Dinners from the Winter Farmers Market

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about going to the Farmers Market in January. I thought I would report on what we made with all of our winter produce.

First, we made a savoy cabbage gratin from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen (a wonderful vegetarian cookbook). I have just started making gratins (in December I made a swiss chard and sweet potato gratin from Smitten Kitchen). Unfortunately, I have fallen in love with these rich, creamy dishes. Although packed with vegetables, I am afraid they are also loaded with calories.

With the gratin, we had medley of roasted autumn vegetables. This too was terrific. It was a pretty dish, easy to make, and had lots of interesting flavors. The addition of the vinegar, onion, and chives at the end made it go from good to great!

The gratin only used half of the cabbage, so I had to figure out what to do with the rest. I had made cabbage soup only about a week ago, so that was out. Then I found a recipe for Moo Shu Pork on the Cooking Light website. Although the recipe calls for napa cabbage, the savoy worked great. Mr. 2GA raved about this recipe. It is healthy and easy to make, so we will be having it again before too long.

Not all of our dishes were smash hits. The braised turnips with poppy seed breadcrumbs were edible, but not nearly as good as we had hoped. And not good enough for a picture apparently, because I forgot to take one.

I have always liked winter vegetables, but having all of these veggies in the house at once really encouraged me to try new ways of fixing them. Do you have any favorite recipes for winter vegetables? If so, please share them!

One last note - my sad pumpkin soup made the "Grow Your Own" roundup over at House of Annie. Check it out!

Native Plant of the Month: White Oak

Okay, this month's plant is a big one, and I really debated if I should include it. I know many people have small yards and are never going to be able to plant such a big tree. However, I wanted to highlight what I have learned about oaks, and this is the most impressive oak that grows in my region (the mid-Atlantic).

According to Douglas Tallamy (author of Bringing Nature Home), oak trees are the single most important plant to grow if you want to support animal diversity. Oaks support over 500 species of moths and butterflies (which, in his studies serve as a proxy for all insects). In addition, its nuts provide food for a number of small mammals.

So why the White Oak (quercus alba)? Well first, it is a beautiful, majestic tree that has beautiful color in fall. It is the Maryland State Tree and many Maryland gardeners are familiar with Maryland's most beloved tree, the Wye Oak, over 450 years old when it was felled by a storm in 2002.

As for growing conditions - first, the White Oak needs room. It will grow to 75-100 feet tall, with a spread the same size. It does well in sun or part shade and does not need a lot of moisture.

These are fairly slow growing trees and they have a long-tap root, so it is best to transplant them when they are small. A lot of traditional nurseries do not sell oaks, but they are available at native plant nurseries. Here is a source of a seedling from the Wye Oak.

Even if a white oak is too big for your yard, consider some of the smaller oaks like bear oak (quercus ilicifolia) or blackjack oak (quercus marilandica).

You might also like:

December plant of the month: winterberry

November plant of the month: doll's eyes

October plant of the month: sugar maple

September plant of the month: blueberry

August plant of the month: joe pye weed

Photo credit: Anosmia

The Farmers Market in January

One local farmers market stays open all year round and I have always wondered what you can buy at the farmers market in winter and who goes to the market this time of year.

This Saturday was one of the first nice days we have had in a while, so I headed off to the market to check things out. It was surprisingly crowded (perhaps because of the nice weather) and also offered a decent variety of fruit, vegetables, meats, and cheeses.

So what did I buy? Turnips, rutabagas, shallots, savoy cabbage, and some local apples. There were also plenty of greens for sale, some hydroponic tomatoes, onions lots of varieties of squash and, for some reason, lots of red peppers.

As for who was there - it was the regular contingent - a wide variety of races, ages, income levels, etc. In addition to the great produce, I have always loved this farmers market because it seems to represent a microcosm of the city. It is a great place for people watching.

Tonight I will be using the cabbage in a gratin and some of the rutabagas in a mixture of roasted vegetables. Both are new recipes that I can't wait to try!

Analysis paralysis

I love to think about garden projects, love to plan garden projects. Love, love, LOVE.

Especially in winter.

Is there anything better than sitting down with a bunch of gardening books, a computer, and a garden notebook? Researching plants, looking up pictures, sketching out plans, cross referencing height, water requirements, deer resistance, etc?

I love this so much that my husband will tease me that I like to think about gardening more than I actually like to garden. Sometimes I think he might be right.

But the other reason I spend so much time on planning is that I have such a hard time making choices about the garden. Should I put a row of blueberries here? Or would river birch look better? Or maybe this area should be incorporated into the meadow I am thinking about (key word: thinking!). By deciding on one option, I have to reject all the others. And for me, that is hard to do!

Another problem I have is that sometime I over plan. I develop a plan that includes every plant I need, down to the varietal. Then, if I cannot find these exact plants, the whole plan falls apart and I start all over. It is a wonder I ever get anything planted.

