Farm Picures!

From the country (after a long, sweaty hiatus...)

white borage flowers just starting to open...(which are a wonderful and beautiful edible flower)

a sunny calendula flower that will be used to make a balm....

a baby pepper being born...

the first tomato from the hothouse (Stupice an early variety)

the first of the garlic harvest... and already I am pleased as punch!

a sea of purple basil...

a sea of green basil....

a delicate Purple Ruffles basil...

a prolific bush basil...

and all the while a bunch of curiously beady eyes watching my every move.

Onions, garlic and chives, oh my!

From the Country…
There is nothing better than planting onions in the cool springtime earth. One of my favourite vegetables to grow is alliums. Onions are part of the Lily family, Liliaceae, whose other tasty members includes leeks, garlic, shallots (the head of the family, in terms of flavour), chives and asparagus.

I personally could dine with this family for every meal but I would probably live a solemn life with a bad case of halitosis. A firm belief of mine is, that every good recipe starts with one or two of these pungent allium partners. My Auntie Ann used to work as a bank teller and the lady who often worked next to her would complain when my Aunt ate onions/garlic the night before. My Auntie Ann would explain about having to eat her onion-laden meals when she wasn’t working the following day. I would have eaten more and wore a garlic wreath around my neck. My Grandmother talks of a cooking show she used to watch were the chef wouldn’t date a woman if her cupboards were missing onions and garlic. I always laugh when she tells me the story because I totally understand. The waft of onions and garlic in a skillet makes me instantly hungry.

When I came across beautiful sets of multiplier onions at the feed store, I couldn’t resist taking them home, digging a trench and plopping these hopefuls in the soil. After planting the onions, I spent time gazing at the garlic, newly emerged from the soil. We had planted the garlic in the fall and every year I wait patiently for the greens to break ground. I wandered over to the chives to see how far along they were. Still tiny but coming, you really can’t rush Mother Nature, give them a week or so and we will be in chive business. Chive salad dressing, baked potatoes and chives, scrambled eggs with chives… Some people revel in planting bulbs for a colourful display of flowers but what really excites me is pulling a ripe garlic from the ground, drying out a crop of shallots, baking a creamy dish of leeks, snipping chives on top of a fresh salad and a hot skillet of asparagus and garlic scapes. Viva spring! Welcome back alliums!

“The kitchen, reasonably enough, was the scene of my first gastronomic adventure. I was on all fours. I crawled into the vegetable bin, settled on a giant onion and ate it, skin and all. It must have marked me for life, for I have never ceased to love the hearty flavor of raw onions.” James Beard (1903-1985)

The local food truth...

From the country…

Just today I am implementing a new rule for myself. To do something in the house every day that needs to be done (cleaning and/ or organizing). It is a horrible job but equally satisfying when all said and done. Today was the front hall closet and the fish tank (I did 2 things today and will take tomorrow off.. heh heh).

As I was turfing out random clothes, odd mitts and broken hangers, I came across a bushel basket of garlic from last years harvest. I picked through the basket, tossing the dehydrated, rotting garlic (which by the way, really smells) and keeping the rest. This is the truth of local eating. As you can see by the picture, this ain’t no pretty garlic. It has a purpose though and considering we eat a head of garlic a day here, we love our garlic. We cherish our garlic. No matter what it looks like.

The funny thing is we polished all the primo garlic to sell and we eat the scrappy seconds. This is the truth of being a market gardener. All the pretty, picturesque veggies go out the door and the knobbly stuff stays right here.

We eat about 85% local foods. All the veggies we eat this time of year comes from cold storage, the freezer, or jars preserved from the harvest. We barter/trade with other vendors at market (Mark does this because I am the worst at bartering…) for other supplies such as coffee, mushrooms and the odd loaf of bread.

I do break down though. I buy the odd thing from the discount rack at the grocery store (like the eggplant that made a very nice curry) and purchase some bananas for the kids. How can you live without lemons or limes? The problem for me is during the prime months of spring/summer/fall when our province is bursting with fresh produce why are people buying apples from New Zealand? There is no comparison to a fresh Ontario Strawberry to that of its weak tasteless cousin imported from California.

Just this week though, I had a weak moment at the grocery store and returned home with a head of broccoli. It is during these winter months when your mouth starts salivating for produce to come. It won’t be long now before I am eating a spring salad fresh cut from the greenhouse or a hot skillet of buttery fiddleheads. I can almost taste it.