Herb Mustard and Edible Publications

herbs-for-mustard-nov-21-08

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

Granted, writing about food that isn’t still attached to roots is a bit of a stretch for me. Those of you who have been reading here a while know that I’ve mentioned a few (hundred) times that I’m not much of a cook. It’s not that I lack the basic skills: I can cook when the mood strikes, but it doesn’t happen often. I put a great deal of thought and time into preparing feed for my animals, but for myself…well, it seems like a poor use of time I could use to garden or read or play Neopets. But I do have a few things I enjoy making, mostly because Mom likes them too: granola, roasted root vegetables, and onion soup. And once a year, a batch of herb mustard. (more…)

Published in: on November 27, 2008 at 3:35 pm Comments (7)
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Hayefield Happenings

Hayefield House from orchard path June 8 08

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

Wow, I can’t believe how fast the weeks are passing. So much for the days of blogging every day or two! Besides the usual busy-ness of this time of year in my own garden, I’ve been working every other day at a friend’s nursery/garden center for the past month, installing and maintaining some huge new gardens, so I’ve been gloriously immersed in extended hours of hands-on gardening every single day.

In many ways, it brings back the days when I used to be a professional gardener. I enjoyed it then, but I remember it being pretty tough physically. Getting back into it 20 years later, I find it’s actually easier now, maybe because I have a lot more experience, and a good selection of time-tested tools as well. Still, dealing with the intense heat we’re experiencing now in PA is tough at any age, so I’m grateful to be indoors for today. (more…)

Published in: on June 8, 2008 at 1:36 pm Comments (13)
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Non-Green Greens and Perennial Potatoes

Mustard Ruby Streaks and Golden Streaks May 22 08

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

Late spring is prime time for picking great salad fixings from the garden. We generally refer to them as “greens,” but there are many intriguing options to choose from that are anything but plain old green. One of my new favorites is a mustard variety called ‘Ruby Streaks’; it’s the jagged purple foliage shown above. The other variety shown is ‘Golden Streaks’. It’s even more frilly, and it makes a great contrast to ‘Ruby Streaks’, but it doesn’t appear nearly as golden next to other greens. (more…)

Published in: on May 22, 2008 at 5:53 pm Comments (9)
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Peas Please Me

Pea ‘Blauwschokkers’ late June 05

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

Novelty-seeking veggie gardeners have plenty of exciting options to choose from with trendy crops, such as gourmet greens and tomatoes. But peas? Hardly trendy, and hardly a plethora of options to choose from, at least in most catalogs: a few snap peas, a couple of snow peas, and maybe a few varieties of shelling types. I suppose it’s not really necessary for peas to be exciting, appearance-wise; once you experience the flavor of fresh-picked peas straight from (or, even better, right in) the garden, you hardly care what they look like. But if you enjoy trying something different, there are two out-of-the-ordinary varieties worth tracking down. (more…)

Published in: on March 8, 2008 at 7:54 pm Comments (7)

Spigariello

Text and photos ©Nancy J. Ondra

Spigariello July 4 07When I read seed-catalog descriptions that tell me a plant “tastes just like [fill in the blank]“, I have to wonder, well, why don’t I just grow the original plant, rather than the taste-alike? Sometimes, it seems like the substitute might be the easier route, but we all know how shortcuts often have a way of turning out to be disappointing, to say the least. If I’d put some effort into getting a good bed of real asparagus going last year, for instance, I’d probably be able to harvest a few stalks this spring, and they’d really be asparagus. Instead, I went for the seemingly simpler route of growing asparagus peas and spent months waiting for hardly a mouthful of pods that weren’t all that asparagus-like anyway. (more…)

Published in: on March 2, 2008 at 7:55 pm Comments (5)
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