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psalacanthea · 4 months

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Vegetarian Pot Pie

hey whats up i made this for my friends and they said it was good, so I decided to write the recipe down while i still remember it (for once in my life), so I can make it again. I will share it with you.

This is rich, filling, delicious, but doesn't just taste like a sad chicken pot pie with no chicken. This is a proper vegetarian dish, and perfect for winter. Extremely cozy and nice. If u need something to make for Christmas but don't want to work all day, this is for you.

It does not have peas because I'm not a fucking MONSTER

...

Ingredients:

1 leek

1 sweet potato (I used white sweet potato, orange are too sugary for me)

1 large russet potato or 2 small-medium

1 large carrot or 2 small-medium

1 large parsnip

mushrooms of choice (i used pre-sliced baby bellas)

2 decent-sized cloves of garlic

sage

rosemary

thyme

parsley

cream (milk or a milk sub is ok too but it won't be as rich)

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp ap flour

1 carton (or 2 cans) vegetable stock

white wine (i used chard but any other non-sweet white like a pinot grig would be ok. just no sweet whites, the root veggies are plenty sweet)

s&p

store-bought pie crusts (if you like suffering make it yourself!)

utensils:

1 pie pan

1 small pot

Strainer (you can use a slotted spoon to remove stuff if you don't have [or let it cool and use your fingers])

1 lg. saucepan

Knife

Spatula or Big Spoon

(steps below cut)

To begin you're going to want to enhance your vegetable stock-- store-bought veggie stock is boring and often too tomatoey, we want to mitigate that. Veggie broth doesn't have to taste dull!

Separate leek greens from whites. If your leek is pretty stumpy, you can use 2.

In a small pot at medium-high heat, sear the leek greens on both sides, and sautee 1-2 mushroom, sliced. Once the leek greens have been browned in spots, add 3/4ths cup white wine or so (you can eyeball it). Simmer until all the alcohol smell is gone from the wine (won't take long.)

If you feel inclined, you can also add any carrot/parsnip tops you might have trimmed off, to save waste. Keep in mind that these are both sweet vegetables, though, and that might change the flavor a little. Carrot greens tho would add a nice bit of freshness, and would be a fine sub for parsley.

Add vegetable stock, a sprig of thyme, rosemary, sage, and parsley (you can tie them together w/kitchen twine to make a bouquet garni, but if you're gonna strain the stock you don't need to)

You can also add bay leaf if you have like 3 containers of them in your spice cabinet for some reason and need an excuse to use them.

Turn the heat under the stock down to low, and simmer until it's reduced by about a third, maybe an hour (it can hang out while you do other stuff.)

Peel potatoes, cut into 1 to 1/2 inch chunks (small but not tiny). You should have about two cups. cube size is partially preference, but smaller chunks mean you can get all the flavor in every bite.

Do the same for the sweet potato, but reduce amount to a cup. You won't use the whole potato for this recipe, but they're SO good roasted wrapped in tinfoil and eaten plain with salt.

Scrub parsnip and carrot, cut into pieces that seem about the same as the potatoes, about a cup of each. (I don't peel my carrots don't @ me.)

Cut leek whites into half-circles.

If your mushrooms are not pre-cut, slice mushrooms until you have about a cup of them ready to go.

Please note, if you have extra veg cut-- just add it. Extra filling is no big deal you can just eat it by itself or add it to your plate of pie. No need to waste anything.

Squash and finely chop garlic cloves.

In a large saucepan on medium- medium high heat, add 3 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp flour, mix together as butter melts to form a cohesive mixture- a roux.

Cook until roux is starting to bubble. Add leeks, add carrots, mushrooms, and parsnips. Salt lightly to encourage moisture loss.

Sautee in the roux for 3-5 minutes or so until the veggies are starting to smell good and the roux is getting gold, then add garlic.

Cook for 30 seconds to a minute more, stirring constantly, until you can smell the garlic. Garlic burns easily!

Strain enhanced stock into saucepan.

Add potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Stir until the roux dissolves into the stock and it begins to thicken, and then turn down to low heat (you want small and regular bubbles, but not big glorpy ones).

It might not look like enough gravy, but we don't want a ton. It's a pie, not a stew. If you REALLY think it's not enough, your stock might have reduced too far. Add a bit of water if you must.

Remove leaves from 1 large sprig thyme, and add to filling. Remove leaves from and finely dice 1 sprig rosemary. Do the same for sage. Toss out the stems.

The gravy should still be thin-ish, but we're going to reduce it down more as the potatoes are cooked through.

Cook until potatoes are just barely fork-tender. Even slightly undercooked is ok. Taste gravy for salt and pepper. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add 1/3rd cup heavy cream/milk or so. Stir in.

Strip the leaves from 1-2 sprigs of parsley, finely chop, stir into gravy.

Taste again. Season again if necessary.

Let the filling cool. Try not to eat it all.

Unroll 1 pre-made pie crust, and put in the bottom of your pie pan. Try to make it even all the way around.

Now! The easy way to seal a pie (without egg wash) is as follows.

Fold down the edge of the lower crust so that it sticks out past the top edge of the pie pan.

Add filling. Get that shit as full as you can while keep that sticking out edge of the pie crust dry.

Place top pie crust over the pie.

Fold the edge of the lower crust over the upper crust, rolling them up together to make the crust edge.

Either with a fork or with pinching, make the edge crust look prettier.

If the edges of both the lower crust and the upper crust have been rolled inside themselves, you shouldn't have filling leakage.

Cut venting holes on top in whatever quirky design you want.

Stick in a 350f (177c?) oven until it's done.

I don't know how long, I don't measure those things. The crust will be golden brown and the filling will be bubbly.

the wine is skippable, yes, but it adds some acidity that you need. try a squeeze of lemon into your gravy if you don't use it.

#thea cooks #recipes #vegetarian pot pie #vegetarian recipes #there now I can make it again #boy I hope I didn't forget anything #I genuinely just synthesized this out of 4 separate recipes and my own preferences #if you like peas in your pot pie you're wrong

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isa-beenme · 9 months

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Hi! I really enjoyed the story of Helion you wrote. I would ask you if you could write more of his stories when you have time and inspiration. Thank you!

Inspiration I had since you sent the request, time on the other hand I just had now 😀🔫

I honestly wished I could get money from this and never go to college again (I love what I study, don't get me wrong, but OH GODS how tiring it is)

Anyway, sweet Helion coming to rescue my mental health, this is actually from the same universe as this one but isn't necessarily a continuation

Also, I don't know why, but braids match Day Court's aesthetic SO MUCH, any kind of braid, honestly, and I love them for that

Serendipity

The day started hot, and you felt even hotter every day your pregnancy advanced. Now in a sense of feeling sexy, more like overheating. You spent some vacation days in Night Court during their lovely winter, the cold definitely helping your morning sickness, during spring break you enjoyed it very much in your own Court, all the fruits and veggies that only your home could provide you. And then summer came. And now you felt like a pudding melting under the sun.

