Armchair Gardening

On the heels of my last post, I thought it would be fun to give a very, very small list of my favorite books as recommendations for reading this winter, and for perhaps, 

gift giving in the upcoming holiday season.

Cold Antler Farm by Jenna Woginrich

 Jenna writes about homesteading, animal husbandry, and the trials of a one woman farm.

Her style of writing is engaging and the stories are compelling. 

The Cook and the Gardener  is a charming story of a chef, hired by a wealthy family

on their estate in France, her struggle to connect with the aging gardener, and her seasonally-inspired recipes.  The book reads like a novel inside of a cookbook.

Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison is the closest thing to garden porn I've ever seen.

She treats the vegetables by family (for example, the Umbelliferae or Carrot family) and details variety selections, how to use the entire plant, nuggets of kitchen wisdom, as well as good oil, herb, and seasoning companions for each family. 

Dear Mr. Jefferson by Laura Simon is a cute novel in which a gardener imagines a dialogue with Thomas Jefferson and his gardens at Monticello, writing letters to him as she travels
down a path of discovery in her own garden.
A light read with many interesting nuggets of gardening information.

I would like to assume that everyone has read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by 

Barbara Kingsolver,  but if you haven't, it's great insight on eating locally, eating seasonally, and being a bit more self-reliant and not so tied into the processed food system.

Try making the mozzarella cheese from the recipe 

(they sell rennet at the Natural Harvest Co-Op in Virginia).  

Amazingly easy / homemade caprese!

Being a gardening and cooking junkie, I loved Cooked by Michael Pollan.  I have enjoyed all of his books, but this one is my favorite.  A perfect read for anyone interested in the 'techniques' and the history of cooking broken down into four categories:  Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.

Pollan handily dispels the myth that only the wealthy glitterati can afford to eat healthily.
The section on housewives being the focus of the processed food industry
after WWII is fascinating.

Turn Here Sweet Corn, by Atina Diffley is a favorite Minnesota story.  Atina writes about her struggles with urban development and its effects on their organic farm, "Gardens of Eagan".  If you lived in the Twin Cities in the '80s and '90s, you'll remember them well.

Blessing the Hands that Feed Us chronicles Vicki Robin's year long quest to eat locally on Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington State.  Her endeavor educates and astonishes her.

Armchair gardening is a favorite pastime for Zone 3 gardeners like us.  You can while away

hours planning next year's garden, pick through recipes and decide how 

you will plant and eat next spring and summer.

Any of these books would be delightful as a hostess gift if you are lucky enough to have been invited to share a Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, 

and/or great to wrap and put under the 

 Hanukkah bush or Christmas tree.

A gift certificate from Gracie's Plant Works would also be fabulous for any

gardener in your life.  Next spring, we will be offering a wider array of

botanical treasures 

and are sure to have something for everyone: 

an expanded selection of flowering annuals, perennials and 

nursery stock (including fruit trees), garden art, and a new gift shop
full of garden gifts, accessories, kitchen and home decor!  

GPW gift certificates are available in any amount you'd like, exquisitely gift wrapped at your request, certain to please, and they never expire.

Please contact Patty or Kathy
(call, leave a private message with your contact information on
our Facebook page or email us) if you'd like to purchase a gift certificate any time this winter for  hostess, holiday or birthday presents.

Click here to go to Gracie's Plant Works on Facebook 
Click here for Kathy's email
Click here for Patty's email
Cheers!
Kathy and Patty

A side note:  all of the opinions in this post are mine, I have read every book from cover to cover personally, 
and I have not been compensated for writing any of these reviews.

Days of Grace and Potato Leek Soup

By now, we've all harvested the last of the cold-hardy crops from our gardens and

are actually looking a little bit forward to a respite from the hard play of summer, the hard work of fall cleanup, and the myriad preparations for winter that are necessary.

The weather is cool and the work outside is done.  The days are getting shorter and the nights longer.

Old man winter is waking up, just as we in the north country start our annual 'nesting' routine and are settling in for a couple of months of much deserved and anticipated down time. 

