Tell Me About Your Homegrown Meal and Get Free Seeds
It’s February, the sun is shining, and the snow is melting. We may hit the 50 degree point in the coming days and we will be headed out to the hoop house to water and assess the spring possibilities.
I am not naive, though. I do know that the state I reside in likes to tease me. In the fall we receive a slight snow and I prepare happily for winter. And the next day it is 55 degrees and my snow-induced excitement is dashed. Spring is the same little dance – 50 tomorrow, 25 and a snowstorm next week. But as soon as I see green poking through the white blanket of winter I start to hope just a little and yearn to get my hands in the dirt.
So today, as we hope and wait, I want you to show and tell your memorable homegrown meals. And their may just be a prize involved – including seeds!
A homegrown meal that sticks out in my mind is a winter vegetable soup with rosemary that I put into the winter cookbook. Squash, garlic, and kale came right out of the garden and home-canned tomatoes and homemade chicken stock rounded out the meal. Homegrown food always tastes better.
If you’d like to share your homegrown meal head over here, read my (maybe too honest) review of a well-known seed company, and let’s reminisce about the days when food could be gathered in the warm sun.
That is really interesting about them being own by Mars. Did not know that. Sourcing seeds is becoming more and more difficult. Thanks for the heads up on this one.
I’ve purchased seeds through them a several years ago. They had many heirloom and open pollination varieties. Now they don’t seem to have as many heirloom or OP varieties. It seems they are all new and improved seeds, which make me wonder if any of them are GMO. It does seem odd that they do not disclose that they are owned by Mars. If they were proud of that they would display it, but the fact that they don’t display it means that most of there customer base would not come back if they new… I like Territorial Seed. They are operated in Oregon and have a big variety of heirloom and OP seeds. They also state that NON of there seeds are GMO and they will never use chemicals or pesticides on their farm, which are important to me.
I forgot to add a home cooked meal. I am also ready for spring and summer so I am not going to talk about bak choy, spinach, or kale (all that we grown in the winter). I have a rhubarb plant that belonged to my great grandmother. It is the best plant and produces big thick stocks every year. In fact it is already poking through the ground. And we grow strawberries. When I think about gardening I think about strawberry rhubarb crisps and pies and cobblers… Ok not so much of a meal, but just some summer memories inspired by the sun and blue sky that I am enjoying right now.
Up until our first snowstorm, we ate fresh greens out of our garden. Our favorite dish was beet greens, swiss chard, dandelion greens, slivered onions, and garlic…all from our garden. Sauteed in bacon drippings. We can’t wait until we’re eating that dish again! We ate that with fresh homemade bread slathered with freshly made butter from our cowshare rawmilk. Our favorite accompaning dish is cooked sliced beets topped with the fresh butter and various herbs out of our garden. For lunch, everyday that we’re home, we just go out and eat straight out of the garden. Sugar snap peas never make it into our house. Sungold tomatoes are so sweet and delicious. We open up cantaloupes right in the yard and eat. Cut off salad greens and munch them right there. Fresh grapes, blackberries, and figs are dessert. Cannot wait until we’re spending our days in the garden again!!!
Hey Shannon, I want you to know I am a fan or yous! You have been an inspiration to me. Thank You! I also want you to know I have tried ordering your black & white book through Lulu 3 times and each time it hasn;t processed my order. At first I thought it was just my computer but I have ordered many other things online without a problem. So I guess I just want to know if it’s still available.
Thanks for the help.
Amy
Amy – I have emailed you privately and the link should now be fixed. Thanks so much for letting me know!
We’re having, tonight, carrot-tomato soup (the recipe is at soulemama.com) featuring carrots and heirloom tomatoes from the garden, garnished with homemade yogurt, and accompanied by fresh-baked sourdough and cheese (local farm for the cheese) sandwiches. I froze some of the soup this summer, and it’s a nice reminder of the straight-from-the-garden summer meals to come.
A garden dish I now am craving is grill zucchini with fresh from the vine tomatoes chopped with fresh basil and oregano drizzled with evoo and balsamic–topped with some fresh Parmesan. Delish!