Garden Detective

So, I walk into Whole Foods Market yesterday (a frequent stop on the way home from work) to pick up a few things, and right there, inside the front door, there's a big box of bizarro greens, reminiscent of snails, with a sign near it that reads:

Fiddlehead fern from Connecticut ... harvested for only two weeks per year ... get 'em while you can. Just don't eat them raw.

or something to that effect.

Intrigued, I took a closer look. I'm a pretty adventurous eater, and I like to try new things, so naturally, I grabbed a plastic produce bag and scooped up a couple of handfuls.

When I got home, I rinsed them many times (dirty!) and cooked them like I cook most vegetables -- sauteed in olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper, to serve alongside the grilled burgers and sweet potatoes I was making.

Adventurous as I am, they really didn't appeal to me. To compound my hesitation, the oil in the pan turned a murky brown. Even so, I tasted one. I gotta tell you, I'm still not sold.

Fiddleheads are the first curly stems of ferns that emerge in April and May. All ferns have them, but Ostrich fern, which I'm growing in my backyard, have the most impressive fiddleheads. I never thought to eat them.

Anybody out there eat these things? I tossed mine, which cost $4, into the trash. We had broccoli instead.

And it's a good thing. This morning, I did a little poking around and found this on Wikipedia:

Some ferns contain carcinogens, and Bracken has been implicated in stomach cancer.[citation needed] Despite this, most people can eat ostrich and cinnamon fern fiddleheads without any problems.

In 1994, there were several instances of food poisoning associated with raw or lightly cooked fiddleheads in New York state and Western Canada. No definitive source of the food poisoning was identified, and authorities recommended thorough cooking of fiddlehead ferns to counteract any possible unidentified toxins in the plant.[citation needed]

Many ferns also contain the enzyme thiaminase, which breaks down thiamine. This can lead to beriberi and other vitamin B complex deficiencies if consumed to excess or if one's diet is lacking in these vitamins.[citation needed]

Blech!

Should Montauk daisies be cut down the same as perennials at the end of the fall season? My plants are brown and dry, and I'm inclined to cut them down, but I see some green buds on some of the stems. It seems some pruning of the dead parts is necessary to make room for new growth, but I'm not sure what to do. They bloomed beautifully last year, and I don't want to ruin them. Your advice will be greatly appreciated. -- Libby Vittorio

Montauk daisies, also known as Nippon daisies (Nipponanthemum nipponicum), are fail-safe shrubby mounding perennials that prefer full sun but can tolerate partial shade and thrive in most soil. Reaching 2 to 3 feet tall, the late-summer bloomer continues to put on a show through the fall and is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds. You'll get the best performance from your daisies if you cut them almost to the ground in early spring. Don't worry, they'll grow back.

I plan to grow a large number of tomato plants to make tomato sauce and freeze it. I am tired of paying more than a dollar to buy a 28-ounce can of tomatoes. Plus it would be a welcome change of taste to have fresh tomato sauce like my father would occasionally make for me many years ago. I have a few questions: I saw a mention that it is good to add eggshells to the soil when planting tomatoes. Could you re-explain the benefits? What variety of tomato seed is recommended for sauce? I have heard of Roma, a plum tomato. What do you think? -- Charles J. Ritchie, Kings Park

Tomatoes require calcium to produce healthy fruit, which is why it's so important to incorporate dolomitic lime into their planting bed. But some people swear by placing a whole egg in the soil under the plant. Others crush up eggshells and mix them into the planting hole or side dress the plants with them. As the eggshells break down, calcium leaches into the soil, where it works to prevent the dreaded blossom end rot that can wreck tomatoes. And after boiling eggs, why dump all those nutrients down the drain? Pour the water into the garden to give tomatoes a nutritional boost.

Concerning sauce, this Italian says meaty plum tomatoes are the way to go - the riper, the better. Other larger, more gelatinous tomatoes would release a lot of liquid during the cooking process, making for a watery sauce.

