Dreaming and Cooking

It is that time of the year again. The Pinetree catalog has been here a while, but I only went through it once to see what was there. Once the Fedco catalog came it was time to be serious about it all.

I got my seeds together. The majority of them I keep in the fridge in airtight containers. So I have to let them get to room temperature before I go through them. I don't really take inventory anymore. I go through the catalogs as I look through the seeds. When I look at the kale I see how much seed I have and if I want to try other varieties. I see if the same seed I need from Pinetree is cheaper than Fedco or the other way around. I figure out how much I used last year and how much I might need this year.

I toss old seed as I go through it. Certain seed I always buy every year - spinach, carrots, onions, and corn. Each of these are important crops to me and their seed is often short lived. It would probably germinate the next year, but there is enough of a chance of a germination issue that I don't want to risk it. And especially with the three that I direct seed if it doesn't germinate on the first try it could limit my harvest. Especially with something like carrots. The spring crop is sown early and can take up to three weeks to germinate. If a batch doesn't come up I won't know there is an issue until way too late. I can't wait another couple of weeks as my rotations won't work out anymore. With spinach the earlier it gets up in the spring the better the crop. Because once May 15th hits they start thinking about bolting no matter how long they have been in the ground.

Now I have a sheet of paper - well two sheets - that tells me what I need to order and probably from who. I haven't ordered yet but I'll go over it once more with my garden map out and make sure I've got everything covered. Dreaming about next year is always one of the great pleasures of gardening. All the fun and none of the work. In my mind's eye everything grows well and the earwigs are nonexistent.

I've also been busy freezing things for the winter. I've been playing with new recipes. From squash sauce for pasta (oh how I miss tomato sauce) and lentil loaf instead of meat loaf to try to eat healthier.

I also made up an old favorite. I make a cheddar cheese biscuit pot pie. But when I make the filling I make enough for three meals and then I freeze two. All I have to do next time we eat it is defrost the filling and make some biscuits. I also made up a huge batch of Boston Baked Beans. They too got frozen in meal size batches. I much prefer cooking in large batches and freezing. That way I have faster meals when I need them.