Freshness in a Dog Day afternoon thunderstorm
The sweltering sun bears down and heats up the Dog Day afternoon. The leaves on the mighty oaks, poplars, and maples flip their petticoats as they await the heat-relieving benefits of an afternoon thunderstorm. Even the hot foliage in the garden plot of summer vegetables fold open their green leaves to wait for the approaching thunder and lightning that heralds the up and coming refreshing thunderstorm, when huge raindrops will fall from dark gray clouds. The summer wind picks up and so do the torrents of rain. Temperatures fall as the leaves and garden foliage absorb the rain drops and both spread back their petticoats in thankfulness and even as the clouds clear out, the sky responds with a colorful rainbow at the close of a Dog Day afternoon.
The first tomato sandwich from garden
The joy of harvesting and excitement of the regular harvest of ripe tomatoes heated by the summer sun and that first tomato sandwich of the season is near. The very best tomato sandwiches are made with sun-heated tomatoes directly from the garden, sliced, placed in fresh slices of bread, sprinkled with salt and pepper on both sides and smothered with mayonnaise on both sides. We remember only one thing better and that was my mother and grandma’s cat head biscuits with a tomato the very same size as the biscuit and coated with Duke’s mayonnaise, salt and pepper. What a taste of heaven that was! One of the blessings of summer’s Dog Days is the rays of the sun bearing down on the rubies of the garden in summer.
A cool tomato treat in hot summer
Tomatoes from the summer garden brighten any meal and they enhance the flavor of any vegetable dish they become a part of such as fried corn, with diced tomatoes mixed into the corn. Lima beans with diced fresh ripe tomatoes mixed in them is also a special taste treat. This special recipe calls for fresh tomatoes combined with other ingredients to make a tasty tomato dish on a warm summer evening. To prepare this recipe, you will need eight medium-sized firm freshly harvested tomatoes. Cut off tops of the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds and pulp and place the hollowed out tomatoes in a round glass plate. In a bowl, mix an eight-ounce pack of cream cheese (softened), three tablespoons mayonnaise, ten florets of fresh broccoli (diced), 12 strips of crispy fried bacon (diced), one peeled and diced cucumber. Mix all ingredients and spread into the hollowed out tomatoes. Cool in the refrigerator for an hour before serving. Garnish the tops of tomatoes with stuffed olives or tomato cubes.
Rainbow of color in the zinnia bed
The Zinnia bed is in full bloom with a rainbow of summer beauty and color. The swallowtail butterflies, bumblebees, goldfinches and sparrows visit the zinnias every afternoon as well as the majestic monarch butterflies. They all add extra color to the zinnias. As Dog Days get hotter, keep zinnias watered at the base of the plants with the water wand in shower” mode. Do not spray water directly on the foliage because this promotes powder mildew and cucumber mosaic. Soak the zinnia row or bed with a cool, drink of water to relieve the stress of Dog Day heat. As Zinnia blooms phase out, pinch off blooms to promote growth of new blooms. Drop spent blooms on ground outside the row or bed so the birds can peck the seeds from the died Zinnias.
Surry County blueberry harvest on way
The blueberry harvest is getting ripe in the Dog Day Sun. The best time to visit the blueberry fields and have a somewhat comfortable condition for picking several buckets of berries is to go early in the morning hours before the sun heats up the fields. Leave the kids at home with grandma simply because blueberry fields and kids do not combine well when your goal is to harvest a few buckets of blueberries. It really takes patience to pick blueberries. They have a taste and unique flavor that makes them well worth a journey to a pick your own blueberry farm.
Making a quickie blueberry cobbler
A combination of canned blueberry pie filling concocted with a mix of fresh blueberries and a crust made from two ready-made pie shells makes this cobbler easy to prepare. In a bowl, mix one can of Comstock blueberry pie filling, one and a half cups of fresh blueberries, two teaspoons vanilla flavoring, one and a half cups sugar, half cup water, one stick melted light margarine, two teaspoons corn starch. Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a 13x9x2 inch baking pan or dish, sprayed with Pam baking spray. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Break or cut two thawed pie crusts into pieces and spread over the blueberry pie mixture. Melt the stick of light margarine and spoon over the pie crust pieces. Bake for one hour or until the crust is golden brown. Serve with ice cream, Cool Whip, or it’s great as it is.
Saint Swithin’s Day will be July 15
Saint Swithin’s Day will be next Friday. Saint Swithin is known as the saint of the soakers. Swithin may not live up to his name simply because we are in the middle of the heat of Dog Days. This heat on the other hand, could generate some hefty thunderstorms and protect the saint’s reputation. A Saint Swithin tradition states that when it rains on his day, he is christening the season’s apple crop. Maybe he could throw in a colorful rainbow to top of his special day!
Canning summer squash for winter sonkers
The straight neck and crookneck summer squash should now be producing a harvest. Do not allow any of them to go to waste or get too large. Can them in quart jars to make squash casseroles and sonkers all winter long. To can the squash, wash and scrub the squash with a stiff brush. Cube the squash into half-inch cubes. Fill sterilized quart jars with the cubed squash, fill jars with hot water and seal with lids and rings. Place jars in a pressure canner and process at ten pounds pressure for 25 minutes. To use canned squash in winter, drain water from jar and use as you would fresh squash. Squash casseroles and sonkers in winter are a real treat.
Making a simple squash sonker
Squash sonker is a Surry County treasure and heirloom that includes some mystery on how it received its name and how it came to be an important part of Surry County history. Sonker is good simply because the ingredients are so simple and available almost every Surry County home. It includes no fancy ingredients, mixes, or gourmet items just ordinary, plain household ingredients. There are many sonker recipes and some may be secret family recipes. It does not take long to decode the sonker secret because any Surry County country cook that knows their way around the kitchen can do the math and figure out what a squash or other basic sonker consists of and put one together in their country kitchen. For the next two weeks, the Garden Plot will feature two simple sonker recipes and later a basic sonker crust recipe.
Supporting pepper plants from storms
Use cages and tomato stakes to support pepper plants and prevent them from blowing over during hefty thunderstorms. These supports will also keep peppers off the ground and easier to harvest later in the summer.
Hoe hoe hoedown:
“Hair Raising.” While shampooing her 4-year-old son’s hair, his mother noted how fast his hair was growing and that he would soon need a haircut. Her son said,”Maybe we shouldn’t water it so much.”
“A short cut.” Church member: “Pastor, how did you get that cut on your face?” Pastor:”I was thinking about my sermon this morning, and wasn’t concentrating on what I was doing, and I cut myself while shaving.” Member: “That’s too bad. Next time, you should concentrate more on shaving and cut your sermon.”
“College Kick out.” Larry: “My college has turned out some great men.” Harry: “I didn’t know you were a college graduate.” Larry: “I’m the one they turned out!”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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