Like a burrito but not –OLS Week 10

My one local summer meal for week ten was made from the following:

1lb ground bison from Two Sons purchased at Garwood Orchard
2 medium zucchini (sliced) grown by the folks at Garwood Orchard
Grassland cheese (shredded) also salsa from Yoder’s Meat & Cheese Co. also purchased at Garwood Orchard
1 onion (diced) also purchased from Garwood Orchard
Jimmy Nardello and gypsy peppers (about a cup altogether when diced), kale (6 medium leaves; about 2 cups when shredded), and mixed tomatoes (about 1 cup when diced) from my garden
lots of cumin and chili powder (not local)
come olive oil
a bit of cinnamon, salt and pepper (no local)
multigrain tortilla (not local)

1. I started a heavy skillet heating with the olive oil while I diced the onion and peppers. I added those to the skillet and sauteed until they were just turning golden.

2. I added the child power, cumin, and cinnamon (lots of the first two) and stirred
3. Next the bison was added to the pot along with a handful of small tomatoes from my garden and a half cup or so of the salsa which included sweet corn to add some more color
4. When the meat was done I added the squash and shredded kale and adjusted the seasonings. I turned off the heat and allowed the residual heat to warm the soften and warm the vegetable while I cleaned the counter
5. I spooned some of the mixture onto a multigrain tortilla and topped with halved cherry tomatoes and shredded cheese

   It was quite tasty and there is lots leftover. I think it would be even better served on a flat bread in a more Indiana taco style. It could have also used some garlic but I was out of that.

Not the garden I planned

I had great plans for this year’s garden.  I ordered seeds – far too many seeds but interesting things from placed like Seed Savers and Pinetree Seeds.  I was so excited to have actual ground rather than just containers for my garden.  Sure I would have to contend with lots of shade and lots of wild visitors (deer, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, woodchucks, rabbits, birds, etc.) but still I could have a proper garden.

I formulated an attractive plan in my mind and then reality took over.  A combination of a cold wet spring, waiting on dirt, waiting on a mower to get the grass under control, the realization of how poor the existing soil was all combined for a very slow start to building the garden. In the meantime the cabbage, kale, broccoli, and other cool season crops I had started inside were in desperate need of permanent homes.

Not to be completely blocked, I pulled out the containers and planted lettuce and onion sets for green onions. I transplanted some of the kale seedlings into containers.  I also showed a great lack of restraint and common sense and kept buying seedlings and herb plants.

Finally in early May, I managed to assemble two 4X5 square of raised beds though they lacked borders. Into one I starting tucking herbs and flower transplants. Into the second went kale and broccoli seedlings.  In late April, I also started a long bed along the driveway where I essentially dropped seed potatoes onto the ground and covered them with dirt.  A slow start but things seem to be headed in the right direction.  Or so I thought.

In mid-May a call came to respond to a disaster relief operation in Kentucky.  Thanks to friends most of my seedlings survived but when I arrived home two weeks later I was way behind again.  Since then I have been plugging away at building beds and transplanting peppers, tomatoes, and herbs into larger and larger pots. As of mid-July I have finally made a “make do” home on the ground for most of those things.  However, all the seeds for squash, beans, corn, cucumbers and other warm season and direct seeded crops are still right there in the packages.

Despite the failure on my part and the strange growing season (cold and wet early then a blistering week then back to cooler than normal but not as wet), the garden has given me tasty treats. Of course the lettuce, spinach, and green onion container crops are long finished but they were tasty during May and June.  I have dug about half of the potatoes and though the crop is small as a result of not hilling them appropriately they have been tasty.  The pepper plants are small but they are loaded.  I look forward to comparing the different types I am growing.  The tomatoes are just beginning to ripen.  I picked the first one, a small Mexican Midget, this past week.  The tomato vines have nearly buried most of the basil and pepper plants which keep growing happily beneath their thuggish neighbors.  The dozen or so broccoli plants are coming to an end but have given me plenty of meals in the last month.  The kale (all 8 kinds of it) is doing wonderfully. I hope to dry a good deal of it before I leave town again on Monday.

In the herb department, multiple kinds of basil, 4 kinds of sage (5 counting pineapple sage), several kinds of mint (in pots), lemon balm, borage, 4 kinds of thyme, 3 types of lavender, summer savory, chives, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, and more keep growing merrily.  Only the parsley and cilantro have bolted or otherwise faded.

