Give to Caesar What Is His!!!

Back in February I did a piece on my “square foot garden” project click here. My back yard is not large, in fact, it’s rather small. My goal is to create an oasis, a garden-spot inspired by the beautiful gardens in downtown Charleston. I want a show-place to entertain and relax in, a work in progress. I plan to maximize the limited space, and part of my back yard garden will always be dedicated to my version of the “kitchen garden.” I have never pushed the envelope on maximizing my vegetable yield per square foot before, but I am doing that this year. My plan is simple, Square foot gardening.

When I prepared the two beds I created a plan that established 1 foot by 1 foot squares on a grid. Within those 1 foot squares I would plant the vegetables and herbs that I hoped would allow me to experience a bountiful harvest of tomatoes, peppers, okra, eggplant, onions, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, beans, squash and cucumbers, as well as herbs. Thanks to an earlier than usual onset of Spring weather in The Land of Palm Trees, I was able to get an early start on some of my “warm season” veggies, and I am happy to report that I already have tomatoes setting on the vines (no I did not buy plants with tomatoes already on the vine either.) I am still several weeks away from ripe tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, but I have been harvesting a heaping helping of Romaine lettuce. Over the past week we have enjoyed several salads made with lettuce from our garden, and the fresh taste is WONDERFUL. This evening I put together a Caesar Salad just using some romaine, cherry tomatoes sliced in half and dressing. No anchovies in my Caesar though.

Being the “fledgling” historian that I am, I couldn’t help but find some logic in the fact that I was enjoying a salad bearing the name of “Caesar” from Romaine lettuce grown in a square foot garden. After all Julius Caesar’s reformist policies in Ancient Rome are credited with awarding lands to his soldiers and giving the common plebeians the chance to own their own lands thereby providing many the means to feed themselves, which helped to ease the problems of unemployment and poverty among the people. The only flaw in my logic is that, well it is flawed. Why, you may wonder? Well, it sounds good but unfortunately the “Caesar” in “Caesar Salad” is not Julius, but is instead the salad’s creator, restaurateur Caesar Cardini an Italian immigrant who operated restaurants in Mexico and the United States. At any rate, my salad tonight was good, even though as far as Caesar Salads go, it was fairly simple and plain. There are a lot of various ingredients that can be used to “dress” a Caesar, like chicken, shrimp or bacon to name some of my favorites but by design, the star of tonight’s show was the Romaine harvested from my square foot garden just minutes before being plated as a side salad for dinner. If you haven’t attempted square foot gardening, what are you waiting for? It’s not too late, and you can do it, trust me. Hopefully soon there will be other fresh ingredients being hauled into our kitchen from the back yard, and you can bet that I will keep you posted.

Lights, Camera and Action

I'm really not sure which season is more pleasant here in the Land of Palm Trees, Spring or Fall? Both times of the year have distinct attributes and provide reasons to fall in love with the great Lowcountry weather. Fall is somewhat refreshing, welcome relief from the oppressive humidity thanks to the Atlantic Ocean in our front yard. Spring, however, is equally as comfortable but also provides a colossal treat for the senses thanks to the colorful flowers that dot the April landscape. Both seasons provide lots of excitement for sports lovers, baseball is king during the spring months and the pigskin rules the roost from September through January. So much of our lifestyle here in the Lowcountry centers around the water. Of course, the beaches of Charleston provide a tremendous recreation opportunity for residents and visitors alike, but the various tidal creeks, rivers, salt marshes, lakes and ponds offer something for everyone when it comes to outdoor enthusiasm. The waters are full of life and provide the perfect habitat for some pretty interesting birds and other wildlife. It is not uncommon to see Bald Eagles and Fish Eagles (aka Osprey) hovering over the water then suddenly diving hundreds of feet down to the water surface to grab a fish in their efficient talons. Over Easter weekend my brother and I enjoyed watching a Fish Eagle perform this maneuver in a neighborhood lake merely a pitching wedge shot from my front porch. We have also enjoyed watching a couple, as in pair, of Osprey nesting in a rather large nest made of tree branches and limbs on one of the baseball field light poles at Northwood Academy in North Charleston. It is somewhat entertaining to watch the majestic birds of prey during baseball games as they swoop in with fish in tow to feed their family in the nest overlooking first base. A unique and entertaining feature of high school baseball in the Lowcountry.

Of course, not all baseball fields in the Land of Palm Trees come with raptors and graceful large birds. And I might add that there are plenty of opportunities to see eagles and ospreys other than at baseball fields. One of my favorite activities, recreational kayaking is an excellent way to get up close and personal not only with birds of prey, but also many other birds, such as pelicans, egret and marsh wrens. And if feathery animals with wings don't get you too excited you always have the possibility of seeing dolphins and other fish and wildlife from your kayak perched on the surface of the river. If you would like to learn more about kayaking, I suggest that you visit the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival, Saturday at the James Island County Park. The festival provides an incredible array of learning opportunities for anybody who is interested in kayaking. Not only are their classes and demonstrations, but you can actually visit with several vendors and try out some great equipment before you make the decision to buy it. So if you have been itching to get out on the water, but aren't sure that you could handle maneuvering a fiberglass canoe along the water, Saturday is your chance to learn a little bit and maybe give it a trial run.

Sweet Sweet Solitude

There is just something about a comfortable chair on the front porch, late on a mid-April evening that sharpens the senses. It is almost a religious experience, a calm moment in a sea of chaos that is life in this busy world. Most of the neighborhood has long since retired for the evening and up and down my street front porches are softly lit with the warm glow of table lamps, standing guard over the house through the night. It is very quiet here in my sanctuary, save for the occasional hum of an air conditioning unit or the distant bark of a dog. This is my time, time for a few chapters in a book and a glass of ice water, maybe a sip of bourbon. Time for pondering, searching for answers, and resting. The light breeze hits me in the face, as my house is oriented to the East and most evenings the sea breezes gently make their way westward from the Atlantic Ocean toward my inland location.

Our cat, Kitty Lee, likes this time of the day as well. He enjoys the company on the porch, seems very comfortable doesn't he? I enjoy his company as well, he listens, quite good. Never answers, never offers his opinions, he just listens. Oh I guess occasionally he looks up at me, wrinkles his nose and squints his eyes as if to say, "Really." But for the most part, he just listens, and watches me.

I am blessed in many ways by this idle time. It recharges me, it comforts me, and it completes me. But most of all, in this quiet solitude I feel that I am just where I need to be. I hear the squeak of a door opening and gazing down the street searching for the source of the sound that has disturbed my moment, I see a man emerge from his home and choose a spot in a comfortable chair on a lamp lit porch, and I am happy for him, because I know that he is about to begin to enjoy the quiet as well. As I take my last few sips of bourbon, and close my book for the night, I quietly slip off of the porch into the security of my home, ever so quietly, like in Church, so as to not disturb his peaceful moment. Good Night, friends. Good Night!