That Time of Year

It’s that time of year again. We’re all so ready for spring but here in the Northeast it hasn’t arrived yet. There are signs though: today I saw and heard the chevron of a flock of geese heading north, and the bulb foliage is poking up in my otherwise still mostly-bare garden.

I took advantage of a couple of days of warm weather this past weekend and got the beds composted and ready for spring. My post-surgery knee complained and swelled up like a grapefruit, but at least it’s done (and the knee recovered).

On the locavore culinary front, let’s face it, those apples at the farmers’ market have been stored for months and have lost their crunch. The next fresh fruit will be strawberries, and they’re still a couple of months away. Time to dig even deeper into the pantry.

My pantry is more than holding up this year. Thanks to being away for all of February, I haven’t gone through nearly as much of my winter supply as I would have otherwise. The freezer is a little low, but there are still plenty of home-canned, dried, and lacto-fermented goods. Today I had some blueberries with my oatmeal, and dinner will include some ratatouille that I canned last summer. There’s really not much that I need to buy right now except dairy and other animal products (and my CSA is keeping me well-supplied in those).

The foraging season has started, albeit in a minor, super-early spring way. There are garlic mustard leaves,

henbit, field garlic, and the first daylily shoots are almost ready for stir-fry.

On a slightly different note, I’ve posted my upcoming classes and events here. These include foraging tours and classes on growing herbs and food for shade-challenged gardeners. There’s also an event I’m especially excited about, the Green Thumb 25th Anniversary Grow Together Conference. Green Thumb is the organization that works with and takes care of community gardens in NYC. I’ll be the keynote speaker, talking mainly about why home gardens are more important in these times than ever (even if your “home garden” is a small plot in a community garden, or a fire escape, or a windowsill box, or a rooftop). I hope to see you there.

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Botany, Ballet, & Dinner from Scratch: A Memoir with Recipes by Leda Meredith