Hide the cheese

Garden Variety: Winding Down

Things at the farm garden have been cruising along without much intervention from us human types. The fall has been a busy time with harvest in full swing, back to school routines to adjust to, and work schedules picking up again. Finding time to make the hour trek up to the garden has been tough for me.

Occasionally, though, Monica would pop up to the farm for an afternoon and bring us back some goodies, or, between picking grapes and pressing wine, Sarah or Ed would pop into the garden to harvest some tomatoes and come home with a box to share. Ed, Monica, and I each canned a batch of tomato sauce, and the rest we have eaten fresh. Herbs, too, were growing in spades, and we have had an abundance of basil and parsley.

Otherwise, we have not done much work up there lately, and it was good to head up a few days ago and see how things were doing. Someone had mowed a large swath through the weeds, and the garden looked less wild than usual. The most noticeable feature was the flowers on the Jerusalem artichokes, which brightened the garden with their blasts of bright yellow. They added a nice splash of color to our dining room table, too.



The ground was littered with tomatoes, casualties of the hard rain and gardeners who live far away. It was hard for me not to think of all that potential lying on the ground to waste. Those that were left were a motley bunch, but there were still plenty to fill a couple of boxes, although a few did get eaten on the spot. At home, I scored them, dunked them into boiling water, peeled them, and bagged them up to store in the freezer.





We also harvested all the remaining potatoes. Our littlest helpers had a good time digging through the dirt to find them, and we ended up with quite a large bag to share. And just before we left, we cut the heads from a few sunflowers. We will clean out the seeds and roast them for snacking.



Of course there had to be some time for running around, playing on the swings, and driving the forklift.



Because the summer was so hot, Black Ankle's grape harvest has been about three weeks ahead of schedule. The day we were there, they had just harvested the cabernet franc; the only grapes still on the vine are cabernet sauvignon, which are always the last to ripen. Wine grapes are very sweet and delicious right off the vine, although they have a high ratio of seeds and skin to flesh, which makes them less appealing as a snacking grape, but not everyone seems to mind.

After the grapes are pressed the juice is bled off to make wine.  The remaining skins are thrown on the compost pile. Nothing gets wasted, and the compost pile takes on a lovely purple color.

As for the ongoing Buddy saga, sadly, I have determined that there is no way to let him run around off leash. I had brought a long lead to keep him tethered while still allowing him to roam a bit, but before I tied him onto it, I could not resist setting him free to run for a few minutes. He raced around with exuberance, but after circling the garden in a couple of large loops, he headed straight for those chickens. I ran after him, screaming "Leave it," the command we generally use when he sets off for squirrels or the neighbor's cat. But the temptation was too strong, and I soon saw him tearing around the barn on the tail of a chicken. I got to him just as he got to a chicken, but not before there was a flurry of flying feathers and squawking chickens. Onto the tether he went, then, far from the range of the chicken's turf. I'm so disappointed that the farm can't be a place where Buddy can run wild, but now that he has had a taste of the chickens, there is no putting that genie back in the bottle.

Garden Variety: Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow

Well, not oats or barley, but peas, beans, and lots of other stuff. 

On our last trip up to the farm garden, we finished most of the planting.  We prepared two more rows and planted most of that space with potatoes that Monica had ordered from Ronniger's as well as some cipollini onions.  She ordered several varieties with staggered harvest dates to prolong the harvest.  My favorite -- by name anyway -- is the German Butterball.  Doesn't that conjure up all kinds of wonderful things?  Like creamy potato salad?  Or a rosy-cheeked fat baby?

We are sticking to a rudimentary approach for labeling -- the old tie-the-label-to-the -stake approach.  Perfectly functional, but I'm thinking up ways to get the children to make something a bit more aesthetically satisfying.  Sarah also had the idea to plant some flowers in the wine boxes that we are using to hold down the burlap weed barrier, which will also add some pizazz to the garden.

Unfortunately, the tomatoes that we had planted last time were killed in a late frost, but Sarah had replaced them by the time I arrived, and the new plants look healthy and strong.  And although we probably have plenty of tomatoes already, I couldn't help myself from buying a few more San Marzano plants when I saw them at the market on Sunday.  And a couple of eggplants, too.  Here's Monica's map of the plot that shows everything we've planted.

