Spring!

So it's 30 degrees and freezing and maybe not quite spring yet, but it's pea planting time! The tradition is planting peas on St. Patrick's Day, so Jamie and I are heading out to Long Island to plant our peas this weekend. Can't wait to be working in the garden again. It makes these lingering cold days bearable, sort of.

Snap Pea Pesto

I could have sworn my friend Kara told me about snap pea pesto and I'd been dying to try it since last summer and have been anxiously waiting for my snap peas to come out. When I asked her about it, she had no idea. Maybe I dreamed  it? Either way, I tried it out last night. Yum! It's really simple and fresh and summery.

Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
2 cups snap peas (pull off the strings)
4 basil leaves
1/2 large or 1 whole small clove of garlic, mashed into a paste with some kosher salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup-1 cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parm
pasta (I used gemelli)

Garden Week 12

Everything looks awesome, and we had tons of peas! (I also yanked another carrot with overcrowding as my excuse. It's just too fun to pull them out.)

Those on the left are the Organic Pea Wando and on the right are the Sugar Snap (both Burpee). The Wando are not as tall and a little flatter and the Snap Peas are like 7 feet tall.

Week 11

The garden looks amazing! Everything is really starting to grow quickly. There were some peas (it seems the "pea wando" peas I planted in the first bed are actually snow peas not snap peas because they're flat). Next weekend we should have a lot more, and there were some babies forming.

I was impatient and pulled out a beet and a carrot. It was so satisfying! The chioggia beet had these beautiful circles on the inside, and the little baby carrot was crunchy and tasty.

Vegetable Garden Week 11

Everything in the garden is growing so well. There was lots of rain this week and it seems to have made a huge difference. The pea vines were covered in peas.

The zucchini plants were full of blossoms and there was one little zucchini ready to eat and a couple babies that will be ready next weekend. The zucchinis I planted from seed are striped and those I planted from seedlings are regular green, so there'll be a little variety.

Garden Dinner

I picked my first veggies from my garden last weekend, but I didn't have too many so I had to supplement at a farm stand. I picked up local Long Island scallions and sugar snap peas at the stand. Then at my place, I picked some small Swiss Chard and some basil. I wanted to make a fresh, easy, summery pasta for Sunday night. I sauteed it all together and tossed it with pasta and it was delicious - a real fresh, simple, garden dinner. Feel free to substitute whatever fresh veggies you have!

Ingredients:
a handful of Swiss chard, chopped
4 scallions, halved lengthwise then cut into 1 inch strips
a bunch of sugar snap peas, bigger peas halved
olive oil
red pepper flakes
small bunch of basil, thinly sliced
grated pecorino romano (or parm)

Directions:
Heat about 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a big skillet. Add the stems of the chard, the scallions, and the snap peas. Saute until they start to soften, then add Swiss Chard leaves, half of the basil, and pepper flakes to taste. Also add salt and pepper to taste and saute a little bit longer until leaves are wilted.

Meanwhile, cook some sort of bite sized pasta (I had elbows, so I used those). When the pasta is al dente, use a spider strainer (or just strain it and add part of the pasta water) and put into the skillet. Grate some cheese on top and mix it all together and serve!

Vegetable Garden: Week 7

 My Swiss Chard, Zucchini, and Peas - all from seeds!

After not making out to Long Island for two weekends, I was a little worried about my garden. Luckily there had been a lot of rain. I went out on Saturday and am happy to report that everything is happy! The peas are two feet high and clinging to the trellis, the tomatoes plants look good - not too much change, two zucchini plants emerged from the seeds I planted, and the Swiss Chard finally came up! Aside from a large bunch of weeds, I couldn't have been happier.

After admiring all of my little seedlings, I got to work planting the newcomers. I stopped at the farmer's market on Friday and picked up a 3-pack of Better Boy tomatoes, a 3-pack of zucchini (I didn't know if any of mine had sprouted), and a 3-pack of jalapeno peppers. I also got 2 little basil plants. I planted the tomatoes with cages around them (it's better to put them in early as not to damage the roots) and planted the two basils in between the tomato plants - apparently growing basil with your tomatoes improves the tomato flavor. I planted the new zucchini next to those that I planted, so my zucchini patch will be a bit larger than anticipated. I left plenty of room around the chard because I know they'll get a lot bigger - provided they don't become bunny food. I planted the peppers with lots of space in between. There's a fare amount of free space right now which I think I'll fill with herbs, nasturtiums (pretty and edible), and marigolds (to keep the bad bugs away, also adding a little color).

It's so satisfying to see things you've planted from seeds growing. (My little peppers in the egg shells are growing, just a little slowly. They might stay in the city in pots.) I can't wait to get out there again next weekend to mulch, water, and plant herbs/flowers. Stay tuned!

Vegetable Garden - Week 2

My little peas are sprouting! Just a little thing popping out, but it looked like each pea I planted sprouted, so I'm happy! Just hope the deer don't eat them. No sign of the Swiss Chard, but we'll see this weekend.

And two of my pepper plants have sprouted! Hopefully they'll grow quickly enough to actually get some peppers this summer!