the growing part of ‘growing and gathering’
So far in my posts, I have talked mostly about harvesting wild edibles. I am starting to get a little produce from my garden, so I thought I’d do a post for the ‘growing’ side of ‘growing and gathering’.
I have only a small garden, laughable by many standards. We have too much shade and since I won’t allow the nearby trees to be cut, I must be content with spindly carrots, sorrowful pea vines and a plethora of slugs. However, I also have lots of perennials and a small herb garden, enough to keep us in regular small harvests of additions for our dinners.
On Monday, I decided to prepare my favourite lunch, couscous, with a gathering from my garden. I used:
~ a handful of black and red currants (just ripening this week!)
~ a sprig of thyme
~ a few leaves of oregano
~ a small spray of parsley
~ a handful of chives
~ one clove of garlic from the shadowy garden.
To this I added a small purple onion from the grocery store…
I chopped the onion and the herbs quite fine…
I sautéed everything in olive oil, very briefly (to keep it all crisp and keep the currents from going mushy)…
and added the mixture to my couscous, prepared with boiling water and a quarter teaspoon of powdered chicken bullion.
A delicious dinner, a little tart, but perfect for my taste buds!!!!
© Jane Tims 2012
nichepoetryandprose 
The night before last I had my first dinner from my own pitiful garden… yellow squash, green beans, parsley simmered and served over wheat germ…a dollup of butter… And there’s nothing like a meal that you have waited for so long to satisfy. I guess that’s why we go through gardening in the first place.
Love your recipe…. I may try something like that myself… although I don’t have thyme or oregano… they just would not germinate this year… I finally got my basil to germinate and as soon as it’s large enough I’ll substitute that… add in a few beet greens too. Love your post…encourages us to experiment.
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snowbirdpress
July 13, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Hi. The purpose of the garden, is – the taste of the first carrot! Jane
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jane tims
July 14, 2012 at 8:51 am
Hi Jane,
It was wonderful to spend some time with you on Wednesday. I too enjoyed th poetry workshop. While there was nothing particularly new there for me, I benefitted from the interactions with other writers and learned some subtleties about tweaking work from listening to Ian. It all pushes my need for a writer’s group for support and feedback.
Thank you for your responses to my poem. I respect and appreciate your comments. And your advice about spreadsheets.
I think your poem “high school dance” uses great metaphor and presents beautiful, poignant images of adolescent angst. I look forward to seeing the sunsequent versions.
I like this post and love the juicy, yummy photos.
Thank you as always for kindness in comments, and for your immense talent shared through your blog.
Carol
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Carol Steel
July 13, 2012 at 7:13 am
Hi Carol. Thanks for your kind words. I am tired after a whole week at the MWW. I revised the ‘High School Dance’ poem and read it at the closing. It’s too bad you weren’t able to be there… your ‘five word poem’ was quite good… showed you have experience writing with a word prompt. Looking forward to getting together at another workshop, perhaps at WordsFall. Jane
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jane tims
July 13, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Your dinner looks delicious! My dad was an avid gardener and I’ve never tasted tomatoes anywhere better than his. But he was always wanting to cut down more trees to expand his garden space while my mother was arguing against it… There was a lot of negotiating going on!
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Barbara Rodgers
July 12, 2012 at 11:24 am
Hi. We’d have to cut a lot of trees to get light here! Jane
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jane tims
July 12, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Yum! thanks for the inspiration, jane….
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singingbones
July 12, 2012 at 7:12 am
Hi. Glad you found the post delicious! Jane
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jane tims
July 12, 2012 at 8:41 am
You’re creative in so many ways! Alas,my feeble little garden also has too little sun and too many slugs…and like you, I can’t sacrifice healthy trees. Fortunately, I get a weekly garden box from a local grower to supplement my struggling greenery.
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Deborah Carr
July 11, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Hi. For the unsuccessful gardener, the garden box is a wonderful way to stay local. These services are being offered more and more… a great way to get quality produce in season, and support local farmers. Have you noticed, the topic of local foods is making the news this month… bans on selling eggs from local chickens and discouraging strawberry u-picks within city limits… the struggle never ends… Jane
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jane tims
July 12, 2012 at 8:32 am
Nice pictures Jane.
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JD
July 11, 2012 at 8:06 pm
Hi. It’s fun taking them…delays the eating though! Jane
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jane tims
July 11, 2012 at 8:11 pm
Welcome to the world of the photographer!
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JD
July 11, 2012 at 9:11 pm