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Each plant was treated to pollen from a flower from its own plant, so the varieties should stay true. It worked! Withing 4-5 days, you could see tiny tomatoes, about the size of a raisin. The next day there were far more baby tomatoes than those I had messed with. Looks like the plants got the word that they better set fruit, or else. LOL! Anyway there are now dozens of the little tomatoes, growing larger by the day. It may be September before I harvest any of them, but at least there will BE some to harvest! BTW, I've done this before when Mother Nature seemed to be asleep at the switch, so I knew it was likely to be successful. You can try it yourself if the bees are not doing the job.
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Wine and Herb Baked Chicken
1 cut-up chicken or about 8 pieces - I used boneless, skinless thighs and breasts
1 cup finely chopped fresh herbs, mixed - I used Italian parsley, rosemary, oregano and basil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
about 1 cup red wine
Rinse the chicken pieces and set aside.
In a non-reactive bowl, combine the herbs, garlic, mustard, olive oil and wine. Pour into a non-reactive baking dish which is just large enough to hold the chicken pieces. Place the first piece in the baking dish. If the liquid doesn't come halfway up the piece of chicken, add more wine until it does. Then place each piece of chicken in the marinade and then turn it over, thus coating it with the herbs. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover dish with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for an hour.
After an hour remove the dish from the refrigerator and unwrap. Turn each piece over, cover and return to the fridge. Repeat an hour later and let chill one more hour.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap. Replace it with foil to cover the dish, then bake for 35 minutes, removing the foil cover for the last 5 minutes.
Serves 6 - 8
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siiiiigh.
ReplyDeleteWell, as I cannot garden now, I am reading up on gardening techniques, planning what kind of raised beds we'll have, and... considering getting a goat, for the fertilizing properties.
You're feeding my dream.
Well done by taking over the bee's duties. :)
ReplyDeleteI bought two small pepper plants on a whim at the farmers market some weeks ago. But until now there is one little jalapeno pepper growing on my balcony.
Really ... you pollenated them ... I'm thinking it's too hot here for the fruit to set but maybe I'm wrong ... but the bees seem to be very busy all over my tomato, peppers and basil. I can't keep up with my 7 basils they're like weeds at this point. Pesto some way everyday.
ReplyDeleteI did just pick a small eggplant ... it was there when I bought the plant.
Tanita, make friends with someone who has a goat...there is always extra fertilizer and they are usually thrilled that you will come and get some. When you get ready I'd love to share my seed starting tricks with you.
ReplyDeleteAndreas, you may have to play bee yourself to get more peppers. Seems that the bees are dying all over the place. We are so hard on our planet.
Tanna, Yep, artificial insemination isn't just for labs anymore. I see lots of bees in my garden, too, but this is not the first time I've had to give the plants a gentle nudge. Once they get the idea they seem to do the fruiting on their own.
Envious of your basil...I have some, but only enough for odd bit of garnish or addition to a recipe.
Who wouldn't be happy with that glorious abundance of veggies?
ReplyDeleteLoving the garden - can't wait for the everything zucchini posts.
ReplyDeleteSusan, It's true, fresh veggies make me giddy, thinking of all the ways to use them.
ReplyDeleteGiz, the first zucchini recipe is up at the Bread Baker's Dog...there is a link at the top right of this blog. More goodies to come.