how the garden grows episode 1

The first shot of Le Petit Jardin for 2011. There are many plants, all varietals that are tried and tested...with 3 exceptions. I have Green Zebra (yum), Purple cherokee, yellow pear, mr. stripey (first time...orange and red striped tomato!), cherry, and Italian Heirloom tomatoes. Rosa Bianco Eggplant and a new eggplant that I've never tried called green apple eggplant. They're little and green and are supposed to be delish. I also have red onions, cucumbers, tomatillios and jalapenos. Finally...I created a little squash room in the garden. I have zucchini, which are flowering like they mean it, and Sugar Baby watermelons. They are volleyball sized sweet melons that I am DYING to try. So, we're off to a fruitful season. All pun intended.

it's back...

Apparently I have failed at blogging. But, in my defense, it's tough to blog about spring veggies, garden's and sun filled days when there's been none...enough moaning...on to the vegetables.

The petit jardin is planted. To the naked eye it probably looks like I will be harvesting maple trees, grass and clover with a heavy crop of bind weed. Nope, those are the weeds that I am too damn lazy to pull. The real treat lies in the taller plants. I have 6 kinds of toma totoes, 2 eggplants, jalapenos, tomatillos, cucumbers, snap peas, red onions, zucchini, and volleyball sized watermelons planted.

Good mix, no?

Anyone need a maple tree? I got plenty.

Asparagus. I love you.

The asparagus spear to the left grew nearly overnight. it is as long as my arm from shoulder to ring finger tip. Asparagus is amazing.

Yes it, ahem, has stinky properties. But, man is it ever good.

I had nearly 40 spears in my garden, thus far. Third year growing this marvelous veggie. I cooked it last night my favorite way possible.

Put one inch of water in a sautee pan, toss in the cleaned and trimmed asparagus (bend the ends, where they break is usually where it isn't ripe enough to be tasty...)

Boil for 4 minutes, drain, put the asparagus in an ice bath to retain color, throw back into the sautee pan (which you put back on low on the stove with a decently sized pat of butter (or in my case, half a stick) and kosher salt).

Swish around until the butter is melted, grate some fresh parm over the top, and voila...perfection (eating the leftovers cold as we speak.) amazing.

Spring? Is that you??

Hello, grass! Looking good, tulips! Hey there, magnolia trees! Oh! It's you daffodils. Spring is here. It's nearly here. It's really coming, right?

Spring is springing!

OOOOh, I am so excited. I have slowly been noticing the ground breaking and tulip tips poking out and today I saw some crocus blooming!!! Yippie! So, this means the garden plans are in full effect. (kind of, in my mind...I'm a planner and a list maker, in real life, ehh, not so much). Let's spend some time in my mind...

Dalihas, yes please.
Tulips, mmm-hmm.
Zinnias, sure, why not?
Pansies, it'd be a pity if I didn't!
Hosta, check!
Peonies, oh goodness YES!

Onto the veggies:

Eggplant, two kinds instead of four
Tomatoes, five instead of twelve (seriously, I'm one person!)
Zucchini, yep.
Cucumbers, of course!

Artichokes, I think two this year.
Asparagus -- it's the fourth year, this should be the motherload.
Peppers - jalepenos, chili peppers and anaheims, i think...
Okra - why not?

I think that's it, my mind sure organizes well. In real life I'll probably end up with 13 tomato plants, 8 different eggplants and forget the cucumbers alltogether. Ah, the beauty of being your own gardener.

Food and Friends

Last week, after many weeks of planning, my wonderful neighbors and I got together for a mid-February patio day. It was my turn to cook and I decided that Indian food sounded good. This decision was somewhat out of the box for me considering that there are spices that I've never even heard of involved (Mango Powder, anyone?). Also not an easy task? Cooking for serious foodies. But, alas, a task that I felt I was up for. I made Vegetable Korma and Chicken Madras from recipes that my Step-dad has perfected.

--Side note -- One of the coolest Christmas gifts ever was created and given to myself and all my siblings this year... A cookbook chock-full of family recipes and photos, in a basket with all kinds of crazy ingredients (Mango Powder, anyone?), a very cool gift indeed.

The photo is the prep work that I did at home and the tray I brought down to the neighbors so I could cook (and drink) at their house. It was a definite success.

serious technical difficulties...