Garden discoveries

You can’t eat more locally than when you eat food grown in your own garden.  This year, I have a rather large vegetable and flower garden – my first real garden and a big experiment.  My backyard is long and narrow, and divided in three sections: one I call the lower garden is closest to the house, the second is reserved for a tool shed to be built over the summer and the third I call the upper garden, where tall hackberry, pecan and hickory trees will shelter fruits and vegetables from the summer sun.  Years of falling leaves from those trees have helped to create deep fertile soil.  From the back of the upper garden, the land slopes gently toward the house and some years ago someone built concrete retaining walls creating the three separate terraces that have become my three sections.

The winter of 2010 wasn’t a pleasant one in San Antonio - characterized by late freezes, many wet grey days with highs in the 40’s, and very little sunshine in-between.  First I planted small cauliflower and spinach plants toward the end of February, which is a little late in the season.  The unpleasant weather continued and on rare days of warm sunshine, I ventured out with seeds (lettuce, radishes, carrots, Swiss chard, and red beets), red onion transplants, and a variety or herbs.  As days went by, several varieties of peppers, squash, pickling cucumbers, cantaloupes, and green beans also went in the ground.  Of course a cold front blew in and stuck around for a while.  I ended up having to cover my young plants which, to my surprise, all survived.

The radishes came up first, followed by cilantro, carrots, beets, chard then lettuce.  The cauliflowers and spinach grew larger every day; the green beans came up through the soil.  It was mid-March, and by the end of the month, we were eating a variety of greens in delicious salads.  It was warm enough to eat outside and in doing so, we joined a variety of birds who visit the feeder I have hanged in a tree in a back corner of the lower garden.  I also noticed many birds on the ground.  They hide in a patch of tall weedy grass I left on the edge of the garden, right under the feeder, and I watch them as they catch insects.  So far I haven’t had any problems with bugs eating my greens, perhaps because the birds keep them in check.  I enjoy listening to my winged friends as they sing, eat, chase bugs and sometimes each other; two birdbaths provide plenty of entertainment and water for bathing or drinking.  What a pleasure it is to work or sit in the garden, with the anaqua and honeysuckle in full fragrant bloom...a feast for the senses.

My garden has offered many surprises, some culinary.  When the time came to cull the radishes, I looked at those gorgeous greens and thought, “what a shame to waste those, even if they’re going in the compost.”  That afternoon, I made the comment to my mother on the phone expecting some sympathetic response; I never thought radish greens were edible.  Instead of hearing “oui c’est domage de les jeter”, my mother exclaimed : “tu peux faire la soupe avec”.  It wasn’t a shame at all to have to throw them on the compost pile, I didn’t have to throw them away – I could make soup.  And I did.  Soon the carrot greens followed.  Here’s the recipe; it works for both:

Radish greens or carrot greens (about 3 cups), washed and chopped

1 potato, small to medium-ish, diced

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

Salt and pepper

Butter

-          Melt the butter and slightly brown the onion, then add the greens

-          Cook for 5 minutes and use that time to heat up about 2 cups of water;

-          Add the potato and carrot to the greens and cover with the hot water;

-          Add salt and pepper to taste, cover with a lid, and cook for about 15 minutes (until the carrot and potatoes are cooked);

-          Set aside to cool then use a hand-held mixer to puree the vegetables.  If your soup is too thick you can add water.