Garden Changes

When I first start gardening, at least when I first started gardening here in South Dakota, I just wanted to grow things. Now things have grown and now I find myself wanting to simplify. Here's a recent picture of  part of the garden.

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Pumpkin Pie with Dried Fruit and Nut Crust and Whipped Coconut Cream

I have been making this dairy-free pumpkin pie for many years.  I first made it for a friend who craved pumpkin pie but could not eat any dairy.  It's my easy go-to pie.  I have experimented with the crust.   I've tried gluten-free flour crust  and have tried oatmeal and nut combinations.  I think my favorite crust that compliments this not-too sweet pumpkin pie is a crust using dates and prunes. Serve topped with a dollop of whipped coconut cream.



You can make both the crust and the pie in a food processor,

Crust 

1 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup prunes

 Lightly grease a 9" glass pie plate with coconut oil.  Process the walnuts or pecans with the dates and prunes until finely ground.  The mixture will look like a paste. Press into pie plate.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Set aside. Make filling and add to pie crust.


Pumpkin Pie Filling

3 Eggs
3/4 cup unrefined cane sugar (You can substitute with other sugars for instance 3/4 cup honey)
2 cups canned pumpkin (You can also use roasted Butternut Squash. Drain squash if it seems wetter than pumpkin )
1 heaping teaspoon Cinnamon
1  teaspoons Vanilla and a pinch of salt
Walnuts  or Pecans for sprinkling on top of pie

1. Make pie crust –

2. Beat together eggs with sugar. Add pumpkin and other ingredients. Continue beating. You can also do this whole step in a food processor.
3.  Pour into pie crust. Decorate with Walnuts or Pecans if desired.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 45 minutes or more.  It is done when an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool and eat!
Note: The filling will not reach to the top of the pie crust. 

Serve with whipped coconut cream.

Coconut Whipped Cream

1 can coconut milk. My favorite is Organic Native Forest. It has a good deal of cream.  Chill overnight in refrigerator.
2 tablespoons agave or maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1.  Chilling the can of coconut milk will cause the cream to rise to the top and .makes it easier to pour out the liquid and keep the solid cream.   Save the coconut water for smoothies or other uses.

2. Scoop cream into chilled bowl, add syrup and vanilla and beat until soft peaks are formed.

Coconut whipped cream does not separate when kept in the refrigerator.  It actually will set up firmer.

Enjoy

Reworking Garden Pathways

This was the year to do a lot of rock work. Here is an example of a starburst I got done. I'm trying to reduce the amount of dead heading and work in the garden. One thing I have learned after 20 some years of working on this garden 

Is that most plants need to be dug up and replanted or removed at sometime...it's just what needs to be done. Weeds get in grass gets in.  So, now I'm trying to keep the garden especially in the front colorful but low. I'm trying a new blogging app so hope this works Gloria

Spring Planning

Hi Everyone - It has been a long time since I blogged. The year was so busy and the garden was beautiful and a breath of fresh air and calm.   I did make garden changes. That's what gardeners do.  Each year spring comes with  an opportunity to learn and change and hopefully improve the garden.  But at the end of last year's growing season I said to Ted "That's it, I can't think of anything that I can change that I want to change.  Oh, there are always things we would change if we had the time, money and unlimited workers to do the job.  But, I thought I had reached a level of contentment for how things are.  But, alas and to my joy I have a list of things to change and I am excited about them.

The job that will give me the most aches and pains and the one I am most excited to tear into is changing this area right in front of the little garden house.  I want to make a 6 foot by 6 foot patio with 12" redish-colored cement pavers.  This is a picture from last year:

Last spring I placed one of those fabric raised beds in this spot.  This was a poor location for a vegetable planter, but should make a nice spot for a little table and chairs.  The fabric raised bed I plan to move to a sunny spot.

Our springs can be cold.  I always try to cover tender plants like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.  The red and green covers are Wall-O-Waters.

I have a garden to-do list.  Included in the list is start plants by seed. Last year I bought all my plant-starts.  I missed the varieties you can get from seed.
Hopefully, I will show you how they do.  Enjoy spring.  We still have almost 3 months before we can plant outside...but I should be able to do the patio and start the seeds before then. 