I am doing my best to enjoy and celebrate what is rather than beating myself up about what might have been.  There is still time for some fall garden planting and gardeners must often say, there is always next year. In the meantime, I have enjoyed healthy and tasty food that I have grown myself supplemented by that grown by other local producers and learned some lessons to improve garden version 2010.

OLS Week 7

Though tasty, my OLS meal for week 7 doesn’t make a very interesting post.  I quickly stir-fried peppers, broccoli, and kale from the garden along with onions, green beans, and summer squash from Garwood’s.  I served it over non-local brown sweet rice purchased at Molly Bea’s Ingredients in Chesterton, Indiana.  To sauce the vegetables I used a couple tablespoons for F.R.O.G. jam (figs, raspberries, orange, and ginger) purchased from Two Cookin Sisters in Brookston, Indiana and some low sodium soy sauce. It turned out to be simple, tasty, and adaptable enough to use whatever is handy.

One Local Summer Week 6

My meal for this week is based on a need to use some Yukon Gold potatoes that I damaged while digging them. I washed the potatoes and cut into large chunks.  These chunks were added to an oven proof skillet along with three small heads of fresh garlic from the Michigan City farmer’s market.  I tossed the potatoes with olive oil, lots of fresh ground pepper, and a smaller amount of fresh ground sea salt.  I placed the potatoes into a 400 degree oven to roast until tender and golden brown.

For the final 5 minutes or so, I stirred several leaves of  kale, washed and coarsely shredded, from my garden into the skillet.  To round out the meal, I prepared two over easy eggs also purchased from the Michigan City Farmer’s market.

There is no photo.  Though it was tasty it wan not photogenic.

One Local Summer (week 5)

I missed the OLS posts for the last two weeks. There was much local goodness to eat during that time — kale, green onions, a couple of small peppers, and broccoli from my garden; strawberries, summer squash, and peas from Garwood Orchard; more fresh onions and eggs from the Michigan City farmers market; blueberries form the freezer; meat from Birky’s Farm and Farm Direct Meat; and more. Somehow between camping, guests, and packing up my office I never managed to put together and entirely local meal and post about it.

This week I finally managed to get back on track. In a celebration of summer, I have prepared pork chops from Birky’s Farm along with new potatoes from the Michigan City farmer’s market, first of the season corn from Garwood Orchard. For a sweet finish, there are two kinds of cherries also from Garwoods.

For my week 5 meal, I kept the preparation simple. I  washed the small potatoes on to boil. Next, I coated the pork chops with a bit of oil and herbs  dressing that was taking up room in the refrigerator and then pan fried them slowly. While things cooked, I pitted the cherries. When the potatoes were almost done, I added the corn on the cob and cooked until just tender. All that was left was to pull the potatoes and corn out of the hot water and prepare my plate. To let the taste of the produce shine through I added only a touch of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Not Atkins friendly but simple and tasty.

OLS 2009, Week 2 — A berry delicious salad

Spring/early summer continues to be wet and cool which means fresh produce is still mostly asparagus, greens, strawberries, and snow peas.  Something out there has also sent my allergies into overdrive so I am keeping my One Local Summer meal simple for this week with a salad. To learn more about One Local Summer visit the host for the second year, Farm to Philly.

The salad started with mixed baby greens.  To the greens I added some chopped garlic scapes and young onions (bulb portion about golf ball size).  The grower/seller of the onion was telling people to think of them as “chives on steroids.” All of the ingredients so far come from the Michigan City’s Farmer’s Market from one vendor. I need to find out their names or farm name as I am going to be talking about them and their lovely good almost every week.

To top things off I added crumbled Capriole goat cheese (also purchased at the MC market) and dried berry and cherry mixture purchased from one of my favorite vendors, Lehman’s Orchard, at the Chesterton European Market. The folks who sell for them in Chesterton are among the nicest people I have ever met.  The blackberryand walnut dressing for the the salad was  purchased from Garwood Orchard for whom is was specially bottled.   Unfortunately I don’t have information on the source of the ingredients but it is free from high fructose corn syrup and supports a 6th generation family farm that is less than 8 miles from my home. Garwood’s was also the source of a few snow peas added for crunch. My own garden provided some purple basil for garnish and a bit of extra flavor.

