Summertime

We had a friend over for Sunday dinner the other night, and I was very proud that all of the vegetables came from the garden. Eggplant, squash, potatoes, onions, herbs; it was all from a four block radius. Of course, when he saw the grilled steaks, he asked when I had started keeping a cow. At least he didn't ask where I did the butchering. 

But the garden is going great guns now. We are getting quite a few tomatoes, we are still eating potatoes and onions, the okra are getting ready to bloom, little green beans have appeared on the vines, and squash, cucumbers and eggplant are blooming like mad. Actually, and somewhat bizarrely, we have already harvested quite a few eggplant. Until last year I had never had any luck at all, but now, for the second year in a row, we have almost more than we need or want.

Of course, there have been some miscues. I tried fava beans, and they were a complete bust. All of the blossoms turned black and fell off. Not exactly a good sign. My guess is that I planted them too late. Next year they will go in when I put in the sugar snaps, potatoes, and onions. And speaking of potatoes, the yellow Finns had a pretty disappointing yield. Next year I'll just plant the fingerlings and use the freed-up space for the fava beans.

One of the big surprises this year is the fennel. I planted oodles of it in the midst of the tomatoes, since I had read that they were a good intercropping pair. I have used it in a variety of things, including a version of a roasted fish recipe that was in the New York Times Magazine a few weeks ago. The recipe called for layering potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, which were baked before a whole fish was roasted on top. This was before the tomatoes started bearing, so I substituted sliced fennel instead, and it was delicious. The recipe called for black sea bass, but I substituted local rockfish, which was on sale at Whole Foods. In all honesty, I didn't really get the timing down right on the fish, so I will need to try again. I think that the main problem was that the fish was enormous, and I was worried about overcooking it. Dry fish is never a good thing. I guess this is just another area where I need to get a little more experience.