Garden season has officially begun!

I finally placed my order with Territorial Seed and as you can see it has arrived!



For Spring vegetables this year I hope to grow:
Ching-Chiang - which is a dwarf pac choi
Avalanche Snow Peas
Wild Garden Kales - a mixture of Siberian kales
Red Meat Radishes
Soloist Hybrid - which is a baby Chinese cabbage
Fordhook Giant Chard

Summer/Fall veggies include:
Kentucky Blue Pole Beans
Sayamusume Bush Bean (aka edamame)
Bitonto Tomato - allegedly the ultimate patio tomato
Raider Cucumber - the packet states "champion performer" let's hope so!
Roodnerf Brussels Sprouts

And that is only the 'new stuff'. I still have leftover lettuce, zucchini, delicata, and chard seeds, and heaven knows what else is kicking around. I think there maybe some spaghetti squash, edamame, and sungold tomatoes - oh my.

I already have the Escargot that I use for the slugs around my hostas but my sister told me that they also do a number on Brussels. So I went the extra step and ordered Slug Off Copper Rings here's hoping 1) that I can actually grow sprouts and 2) that if indeed I can grow them I can keep the slugs away.

Now I just need to figure out where all this is going to fit in the yard!

Some More Kitchen Experiments

So, it turns out that I actually do like turnips! I can't be 100% certain that I love them, but roasted with basically every other root veggie known to man they are pretty good. Based on my first experience with them I have taken them off my "Do Not Send" list for Boston Organics. Now if they would just send me parsnips - those I know I love!
And speaking about Boston Organics, I was digging through some old newsletters they sent me. (To be greener they no longer send paper newsletters and everything is archived online). These old newsletters had recipes in them and I found one for Lebanese Green Bean Stew. I had frozen green beans and tomatoes from last summer's garden so I thought - what the heck - I'll give it a try. Pretty simple and I made it simplier by using diced tomatoes along with my frozend ones. The recipe is as folows:
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and chopped in small pieces
1/2 pound green beans
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp veggie oil
3 teaspoons cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Now, that was the given measurements. I totally didn't measure the cumin or cayenne - just shook the bottles vigorously over the pan....

Heat oil in large saucepan over med/hi heat, add onions and cook several minutes, stirring frequently, Add potatoes and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Add green beans and then seasoning. Mix well. Add in tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes till tomatoes 'sauce' thickens.

Presto - you are done! And all of that is off the top of my head - I don't have the recipe in front of me.

Like I mentioned I used frozen green beans and in addition to the can of diced tomatoes I threw in a good handful of frozen Sungold tomatoes. They were whole and then burst with the heat. All in all pretty yummy.

Tomorrow will be my attempt at making fried parsnip ribbons, radish chips and finally ordering my seeds for the garden!

Pear and Gorgonzola Pasta

Yeah, not so much. I keep getting pears from my organic delivery and although I like them, I don't like them that much. Sometimes I make an apple/pear crisp, sometimes slice them on top of some toast and peanut butter for breakfast and I have even roasted them with sweet potatoes. It was time for something different. I really like pear and gorgonzola pizza (which I have also made), but I had no pizza crust or even a tortilla so I thought why not pasta?
It wasn't so hot. I used two pears, a good amount of gorgonzola and some Parmasean cheese and even added in some whole milk (I had that left over from making some mac n cheese and cornbread) to make it creamier and some crushed toasted walnuts. Something was totally missing. I am thinking SPICES! Maybe some roasted garlic would have helped. Or maybe even some sauted greens like chard, kale or collards. Well, nevertheless I ate it : )
On anther not so great kitchen note I also made apple/kiwi bread. Although it tastes delicious it didn't come out of the pan so hot. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for it to cool or maybe that extra kiwi I added made it too moist. I used one apple (kind unknown) and three very ripe kiwis. I started with only two but then thought - hmm two is good, three would be better. Right, not so much. I can't even slice the bread it is so moist it just falls apart. I ended up eating it with a fork, kind of like apple/kiwi crumble. But again, I ate it : )
I haven't yet made it out to the compost bins. I have tons to throw out there. I am (as I type) making roasted vegetables - turnips, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions and garlic. All that peeling amounted to a great deal for the bin. I am now waiting till I have a 'boat load' to add because we just had another storm here and the snow is now almost impassable. But like I said, I am determined to get out there. I refuse to throw it in the trash and my worms can only consume so much!

