools and tool companies?

If you like to discuss the finer points of composting and to chatter on about vegetable gardening, then I have a deal for you!

Molbak’s Nursery in Woodinville, Washington has invited me to participate in a panel discussion about fall gardening with local Seattle gardening gurus Ciscoe Morris and Don Marshall this coming Saturday. We’re going to exchange opinions on the best fall plants (garlic and mache get my vote), how to get your garden ready for fall (I’m advocating cover crops), and why gardening is an important environmental act.

If you live in the Seattle area, please consider coming to the event and making a day of it. I’d love to talk shop with you, and Molbaks has a great cafe and lots of fall veggie starts. For those of you planning on actually spending Saturday in the garden, no worries. I’m going to post my fall gardening tips here after the talk.

What: Gardening in Fall
Where: Molbak’s Nursery
13625 NE 175th Street, Woodinville, WA 98072
When: Saturday, September 27th from 2:30 to 4:00 pm

My ‘Purple Calabash’ tomatoes are crumpled, ruffled, dimpled, and a little bit scarred. They smell spicy, but taste a bit sweet. You can call them strange, but please, don’t call my tomatoes ugly. If you do, I won’t share. Not one bite.

On this September evening, open face tomato sandwiches are on our dinner menu.

The foundation: Two thick slices of sourdough bread, toasted until golden and drizzled with olive oil.

The filling: Slabs of ‘Purple Calabash’ tomatoes, slices of fresh mozzarella, a confetti of basil, a big pinch of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.

The finishing touch: Cold beer and vinegar chips. And I think a little Vampire Weekend playing in the background.

Hungry, yet?

People ask me all the time what kind of gardening I do, and my standard response is, “I’m definitely a veggie girl.” But to be honest, I really like flowers, too. Especially old-fashioned annuals like nasturtiums, zinnias, sunflowers, and cosmos.

I always manage to find a place for them tucked among my vegetables. Without the flowers, my garden would be a sea of green (green cucumbers, green zucchini, green greens), and they lure in the beneficial insects that pollinate my cucumbers and squash and keep pests under control. Plus, who doesn’t like having a ton of cut flowers right outside the back door?

My favorite vase for homegrown bouquets is a tin can because they are short and stout with a wide mouth, which means I can cram in a lot of flowers and then recycle or compost the whole bouquet, vase and all, when the flowers are spent. I’ll fancy things up by wrapping a bit of twine around the belly of the can when I’m giving flowers to a friend, but either way the bouquets are adorable.

In my book, it wouldn’t be summer without hanging out on my porch drinking quite a few pitchers of sweet tea. For those of you who did not grow up drinking sweet tea, let me fill you in.

Sweet tea is iced tea with a sugar high.

In a pinch you can add a few tablespoons of sugar to a glass of iced tea and stir, stir, stir until it dissolves. But the best way to make sweet tea is with simple syrup, because it adds a dose of sugar instantly, minimal stirring required.

Simple syrup is, well, simple. All you have to do is stir equal parts sugar and water together over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. But I like to complicate things slightly by infusing herbs into the simple syrup. Pretty much any herb will work, but my favorite is lemon verbena, because it has an entirely unique citrusy, floral flavor.

Enjoying the final days of summer

Lemon Verbena Sweet Tea

Lemon verbena simple syrup pairs up especially well with a glass of strongly brewed Lavender Earl Grey, which I buy loose from Miro Tea in Seattle (but you can find it online, too). This sweet tea has a bold Earl Grey flavor, and the lavender and lemon verbena add yummy, unexpected herbal notes!

Experiment by replacing the lemon verbena in this recipe with your favorite herbs—I’m partial to basil—and keep a few flavored simple syrups on hand for mixing into cocktails, sweetening lemonade, and dressing up fruit.

What you’ll need:
1 cup of cold water

1 cup of cane sugar

½ cup fresh lemon verbena leaves

1 tablespoon of loose Lavender Earl Grey tea (or 3 tea bags)

Instructions:
1. To make the syrup, first squeeze the lemon verbena leaves with your hands until they are bruised and very fragrant. Then, chop the leaves finely and place them in a medium sized bowl. Combine the sugar and the water in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the hot simple syrup over the lemon verbena leaves, cover, and set the syrup aside for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours (the syrup should turn from clear to golden brown). Then, line a strainer with cheesecloth. Pour the syrup through the strainer and discard the leaves. Store the syrup in a covered container in the refrigerator.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of Lavender Early Grey tea to a large teapot (or 3 tea bags). Bring four cups of cold water to a boil in a tea kettle and then pour it over the tea. Allow the tea to steep for 4 minutes and then remove the tea leaves. Pour the tea into a pitcher and chill it in the refrigerator.

3. To make sweet tea, fill a large drinking glass half way with ice. Then pour the cold tea over the ice and stir in the simple syrup to taste (I like about 2 tablespoons).

Today I am a guest blogger over at Organic To Be! Being invited to the Organic To Be table was super exciting for me, because this daily blog is full of food news, organic gardening advice, and awesome recipes.