Luckily another reason for you to love your Court appeared during this time: the clothes. Everything was so light and soft that honestly made you love your home even more. You woke up sweating with Helion's arms around you and quickly took a shower to free yourself from the droplets of sweat. You chose one of the many robes in light shiny colors to put it on, your belly, almost eight months in, looked pretty and roundy on the dresses, making you even happier.

Even if you weren't born part of the royalty you could swear you were glowing. You put your hair in two big braids and tied them up in your head, making a crown which made your face show up more. All of that time took your husband to only wake up and change his clothes. You made him sit between your legs in bed while you braid his hair and he played with the hem of your dress.

-You're ready for today? - Asked you once you finished, kissing the top of his head.

-What do we have today? - Honestly could be anything, your mind hasn't been the same since the pregnancy.

-Lucien is here - He announced, as if it would tell you everything you needed to know.

-Oh? For what? - Your dearest son has been coming in and out to Court for literally everything. You didn't feel like working? He covered you. You and Helion were on vacation? He brings all his friends and they work in command for a while. Another commemorative party? He was here to plan and make sure everything was perfect.

-Decide the baby's name? - The phrase came out in a question, and your eyes almost popped out of your face with realization.

-I forgot that - You whispered more to yourself than to him, but Helion heard somehow and laughed at you, running to hug you from behind and kiss your entire exposed neck.

-Don't worry, me and Lucien made sure to choose at least a hundred names each - His hands caressing your belly made you relax in his embrace, and you let him guide you to one of the solars in the palace where your oldest son was already expecting both of you for breakfast.

Your eyes lightened up in seconds just from the sight of the amazing table waiting for you to devour it completely. As the three of you sat around the table laden with sweets and treats, Lucien and Helion began to discuss the important matter at hand - the name of the baby you were carrying. Helion, being the father, was brimming with excitement and eager to pick the perfect name that would symbolize his love for his second child.

Helion's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he suggested names rooted in the traditions of the Day Court, tying it to their history and ancestry. Lucien, who was a blend of both Day Court and Autumn Court, chimed in with suggestions that would embrace the uniqueness of his sibling's heritage.

And well… you were happy with the food. As you haven't prepared anything to contribute with the discussion you sat happily with the amount of good candies and fruit flavored foods at your disposal. Your pregnancy was being gentle to you and food tastes were only highlighted to you (like fruit and sweets) and the only thing you had to leave behind was some scents in your bathroom. And the heat.

The conversation was lively, and the atmosphere was filled with love and anticipation. Helion, always the smart one, spoke about the significance of names in the world, and how they often carried stories and meanings that could shape a person's destiny. Lucien shared tales from his own travel experiences, highlighting how names held a special place in everyone's minds.

As they went through a multitude of names, each one sparking excitement in Helion and Lucien's eyes, but none of them felt like "the one" just yet. You chuckled to yourself, fitting more food inside of you and feeling the baby kick as if sharing in the excitement of choosing its own name.

As the morning went on, the discussions veered into playful nicknames and endearing terms they could use for the little one. Helion suggested "Sunlight" for the way the child would light up their lives, while Lucien countered with "Moonbeam" for the glow that would guide them through the darkness. Ridiculous and corny, to say the least.

At some point of the talk, Helion and Lucien began to consider combining their own names to create a unique one for the child. "Helien" was the first suggestion, but it didn't quite feel right. Then they tried "Lucion," which seemed a bit too complicated. Or horrendous, in your words.

-Okay, so, we'll finish this with a top five girls name, and then we can start with the boys name - Lucien said, finally closing the notebook that contained a ridiculous amount of names written in it and taking a sip of his drink.

-We won't discuss boys names - You finally gave your opinion, making both of them turn their heads to you, confused at your sudden interruption.

-Darling, you said you didn't want to know the gender until the baby is born, we need to discuss and decide both - Helion spoke, bringing his hand to your tummy for the thousandth time since the conversation started.

-But I'm telling you this is a girl. I'm sure - You weren't backing down on your decision, it was a girl and no more conversation needed.

-You can't be completely sure so we'll have boys names just in case - Lucien said, only awakening a anger you didn’t know you had.

-I'm the one creating this child, okay? We've already discussed this, it's a girl - You put an end to the conversation.

-We? Who is "we"? - Your husband asked, confused since you and him never discussed gender preferences. But you had yours.

-Me and the baby, I told her that I wanted a baby girl and she agreed, being a male isn't cool and I already told her that - You said with all the confidence you could master in that moment, both males fighting to not laugh at your antics.

-But isn't it better if we have a boy name just for precaution? - Lucien tried once again, the look you gave him was enough to make him sit back in his chair and shut up.

-No! We don't need precaution, I'm telling you it's a girl - Your stress level was getting higher every time they went against your decision. You weren't completely sure, obviously. But you were sure!

-Okay then, a girl it is - Helion said, giving up on the discussion and holding you in his arms, filling your face with thousands of kisses - But if it's a boy we're gonna name him Helion the Second.

-As you wish, it'll be a girl anyway - You mumbled for yourself, internally making a note to choose a gender neutral name in the end. Just for… you know, precaution :)

#high lord helion #spotify #acotar #helion x reader #helion acotar #helion spell cleaver

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mariacallous · 5 months

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Looking for a Shabbat dinner centerpiece or a hearty midweek meal? Picture cubes of eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes cooked together to create that special harmony only veggies that grew together in the sun achieve. You’re thinking of ratatouille, right? But what I have in mind is a heartier dish from Romania and Bulgaria called ghiveci or guvech.

Romanian ghiveci and Bulgarian guvech are indeed very similar to the famous ratatouille, but being peasant’s food, they’re more rustic and substantial. The veggies for guvech are cut into large, uneven chunks, and can be cooked all together at once, while for ratatouille, each component is fried separately before they are combined. This makes guvech preparation much easier, and allows for creative improvisations; you can easily add any vegetables in season. Besides the mandatory eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes, green beans or okra are common. Guvech is seasoned very simply with salt, black pepper and occasionally paprika, to let the produce shine. The Bulgarian version is cooked with fatty meat, while most Romanian versions are vegan.

“In Bulgaria, guvech used to be cooked in a clay pot called gyuveche,” Etti Ben Yosef, a Bulgarian Jew who lives in Israel, told me. “The stew was cooked in the oven for many hours at low temperature.”

