February Seedlings

Houston, we have lift off.

This is Kohlrabi.  Its a new one for me. Other brasicas that I have going right now also include Early Green Broccoli, Broccoli Rabe, Romanesco, and Cassius Cauliflower.  Right now, they sort of all look the same.

Also new to my repertoire, Celery.  Still small but appearing happy to me.

I've had mixed luck with onions so far.  The Cortland yellow onions and Southport Globe red onions seem to be starting well.  I've also got Lincoln and Scotland leeks, which seem to be coming up nicely.  I've got 2 varieties of heirloom Italian onions, Cipploa and Rossa di Milano which I'm having really low yield with.  Those seeds are older though, so I'll blame age.

Carson appears to be the greatest danger to my garden starts at the moment.  He is REALLY interested in getting his hands in the dirt.  I'm thinking about bolting my wire shelves to the wall.

-JG

Long Weekend In

5 years ago I would have told you that I spent my long weekend skiing, or ice climbing, or skiing to an ice climb...you get the picture.  This weekend, I cooked, read an entire book, cooked, ate, and OK I did go for a run so I'm not a complete shut in.
I made scratch marinara sauce.  This is one of those foods that I could probably eat in some way in a meal every day of the week if allowed.
I started with 1 quart and 1 pint of canned tomatoes from last year's garden.  You could of course use the equivalent amount of store bought canned tomatoes.

Then I chopped 1 white onion and 3 cloves of garlic and placed them into a pan with olive oil already hot on medium heat.  I cooked these until they were soft.

Then I emptied both jars of tomatoes on the blender for a quick pulse to break them up then poured the tomatoes in with 2 bay leaves and a sprig of thyme.

I let this cook on a simmer for 20 minutes until a little thickened then fished out the thyme and bay leaves and add a palm full of chopped parsley.

Stir this in, add salt and pepper to taste, and that's it.  This makes a bright, yummy marinara that can be dressed up with additional veggies or...

Made into spinach mushroom lasagna

Or just sauce up some spaghetti and eat it up.

Some home made focaccia bread for mopping up sauce would be nice.  You wouldn't want to leave any behind after all.

Want the specifics on these recipes?  Drop me a line and I'll get them posted.
Happy eating.
-JG

Oh, for the love of ... love

My boys, oh how I love you both.

In case you didn't know, Tyler does a lot of the cooking around here.  Its delicious.

Carson, he does a lot of the smiling around here.  It contagious.

I can't think of anything more sweet.  Happy Valentines day.