Walnuts or chicken would have made a nice addition to the salad to give it a bit more substance.  My favorite thing about the salad was the way the sweet tart of the dressing, the chewiness of the dried cherries (sweet and sour) and blueberries, combined with the creaminess of the goat cheese.  I need to think of ways to showcase that combination.

Disaster Relief Operation, Kentucky Floods – Part 1

This post is not my usual topic.  It recounts the first few days of my recent work on a disaster relief operation for the Red Cross.  This operation was in response to the floods, landslides and storms in Eastern Kentucky in May.

One Local Summer Week 1 2009

My one local summer meal for week 1 included some “last of” and some “first of” the season ingredients. My options were a little bit limited by the fact that it is still early in the season here in NW Indiana and I haven’t yet found a source of local grain products (other than popcorn). In addition, I needed a way to combine various things at the “use them or lose them” stage so I opted for a crustless quiche as the focal point of the meal.

I started by browning a few slices of bacon from Birky’s Family Farm. When the bacon was crisp I removed it from the pan and added the white parts of the some green onions that I had grown in a container on my porch and several handfuls of mixed kale from my garden. I let the kale wilt a bit and then added the last usable leaves from my baby spinach crop (also container grown) and a bit of thyme from my garden.

While the kale mixture cooled, I sliced some asparagus from Garwoods that had accidentally froze in a too cold part of my refrigerator into a casserole pan. I mixed a colorful assortment of eggs (also from the MC Farmer’s Market) with about 2 cups of milk from Fair Oaks Farms, pepper, and a bit of nutmeg.

I layered the kale over the asparagus and topped with crumbled Capriole goat cheese. Though and Indiana product this stretches local a bit as it is at the other end of the state. On a positive note, it was purchased from a vendor at the MC Farmer’s Market.  Over all of this, I poured the egg/milk mixture. I topped it all with a few whole asparagus spears and the crumbled bacon and put it into a 375 degree oven to bake.

While the quiche was baking, I cleaned a last handful of morel mushrooms for the season. I picked these up when I stopped at Garwood Orchard for a first batch of strawberries for the year. I sauteed the morels along with shiitake mushrooms. When the mushrooms were just about finished I added some garlic scapes and green onion tops. The Shiitakes and garlic scapes were from the MC Farmer’s Market and the green onions were those that I had grown.

To accompany my quiche and mushroom topping, I sliced up the aforementioned strawberries and cleaned a few radishes (from the same market vendor as the eggs and garlic scapes).

The quiche was good but not great; it needed a stronger cheese or more seasonings. The strawberries were very good. The mushrooms were wonderful and I will miss morels until next spring.

Independence Days and Market Non-Updates

I don’t have an Independence Days or Market updates this week as I left home the day after I made my last update.  I am currently working flood relief operations in Eastern Kentucky and hoping my plants survive.

Independence Days Update May 3 to 17

Plant something:Finally finished planting the potatoes (better late than never). I have a total of 8 varieties. Potted up the tomatoes and peppers so that I have a little more time to get the beds for them built. Built the first herb bed (approx. 4 X 6) and planted 4 kinds of sage, 2 bee balm plants, 2 plants each of 3 different lavenders, a couple of extra marigolds, three kinds of thyme, oregano, and 4 pepper plants that had lost their label. Built a second bed which is now home to 25 kale plants of 5 different varieties. Put in some flowering plants along the front of the house. I am using that bed as a holding bed until I have others made. Yard is almost under control so there will be more time for gardening.

Harvest/Preserve Something: Harvesting lettuce, spinach, and green onions for salads. Nothing preserved yet; focusing on using up old stores

Reduce/Reuse/Recycle:Traded a work friend a vacuum cleaner I no longer need for a lawn mower she was given and did not need. Purchased a graduation gown from my boss who no longer needs it. I have wanted to own rather than rent one for some time and now I do. On a downside, I gave into a weakness and purchased some magazines while anxious and stressed out. Slowly getting the yard under control and adding grass clippings to compost.

Preparation and Storage:

Build Community: Planted a few seeds about starting a farmer’s market on campus. I think there is a reasonably good chance this could happen for next year.

Eat the Food: Cooked beans from storage with the last of the dried chives from last year and the last of a bag of frozen peppers from the freezer. Eating salad from the lettuce and green onions in the containers.

Skills: Learning more than I care to about poison ivy which is plentiful on this property. Identified lots of waterleaf and garlic mustard that need to be removed as they are harmful to the overall ecosystem here. Identified a hickory nut tree on the property.