Moss and Stone Photography by Robin J. Koss

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Winter Go Away...It's Seed Time!

I have officially reached my seasonal point in the year where I am ready for winter to end.  While wintertime offers a cozy time to eat homemade soup and sip spicy cups of hot chocolate, bhile burrowed beneath a favorite blanket, the barren monochromatic color palette day after day wears on this gardener's spirit.

In the midst of February, I begin to pull out my seed catalogs, dreaming of what I will plant and grow in my garden next season.  I often have to remind myself of the green that will soon replace the gray vacant spaces that surround me.

I love to search though varieties of catalogs, some offering mostly seeds, heirloom varieties of vegetables, and fruit trees.  Some companies have that rare kind of eggplant that I look for, while others have fun things like romanesco broccoli and purple cauliflower seeds.

This year,  I added a Lattarula Fig to my collection of potted figs trees, along with a Blood Orange tree, a wild blueberry plant, and a pine berry plant (a white strawberry with red seeds and a pineapple flavor).

I like to experiment with seeds and plants to see what works and what doesn't.  Some years certain things are successful and other years they don't even make an appearance.  The experimentation feeds my sense of discovery and wonder.

And there is nothing more exciting than receiving that box in the mail one day in march that says "Time sensitive--Plant Materials."

Some of my favorite mail order nurseries are:

Raintree Nursery- www.raintreenursery.com
Burpee Seeds and Plants-  www.burpee.com
Jung Seeds- www.jungseed.com
R.H. Shumway's-www.rhshumway.com
John Scheepers- www.johnscheepers.com
Cooks Garden-www.cooksgarden.com

Happy Hunting!

Snack Time! Grilled Baby Artichokes with Lemon/ Lime Garlic Dipping Sauce

One of my favorite vegetables...the artichoke!  Or carciofi in Italian.  I first had this dish as an appetizer at one of my favorite restaurants and loved it so much that I had to try to recreate it at home.  Baby artichokes usually make an appearance in the wintertime, and come in both green and purple varieties.  I always look for the freshest looking ones at the grocery store with little or no brown on the leaves.

These tender mini versions of the prickly and time consuming larger artichokes, are much easier to prepare, as they usually haven't developed their choke yet.  You will still need to remove a few outer layers of leaves before eating because they can get tough and difficult to chew.  In the wintertime, I use my grill pan to grill the artichokes so they come out smokey and full of flavor.

To prepare them, I first trim off the stems to the base and remove the outer, tough leaves.  Then, I trim off the tops, and cut each one in half.  Sometimes I will scoop out the area where the choke is, depending on the size of the artichoke.

While heating my grill pan, I toss the halves with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and a touch of lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown.
  

Next, I grill the artichoke halves using the lid for pressure and to lightly steam them, until they have grill marks and become lightly browned and tender.

In the meantime, I make a lemon/lime garlic dipping sauce, using mayonnaise, lemon or lime juice, capers with a little caper juice, a chopped garlic clove, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a dash of smoked spanish paprika.

Once the artichokes are grilled, I remove them from the heat, sprinkle them with salt, and serve alongside the dipping sauce.  

And then I eat them!  Yumm!

These artichokes will save in the refrigerator, and make a great little snack.