Recently, I've read Cold Antler Farm by Jenna Woginrich. Many, many books will pass through my hands between now and the beginning of the planting season for Gracie's Plant Works (February).  

  I am sharing with you a passage from Jenna's book, which I believe will 

resonate with most of us in the north country.  You don't have to be a farmer or a gardener or a grower to understand the Days of Grace, we all experience these days no matter what our vocation.

Days of Grace

It was gray outside, the wind moving wet leaves around the precisely manicured lawn. 

He looked past the bleak weather on the other side of the windows and said with a 

nostalgic smile that these were the 

Days of Grace. 

I asked him what he meant by that?
He said the Days of Grace was what the farmers in our area called the time of year between 

fall’s fireworks and the first snowfall; a window of reverent preparation. The Days were 

filled with tasks like stacking cordwood and repairing tractors. 

Grain and hay were loaded in barns. The snow blower was oiled and ready to growl. 

Farmers who had sold their corn, composted over their vegetable fields, 

or had meat hanging in the walk-in had most of their work behind them. 

In a life that forces constant vigilance and resourcefulness, this was the time of year to finally relax. 

Weeds were long dead. Cash crops were sold. Wallets were fatter and mornings started a little later.
The Days of Grace were a holiday season, though you won’t find any cards at 

your local Hallmark store sporting greased cultivators whilst wishing you  

A Wicked Muzzloader Season. No, instead of twinkle lights and gift registries; 

the Days were a series of quiet thrills. Work completed, homestead prepared, 

hunkering-down may commence. The region takes on the calm veil of the shoulder season. 

And the initiated sigh. That secret sigh of their people.
This brick and soil holiday Paul spoke about suited me. 

It didn’t require belief in any particular verse, instead it demanded virtues 

I desperately wanted in my adult life: presence, belief, and devotion. 

Farming lit up and fueled a dim and hungry part of me. 

I was part of something again, a necessary tradition of growing food. 

Food is more than sustenance and recipes. It’s the one faith all humans belong too. 

When you wrap your life around the production instead of consumption, worlds open.

Now, just beyond and past the Days of Grace, there's snow on the ground and a thin sheeting of ice on the area lakes.  An insalata caprese doesn't appeal to us, but what does is some polish with kraut 

or a steamy bowl of potato leek soup.

 Kaitlin cabbage is a heavy, dense cabbage perfect for slaw or kraut.

You'll notice that the cabbage is interplanted with alyssum to attract predatory 

insects that kill and eat the cabbage loopers.

Companion planting has severely reduced my looper problems, but with all the rain

this past summer and the cool nights, it has been a slug fest.  

This is a photo for scale...the purple viola gives you an idea of the size of these cabbages.

  I find this as dense as hybrid varieties such as Stonecrop and Stonehead, 

with the advantage of organic seeds.  It rarely, if ever, splits, and a couple of heads will yield all the
kraut we can eat in a year.

 

I make kraut every year using an old recipe from my brother-in-law, Scott's family.  The recipe requires zinc lids and rubber gaskets, as the kraut ferments in the jars instead of in a crock.  

Leeks are another easy to grow vegetable in northern gardens.
Although they look small when you purchase them in 6 packs from Gracie's,
it will take all your strength to harvest them in the fall.  They have
beautiful, full root systems and will last in the refridge for a couple of months after harvest.

Leek and Potato Soup

3 large leeks, cleaned well and sliced

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced

splash of extra virgin olive oil

Sauté leeks and potatoes in oil until leeks are transparent.

Add a 32oz carton of chicken stock and simmer until potatoes are tender.

Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Return to heat and add heavy whipping cream to desired consistency.

I usually top the soup off with a drizzle of dill-infused olive oil.

To infuse oil, heat oil in pan then add fresh dill and sauté until crisp, but not burned.

Discard dill and drizzle oil over soup just before serving.

Bon Appétit!

Cozy up to the woodstove with a good book and bowl of potato leek soup this weekend!
Cheers,
Kathy and Patty

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