Organic Fertilizer

John tried something new this year and bought some of the Natural Gardeners natural fertilized which is basically a fish emulsion. It has made a huge difference, the plants are bugger and much more prolific. The tomatoes are loaded with tomatoes right now.

The Spring Garden is doing nicely

Wow - the garden is looking great. The tomatoes are nearly as tall as I am. John staked them this weekend and got the sprinkler system all set up for the summer. We use a drip system on a timer during the summer which is an absolute must for the Texas summers. Our spring lettuce started to bolt already so we had to pull it. Same thing with the onions. So we are eating quite a few spring onions right now. You can tell when they start to bolt because they start getting flowers. When this happens its time to pull the crop unless you want to save seeds.

Travis County Planting Guide

It is now time to get that spring and summer garden planted. Peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, eggplant, okra, yellow squash Swiss Chard can all be planted now.

Here is a link to the Travis County Planting Guide which gives guidelines on what to plan when in Travis county.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/docs/VegetablePlantingCalendar2009.pdf

Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard is a versatile green which can be used in salads, sauteed it can be eaten alone or added to quiche or eggs Benedict. You can add it to soups and stews or pasta sauces. It is a colorful sturdy grower in Texas. We can harvest Swiss Chard year round - one of the very few plants that you can harvest year round.








Pasta with Pancetta, Tomatoes and Swiss Chard.

2 large sweet or white onions - cut Julienne style
1 1/2-1 inch slice of pancetta diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic sliced
1 large can organic fire roasted whole tomatoes
1 bunch of Swiss chard - chopped
1/2 box of spaghetti or linguine
Fresh Grated Parmesan, Asiago or Romano cheese.

Heat large pan of water to boil pasta. Add the pasta and cook per instructions on package.

Heat a large skillet and add two ladles full of the boiling pasta water. Add the sliced onions and cook until the water is evaporated. Add the olive oil to the onions and push to one side of the skillet to caramelize. Add the diced pancetta to the other side of the pan and render fat until browned. In another corner of the pan add the garlic and a little more olive oil to cook garlic. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in 4ths lengthwise. When onions are golden colored and pancetta is browned stir the garlic, onions and pancetta together and add the tomatoes. Let cook for a minute and add the Swiss chard. Stir together for a few minutes until the Swiss chard cooks down. Add the pasta and serve with grated Parmesan or Romano.

Green Corn Project Spring Dig in

John and I led a group of about 15 volunteers in the first dig in for the 2010 season this weekend for the Green Corn Project. We refurbushed and existing garden for an immigrant shelter in Austin called Casa Marienlla. This major benefit to the dig-ins beside helping to feed people that may be either physically or financially challendged is that it helps to educate people in how to garden and provides hands on experience in how to prepare a garden for planting.

Here is a link to the GCP Site: http://www.greencornproject.org/gc/
GCP is a all volunteer run organization so check out the site. There are many opportunities to help out.
Thanks to all of the volunteers that came out with us yesterday!

Food Inc

We just watched an interesting documentary call Food Inc. This one is definitely worth a watch. It focuses on the food industry and the large multinational corporations that are basically dictating what can be grown and cheap food sources that are ultimately destroying America's health. You need only to look at one major ingredient in most of America's food products to understand why America is too fat and health care is a crisis in America. Eliminate all foods from your diet that contain high fructose corn syrup and your weight will come off and farmers will no longer be subsidized to only growing corn and maybe a wider variety more natural foods can be produced closer to you home. Everyone will be healthier and health care costs will come down.

There are many things all people can do to lead a healthier life.

Plant a garden
Eat vegetables that are in season - much better for the planet, they are cheaper, they taste better and they probably aren't gassed and dyed.
Don't eat foods that contain MSG or High fructose corn syrup or any of their cleverly named equivalents- eliminate the need for corn subsidies (reduce government spending)
Eat locally produced food whenever possible - support local farmers and increase the quality of your food
Eat meatless meals several times per week
Don't eat ground beef unless you grind it yourself or buy organic - Ground meat from large commercial processing plants could come from a thousand different cows increasing the risk of e-coli or salmonella poisoning

Garden change over

John harvested all of the red cabbage, carrots and parsnips in preparation of planing the peppers, eggplant, cucumbers and zucchini. What a haul. So I guess this week we are eating a ton of carrots and parsnips. We have had them stir-fried, grilled and tonight I am making carrot and parsnip soup. Tomorrow is St Patrick's Day so we are having corned beef and yes you guessed it red cabbage. Ok not quite traditional but we use what we have.

Now I just have to find room in the fridge for it all.

Carrot and Parsnip Soup

1 onion diced
2 tblspoons olive oil
2 tblspoons butter
6 medium carrots diced - 2 cups
6 medium parsnips dices - 2 cups
4 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
Salt and white pepper

Heat oil and butter in large soup pot. Saute onions over med high heat until golden.
Add carrots and and parsnips and saute about 3-5 minutes. Add broth, bring to boiling simmer and simmer for about 30-40 minutes until carrots are tender. Add ginger, salt and white pepper to taste.

Puree in batches in a blender or use immersion blender.

Serve