I feel like the season has just begun, but the asparagus were mostly finished.  The strawberries are a good size; now we just need them to ripen.  The weeds, too, are growing quite well, so I think our next trip will involve getting them under control.  So much less fun than planting, but should make for some good before and after shots.

Without Buddy the chicken chaser, I was able to get much more done.  But truthfully, I missed him.  Maybe after a bit of training we can try again. 

Garden Variety, Take Two

 
As you may remember, last year, I entered into a joint venture with my sister and my friend Mary to grow vegetables in a large plot at Sarah's vineyard, Black Ankle.  (Mary has since started a website, The Abundant Backyard, about her adventures in her yard -- please check it out!)  Honestly, Mary and Sarah did most of the work, and somehow I got fresh vegetables delivered to my door on a regular basis.  Not a bad deal at all. 

I wasn't sure whether anyone would be game to do it again this year.  But, Monica, another high-powered friend, got the ball rolling and, we are at it again.  Monica, Sarah, and Mary have done a lot of work getting the plot ready and doing some initial planting.  I finally went up this past weekend to help out, too. 

We prepared another couple of rows by digging out weeds and adding compost.  The cows were initially quite proprietary about sharing the compost which, after all, they helped create.  But eventually they scattered and we helped ourselves.

 
We planted tomatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, but sadly, it seems like the cold this week killed off the tomatoes.  We now have asparagus, strawberries, lettuces, spinach, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, squash, carrots, corn, herbs, and more planted (what did I forget?).  Mary harvested some asparagus and cooked it up for us to have for lunch.  There really is something to eating such fresh produce.  Even the littlest farm hand agreed.
 

 
I have a few San Marzano tomato plants that we decided not to plant because they were too small yet.  These are my favorite sauce tomatoes and I ordered them online (from Sweet Corn Organic Nursery and Local Harvest) so I am glad that they were spared.  Now I just have to keep them alive inside until the danger of frost has passed and they are hearty enough to take the hot sun up there.  Monica ordered potatoes and they will go in this week or next.

 
This year we are trying to control the weeds a bit by lining the rows with burlap.  We have both black plastic burlap sheeting and conventional burlap, and we will see whether either of them helps.  I hope that I am able to find the time to get up there and work more often this year.  It was hard to imagine that I could have any other pressing concerns when I was standing in that garden seeing all of those sprouts pushing through, signs of so much potential.

I brought Buddy with me and he had a fantastic time running all over the place.  He ran into the cow pasture until they chased him off of their turf. Not before he rolled in a good bit of cow manure, though.  Then he ran through the vegetable garden until he charged over a tomato plant and we chased him off of our turf.  

Just when he seemed to have settled down, the real excitement began.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him take off like a shot behind the barn.  He soon returned and I was horrified to see that he was clutching one of Ed and Sarah's chickens in his mouth.  The chicken was floppy in his jaws and I was sure that he had killed her.  Sarah and I started screaming, and Sarah somehow got Buddy to drop the chicken, although I'm not sure how.  It's all a blur. 

Eventually, dog and chicken were separated and the chicken toddled off. He chased her one more time, we screamed again, and he dropped her again.  Somehow she survived.  She lost a lot of feathers, but within minutes smaller birds were swooping down to collect those feathers for their nests.

The jury is still out as to whether Buddy gets to go back to Black Ankle.  And whether I will get any eggs this year.

 

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Sauce

We have struck it rich in the tomato department.  All of those heirloom tomato plants that we planted in the garden at Black Ankle are producing like mad.  Mary has been bringing us a large basket every week filled with Brandywines, Purple Cherokees, Green Zebras, Purple Russians, and Hawaiian Pineapples.  This week we had so many that she suggested that we get together to make sauce. 

I usually prefer my heirlooms raw because they are so delicious and juicy.  I also have not had success making sauce from heirlooms.  All that juiciness translates into a very watery sauce.  Drain all that water off and there's not much pulp left.  But we have had too many to keep up with eating them raw, although believe me, I am doing my best.  Mary suggested we try roasting the tomatoes and I thought that might help dry them out.  It didn't, but the end result was still delicious.

We separated out the yellow Hawaiian Pineapples and Green Zebras to make each into a sauce of its own.  Then we mixed the remaining red and purple varieties.  The Hawaiian Pineapples were remarkably sweet and the Green Zebras quite tart.  The red and purple varieties made a more traditional tomato-y sauce, perfect for pasta, couscous, or polenta. 

