I’m happy to say that my garden is planted and on its way to providing me with a harvest. Most of it will likely come at the end of summer, but some things are happening right now. I was especially pleased to spy some tomatoes on my Tommy Toe plant!
The first of the Tommy Toe tomatoes
As you can see in the picture, there are some creepy crawlies on the tomato plant. I’ve been having to deal with aphids and such this year – they were not an issue last year, so I find this bizarro. I guess it’s just nature, though – unpredictable.
So far, they haven’t wrecked havoc on my plants, and I hope it stays that way. Ladybugs and garlic spray are certainly options. I do check the plants each morning and shake off the bugs, which has seemed to work fine so far.
I’m actually growing a variety of tomatoes: Tommy Toe, Mexican Midget, Blondköpfchen, Silver Fir, and Stupice. The Blondköpfchen, Silver Fir, and Stupice are small but chugging along.
June tomatoes
I’m also growing peppers! Tolli, a sweet italian pepper; Jalepeño, which is of course hot; and Bull Nose, a sweet bell type pepper. Thanks to my friend Alex for gifting me these peppers. I was also given a bunch of bean starts from my neighbor Nick. I asked him what kind of beans they are and he said “long”. So, we’ll see how they end up.
Peppers and beans
My boarge is doing well. Since I planted it, I’ve learned about all sorts of things to do with this plant. I originally planted it for the beautiful blue flowers – I thought I’d put them in iced tea or lemonade, and also use them as bee attractors. But I’ve learned that you can also use the leaves, too. Apparently they have a taste reminiscent of cucumbers. I would consider using the flowers also in fresh goat cheese and in salads.
Borage is an herbalist’s favorite, so it seems. Lots of information can be found here.
Borage
I’m also pleased that some volunteers have made themselves known:
A volunteer - maybe a cucumber?Ground cherries from last year
As far as volunteers go in the garden, there’s another cucumbery looking plant, and a tomatillo, of all things (none of my tomatillos fruited last year). I’ve also planted a Mexican Sour Gherkin, Edens Gem melon, and a Charentais melon. They are a bit thin, thanks to the leggyness from the spring, but I expect they’ll grow and get stronger. I’ll post photos of them soon.
Summer gardens are always very exciting! More images of my garden can be found in my Garden 2011 photoset on Flickr.
Our first share of the 2011 season of the Hellgate CSA
I am so happy that our CSA started up again! Yesterday was our first distribution of the season. We received:
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1 bunch of absolutely gorgeous scallions
a bag of sunchokes
a bunch of oregano
a quart of strawberries
Everything is organic and local – we get our vegetable shares from Green Thumb Farm out on the south fork of Long Island. Farmer Bill and the rest of the Halsey clan has been providing us with vegetables for many years now – we are starting our seventh season!
I washed and cleaned the strawberries – I expect they’ll be gone by tonight. I had them over my last ramekin of baked custard today and it was a perfect pairing. It satisfied my suspicion that this custard is an awesome base for seasonal fruit.
I am hoping to make a pesto out of the oregano, I have so much of it. I could run the dehydrator, too, but it’s awfully hot here in NYC right now, and the dehydrator blows hot air out of it. But oregano pesto intrigues me – I expect it would go great with fish, and probably good in soup. The scallions are incredible – mild but not flavorless, and with no harsh edge to them. I will most likely make carmelized green onions if I don’t eat them all in a few days.
Distribution was a joy last night, too. So many happy people, excited members new and old, and lots of beautiful kids running around (and some in strollers). We had some snacks, and some amazing lemonade made by Fresh Start, our hosts. My fellow Core members are lovely and I’m so glad to be working actively on this season again with them.
Lots of people picking up
Here’s to a great CSA season! The next six months are going to be awesome.
For more photos from our first distribution for the year, you can find them in my CSA 2011 – Week 1 photoset.
A few days ago it finally cooled down a bit, so I decided to use the oven; I don’t like to turn it on when it’s hot and humid, for obvious reasons. At the beginning of the week, I came across a recipe for baked custard, which sounded delicious – so much so that my mind wouldn’t let go of it! I knew I had to make it.
