Beyond The Kitchen Wall: BTKW Chef's Garden 2009

Showing posts with label BTKW Chef's Garden 2009. Show all posts

Friday, August 14, 2009

BTKW Chef's Garden 2009 Update

Picking cucumbers on a beautiful morning

The harvest continues! Everything is doing well except for the bush beans, beets, and fennel; all of which succumbed to the well-fed rabbits! They are smarter than they look! I did get some of these vegetables, but they were underdeveloped due to constantly having their leaves eaten. Such is life!

The corn has come in, sweet and tender. The pickling cucumbers are also abundant. I have already made one batch of Refrigerator Kosher Dill Pickles. I will share the recipe soon. Herbs are still abundant. The cilantro is going to seed, and is providing me with intensely flavorful green coriander. Squashes are starting to come in, and the tomatoes are FINALLY heavy with fruit. I should be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes in the next 2 weeks! Tomato canning in my near future! Peppers are still small, but coming around. Better luck next year.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

BTKW Chef's Garden 2009 Update: French Fingerling Potatoes

Today is a special day! The French Fingerling Potatoes are in, and they are gorgeous! I can't believe how well they did. This was my first time growing this variety and I couldn't be happier with the results. Who knew that buying a bag of fingerling potatoes from Whole Foods, letting them start to sprout, and planting them could result in such a bountiful potato harvest 4 months later? From a 1 pound bag of potatoes, I ended up with about 10 pounds of beautiful, blushing fingerlings. I can't wait to cook these beauties. There is nothing better than a fresh potato straight from the Earth. I like to simply steam them, crush slightly, drizzle with the finest extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with crunchy sea salt. This simple preparation allows one to really taste the true essence of the potato.

Freshly unearthed French Fingerling Potatoes.

French Fingerling Potatoes basking in the sun, waiting to be gathered.

French Fingerling Potatoes of different shapes and sizes.

Monday, July 13, 2009

BTKW Chef's Garden 2009 Update

The Summer is flying by! I was out of town for 2 weeks and returned to a garden brimming with produce that was ready to be picked. Everything is doing well except for the tomato and pepper plants. We have had an unusually cool growing season in the Chicago area, and the tomatoes developed some sort of fungal disease. The leaves are just shriveling up and dying. The plants are loaded with fruit, but I don't know if they will have the strength to ripen. I may have to pick early. The pepper plants are just stunted and spindly from the cool temperatures. From what I have heard, this is happening in New England as well.

Not all is bleak however, the cold crops are thriving! The cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower are doing incredibly well. All of my herbs are thriving, and the onions are starting to come in. The raspberries have also started coming in. They are fragrant and sweet. Everything else is coming along at a normal pace for this time of year. It is nice to see all of my hard work start to pay off!

So, here's a rundown of what I harvested today:

Raspberries
Cabbages
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Cauliflower
Bush Beans (Green, Purple, and Yellow)
Shallots
Yellow Onions

Stat tuned for further garden updates!

The cabbages are doing very well. These giant beauties are so sweet!

First batch of yellow onions!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

BTKW Chef's Garden 2009 Update : First Broccoli of the Season!

This is the first of hopefully many garden updates. The cool weather and abundant rainfall have been very beneficial for cruciferous vegetables. As a result, I have just harvested the first broccoli of the 2009 season! It is incredibly sweet and fresh. Broccoli this fresh does not require too much cooking, just a light saute in a little olive oil or butter and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

BTKW Chef's Garden 2009

View of the estate and part of the garden. We just built several raised beds right on the lawn!
Herbs are in a separate location .

Not only do I love to cook, I also love to garden! This year at Beyond The Kitchen Wall I was able to plant a large vegetable and herb garden. There is nothing better than growing your own fresh fruits and vegetables. Everyone who loves to cook should strive to grow some sort of garden, even if it is just a pot of herbs on a small balcony. I love working with fresh, local produce. I am constantly wandering around the local Farmers' Markets looking for the freshest treasures of the season. This year I will have produce from the farm and from the garden! I am very excited, and I can't wait to serve my fresh veggies to the family that I work for. They are in for some real treats.

The garden is organic, of course. It consists of several raised beds that were built right on the lawn in the backyard. A majority of the plants were placed in these beds, but there are other smaller spots that were commandeered for vegetables and herbs. The herbs were planted as close to the kitchen as possible. Basically, I have turned a great estate on Chicago's North Shore into a farm. Does that make me a Gentleman Farmer??? It is going to be a great season!

I wanted to share some pictures of my garden with you, and give a list of everything that I planted this year. I have been very busy, and my hard work seems to be paying off. The weather has been unseasonably cool so far this year, so some of the crops got off to a slow start. The cruciferous vegetables however, are thriving!