As June fades, gardeners hope for big things in July

June is an unpredictable time of year for Spokane area gardeners. Our recent weather is a good example, with that brief leap into the 90s. My 70 or so newly planted peppers will enjoy July heat – in July – but they didn’t deserve the rough temperatures so soon after being put in the ground.

I started them on March 4, along with creeping thyme, Conquistador celery, and Tadorna leeks. I’m just beginning the long project of taking grass out of the median strip, replacing it with drought-hardy herbs and whatnot, and decided to try thyme from seed, rather than shell out for the quantity of nursery plants that I need for this first stage.

They’ve grown like nobody’s business, doing fine under my grow light set-up in the basement, and now I have thyme and more thyme heeled in here and there in my veggie garden, waiting for when I have time (sorry) to work on the median.

Leeks, easy breezy, though they really should be started in January. Tough. I’m not doing leeks and nothing else for six weeks. But I could start celery, then, too … I’ll have to think it over. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve grown celery, from seed of course, as you don’t hear neighbors across the fence saying, “What kind of celeries did you buy this year?”

The one time that I’ve previously grown it was fun, kind of like Show and Tell (no one expects to see celery in a home garden), but I don’t recall whether the flavor was enough of an improvement to make it a staple. I do know that germination was a real pain, taking weeks, and that’s probably why I’ve avoided it since.

I start seeds in my studio, in nice cozy, plastic-domed flats with a soil heat mat under each, keeping the moist germination mix toasty. I usually have my first basils up in a couple of days, tomatoes shortly after, and peppers, notoriously obstinate in cool soil, in only four or five days.

But it was the same story this time around for the celeries. I’d all but given up on them; I’d stopped watering, unplugged the heat mat, and just hadn’t gotten around to tossing them, when we headed off to Disneyland. The Disney trip didn’t ward off my 50th, but on our return, several leggy little celeries were up, despite my abuse. They’re out in the garden now, doing just fine, and I’ll pay more attention to their flavor this time around.

So there’s some of my spring seed starting, including the Disney miracle, and if you grow salad greens, you’re no doubt awash in them right now. Lettuce soup is actually not a culinary weirdo, though most versions are pureed, relying on lots of cream, as per usual.

I wanted to try something a little lighter and this worked well. It’s a bright soup that comes together in almost no time at all. Maintain crunch and color by barely braising the lettuce and adding the radishes right toward the end of cooking. If you’re a gardener, as well as a cook, good luck with the summer – and I’ll let you know how my celery does, too.

Lettuce Radish Drop Soup

6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Kosher salt, to taste

2-3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch scallions (about 6), greens included, thinly sliced crosswise

Juice of 2 small lemons

1 large head Romaine lettuce, washed and sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick

2 teaspoons white pepper

4-6 tablespoons sweetened Chinese black vinegar, to taste

2 sprigs fresh tarragon, lightly torn (about 2 loose tablespoons)

1 bunch radishes (about 12), trimmed and thinly sliced

2 eggs, beaten with fork

Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, prepare other ingredients, keeping stock at a low simmer.

Heat the olive and sesame oils and several large pinches of salt in a large wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté about 30 seconds. Add scallions and cook until slightly soft, another minute or two. Reduce heat to medium and add lemon juice and lettuce. Cook another minute or two, turning lettuce frequently until it just starts wilt a bit but is still bright green and crisp. (It will reduce in volume by about a third.)

Bring the stock back up to a boil, and then turn heat to medium low, adding the white pepper, black vinegar, and tarragon. Stir in the radishes and drizzle in the eggs, letting them cook on the top. After a minute, stir the eggs into the soup and add the lettuce mixture. Raise heat slightly and thoroughly heat soup, another minute or two. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 126 calories, 8 grams fat (2 grams saturated, 53 percent fat calories), 9 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams dietary fiber, 92 milligrams cholesterol, 700 milligrams sodium.