In which more garden benefits are revealed, and stories are coming!

 The flood waters have receded (mostly), and life is returning to normal. 

Jim has been working hard at Santa gigs, sometimes stringing together two events in a single day.  

Telling stories at an Interfaith gathering 

Tonight he finished up a weekend at a posh club for rich people, and called me from the road to say that, like last year

Support-staff at the posh place

Chef saved aside a LOT of very nice grilled salmon to send home to the North Pole, i.e.  Haiku Farm.  

Chef is on the Nice List

We know what that means: it's CHOWDER TIME!

I've posted a chowder recipe in the past, and this was sort of like that...but also not.  

In the six years since I posted that recipe, we've have really raised the bar for our gardens, with the results of making home-raised food available even longer into the winter.

I'm also making a point of going into my garden app every time I use stored vegetables to note that it's worth the extra PITA of planting and canning/freezing/drying/storing the extra to have our own produce to include in winter meals.  

Onions, garlic, and carrots are sauteed lightly before going into the soup pot

Tonight's chowder included:

• corn from the freezer
• onion, garlic, squash and potatoes from the storage racks in my office
• carrots and leeks from the garden
• herbs from the garden
• canned broth made from the rooster we roasted

Simmer the veg + fish in the stock for about an hour, then add the cream

The only "purchased" ingredients tonight were the butter to saute onions/garlic, the cream for the broth, and the black pepper we ground on top.

Remember:  homemade bread is important too!

So, gardeners and future gardeners, here is your assignment: 

Look in the fridge, the freezer, and the cupboards.  

What do you always need/want there?  

Can those things be produced by you?  If not this year, then eventually?

For example, we use a lot of potatoes during the winter months--we bake them for dinners and chop them into soups and stews.  Although I have a bunch stored, I know they won't be enough for the whole winter...so my notes this year say PLANT MORE POTATOES and different varieties next year.

Fox and I harvest the potatoes together.

Some stuff that seems totally out-of-reach isn't, if you're willing to stretch a bit.  Ginger (obviously) isn't a native here in the Swamp, but we did get a really nice harvest last year from a plant we grew in the bathroom!  

I store ginger root in the freezer.  Frozen ginger root grates perfectly
for curry, soup..,or gingerbread cookies!

What do you hope to grow?  What can I help you learn to do?  

The comment box is open!

REMEMBER that the annual story posts are coming soon.  Stop by here each day from Solstice to New Year's to see a new tale.