I don't have this problem in the vegetable garden, for a couple of reasons. First, I am not making a long term commitment to anything - I only have to live with the plants for a year. And as important, if I don't make a decision by a certain date, I lose my opportunity to grow vegetables. So, while I may dither a bit about the exact plants in the vegetable garden, in the end, it does get planted each year.

It is the more permanent plants that cause me the most anxiety. Right now, I am in full planning mode for spring planting and I am trying something a little different which I hope will make it easier for me to actually get something in the ground. When looking at how to plant an area, I am trying to find a few alternatives that would work well for the site. So, if I need some medium (3-5) bushes that work in a sunny, dry spot in my yard, I am trying not to get caught up in the one "best" bush, but instead to find 2 or 3 that I like so that I might have more luck actually finding one. I will let you know how it turns out.

Do you have any tricks to help you move from planning to action? I would appreciate any advice!

A not so great garden pumpkin soup

This year we had a volunteer pumpkin plant that we let grow. It produced those small pumpkins that people use for decorating. We harvested about a dozen of them and had them all around the house for some nice fall decoration.


It seemed sort of silly to just throw them out when we were done with them, but I didn't want to throw them in the compost since that is how I got the volunteer in the first place. So I started looking around for pumpkin recipes. I have never really been a fan of pumpkin, but I thought I should give it a try. I finally decided on a soup recipe from Epicurious that looked easy and got good reviews.



The first problem was that there was very little "meat" on these pumpkins. As a result, I was perhaps not as vigilant in pulling out all the stringy stuff for fear I wouldn't have anything left.




Although the recipe did not specifically call for roasted the pumpkin, I decided to do so because I was concerned that these might not be the most flavorful pumpkins in the world and that roasting would help. I also decided to roast the seeds while I was at it.


Once done, I scooped out all of the pumpkin and made the soup. It was a disappointing mess. The flavor was okay, but the consistency was stringy which I really did not care for. Mr. 2 Green Acres actually liked the soup (and yes, I think he really meant it), but I won't be making that again.

The pumpkin seeds were fine, but they are miniature, just like the pumpkins, so they are a bit of a pain to eat. All in all, a bit of a bust. But at least I tried, right?


I still have more pumpkins and have an interesting recipe for cheese stuffed pumpkins. But I am not commited to making it. I think I might be done with the pumpkin thing.

Native Plant of the Month: Winterberry

When most plants have hunkered down to wait out winter, winterberry (ilex verticillata) continues to put on a show. Unlike most hollies, winterberry is decidious. When it loses its leaves in later winter, all that remains are its beautiful red berries.

In addition to being a cheerful bright spot in the winter landscape, these berries serve as a great source of food for song birds in the winter months.

If you are interested in adding a winterberry to your garden, be sure to buy at least two - a male and a female. You only need one male plant for many females, but it should be within 50 feet of the females to ensure good berry production.

This holly is native to the eastern half of the U.S., prefers moist, acidic soil, and grows in sun to partial shade. Winterberry bushes can get up to 10 feet tall and wide, but there are a number of varietals in all sizes. For more information on this great plant for winter interest, check out this website.

You might also like:

November native plant of the month: Doll's Eyes
October native plant of the month: Sugar Maple
September native plant of the month: Blueberry
August native plant of the month: Joe Pye Weed

Photo credit: Muffet

Gifts for Gardeners: Beyond books

For the final installment of my gardener gift guide, I want to highlight some gift ideas for gardeners beyond books (for books, see gift guides part 1 and part 2).

1. Rain barrel - Okay, you might want to be cautious with this one. Some people react to a rain barrel the same way they would react to a vacuum under the Christmas tree. But for the right person, this is a great gift. There are lots of different rain barrels you can buy, but they are also pretty easy to make if you are handy.

2. Bluebird house - Help reintroduce bluebirds into your neighborhood with a bluebird house. Or, if you are more interested in other birds, check out this great resource guide from the National Audubon Society.


3. Gardening gloves - Most gardeners can use a new pair of gardening gloves, and I particularly like these. With other gloves, I often end up taking them off when I am trying to do delicate work, but with these, I have sufficient dexterity so I don't need to remove them. I also like how the protect from prickers, but don't make your hands hot.


4. Garden spade - Maybe it is just me, but I used to go through garden spades at a rapid rate. I get a little over-enthusiastic with my use of the spade and end up bending the shaft. My husband got me this spade when I became a Master Gardener (awwww), and I have used it for several years now and no bending!


5. Garden pruners - Every gardener needs good pruners. If you don't have some, put these on your list. The ones I have are an older version, but I love them - had them for years and they are still sharp, still work great.


I hope this gift list has been helpful. I would love to hear about what is on your list; what I have missed.