It is a very simple recipe with minimal ingredients – whole milk, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m cutting out pretty much all refined sugars but partaking in a small amount of unrefined sweetener, and this recipe is a dream in that respect because it calls for only 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Split into 6 servings, this amount of sugar is well within tolerable limits.
It took about 5 minutes to measure and mix everything together, and about 50 minutes to bake it in the oven. I also chose to use ramekins instead of a larger single container in order to manage reasonable portion sizes. Plus it took less time to cook in ramekins than it would have in a larger dish.
The custard sets up beautifully, I must say. It developed a little bit of a skin on top, but I like it that way. You could probably put tinfoil on top of the ramekins if custard skin is unappealing. The texture of the custard itself is delicate and creamy, and the flavor is wonderfully milky and barely sweet.
I tried the custard in both warm and cold versions, and by far I prefer this custard chilled. This allows for the flavors to merge and set, and to me the flavor is more satisfying. However, some people do like these custards warm, so my statement really reveals simply a personal preference.
Although this custard is delicious on its own, I think it would be good topped with macerated fruit. I look forward to using it as a base for strawberries especially. CSA strawberries are just around the corner!
For the full recipe for the baked custard, you can find it on the Real Food Houston site. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Well, I’m happy to report that the inaugural Queens Swap was a rousing success! Everyone had a great time and left with new-to -them goodies. The space, graciously donated by the Queens Kickshaw, was perfect – even Jen, one of the owners, got into the action! She swapped containers of their delicious curried pepitas for a whole bunch of yummy things. Both she and Ben, her husband and business partner, were really impressed by the event.
The whole thing lasted about 2 hours, which was the perfect amount of time for this kind of event. That included enough time for people to arrive, set up, chat with the other swappers, make trades, and even get a drink and a grilled cheese sandwich to munch on – Queens Kickshaw makes wonderful coffee and incredible grilled cheese sandwiches that are actually cooked on a grill (after starting out warming in the oven).
My favorite of their sandwiches is the Gouda, which combines gouda cheese with guava jam, black bean hummus, and pickled jalepeños, all on Balthazar’s buttery brioche bread. It’s beyond fantastic. It also comes with a small salad made of myriad greens and fresh herbs, dressed with a piquant and spicy vinaigrette. I actually arrived early so that I could eat one of those sandwiches and have a cappuccino before things started to rev up with the swap.
The Gouda sandwich with salad
Back to the swap. The variety of swappable food items was impressive, which made me very happy. There were lacto-fermented items, jams and relishes, wine, cookies, marshmallows, granola, and more. All homemade.
Here’s what I took home:
Jars of delicious things I swapped for
I’ve tasted everything except the black onion relish (left). The contents of the other three jars are all amazing, and I have no doubt that the black onion relish will be delicious. I also got a few bags of peanut and pepita brittle for my boyfriend. He tasted it last night and thought it was very tasty.
The things that I swapped were two bottles of vin d’orange, two bottles of maple vinegar, and a jar of homemade vanilla extract. It was pretty exciting to make the trades, and I’m glad there were people who wanted what I brought.
I loved seeing how happy people were, too.
Everyone smiling and happy.
And fun to see people casing the goods, making bids.
We’re already talking about and planning the next Queens Swap, which will be in July. I will share details of it here when they are in place! Many thanks for all who attended and also to my fellow organizers, Judith and Charlene. I couldn’t have brought this idea to light without their help.
A sneak preview of what I’m swapping tomorrow at the Queens Swap. No labels on the bottles to at least retain some of the surprise! I like not knowing exactly what everyone is bringing. Excited that we are doing it at the Queens Kickshaw, too.
I love these flask bottles – nice and reusable as well.
Someday I want to try the miracle fruit. I first read about it in Fruit Hunters, an excellent book about the fascinating world of fruit and the people who love it. How the miracle fruit changes our interpretation of flavors is amazing. I’ve heard there have been miracle fruit parties on rooftops in Long Island City. One day I’ll get my hands on one of these fruits!