I read with interest your article from several weeks ago about houseplants that you can't kill. I own a few on the list and can attest to their hardiness. You mentioned the need for fertilizing from time to time, and therein lies my question. I know that most sources state the importance of feeding houseplants, but I have some plants that have been in the same pots for years that haven't ever been given plant food but continue to grow and do well. They include pothos (15-plus years) and spider plants (5-plus years). So is plant food really that important? -- Andrew Keller, Whitestone

All plants require nutrients, and potted plants are no exception. In fact, they require more fertilizing than garden plants because their nutrient source is limited to the pot in which they live. When the nutrients in the potting mix are used up, their only hope for more is you. Having said that, not all houseplants are created equal, and the more light to which plants are exposed, the higher their fertilizer requirements. Pothos are low-light plants that can get by with little care. And though spider plants require a sunny setting, they're extremely low-maintenance otherwise. If you think they're doing well now, try giving your pothos a twice-monthly shot of fertilizer, diluted to half-strength (never follow package directions for fertilizing houseplants; you'll end up overfertilizing) during spring, summer and fall. Do the same for spiders during spring and fall.

I bought one of those larger sized "JIFFY" indoor greenhouse containers with the little peat things inside that you get wet and plant your seeds in...we planted them with tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and watermelons(all organic seeds)and I think I must have severely overwatered them in the beginning because they are stiil very wet a week later now...and have never been watered again yet since the initial one.

So, i put the cover over them like it said to do and they have just remained very wet and now there is this weird spider-web looking mold growing on and between most of the little plants. they have started to sprout and there is not any mold on the sprouts, just all over the top of the peat with the sprouts in them.

I am very worried that if we eat off of these plants when they are grown( that have had mold grow with them) that we could get sick...is that true?

and is it bad for us to have this mold growing in the house? on the counter where the plants are growing?

Please help....if this is not good I can throw all of these plants out and start over..I have little children and dont want to feed them anything harmful and this is new to me...I have never done this indoor greenhouse seed thing before....just afraid it may happen again also if I start over!!!

Thanks, -- Rene', Oregon

Hi, Rene.
What you have going on is damping off -- a fungal disease that's caused by too much moisture. Just scrape it all off the top, removing all of the affected "soil" and don't replace it. They should recover and your vegetables will be perfectly safe to eat.

To avoid this in the future, only bottom water the seedlings, that is, set them into a tray or baking pan and add water to the tray or pan when needed. As long as you have drainage holes poked into the bottom of your containers, water will be taken up from the bottom. Only add water when the peat is dry. Once a week sounds about right.

Good luck!
Jessica

(AP Photo)

Michelle Obama and 26 local elementary school children broke ground this morning on the first White House kitchen garden since World War II.

Crops to be planted include spinach, broccoli, lettuces, kale and collard greens, and various
herbs, with the first harvest expected in late April. Don't expect any beets, though. Read why here.

White House officials have confirmed that some of the produce will be cooked
in the White House kitchen and some will be given to a local soup
kitchen where Mrs. Obama recently helped serve lunch.

And during the ground breaking, the first lady didn't just stand by. We have photos of her and the kids using shovels, rakes, pitchforks and pushing wheelbarrows. There's no telling whether they were staged just for the photo op, but I have my reservations, given that Mrs. Obama was attired in neat-but-casual attire and what appear to be dress boots and that she's holding a tool not ordinarily used to break ground.

I do have faith, however, that she's down to earth enough to work the land like the rest of us. She just might not actually do it, given her other first lady obligations. I'll cut her some slack for the 4, or maybe 8, years she's in the house. After that, I hope to see her in Crocs and overalls.

There will also be a beehive, but there's no word on whether the first lady will be head beekeeper.

Newsday photo / John Paraskevas

Back in 1990, the first President George Bush expressed his feeling toward a certain crucifer thus:

I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli. Now look, this is the last statement I’m going to have on broccoli. There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that’s coming in.

The American public was sharply divided. While many law-abiding citizens commiserated with him, there were lots of broccoli lovers who felt he'd shamed the stalky vegetable.

Now that the White House is planting it's own vegetable garden, President Barack Obama reportedly has put his culinary foot down, as well: There will be no beets!

