And this our life, exempt from public haunt Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, Sermons in stones and good in every thing.
—William Shakespeare
Into the Kitchen
Everything is good in its season.
—Italian proverb
Easy-Does-It Asparagus
The ancients believed that asparagus was an aphrodisiac. It certainly tastes good enough to be, but even if it isn’t, the prospect of your own tender shoots each spring should entice you enough to give it a try in your garden. It takes about three years to get enough asparagus to make planting it worthwhile, but a maintained asparagus bed will last for twenty years, so you’ll get plenty of spears for your efforts. While asparagus prefers cold winters, it will grow just about anywhere in the US. The trick is to dig a one-foot-deep trench and half-fill it with compost and ¼ cup bone meal per foot of trench. Plant roots eighteen inches apart, and don’t fill in trench with dirt until roots begin to sprout.
Green fingers are the extensions of a verdant heart.
—Russell Page
Stir-Fried Asparagus
Once you’ve grown them and had your fill of them steamed, give this a try. It is delicious!
•2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
•1 tablespoon dry sherry
•1 tablespoon water or chicken broth
•1 ½ pounds asparagus, ends snapped, and cut into small pieces
•1 tablespoon sesame oil
•2 teaspoons minced garlic
•2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
•½ minced fresh basil
•½ teaspoon sugar
Combine the soy sauce, sherry, and water or broth and set aside. Place a large (at least twelve-inch) skillet over high heat for 4 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons of the oil and heat for 1 minute or until the oil just starts to smoke. Add the asparagus and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until barely tender. Clear the center of the pan, add the garlic, ginger, and 1 teaspoon of oil, and sauté for 10 seconds. Remove pan from heat and stir the ingredients to combine.
Place pan back on heat, stir in the soy sauce mixture, and cook for 30 seconds. Add basil and sugar and cook for another 30 seconds. Serves four.
A Humble Root
In his book, Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, Zen cleric and teacher Edward Espe Brown ruminates on the lessons food has to offer. Here he is attending a dinner party and describes the appetizer. “Radishes! Seated at a low table, we come face to face with platters of radishes, brilliantly red and curvaceous, some elongated and white-tipped, rootlets intact with topknots of green leaves sprouting from the opposite end. It was love at first sight. Gazing at the plentitude of radishes, red and round with narrow roots and spreading stems, I felt a swirling joy… These radishes kept growing on me, as if they exuded happiness… To be able to see the virtue, to appreciate the goodness of simple, unadorned ingredients—this is probably the primary task of the cook.”
Sow the living part of yourselves in the furrow of life.
—Miguel de Unamino
When in Provence: Fabulous Fresh Herb Salad
This is a salad from Provence that uses an unusual variety of late-spring greens and herbs.
•One garlic clove, halved
•2 teaspoons lemon juice
•¼ teaspoons salt
•4 teaspoons olive oil
•1 teaspoon hot water
•4 cups arugula
•1–2 cups watercress, large stems removed
•1 ½ cups escarole
•¼ cup parsley, stems removed
•½ cup curly endive
•¼ cups small basil leaves
•20 small tarragon leaves
•10 small sage leaves
•5 chives, minced
•Pepper
Rub the garlic clove halves all over a large wooden salad bowl. Whisk in the lemon, salt, all of the oil, and the water. Add greens and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Serves four.
Unexpected Friends: Volunteer Veggies
My city-born husband was at my Southern mother’s house with me one year when she remarked that she felt like cooking a pot of “volunteers.” After enjoying his confused expression for a few seconds, I explained that this is what she calls this small patch of turnip greens that come up every year without any coaching or invitation. So we headed out to pick a mess of them, and I schooled him on how to pick the small tender leaves, and to pick quickly so as to avoid the scratchy texture of the plants. He didn’t care much for the greens, but I do think he enjoyed the picking.
Anywhere you live you can find room for a garden somewhere.
—Jamie Jobb
Superfood Garden Greens
Besides turnip greens, there are many other vegetables that seem to be overlooked in the typical American diet. Recent research comparing French and American diets found that the French eat three times the variety of vegetables that we do, and the variety alone may have healthful benefits. So why not consider the following for your garden this summer?
•Chard: red or green, can be eaten raw when the leaves are tender, or used like cabbage to make chard rolls. Also good for a winter pasta sauce.
•Kale: member of cabbage family, popular among Romans and Greeks, loaded with vitamins and never bitter. Superb steamed.
•Kohlrabi: turnip-like root with edible stems. Can be eaten raw like an apple, shredded like a cabbage, or cooked like a turnip.
•Amaranth: also known as Chinese spinach. Rich in iron, calcium, vitamin A. Cooks like spinach or chard.
•Good King Henry: also known as poor man’s asparagus. Leaves can be cooked like spinach.
•Purslane: can be used in salads or cooked like spinach. Sharp-tasting, but high in vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acids that help prevent heart problems.
Tea in the Garden: How to Make Compost Tea
Compost tea is a marvelous way to feed your plants and give them extra nutrients in a wholly natural way that is free of chemicals. You want to feed your friends and family only the cleanest and pesticide-free produce, so start out organic and you will have a garden that produces healthy food. You will need a big bucket and the following to make compost tea:
•2 cups homemade, fresh compost dirt
•1 gallon of clean, filtered water
Add the water and the soil to a gallon bucket and keep in a place out of direct heat or cold; I use my outdoor shed, but a garage will also do nicely, Let your compost tea “brew” for a week and give it a stir every other day. Watering