But these days, when Ben Yosef makes guvech for Shabbat dinner, she uses a pressure cooker to precook the beef short ribs before adding them to the vegetables. Then, she cooks the entire stew on the stove for a long time, putting it in the oven for the final hour to give it a nice crust. She feels lucky to share the recipe with her adult children. “I keep the tradition so the kids will remember,” she said.

Guvech’s origins can be traced to the Ottoman Empire that ruled the Balkan region for hundreds of years. The original Turkish dish, called güveç, is cooked in a wide, clay dish by the same name. It’s very similar to the Bulgarian guvech and includes chicken, lamb or beef. There are many other variations of the dish throughout the Balkans. Bosnian Đuveč or djuvec is the name of a clay pot as well as a veggie casserole that’s cooked with rice; Greek giouvetsi is also cooked with rice. In Romania, the eggplant-tomato version is considered summer ghiveci, while winter ghiveci is prepared with carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and mushrooms.

Bulgarian Sephardi Jews and Romanian Ashkenazi Jews brought guvech to Israel (where it’s pronounced “ghe-vech”) and made the dish widely popular. No wonder, given that eggplant and tomatoes are so beloved in Israel and are of such high quality. Early Israeli versions can be found in Molly Bar David’s “Folkloric Cookbook” from 1964. The first version includes 14 different vegetables (including celery root and cauliflower) and meat. The second version is for Romanian ghiveci that’s baked with a whole fish on top.

The vegetarian Romanian version is probably most common in Israel nowadays. And although it is traditionally served over rice, I like to serve it on another Romanian staple, mamaliga. It’s the definition of comfort food.

This recipe is the Bulgarian version of guvech that includes meat. You can make the recipe vegetarian by simply omitting the meat. The rest of the ingredients and instructions stay the same.

Notes:

It is recommended, and easy, to add any seasonal vegetables to the basic guvech. Consider adding: 1 lb butternut squash or sweet potato, cut into ½-inch dice; ½ lb whole okra, stems removed; or ½ lb green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces.

You can cook the meat, if using, up to two days in advance. Store the cooked meat in the fridge with the cooking liquid. Before using, remove from the fridge and discard the fat on the top of the pot (the fat will be solid and white in color).

Guvech keeps in the fridge for up to four days.

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toadstoolgardens · 1 year

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Gardening in Raised Beds On Pavement

Growing in raised beds on top of pavement is an excellent strategy if you have limited growing space. Let's learn how to make the most of that concrete or asphalt!

Build Tall Beds

Crops need room to send roots down into the soil. Providing plenty of room to grow means your crops have a strong foundation, hold moisture longer, and can access more nutrients in the soil through deeper roots. Raised beds on pavement should be a minimum of 24 inches tall and ideally 32 inches tall! Taller is always better, especially if you live somewhere with hot and/or dry summers.

Filling Your Raised Beds

When you build raised beds on the ground, your crops have access to the soil underneath for draining excess water from above and wicking water up from below. Building on pavement takes this away, so how we fill the beds really matters!

Bottom Layer: Gravel

Fill the bottom of your raised beds with about 6 inches of gravel. This helps fight erosion, helps with drainage, and keeps your crop's roots from coming into contact with the pavement.

Middle Layer: Decomposing Wood

I highly recommend the hugelkultur method. A hugelkultur, or "mound culture" in German, is a raised bed with a base of decomposing wood. Rotting wood encourages fungal networks, holds moisture, and fills the space pretty cheaply. Get some logs, sticks, and other dead wood pieces and make a layer on top of your gravel.

Top Layers: Loose, Rich Growing Medium

There's lots of options for filling this space, but the goal is high-quality organic matter. Avoid bags of potting soil, as these aren't living soil. Living soil self-renews and keeps providing a nutrient rich environment. Potting soil will eventually dry out and lose nutrients. Instead gather things like:

Compost (homemade or purchased)

Coffee grounds (many coffee shops are happy to give out used grounds for free)

Living soil (from your yard or garden, even just a few shovels full will likely contain fungal networks and earthworms)

Grass clippings (not sprayed with anything!!)

Kitchen scraps (egg shells, fruits, veggies)

Leaf mold (leaves that have aged for two years)

Livestock manure

Shredded office paper

Worm casings

Alternate layers of whichever of these materials you're able to get and make a big raised bed lasagna. Save your compost for the top lasagna layer. Then top the whole bed off with mulch! Mulch helps hold water and keeps weeds at bay.

The Best time to Build Raised Beds is in the Fall

You can build beds any time, but building in the fall gives your bed contents time to settle and break down over the winter. Your lasagna layers need time to break down into finished soil, which crops generally prefer. Then just add some more organic matter on top in the spring before planting.

What To Plant

Here's some crop suggestions to go easy on your garden in the first year. After the first year though the sky is the limit!

Beets

Herbs

Leafy greens

Legumes

Onions

Maintaining Raised Beds on Pavement

Irrigate: Even with your fabulous organic material lasagna, your raised bed on pavement will still dry out. Prepare to water regularly, especially in the seed and seedling phase. After your crops get established a deep weekly watering should be enough unless it's extremely hot/dry.

Fertilize: During the summer, add some liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks (during your watering sesh) to push nutrients down into the soil. Some great liquid fertilizer options are comfrey tea, fish fertilizer, and worm tea.

Soil Renewal: Every fall top your beds off with some new organic matter. Over time your raised beds will decompose and sink, so fill those babies back up so they're ready for next spring! And don't forget to mulch!

Aerate: As your layers decompose you'll want to do some gentle aerating with a digging fork to keep the soil loose and crumbly.

Use Cover Crops: Cover crops help enrich the soil and keep it from drying out.

Summer cover crops: Buckwheat, cow peas, millet

Winter cover crops: Daikon radish, oats, winter rye

Happy growing!!

Source

#gardening #urban gardening #small space gardening #raised beds #hugelkultur #suburban gardening #urban farming

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tomatoluvr69 · 6 months

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It’s so crazy now that the garden season is wrapping up (aside from my collards/kale and root veggies for winter harvest) to look at my two 25 foot beds and know that I have somehow amassed enough knowledge and experience to tend them successfully myself all summer???????? I always get really down on myself when I see people’s artistic and musical skills because I struggle so much to teach myself those things and always think that I’ve got no skills and hobbies. But I grew a seriously impressive garden this year you guys. It literally has made my life feel like it’s worth living and I’m kind of blown away by what I know/am capable of. Like zero blossom end rot this year. Wtf and I’ve got so much life ahead of me to learn too. And so many new varieties and herbs to try yayyyyyyyyyyyy wow

#kind of emotional…#it seriously enhances my life indescribably #but it’s knowledge and skills that sneak up on you. i had what like a rootbound pot of basil in 2016 or 17?#Next year I want to grow even more heirloom slicers and some golden beets and some Tahitian squash again bc when I grew it on an urban lot #in 2020 the squirrels fucking messed with that plant SO MUCH. and then the one that I harvested was right when my friend died and I was #mostly unable to cook from the grief #so that will always be a sad plant. but I think it’s time again :-)#and it was also my fault for living in their literal neighborhood

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sadisticstylist · 10 months

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For those who don't know, I'm a huge garden nerd. Ask about my garden and you'll get an earful.

