Growing Families and Growing Tomatoes
"How do you get your tomatoes so tall?" I asked my friend, Beth, looking up at her plants that towered six feet above us, something I had never seen before in a desert garden. I figured she used some fancy soil additive, so I was unprepared for her simple reply.
"Horse manure."
Yesterday Kevin and I went to a Beth's garden to pick some produce for a Chandler TV show on Urban Gardening. He thinks it will show at the beginning of August. We went to pick some props.
Zucchini, yellow squash, cukes, peppers, tomatoes, basil and chard soon filled our basket.
As I knelt in the shade of the pear tomatoes and picked their golden deliciousness, I couldn't help but think of seeds and growing, planting and harvesting.
The past two weeks our house has been too quiet. With two kids on a mission trip to Mozambique, our family is down to one teenager at home who is busy working and with her own activities. I've caught a glimpse of what it will be like when all the kids are grown and I have to admit, it's been bit depressing. I love the kids tramping through my ordered day with news and stories and LIFE.
But with my knees in the dirt, I got a sense of the rightness. Our kids are planted in our home for a season.
We feed them. Water them. Add nutrients to their heart soil
And they grow.
Zach has grown four inches in the past year. It's hard for me to say which is growing faster - the man outside or the man inside.
It is normal. Good.
But as a mom, I still have moments when I want to slow it all down. Here, under the Arizona sun.
Recipes
Our church has a community garden. One plant that we are experimenting with is a tepary bean, an indigenous bean that has grown in the desert for hundreds of years and was harvested by Native Americans. It has one of the highest protein contents, ranging from 23-27%. (Now when I say "we", I do not mean me. I am legendary in my ability to kill all plants.)
Tepary Beans
Yesterday, Kevin used the cooked beans to make a homemade hummus to bring to the TV program. Several people have asked us for the recipe.
Tepary Bean Hummus
2 cups cooked white tepary beans
Reserved bean liquid from cooking
2 cloves garlic
1/4 - 1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves
1 small jalapeno (we sometimes use small Thai peppers from the church garden)
4 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil
1 t salt
Place garlic, jalapeno and cilantro in a food processor or blender. Process until finely chopped. Add cooked beans. Process, adding enough reserved bean liquid to turn the mixture into the consistency of cake frosting. Add lemon juice, olive oil and salt.
Here is a second recipe that Kevin brought to the show on urban gardening.
Tomato Basil Mozzarella Summer Salad
2 c pear tomatoes, cut in half
2 c cherry tomatoes, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c - 1 c basil leaves, cut in pieces
1 c - 2 c cubed mozzarella cheese
2 T olive oil
black pepper, to taste
I'm just guessing on the amount of tomatoes and basil. I usually just cut and mix and taste until I've got it right.