Because each of the heirloom varieties has such a different flavor, when you make this recipe, taste the sauce and adjust the flavors as needed.  Roasted shallots were a great complement to the Hawaiian Pineapples and also balanced out the tartness of the Green Zebras (along with a generous amount of basil).  The sauce can be frozen or canned.  If you are canning, you may find the instructions here or here to be helpful. 

In addition to producing some delicious sauce, our sauce making evening was the perfect excuse for a few friends to get together, cook, chat, and share a bottle of wine.  Black Ankle, of course.

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Makes about 2 cups of sauce
30 minutes preparation time
40 minutes cooking time

4-5 large heirloom tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
5-6 garlic cloves
10-12 basil leaves, torn
Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Core the tomatoes and cut them in half.  Lay them with the cut sides facing up in a roasting or jelly roll pan.  Leave the garlic cloves in their skins and sprinkle them over the tomatoes.  Drizzle the olive oil on top.  Roast the tomatoes until they are very soft and the edges have browned, about 40 minutes.  If you are using heirlooms, a good bit of liquid will come out of the tomatoes as they cook.  Carefully remove the pan from the oven. 

Set a colander in a large bowl.  Pour some of the liquid from the tomatoes into the colander and set the pan aside until the tomatoes are cool enough to handle.  When they have cooled, slip the skins off and discard them.  Peel the skin off the garlic, too.  Pour the tomatoes with their liquid into the colander, and let it drain for a few minutes. 

Pour the tomato mixture from the colander into a bowl, add the garlic, and blend briefly with a hand blender.  Add the basil and a few pinches of salt.

Print Recipe
 

Garden Variety: Trip to Bountiful

I have been terribly neglectful in updating you on the state of our farm vegetable garden. Well, if truth be told, I have been neglectful of the garden itself, too.  But fortunately, Sarah and her crew have done a good bit of weeding and watering.  And Mary has been totally on the ball, heading out to the garden every week or so to weed, check up on the plants, and harvest.  And once a week, she delivers a bag of goodies to our door that looks something like the picture above.

This has been truly amazing.  She even washes the lettuce before she drops it off! 

We planted the lettuce from a seed batch called "spring mix."  It was beautiful and abundant for several weeks but is now going to seed.  When I was last there, it was too bitter even for me, and I love a good bitter green. 

But the zucchini have started coming in and the carrots are still plentiful.  It is amazing how much the children love those carrots -- especially with the tops on -- even though they are gnarled, oddly shaped, and often have tiny roots hanging off of them.  Maybe their imperfection is part of the appeal.  Although I don't believe they have ever seen an episode of Bugs Bunny, they munch on those carrots just like he would. 

The potato plants are vibrant, plentiful, and flowering their beautiful pale blue blooms.  Mary harvested a few as new potatoes, but we decided to let the rest grow to full size.  

The tomatoes are also healthy and strong.  The picture below is a couple of weeks old.  The fruit is now bigger, maybe even fully grown, and we are just waiting for them to ripen before we start plucking them off the vine.  Oh, how I am looking forward to that!

Garden Variety: In the Weeds

It had been several weeks since we made our first trip up to our joint venture vegetable garden at Black Ankle.  This time, Mary and I were able to drive up there together.  As it turned out, Ed and Sarah weren't able to make it, but Gabe and I packed their kids up along with our own and headed out.

I wish I could say that the garden looked fabulous, but that would be a bit of a stretch.  The good news was that we could see little carrot tops growing, along with pea shoots and lettuces.  The bad news was that we had to push aside a lot of weeds to find them.  Although I am not fanatic about keeping a garden weeded, the vegetables definitely needed space.

We began by weeding around the carrots and thinning them so that they would have room to thrive.  The children were a big help with this, with varying bursts of energy and attentiveness.  There were, after all, fields to run in, tractors to climb, and chickens that needed water.  

We weeded our way down the row, getting to the bush and snap peas which looked very tasty to me.  I had to resist harvesting them immediately to take home to make pea shoot pasta.  Further down the row, we unearthed some swiss chard, and at the end of the row, the mixed lettuces were thriving.

Since we had last been there, Mary had planted lots of potatoes and some wonderful three sisters mounds.  The three sisters are corn, beans, and squash, and, following Native American tradition, Mary planted them in an arrangement so that the beans will grow up the corn stalks, and the squash will fill in the ground around them and keep the weeds under control.  It should be quite beautiful. 

