Planting Peas, Winning at Homemade Stock and Making Potage of Turnip

It's been awhile, I know. It was easy to remember to keep posting when I had my weekly routine of veggie boxes. I felt I had a responsibility to help you all to enjoy the veggies we grew for you in the tastiest way possible. BUT! Even though the veggie boxes have been put on pause, I'm definitely still out farming! I put in some snap, snow, and shelling peas a few weeks back.

When planting beans, it's a good idea to inoculate them. They need a specific organism to live on their root nodules to help them fix nitrogen from the air.

This organism apparently can be powdered like Kool-Aid and with a few sprinkles of water will adhere to the peas. They'll live together in symbiotic harmony making us eats. Aww how romantic. ,

Here is an experimental solution to the problem of the snaking drip. With normal irrigation, the drip tape expands and contracts and moves all over, usually far from the line of seeds or plants it needs to water. You can pin it in place with J-hooks (tent stakes), but you'll have to find them all and undo them to weed. Here, you just unhook one and flip the tape off, weed, and flip it back on. We'll see how this does...

The peas sadly won't be with us until April. And, if you're trying to keep to a habit of eating seasonally, you may be sick of the sight of root vegetables. I mean, really, how many roasted roots can you eat? Well, for me the answer is one or two pans a season. I'm really not a fan. I'm more of a soup girl myself. For me, it's the perfect winter meal. It's usually pretty inexpensive. With soup, just a few slices of bread and butter or a grilled cheese- and- BAM! It's a meal. Also, it makes great left-overs. But, soup Ashley, how boring?! True, you may have been slighted by sad soups in the past: the stuff out of a can leaves something to be desired. I'd like to share some secrets to making a damned good pot of soup that will quickly turn your boring roots into creamy bliss.

First: The stock.

Make it. If you're a really busy person, you're probably going to roll your eyes and tell me no. Fine, I get it. Being a busy modern person is hard, and there is little patience ever left to make stock, let alone dinner...and the dishes from dinner. But, it's secretly super easy. No measurements, cutting, stirring...Just toss stuff in a pot and let it go! Also, the thought of commercial stock being made out of industrial vegetable/animal scraps doesn't really do it for me...

Veggie Broth:

Please don't buy things to make stock out of. It's kind of expensive, and definitely wasteful. If you make veggie dishes regularly, and have a plastic bag and a freezer- you're good to go! Every time you make dinner, take the onion ends, leek tops, carrot peels and ends, beet greens, chard stems, potato nubs and peels, fennel tops- whatever you're going to throw out- and toss it in a bag in the freezer instead. When said bag is full, it's stock time! Toss the whole bag into a big pot ideally filling said pot nearly to the top with veggies, fill with water and set on stove. Add bay leaves, dried herbs, fresh herbs, and peppercorns. Wait to salt until the end. Boil for a few hours, or a half hour. Whatever time you have! Strain, and store in the freezer, fridge, or pressure can that goodness!

 But! What if I don't have all the right stuff? I mean, aren't I supposed to have carrots and celery and onions? Meh. I mean, you can be persnickity with all that, but I haven't found it to be necessary. I've made great broth with only leek tops and fennel bits. It's just vegetable flavored water in the end. Speaking of specific broths...

Garlic Broth:

This is my super secret weapon to the best soup ever. You might have to buy garlic for this, unless you're a garlic monster like me and have handfulls of inner cloves that are just too silly to peal crowding your garlic bowl/basket. Grab your big pot and guess how many heads of garlic would fit in a single layer on the bottom (probably 5-10). Cut the heads of garlic in half so that all the cloves are in half. No, you don't need to peel them. Toss in pot and add your bay leaves, fresh and dried herbs, peppercorns, and salt at the end. Boil for awhile. A few hours is best, but just one will do. Strain and store! Use this and veggie broth wherever chicken stock or water is called for in soup.

Chicken Stock:

Save your carcasses! Just like the veggies, toss them in a good freezer bag. Guts too! When you have at least two full sets of bird bones, toss them into a broiler until they get all golden colored (this gives that nice golden color to your broth...naturally). Add veggies if you want, but they're not necessary.   Toss roasted bones and any fat into your big pot and fill with water. Add your bay leaves, peppercorns, and herbs.You most definitely want to give the bones a good long boil, at least an hour, if not two or three. You will get a richer taste the longer you boil. Feed any meaty bits to your pets, strain, salt to taste, and store!

O.K. so, that proves it's simple, I mean you just toss stuff in a pot and let it boil...I can manage that. But, is it worth it? YES! It is worlds cheaper- I mean, you are using things you'd normally throw away, so that makes it near no cost. You know where the ingredients come from, you know you aren't going to store it in something that is hazardous to your health, and it TASTES MUCH BETTER! I promise. Give it a try. One big pot of stock usually lasts me a few months, and I am a soup beast.

Cool, so I have this great homemade stock... What's this about turnip soup? This soup: Potage of Turnip, comes from my soup bible- Soup: a way of life by Barbara Kafka. It's a cozy winter soup that transforms your roots into a creamy pot of sweet and savory deliciousness. Feel free to change out the roots or add extras.

Potage of Turnips

1/2 lb potatoes diced
1 turnip diced
3 carrots, sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
2 ribs celery
1 Tbs butter

Bring all veggies to a boil in 4 cups broth. Simmer 20-25 minutes until the roots are tender. Melt butter in soup and pureé vegetables. 

Enjoy! Let me know if you have any secrets to turning your roots into tasty magic!