Today

Today, I am...

...Cleaning the house
...Reading Possession
...Watching Songcatcher
...Eating homemade food cooked for (not by) me
...Saying goodbye to my MIL who has been here since Thursday
...Thinking about Farm School
...Loving my little bald kitty
...Folding laundry
...Packaging the mint I dried for winter teas
...Knitting Christmas presents
...Basking in the fact that my semester is over

Local Meal

As we were sitting down to lunch recently, I realized that the meal we were eating was almost entirely made of local ingredients. I snapped a few pictures for an obligatory and probably boring "this is what I had for lunch" post.

The Menu:
Quiche
Roasted Radishes
Pickled Ramps

I'll admit that the crust on the quiche is not local. I have yet to find a local flour source. It is homemade, however, so that counts for something! The eggs, of course, are from our two favorite chickens on the block, so they are ultra-local. The quiche also contains some sausage that we got from a local farmer.

We bought the radishes at one of the first farmer's markets of the season. They were only $1.50 a bunch and so beautiful. We bought a few bunches and decided to experiment with some, so we roasted them. I know it sounds weird to roast radishes, but they are phenomenal. Just put them in a casserole dish, use a little butter, salt and pepper, and some balsamic vinegar and let them broil for a few minutes. They come out really caramelized and sweet, not at all strong like a raw radish.

I talk about the ramps here, but this meal was prepared a few weeks later, when our pickles had had enough time in the brine for us to try them. They were REALLY great! Wow! The coriander in the brine produced a nice lemony taste.

So, there you have it. A pretty quick and painless (mostly) local meal. If we all ate this once a week, we would save 1.1 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL PER WEEK. And it was all so delicious.

Rose in Bloom

I just had to take some pictures of our rose bushes, which are currently in full and beautiful bloom. When my mom was here the yellow rose bush in the front yard was just beginning to bud and she couldn't believe how big it was. You see, she got me this little rose bush a few years ago and it was no bigger than my two fists put together. I didn't even take very good care of it and here it is, just bursting with roses at least twice a year. I really want to transplant this bush and take it with me but I am also terrified to uproot it.



In other rose-related news, today Aaron built a couple of quick trellises for the backyard rose garden. Of course, we do not deserve to enjoy such things ourselves, we only do them when we are poised to move. The roses were literally falling into the pathway, thorns sticking into any skirt or petticoat that came near. I think that they will enjoy their new support and train up the trellises very nicely. Plus, it makes the yard look all the more Secret-Gardenish for perspective buyers, so $10 and a couple of hours seems worth it.

Eggplant complete

I finished the eggplant hat. I'm very happy with it. It is way cuter in person, sorry for the bad picture.

I also finished The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love by Kristin Kimball. But not without bawling my eyes out, first. This book was a great way to enjoy another person's passion about farming and also understand how very hard it can be. It's the true story of Kimball's decision to leave her life in the city, take up with a man she hardly knows, and start a complete diet CSA. That means providing everything 100 of your closest neighbors would need food-wise each week, year-round. The idea seems incredibly novel, genius, and daunting. She takes us through her first year and uncovers both the hardships and triumphs that she and her husband encounter. I am so glad that she included bits about animals dying and how she and her husband deal with that aspect of the profession. Likewise, I think that this book really allowed me to get a better idea of what I want in a farm (certainly not a full-diet CSA). Generally, it was a fascinating, quick read and I highly recommend it.

Peas

We're harvesting peas like crazy over here. They're so pretty. I think we would have had more, but our trellis fell down and I never bothered fixing it. We built a very elaborate trellis with bamboo and duct tape and after the first big rain the duct tape decided to give (note to self: duct tape isn't the answer to all of life's problems). I've been a little preoccupied with school. But these lovelies were plump and begging to be picked when I found them.



In other garden news, I'm trying beans for the first time and they are in full bloom. Any tips? I can't remember if they are bush beans or not. Not sure what to do.

Tomato Season

Last year, most of our tomatoes were stolen. By humans. This year, either the people moved on, or the raised fence and locked door to the garden is working, because we are in the tomatoes! I planted so many plants, in the hope that it would just be too many for the thief to get around to, that he would leave us a few to enjoy. And now, we are swimming in them.

We've gotten too much rain for tomatoes this year and the last time I was in the garden, they were bursting, which is sad to see. However, We have more than we know what to do with at the moment, so we'll take what we can get and leave the rest for next year's seeds.


I know I've said this many times on the blog, but it is so rewarding to see something that you planted in the house, from seeds, while snow was still on the ground, turn into something edible, beautiful, delicious.

Almost Instant Gratification

I spent this weekend finishing up the rows for the garden and getting everything in and planted. It was quite a process…I started before Easter. It feels good to get that huge task taken care of, and just as the hot weather is settling in, too. It's already doing better than last year. I'm really using what I learned last year to improve things and I can already see the changes. We’ve already been enjoying our first garden lettuce.



Planted Easter weekend and ready for the past week, we've been picking as needed, and it sure is lovely. Everything else has a long way to go, but it's nice to get something from the garden so soon. It makes all of the work worth it.

Lettuce is really easy...everyone could have lettuce growing, even in apartments. A window box of this or a pot on your porch would be such a nice summer treat. It's so soft and delicate. A bowl of this sprinkled with oil and vinegar and a glass of Riesling. Yes.

I have to say that the garden is pretty much solely my project this year. We've reached a silent agreement that Aaron would do most of the yard work and I would tend the garden. Which I think we're both okay with. Aaron hates weeding. I hate the noise of the mower. Last year, we had a reel mower. We really tried with that thing. But our lawn is just to big for that much work. Dang. We were killing ourselves. So now we're guiltily using a regular push mower we found on Craigslist and composting the clippings or using them as mulch. Oh well. We can't do everything. But for now, we'll eat our lettuce and be happy that our energy is now going into growing, rather than cutting the lawn.