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Monday, May 7, 2012

SNOW PEAS-A-BLOOMING & BLOOMING, OH MY!

HELLO & Welcome to GARDEN DADDY here at the urban farm!  What to do with all these snow peas you say?  If you are having the HUGE harvest I am experiencing here in Jackson, TN., then you are overwhelmed with those "body snatcher" little pods!  I have given them to everyone at church, in the neighborhood, at work...anyone who will stand still long enough and knows anything at all how to prepare or even attempt to prepare them have been gifted with these peas from this urban farm!  And those vines are still a'bloomin'!
I thought I might give you a recipe or two I ran across and made a little deviation from to make it my own and now, gifted to you:   (When I tell you to "WASH" & "SEED" everything in advance...do just that or either heat or seeds in the teeth and bitterness will prevail.)
*1/2-lb snow pea pods, capped and strung or shelled if you let them get too big for eating the whole pod then cut into fork size pieces on the diagonal.
*1/2 -RED & YELLOW bell pepper
*4-green onions, all the white and large quantity of the green tops, cut on the diagonal.
*2-medium carrots, cut into julienned strips
*1-medium to large jalapeno or milder pepper to taste, cut into thin slices
*1/2-cup fresh basil leaves, whole or chopped as per your own taste
*1/4-cup fresh mint leaves (same as above)
*1/2-cup fresh rough chopped flat leaf parsley
*1-clove garlic - crushed
*1/4-cup extra virgin olive oil
*lime juice - to taste
*Kosher salt to taste
*Fresh cracked pepper to taste
*1-tsp. sugar
*Champagne vinegar to taste (or white will be fine)
Let me know how you like this one!
Then there is the one where you cook rice, add shrimp, some curry, snow pea pods, Thai or regular basil, coconut milk, a little brown sugar, and some chili or other milder sliced peppers, garlic, then use your imagination for anything else you would like to add and try this as well.
There are many more snow pea recipes...snow peas with onions, fresh mint and lime heated for a few minutes in olive oil and lots more.  Use your imagination to use them up.  Me, I just give them away.  Again, I think it is the chicken manure this year!  Not only are they producing like crazy but the pods themselves are really HUGE!  Tasty & HUGE!
I leave you then today with our ongoing mid-town gardening affirmation:   "URBAN FARMING"   ONE EGG AT A TIME!"

Friday, May 4, 2012

URBAN FARM UPDATE

HELLO & Welcome to GARDEN DADDY here at the URBAN FARM!  I would just like to bring you up to date on the condition of this urban farm here in Jackson, TN.  It thrives and flourishes with already giving an abundance or should I say OVER abundant harvest of snow peas.  You can see them in the back growing up and over the top of my chain link fence.  They currently are around 7ft high and need picking almost daily, at least every other day for sure.

You can see in the top photo that I have added a larger "herb bed" (LITERALLY if you look at the yellow frames!) this year and have added several different varieties of Basal.  I think my sister & I are in a fever to see who can have the most varieties of same this year!  You can also see a few tomato plants in the background as well.  I already have a few small "greenies" putting on size daily.  I think things are SO LARGE and prolific this season as I am basically all organic this year with the only additions being chicken manure added during last winter chicken coop muckings and the only other addition being pulverized lime, which is a natural mineral and not a "chemical" as such.

The lower picture shows you the other addition of a weather vane I added earlier this spring.  It has chickens on the top and really will spin when the wind picks up.  I raised it up to give a better show as well as get it over the fence-line to take better advantage of winds.  I have radishes growing at the base as well as on each corner with plans to let it wind around the supports like an arbor, I have planted large size bottle gourds.

Chickens are laying daily and of course this GARDEN DADDY always has to have some spring chicks.  I have bunches!  I have some that I got with intent to sell at the West TN Poultry Club sales and also added two more Ameraucana chicks I intended to keep....I went out this morning to put those two 10-week old "keeper' pullets in with the general population of laying hens and when I went to pick up the larger of the two, who was my favorite...blue body with black head and was truly beautiful..."SHE" began to CROW!  I nearly cried I was so disappointed.  You know that Ameraucana roosters do not have a very large comb...actually only a pea comb not much larger than a hens.  But I knew something was odd with this one due to the size and the beautiful conformation, etc.  SHE was lovely..truly!  Off to the sale for HIM as well...next weekend, Saturday, May 12, 2012.

I will leave you today with our ongoing gardening affirmation...oh yes, the community garden is coming along pretty well...several sections up and growing..."URBAN FARMING:   ONE EGG & SNOW PEA AT THE TIME!"