I'm very fortunate to live IN San Francisco proper, and yet have a large, private back yard. It's what sold us on this space! The previous couple that lived here built a raised bed in the back and obviously grew a lot of veggies. Last summer after we moved in, I discovered an artichoke plant, butterhead lettuce (which we ended up making wraps with), carrots & more surprises growing in the bed!

This year I went a little overboard with my seed order, and got more types of plants than I have room to grow. This year also had the coldest and most prolonged winter that I have ever felt in the Bay Area. Mid-March was supposed to be my "last frost date", but the weather was still shit. Zone 9b? Yeah, right. Also, our yard is sort of boxed in by some taller buildings on a few sides, which very inconveniently limits the amount of direct sun most of my beds receive. My poor pepper plants will never make it to fruition, lol. And forget trying to grow squash! PLUS there have been pests that have devoured many a seedling. Needless to say, it's been a learning experience!

Here are some plants that I HAVE grown, successfully, that we have been able to harvest and eat this year!

*Garlic (grown from individual cloves that had sprouted in our kitchen cupboard)

*snap peas (the exact variety was called "sugar daddy snap peas" ;))

*Butterhead and Merlot lettuce (both are so yummy omg)

*Kale (still going strong, probably the most successful crop so far)

*Swiss Chard (close second to Kale, just sometimes gets hit by leaf miners)

*Green onions (two different varieties, bought at the Asian market with the roots still attached, stuck em in the ground and have been letting them do their thing)

*HEEEEEEEEERBS! Cilantro, rosemary, thyme, oregano, peppermint, chocolate mint, lavender, sage, and more are all happy as can be out here! Also CHAMOMILE has been *prolific*. I planted two starters in two different spots last summer, they did their thing, died back, and reseeded *everywhere*. It even grows out of the cracks between paved stones ffs -_- A lovely fan bought us an herb dryer a while ago, and we're planning to share the chamomile with friends. Fucking chamomile. Whew.

If anyone's interested in following my garden ramblings on here, I'll try to keep all related posts tagged #Denalis Garden on my tumblr. And I'd love to make some tumblr friends who also garden! I'll post some photos later. Now I'm off to plant more seeds!

#Denalis garden #cool weather garden #zone 9b but not really #shady veggie gardening #homesteading #first time gardener #newbie gardener #san francisco gardening

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rabbitsociety · 1 year

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❄️ winter lagakin tips ! ! !

♡ hai kitz! marshmallow/maxine here.. lets discuss rabbit care during this lovely harsh winter..!

1 . . . 🌨️ adding extra layers to your bed

adding layers of blankets, pillows, sheets, heat mats, or plushies is alike to adding hay or fur to ur warren!!

2 . . . ☃️ keeping ur hair/coat plentiful

growing out ur hair or making sure ur layering up inside can provide such a safe feeling! i really love keeping my hair long during this time!! earmuffs and layering inside is also a super idea, even if it sounds silly..!

3 . . . 🍧 food storage

stocking up on (veggie or non veggie) soups, broths, stews, and chilis can really help you store much needed energy during this time!! having some tea in the morning is super sweet too!

4 . . . 🧣hanging out

hanging out with family/friends/companions inside or out can be SO relaxing!! we can be really deprived of social-ness during winters, so calling up a pal to bake with, drink with, or play with is real exciting..! even if you just have a pet, a nice little walk to somewhere could do!

5 . . . 🎧 sitting outside

taking a step out on the porch (if you’ve got one) or opening the window to take a peek is perfectly fun!! its hard to push yourself to do anything when you’re meant to keep calm and still, taking time to just stare and listen to the world is the perfect way to deal with this!

6 . . . ⛸️ activity at dusk/dawn

if youre putting something off, or you absolutely need to attend to a chore/task: the most flawless of times would be finishing it off at the start of sunrise or late into the night. this is when energy is most abundant for us!! managing this time for us makes a lot of things so much easier when all we want to do is rest or be with each other.

7 . . . ❄️ snow magick

this one is for my lovelies who get in touch with their spiritual side!! i recommend harvesting snow water, icicles, in-bloom flowers for any upcoming practice. i also recommend ensuring luck for this winter with blessings, spells, and wishes!! we rabbits are very in-tune with this season, so practicing rituals and getting in touch with our roots is so fundamental!!

✧ thx 4 reading!! i hope u liked theze cuz im a little tired whilst makin em!! thx again, xoxo! happy winter <3

#rabbitkin #lagakin #bunnykin #bunnyhearted #rabbithearted #bunnykind #rabbitkind #kin tips #otherkin #otherkind #otherkin community #winter bunny

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kaedthoughts · 1 year

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Just a boy trying to get his farm

[This is a sfw post outside of normal posting so if you're not interested go ahead or hi- if you're interested in fresh veggies just say so, that's why i'm here]

For those of you who do not know me, I grew up as many a thing, mostly- a farming boy. I have photos of me as a child in mountains of dirt, barrel racing, my rite of passage as a fourteen year old was chopping up my first tree into firewood for the winter.

Today I come to you as a simple PNW style southern boy who grew up simply, and wants to return to that.

My grandmother on the non-yeeyee side of my family, who raised me the other half of the time, NEVER understood what it was about me, dirt, bugs, and 'those damn boots'. -there is also a picture of me as a child brushing my teeth in my pj's and my pink sparkly cowboy boots posing as a gay man would as a female child. how did she not know- Anyway, I'm at a time in my life and my disabilities leave me to be able to do one thing.

Farm.

The problem is, even though I already have my winter crops sprouting, she doesn't believe anyone gives a crap about raising livestock and farm fresh greens. I also know how to run a 'bee farm', and I do landscaping as well. I also spent about a year straight on a hard-labor farm where I worked with breaking horses and I had a lot of achievements from that time of my life despite it coming from horrific circumstances.

This is a little all over the place and out of what I usually post, but out of sheer desperation to return to my roots and be able to make a comfortable living,

Is anyone interested in beets? I have potatoes and onions, fresh herbs, and I even can my own sauces. (surprise, did you know i'm also a trained chef? I've had a lot of work history for 21 y/o.)

