Third Spring Planting

It took almost two weeks to get done, but as of yesterday my third and final wave of spring planting is complete!

Over the past two weeks I planted:

DILL
SHISO
PAPALO
LOVAGE
SAVORY
EPAZOTE
ROSEMARY
BERGAMOT
Sweet WOODRUFF
French TARRAGON

RADICCHIO

1 Fairy Tale EGGPLANT
1 Holy Mole PEPPER plant
1 Sweet Bell Boy PEPPER plant
1 Beefsteak TOMATO plant
1 Sun Cherry TOMATO plant
1 Cherokee Purple TOMATO plant
1 San Marzano Roma TOMATO plant

5 mounds of OKRA
1 mound of Straight Eight CUCUMBERS
1 mound of Striped Armenian CUCUMBERS
1 mound of Homemade Pickles CUCUMBERS

3 rows of SALSIFY
2 rows of PARSNIPS
1 row of PARSLEY ROOT
1 row of SWEET POTATOES

1 mound of Zephy SQUASH
1 mound of Delicata SQUASH
1 mound of Butternut SQUASH
1 mound of Moon and Stars WATERMELON

1 row of Rainbow QUINOA
2 mounds of Giant SUNFLOWERS

French Barley Salad

This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found online, which in turn was adapted from one of the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks.  It’s one of my favorite grain salads.

French Barley Salad

1/2 cup barley
3 cups water

Dressing
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Between 1/2  and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1.5 teaspoons dried
1 teaspoon salt

2 4-oz. cans sliced mushrooms
1 15-oz. can chickpeas

Using a strainer, rinse the barley and drain. Place the barley and water in a small saucepan bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until most of the water has been absorbed and the barley is soft, about 40 minutes.

While the barley cooks, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and set aside.

When the barley is tender, drain it in a colander. Place the drained barley, mushrooms, and chickpeas in a serving bowl and mix well.

Add the dressing and mix well again.

Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Second Spring Planting

Sunday I managed to find the time to do my second wave of spring planting!

I planted the following:

Borage
Thyme
Sage
Oregano
Marjoram
Green Leaf Lettuce
Mesclun Mix of Lettuce
Arugula
Lemon Balm
Sorrel
Dino Kale
Swiss Chard
Spinach
Saltwort
Leeks
Rat Tail Radish
Golden Beets
Rainbow Blend of Beets
Purple Carrots
Parisienne Carrots
Calliope Blend of Carrots

In three weeks or so I will do the third and final wave of planting: potatoes, tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, squash, etc.

First Spring Planting

Spring is finally here! Which means the spring planting can begin.

Sunday I planted the following:

Chamomile
Chervil
Epazote
Green Onion
Costa Rosa Parsley
Dark Green Flat Parsley
Tatsoi Bok Choy
Tokyo Bekana Bok Choy
White Stem Bok Choy
Endive
Mustard Greens
Saltwort
Spinach
Purple Radish
Snow Peas

There will be a second wave of planting sometime in April (mostly more greens and herbs and root vegetables) and a third and final wave of planting in May (tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, etc.).

Kale and Sunchokes

This year’s harvest of sunchokes, gathered yesterday:

This year’s crop of kale, as of yesterday:

Yesterday’s dinner:

More Planting

I followed up the planting I did in March and April with the following:

April 22nd:
1 BLACKBERRY vine
3 GOOSEBERRY bushes
5 CURRANT bushes

April 24th:
8 SUNCHOKES

May 14th:
One Pinot Noir BELL PEPPER plant
One Delicious TOMATO plant
One Cherryberry TOMATO plant
One San Marzano TOMATO plant
One Cherokee Purple TOMATO plant

May 17th:
OKRA
CUCUMBERS
ZEPHYR SQUASH
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
MOON AND STAR WATERMELON

All done for now.  Time to kick back and wait for the harvest to roll in!

Spring Planting

I’ve been intermittently busy in the garden over the past month.

On Friday, March 16th I planted:

• 1 big pot of GREEN LEAF LETTUCE
• 1 big pot of RED LEAF LETTUCE
• 1 medium pot of TATSOI and BABY BOK CHOY
• 1 big pot of DINO KALE
• 1 big pot of SWISS CHARD
• 2 small pots of SPINACH
• 2 medium and 3 small pots of PARSLEY
• 1 medium pot of GREEN ONIONS

The following day I planted:

• One 4′ row of ENDIVE
• One 4′ row of MUSTARD GREENS
• One 4′ row of BOK CHOY
• One 4′ row of NAPA CABBAGE
• One 2′ row of GREEN LEAF LETTUCE
• One 2′ row of RED LEAF LETTUCE
• One 2′ row of ICEBERG LETTUCE
• Eight mounds of SNOW PEAS

And on Sunday, April 1st I planted:

• One 4′ row of LEEKS
• One 4′ row of YUKON GOLD POTATOES
• One 4′ row of RUSSET POTATOES
• One 4′ row of RED POTATOES
• One 4′ row of ORANGE CARROTS
• One 4′ row of PURPLE DRAGON CARROTS
• One 4′ row of PARISSIENE CARROTS
• Three 4′ rows of PARSNIPS
• Three 4′ rows of SALSIFY
• Three 4′ rows of BEETS (mostly Golden with a few Red and Chioggia mixed in)

I have also harvested the parsnips I left in the ground over winter (delicious), harvested the first few stalks of the aspargus crowns I planted last spring (also delicious), and prepared the new beds  for the blackberry, raspberry, currant, and gooseberry bushes I have ordered (to be delicious someday).

Vegan Clam Chowder

A few days ago I tried to make a vegan version of clam chowder, using TVP flakes reconstituted with water and Old Bay seasoning as a replacement for the clams.  It turned out pretty well!

VEGAN CLAM CHOWDER

• 1/2 cup of TVP
• 1/2 cup of boiling water
• One-and-a-half teaspoons of Old Bay seasoning

•  6 cups of water
• Enough veggie bouillon for 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of soy milk powder
• 1/2 cup of white flour
• Salt and pepper

• 3 potatoes, cut into chunks or slices

1. Combine the TVP, boiling water, and Old Bay seasoning in a sealed container and let sit for 20 minutes.
2. Mix the water and veggie bouillon together in a pot, bring the resulting veggie stock to a boil, and reduce the heat to medium-high.
3. Add the potatoes to the veggie stock and cook until they begin to soften.
4. Scoup out 1 cup of the stock and whisk in the flour to make a slurry.
5. Add the soymilk powder to the soup in the pot.
6. Add the stock/flour slurry back to the soup in the pot.
7. Add the reconstituted TVP, salt, and pepper to the soup in the pot.
8. Cook for 5 minutes or so and then serve.

Makes 3 servings

Vegan Nachos

The other day I made vegan nachos.

For the “meat” I used Trader Joe’s brand new meatless ground “beef”, to which I added a couple tablespoons of taco seasoning:

For the “cheese” I used the nacho cheez recipe from Joanne Stepaniak’s Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook:

And here is the final product:

Tortilla chips, taco “meat”, nacho “cheese”, and homegrown tomatoes. Delicious!

First Big Root Vegetable Harvest of the Year

Today I harvested a whole bunch of root vegetables from my garden.

First, five kinds of carrot (Parisienne, Purple Dragon, yellow, white, and regular old orange), three kinds of beet (red, golden, and chioggia), and a few turnips:

Next, half of this year’s crop of russet potatoes:

Here are some of the veggies roasted for lunch:

And here’s dinner – sauteed Pairisienne carrots, boiled red beets, and sauteed spinach and purslane:

Everything was delicious!