We also planted watermelon and cantaloupe plants, but they were a bit small and we are not sure whether they will survive.  The field is quite hot and small plants -- in addition to the risk of being swallowed up by weeds -- can easily scorch. 

Eventually, the children migrated over to prepare a new planting bed of their own, which now is planted with heirloom tomatoes. 

We bought the tomatoes from Calvert's Gift Farm, one of my favorite vendors at the Takoma Park farmer's market, that I have mentioned before.  In addition to selling fabulous vegetables, they sell organic tomato plants, and they offer a fantastic selection of heirloom varieties. 

The children helped me choose, and we walked away with nine plants, including Pineapple (yellow tomatoes with streaks of red), Green Zebra (stripes of dark green on a light green tomato), and Purple Russian (a deep purple-red tomato).  Earlier, I had bought a few Brandywine tomato plants.  Their fruit is dark red on the inside and extremely flavorful.  Our friend Monica, newly transplanted from London, accompanied Sarah to the farm this week and planted them for us.  I can't wait to see them planted in their row and, eventually, arranged on a platter for a rainbow tomato salad.

Before we left for the day, we thinned out the lettuces, by which I mean that we pulled out a large number to bring home and eat.  We also took some some dandelions that we had weeded to try in our salad.  Delicious!

Garden Variety: Getting Started

This is the first post in what I hope will be a regular feature that follows our efforts to grow vegetables with a friend and my sister in the plot pictured here.  I have no idea how successful we'll be, but I'll fill you in on how it goes.

We have not had much luck growing vegetables in our yard.  It is small to begin with and what there is is hilly and shady.  We have planted tomatoes several years in a row, and have only harvested a handful of fruit.  Efforts to grow squash, cucumbers, and potatoes in other parts of our yard were similarly disappointing.

So when our neighbor Mary, who has a beautiful vegetable garden, approached me and my sister Sarah to see if we wanted to share a vegetable plot, I loved the idea.  In my mind, Mary would be the brains of the operation, offering her experience to help make the garden successful.  Sarah would provide the land (more about that in a minute) and I would provide, well, to be quite honest, I'm the weak link here.  Gabe and I did have a wonderful plot in a victory garden years ago, and we harvested lots of delicious vegetables, although we also were cited by the garden council for having too many weeds.  But I am willing to give this some time and effort, and I thought it would be great for the children to watch their food grow from seeds for the whole farm to table experience.

The reason that Sarah has so much wide open space is that she and her husband Ed own Black Ankle Vineyards in Mount Airy, Maryland.  I have to digress here for a minute to say how amazingly awed and proud I am of Sarah and Ed.   When they started out in their daunting effort to operate a vineyard and winery in Maryland 7 years ago, those of us who were on the sidelines agreed that if anyone could succeed, they could.  And succeed they have.  They are now producing fantastic wines and selling them in their beautiful tasting room (pictured above) that they built almost entirely with materials from their farm.  Before they even opened the doors to the tasting room, their wine had gotten rave reviews and won multiple awards, including the prestigious Governor's Cup for the best wine in the state.  I feel so lucky to have been a witness to their success.   I often joke that even better than owning your own vineyard is being the sister of someone who does.  I feel like I have so many of the perks with so little of the hard work.

OK, that was a bit off topic, but I thought a bit of context was necessary.  Back to the garden plot.  Sarah offered to let us use a big plot on her farm for our project and she and Ed plowed it so that the soil was already turned when we began.

Gabe and I headed out with the children one Sunday afternoon to see if we could plant some early spring vegetables.  My fantasies of the children delighting in digging in the dirt were not quite met, as they were much more interested in running off to play with their cousins.  And who could blame them?  But they did dig up some weeds, do some hoeing and digging, and plant some seeds.  I think that's pretty good for a first day.

Between bursts of rain and wind, we managed to get one long row mounded, weeded, and planted.  Mary had recommended that we add compost to the soil, but the wheelbarrow was broken and Sarah reassured us that the soil was in good shape.  So we decided -- on our first day of garden work -- to ignore the advice of the woman who actually has had a fabulously successful garden and go without the compost.  By the end of the afternoon, we had planted carrots, Swish Chard, bush beans, snap peas, and mixed lettuces.  Now we just have to see if they'll grow.