Snow, What Snow?
2 feet of snow last week-end, temperatures in the lower teens (F/ about -12 C). I have not been in the hoophouse for about a week, and frankly I was not sure how it was going to be in there. Would I have mush? It after all, got cold quite suddenly after a long mild fall, and I was not sure the plants had a chance to harden off.
But it all looks good when I went in today to harvest a big bouquet of cilantro and leaf celery for a Vietnamese-inspired rice and goose. In winter, I often do a version of my basic “Chicken Soup with a Twist” varying the vegetable and the meat.
Since we had a roasted goose for Christmas (I needed after all to replenish my store of goose-fat), I simmered the carcass and the bones with some aromatics for a dark rich fragrant broth. Sautéed some carrots, shallots, lots of ginger. Added a handful of already cooked rice, some chopped goose meat, a little fish sauce, and some braised cabbage to the pot. Covered with goose broth, simmered for 15 minutes, added handful of chopped cilantro and leaf celery, some hot sauce, and voila, a very tasty and warming lunch!
Nice to know that your hoop houses are holding up so well and still producing despite our big snowfall last week! One of my favorite blogs is written by a guy in Massachusetts who has a wonderful winter garden courtesy of his homemade hoop houses http://www.agrowingtradition.com/
Your lettuce is looking really good, it never ceases to amaze me just how cold tolerant some of them are. I wish I would have included cilantro under my row covers this year.
Ooo! Cilantro is a rock star under the covers when it’s cold: it loves it. You just need to plant a lot of it because it slows down and barely replenishes itself. Sylvie, that soup sounds just delightful. And warming. We keep getting MORE of the white stuff so it’s a bit disconcerting. Winter, I guess, right? 🙂
El – yeah… winter. When we need warming and bright soups. Thanks for reminding me to keep planting cilantro, although I guess it would grow slower than in the spring, but still it grows.
Mike – you are right, and it’s a challenge to find what cultivars work best. Can’t always rely on the name: “Ice Queen” for example sounded like a good winter lettuce. It’s not.
Paula – I was a little worried about the snow load, but no problem! Thanks for the link to Thomas’ blog. His hoophouse/greenhouses are indeed an inspiration.
Yes, I need to get busy making more tunnels for sure