How Does Your Garden Grow?

photo: Danika Barker I asked you to send me some pictures of your vegetable gardens and some of you did – thank you! Maybe this year you were a new gardener, or perhaps you are an old Green Giant and it comes naturally to you, or maybe you were really ambitious (like Amy) and you grew vegetables for market, no matter which kind of gardener you are out there – greenhorn or green thumb, keep it up, its looking really good! But don”t take my word for it, take a look for yourself at how some of your gardens are growing! photo: Danika Barker The above picture is a group of baby carrots from Danika”s new front lawn garden. I love the idea of ripping up urban lawns and planting edibles. Go Danika – you food rebel! Danika also sent the cool picture that is at the top of the post of some really good looking beets that she grew, yum! Photo: Amy Hogervorst This is lettuce from Amy”s Garden. Amy is a school teacher who decided to grow vegetables for market this year. You may have met Amy at the North London Market on Fridays. Go Amy! She has a garden blog that she is keeping notes about her experience and you can follow along here: Amy”s Garden Photo: Paul Sham This amazing picture I have linked from Paul Sham”s blog that is called “The Post Script“. Paul did not send the picture in to me, I poached it because I am a dedicated reader of Paul”s awesome blog and I think you all might like to follow too! Paul is posting his adventures in food and he is a real fan of local produce and is constantly trying new foods. Go Paul! Photo: Stacy These are Stacy”s beautiful sunflowers. I love them! Stacy is also a beekeeper, how cool is that? I have been trying to get a hive tour, but the summer is so busy, we will have to try for next summer (maybe Stacy?). Stacy is a Busy Bee and I don”t think she would mind being grouped in that category,that reminds me… I should do a post on local honey – I picked up some melon pollinated honey that is worth raving about. Thanks everyone! kellyxo UPDATE: August 20,2009 Photo: Melanie E. Melanie has sent me some pictures that you should see, they are of her herb garden. She has oregano, basil and rosemary growing. Melanie is my “local food twin” in Guelph, Ontario. She runs a blog all about eating local in Guelph. I have just found out about this blog and have just cruised a few of her posts and it is very, very good. Check it out here:http://onehundredmilemel.blogspot.com/ Make sure you watch this video she posted on strawberries that originally aired through the Toronto Star. http://onehundredmilemel.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-more-reason-to-eat-local.html and http://www.thestar.com/videozone/653244 Photo: Melanie E. Photo: Melanie E.  Read More

Carnival Carrot Tart Tatin

Carnival Carrots | Photo: Kelly Hunt Carnival Carrots. Are these not the most fun carrots you have ever seen? I just love them. It is now guaranteed that these carrots will be on my grow list every year, I just can”t get enough of them. Last year I did see purple carrots for sale at Covent Garden Market – so, if you did not grow your own this year, no worries- keep your eyes peeled for them and I am sure you will nab some. I wanted to make a dish to showcase these spectacular beauties and I remembered seeing a recipe for Carrot Tart Tartin in The Organic Seasonal Cookbook, so with a little adjusting here it is. Try it! Carrot Tart Tartine Adapted from The Organic Seasonal Cookbook: Cooking for a Greener World by Liz Franklin one pound carnival carrots, or your favourite kind (about 8 -10 medium sized carrots) quarter cup of butter 4 tablespoons of local honey About 3 teaspoons of dried thyme (use a small bunch of fresh, if you can find it) Puff Pastry – most packs come in 450 grams, I used the whole pack Flour for dusting salt and pepper Preheat oven to 450 Peel and chop carrots into one inch chunks. Boil the carrots in a pot, just until tender (about 15 minutes). Drain, then toss carrots with honey, butter and thyme and add salt and pepper to your taste. Take this mixture and spoon it into a an 8 inch baking pan, or tart tatin pan (I used a cake pan with deep sides). The puff pasty that comes later on in recipe will rise while baking,so you need your pan to be at least 1 and 1/2 inches deep. Place carrot mixture in oven for 15-20 minutes,until you see the carrots caramelize. While that is happening, dust your work surface and roll out the puff pastry until it is in a rough circle shape. The circle should be able to fit over the cake pan with an extra inch or so. Take the carrots out of oven, lay the pastry over top of them and tuck the edges in so that it will form a type of crust when you flip it out later. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden. Remove from oven, carefully flip the tart out onto a plate to release and serve immediately. Enjoy!  Read More

You say Tomato, I say Tomatoe…

Everyday I come home from work and I stroll over to my 3 little raised beds and I check on my tomato plants. I have great affection for these plants, this type of affection can sometimes be hard to explain to people, but the tomato plant holds a very special place in my heart. Maybe it is the effort that I take in growing the different heirloom varieties all the way from seed, or perhaps it is the irresistible musky/earthy and green type of smell that only tomato leaves possess, whatever it is I just love the tomato and I am not calling the whole thing off! I fuss and prune and pinch these little plants until they grow into the large wilda-beasts you see above. Truth is, they are well worth the effort when it comes time to harvest them, they have the most delicious taste and texture – nothing beats a fresh tomato, picked at its perfection – right from your own backyard. Not to be neglected, I also have Brussels Sprouts, Rainbow Chard, Tomatillos,Eggplant,Mint, Coriander, Basil, Rosemary, Sage, Hot Peppers, Bell Peppers and Carnival Carrots growing in my garden. Take a look! Those marigolds I planted amongst the vegetables this year really did the trick in keeping the bugs away. My tomatoes do not have a single bite out of them – the fruit has not shown up yet, but the beginnings of them are there. I have been thinking and I know alot of you planted your very own vegetable gardens this year. Maybe you can send me a picture (just one!). Pick your favourite photo and email it to me and I will make a post of all of your gardens. Email address can be found here. Happy Gardening!  Read More

Sprouts

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I am sick with a nasty cold and have been watching hours upon hours of television, which will, I am now aware, zap the life right out of anyone, but especially someone with the rhino-bug or whatever this cold thing is I have going on. Blech! Anyways, I was just thinking about Foodland Ontario and the range of foods that they are still able to get to us – even in February and sprouts popped into my noggin. Yes, that very exotic looking little bean sprout is available in just about any grocery store all year round and for the most part they are from Ontario. Just look for the little green Foodland Ontario logo. This got me thinking about a blogger girl who had this post on growing your own sprouts which I have been unable to find again, I have lost the link – but I wanted to share this crazy couple and their video that they made on growing sprouts. They are a bit wacky but in a super endearing way. In the video they grow their sprouts from lentils, but you can grow them from all kinds of things like different bean varieties, barley and even sunflower seeds. Enjoy! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-1V4vtV8Yo&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00] Update Feb. 18I found the original video I was after: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiPFlcQuqLM&hl=en&fs=1]  Read More

They Came from Another Planet!

All right, in all honesty this post does not help you eat local, and it certainly does not point you in the direction of a farm, nor does it contain a helpful tip of who sells the best strawberries right now – but it just might inspire you! Quite frankly, it will probably just frighten you instead. So, on to the explanation of the above photo…. those multi-eyed little devils are just some potatoes that I am embarrassed to say were hiding in one of those silly corner cabinets with the lazy susan device in them that resides in my kitchen. Well, I”ll admit, I just plain forgot about them for a month or so (maybe more!!). I opened the cupboard the other day and with a gasp, thought I had aliens hiding out in my kitchen cupboard, alas they are just some lovely, and apparently very happy spuds. Here is where the inspiration comes in, I took those nasty looking taters and I have planted them in my garden to see what happens.. and oh yes,I will keep you posted!!  Read More