The other day, I did the last preparation for the winter garden which was to bring indoors the four, handblown glass flowers—a bluebell, a burgundy digitalis, and two mottled pansies—positioned in the potager's centre bed of sweet alyssum. It was just in time as upon awakening today I saw the garden covered in hoar frost.
As appreciative as I am of their beauty, when they are tucked in the bed's four corners, they serve as hose guards.
However sunny, cold days alternating with the typical nightly winter temperature drop means the glass will be subjected to quite a lot of stress. They could be boxed up but then I won't be able to marvel at them. Sooooooooo . . . The Calm One came up with the idea of inserting a large vase into an earthenware urn. The vase was swaddled with bubble wrapping and foam peanuts were stuffed into the vase. They get to see the garden from my office, and I get to see them.
About a week or so ago, several osteospermums and a couple of lantana were dug up from their garden beds and put into pots. Soon after, they along with an already potted bougainvillea were transported into the sous sol and placed near a sunny window.
Several days ago, all the carrots were spaded, rinsed off with a hose, sealed in containers/plastic bags, and placed in the sous sol's fridge. The variety is Carentan (a slightly different strain of Chantenay), a husky bruiser, insisting on developing despite any stones in its way, and believe me, there are lots of tiny pebbles in our soil. The upper third of the carrot is where most of the growth is, that is, lateral growth, so though they tend to be stubby in our garden, there's still a lot of carrot there. The large, carrot-filled colander in the below picture is a small fraction of the total haul.
The process of preserving is still ongoing. They are scrubbed well, sliced or diced according to need, put in a cauldron of boiling water—lots of boiling water to proportion of carrot—and boiled for three minutes to kill any taste-destroying bacteria that would grow, albeit slowly, while the carrots are frozen. They are then drained, dried, and packed into freezer bags while squeezing out as much air as possible. Though this preparation is labour-intensive at the moment because of the large number of carrots, in the future all I have to do is get a bag of prepared carrots from the freezer. I am looking forward to that!
Based on the amount I already have processed, I would say I grew enough to last six months. Yay! That's another item that The Calm One, the official grocery shopper chez nous, doesn't have to lug into his shopping cart for a while. He hasn't needed to buy potatoes since August, and they should last another two months. I love growing vegetables as they are fresher and tastier than store-bought, but they are also much more convenient as they are never too far away, either in the garden or in the freezer. In the coming months, the carrots will appear as a side of peas and carrots for our Pot Roast Of Leg Of Lamb, in Chicken Pot Pie (changes from this old post is that I now make the pastry with butter and reduce the amount of broth a bit), in Cream Of Carrot Soup (below photo), and . . .
. . . Minestrone (ingredient list from this very old post is still valid, but I now start the soup with a soffrito/mirepoix of garlic, carrots, porcini, peas, greens, tomato paste, basil, bay leaf, and with potatoes added towards the end of sauteing before adding stock and the remaining ingredients) which included our frozen peas harvested this past early summer. There's probably enough peas in the freezer to last another month. Sadness always descends even after growing food for ten years when I run out of our garden produce. Of course, I am glad our supply of vegetables and fruits can be topped up from the supermarket. But still . . .
À la prochaine!
 |
| Bluebell |
 |
| Digitalis |
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| One of the two pansies |
As appreciative as I am of their beauty, when they are tucked in the bed's four corners, they serve as hose guards.
However sunny, cold days alternating with the typical nightly winter temperature drop means the glass will be subjected to quite a lot of stress. They could be boxed up but then I won't be able to marvel at them. Sooooooooo . . . The Calm One came up with the idea of inserting a large vase into an earthenware urn. The vase was swaddled with bubble wrapping and foam peanuts were stuffed into the vase. They get to see the garden from my office, and I get to see them.
About a week or so ago, several osteospermums and a couple of lantana were dug up from their garden beds and put into pots. Soon after, they along with an already potted bougainvillea were transported into the sous sol and placed near a sunny window.
Several days ago, all the carrots were spaded, rinsed off with a hose, sealed in containers/plastic bags, and placed in the sous sol's fridge. The variety is Carentan (a slightly different strain of Chantenay), a husky bruiser, insisting on developing despite any stones in its way, and believe me, there are lots of tiny pebbles in our soil. The upper third of the carrot is where most of the growth is, that is, lateral growth, so though they tend to be stubby in our garden, there's still a lot of carrot there. The large, carrot-filled colander in the below picture is a small fraction of the total haul.
The process of preserving is still ongoing. They are scrubbed well, sliced or diced according to need, put in a cauldron of boiling water—lots of boiling water to proportion of carrot—and boiled for three minutes to kill any taste-destroying bacteria that would grow, albeit slowly, while the carrots are frozen. They are then drained, dried, and packed into freezer bags while squeezing out as much air as possible. Though this preparation is labour-intensive at the moment because of the large number of carrots, in the future all I have to do is get a bag of prepared carrots from the freezer. I am looking forward to that!
Based on the amount I already have processed, I would say I grew enough to last six months. Yay! That's another item that The Calm One, the official grocery shopper chez nous, doesn't have to lug into his shopping cart for a while. He hasn't needed to buy potatoes since August, and they should last another two months. I love growing vegetables as they are fresher and tastier than store-bought, but they are also much more convenient as they are never too far away, either in the garden or in the freezer. In the coming months, the carrots will appear as a side of peas and carrots for our Pot Roast Of Leg Of Lamb, in Chicken Pot Pie (changes from this old post is that I now make the pastry with butter and reduce the amount of broth a bit), in Cream Of Carrot Soup (below photo), and . . .
 |
| Served with a slab of Coulommiers and some rye crackers |
. . . Minestrone (ingredient list from this very old post is still valid, but I now start the soup with a soffrito/mirepoix of garlic, carrots, porcini, peas, greens, tomato paste, basil, bay leaf, and with potatoes added towards the end of sauteing before adding stock and the remaining ingredients) which included our frozen peas harvested this past early summer. There's probably enough peas in the freezer to last another month. Sadness always descends even after growing food for ten years when I run out of our garden produce. Of course, I am glad our supply of vegetables and fruits can be topped up from the supermarket. But still . . .
 |
| Served with freshly grated Parmesan |
À la prochaine!
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