Collecting from the garden...
So fresh, so anticipated.
Time to harvest...
Brussels sprouts, and...
Broccoli.
Our garden, tended and loved by me ever so much, is gifting its winter eats in baskets full.
Only take as much as you can eat at one time...
Tender and fresh.
With the brussels sprout plants creating their own giant rose, right at the tippy top...
And in the center, the highly anticipated, cabbage like baby.
A tale I had read and read of.
Edible too, and so we will.
But next, the brussels sprouts themselves get munched (as we have already enjoyed leaves while waiting for sprouts), with many more sprouts to harvest this week.
A little butter and olive oil, tossed with garlic salt.
So delicious beyond words.
Sweet and tender, mild and succulent!
Such wonderful winter eats we have enjoyed from the garden.
After the greens, a little spice beckoned us.
I brought home a bunch of Hatch chilies last month, and so, I felt it was time to start cooking some up...
Cut them off the bundle, 15-20 or so.
Shake out the seeds. (or save for planting)
Pop into a pot of water and boil until super tender.
(open windows, as they can be strong whilst cooking)
Cool for a few minutes, then pop into the blender with a bit of the water they cooked in.
Then, strain into a bowl, pressing down on your strainer with a spoon, little by little.
You are left with glorious chili sauce (chile), to spice up and use as you wish.
I carmelized some sweet onions, garlic, red bell peppers then browned a little ground meat (you can use turkey, or beef, or no meat at all). Flavored with garlic salt to taste. Poured in two cans of kidney beans, using all the contents in the cans, liquid too. And last, poured in the chili, and let that all come to a soft boil. (you can add more of the water you cooked the chilies in to create the thickness you wish)
We like to put corn chips in our bowl first, then pour in the soup.
Top with sour cream and avocado, yumm!
Voila, you have homemade chili.
Using your own chilies really makes a difference.
Perfect eats for a brisk winter evening.
And, when your beau announces that he has brought home more fresh blueberries (with an impish grin on his face), well...
You know what that means.
Pie please :)
And so, I happily oblige...
Again.
All the while, baby tomato plants are being born.
Sweet little things.
Growing in the warmth of the studio, and my room, and back and forth.
So hard to believe that spring is just around the corner.
Time slips by incredibly fast for me.
I blink, and there goes time. Hours pass like minutes.
The garden makes time go by so much faster than I could have imagined.
Especially keeping a vegetable garden year round.
This has been amazing, everyday something new is going on, and every day there is more to do. Prep for the next season of growing things. Seeds, and harvesting, and weeding, and thinning, and caring for.
Before you know it, summer and fall are but a faint memory, and winter gives you a couple last hugs before saying, see you in a year. (in Southern Az at least)
As you look towards the horizon, you can see spring riding towards you, making clouds of dust in the distance. Showing you, it is almost here.......
A month away, minus a day.
Tuesday March 20th, they say.
Love, V
ps: Yesterday Miles and I went out to see my parents who were in town (normally Matty gets to go, so this time is was Miles' turn for one on one time with me), and we saw poppies lining the sides of the highway. So beautiful, those poppies. And then, we noticed 3 wee poppies in our own garden, along with wild desert evening primrose early in the morning, and gobs of chamomile.
I am seeing lots of the poppy seeds I sprinkled in autumn growing into big and strong plants. I check them almost every morning, giving them water as needed. I always dreamed of a garden full of poppies. Mostly because year after year, I drive by this one house, and the entire garden is a field of poppies.
So so pretty.
We'll see what happens with our poppies this year. I just can't wait!
