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By feral, on February 20th, 2012%
 I concocted this dish yesterday — following a sudden, unambitious inspiration — but people liked it and said I should transcribe the recipe. So, here you go, people:
Step 1: Boil some chickpeas. They’ll taste so much better than the canned ones. You will probably need less than 1 cup of dry chickpeas for this but since cooking them is a bit of a commitment, why not make more and use the rest to whip up some delicious homemade hummus?
To cook the chickpeas:
soak overnight rinse add new water (1:4), bring to a boil add 1 small peeled onion and 1-2 garlic cloves (and an herb of choice — I like bay leaf and oregano) simmer covered for 2 hours (I add salt to the water after 1.5 hours of simmering) drain (reserve some of that liquid if you’re also making hummus)
If you are not convinced this would make any difference, go ahead, use canned chickpeas (15 oz).
While chickpeas are simmering (or sitting in a can):
Wash 1 head cauliflower, dry, and cut into florets Pre-heat oven to 400F . . . CONTINUE READING → cauliflower & chickpeas salad
By feral, on January 3rd, 2012%
Happy New Year, my dear feral reader!
2011′s celebratory cabbage pie
May it bring you, your loved ones and your garden (if applicable) many happy, healthy, and delicious things.
My 2012 began in Colorado and is about to continue in California (i.e. I’m writing this at Aspen airport). It’s been happy, super fun, and, miraculously, hangover-free. Here’s a glimpse of our NYE dinner — because I know that’s all that you really would like to know about and all that my better judgment permits me to share.
 The menu was a collective effort and included a salad, brussels sprouts, pilaf, salmon-fennel pie, and a 7-pound roasted leg of lamb.
 I’m particularly proud of our black caviar station complete with miniature potato latkes, crème fraiche and, of course, vodka shots. It was a masterpiece and I insist that it becomes a fixture of any New Year’s celebration. Unfortunately, I failed to take any photos of it because I was too . . . CONTINUE READING → Happy 2012!
By feral, on December 27th, 2011%
 Just as Christmas socializing is unthinkable without the help of Personal Digital Assistants (see my previous post) nowadays, modern-day Yuletide is incomplete without a Yule Log channel that fills the living room with cozy crackling, courtesy of your friendly cable company.
That’s why tonight feralgardener.com, understanding its responsibility as an infant media empire, is introducing its own Yule Log video. It is pretty short for now but at least you know it this fire was made with love and real, all-natural wood! By the way, did you know that you can burn your yule log and eat it too? I did. When I was a little kid, I saw pictures of something that looked like the most magically delicious thing in the world in my mom’s French magazines. It was called Bûche de Noël and the chocolate-laden recipes that accompanied those pictures were, alas, so hopelessly unadaptable to the Soviet spectrum of ingredients… Of course, I since forgot all about those childhood yearnings for the exotic French Bûche and never got a chance to taste it. But this Saturday we went to have breakfast with our neighbors Peter and . . . CONTINUE READING → feral yule (b)log
By feral, on December 25th, 2011%
Gold, Frankincense and Apple products.
 A Christmas Day face-off: Steve Jobs vs. Baby Jesus.
By feral, on December 24th, 2011%
Obviously, I still need to work on a few things, e.g. smiling and speaking. But I do believe this new and exciting medium has a bright feral future. Please enjoy this video tour of my garden and keep in mind that it was really freezing this morning — normally, it looks much bigger. Although I didn’t harvest anything from the garden other than the above footage, today was overall a terrific day for me. I slept until 10, then located and successfully disposed of a little dead mouse that had been filling the house with anti-holiday spirit, and finally cooked a trio of Russian/Hanukkah comfort foods for dinner: borscht, roasted apricot chicken and, my absolute favorite, potato latkes.
I was very happy with myself about this dinner. Especially because I managed to eat somewhere between 10 and 15 latkes. For the record, these potato pancakes are my most favorite food in the world. Ever since I was very little, they never failed to make me happy. Needless to say, back in Belarus they were a regular food, not a once-a-year Hanukkah treat — but nonetheless, always a . . . CONTINUE READING → For the first time ever, a video tour of the garden
By feral, on October 7th, 2011%
Here’s what the garden looked like when I left it ten days ago.
