April Showers bring May Showers...
This was a huge week for all of us gardening fools. Unfortunately for me, it rained every single day that I had off work and was sunny and beautiful on the days that I was gone. I was fortunate enough to almost break a few bones in my foot on Tuesday which got me off work early on Thursday and Friday. If you think that I promptly went home and iced, elevated and rested my foot like a good nurse, you are mistaken! I painfully donned my garden boots and went to plant garden #2.
With Woodman’s help, we have been able to terrace the garden at my mom’s house which gave us the opportunity to square-foot part of it. I got almost everything planted. I am still a little leery about the basil and a few other plants, it’s just too blasted cold for the most tender things. If summer ever gets here, I will have pesto from my basil!
The potatoes are popping up through the ground. I started to hill dirt around the plants. It is so exciting to see the bits of green popping up through the dirt, knowing that my trench digging was not all in vain! I will have potatoes coming out my ears this fall. I am planting another 10 pounds of yukon gold potatoes at the farm this week, as well as peas, beans, carrots and broccoli.
The peas at my house are starting to climb the trellis’ that I made from the orchard prunings this spring. I am getting excited for fresh peas steamed with butter and peas tossed into pasta salads and for just eating them straight off of the vine! Woodman fertilized for me this week while I was at work, combined with the rain, the plants should be getting a big nutrient boost.
I harvested some rhubarb on Saturday morning. My first rhubarb harvest ever! The stalks are so beautiful and I love that they vary in color from deep red to the palest green. After cutting the stalks, I took off the leaves (the leaves are poisonous...DON’T EAT THEM) and washed the stalks in cold water. Then I chopped them into 1-inch pieces and put them to good use in a rhubarb crumble that was absolutely amazing!!! I thought that I would share the recipe with you...don’t miss it...it’s absolutely beautiful!
This crumble recipe is a little different from others. It has ginger in the actual crumble topping and it makes it extra special. It is a Jamie Oliver recipe; if I could be anyone for one day...I would be Jamie Oliver. He is an amazing chef, he knows so much about local and seasonal eating and is a champion food fighter. He is fighting for better food in schools for our children. He is definitely one of my heroes! He is also known as the Naked Chef...I would love to be the NAKED chef for just one day...I could have fun with that!
STICKY GINGER RHUBARB CRUMBLE
from the cookbook Jamie At Home
2 1/4 lbs rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into large chunks (about 7 1/2 cups)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 orange, juice and zest of
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 cup rolled oat
2 pieces fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
Preheat your oven to 350°F Put the rhubarb and half the sugar into a pan. Add the orange juice and zest, put a lid on top, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for around 5 more minutes, until the rhubarb has softened slightly. Spoon into an ovenproof baking dish or individual dishes and spread out evenly across the bottom.
To make your crumble topping, use your fingers to lightly rub together the flour and butter until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the oats, the rest of the sugar and the ginger. (If you like, you can make the crumble topping in a food processor. Just whack in the flour, butter, sugar and ginger and whiz up. Add the oats for the last 10 seconds.) Sprinkle the crumble over the rhubarb and bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until the rhubarb is bubbling up and crumble is golden.
Enjoy...we did!
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