Just trying to see on probably the most underutilized platform who has interest so I have a market to shove at my grandmother so she'll leave me alone and be my reference so I can get this dang land.

(Guts. Glory. Ram. That's the voice y'all gotta read this in)

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healthyskillz · 2 months

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Cavolo Nero pasta w garlic (duh), white beans, capers & parmesan 👌🏼 try a new winter dinner recipe ✅ #bucket list 23/24

Roasted root veggies 🌈 pink and yellow chioggia beets, sweet potatoes and parsnips

#winter #eat your veggies #kale #dinosaur kale #cavolo nero #pasta #roasted veg #parsnips #beets #sweet potatoes #bucket list 23/24

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pheita · 3 months

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For the green worldbuilding ask: Seaweed (Do the people have access to an ocean?), Bush (Describe the average garden!) and Olive (Do they all speak the same language?)

Hey dreaminggoblin,

I'll answer this for Blood Night because I am still busy with the OC Kiss Week piece.

Do people have access to an ocean?

Well, depends on where they live. People living in the cities of Wealzyrth and Cithrelnym do, even if the last ones need to travel through the port lake and a long river. Stromsa'gonil might have direct reach to the ocean, but since they are so far up to the north, the water is frozen a big chunk of the year.

Describe an average garden.

Also this depends on where on the continent you are.

The are of Cithrelnym doesn't know real gardens, but have small flower pots in their tree houses and bigger herb pots on their verandas.

People in the Mirasond/Lagawood area usually have small garden patches with root vegetables, simple fruits, herbs, maybe a small hazelnut bush or useful flowers like lavender and calendula for homemade ointments.

The Irmagoth are, mostly populated by orks, will mostly have herb gardens mixed with medical plants and few easy-to-grow vegetables. Most vegetables and fruits will come from the communal gardens that are tended by official folks hired by the city elders.

Stramsa'gonil area will have herbs and root veggies, some apple or pear tries if the garden is big enough, and plant whatever will be easy to store for the long winters. Some have beehives hidden behind their houses to make their own honey.

Wealmore are is the most versatile when it comes to gardens, which is also based on the fact it's the only place that has nobility.

Common folks will have some simple fruits and vegetables, some herbs in their gardens, sometimes when neighbors join their gardens for more space even plant some medical plants for themselves.

Nobles will often have flourishing gardens full of various flowers and blooming bushes, skillfully trimmed apple, cherry, orange, and pear trees planted in well-planned places. Only low nobles will have a spot in their garden where they grow vegetables and fruits, and even then it is usually the more outlandish ones you rarely find at the markets but the lord or lady of the house loves, especially since drinking juices all day is a big thing among nobles.

Do they all speak the same language?

Yes and no.

There is a language everyone learns, known as merchant tongue but often referred to as communal language because every city and village relies on the merchants, so their language became the one everyone knows. But besides this, there are still the native tongues of each species and each area.

#writblr #writing #pheita talks #blood night

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figtreeandvine · 1 year

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I have cracked the code!

Year before last I discovered elephant garlic, which is an allium that's not really a garlic but is fucking delicious. It is, alas, also hard to find and expensive--like $10 a pound the one time they showed up in my local veggie market. "I'll grow my own!" I said naively.

Fall before last, I bought bulbs from the nursery and planted them in the fall like you're supposed to. And never saw hide nor hair of them again.

Last fall, I bought bulbs from the farm where I first got them (about twenty miles away and erratically open), and planted them in pots to keep an eye on them. They rotted without ever showing signs of life.

I gave up and bought more from the farm and kept them in the fridge, using them sparingly all winter. About a week ago, I used some and noticed a developing shoot inside the clove. I examined the rest and found tiny nublets of roots on one clove, so I planted it outside in the garden with the tulips, marking the spot so I could find it again.

Today I gently pulled it up and it had about two inches of vigorous roots. I replanted it and then came in to clean out the vegetable drawer and plant all of the rest that had root nubs--eight cloves. Fingers crossed, but I might have my own crop this year.

Elephant garlic apparently needs a LONG and DRY chill period, followed by a COLD and WET rooting period. Which the garden book and nursery never mentioned, and is definitely not what Oregon provides naturally.

#gardening #elephant garlic

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jynjackets · 6 months

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I just tried to garden this past week as the main reason for my hiatus. And i literally feel like an 1800s farmer sweating under the direct sun for 8+ hours with no tools invented and only a dog as my helper.

-My apartment came with a first floor backyard which was really a blessing I never utilized. So step one was lawn care for my dog. Everyday I’m hauling dirt, grass seed, pots etc. from everywhere what I can find for free/cheap on Craigslist. Then I’m killing weeds, pulling that’s shit from the root because that was cheaper than a ton of chemicals that could hurt my son since he eats everything he lays his eyes on. Aerating this shit (poking holes for fucking grass to grow from the ground, so EVERYWHERE) with a goddamn kitchen fork because I don’t want to buy tools for this one use but I NEED to get it done. And then planting seeds and fertilizer to get it growing.

-I totally forgot, the real step one was picking up like two years worth of my dog’s shit. The yard was such a blessing also because whenever I couldn’t or was too lazy to take my dog out to poop I just left yard open for him to go out. And the lawn is like literally just a lawn of shit. It’s everywhere. He just goes outside when he wants and poops twice a day out there. You can’t even do anything with the poops, they don’t go in the compost or anything and are kind of bad for the environment so I couldn’t even leave it there. The little poop bags that are biodegradable it doesn’t even matter because you have to put the whole thing in the trash but I guess instead of plastic and poop in the landfill it’s just poop. It’s all just so odd to me.

-Anyways so I’m shopping for fertilizer and I’m like, this is just dirt, why would I buy dirt and scrap when I can make it.

-And so THEN, I get inspired to start a compost bin. I get hardware supplies and follow a YouTube video to make a tumbling compost bin that basically makes fertilizer FOR FREE. (That literally took me so much work holy shit.) It’s not done because it has to decompose for like a month so I can’t even use it yet. But yay environment. Environmentalism by the individual is the weakest attempt at social justice because the issue lives with rich corporations that do more damage than the masses combined. Pathetic movements to be more environmentally conscientious disproportionately affect the lower class and people with disabilities by increasing taxes and limiting options and services like plastic straws for example for a population already living among systems and structures designed to their disadvantage.

-Step two was to just grow some flowers! And not veggies because last time I tried to grow onions from one of those fabric bags and got so sick after eating them. maybe because there was hella moss growing around it idk tho

-I’m planting these sunflowers and they’re chilling and incubating before the winter so they pop out by spring HOPEFULLY. After I planted them I found out the difference between annuals and perennials and said what the fuck the perennials are kinda ugly like you don’t gift someone just some snapdragons and wimpy zinnias like. So next year I might replant or switch it up so they can grow themselves, depends how tired I am by that time.

