More firsts

The season's first tomato posed alluringly against the season's first spaghetti squash

It's small, but it's ripe! The first tomato of the season is finally ready to be eaten, so it will be carefully washed and added to tonight's salad. A spaghetti squash is also ripe and ready, and since we're leaving for vacation tomorrow morning we're going to cook and eat it for dinner. 

I'm kind of surprised that we've got late-season veggies already, but it's been a very hot summer so far and everything is growing and ripening fast. By the time we get back next week I expect that at least some of the corn will be ready and there'll be another big load of zucchini and green beans, too. I don't want to think about how much these vegetables actually cost, but I guess a new garden is expensive to put in. Although I have plans for expanding the planting beds for next year I think it'll be less costly in terms of purchasing tools and compost and in making mistakes that require do-overs. I'm pretty determined to take growing food beyond the realm of expensive hobby and into a life-sustaining, soul-nourishing spiritual practice that connects me more firmly to creation.

In the meantime, Miss Claire and I are heading off for a week in one of the most beautiful places in America, a place of big waters and small Internet, so no blogging until I get back.

When tomatoes attack

Today my car spent the day getting serviced, and the lack of wheels plus the cooler temperatures meant that today was an ideal day for doing some housekeeping in the planting beds. One zucchini plant was discarded, weeds were pulled, bugs were picked off, and dead leaves were stripped off vines. By far, though, the most time-consuming and difficult task was re-staking and pruning the tomato vines, which had gotten quite out of control. Vines heavy with fruit were sagging towards the ground and getting tangled with the other plants, and sucker branches were so dense that air couldn't circulate properly. At one point I lifted up a branch that had obscured one of the cucumber vines and found a ready-to-pick cucumber that I had never noticed before. The very hot weather that lingered for over two weeks has  kept me pretty much out of the garden, but now the plants are thinned, staked, and tidy.

In the meantime, Miss Claire has a new homesteading project: yogurt! She's come into a yogurt maker and at this moment there's a quart of the stuff cooking. We've got some raspberry and peach jam leftover from last summer's canning experiment, and I bet it will be fabulous mixed in!

What I picked today: a few green beans, one zucchini, and a cucumber.
Ready soon: corn, tomatoes, spaghetti squash

Theme of the day:

Say cheese

Several years ago, when we were living in northern Nevada, Miss Claire took up cheesemaking and began working with raw goat milk. We made the acquaintance of a woman who kept a small herd on the outskirts of town, and the abundance of milk that we were able to obtain meant that through Miss Claire's efforts we were always well-stocked with delicious homemade chevre, fresh mozzarella, and an occasional wheel of aged cheddar. When we moved to Michigan we lost our goat milk source, and I clearly remember feeling downright grief-stricken the first time I had to actually buy chevre at Trader Joe's. It's illegal to sell raw milk in Michigan, so finding a source is probably similar to setting up a drug deal. We had to find a farm that offers goatshares which entitle the owners to a portion of the milk produced, and it wasn't easy. Small farms with dairy goats were a pretty far drive from where we live, so we've continued to exist in a cheese-deprived state for several years now.

Fortunately, a renewed interest in producing homemade food propelled us to do a new search through the interwebs, and we discovered a small family homestead called Sunshine Meadows Farm. It's about 20 miles away, offers a CSA plan for organic produce and eggs, and keeps a herd of dairy goats. Miss Claire has already made several trips there, and yesterday I was finally able to go with her. I wanted to meet the source of the cheese I love so much and thank them for their efforts.

When we arrived at the farm we made our way carefully down the driveway, avoiding chickens, bicycles, and children. As soon as I got out of the car the bleating began - a score of baby goats were running up to the fence and demanding that I come closer. While Miss Claire wandered off in search of her milk I patted little goat heads and watched in amusement as they proceeded to untie my shoes and stick their noses in the pockets of my shorts. One little fellow attempted to pull down my zipper, while another got up on her back legs and gave me a hot-breathed goaty kiss on the nose. I immediately fell in love, and if it weren't for fear of being branded a goat thief I would have put one of the babies in the back seat of my car and taken her home. Finally, I tore myself away so that I could see more of the farm and walked away from the pen to the indignant cries of the doelings.

I enjoyed my quick tour of the farm with it's spacious planting beds, chicken runs, and flowers. I got some ideas of what I'd like to accomplish in my own garden next year, and as we drove away with a cooler full of raw milk and a bag full of goat manure for composting, I was grateful to have glimpsed what is possible with hard work and an appreciation for the land.

Dinner, or, how to reduce the odds of a zucchini outbreak

How can you tell if a Midwesterner has no friends? They're buying zucchini in the market during the middle of the summer.

This morning the zucchini vines were thick with blossoms, which potentially means more zucchini than we can possibly eat. We also don't want friends and acquaintances to avoid us for fear of being laden with unwanted squash, so Miss Claire decided to pick a bunch of blossoms and make a meal out of them.

It was quite simple, really: wash the blossoms and evict any ants who had taken up residence. Chop up some garlic, onions, and fresh basil and get them sautéing in a bit of olive oil. Add some salt and pepper for flavor.

In the meantime, boil some water and cook some whole wheat spaghetti. When the onions turns soft and translucent, add some sliced zucchini and continue cooking on medium heat.

Drain the spaghetti, return to the pot, and stir in some pasta sauce. While the sauce and spaghetti is heating up, toss in the blossoms for a quick saute. Be careful not to overcook them. Serve the veggie mixture on top of the spaghetti and sauce. A little grated parmesan and cracked black pepper for added flavor.

Low fat and vegetarian. Vegan if the cheese is omitted.

Growing Hope

It's been much too long since I last posted, which is never a good idea for a blog just getting off the ground. I've actually been away at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, and although I had a great time and learned a tremendous amount about how my church governs itself and makes decisions, I also spent 10 days in a hermetically sealed, over-air conditioned environment that not only cut me off from being outdoors but helped bring on a nasty summer cold.

Despite the sniffles and sneezes, I spent yesterday afternoon with Bill and Billie Hickey of the Detroit Bioneers. The Hickeys are champions of the urban sustainability movement, having moved to the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit about two years ago with the intention of taking part in community  building and food justice through urban farming. Brightmoor is a blight-ridden neighborhood with high unemployment and many abandoned buildings, but there is also a spirit of hope here through the urban gardening initiatives that have taken hold. After a delightful lunch, much of which came from the community garden that the Hickey's have planted, we toured the neighborhood and had a good look at the backyard gardens, community plots, and pocket parks that now dot the area.  Despite my raging cold I was thrilled to see all that's been accomplished here and how growing food and tending animals have given this community not only a sense of pride, but access to healthy food and some economic independence as well. To read more about the Brightmoor urban farming project, clicky here.

In the meantime, my own garden is really pushing out the green beans and zucchini. The tomato vines are heavy with green fruit, the spaghetti squash are coming along nicely, and the first stalks of corn are starting to appear. Unfortunately, the resident groundhog has been enjoying the watermelon and cucumber vines and I'm not sure how well the plants will recover. I'm trying not to get too worked up about it because animals will do what they do, but it is a bit frustrating to see all my hard work get eaten up by critters.