Granted, beets are an acquired taste. Some say they taste like dirt, but they have an unmistakable sweetness and wonderful texture if cooked just right. I'm not talking about the canned version, which my cubby mate, Corris Little from the Cheap Thrills blog, confused for cranberries yesterday in the Newsday cafeteria. No, real beets, purchased with upper leaves intact, can provide two delicious and nutritious side dishes at once: Greens rich in calcium, beta carotene and vitamin C, and a root vegetable that provides potassium, folate and manganese.

Here's how I cook 'em:

Scrub the root portion well. Cut each in half, and place in an aluminum foil pouch on a roasting pan. Roast at 425 degrees for 45 mintues, give or take, depending on their size. (You'll know they're cooked when you can easily insert a fork or knife into them.) As soon as they're cool enough to handle, slip the skin off. Season as you see fit, with olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and maybe a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Meanwhile, cut off the green leaves and rise well. Cut into inch-wide strips. Saute in a tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle on some garlic powder, salt and pepper, and cook until leaves wilt. So easy.

C'mon, President Obama, give beets a chance!

Thanks for all your emails over the past week. I'll read them as soon as I get settled in. I've been home for the past 8 days with "the flu or a flu-like illness," and I could barely stand, let alone blog.

But I'm back, and I have some news to report: Carol Barker of the United Kingdom has won a copy of "The Herb Gardener: A Guide for All Seasons," by Susan McClure, for submitting some intriguing uses for all that mint taking over my backyard. (Carol, I'll ship the book out to you today.)

Here are the recipes Carol sent, which she passes along from the mediterraneangarden blog. . I'm just grateful for internet conversion tools, because though the U.S. flirted briefly with the metric system in the 1970s, the experiment didn't even last a year, and so I'm hopelessly inept at making conversions on my own.

Winter vegetables with North African Salsa

Ingredients

4 ounces or 100 grams of Carrots
4 ounces or 100 grams of Parsnip
4 ounces or 100 grams of Potato
4 ounces or 100 grams of turnip / swede
4 ounces or 100 grams of green beans
4 ounces or 100 grams of Broccoli florets

Method

Steam the broccoli florets and green beans until tender (al dente)

Roast the root vegetables sprinkled with cumin and coriander seeds, sea-salt
and ground black pepper.

Salsa

Natural yogurt, sweeten with honey and add your chopped mint leaves, season
with salt and pepper.

Spoon the salsa over the hot vegetables, dust with paprika and a pinch of
cinnamon.

Serve at once.

Desert - Mint ice cream.

568ml carton double cream
300ml whole milk
6 large egg yolks
375g caster sugar
300g Dark chocolate chips
2 green cardamom pods
3 or 4 Sprigs of fresh mint leaves

Method

Sugar syrup

Separate the mint leaves from the stems.

Heat 2 oz. / 200grams of castor sugar and 16 fluid ozs./500mls. cold water
in a heavy pan

Bruise the mint stalks by crushing them then add to pan.

Boil mixture for 10 minutes then remove stalks.

Allow syrup to cool

Blanch mint leaves in boiling water

Refresh leaves in cold water and then allow them to cool

Once the sugar syrup has cooled add mint leaves and blend until smooth green
consistency is reached.

Ice Cream

Beat the egg yokes with the remaining sugar until the mixture becomes thick
and creamy.

In a heavy based pan heat the cream and milk until just before they reach
boiling point. Pour the hot cream mixture on to the egg yolk mixture,
whisking constantly.

Return the mixture to the pan and heat gently,

Crush cardamom pods lightly then add to mixture.

Once mixture has thickened remove the cardamom pods and pour mixture in a
bowl

Allow to cool

Stir in the cool sugar syrup mint leaf blend and cool for several hours

Stir in the chocolate chips

Place in ice cream maker and process until completion

Serve with mint leaf garnish

So I didn't actually get out into the vegetable garden to clean it up this past weekend, despite my best intentions. That's two weekends in a row now that I've blown it off due to weather, other commitments and/or laziness.

There's no doubt the tomatoes are long gone, but to compound the issue, their supports were knocked down two weeks ago, presumably by strong winds, and the sad spindly plants are just laying there on the ground, pathetically shouting "my gardener doesn't care" to anyone who'll glance in their direction.

