Tag: boil ’em mash ’em stick ’em in a stew

Using the Harvest

~ Nicole R. Ordway ~ Leave a comment

So for me, I enjoy the growing part of gardening fine enough. But the most exciting bits are the beginning and the end: germination and harvest. And even more rewarding is being able to use what you’ve grown from seed. This year I grew (among other things) onions for the first time. I’m happy to report that the early harvest I took of the green onions has stored well in the freezer and I used it and our carrots (freshly harvested) in a bison stew.

I also harvested some larger onions later and cured them in the fridge. Today I opened the paper bag to discover that not a single one had rotted. More, they’re potent and delicious. I’m using the fresh ones in a bison skillet tonight. (I really prefer bison over beef.)

Do you grow vegetables in your garden? What do you use them in? Do you store them or use them fresh? I’d love to hear your experience! For me, I’m excited to dig into our acorn squash which should be almost done curing in the fridge.

Fingerling Potatoes!

~ Nicole R. Ordway ~ Leave a comment

Okay, so I’m moving sometime this year, which means anything I grow this season has to be in pots that I can move with me. Hence the wee Japanese maples in the previous post.

And today….I maybe jumped the gun a little but whatever! Today we’re starting potatoes!

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These are the fingerling variety, which we like for baking and for using whole in stews. A friend of mine on Facebook asked if these are yams, and here is my response to her:

“Nope! Yams would generally have a golden interior as opposed to the pale yellow. Also you don’t start yams like this…..yams you put the whole potato in a thing with drainage, and fill that with soil so that half of the potato is covered. “Slips” or tendrils will sprout and you twist these off and plant them, and that’ll get you yams. With the non-yam variety, you cut them like this and let them dry a little to “heal” the wound so they don’t just rot. Then you shove ’em in some soil, and they do their stuff more like seeds.”

And now you too know the difference between starting yams for production and starting non-yams. (Yams in this case also refers to sweet potatoes, which is what she meant.)