We are eating our back yard!!

The cutest helping hands ever!

Our apartment complex did something wonderful and prepared raised beds for the tenants, we requested one and they even made a little plot for our two year old! He is so excited about it! I think this is such a wonderful experience for all of us, not only we get to eat fresh veggies but he also will learn a lot about nature, gardening and responsibly taking care of plants.

You cannot get any more local than this!

I have never gardened before, so this is a learning experience for me too. So far I’ve had herbs and other plants in pots, our tomatoes attempts indoors failed each time, so this is certainly a lot of learning.

Initially I planted corn, okra, three different tomatoes, different color bell peppers, two eggplants, zucchini, cucumber, rosemary, parsley, thyme and basil seeds; only to be hit by a surprise late frost and lose our okra and

cucumber the first week. I planted another cucumber plant and some cilantro and thought it would be best to start reading about the plants I chose, because obviously just watering them was not going to work.

Our first tomato! I am so excited about this that it is silly!

So next week I mulched the beds. This is a process that took three sessions… incredible how everything can take so long when you are hauling a baby and a two year old! But the mulching got done, and to keep it green I used grass that was just cut and from the grounds in our apartment complex. Not only it would protect the dirt from overheating and losing moisture too fast, but it should also bring back nutrients to the dirt and attract animals that might be beneficial for our plants (Hello, little spider!).

Ignacio wanted a gnome, now he gets showers 🙂

Last weekend though, I found my eggplant was attracting flea beetles, so I went to the interweb again to try to find a solution for that problem that

would be viable with my green living ideal. So on Monday I went over to the nearest Starbucks to get some coffee grounds that I promptly placed around our two eggplants. I hope it works!

Our plants are growing strong and healthy, except the cucumber that keeps getting hit by low temperatures at night, which come out of nowhere. My basil seedlings are starting to grow and soon I’ll be thinning them and choosing a few vigorous plants to keep… the rest might become salad 🙂

Are you gardening already? How do you deal with pests, do you have any suggestion for flea beetles?

Flea beetles… boo!

Adventures in the kitchen: Barley stir fry

My husband knows that I am a very adventurous gal (in the kitchen!) and since he is awesome he brought home a bag of barley for us to try. Barley is amazingly healthy for you! It’s great against cholesterol, has a lot of fiber, iron, calcium and selenium! I had never eaten barley so I did not know much what to do with it. First thing I did was to just boil it as per instructions in the package and try it as it was, plain, just boiled, to have an idea of the flavor I was going to be working with. If I had to give you an idea (and I will be unfair to the real flavor) it tastes like a mix between rice and oatmeal, with strong nutty underflavors. So once I had tried it, I knew what I wanted to do with it.

 

Barley stir fry:

2 cups Boiled barley

Barley stock by tasastock.deviantart.com

1 medium onion

1 carrot

1 cup cooked corn kernels

2 cups cooked broccoli florets

2 cups cooked cut green beans

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp rice vinegar

spices: salt, pepper, ground ginger, curry, saffron, ground coriander

In a pot boil the barley for one hour before hand. Use plenty of water and keep in mind that barley expands to about 4 times it’s dry size. You might want to determine how soft you like it. I, myself, like an ‘al dente’ consistency, but my husband likes his starches soft, so I cooked for about one hour and left it cool down in its own water so it would soak up more water and become mushier.

Once the barley is done chop your vegetables and keep them at hand.

In a deep pot warm up two tablespoons of sesame oil and blanch your onions, add the carrot and cook until tender, add the rest of the vegetables and mix them well. Add some more sesame oil if it is too dry and you would like a stronger flavor.

Add the rice vinegar and the spices, mix and let the flavors blend together.

Lastly, add the boiled barley, mix thoroughly, add some more salt if needed.

Once your barley is warm, food is ready!

 

This is a delicious dish, very healthy and veggies lovers friendly. The saffron adds a unique touch to a mainly Asian flavored dish. Try it and let me know what you think!