 In what condition will I find it tomorrow? How much of it will have fallen victim to ruthless grazers who, sensing winter’s arctic breath, have advanced into the territory that they had been avoiding during summer months? I’ll find out soon. No need to succumb to anxieties before bed time.
I’m very excited about the long weekend – thank you, Columbus, for discovering America, and thank you, Fordham, for honoring his discovery with a day off! What’s on the agenda? Lots of stuff: getting beds ready for winter sleep, harvesting any remaining tubers, and planting some new stuff for the spring – like spinach and garlic, for example.
And, hopefully, catch up on some blogging… The beginning of 5772 (anno mundi) has been really busy and I had absolutely no time or energy to write a single post — even though there’s been no shortage of material.
What has this year brought so far? There was, of course, lots of challah:
 The ones in the foreground . . . CONTINUE READING → Happy 5772!
By feral, on September 19th, 2011%
How much do I love potatoes? Just look at this happy punim. They’d be on top of my desert island foods list, any time.
 And that’s why I saved the best for last. I’m talking about the latest photo quiz, of course. Those green cherry-sized tomato-like berries, as correctly identified by both Kristik and Husband, are the proper fruit of the potato plant. Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are basically brothers (or sisters); so, if you confused them in the quiz, it was for a good reason. Just make sure not to confuse them in real life: potato berries, according to my sources, are poisonous and contain toxic compounds glycoalkaloids, that affect the nervous system and can cause weakness and confusion. (Wait, am I sure I haven’t been eating them? Because that would explain a lot…) These toxins are also present in other nightshades, like tomato and eggplant, especially in their foliage, and also in the potato tubers that have turned green due to photosynthesis. Wikipedia assures, however, that potato poisoning is quite a rare occurrence.
If you let them ripen, you can, theoretically, use . . . CONTINUE READING → Potatoes, mon amour
By feral, on August 28th, 2011%
The wind and rain just picked up again here in Canaan, and power went out. So, now it’s officially a storm, I suppose…
There was a brief period of calm before though, during which I ran out into the garden to see how things have weathered the storm.
Predictably, a bunch of sunflowers are down, and a few other plants, including the taller Brussels sprouts bent to the ground, but — knock on wood — there’s no visible damage. The winds knocked down a lot of small green apples from the tree in front of the house but tomatoes held on (I only found 3 little greenies on the ground). As a precautionary measure, yesterday I ordered a mandatory evacuation of all near-ripe and ripening tomatoes. Firstly, they continue to ripen very fast off the vine, and secondly, according to my Joy of Pickling book, half-ripe tomatoes that are just beginning to show a hint of color are actually ideal for pickling.
Here are the largest 3 of the evacuated tomatoes, 2.8 lbs together…
And pickle I did, following Michael’s (you know him as *husband* on FG) . . . CONTINUE READING → Irene in the garden
By feral, on June 27th, 2011%
Behold the first dawn of my blog’s second year!
(This morning I witnessed the sun rise in the sky over Midtown Manhattan for the first time — it was precipitous, dramatic, and almost immediately blinding.)
That’s right — only a year ago, on June 26, FeralGardener saw its first post. And today I would like to take a moment to thank its 2,125 “absolute unique visitors” from 74 countries across the world for their 3,926 visits and 11,289 pageviews. I realize that a significant percentage of you are mere spammers and bots, looking to corrupt the feral purity of my baby; nevertheless, thank you for driving up the traffic statistics!
Just like gardens depend on sunshine and water, blogs, even the most feral of them, need their readers’ interest and attention. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for all the comments and kind words of support. Special thanks to the wonderful Amateur Gourmet, Afternoon On the Hill, and FishWatch for introducing Feral Gardener to their visitors! I’m honored to have you as my top referring sites (other than facebook . . . CONTINUE READING → FeralGardener turns 1!
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
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