Being Green Isn't Easy

Kermit was so right. Sometimes being green is just not that easy. This is a picture of my compost bins.

Can barely see them, right? There are two in the foreground of the picture. I took this from the window so you can see the screen in the shot as well. In order for me to get to these bins I have to go through knee deep snow at the backside of the deck, to then go through what I think may be chest deep snow, and then clear the snow/ice from the bins to then add my 'stuff'. This truly is way too much work! But I am committed and I will do it!!! I had the thought today that it may just be easier to climb out the window I took the picture from and dump everything that way. Keep in mind that is a rose bush, with some serious thorns, in front of the window. We shall see.....

Happy Snacks

Isn't this a happy looking snack? Especially given that it is freezing out and snowing - again!
These are watermelon radishes - adequately named in my opinion. They look like miniature watermelons, right? So I marinated them in rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, minced ginger and some crushed red pepper. Measurements were all "eye-balled" a dash and pour, and pinch, you know, whatever I felt like. It tastes really good, but smells awful! I brought some to work yesterday and was told by one woman that she will tell me when she is pregnant so that I never bring it with me because the smell is so bad. Honestly, radishes do smell, even when I cut them up and add them to salads they still have that pungent smell to them. So word of advice - save the radishes for home consumption only : )
We have even more snow today - will it ever stop? I know that this is New England and winters can be brutal but enough is enough. This is exactly why I travel to Barbados twice a year - December and March. I just can't stand winter here. And to keep us warmer or to at least imagine that it is warmer here is a picture from Barbados.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili

Ok, I know it doesn't sound all that great. I was a bit hesitant too. And honestly I don't even like chili but I though I would give this one a try. I had a sweet potato the size of a child's Nerf football and really didn't know what to do with it so enter a Google search. I found the original recipe on Eating Well and doctored it a little to, of course, add more spice.
Starting with my Nerf sized-sweet potato I used three cans of black beans, two zesty chili flavored diced tomatoes and two whole chipotle peppers in adobo. All the other spices/ingredients I just doubled. I chopped the peppers, seeds and all and added to the pot in step 1. I also added way more cumin and chili powder than needed - but I like my nose to water with the heat.
This recipe made A LOT. I froze 6 cups, had about 2 cups right after it was done and still I have about 3 cups left, if not more.
I think next time some browned ground turkey, or even the Morning Star crumbles might be nice in this. I also think I will try it in the slow cooker so I don't have to stand and stir for so long.

It's been a crazy few days

We got hit pretty hard with a Nor'easter on Wednesday as you can see...
And this picture is the same view as this one

I am not a huge fan of forsythias anyway - I would prefer to dig them all up and plant witch hazel instead and this might be my chance. These suckers are pretty hardy though. They have been in this yard for 45+ years and my Dad started them with 10 itsy bitsy twigs so I think they will survive. Not that I am not sentimental and I would feel bad about pulling out something my Dad worked so hard at growing but there are others out back and on the other side of the yard so his 'gardening prowess' would still be here in the yard : )
We lost electricity yesterday and boy was it a b-o-r-i-n-g day. I forget how much stuff runs off electricity. I thought I would do some laundry - nope. Then was going to watch/do my Rodney Yee yoga DVD - nope. Then I though of going online and investigating some companion plants for brussels spouts - again nope. I ended up reading 4 magazines, 1/2 of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and organizing my pantry. Oh and of course shovel some more. Thankfully it came back on before it got dark and I could watch my Law & Order SVU. Now, on to the laundry, yoga and companion planting....