-My bad for trying to do this on a strict budget by converting everything into manual labor but this was fun. My son likes to eat grass so hopefully this was all worth it lmao.

#personal updates #lila starts a new hobby #lila tenta jardinagem #girl stfu nobody asked

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mariacallous · 7 months

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This recipe is the Bulgarian version of guvech that includes meat. You can make the recipe vegetarian by simply omitting the meat. The rest of the ingredients and instructions stay the same.

Notes:

Guvech keeps in the fridge for up to four days.

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howaboutcastiel · 9 months

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That Good Old Way 2

Summary: You and Joel have a talk about the future. Previous Chapter.

(I decided to use a gif of Peña because this is 40 year old Joel and I wanted The Vibes)

Content: !!! This chapter is from the reader’s perspective and it features a lot of negative self-talk as well as expectations of abusive behavior from Joel. There’s also talk of firearms and use of firearms. Let it be known here that I am NOT an expert when it comes to guns and the advice mentioned is a combination of google searches and cable TV quotes.

Maybe boredom was getting the best of all of you. The supply runs quickly extended from half-day trips to twelve-hour ones, where two members of the group would leave on horses at first light and return shortly after dark. If it wasn’t Joel and Tommy, it was the lovebirds out looking for food and gear. Out of the immediate radius of the village, there seemed to be plenty to pick from, but it wasn’t without its danger.

Everyone in the group had managed not to sustain any more serious injuries, but it was clear that venturing further from your temporary farm home meant facing all sorts of new trouble. The village may have offered a layer of protection from raiding parties and groups of infected, but their reach only spanned so far. As it was, your farmhouse was at the very edge of their influence. Exploring closer was neither desirable nor likely to reap much benefit, and exploring outward was pushing your luck every day. Tommy had managed to find some root vegetables that could withstand the cold, and lots of ammunition and scrap fabric came in over the weeks, but the loot was nothing special overall. At best, Isobel had finally managed to find you a proper winter coat.

It wouldn’t be long until it was your turn to tag along.

This is where you knew you were bound to screw things up. You were surprised that you had made it to this point with as little drama as the party had been through. The death of the ex-marine had been a great challenge for everyone, but ever since that day, there was only quiet.

No one had yelled at you. No one had laid a hand on you besides cleaning your wounds. No one had reminded you of how useless you were—how incapable of doing basic tasks you so obviously seemed. The only shouting that happened at all was few and far between, and mostly had to do with Joel’s frustration about his lingering concussion symptoms. You gathered pretty quickly that, even though he desperately needed someone to take care of him, he hated the thought of anyone going out of their way to help him with something. Usually, the yelling was nothing more than a quick snap at Tommy for being overbearing. Once, it was to the group in general, after which Mateo all but laughed in his face. Life in the quaint little farmhouse was quiet and cooperative, for the most part.

That didn’t mean it felt peaceful, and it certainly didn’t mean that you felt welcome here.

And now that you needed to truly pull your weight? To ride a horse and hold a gun and keep yourself safe from infected or raiders or worse?

You knew that you’d have them begging the reverend to take you back.

And you knew he’d say yes. He would always say yes.

The thought made you sick.

You didn’t know how to ride a horse, and you certainly didn’t know how to wield a gun while you did it. Under the most controlled circumstances, you were a piss-poor shot, and you knew that the pressure of a genuine threat would make you freeze or falter. You weren’t the warrior that Joel so clearly was. You weren’t a soldier, like Tommy. Not a survivor like Mateo or a doctor like Isabelle. All you had to bring to the table now was… wood chopping. Cooking dinner and planting veggies and washing dishes and playing house. As soon as they were ready to leave this place, the party would understand how little you were worth. They would figure it wasn’t worth it to have to protect you all the way to Boston.

But for now, you were worth it. For now, you were safe.

And for some reason, Joel was asking for you.

“Hey, sweetheart.” His voice was that soft, patient tone that it was every time he spoke to you. It was so gentle that you almost wanted to call it patronizing, but you couldn’t deny that you liked it. “Come on in. You can leave the door open if you want.”

You, Tommy, and Joel were still trading off on the two upstairs bedrooms. The past few days, Joel and Tommy had taken the beds while you slept on the couch, which was the boys’ least favorite arrangement. Even Tommy, for some reason, was upset by you sleeping downstairs in the living room. You guessed it was because he was the same kind of stubborn as Joel. As you stepped into the room Joel was staying in, you pulled the door so that it was only open a crack. He sat against the headboard with his head cushioned by his hands. You approached the bed, but didn’t sit down.

“Is everything alright?”

Joel nodded, his eyebrows turning up into that familiar puppy dog expression. How he could be so soft and so vicious all at once, you could never understand.

He swallowed. “Just wanted to talk to you.”

Oh. It was happening earlier than you thought it would. Already, he was ready to tell you to get lost. The thoughts raced around in your head. He doesn’t want to carry my weight anymore. They’re mad at me. Joel’s mad at me. I’ve done something wrong. I’ve forgotten something. He’s going to scold me, isn’t he? He’s going to yell and scream—

“Not really good at talking,” Joel continued. “But I figured we need to. Seein’ as this arrangement’s… looking more and more permanent.”

You looked at him with what you could only assume was a confused expression, and a beat of silence between you grew into two, then three. Finally, the silence was as uncomfortable as the thought of him yelling.

“What is it you want to talk about?” You eventually gave him the cue to speak up.

Joel pursed his lips. His eyes darted around the room uncomfortably without settling on you. Here it comes, you thought.

“The weather’s finally gettin’ warmer. And even though it’s mighty cozy living in this little farmhouse of ours, I’m thinking we can’t be stayin’ much longer. Tommy’s been dead set on Boston for months now, and I’m sure the lovebirds are gonna be wantin’ for more company than the three of us. That, and…”

You tensed in spite of yourself, readying yourself for the sting of his words, readying your ears for the raising of his voice when you inevitably responded the wrong way to his criticism. His lips turned at the corners while he tried to push the words out. He must be disgusted with me. Repulsed. He must be so angry.

“That old village of yours ain’t too keen on us sticking around. We thought it wasn’t gonna be a problem, seeing as we’re more than a mile out from that church anyways. But evidently, they know that we’re holed up here, and… they ain’t too happy about it.”

His words were muffled inside your head. “They know we’re here?”

“They’re not gonna hurt you,” he insisted. Joel’s posture had slowly risen until he was hunched forward in the bed, almost like he was curled in on himself, but now he made an effort to straighten his back and raise his chin. “They ain’t gettin’ anywhere near you. Don’t you worry about that. I’m only saying that we can’t stay here in the long term. We’ll need to be leaving soon unless we want the reverend to send some more men to pay us a visit.”

