Garlic

The garlic is coming along nicely, and I think we'll have enough for the whole year this time. We just finished last year's garlic so we've had to resort to store-bought. I bought some great seedlings at the local organic farm (Shortt's Farm in Sandy Hook), and put most of them in the ground. Bill got a load of compost today, so I'll put that in the beds and plant the rest of the seedlings tomorrow. And some more lettuce and arugula seeds. Also potatoes.

I made potato leek soup with 3 leeks from last year's garden that came up again. It was a small batch- 3 leeks washed and sliced and sauteed in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Then I added 2 medium potatoes diced, 2 cups water, and a vegetable bouillon cube. Cook unitil potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and blend until smooth.

Spring planting and more

Well, the seedlings in the greenhouse didn't grow- I didn't know the heater wasn't on- so I replanted them a couple of weeks ago. They are now coming up so I should be able to plant most things on time.

I've planted several things in the garden in the last 2 weeks- kale, Swiss chard, peas, lettuce, arugula, and beets. The lettuce and arugula were the first to poke through the dirt. It's been rather cool so far this spring so it's slow going.

We have had our solar panels for a year now, and even with them being covered by snow for 1.5 months this winter, we made more electricity than we used (about $2.50 worth).

Last week I made a yummy bean, potato, and greens soup: 1 cup dried cannellini beans- cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer until just tender (30-60 minutes). Drain the beans and add to a pot with 1 diced onion (sauted in olive oil until translucent), and cover with water. Cook the beans and onions for a while with a vegetable bouillon cube (I like Rapunzel Veg. bouillon with sea salt) until beans are almost done. Add 2 diced potatoes, and cook until tender. Add more water if necessary. Add chopped greens (kale, swiss chard, beet)- either fresh or frozen and cook for 5-10 minutes. This would be good with homemade croutons too.

Tonight Kai and I had homemade enchiladas for supper with the sauce that I canned last summer (see recipe in the tomato post from last year).
In a pan I cooked (in olive oil) diced onion, frozen corn, grated carrot, frozen chopped spinach, ground cumin, and crumbled tofu for about 15 minutes. I then fill whole wheat tortillas with black beans, veg/tofu filling, and grated cheddar cheese, roll them up, and put them in a glass baking dish with some enchilada sauce on the bottom. When you have enough enchiladas, cover with more sauce and grated cheese on top. Bake at about 360 for 20-30 minutes, until browned. I like them with plain yogurt and avacado on the side.

Last winter I discovered the yumminess of egg salad with curry powder- especially good with our fresh eggs. The ladies are laying like gangbusters now so we usually get 6-7 eggs per day from our 8 hens.

Starting seeds

I started planting seeds this week to grow in Bill's greenhouse at work until the weather is warmer. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground so it will be a while until the soil is ready for planting. I started onions, leeks, shallots, kale, broccoli, and some head lettuce in flats. Next week I'll get some more potting soil and start the peppers, brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, and more kale. In March it will be tomatoes, basil, and melons.

If it's a really warm spring, I'll do some early planting in the garden beds (lettuce, beets, greens, arugula, cilantro). This year we are adding a potato annex in the side yard so I have more room in the main garden for more broccoli and onions. This year I ordered my seeds from Pinetree Gardens, but next year I'll probably go back to ordering from Fedco. I find I'm running out of the smaller amounts of seeds in the Pinetree packages.

Last fall (November) I planted 120 cloves of garlic in our largest garden bed. I wanted to plant extra so we have enough for the whole year and for planting in the fall. Last year's crop wasn't quite big enough to last so we've been careful with our garlic use. The bed has been covered with snow since December- I'm looking forward to seeing the green shoots peeking out of the ground next month. The chickens got into the bed in December before the snow, but I don't think they did much damage. They picked the last of the kale clean though.