Friday, April 16, 2010

creamed swiss chard

Wow! It was delicious.

One bunch of swiss chard, stemmed and chopped
One big clove garlic, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Sautee the garlic briefly in oil. Toss in the swiss chard and cover cooking over low heat until thoroughly wilted. Pour over the cream and stir in the parmesan cheese. Let evaporate until thickened. Season to taste.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Raised Bed


Not a bed on bricks, a bed of bricks. We have three garden areas not one great big garden. Each gets different sunlight and boy did I plan this one wrong. This raised bed is built of stacked bricks over an old, concrete driveway. Lettuce, broccoli, spinach and swiss chard are getting full, southern, afternoon sun.If we were really having spring weather that'd be OK. But the temp has been hovering around 90 for days. Ouch. I cover the bed with sheets to keep the plants from getting sunburnt. The Romain bolted (ran for it, so to speak) and had to be harvested all at once to a neighbor's benefit. Our fridge is stuffed with bags of greens, all kinds. I've been cooking and freezing greens every day. We eat them every meal but breakfast. That's the life of a gardener...feast or famine. Puts ya in touch with your heritage pretty quick. I think of my grandparents (and the greats) and puzzle, 'How in the world?'. Did we really crawl out of the mud hundreds of thousands of years ago hunting, gathering and growing food all the while until about 100years ago? Wow. There's some powerful mo-jo in our genes.