Refined sugar has probably been the most challenging food I deal with, even after spending the past two and a half years focusing on eating more nourishing foods. I definitely have a sweet tooth, and always have. I love cookies, caramels, cakes, and ice cream; I can’t remember a time when I didn’t like sweets. When I was a little girl and into my early 20s, it seemed like I could eat sugary treats with no limit.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more aware of the affects food has on me. Sugar is the most distinctive and has the strongest physical effect on me, even moreso than white flour.
From time to time I get up the gumption to eliminate refined sugar from my diet. Every single time, I feel better when I get rid of the sugar – I’m calmer and less quick to judge on things, I can concentrate better, I’m more balanced emotionally, and my skin and hair quality improves. I also lose weight. Results are 100% positive.
So, why do I always return to eating sugar? Well, it tastes good, for one. Sugar is also said to have addictive qualities, but I’m not completely convinced on that one (at least compared to addictions like tobacco and heroin). Sugary treats are also a big part of our social traditions – celebration cakes, ice cream in the summer, cookies with milk after school. And I appreciate the skill and tradition behind the pastry arts.
My biggest challenge is handling my desire for something made with sugar with the knowledge of how it negatively effects my body when I eat it. I tend to “conveniently forget” how I feel after I eat it, and down the hatch it goes. Yet at the same time, I have learned that complete denial of anything sweet is a recipe for disaster for me.
One solution to “having my sweets and eating them, too” (aka balance) is to eat things made of unrefined sugars. My body tolerates these sweeteners far better than it does refined sugar, in part because when I eat unrefined sugars, I ingest them in much smaller quantities than I would with a refined sugar.
And I think the quantity is important. Maple syrup, white sugar, honey – they’re all sugar on a basic level and have effects on the body. Whole fruit is fortunate to have its sugars combined with fiber, which helps slow down the absorption.
My favorite raw honey from Lost Hollow
For me, unrefined sweeteners include maple syrup and honey (usually raw, sometimes not). Sucanat (sugar cane natural) and coconut sugar are pushing it a little bit further to the edge of my body’s comfort level, but in small amounts they are ok. Still, I find that Sucanat has a slight bitter aftertaste, so I have shyed away from it in the past.
Another option I’ve found is carob, which is naturally sweet. I know a lot of people don’t care for it, but I think the key is not thinking about it as a chocolate or cocoa replacement. It’s flavor is much earthier and less sophisticated, but I love it.
Then of course there is fruit, which is naturally sweet and completely unprocessed if eaten out of hand. When fruit is ripe and in season, though, there’s nothing better.
Amazing strawberries from my CSA
As I’ve learned from Shauna, the Gluten Free Girl, after learning it would be wise to cut certain foods out of one’s diet, focusing on what you can eat is not just preferable, it’s freeing. Obsessing on denial and what I can’t have deflates me and brings me down, making me generally miserable. So why not embrace what sweet things I can eat, that plays well with my body? As I mentioned above, fruit in season is wonderful – and I have a fruit share with my CSA to provide me with seasonal fruit. It’s going to be amazing.
This is your life. This is your body. This is your new reality. If you wake up and decide you’re going to love it (you have no idea how much better you are going to feel without the gluten), then you will.
Accept it. Shout about it with those string of expletives if you want. Allow yourself to grieve. But do that all with clear eyes. This is your life. Accept it.
For me, I replace “gluten” with “sugar” and it’s completely applicable to my life. Although, I already know how much better I feel without the sugar. It’s remarkable.
So, I’ll be focusing on the can instead of the can’t. When it comes to social events, I’ll take each one on a case by case basis. If a friend of family member has lovingly prepared something sweet for me, especially if we are in a celebratory mood, I’ll likely take a small taste (and refuse to feel guilty about it), and be grateful for that’s person’s efforts to honor someone in my community.
For me, it’s all about feeling good and respecting my body, while finding balance. And it’s a journey; I look forward to navigating these next steps.
For further reading: Is Sugar Toxic? by Gary Taubes [NY Times]
