Another Foray into Gardening

Maybe I should put a new subheading about how this blog is also about gardening... but then again, gardening is all about food for me, and it is spring. And technically the article I am so excited about is in the dining and wine section of The New York Times... so it's still about food.

THIS is what I am so excited about. The Obamas are planting A VEGETABLE GARDEN on the White House Lawn... not only for the tasty goodness of something fresh from the garden, but to encourage the whole country to eat locally grown food, and to show their own daughters where their food comes from, something I am a bit passionate about. In my opinion, everyone should be aware of how their food comes about, be it vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, or fowl.

I had the luxury (luxury?) of growing up in the country, of being a part of raising my own food. Besides just the vegetable garden and some fruit trees, we had goats, chickens, pigs, geese, ducks, and rabbits. And as my cousin Brianna says (her facebook page is where I swiped this article) I believe animals can be friends and food (not that I would eat my cat - I would have to be pretty hungry for that to happen... and I have a feeling she'd be pretty tough... just kidding, my cat is safe.) Anyway, I have a certain respect for my food and what it took to get it on my plate. And it makes my food taste better. I want to pass that respect on to my daughter, so that she can understand and respect the life of the thing she is eating, whether it is meat or plant.

The Native Americans believe that all life is connected, that we should show respect for the earth and the way it provides for us. This is the respect I am talking about teaching my child, and something that I believe allows me to prepare my food well. I heard one chef describe it as "respecting the ingredients." I try my best to respect my food, and to show my love through whatever I prepare.

The article is well worth the read. And so is any work you put into a garden... and if you can't garden, take the time to find a farmer's market in your area.

Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta
1 large baguette, sliced
1 clove garlic
4 heirloom tomatoes (use good ones, please! The grocery store variety will just taste like water. I like to use a variety of colors - yellow, red, green, purple.)
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Toast the sliced bread in the oven for about 5 minutes at 200 degrees, or throw them on the grill to get them toasted. Cut the garlic clove in half and then rub it on the bread slices - it will kind of grate itself on the hard bread. Cut up the tomatoes into small chunks. Dress with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt. Serve on the bread slices.

By the way, the White House chef is the one overseeing the garden, so I think I'm pretty safe in adding this to the blog.

A Sidetrack into Gardening

Nature is a constant source of amazement for me. Everything runs in a cycle, one thing taking care of the next which in turn nourishes the first. It’s really quite beautiful.

Every spring when I start my garden I am reminded of this process, especially when I look at my beautiful compost… yes, beautiful compost. I love it. I take the pieces of food that we cannot use – egg shells, potato and banana peels, coffee grounds, along with grass clippings and some paper from my shred pile, and it turns into this wonderful rich dark fertilizer for the next batch of plants I grow (and it would be even better if I could get my hands on some manure, but that is just wishful thinking on my part!) So, the food we don’t use (and that the animals eliminate) ends up nourishing the food we grow the next year. On first glance, this might seem like a disgusting process, but in reality it just shows the wonderful cycle of nature and how one thing takes care of the next.

When I was growing up my family always had a garden, and a very large compost pile. We grew tons of vegetables every year – tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, radishes, beets, squash… by far my favorite was the tomatoes. There is just nothing like a home grown tomato. Those pathetic little hydroponic things you get from the store can hardly be recognized as a tomato once you have had the real thing.

As much as I love to garden, we don’t have any land on which to plant or even have a compost pile. But I don’t let this stop me. I have a compost pile – it’s in some old five gallon buckets that originally contained a bulk purchase of kitty litter. It still decomposes just fine – I just leave the lids slightly askew so those bacteria can get oxygen… and to turn the compost I just put the lids back on tight and shake the contents a bit every couple of days. And as for my garden, it grows on our deck in containers – which I get for next to nothing, because you can plant in anything that holds dirt, for the most part. I get my planters from garage sales and thrift stores… Everything from popcorn tins and lunchboxes to laundry baskets lined with plastic and old mixing bowls. I have a pile of potential planters in the garage right now just waiting for the last frost to pass.

And my tomatoes are already sprouted, along with my thyme, some basil, and a chile pepper or two. Can’t wait for summer and all those yummy tomatoes.