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As others have noted on the Gardening in NE MT Facebook page, things have been slow in starting as far as the garden goes. We did have a long, cool spring. Very few of my corn seeds came up. Even the replanting was a bust, so I guess I’ll be buying corn later on. The peas are spotty, but are starting to bloom just as the heat hits (peas really don’t like hot weather). I think only one packet of my beans came, and since all the packets “melted” in the rains, I’m not sure which variety I’ll have! (I really should make a garden map each summer.)

I do have beautiful rows of lettuce: one is mixed leaf lettuces, the other is a mini-form of butterheads. They look lovely. The beets are giving me lots of tops to add to my salads. The rainbow Swiss chard is also producing well. Cabbages are forming, next to the broccoli plants. My potatoes are in bloom, and lots of raspberries are forming.

I haven’t seen any cabbage moths hanging about them yet, but I’m sure they’ll make an appearance soon. The millers are invading the house. (Those and box elder bugs just seem to materialize inside, don’t they?) I’m seeing lots of tiny, immature crickets and box elder bugs in the garden. The box elders are very red in their infantile stages. The baby crickets dash from cover to cover when you’re near. I guess they prefer shade to sunlight. Of course there are lots of grasshoppers in the yard. I hope there’s enough green grass to satisfy those pests. They need to remember their name: GRASShoppers!

The multiple tree seeds are still sprouting like crazy. They really seem to like doing that whilst nestled up against the plants I want to grow. Every time I’m in the garden now I will wander down a row and pull those upstarts out. They pull easily where either Mother Nature or I have watered. And of course Mother Nature is keeping me from getting the deck sealed. I swear the birds are using the once-clean deck for target practice. They also manage to bomb the clean windows while flying over the house. Their aim is impeccable! Whenever one of them bounces off a window pane I just think, “You deserve that headache!” (I do still go over to see they haven’t killed themselves. Guess I’m not as hard-hearted as that sounded.)

I have a couple new recipes you could try, if you like. I need to be eating more broccoli, so this first one is great right now. You could also switch out the broccoli with cauliflower.

Roasted Parmesan Broccoli

4 lbs. broccoli, trimmed (8C)

4 cloves garlic, sliced

EVOO OR coconut oil

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 tsp lemon zest

2 Tbl lemon juice

1/3 C freshly grated Parmesan

Oven at 425 degrees. Put broccoli on a rimmed pan in a single layer. Sprinkle with garlic and drizzle with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast 20-25 minutes until crisp/tender and tips are browned. Toss with 1 1/2 Tbl oil, zest, juice, and cheese. Serve hot.

I used one head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces. It didn’t need that long of a baking time. I also didn’t read the directions well, so I had all of it mixed together before roasting, but I did add extra Parmesan right before serving myself (broccoli is another thing Dennis doesn’t eat).

This next is another recipe I clipped from a magazine while waiting in a doctor’s office (obviously pre-Covid, when they still had magazines to read while you waited). I just came across it again while looking for a new side-dish. Again, I cut the amounts in half and used half wild rice and half mixed rices. It’s a keeper and I’m sorry I halved it!

Wild Rice Salad with Cashews

1 C wild rice

4 C chicken broth

3 Tbl EVOO

1 1/2 C red or green pepper, chopped

3/4 C cashews, coarsely chopped

2 green onions, sliced

Rinse and drain rice. Bring rice and broth to a boil in a three-quart saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 45 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pepper and cook 3-5 minutes. Add nuts and green onions, cooking an additional 2-3 minutes, until nuts begin to brown. Remove from heat. Stir rice and peppers together. Make dressing.

Dressing: 3 Tbl rice OR cider vinegar, 2 Tbl olive oil, 1 Tbl Asian sesame oil, 1 clove garlic minced, 1/4 tsp salt, dash pepper – combine all in jar with tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Pour over salad, tossing to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.