I didn't pot up the rosemary, either. I'm afraid to look at it. It's probably dead. But I did bring in the last of the basil and parsley and froze them.

The mint, which I planted a few years ago in pots sunken into the ground in the hopes of keeping it contained, has become an out-of-control ground cover. And it's still thriving. But, alas, it's too cold for Mojitos and iced tea, and I don't eat lamb. I also don't like the way mint freezes, so I'm at a loss to find a good use for it. I don't want to leave it out there to die and I don't want to cut it down and compost it.

There would be some hope of redemption for a vegetable bed miscreant like myself if I could just find a good use for it.

Any ideas? In a completely capricious and unscientific exercise, I'll send a copy of "The Herb Gardener: A Guide for All Seasons," by Susan McClure, to the first suggestion that appeals to me. Just click here to send me an email that includes your name, mailing address and recipe or use for mint that you think I'll like. Only emails received before 12 noon on Friday, Nov. 14 will be considered. All suggestions will be posted here on the Garden Detective blog.

It's beginning to feel a lot like autumn, and frost might be threatening your fruits and vegetables. When to harvest and how to store? I generally let my feet guide me: When I find I'm sleeping with my socks on, I know it's time to bring in the last of the tomatoes and cut down the basil. Some crops will ripen after picking, but others won't. Here's a guide to harvesting and handling some common crops:

Tomatoes

Ripe when red. Green tomatoes will ripen on countertop. Best to store ripe tomatoes stem side down.

Peppers

Will ripen on countertop. Can be eaten before mature. Green peppers turn red when fully ripe; hot peppers lose heat as they ripen.

Cucumbers

Best when slightly immature. Ideally, pick when color is dark and spines begin to soften.

Figs

Will not ripen off the tree. What you pick is what you get.

Plums

Will ripen on countertop. Best picked when soft and swollen.

Zucchini

Best when young and tender. Harvest when 6 to 8 inches long.

Pears

Ripe when stem releases fruit with a gentle tug. Will ripen when stored in sealed paper bag on countertop.

Grapes

Pick only when fully ripe, about two weeks after full size and color are achieved. Will not sweeten after harvest.

Watermelon

Ripe when bottom of fruit, which sits on soil, lightens in color to yellow

Pumpkins

Ripe when rind is hard and color deep. Cut with at least 1 inch of stem to prevent rotting.

RECIPE

So you've just saved a bunch of green tomatoes from those frigid overnight temperatures. While you can always let them ripen on the countertop, there's another tasty option to consider: fried green tomatoes. A Southern delicacy introduced to most of us Yankees in the 1991 film of the same name, they're a good way to use up the last of the season's bounty. Here's my version:

Fried green tomatoes

Vegetable or olive oil for frying (south of the Mason-Dixon Line, folks prefer using bacon grease, which is yummy, to be sure. Use whatever you like - or whatever you think your arteries will tolerate.)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

Garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

4 large green tomatoes, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices

1 cup milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, beaten

1. Pour about 1/2 inch oil in the bottom of a frying pan; heat.

2. Combine cornmeal, bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper

3. Dip each tomato slice in milk and dredge in flour.

4. Dip in beaten eggs and coat with bread crumb mixture.

5. Fry in hot oil about 4 minutes each side, until golden brown.

Storing herbs

You can always rinse, dry, crumble and store herbs such as basil, parsley and cilantro in a glass jar, but I prefer to freeze them:

1. Remove stems from leaves and discard stems

2. Rinse leaves with water

3. Lay in a single layer on paper towels; dry overnight

4. Place in a Ziploc bag and freeze. Leaves will remain separated for easy retrieval later.

Now that you've enjoyed beautiful heirloom tomatoes all summer long, why not save some seeds for next year?

Here's the proper way to collect and save tomato seeds:

Select the most desirable tomato from the strongest, healthiest plants. Slice tomato in half and scoop out seeds. They be encased in a gelatinous liquid. Drop the seeds and goop into a glass jar and cover with water.

Cover the jar with a paper towel and secure it with a rubber band. This will allow air in and keep fruit flies and other airborne particles out. Place it in a warm spot. On top of the refrigerator is nice and cozy.