Your head, it wasn’t catching up to what Joel was saying. All you could manage to think first was that he was mad at someone else, not you. It echoed in your head until your brain got around to understanding. Then the anxious feeling in your gut only twisted deeper.

“…more men?”

Joel’s eyes only widened some more, glaring into you with an expression only discernible as pity.

“Couple of ‘em cornered Tommy and me yesterday on our rounds.” He pushed the words out slowly, like he was admitting to something horrible. “Said it was time to… to move on. Made it known that we weren’t gonna get another warning. I’m sure you can get some idea of how the conversation went.”

“We have to go now, then.” There was sudden haste in your voice that had Joel shuddering back, muscles sprung. “We need to pack all our stuff—be out by first light.”

“Whoa, easy now.” Joel’s hand shot out to grab at your shoulder, gently pulling you down before you could scramble off of the bed. “Just hold on a second. I ain’t planning on runnin’ with my tail between my legs. We’re not in that big a hurry, sugar.”

You shook your head, a cold sweat forming on your skin. “You don’t know what they’ll do.”

“I think I can just about guess the gist of it,” he countered.

“Then you know why we can’t stay.”

His hand gripped your shoulder tighter. The contact sent something through you, grounding and more unsettling all at once.

“I want to make sure we’re prepared for what’s out there,” Joel explained in a hoarse tone. “We got food, sure. We can find game on our trip if we need to stretch our supply. But there’s plenty of danger out there, you know that. Runners, clickers, whole swarms of infected.”

Joel made a disgusted, truly angry face.

“And people.”

You scoffed, almost a laugh. “Seems you have more trouble with them than the infected.”

Joel ignored your comment. His expression was serious. “I want to make sure we can protect ourselves out there.”

It was your turn to avoid his gaze. You were slowly making your way back around to that realization he was going to have. If he hadn’t found a reason to be angry with you before, this was bound to be it.

He noticed the change. “I’m not trying to scare you. I know we can make it to Boston. We will make it to Boston. I just need to think it through before we go out in the open.”

“I’m not…” you shuddered. Joel’s hand lifted off your shoulder, barely grazing your skin as he didn’t pull away all the way. “I can’t protect myself, Joel. It’s not that I’m scared, I’m… I’m just not capable.”

He scoffed. “What’re you talkin’ about? You’re one of the most capable people I know. You’ve kept this house together for weeks now. Kept us fed off of scraps I didn’t even know to call food. I’ve seen men twice your size struggle to chop wood like you. And I’ve seen you put up with me. Don’t know why you think you wouldn’t be capable.”

“I can’t shoot a gun.” You pulled away from him. “And I don’t know how to ride a horse. I think I’m gonna be slowing you down, trying to tag along to Boston. I think—I think I can’t ask you to drag me along.”

You expected Joel to agree with you. Or worse, get angry. Scold you for being so useless as to being unable to care for yourself. He only stared at you with a blank expression, though, setting your nerves on fire as you waited. After a moment, he laughed. Really, heartily, breathily laughed. His soft lips stretched across a bright white smile. Dark brown eyes crinkled at the edges and the chuckle that rose from his chest was loud and boisterous. Your heart hammered in your chest.

His tone was…joking, almost. “Oh, honey. Don’t you ever worry about asking me for a damn thing. I don’t think you’re slowing me down at all. And you can shoot a gun, I’m sure of it. I’ll just bet that no one’s taken the time to show you how. Same with riding a horse. I can’t imagine you havin’ much trouble with that. Our horses already love you. You’ll pick it up quick.”

Your breathing was heavy enough that you could hear it in the gaps between his words. Joel’s face turned soft, less amused and more genuine, as he waited for you to respond to him. When he realized you were having trouble with that, he rethought his words.

He added, “Let me show you how to shoot, sweetheart.”

Finally, your heartbeat calmed enough that you could hear your own thoughts again. Meekly, you nodded.

“Good.” He brought his hand back up in front of you. You didn’t pull away, expecting a hand on your shoulder again, but his fingertips came to brush along the underside of your chin. He stood from the bed, making his way to the door without looking back at you. Joel stalled in the doorway for a second, not having heard any movement behind him.

“C’mon now. No time like the present.”

Slowly, silently, you followed him outside.

~~•~~

“Squeeze, don’t pull.”

There wasn’t much ammunition for you to waste on target practice, but Joel didn’t seem to mind the three missed shots you’d already taken. An empty can of pinto beans sat on the jagged stump of a willow tree, ungrazed by your bullets. Each time you’d aimed, your fingers had flinched or your wrist had jerked. After each shot, you instinctively hunched lower into your shoulders, expecting him to yell.

But Joel’s voice was gentle as always.

“You’re holdin’ the gun like it’s gonna jump out of your hand. Relax into it a little bit, sweetheart. You’re controlling the gun, not the other way around.”

Up until this point, he’d delivered instructions from a few feet away, not daring to step into your space to correct your grip or guide you with his touch. You nodded hesitantly at him, rolling your shoulders and lining the pistol up with the can as best you could. This time, you twitched before your finger even pressed against the trigger. Joel noticed your shiver.

“If I can’t do this now, how am I supposed to shoot someone trying to kill me?” You tried not to let your voice sound too much like a whine.

“You’re thinkin’ too much about it.” Joel stepped closer, just within your personal space. “I’m hopin’ it won’t come to you having to shoot anyone, but I know you can do it if you have to. You’ve just got to stop looking at the gun like it’s going to hurt you.”

“It’s a gun, Joel.”

He scoffed. “It’s a gun that you’re holding. You decide who—or in this case, what—exactly it hurts. Now come on, show that tin can who’s boss.”

Your body went rigid when you aimed again for the aluminum can. You forced a deep breath out of your lungs and tried your best to steady your hands. The sound of the shot echoed across the hills, and the dull, cracking impact of the bullet on dead wood tumbled back toward you.

Joel’s hands were on yours before your heart had the chance to sink into your stomach.

“Give me this for a second, sweetheart.”

You loosened your grip, allowing Joel to slip the gun out of your hands and into his. When he aimed for the can, you fought the instinct to cover your ears with your palms.

“Sounds backward, but the more you tense up, the more you’re going to flinch.” He demonstrated a slack, secure grip with both of his hands folded around the gun. Joel held it like it was an extension of himself, the pistol sitting almost comfortable against his fingers. “Once you set your target, you just gotta commit to it. Look here.”

He gave a quick nod, then raised his chin to level his sight with the top of the gun. You stepped back as if it would do any good to lighten the sound of the shot. Sure enough, the bullet sliced the can clean through, sending it tumbling behind the stump. Joel clicked the safety on the pistol, shoving it in his belt to go and set another piece of scrap metal on the wood.

