What’s up on the farm? Well…everything!
Remember those potato sets that I cut two weeks ago, all 250 pounds of them? Well they are now 16 beautiful rows of potato plants growing at an astonishing rate. Just look at how big the Cranberry Reds have gotten.
The best potato salad I’ve ever eaten is surely just around the corner.
We also have sugar snap peas ripening by the gallon. I’ve been sneaking into the garden to snack on them whenever I feel a little hunger pang between meals, but they’re also a fantastic addition to spring green salads.
Last Saturday I used Coon Rock sugar snap peas and Harrington Farm’s asparagus to make a Pasta Primavera which was too delicious to produce any leftovers.
Before this month I had never experienced truly fresh peas or asparagus. Those of you who are long time readers may remember how last year I had to cheat and buy asparagus from Peru because no one in the Piedmont Triad had any local stuff. Not so here in the Triangle (sorry Triad fans). I had never realized how fresh tasting and green asparagus is if it’s cut the same day you eat it. If you are one of those who believe that asparagus is bitter: the asparagus you were eating was too old. Fresh asparagus is almost too good to be true. And sweet peas! I know this is silly, but the I never understood where the name “sweet pea” came from until I ate a sugar snap straight from the vine. I had never realized how sweet peas could be. These are sweet, and crisp, and just full of juice. I could probably down a pint of them raw.
As for other plants coming up, it does really seem like everything is all at once. The new beets that we planted outside as seeds are now tiny rows of red and green leaves. The tomato seedlings are 5 inches tall and growing fast. The cabbages are beginning to develop tiny heads in the center of their broad leaves. The fava beans are flowering, which means that I’ll get to taste a new spring-time classic any day now (last years were grocery store finds from goodness knows where). Our turnips and radishes are ripening (Actually the turnips are more than ripe. They are HUGE.). The beans look like elementary school science experiments on an enormous scale. Did your 4th grade science textbook have a picture of a bean plant growing with the seed and the two heart-shaped leaves? Don’t these look just the same?
As for this to try cooking, my oh my. Here’s a little springtime menu for you to try.
- Start your day with Strawberry and Honey French Toast. It’s so decadent that it’s hard to believe it’s local and (sort of) healthy.
- For lunch whip up an all local Spring Quiche with Maple Sausage.
- At dinner it’s time to pull out all the stops. Have a Strawberry and Spring Onion Salad (inspired by Jamie), Pasta Primavera, and Lewisville Style Pork Ribs.
- If by some chance you’re still hungry after all that food try some Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble and a glass of Mint Iced Tea.
May 13, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Amy, all of that sounds so delicious, I think I just drooled a little. I’ll have to try my hand at the quiche. I love quiche. However, I always feel guilty about it because I’m always too rushed to make my own crusts. I used to of course, but then when I discovered that one could buy a perfectly good frozen crust I stopped. Damned grocery store!
Speaking of making dough from scratch, I think I finally reached my peak for the making of ravioli dough. Without a press, it always remains just a bit thicker than I’d like, but I think I finally got a feel for the flexibility and smoothness the dough requires. Oh to have the appropriate machine for it! Then I’d be able to get those delicate pillows that you get at real Italian restaurants.
Speaking of Italians, I believe the Raffaldini Vineyard will be holding some excessively expensive wine dinners soon that I won’t be attending. However, what that does mean is that they still produce wine, and I am excited to try their new vintages. Perhaps at some point we can all go up that way again and make a day of it? I know they’ve had a tough time with grape supplies because of last years late frosts, but that may also mean that they juice is particularly concentrated.
May 20, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Ames, you have tasted fresh asparagus, but you were only about 3 at the time. Back in suburban NJ, Tinton Falls, the previous owner had planted a row of asparagus, and since we were there the 2nd year, we got to harvest it first. I didn’t know that it cooked so much quicker than store stuff, so I ruined the first batch, but we enjoyed a spring of goodies after that.
Mom