For the first quarter century of my life I thought that I hated beets in all their forms. Hated. “They taste like dirt! I’d adamantly regurgitate. I’m sure I’d heard it somewhere, at some point, because I’d never actually tried them myself. And while it’s true, they can taste like dirt, one day in what I like to pretend was no cosmic accident, I picked up a salad from a local market; a salad that contained — unbeknownst to me — pickled... → Read the rest of this article
A couple of weeks ago I planted a bed of peas. It was pushing the season, to say the least, but I did it anyway. And less than 48 hours later I awoke to a house without power and a yard and garden covered in no less than two inches of slush and snow and ice. Mostly ice. It’s a good thing peas don’t mind a freeze or ten.
Mother Nature is a finicky lass and though April first seems to be the unofficial start to spring in this part of the world there’s no... → Read the rest of this article
It’s been a while since anything that grows in the dirt has been in-season here. It’s been a while, as a matter of fact, since anyone has even seen the dirt here. This past winter has been long and cold for many northerners — and cold for many southerners, too — so it really was with unspeakable joy that I picked up the “pen” to write March’s edition of What’s In Season Now. Truly, unspeakable.
March isn’t spring here yet,... → Read the rest of this article
When I ventured outside to do chores this morning the thermometer registered a whopping thirteen degrees fahrenheit and this is only the second week of truly winter-like weather we’ve had; which means colder — much colder — is to come. In light of the temperature you can probably understand why I might have some reservations about writing a feature on What’s in Season Now; because here, almost nothing is in season. And as a fair weather kind of woman that... → Read the rest of this article
Here, last weekend marked the final Farmer’s Market of the year. While it’s a bittersweet passing of time for growers — the loss of convenient, weekly contact with customers is never a welcome thing, but the late fall and winter downtime that is a result of a lightened market schedule is imperative in the planning of the next year’s crop — it’s mostly just bitter for shoppers. Especially those new to eating local and those who are not accustomed to... → Read the rest of this article