After a few days, fermentation will begin. Fermentation breaks down the germination-stalling gell that surrounds each seed. You'll notice mold forming on the surface, and the seeds separating from the pulp, which will float to the top. You might also notice some seeds floating on the surface; they're duds. Good, viable seeds will sink. When this has happened, pour off the liquid, mold, pulp and floating seeds, and spread the wet seeds from the bottom of the jar onto a paper plate to dry. Shake up the plate every day to promote even drying and prevent sticking. Store dry seeds in a paper envelope in the refrigerator.

Now that I've shared the right way, here's how I do it:

Click photo to learn how.

When is it safe to plant vegetables outdoors?

From now until the end of the month, it's prime time for planting most vegetables on Long Island. Conventional wisdom says it's safe to start planting on May 15, when the danger of frost is considered past. But personal experience has taught me to wait it out until Memorial Day. It can still get pretty chilly overnight.

Ditto for annuals. I once did in an entire flat of impatiens planted the day before Mother's Day. A couple of frosty nights and it was all over. I work too hard for my money, so I've learned to be patient.

Here are some tips to consider before you get those veggies in the ground:

• Select a location that gets at least six hours of full sunlight daily.

• Test your soil. The ideal pH range for most vegetables is 6.2 to 6.8.

• Look for varieties labeled as resistant to powdery mildew, rust and diseases.

• Incorporate lime if indicated by your pH test, slow-release fertilizer (5-10-5 or 10-10-10) and a lot of compost to the top 6 to 8 inches of soil. Work it in well.

• To protect against shock, choose a cloudy day to transplant outdoors. Place plants exactly as deep as they were in their original pots. Only tomatoes can be planted deeper, as they'll actually send out roots from underground stems. If planting in pots, tall containers are preferable to shallow ones.

• Plant in rows to allow access to all plants without compacting soil around roots.

• If support will be necessary, insert stakes into the ground when planting. Stakes installed after plants have become established might damage plant roots.

• Apply mulch to keep the soil warm, inhibit weeds and retain water.

• In the morning throughout the season, water deeply, allowing it to penetrate 5 to 6 inches into the ground. It's much better to water thoroughly less often than to water insufficiently more often.

Unless you've been living under a pile of mulch this past year, you've surely heard the term locavore tossed about like a chopped salad. I've seen it in print articles and online, on a sign outside a local restaurant and in the produce department of one of my neighborhood groceries.

When I first heard the term, it was spelled localvore, which was a bit more intuitive. Next, it was popping up as "locovore," which I thought was more fun because it conjured up images of crazy people speaking Spanish. Alas, according to Google search results, locavore appears to be winning out, with 173,000 search results, versus 27,000 for localvore and a mere 2,200 for locovore. Last year, the New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore as its 2007 Word of the Year.

Whether you say tomato or tomahto isn't really relative. It's where that round red fruit was grown that matters most.

So what, exactly, is a locavore? According to Wikipedia, the term locavore "was coined by Jessica Prentice from the San Francisco Bay Area on the occasion of World Environment Day 2005 to describe and promote the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested from within an area most commonly bound by a 100 mile radius."

A few years ago, I caught wind of Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, a couple of Canadians who, after learning that much of the food they ate had traveled an average of 1,500 miles before landing on their plates, decided to conduct an experiment whereby they would only eat food that originated within 100 miles of their Vancouver apartment. Soon, they were documenting their endeavor -- more challenging than you'd imagine -- in a blog on an online magazine site called The Tyee.

They even turned their story into a book, published by Random House, titled Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucaus Year of Eating Locally.

It's not as easy as you might think. Do you like imported cheeses? Out. Tropical Fruits? Ixnay. And you can pretty much forget chocolate altogether. In fact, Smith and MacKinnon detailed their frustrations as well as their joys. Among them, they said, they ate a lot of potatoes.

The main drive behind the movement is ecological in nature. Eating local foods uses less "embodied energy," defined (courtesy of my husband, John, a green buildings proponent) as the sum of all energy used to grow, extract and manufacture produce, including the amount of energy needed to transport it.

