How hot is it?

Hot enough to sun dry fruit leather in your car. That's how hot.I've been doing figs this week. Puree together a bowl of figs, add between one teaspoon to one tablespoon sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Pour on to sheet cake pan lined with plastic wrap and put on the dash of your car parked in full sun. Two days later you will have yummy, sun-dried fruit leather. It helps to open the car door a few times during the day to let out the moisture. That's it. Free fruit leather. Totally free. Figs,by the way, require no attention to bear fruit. None. Zero. Nada. You can't buy them in the grocery fresh because they don't ship well. They are the most local of fruits. What do figs taste like fresh? Sweet like a banana, seedy like a strawberry.

Winter squash

Folk wisdom declares that pumpkin seeds should be planted on July 4th in the South in order to have them for Halloween. Using wonky logic I waited and planted my butternut squash seeds,also a winter squash, the first week of July. I'm not willing to declare absolute success because gardening is an ongoing lesson in humility, heartbreak always a possibility, but do have some truly beautiful specimens forming. Not knowing they would rival Jack's beanstalk in speed and length I stuck seeds randomly around the beds. They are now draped like kudzu all around the yard. Last year I had one butternut that when roasted was food for the gods. This year if the garden fairy is with me I'll have nearly 20. Fingers, eyes and toes crossed.

Tomato Wilt

The heartbreak of growing summer vegetables in the South is the stress heat and lack of/too much water place on plants. Tomatoes are particulary vulnerable. Old timers being creative made use of the fruit of wilting tomatoes. Made famous by a movie about women who kill, cut up, and cook a bad man into BBQ, fried green tomatoes are one good use for those not yet ripe tomatoes that must be pulled prematurely.

Stuffed Squash

We have a neighbor who reliably accepts surplus vegetables. This wonderful woman, though widowed, living alone with no one else to cook for, cooks for herself. She entertains and always cooks for family when they visit. Rarely does she eat out. She suggested stuffed squash and gave me this informal recipe when I waddled over under the weight of too many squash to deal with at once. It is beyond gourmet. There is no restaurant I know of that would serve such a meal. Too bad, America. Homage to Betsy, lady, neighbbor and good friend.

Betsy's Stuffed Squash

2 yellow summer squash, halved
1 small onion, chopped
garlic,chopped
small amount of leftover meat
1 cup of cheese
small amount of leftover cooked rice,stale bread, breadcrumbs or crackers
Salt and pepper to taste.
Fresh herbs (I used oregano, parley, and thyme.)

Cook the squash for about 5 minutes in a large pot of simmering water. Remove. Cool enough to handle, then scoop out the center. Saute the onion and garlic. Mix with scooped squash, add bread crumbs, meat and half the cheese, salt and pepper. Stir in chopped herbs. Stuff the squash shells and cook for 15 minutes at 350. Top with the remaining cheese return to oven to melt.

Four Letter Words

I have an alternate collection. Collecting words is a good thing. Putting them in categories aids retrieval. Okra, for some just another four letter word. OKRA! instead of *&%$! Cooked into a southern stew it's good. Let me explain.

Stewed Tomatoes and Okra

One small to medium onion
Two cloves garlic
Three tomatoes
Four banana peppers
Five okra pods

Peel and chop onion, garlic and tomatoes. Seed peppers. Slice okra.
Sautee onions, peppers and garlic until soft.
Add okra, it will immediately develop a mucilaginous goo when sliced. Don't panic. It washes off with water and makes the stew stewy.
Add the tomatoes.
Stew over low heat until tomatoes have released their juices and veggies are soft.
Cooks note: The French would add some white wine to deglaze the pan and loosen the stew. Beer works fine or water. Just a splash.
Serve over rice for a vegetarian dinner for two.

...think shade.

To think Southern is to think shade. It really is all about the heat of the subtropical sun these days. Temps in the mid 90s with high humidity and it feels like a 'saw-nah' out there. I walk in the early morning choosing shady streets, water my garden standing under the shade of a now mature pin oak that I saved 30 years ago and walk the puppy at night. What puppy?!? The puppy that showed up under the shade of the oak tree on my birthday. She comes when I whistle and hasn't dug in my garden yet. I use water therapy as a teaching tool. She isn't a water dog. And I am having to water lots lately. No more on that for now. I get too upset.
Back to the shady garden, darkened and secluded from the world. All are lush green. Many have magnolia, live oaks, pines or pin oaks giving perpetual shade and shelter though my hands-down favorite is shaded by a large Japanese maple. River birches provide natural umbrellas of shade draping around their trunks creating a green garden room. Every yard, church and some businesses in my neighborhood have a spot of shade to ease the heat and please the eye. All give peace and shelter.

Summer

My eyes tear
A small bunch of onions
Pulled and drying on my porch
On an old door screen