“Give it another go.” He held the gun out to you and you gingerly took it in your hands. Immediately, you had forgotten the grip he’d shown you. Your hands fumbled around the base for a moment, until one of his snaked underneath. “Remember. High on the backstrap. Lock your wrists, not your fingers.”

He gently guided your hands into place, tapping on your thumb to signal for you to grip inward. Your fingers flexed against the barrel, and he added, “it’s not supposed to be comfortable, but it should feel stable.”

Eventually, you found the position of your hands that most resembled what he’d demonstrated. Joel backed away to give you space and your breath shuddered in your chest before you swallowed it down. You brought the barrel up to your line of sight, settling on the new can.

A deep breath in, a deep breath out, and your finger slid down from the cage to rest on the trigger.

Squeeze, don’t pull.

The sound of the shot made your ears ring, but that didn’t matter so much as the heat that spread through your chest and bubbled up in your throat. You switched the safety on the gun and let it rest idle in your hand, taking in the view before you.

An empty stump, a dented can with a whole in its side lying at its base.

“There you go, sugar. Told ya you could.” That mile-wide grin was back. His hand cupped your shoulder, closer to the back of your neck than anything. “Reckon with some practice you’ll be just as sharp as any of the rest of us.”

Your eyes lingered on the can. “Holy shit.”

“Wasn’t so hard, was it?” His fingers danced along the base of your skull.

You scrunched your eyes. “How much more ammunition do we have?”

“Enough to make sure you’ve got the hang of this.” Joel’s hand moved down between your shoulder blades, playfully tapping. “Now hurry along and put another can up there. Don’t wanna be late for dinner. Mateo says he’s making gumbo.”

“Out of what?” You smiled almost as wide as Joel.

“Got no idea,” he chuckled. “Sure as hell can’t wait to find out, though.”

The sun was starting to dip behind the hills now, painting the sky with orange and pink and purple and red. As the light faded, your confidence grew. Each crumpled can made Joel’s grin brighter, made the weight in your shoulders a bit lighter. By the time he was leading you in to grab a bowl of food, you felt more alive than you had in years.

Maybe you could ask him to drag you along.

#Joel Miller #The Last of Is #Joel the last of us #tlou #TLOU hbo #TLOU fic #the last of us hbo #Masterlist #that good old way

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downtoearthmarkets · 10 months

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June is a joyfully colorful month in this region for several reasons! For starters, by the time June’s warmer temperatures seep into downstate New York, the growing season is entering full swing with a bright palette of fresh produce arcing through the farmstands in our markets. Plus, June is of course Pride Month – symbolized by the six-striped rainbow flag that cheerfully adorns flag poles, government buildings, store fronts and many other public spaces throughout the course of this month. Rainbows have risen to become a symbol of good fortune, positivity, diversity and inclusiveness in our popular culture, so it’s no coincidence that the phrase “eat the rainbow” is used by dieticians and other medical professionals to encourage people to put more fresh produce on their plates. In fact, consuming a variety of colorful fruits and veggies is the best way to introduce the most nutrients into your diet, without adding excessive calories. The naturally occurring pigments in these foods indicate different compounds with different properties that have been shown to provide a wide range of unique health benefits. So, to aid in the quest to taste and embrace the many seasonal colors of this month, here are some rainbow-hued items to look out for in the farmers market this weekend: Purple daikon Purple daikon radishes are at their peak during winter and spring months and are easily spotted at farmstands thanks to their bright violet skins offset by emerald leaves. This exotically hued root vegetable is native to Asia where daikon has been cultivated for thousands of years. Purple daikon is a specialty hybrid belonging to the same Brassicaceae family as the red radish. Their globular roots are oblong and cylindrical in shape with a thin tapered “tail.” The striking purple pigment is due to a type of flavonoid called anthocyanin -- the same antioxidant that gives blueberries their color, which will be entering the markets soon. If you don’t see purple daikon at the farmers market, look for watermelon radish, a round, green-white radish that reveals a dazzling hot pink interior when sliced open. Daikon radish can be enjoyed raw thanks to its crispy, crunchy texture and spicy, peppery profile that will add a splash of color and extra dimension to summer salads, grain bowls, pasta dishes and crudité platters. It can also be cooked using a variety of methods, including tossing the roots in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasting them at 375 °F for 10-15 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Don’t toss your leaves though! If they are still fresh and unblemished, radish greens of all kinds are delicious pan sautéed with thinly sliced garlic and olive oil then spritzed with a little freshly squeezed lemon juice. Red beets Beets grow in a rainbow of colors from gold to magenta to stunning candy cane-striped Chioggia beets. They derive their jewel-like hues from betalain, a type of natural plant pigment that has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The most common kind of beets you’ll find in the farmers market are the reddish/purple variety, but you can generally locate them in every color. Beets burst back into season this month so grab a big bunch of the spherical beauties this weekend and “get down to the beet”: * Beet salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic * Balsamic and Fresh Thyme Roasted Beets * Easy, Homemade Pickled Beets Green peas Peas are cool weather-loving plants which means that June is a prime month for these exploratory climbers before they become sapped by the arrival of hotter temps. Peas contain a variety of minerals including magnesium, potassium and calcium and are also rich in antioxidant nutrients like vitamin C, carotenoids and flavanols. Snow, snap, and garden peas are all members of the legume family, but there are subtle differences between the three. Though they may look similar, each has a different texture and level of sweetness:

Garden (aka sweet or English) peas: Pods are firm and rounded and are shelled then discarded (toss them in your compost!) to retrieve the sweet peas inside which can be eaten raw or cooked. These are the common green peas that are sold shelled and frozen.

Snow peas: Snow peas are often used in stir-fries. The whole pod is edible and they are flat with very small peas inside. The tough “strings” along the seams are usually peeled back and removed before eating. Snow peas are mildly flavored and can be served raw or cooked.

Snap peas: A cross between snow peas and garden peas, the whole pod is eaten and has a crunchy texture and sweet flavor. Snap peas may be eaten raw or cooked. Stringless varieties are now available.

Of course, there are many more ways to shop the rainbow at the farmers market this week: orange carrots, canary yellow oyster mushrooms, blue potatoes, carmine red strawberries and the list goes on! And, if you want to eat your way to some extra credit, pick up a bunch of beautiful rainbow chard! The stalks come in an array of bright hues and pretty pastels from white, yellow, red, purple, pink and striped topped with vibrant, leafy greens.

#downtoearthmkts #eatdowntoearth #pridemonth #purpledaikon #beets #greenpeas #eattherainbow #rainbowchard

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