Great Expectations - The 2013 Garden

Or, trying my best to (somewhat)

replace the grocery store.

During the last few weeks I've become interested in an idea that I discovered on the Our Simple Farm blog. The concept is simple enough - replacing the grocery store with your own home-grown, homemade items.

As prices continue to go up on food, fuel, nearly everything, the idea of saving money on groceries has become extremely appealing. And, living on a gravel road outside of a prison town certainly has its good points, but the evil necessity of driving at least 20 minutes to do even the simplest things can become such a frustrating timewaster, not to mention gas.

 

So, I've been noting some of the ideas and plans posted on Our Simple Farm - up until The Math Part (cue scary music). For a couple of reasons, I can't really compute how much of each vegetable/fruit we would need to subsist without too many trips to the supermarket. First, much of our garden contains perishable produce like lettuce - not much I can do about preserving lettuce except for eating it in abundance in fresh salads, or sharing with others (if there's a way to use dehydrated lettuce in something, please post your ideas!). Plus, I have only really had experience with freezing and my only foray into canning has been making pickled things. Also, there is a bit of a time constraint as I own my own business, Lonesome Road Studio (and Lonesome Road West), and summers can be a little hectic with shows, markets, etc. Oh, and I decided that I was going to be making our own soap in my spare time. *wink* Did I mention the guitar that I'm going to learn how to play, too?

 

So, I will work on what I think is relatively feasible for us and our garden, which is usually freezing some vegetables to use throughout the winter when a taste of the summer garden is so nice. I also put up lots of my amazing homemade pizza sauce made with fresh tomatoes, peppers and herbs from our garden, and I plan to plant some new varieties of herbs this year to dehydrate to replace expensive store-bought jars of herbs with questionable shelf life, and for use in some of those soaps I've been dreaming of creating.

 

Stay tuned as I periodically update everyone on the garden's progress, and I promise to share more recipes and ideas with everyone, as I hope you will too!

 

 

"Buried Treasure" heirloom carrots reproduction, Lonesome Road Gallery.

 



new for the kitchen garden

It's that time.... seed catalogs stacked to the ceiling... garden plans graphed neatly... tiny peat pellets sprouting new life, promising a season of bountiful richness.

The Lonesome Road gardens are a bit soggy at the moment, but the choices have been made for this year's kitchen garden. Of course we have more seeds than we could possibly ever need (how did we end up with 7 or 8 different kinds of lettuce?). Yet enthusiasm wins over practicality every year and so we will get to work in the garden once again in a couple of months. Besides, any extra produce is always welcome at local food pantries and as part of Plant A Row For The Hungry.

The newest addition to the Lonesome Road kitchen garden this year will be the herb epazote. I am a Rick Bayless fan; I have been to his fabulous Chicago restaurant Frontera, I have one of his many cookbooks, and I love to watch his cooking show "Mexico One Plate At A Time." One of the ingredients that Bayless uses often in his authentic Mexican cooking is epazote; it's not readily found in my area stores so I ordered seeds to plant my own and will give it a try this year. In my research, I discovered that epazote is often used in bean dishes because it has digestive properties, kind of a natural "Beano."

I am also treating myself to Ichiban eggplant this year. In previous years I've planted several varieties of eggplant; the little white ones that look like actual eggs, the lovely lavender and white ones, and the list goes on. I've never really liked the texture and seediness of the others but have always longed for those elegant long, dark Japanese eggplants that need no peeling. So I found what I was looking for in my trusty seed catalog, and I will hopefully have a bumper crop of Ichiban eggplant for everything from ratatouille to Chinese stir-fries and oh yes... tempura!

Of course the usual suspects will be included this year. Last year was not a good year for tomatoes on the Lonesome Road; we will try again for a good crop of Roma tomatoes for my awesome homemade pizza sauce which is made in large quantities for the freezer (yes, I will post the recipe here!). Other garden favorites to be planted this year are Cubanelle and Poblano peppers, and herbs. This year the herbs will be part of a container gardening system; with my busy schedule of juggling a job and an ever-increasing show schedule, I just don't have the time to pick weeds in an extensive herb garden. Plus, it gives me an excuse to buy some cool pottery *wink*.

Post your garden suggestions here; what's new in your garden this year, and old favorites that you can't live without.