(Front) Garden Veggie Break

Before you become over saturated with bathroom renovation pictures, I think we'll take a look at what is in our early February garden (in the front yard). First up, broccoli. I like it with flowers, the boys prefer it without. It should keep producing another 3 weeks or so. (One cousin asked what kind of broccoli it is - well, I admit, I cheated and used starts from HD, so I don't actually know what kind it was. As long as you cut off the big heads that show up first, it will keep producing smaller parts - and it is pretty tasty. If I find a tag when I  dig up the garden, I can tell you what kind of broccoli it was.)We (the adults) had creamy broccoli soup tonight (the kids will only eat broccoli steamed). The other day we had creamy lemon broccoli  gnocchi.



Next up, my favorite fractal veg - Romanesco broccoli  (one head only). I think we will eat it lightly steamed or sauteed with some pine nuts for a side on Valentine's Day. (Main dish? Maybe maple and mustard crusted pork?) I planted this from a start, too. The rest of the starts in the backyard gardens were eaten by the chickens that flew the coop before I clipped their wings. Naughty chickens. I think maybe one plant survived the attack but it hasn't produced anything yet.

We also have 2 huge heads of cabbage to eat. I am not good at staggering planting, so they are both ready. (The purple is Mizuna, which is a peppery mustardy Japanese green, which is good in salad - but I keep getting it in my CSA box, too, so mostly we give it to the chickens.)

So, not a veg, but the lavender looks good and smells wonderful. I cut a bunch off and put it in a vase inside. If I knew how to dry it correctly, I could make some sachets or something. Maybe another day.

 

That's not edible. Well, the arugula is. It is starting to bolt, so I am slowly replacing it with carrots and other lettuces.

And another not-veg: limes! We had so many leftover limes this year - they all turned yellow and fell off since I didn't know what to do with them. I made a batch of lime marmelade that was delicious, lime bars (too sweet), a lime pie (also too sweet), and several batches of lime-ade. Send me some lime recipes for next winter! (Which reminds me, I will also take your favorite crock-pot recipes. So far I have only tried a Spanish stew (yum) and an African stew (ho-hum).

And by the way, George stopped by to say hi! The poor fellow was home Mon - Thurs. I was sick Thurs - today and probably am still sick. Both boys are STILL coughing and JT went  to bed this evening at 5:30. It has been a weird February. His elementary school usually has an average of 18 kids sick on a Feb weekday - on Wednesday there were 50 sick. The only one not sick here is Mr. Burli and he is on a strict renovation deadline, so he needs to stay well! (He was also smart and actually got the flu shot. Not that we have/had the flu, but maybe?)