So if you're eating tomatoes grown at a local farm -- or even better, in your own backyard -- think of the gasoline, truck emissions and packaging that you're saving. Less pollution in the air and in landfills.

Plus the food is fresher and probably tastier, as produce that needs to survive a long journey often is picked before it's fully ripe, never quite tasting the way it would if allowed to remain on the plant until ripe. Think about mealy winter tomatoes from the grocery store. Blech.

Interested in giving it a try? One very easy way to start is to plant a vegetable garden this spring. If you've never grown edibles, don't be intimidated, it's very easy. Get details on starting seeds and other vegetable growing information.

Another good option is shop at local farm stands (just make sure they don't ship their produce in from elsewhere. Believe it or not, some do). Or you could join a food co-op or buy a share in a Community Supported Agriculture farm. Here's a list of CSA farms on Long Island.

And some Long Island farm stands.

Read Sylvia Carter's recent column on a meal prepared will all local ingredients, A Locavore's Dinner on Long Island.

Learn more about locavoring from the Locavores website.

Happy spring, everybody! I always feel like a Peanut on the vernal equinox -- the first day of spring -- when the day and night are equally long. In fact, I'm so excited, I'm posting this 10 hours early. From tomorrow at 1:48 a.m. until the first day of summer -- June 21 -- the days will grow longer and longer.

I feel so blah from November through the winter. I find the darkness and the cold mentally and physically zapping. But thoughts of tulips and tomato plants and leaving the house without a jacket turn me into a blubbering idiot come March 20. At the risk of sending you all into diabetic shock with my uncharacteristic sappiness, I'm so happy it's spring I could dance like Snoopy!

When I was a kid, we marked the day by trying to stand eggs on their ends. I can't remember whether it worked, but I'm going to try tomorrow. I'll report back -- with photos if I'm successful.

If you haven't already, start seeds of annuals indoors, and plant cool-season crops like lettuce and spinich outdoors.

It's prime time to seed your lawn, too. if yours looks anything like mine -- trashed by a dog or otherwise sabotaged -- seed once a week and water twice a day until it fills in. But don't fertilize until Memorial Day.

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts parsley still thriving in the backyard. Ordinarily, I would treat it the same way I do all my herbs: Snip, rinse and air dry overnight in a single layer on a paper towel, then store it in a plastic bag in the freezer.

The single-layer drying method is crucial because it allows each leaf to freeze independently so that when I need to use it, I simply pull out as many individual leaves as I need. If I were to rinse it and place it directly in the freezer, a big green ice cube would result. Trust me, I've done it. It isn't pretty.

When I was turning over my vegetable and herb border last week, I left the parsley and mint behind because they were still doing well. Now I'm thinking about drying some of them, crushing the leaves and storing them in jars for a different, stronger accent. Here are some pointers in case you want to give it a whirl as well.

Check out the tomato prep techniques and recipes from Newsday's Sylvia Carter here:
http://www.newsday.com/features/food/ny-food-fdcov0815,0,5471690.story

And Marge Perry has 3 Simple suggestions. Check 'em out and learn how to make Pasta with Salsa Cruda, Tomato and Olive Bruschetta, and Gazpacho.

If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em!

With weeding season in full swing, lots of folks -- myself included -- will be spending at least part of the holiday weekend cleaning out their garden beds. Instead of ditching those weeds, why not consider the activity a harvest and put those good-for-you greens to good use?

If you want to forage through your weeds for edibles, there are plenty of safe, nutritious greens growing in your backyard. Just be very careful about identifying them; mistaking lily of the valley for bear's garlic, for instance, could be lethal. Be sure to follow "Jessica's Rules for Consumption," below, and rinse all vegetation before indulging.

Last week, I pulled up some tender, young dandelion leaves from the backyard, gave 'em a good rinse and constructed a salad with them, adding sliced hard boiled eggs, olive oil, salt and pepper, just like Mama used to. So yummy!

Bon Appetit!

