Broccoli Monsters!

Broccoli side shoots ready for harvest

A certain member of our family has long been noted as a “broccoli monster.”  As a small child, our son would happily eat an entire package of frozen broccoli at one sitting.  And now, that we have long since discovered the joys of fresh broccoli and are growing our own, I find that the rest of the family has joined him as bona fide “broccoli monsters.” 

We all love this tasty vegetable as it comes fresh from the garden.  Roasted (with a bit of olive oil and garlic) or simply popped into boiling water until the water comes to a boil again, drained and lightly dressed with olive oil, it is one of our favorite vegetables.

We are still enjoying the broccoli season, but, with the early onset of warm weather, can see it coming to an end.  We do have another planting reaching maturity soon, but know this will be the last run of it for this season.  In the meantime, we are picking the small florets from older heads.  As long as one has the time and patience to keep picking these smaller side shoots, we can continue to enjoy our broccoli even if it is not in the form of a large perfect head.  The taste is still there and that’s all that counts for “broccoli monsters.”

Suzy

Saturday Morning at the Fall Line Market

  

Above, Megan makes final adjustments to the Elm Street Gardens display at the Fall Line Market in Milledgeville before the opening bell.  This new Saturday market is a fine addtion to the Middle Georgia community with its collection of local produce growers as well as local resources for meat, dairy and eggs.  Freshly baked bread is often available as are preserves and homemade delights.

Megan and Brad Fowler stand  behind the Elm Street Gardens tables before Brad takes his place behind the Three Centuries Farm table to the right with its selection of heritage breed pork.  On the other side is Elm Street's other partner, Fort Creek Farm, with their selection of grass fed beef cuts.  The Elm Street Gardens table shows a bounty of winter crops:  Carrots, lettuces, kales, Swiss Chard, collards, broccol and herbs.  Also featured was Megan's homemade granola.  It was a perfect morning for the market with bright sunshine and lots of smiles from customers.  The Fall Line Market will return on April 14th with its Grand Opening for the season and continue weekly into the fall.  

Delicious Tuscan Kale

http://www.ajchomefinder.com/gardening/tuscan-kale-is-ornamental-1358573.html

Above is the link to the column I just found in the Atlanta Journal Constitution from Feb. 23 (we get our print  AJC by mail and can get way behind in our reading of it) by Walter Reeves that describes one of the varieties of kale we have been growing at Elm Street Gardens.  It is a beautiful plant and I have always felt it must be a very nutritious plant as it is such a rich dark green!  My thoughts have been confirmed!  Reeves describes it as not only a very old plant,  but also one of the most nutritious vegetables grown.

Suzy

 

Planting Asparagus!

The good news is that we planted more asparagus at Elm Street Gardens today. (See Tom and Brad, above, laying the new crowns in the prepared trenches.) The bad news is that they are two year old crowns so it will be about two years before we'll be harvesting any of this newly planted asparagus.  But I, for one, are going to enjoy the anticipation of more truly fresh asparagus!

Suzy

Carrot Time!

It dawned on me last night as I put the bowl of fresh carrot sticks on the dinner table that I had found the winter substitute for the plate of sliced tomatoes we always have on the table during summer meals.  This winter we have been eating raw carrots on a most regular basis -  in salads or the aforementioned bowl of carrot sticks. 

But I have to say that before we began having a ready supply of carrots from the garden that this would have never happened.  Carrots from the grocery store just don’t taste the same as our fresh from the garden ones.  And I’m told by some folks who have cooked some of our carrots that they are plenty good cooked too.  (I’m partial to roasting vegetables and mixing some carrots in with other root veggies such as turnips is a standard around here.) 

We’ve planted carrots big time here at Elm Street Gardens this winter and I, for one, am enjoying the readily available supply of this delicious crunchy vegetable on a regular basis.  And before we know it, it will be the long hot summer time and we can indulge in that greatest of all produce:  Home grown tomatoes!  We’ve started our seeds for these already and are dreaming of the first tomatoes and the pleasures in eating that they bring.  

Suzy

Megan and Brad revel in the harvest of our Hercules carrots.

First Fruit Tree Blossom of the Year!

February 29th and this brave little plum tree is starting to bloom.  

Will the warm weather hold or is it in trouble?  

Georgia Organics Conference

Fun, good food, learning, growing, community and a great collection of people interested in all of the above.  That is the Georgia Organics Conference, a gathering of farmers and folks interested in food issues that just wrapped up its two day run.  Robert, Brad Fowler and I are just back from the 15th annual conference, which was held in the Columbus Georgia Convention and Trade Center (a wonderfully restored old iron factory on the river).  This was my seventh successive conference and, once again, I came away with the satisfaction of having spent a couple of days learning as well as connecting with others who share a common interest.

At the conference, you become aware that growing healthy sustainable food can be a community building process.  And you leave the conference determined to further share with your community and work on ways to broaden the availability of good food for all.

I focused my time at the conference on the growing process and had a wonderful in-depth first morning learning more about growing mushrooms.  That afternoon I visited a small farm run by a determined young couple. Seminars on the second day provided more information on managing CSA programs for the benefit of both farmers and consumers, best handling and packaging practices of crops post harvest, food safety issues and how to squeeze the most out of a small garden.  Robert and Brad attended some of the same sessions and branched out into other areas involving livestock in Brad’s case (he also made a presentation in one of these workshops) and Robert spent time learning more about raising fruit in Georgia as well as the challenges of bringing fresh produce to food banks.

And then there was the Farmers Feast on the last night: Thought-provoking keynote addresses, lovely food and great company.  It was all good and we all came away feeling we had not only learned, but also realized we were already doing a lot of things right at Elm Street Gardens!

Here’s to the good folks at Georgia Organics and their efforts toward “plowing forward” to fill the food gap that still exists in so many communities,  

Suzy