Organic To Be was created by Dave Smith, whose long list of accomplishments includes being an advocate for sustainable farming and co-founding Smith and Hawken. The great thing about Organic To Be is it brings together the voices of seven bloggers, including edible landscaping maven Rosalind Creasy, James Beard Award winning food writer and cookbook author Greg Atkinson, and Organic Gardening alum Jeff Cox, for a spirited conversation about organic food and farming.

So go check out Organic To Be! You’ll find my recipe for Grilled Nectarines and Blackberries in Lemon Verbena Syrup and a whole lot more. And for those of you who found your way over here from Organic To Be, I’d just like to extend a warm welcome to DigginFood!

This summer the lovely Ileana of A Candy-Colored Life sent me a packet of ‘Erbette’ chard seed as part of the Punk Rock Garden Swap. ‘Erbette’ has slender, pale green stems and delicate leaves that remind me more of spinach than Swiss chard. It is an elegant and sophisticated vegetable, just like its name suggests.

Which is why I was devastated to discover that an army of leaf miners decided they like ‘Erbette’ as much as I do. Leaf miners are the larvae of a tiny black fly. They wiggle their way in between the upper and lower leaf surfaces of chard (and other leafy greens), mine out a pocket, and leave ugly blisters all over the leaves.

They are totally gross and I have decided to wage war.

My garden is 100% organic, so I definitely wasn’t about to break out a spray to annihilate these icky pests. I did a little research and found out that the best way to deal with leaf miners is to cut out infested leaves as soon as you notice damage and dispose of them.

I’ve been vigilantly removing infested leaves and so far, so good! The number of leaves affected is diminishing quickly. Next year, I think that I’ll put a row cover over my chard (and spinach) in early summer when the leaf miner flies are out and about laying eggs. The row cover (which is an agricultural fabric that lets light and water in but keeps bugs out) will protect my pretty plants without using a drop of chemicals. Won’t that be nice?

As you can see from my posts about Basic Grilled Beans and Grilled Beans with Charred Tomato Sauce, I’m on a bit of a bean grilling kick. I’ve found that tender crisp grilled green beans make a great side, but they are even better as finger food, especially if you serve them up with an irresistible dipping sauce. Cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika add a kick to the beans in this recipe and the raita—an Indian inspired dip with cilantro and cucumber—cools things down…but not too much. When serving these beans, leave your utensils in the drawer and put out a big pile of napkins. And consider doubling the recipe. This finger food goes fast.

Spicy Grilled Green Beans with Raita

The raita dip is a great way to use up extra cucumbers and it is super versatile. Serve it with a big plate of grilled veggies (I’m a huge fan of grilled carrots and spears of zucchini) or spread it on pita sandwiches. Look for smoked, hot paprika in the spice section at your supermarket. It adds a smoky punch to the beans and is a delicious addition to the spice cabinet (and it tastes great on eggs!). If you can’t find it, substitute cayenne pepper.

You’ll need:

For the raita:
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
¾ cup cucumber, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon chives, minced
salt and pepper

For the beans:
1 pound of green beans (two or three great big fistfuls)
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon smoked, hot paprika (I use El Rey de la Vera Picante. It comes in a bright red tin.)
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions:
1. Snap off the tips and stems of each bean and pile them into a colander. Wash them, shake off any excess water, and dump them into a large bowl. Mix the cumin, coriander, and paprika together in a small bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the beans and toss until the beans are evenly coated with oil. Sprinkle the spices over the beans, add salt and pepper to taste, and toss again.

2. To prepare the raita, combine the yogurt, cucumber, cilantro and chives together in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Meanwhile, grill the beans over low flame (or on the edge of coals, if using a charcoal grill). Be sure to lay the beans crosswise across the grills grate to prevent them from falling through. Or, you can completely prevent losing beans through the grate, by loading them into a vegetable grilling basket. Place the lid over the grill and let the beans cook. Turn the beans every few minutes to make sure they cook evenly and don’t burn. Remove from the grill when they are tender crisp (about 8 to 10 minutes).

4. Serve the beans pile high on a platter next to a bowl of the raita for dipping.

This recipe amps up basic grilled green beans by adding a topping full of big flavor. Charring the tomatoes in the sauce and grilling the beans adds a sexy, smoky, entirely addictive, come hither flavor to the vegetables. Be sure to use Roma or sauce tomatoes for the sauce—beefsteaks and slicers turn mushy when grilled and they make the sauce watery.

Grilled Green Beans with Charred Tomato Sauce

You’ll need:
1 pound of green beans (two or three great big fistfuls)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
4 to 6 large Roma or sauce tomatoes (about 1 pound)
2 to 3 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 medium clove garlic, minced
Big pinch of red pepper flakes

Instructions:

1. Snap off the tips and stems of each bean and place them into a colander. Wash the beans, shake off excess water and dump them into a large bowl. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil over the beans, sprinkle on salt and pepper to your liking, and then toss the beans until evenly coated with oil and seasonings.

2. Wash the tomatoes, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the stem and core. Brush with olive oil. Grill the tomatoes cut side down over low flame (or on the edge of coals, if using a charcoal grill) until they are charred and soft. Remove from the grill. Chop the tomatoes roughly and combine in a bowl with the basil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Drizzle in a little bit of olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, grill the beans over low flame (or on the edge of coals, if using a charcoal grill). Be sure to lay the beans crosswise across the grill’s grate to prevent them from falling through. Or, you can completely prevent losing beans through the grate by loading them into a vegetable grilling basket. Place the lid over the grill and let the beans cook. Turn the beans every few minutes to make sure they cook evenly and don’t burn. Remove from the grill when they are tender crisp and slightly charred in a few places (about 8 to 10 minutes).

4. Pile the beans on a platter and spoon the charred tomato sauce over the middle of the beans for an especially pretty presentation.

If you like the idea of grilling beans, check out my Basic Grilled Beans and my Spicy Grilled Beans with Raita recipes.

Earlier this summer Jon turned our cedar fence into a bean trellis by stapling a panel of concrete reinforcing wire mesh to the fence. I planted a mix of yellow, green and purple pole beans along the bottom and they quickly scrambled up the wire scaffolding, covering up the boring fence with their pretty vines and dangling beans.

In the past few weeks, I’ve harvested a pile of greens and have been experimenting with grilling them over a charcoal fire until they are just tender. The beans get a bit crispy on the ends and the charred bits add a nice smoky undertone. Grilled green beans only take about twenty minutes to go from garden to table and they pair up perfectly with barbecued salmon.

You can serve the beans plain, but I like to jazz them up with toppings. Below you’ll find a basic recipe for grilling green beans, and I’ll post recipes for Grilled Beans Topped with Charred Tomato Sauce and Spicy Grilled Beans with Raita shortly. Check them out! And then get grilling, summer is only here for a few more days!

Basic Grilled Beans

You’ll need:
1 pound of green beans (two or three great big fistfuls)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions:
1. Snap off the tips and stems of each bean and pile them into a colander. Wash them, shake off excess water and dump them into a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the beans, sprinkle on salt and pepper to your liking, and then toss the beans until evenly coated with oil and seasonings.

2. Grill the beans over low flame (or on the edge of coals, if using a charcoal grill). Be sure to lay the beans crosswise across the grill’s grate to prevent them from falling through. Or, you can completely prevent losing beans through the grate, by loading them into a vegetable grilling basket. Place the lid over the grill and let the beans cook. Stir the beans every few minutes to make sure they cook evenly and don’t burn. Remove from the grill when they are tender crisp (about 8 to 10 minutes). Serve plain or with Charred Tomato Sauce or Raita.

‘Satsuki Madori’.

This is the name of the world’s all-time greatest, most delicious, productive, gorgeous cucumber (in my humble opinion). In the space of just 8 weeks, from a single plant, we’ve harvested 25 cucumbers. The skin is thin, deep, dark green, not too spiny, and never bitter. Slice into one of these babies and you’ll see bright white flesh that is crisp, sweet, and not too seedy.

I cannot get enough of these cucumbers, and it’s a good thing because we’ve got 3 in the fridge and more on the way. Here’s how we’ve eaten them:

Super fresh: Straight off the vine right in the garden. Yum!
Quick and simple: Cut into spears, drizzled with our best olive oil and sprinkled with good salt.
Sweet and Sour: Sliced paper thin and soaked in apple cider vinegar and sugar over night.
Sour and Spicy: Quickly pickled with slivered garlic, rice vinegar, chili oil, and ginger.
On the Rocks: Sliced into a Hendrick’s gin and tonic (in place of the lime)

I’m dreaming up a few more cucumber creations, but if you have a favorite way to eat or drink with them, let me know!

When I look out my office window it’s hard to believe that just four months ago our vegetable garden was a lawn! Now, instead of a healthy crop of grass and dandelions, we’ve got food! Tons of food! The butternut squash has scrambled off its trellis, snuck through a hole in the fence and is now marching steadily through the front side yard. The pole beans wound their way up their wire scaffolding, onto the phone line and are headed towards the roof. And the peppers have been a grand success…they are three feet tall and absolutely loaded with fruit.

Every chance I get, I pop outside and examine my rows of fall peas (they’ve germinated!), pop a cherry tomato in my mouth (they are finally ripening), and make a wish for a nice warm fall (otherwise I’m going to have a lot of green ‘Japanese Black Trifle’ tomatoes on my hands).

I’ve put together a little tour of my garden below, but I’ve got a proposition for all of you. I want you to send me some photos of your kitchen garden. I just know you guys have great gardens out there, and since I can’t visit them all in person (wouldn’t that be nice?), I want the next best thing: your stories and photos. So pop outside, take some pics, and drop me an email (info@digginfood.com) with jpgs of your veggies. In return, I’ll put together a digital garden tour!

Our super sturdy squash trellis

I like to hang out here and watch bees buzz around

Butternut squash dangle off our fence

Curved bamboo stakes support our peppers

Peppers provide a bit of shade for fall lettuces

Fresh dill for our cucumbers

Zinnias mix with fall broccoli and greens

My favorite flower for kitchen gardens