Click photo to enlarge	Weed (Latin name)	Edible part(s)	Uses
	Burdock (Arctium minus)	Roots, leaves	Add to soups and stews; Cooking with baking soda helps break down tough fibers
	Chickweed (stellaria media)	Leaves	Harvest before seeds form, add to salads
	Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)	Leaves and flowers	Add to salads, steam or sauté. Young flowers can be battered and fried.
	Lambs quarters (Chenopodium album)	Leaves and young shoots	Add to salads, cooked in place of spinach
	Plantain (Plantago major)	Young, tender leaves	Blanche, sauté
	Purslane (Portulaca olearacea)	Leaves, stems	Add to salads, Blanche, sauté
	Shepherd's purse (Capsella Bursa-pastoris)	Leaves	Peppery flavor. Blanche, sauté
	Wild violet (Viola papilionacea)	Leaves, flowers	Add to salads, dip in egg whites and coat with fine sugar

Jessica's Code of Consumption

• If you can't be absolutely certain you are correctly identifying the weed, pass it up. Better to have a smaller salad than to visit the emergency room - or worse.

• Never eat any part of a plant unless you are sure that the specific part is edible. Many plants, even some commonly consumed ones, have only one edible part. For instance, did you know tomato leaves are toxic?

• Unless specifically noted for use in salads, be sure to cook weeds.

• Avoid picking weeds that grow in an area where animal droppings are found.

• Do not eat weeds found growing in areas that have been treated with pesticides or herbicides.

• Don't pick weeds from the side of the road, where exhaust fumes from cars are readily absorbed into nearby plants.

• Unless you are a weed scientist, don't rely on yourself. Bring an illustrated reference book - like "Handbook of Edible Weeds," by James A. Duke (2000, CRC Press) on your hunt.

All photos are courtesy of Andy Senesac Ph.D., Weed Science Specialist,
Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk Co.

It's time to start seeds indoors for springtime planting. (Interested in swapping? click here.) Before getting to work, though, you should consider past successes and failures. Experts at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County say the only way to control certain diseases, like wilt in tomatoes and mosaic virus on cucumbers, is to stick to resistant varieties.

Vegetable specialists from Cornell University have prepared a list of suggested varieties for 2007 that perform well on Long Island. Recommendations for early tomatoes include Cascade, Sunrise, Early girl or Lemon Boy. For cucumbers, try Marketmore 76, Burpless Hypbrid ll, Orient Express, Spacemaster or Sweet Slice.

For the complete list of suggested vegetable varieties and heirlooms, consult the Nassau County CCE's Home Grounds fact sheet.

I just ordered a composter for the backyard. After reading reviews of several products, I settled on a Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler, an Australian product that:

1. Doesn't require any manual labor
2. Got high marks from consumers, and
3. Is recommended by the National Home Gardening Club

I've never made compost before, so this will be quite an adventure. I like the idea of transforming garbage into free mulch and fertilizer, and I'm excited about adding eggshells, coffee grinds and weeds to my pile. What's more, I recently read that paper (even if there's ink on it!) can be safely composted. I'm targeting all the junk mail I get, especially those unsolicited pre-approved credit card offers that require diligent shredding. Now, I'll just rip them into strips, give them a shot of the hose and toss 'em in with my banana peels, fully assured that identity thieves won't get their grubby little paws on them.

Aside from paper, a lot of surprising items can be added to the compost pile, among them, human hair. For a rundown of what can and can't be composted, visit The NYC Compost Project website.

Compost ingredients fall into two categories: Browns and Greens. Brown materials are rich in carbon and many, though not all, are in fact brown. They include dried, spent perennials, autumn leaves, leather, twigs and hay. Paper also falls into the Browns category. Green materials are rich in nitrogen, and likewise, are mostly green, or at least fresher than browns. Greens include grass clippings, fruit and veggie scraps and freshly picked weeds. Cornstarch packing peanuts and coffee grinds, though not green, also are rich in nitrogen. So even though they defy the color-coding principles set forth here, they are Greens.

Greens help speed the decomposition of your rotting garbage (a good thing,) while browns keep the heap from becoming an olfactory nightmare (a very good thing.) A fifty-fifty mix is ideal, though you can always go heavier on the Browns.

You should never include fats (meat or fish table scraps. dairy products, oils, etc.,) diseased plants or materials that don't decompose, such as plastic or glass, in your pile.

