A nice gentle rain is falling this morning.
The rain and sun balance for this summer has been wonderful - quite a relief after the washed out mess of last June in Maine. A lot of things bloomed early because of our unusually warm and friendly spring. There are concerns about some early blossoms that got hit by frost, but so far things look okay.
We ate our first fresh strawberries this past week thanks to the generosity of friend. She introduced me to the concept of a farm share. For one annual fee they get fresh produce from a local farm (Fisher Farm in this case, but apparently a lot farms do this) every week from May to October. Since our friends were going to be away last week, they offered us their farm share for last Tuesday.
I should have taken photos - it was beautiful. One giant, leafy bunch of Swiss chard, a handful of arugula, the biggest head of Romaine I have ever held in my hand, 10 twisted curls of garlic scapes, bag of field greens, some of the first young carrots of the season, three foot scallions, a bouquet of field flowers, and of course a box of strawberries - all organic, washed, and ready to go.
I don't know if I can ever go back to those hard, bland commercial strawberries - all show and no substance. I know some people like that. I'll take the real ones in all their humble sincerity, thank you.
One of the first things I had to do was figure out what Swiss chard and arugula were. Luckily the farm offers some recipes with their goods.
In addition to the strawberries and carrots for snacking, last week we ate pasta with pesto and arugula, Swiss chard enchilada casserole, and a lot of great salad, including one yummy chicken Caesar. All straight from the earth a few miles away.
I feel both well educated and well fed.
Sounds VERY environmentally friendly.
ReplyDeleteGrow your own. I do. Even a suburban lot can produce enough salad, fresh veggies, and plenty to freeze and can and make pickles and relish for the winter. I interplant edibles with flowers. Swiss Chard, Red Cabbage, herbs, kale and assorted pepper and eggplants are very ornamental.
ReplyDeleteI also grow a lot of butternut squash as it keeps on the shelf with no preserving and is good til March (if it doesn't get devoured). This year I am growing lots of potatoes at our place up north as the kids like organic ones better. The trick will be finding somewhere dark and cool (and not freezing, and not a fridge) to store them thru fall and winter as we eat them.
There's still time for you to prepare a garden for fall veggies. Who me, pushy??!