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By feral, on April 22nd, 2011%
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. By lemons I mean the disgusting mix of rain, snow, hail and wind that made it impossible to work in the garden yesterday, and by lemonade I mean borscht. Not the cold borscht, of course (the recipe I posted last summer complete with a spelling guide and Russian primer), but rather its hot cousin. These two borschts are two entirely different soups, as you know. When the weather is hot, you make the cold one, and vice versa.
There are many schools of thought when it comes to hot borscht, and it isn’t uncommon to hear the adherents of different traditions question the authenticity of rivaling recipes. “You call this borscht?!! There’s no X in borscht!!!” Or, “How can you make borscht without Y???” Although a staple of Russian restaurants, it is of Ukrainian origin and has many, many incarnations. Perhaps, as the time progresses and life gives me more lemonade ingredients, I’ll translate and post a few more representative recipes from my Russian cookbooks. Today, however, I’d like to share the result of my own borscht-making evolution.
While most hot borschts use beef stock as a base, my version is . . . CONTINUE READING → hot borscht for a cold season
By feral, on March 16th, 2011%
What is your antidepressant for a cold rainy morning, like the one we’re having here today? You don’t have to answer this question if it’s too embarrassing. As for me, I have nothing to hide. Today, it’s 5 things.
(1) Fame. I just got a shout-out from our friend Anna‘s friend, The Amateur Gourmet, whose blog I follow and whom I met last Friday at Katz’s Deli under the circumstances described here. There, over some half-sour pickles, we discussed the possibility of using The Feral Gardener’s produce in The Amateur Gourmet’s kitchen and I’m extremely excited about this prospect. And this gives me hope that one day my basket’s fame will measure up to that of a Katz’s Deli hot dog or even of Jane Eyre’s.
(2) The snow is melting! This is how the garden looked yesterday. I scattered around some ashes from the fireplace (black spots on the snow), hoping that a darker shade might facilitate faster thawing. Luckily, today’s rain is also contributing to the process.
. . . CONTINUE READING → 5 happy thoughts on a rainy day
By feral, on March 8th, 2011%
  My new lightweight soilless seed starter mix does. Said mix (pictured) arrived yesterday, followed by an 81 pellet greenhouse today. Finally I have something meaningful to do for the next couple of days.
What will be my first order of seeding? Probably the kale. My kales were a big hit last year (especially with the voles and/or some other furry garden pests), so I’m planning to plant a bunch this season, and will try to construct some protective fence this time around.
But it’s also time to plant the peppers, as the seedlings need to be big enough by the time I plant them out at the end of May. I’ll probably grow some jalapenos and cayennes again, but most excitingly, today — responding to certain individuals’ requests (and threats) — I ORDERED SOME SHISHITO AND FUSHIMI PEPPER SEEDS!!! So, the good news is that we now have hope for some grilling and sizzling come summer…
The troubling news though is that I might have a serious seed shopping problem. Exercising control when it . . . CONTINUE READING → do you have a wetting agent?
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