Apparently, bird and rabbit droppings, and horse manure are ok, but kitty litter and dog poop are no-nos. However, Florida's online composting center maintains that under certain circumstances, dog waste can be composted. Read the rules here and proceed at your own risk. For the record, I'm going to continue bagging mine up.

Do you have any composting advice for me? Leave a comment or shoot me an email.

It's pumpkin-picking time, and as reported in Garden Detective: The Column, reader Valerie Grant of Roosevelt has picked herself a doozy! Back in the Spring, Ms. Grant planted a few "curry pumpkin" seeds, just as she’d done in the past. But this year, her gourds have grown beyond her expectations. The largest measured 31 inches in length and 54 inches across, and weighed in at 70 pounds.

“I got a beach towel, laid it on the lawn and rolled the pumpkin onto it,” Grant explained when asked how she managed to harvest the giant. “My friend came over and helped me take it inside the house.”

Grant plans to make pumpkin soup on Sunday for the congregation at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Roosevelt.

Pumpkins are technically fruits, as are tomatoes, but for our purposes, we'll call them vegetables because that's how most people view them. They're also among the most unappreciated grown foods in our area. Most Long Islanders purchase pumpkins along with other gourds and chrysanthemums to add a touch of autumn to their decor. Not many actually eat them.

I grew up in an Italian household, where pretty much everything was edible so long as it was fried up with some peppers. Pumpkin actually is very good that way, and I always save some of the innards of my jack-o-lantern for just such a side dish. The rest I slice (or scoop) and store in the freezer. When the urge for pumpkin pie strikes, I bake it at 375 degrees for a half hour and then puree it in a blender with brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and a pinch of cloves. I pour in a can of evaporated milk and a couple of eggs, mix thoroughly and pour into a prepared pie crust. I toss it in a 375-degree preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until the center is firm.

Here's a recipe for Peppery Pumpkin Risotto.

More pumpkin recipes from Newsday.

Share your recipes here.

HEAVIEST PUMPKIN

Larry Checkon holds the Guinness World Record for growing the heaviest pumpkin. It weighed 1,469 pounds when he entered it in the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association Weigh-off, on October 1, 2005. Later, Scott Cully carved the world's largest Jack-o-lantern from it.

If you grew pumpkins this year, tell us about them. If not, you can still pick your own at one of Long Island's u-pick farms.

More Pumpkin World Records

Stephen Clarke holds the Guinness World Record for being the fastest to carve a face into a pumpkin, completing the creative task in just 24.03 seconds. Read more about Clarke here.

Planning a pumpkin party for the kids? Check out the ideas at Family Fun.

Creepy Stuff

Since we're on a pumpkin/Halloween roll, check out these actual, unedited photos of the Planting Fields Arboretum ghost. My daughter Justine visited with some friends last year and took some photos while she was there. We all swear we saw a ghost-like shadow in the background of one of them, but she accidentally deleted the shot a few days later. Some might say that was no accident.

Don't chuck those unripe tomatoes -- bring them in before they freeze and fry 'em up.

It's beginning to feel a lot like autumn. I slept with my socks on last night, a sure sign it's time to bring in the last of the tomatoes and harvest the basil. But so many of the tomatoes are still green.

Not to worry. I have a great, yet very simple recipe for fried green tomatoes. A southern delicacy introduced to most of us Yankees in the 1991 film of the same name, that was created, I'd imagine, to use up the last of the season's bounty.

Look at the size of that baby! My basil "tree" measured in at 4 feet tall.

What you'll need:

4 large green tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups breadcrumbs mixed with garlic power, salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable or olive oil for frying (south of the Mason-Dixon line, folks prefer using bacon grease, which is yummy, to be sure. Use whatever you like -- or whatever you think your arteries will tolerate.)

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan.

2. Slice the tomatoes into ½ inch rounds. Sprinkle both sides of each slice with salt and pepper.

3. Dip each slice in milk and dredge in flour, then dip in beaten eggs and coat with breadcrumb mixture.

4. Fry about 4 minutes each side, until golden brown.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think.