In Season & Fresh from the Garden, the Fields, the Orchards & the Woods
Our small flock of hens are laying well – it’s not unusual to pick-up 6 eggs or more a day, meaning 3 1/2 dozen a week! Eggs make a nice hostess gift for hen-less friends, and although we like 2 eggs for breakfast once in …
I used to start okra early in cell packs. Not until after the spent peas or favas were pulled out in early summer, did they get finally planted out – all miserable after such an over-extended stay in tight quarters. In bad years, I would …
Even a large roast is not too large for two. Love left-overs in summer! Actually I love left over any time, but there are particularly appreciated in summer when there is so much to do, and not nearly enough time to do it.
Tomatoes work wonder in Tatin tart:
and finally, chayote squash vine is now growing exuberantly, yielding lots of greens for the kitchen. A good thing since shepherd purse is just about the only other greens doing well (oh, and sweet potatoes). Even Swiss chard has rust!
and links to prior posts about chayotes – My most popular posts I think, based on the number of comments!
A quick dash to the garden yields fava beans, eggs, asparagus, new onions, currants. Add a handful of mushrooms and bread – and that’s dinner. Got to love this time of the year (even if the planting and harvesting all come together so fast)
Mais où sont les neiges d’antan? (where are the snows of yesteryear?) Early daffodils blooming in January, late ones in March – 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Maples blooming in late February. Red buds in full blooms now. Peach and cherry blossoms passed their peak. …
Dada! Indoor seed starting. Some hate it, I love it!
200 pepper seeded in late January, up-potted and looking rather good. Peppers take along time to grow: they need to be well established in the garden before summer heat parks itself over us. When it’s too hot, many drop their flowers and one harvests very little until temperatures moderate again in the fall. I plant a mixture of bells, cubanelle, Italian, a few chiles and some odd ones. And I start them early!
The 2 dozen eggplants are looking well and the 15 tomatoes (the ones started in January in hope of a early harvest) are already 3″ tall. This week-end, another 50 cells got seeded with more tomato varieties. In the greenhouse, celeriac and violas have been transplanted to individual cells, chard is germinating and leeks finally got seeded. Some kale seedlings were up-potted and left in the greenhouse – the remainder transplanted outside under agro-fabric.
Outside, I direct-seeded 3 kinds of peas on Sunday: 2 sugar snaps and one dwarf garden pea. I always soak the seeds for several hours until they plump before planting them. Continue reading February Garden Tasks
This recipe first appeared in the Virginia Wine Gazette. Peppers (aka chiles) and chocolate are products of the Americas – unknown in Europe until the Spanish conquistadors brought them home in the 16th century. Can you imagine Belgium or Switzerland without chocolate? Calabrian or Greek …
This recipe first appears in the Dec 2011-Jan 2012 Seasonal Table column I write for Flavor Magazine. Rabbit is intimidating for many people. Sure, it’s not as available as chicken but a growing number of farms (who often raise poultry) offer rabbits in our area. …
It is that time of the year again… the shrouded lower garden with greens still holding on under their protective cover after a cold spell with temperatures down to 11 F (-12C).
Pitting cherries! 2011 was an outstanding cherry year here in Rappahannock, the kind we get every five years or so. Back in June, I made both sweet and sour cherry liqueur. They need to age with the fruit for 6 months or so. At bottling …