Winter To-Do’s While the Garden Sleeps and You Know You are in South Dakota If:

wwwDakotaJoy.com

We Won a Trip to St Pete & the Bay Area Festival of Food, Wine and the Arts!

www.DakotaJoy.com

Growing Amazing Plants in Pots–My New Discoveries

Last year I did a test. I grew the same plants in large pots and also in my 20 year amended-compost enriched heavy clay soil.  Wow, what a difference!  Plant thrive in the pots as long as they received regular water.  I filled the pots with potting soil and compost and a scoop of organic plant based fertilizer.  The lighter looser soil allows for the roots to grow larger.  The potted plants need daily water which I have provided with a timer and drip irrigation system.  I have been playing with 4 timers and 400 feet of 1/2” irrigation pipe and 1/4” drip irrigation. (100 ft of irrigation for each timer) I finally happily settled on burying regular water hoses to provide a water source to the back of the garden and then connecting a 100 feet of 1/2” hose delivering the drip irrigation to the pots and also to farther-out areas that I found hard to water.  All of these pots have drip irrigation:

I have 2 pots at the bottom on the front porch step.  These are the Tidal Wave Petunia I started in late winter.  The cactus came from my brother Juan’s California garden.  He is a master gardener. Gardening “runs in our genes”.

The other side.

I have Heavenly Blue Morning Glories beginning to travel up from the pots. Clematis is blooming

Purple Tomatillos are forming in their parachute-like husks.  These are growing in large pots that sit against the hot west wall. 
The irrigation provides 10 minutes of daily water from sprayers connected to  1/4” irrigation tubing.  Eggplant, peppers and shorter growing Santiam and Glacier Tomatoes are also growing in pots.  Potatoes, bigger tomatoes, squashes, cucumbers and corn are growing in my vegetable beds.  Because our soil is heavy they take less water and still produce.

There are 2 tomatillo plants per pot.  At least 2 are needed for pollination. The plants are taller than I am.

Ornamental corn can be used for popcorn.  It is growing in the 2 pots in front of the little house with Illumination Amaranth.

We have a carport next to the back door. It is along the alley.  The pots have irrigation.  In June I had a "Bring a Dish Garden Breakfast Party" - We had 59 friends stop by.  It was a beautiful fun day.  We set up tables in this area and in the garden. 

Beautiful Summer Garden

A spring garden is probably the easiest to achieve.  You have rain and cooler temperatures.  Come summer, heat, hail and dry weather can make summer gardens a bit of a challenge.  The trick is picking the right plants for the right place.  That usually involves some “trowel and error”.  Visiting local gardens and garden tours can help you make note of what is blooming now.  I am always a bit amused that what is blooming at the time becomes the favorite flower.  Here are some of my favorites:

I have learned to use drought tolerate plants in harder to reach areas.  Daylilies have thick fat roots that take some drought.

There are some seriously beautiful daylily varieties.

Yarrows, primroses, alliums


The front boulevard gardens are thick with ground-covering  beauty. 

Pink Carefree Delight rose really is carefree.

Then there are junipers…I love them.  This is the back yard

Blues and yellows!  Lorraine Sunshine with Moonglow Juniper

Beautiful, Beautiful Roses

I always look forward to the third week in June.  It is when most of the roses bloom in chorus!  A couple of years ago I started adding good bacteria to my roses and the improvement is striking! 

Reine de Victoria, the climber on the left is a favorite antique reblooming rose.

The darker pink rose is Zephrine Droulin a fragrant bourbon rose that is thornless and is tolerates some shade.

William Baffin is a tall climber

Madame Hardy with a green eye and slightly lemony fragrance

Reine de Violettes rose is a rebloomer is lovely and fragrant.  This rose in particular was getting weak and look at it now!

More, and more,

I think the single petal Sally Holmes is beautiful.  I have about 40 rose bushes.  I’ll show more later!

What’s Blooming Today and the Yellow and Orange Bird is a:

The garden is blooming.  Here are some favorites:

Dictamnus (Gas Plant) grows in the  front yard.  Each year it grows taller and lately it has been gently reseeding itself.  It  has a lemony fragrance and repels deer.

In January I started pansies by seed.  They grew easily but slowly.

Shell-Leaf Penstemon is a wildflower perennial. After blooming I cut it down to it’s base.  The leaves are a gray-green.

They are beautiful.

Dianthus, Clove Pinks have a beautiful scent.  I want more of these. 

In a previous post I showed a picture of this bird and asked if anyone could identify this beautiful bird.  Grandson Eric called and shared with me that a bird expert friend identified it as a Western Tanager.  I think I saw two different birds in the garden.  I took this picture through my kitchen window.  Hopefully I can get more pictures of this beautiful bird.