It’s been a funny year for the garden. Very wet in the spring through May, then very hot in June, and now milder in July and even rain as I write this – a nice change!  Our garlic and onions, planted in December of last year, have weathered it all pretty well and were ready for harvest in early July.  Here are the drying for a few days in the sun before going into the garage, where it is cool and dark, to rest until completely dry and ready to be stored for the fall and winter.

It should be noted that, having lived all my life in the city, I know next to nothing about gardening, so I am sure that you who are experts will wonder what I am on about.  Each season and each new year presents new opportunities to learn a little bit more, mainly through having things go wrong and trying to fix them.  Plus I spend a lot of time looking  for gardening advice on the site of the Royal Horticultural Society. 

On a recent warm evening, a storm passed through Orthez, with wind and beating rain.  We were snug inside but the cherry tomatoes took a hit;  the next morning I discovered a lot of green tomatoes on the ground around the plants.  My mom used to make pickled green tomatoes using the same recipe she used for dill pickles…Why not give it a try?   We have just harvested onions , so the smallest these will make a great addition, along with a few cloves of garlic and a sprig of dill.

Since this is a new process for me, I sought out a recipe in my Grand-mother’s cookbook, The Lily Wallace New American Cookbook, circa 1949.  When I say it was her cookbook, I mean that it was the ONLY cookbook she owned, her go-to for everything about the kitchen, stuffed with more than 3800 recipes and advice on everything from canning pears to pickling tongue to serving an elegant afternoon tea to how to make a Sidecar.  The copy she passed down to me is full of mark-ups and notes in my grandma’s hand and stuffed with other recipes and articles she gathered somewhere along the way.

It selected a recipe for “Mixed Pickles”, recipe 3627, which seemed to be going in the direction I was hoping for.  The only change I made was that I salted the vegetables and left them overnight, rather than leaving them in brine for 16 days as the recipe recommended.  After that, I packed the vegetables into a sterilized jar with spices and dill, then covered with a mix of 50/50 cider vinegar and white vinegar, then sealed the jar. Now I just need to wait for 4 weeks and see how they turn out.  I will provide the complete recipe once I have tasted and made corrections.

I’m so excited!  The garlic I planted in January is up and 4-5″ high! Yesterday, I planted onions and dandelions around the edge as a sort of natural barrier to pests;  dandelions attract pest predators like ladybugs, and also repel certain insects that feed on the garden.  At least that is the theory. I have a lot to learn about gardening!

After the longest of winters, spring always arrives…it just seems to take a long, long time years! So the first spring vegetables to grace the market tables are always a cause for celebration.  Last Saturday, I found spring green garlic, which I snapped up, along with last of the season Jerusalem artichokes.  The two ended up together in a creamy soup, where the sweet, mild flavor of the chokes worked well with the zip of fresh garlic.

A full blown recipe is hardly worth the effort for most soups, as they are so easy and seldom go astray.  I sauteed the whites of the garlic with onions, celery and a carrot, then added the Jerusalem artichokes, just scrubbed and slices, not peeled, then nchicken stock and simmered until everything was very tender.  Season well with salt and white pepper, then add a dollop of crème fraîche and a big knob of butter before blending.   I didn’t pass the soup though a sieve, as I dont mind a bit of texture, but if you prefer a smooth soup, by all means, sieve.

For a garnish, try a saute of chicken livers with the green garlic tops, de-glaze with a bit of cognac and spoon onto steaming bowls of soup!  Miam Miam!

With the remaining green garlic, I tried a very simple side dish of boiled lentils tosses with butter, salt, pepper and green garlic.  After boiling the lentils, drain well, then toss with a generous amount of butters, season, and toss in the thinly sliced green garlic…the residual heat of the lentils will gently heat the garlic and preserve its mild flavor! This was a nice accompaniment to roasted breast of farm chicken.