Those villagers had narrow alleyways for their “roads,” no running water or electricity, but their food was robust and richly flavoured
Late in the autumn of every year, I set up a new desk agenda calendar to keep on hand in the kitchen. Into its pages I tuck timely reminders for the year ahead. They Include favourite recipes, or notes on where to find them, for using various vegetables, berries and fruits from the garden. Strawberry recipes are filed in the late May pages, zucchini recipes in early summer, cucumber recipes in July.
Watching the cucumber vines develop, flower and form fruits, especially on hot summer days, always reminds me of summer’s high heat in a small village on Rhodes, where I lived for a year. Just a few “expats” lived in the village at the time – a stockbroker from New York, and interior decorator from San Francisco and Jane, an American novelist, and her daughter Mary. One of the jobs I picked up in the village was typing for Jane.
On really sweltering days Jane, Mary and I would acquire a few cucumbers from village farmers, peel the cucumbers and lay the peels, cut side down, on our faces and necks to cool down.
It was Jane who showed me the simple making of a cucumber dish I now make every summer. It begins with plain yogurt and chopped cucumber and gains its zesty taste with drizzles of fresh lemon juice and olive oil, salt and mashed garlic.
I’ve never been able to fully duplicate the supreme flavour of Jane’s cucumber dish, probably because I’ve never found a yogurt that matched the quality of the yogurt made in that little village. It was rich and creamy, with a thick “skin” on top. Thanks to local goats and a traditional process, it became a staple in my diet that year.
Those villagers had narrow alleyways for their “roads,” no running water or electricity, but their food was robust and richly flavoured – the local bread and olive oil, feta and garlic, the vegetables and the local fruity brandy.
When I make Jane’s cucumber salad, I use the thickest Greek yogurt I can find. Sometimes I add a sprig of mint and use an immersion blender to convert the salad into a refreshing cold summer soup.
Crumbled feta and Dijon mustard quickly turns some of the soup into a salad dressing. A lemon juice and zest, olive oil and honey blend is a tangy dressing for a cucumber, mango and cooked quinoa salad with added toasted slivered almonds and fresh or dried berries.
Cucumber slices or chunks, sauteed in butter with herbs, are a savoury companion to salmon for a light summer meal.
Beat the heat.Last month, I kept meeting dejected gardeners growling about cool weather and delayed growth in their spring plantings. Except for a brief heat blip in the second week, June was not exactly super-toasty – until the month’s end brought bright sunshine and summery warmth.
Heat-loving cucumber, tomato and squash plants, almost overnight, perked up, bushed out, and grew at an almost visible pace.
Summer weather patterns vary considerably throughout the Island, but wherever you garden it’s good to have simple aids on hand to protect the soil and plant roots from hot sunshine and high heat. These same aids also conserve soil moisture at a time when rainfall is scarce or non-existent.
I have at the ready bags of leaves gathered in the fall, used to cover empty beds for the winter, and re-bagged in the spring. They are in perfect, semi-decomposed condition for arranging as a mulch layer between rows and around plants, following a deep watering.
In times of burning sunshine, it is helpful to lay a little straw over the leaves. Its light colour deflects heat while it contributes to conserving moisture.
I have a habit of purchasing a fresh bale of straw every May, to arrange around strawberry plants. The berries that form stay clean resting on the straw, and the full exposure to the sun brings out their fully sweet, luscious flavour.
The straw is close at hand for summer mulching, stored at the end of a series of compost enclosure against a side fence by the food garden.
These mulching materials save time and money. They suppress weed growth, and they reduce the need for watering, which is costly in metered communities. And many gardeners on wells have limited amounts of water for the garden.
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