Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Giveaway #3: Reaping

This week's giveaway is for you gardeners out there. My dad and I each gave me this book, and I'm happy to share one of them with you rather than donate it to the library, which is what I'd planned to do until I got this harebrained idea to make July Giveaway Month here at Knit. Run. Reap. Eat.

This is a tips-and-tricks book, filled with practical solutions to gardening problems using items and ingredients you either have on hand or can easily get in any supermarket. Well, almost any – my tiny Kroger isn't as well-stocked as a giant Publix or even gianter Meijer's.

Anyway. You should know the drill by now. You have until Sunday at 7 p.m. EDT to leave a comment. Each comment you leave enters you in the contest to win one copy of Supermarket Super Gardens. The winner will be determined using a random number sequencer and will be announced Monday. This drawing is open to U.S. residents only.

Last year when I put a few dill plants in my herb bed I did not know that I would have a lifetime supply of dill. I didn't plant any dill this year, but I estimate that about 30 plants grew from seed. This must be why it's called dillweed, eh?

I've frozen some of the dill heads, waiting for the pickling cucumbers to ripen. I'll dry the lacy little fronds. The bounty of dill, though, is the seed. You can use it for seasoning and you can plant it.

I harvested the seed from just four dill heads yesterday after dinner and got 1.5 ounces – a very generous quarter cup. There are easily 50 more heads in the garden which haven't gone to seed yet.

My husband loves dill bread, which we've been buying from the Amish market down the road. Since they're closed from Christmas to Easter, I guess I'll have at least a few months to make him some.

I shoulda been a farmer. Bonus points if you know what movie that line is from!

This week, everyone's a winner: If you'd like some dill seed, e-mail me at:

shrinkingknitter AT gmail DOT com
with your contact information. I'll send some to you, which you can plant next spring and then you can give dill away on your blogs next year. What comes around goes around. Dill karma!

4 comments:

denise said...

I'm definitely in for the book giveaway! Never thought it would happen, but I'm actually enjoying my little garden this year and may try something more agressive next year.

Meanwhile, on the movie quote, it sounded pretty familiar but I couldn't place it - so naturally, I googled it. I won't say the movie that came up - I don't want to spoil it for anyone else who actually knows it and posts it. But I will say that I was impressed that your blog was the #7 item on the google list when I searched it!

No thanks from me on the dill seeds - I don't care much for dill I'm afraid.

Mindy said...

Our dill doesn't look great this year...I'm ready to do a few pickles and my recipe calls for a whole dill head in the bottom of each jar. Doesn't that seem like a lot?

I made a list of all the herbs I wanted to be planted this year and found out (too late) that my husband just randomly tossed all the seeds in together. So now we have a square of our raised bed with 10 different herbs all growing around each other and he missed some of the things I really wanted...sigh..

Next year I'll be more specific.

longtime lurker said...

Some years I have good luck in growing dill and some years not. i still have some seed from the good year which I'll use to make pickles this year, as my cukes are really coming on. mindy - I did the whole dill head in pickles a few years ago and it really wasn't too much, plus it looks great in the jars.

Leslie said...

Hi Debbi - Thanks for your comment about my dental phobia. Boy, can I relate to not taking care of the teeth when drinking (hard to floss when passed out :( ). Your comment made me think that that's probably when my phobia started...pretty soon after I got sober. I had never thought of it as yet another consequence of my drinking - but it sure is. Thanks!

And I'd love to be entered in the book giveaway. I actually have dill going myself, along with basil. They're both getting fried in the heat right now, no matter how much I water them at night or in the morning!

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