Sometime near the middle of spring, Gudrun and I started discussing the idea that we should share a 'membership' to a local organic farm so that we could have fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables throughout the year. It didn't take long for us to decide that we might as well try creating our own garden that we could share.
On May 3, we started measuring and digging.
We borrowed Ray's truck to haul our retaining wall blocks and only had one "do over"----can't tell you how proud we were to figure it out on our own!
By the end of the day on May 4th, we had our garden leveled and framed, rocks cut (with help from David's rock-cutting expertise), and the beautiful, rich potting soil hauled and water-packed in our raised vegetable bed. The fact that we had designed it and implemented it almost completely on our own was part of the pride in our accomplishment.
On May 5th Josie, Maya & Sage helped us select our plants and a few flowers and we set to work planting our garden. I wish I could make this a Scratch & Sniff so you could smell the aroma of the rich soil, amend, and herbs, and flowers just as my brain remembers it.
Paw prints and muddy snouts were the clear-cut pieces of evidence that we would need fencing reinforcements.
Here we are, 70 days later with mouths watering as we await another day's harvest.
I can tell you that our cucumbers are crunchy, the patty pan squash sweet, cherry tomatoes are delicious, our abundance of basil creates a fine pesto, and our Sweet 100's are nearly perfect. You can see that our eggplant is almost ready to pick---that deep purple is a gorgeous addition to our lush garden! So far, the only death has been our cilantro...I suspect our Fresno heat was just too much to handle.
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2 comments:
1st- you need to do a post with photos of your wall (fence) murals- they look awesome!!
2nd- eggplant. One of my family's favorites. Slice the eggplant in 1/4" slices, dip in eggs (beaten) (w/ maybe a little milk?), roll in crushed saltine crackers (coarse), and fry in a pan on the stove top. We always used butter, but today I would use a little olive oil, or might even spray lightly with olive oil and broil, just to get the crust crisp.
Delicious!!!
Eggplant Parmigiana, from The Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas, which, as my friend who gave it to me said, does not necessarily mean low cal...
1 med eggplant
Wash, don't peel, slice 3/4" thick.
flour
1 egg, beaten with some milk
dried breadcrumbs, wheat germ, or cracker meal
Dip eggplant slices in flour then milk then crumbs, so they are well coated.
olive oil
Saute slices in olive oil until nicely browned on both sides. Tend carefully, adding oil as needed.
1/2 lb. Swiss or mozzarella, sliced
Arrange eggplant in baking dish. Top each slice with cheese.
6 oz tomato paste
white or red wine
pinch oregano
clov garlic
salt/pepper
1 c Parmesan, preferably fresh
Make a thick tomato sauce by diluting paste with wine. Mix in other ingredients. Spread 2-3 T on each slice. "Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Bake at 400 about 15 minutes.
Bon appetit!
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