If you're like a lot of us, you probably spent much of the past year in the kitchen or the garden. The place where those two domestic refuges meet is the kitchen garden, the small plot — or collection of pots — where home chefs can go for a newly picked tomato or a spray of fresh basil to banish with a burst of flavor, if only for a moment, the isolation and dislocation of quarantine.
Kitchen gardens, with their bounty of vegetables and herbs, have an ancient history; your grandmother probably had one, and just like many old food and folkways, they are making a comeback. And why not? There's nothing quite like attempting a promising recipe knowing that the fresh herbs it calls for are just a few steps away.
More: Tower power: Mercyhurst indoor gardens may seed fresh produce for Erie food deserts
Like much else in Western cooking lore, the notion of the kitchen garden comes from the French potager, the small plot of land farmers reserved to grow fresh vegetables and herbs for the family's own use. When cooking became professionalized, chefs annexed the idea and made it work even when land was not available.
Ashley Sayre de Rivas is chef at Lavery Brewing Co., 128 W. 12th St., whose urban location precludes even small-scale agriculture. Yet she found a way to grow the Italian parsley, thyme and Cuban oregano that flavors her imaginative fare.
"We have window boxes on the patio, and last year I had a four-by-eight raised bed at the Sisters of St. Joseph Community Garden with tomatoes, lettuce and cilantro that I used at the pub," Sayre de Rivas said.
At her own restaurant, the Singing Bowl, which she co-founded at 2502 Peach St. but is now closed, and while working for James Beard Award-winning chef Daniel Boloud in New York, Sayre de Rivas was drawn to unusual ingredients or combinations of them that are best used fresh.
More: Federal Hill area of Peach Street enjoys resurgence
"For work, I like to have things that work together," she said. "If it grows together it goes together, so I grow jalapeños and little herbs around it, cilantro, rosemary, thyme and woody herbs."
Her find for this year? "Shiso leaves. It's the herb that makes ume (Japanese plum vinegar) red. It's also antibacterial and great when served with sushi. I didn't get them in the ground last year, but I'll do it this year for sure."
More: Coast Guard chef blazing a trail through Presque Isle kitchen
Where does the garden grow?
While a kitchen garden close to the kitchen is prime real estate, a decision between steps and sun should always go to the latter. Tomatoes, peppers and several of the most popular herbs, like basil and rosemary, need 6 hours to 8 hours a day of full sun to thrive.
And thrive they can, despite fears that Erie's climate might be inhospitable.
Perennial herbs are the most climate-sensitive, so you'll want to choose species that are likely to be successful where you live. Consult the U.S. Department of Agriculture map of growing zones (https://bit.ly/3clvKvR), which measure the hardiness of a perennial species to tolerate average extreme winter low temperatures. Most of Erie County is in Zone 5b with small pockets of Zone 5a in the county's extreme northeast and southeast corners. Zone 6b is roughly the area north of I-90 along the lake while Zone 6a is a five-mile wide strip south of that highway.
"It's such an Erie thing to complain about the weather, but our climate is not that bad," said Carrie Sachse, whose half-acre, center-city French Street Farm is in Zone 6b. "We do get a lot of snow, but I talk to farmers everywhere and the more I do, the more I realize that 6b is temperate."
More: Seeding change: Woman launches eastside Erie urban farm
This year, Sachse said, overwintered rosemary would have survived, though an extended cold snap would have threatened the perennial herb. "With little effort, we can successfully overwinter lots of stuff such as cabbage, greens (and) a lot of root vegetables."
It's all about the herbs
Climate is an important consideration when planning a kitchen garden, Sachse said, but so is personal preference.
"People should grow what they like to eat. The ideal kitchen garden is one that you enjoy and use," Sachse said. "The ideal is to have plants that hold in the garden and are cut-and-come-again varieties, not the kind you grow all summer and harvest once."
More: Green thumb grows over the years
That philosophy holds for the mainstay of any kitchen garden, the tomato.
"I prefer indeterminate varieties, the vining varieties. The most common tomato varieties you see in stores are bush-type plants that give up all their fruit at once," Sachse said. "Vining tomatoes, including most heirloom varieties, produce fruits at a trickle over the season."
"Herbs are what a kitchen garden is all about," Sachse said. "They're such a luxury. In a kitchen garden anyone can get a year's supply of their favorite herb for the price of a bottle of dried herbs from the grocery store. I love cutting and drying so that I can have it all year."
A mix of annual and perennial herbs is ideal, she said, but cautioned that patience is necessary.
"Perennials such as lemon balm, thyme, sage, oregano and lavender can take two or three years to be established," Sachse said, "but they're one of the first things to return in the spring and that makes you happy."
The fragrant, verdant bloom of a kitchen garden in spring is always a delight, but this year, it might feel more like a blessing. Bon appetit!
More: Plant bulbs in fall to achieve colorful spring gardens
Carrie Sachse's 3 tips for a killer kitchen garden
1. Just grow what you like and don't succumb to pressure. If you don't use herbs, don't grow them. If you don't like tomatoes, don't grow them.
2. Experiment with your garden. Approach it with the attitude that whatever will be will be. Ultimately, nature is in control, and you can learn so much from observing it and have a lot of fun in the process.
3. A kitchen garden is functional to supplement your cooking, but it's also an oasis. Appreciate it for its beauty.
The Link LonkApril 26, 2021 at 09:04AM
https://www.goerie.com/story/lifestyle/home-garden/2021/04/26/kitchen-gardens-erie-fresh-ingredients-step-away-indoors/6893182002/
Gardening indoors? Consider your own kitchen garden to have fresh ingredients at the ready - GoErie.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=fresh&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment