Plain Gardening Notes from 8 Dec 2013

Beau and I luv to listening to Bill Finch's Plain Gardening on the Gulf Coast when we return from Mass on Sunday Mornings.

I wasn't able to listen this weekend while it aired, so I listened to the first hour of the podcast today and made a few notes...

Great Bill quotes:

• "Take advantage of Life on the Gulf Coast" -- Grow Citrus!!
• "The Gulf Coast is the world's sweet spot for Satsumas!"  I couldn't agree more Bill!!
• "Don't tell our friends in Louisiana this...they are a sister state...they do satsumas well, we just do them better along the Gulf Coast."
• "The citrus trees are our Christmas trees of the Gulf Coast."

Regarding Citrus...here are few varieties we need in the citrus orchard:

• Satsumas...we need more...as I have been saying for some time!!
• Clementines
• Ponkan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponkan
• Hamlin Orange (also called Louisiana Sweet): http://www.ultimatecitrus.com/Story/varieties/hamlin.html
• Meyer Lemon (a cross between a lemon and an orange)
• Calamondin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamondi
• Kumquat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumquat
• Bill mentioned someone made baked Chicken and Kumquat

Grasses...why not try a few native LA grasses:

• Broomstick (also called bushy bluestem): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andropogon_glomeratus
• Big Blue Stem (this is a fave of mine after living in Iowa):  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andropogon_gerardii
• Broom sage grass

Still time to plant:

• Turnips
• Potatoes
• Rutabaga
• Garlic
• Beets
• A few bits about beets: Beets like alkaline soils....so down in our neck of the woods, where the beets are planted, they really should be planted in a well-prepped bed that's been limed.  Also, don't be afraid to eat beet's greens - Bill swears by them!

As far as color in the woods goes these are the trees to look for (apparently one doesn't see them in the city too often):

• Red Oaks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_rubra
• White Oaks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_alba

There are lemons all around ripening...specifically Meyer Lemons.  One caller called in with his recipe for Lemoncello...I think I wrote it down correctly.  If I didn't, of if any reader of this obscure blog has another recipe, please share.  Here goes...

Lemoncello

15 or 20 Meyers Lemons

Soak the lemons in a sink full of water for ~30 Minutes, making sure all the unwanted matter is removed.  Do not scrub.

Take a mircoplain and zest only the colored part of the lemons.  It will take ~ 45 minutes to do this.

Put zest in an mason jar and add some sort of pure grain alcohol, ~ 190 proof.

Cover the jar with a lid and place in a cool, dark, dry place for a month.

Stir every couple of days.

At the end of the month, remove the jar from its place of storage and decant the contents into another jar.

To serve, make a simple syrup, let it cool.  Add a bit of the lemoncello to the simple syrup and serve in a cordial glass for an after supper digestive.


Random Thoughts

Bill suggests that the Royal Scam on Royal Street in Mobile is a great place to dine on locally grown produce.