Snow, Snow, Go Away

It is hard to get excited about vegetables when winter just doesn't want to leave. Today, the third day of spring, brings snow - perhaps up to nine inches according to "in-accuweather". As I sit by the window, the formerly clear view of what passes for a lawn at my house is getting covered by a blanket of snow. This is a mixed blessing as the falling snow covers up the half grass, half dirt (yet another spring project), but means a possible snow day tomorrow if it keeps up.

While waiting for the real spring, with sun and flowers and leaves and birds and yes, vegetables, I am collecting recipes for use in the grand experiment. A friend highly recommended a cookbook called "From Asparagus to Zucchini", written by the Madison Area CSA Coalition. I haven't received it yet, but I am looking forward to it, as it has recipes for 53 different vegetables (there are 53 kinds of vegetables??)  In the meantime, I am clipping recipes from newspapers, magazines and the internet. My criteria is simple - anything that I think my family might eat (and doesn't contain anchovies) gets put aside for a time when that particular vegetable shows up in my box.

Then the fun will begin.

Where

The Garden of Ideas is a magical place - part farm, part strolling garden, part outdoor art gallery with a little bit of poetry and yoga thrown in for good measure. For months after moving in, I would pass the sign on my way into town, but it wasn't until last spring that I actually took the time to enter. What I found delighted me on so many levels. A self service farm stand greeted me with the days offerings of fruit, vegetables and selected items from local farms in the area.

Ariana spotted the large sand box filled with toys - and went to play. I explored the stand,  discovering various vases and small sculptures placed creatively amongst the day's offerings. This gave me my first hint of what awaited me once I entered the grounds. Next to the stand was the first of many vegetable gardens.

After a while, we made our way down the path, we saw larger sculptures in the midst of the gardens that surrounded us.

Placards with poetry were hung as well. We passed the beehives (very quickly I might add) where honey is gathered and more gardens containing flowers of all types. Benches were interspersed throughout. We continued our walk and found more vegetable gardens.

After doubling back slowly, trying to catch everything in this chock-full-of-visual-surprise garden, we were back at the stand, where I bought some beautiful tomatoes, putting the specified amount of money into a small milk can.  As I was looking around, I saw some information on how to join their CSA. At the time, I was busy trying to grow things, but kept it in the back of my mind.

I visited The Garden of Ideas all through the summer and fall, bringing visitors to explore the grounds and discovering something new each time. When the garden made shares available, I jumped right in. 

In a few weeks, the crops will be available and I will get the privilege of stopping by once a week to pick up my share. I can stroll the gardens, sit a relax on a bench, or, if I am there on a Sunday morning, take a yoga class given in one of the open spaces.

Come on, spring!!!

Oh, by the way, that was only one side of the grounds. In the next post, I'll show you the other side....

The Idea

After living most of my life in the city, I recently moved into a lovely town in southern Connecticut. I have a yard. And trees. Lots of them. The property has very little flat space, instead it is has slopes, hills, cliffs and trees. Many, many trees that shade a good portion of the land. Last summer I decided to plant a garden because, after all, I was living in the country now and figured I should take advantage of the small patch of yard that might possibly get enough sun for something to grow.

I thought it would be a great project for my young daughter and I, something to get us both away from screens, both television and computer (ah yes, let's not forget the portable IPhone).  My cousin Suzan told me about the Early Sprouts Gardening Project, an educational program geared towards young children. After reading the book which explains how the program works, I was ready to move forward with the added incentive of documented proof that involving young children in things agricultural results in less veggies left on their plates.

With childhood memories of my mother tending to roses and a short lived attempt to grow tomatoes as my only previous gardening experience, I started looking at catalogs such as  Plow & Hearth and Johnny Seeds, to figure out what I wanted to grow and what materials I needed. I ordered a raised bed, bought a bunch of dirt and started what I considered the Grand Experiment. I bought some lettuces and basil plants at a local plant sale and planted those first, then planted string beans, carrots, and pepper seeds and watched to see what would come up. We had fun watching and watering, but because our property has only limited sun, the experiment was only partially successful. What was a total success though, was an appreciation for freshly grown produce. The taste difference is amazing!!


This year, taste buds anxiously awaiting freshly grown anything, I have joined a community garden and will be part of their CSA. Each week I will pick up a selection of produce and spend the week preparing it. Follow along each week as I pick up my produce and attempt to feed my family with that week's haul as a guide. My goal is to prepare everything I get - even the kale..