The last breath before the plunge

I know. I know. I have been absent and my posts overdue. My apologies are given graciously. I am still quite busy and haven't had time to spend in the garden, much less blog about it. However, the season draws nigh and my time thinking and planning has nearly come to an end. I still have not filled all my beds with dirt! Tomorrow I will begin the process, turning the sod over and mixing amendments with the existing soil. It has a large clay content, which will be good during the drier times of the summer. It does however mean that I need to add in some organic matter, like the three or four hundred pounds of ten year old horse manure compost waiting outside. This will improver drainage in the spring and add natural nutrients.

What I have been doing and unfortunately not keeping up with properly, is cooking. I brag on my cooking, mainly to my wife, who I think either humors me because she loves me, or her range of fine cuisine is limited to what I provide her so she doesn't know any better, or because it is really good. I am ever critical of it though, as I suspect anyone who is passionate about something should be. Still, it is a basic part of life, so perhaps I can just claim instinct. I have to eat to live, and if I have to eat, I might as well strive to make it good!

Taste is one thing that requires two things; technique, which I will strive eternally to perfect, and quality ingredients. Whether it is a nice slice of country ham that my dad put up the winter before, perfectly rounding out a breakfast full of healthy items such as pomegranate spiked orange juice, segmented blood oranges, organic scrambled eggs, and a piece of whole wheat toast slathered with organic blackberry preserves. I doubt I burned all those calories off thinking about the garden. That is not to say that the only unhealthy thing on that plate was made without any other preservatives other than salt and time, so it balances out, right?

Another option could be a heaping pile of BBQ pork supplied by friends who cook the stuff professionally. Add a piece of cheese, or not, I see mine never melted, and a side of homemade coleslaw and you have another yard-work inspiring meal. Check out my friends' BBQing battle results and learn all about the best flavored pig parts in this neck of the woods here at Ulika BBQ. Unfortunately my unmelted cheese has covered the meat in the photo. Is is a top notch product.

These particular ingredients are things that I cannot grow in my garden, but what I do grow adds to such quality food to complete the meals. More importantly I think is to know what I am eating and what food I am giving my family as well. It all goes back to that instinct. For thousands of years, man has grown his own food. So why not? Again I must eat, so I want to do it well. That does not mean, consuming mass quantities. It means work a little harder, and you get the freshest, chemical free, best tasting vegetable matter to add to your meals or center said meals around.

Damn I want a tomato and it's going to snow next week... Oh well, maybe the onions will pop up tomorrow.