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Schedules

Posts here are going to be touch and go until September. I'll be in Mexico and after that we need to take a breather before The Book comes out and all those promotions start. The staff at Rancho Gordo is waiting to full your orders, however, so that part of the company is never at rest.

If you're planning farmers market visits, I just want to remind you we traditionally take Labor Day off and this year is not different. We've got to give Joan and Sara a break!

The First Beans for 2008

My plants in the trial garden have looking good and there have blossoms but I was getting worried because there was no sign of a bean.

What a swell feeling when you finally see the fruits of your labor!

They’re tiny, but they’re there and it’s proof I’m on the right track. I have a hunch this is going to be a good year.

Rancho Gordo in Martha Stewart Living

Oh, don’t roll your eyes! You’d be excited, too if Martha decided to feature you in her magazine!

It’s from a nice article on regional treats, food and otherwise, across the US.
It’s the August issue which should be hitting newsstands just about now.

Another Way to Cook Cactus Paddles

In her Essential Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy has a good recipe called Nopales al Vapor (page 208). Instead of boiling or grilling, you pan fry with onions, garlic and chiles and finish with epazote.

I really liked this method. The epazote isn’t as strong as you’d think and gives the dish and extra little something.

Not being able to leave well enough alone, I added some left over beans without their broth and let the mixture cook a little more before making a really dreamy taco.

I know some people don’t care but I get such a kick out of foraging my own yard for good food.

For My Friends That Don’t Care for Hot Food

I know a lot of people who think they don’t like spicy food. The idea of a chile is a buzz-kill for these folks. It was a long time ago, but there was a point I didn’t care for picante things at all.

Internet friends, I believe part of the problem is the jalapeño pepper. It’s everywhere, it’s somewhat hot but it isn’t a nice heat. It’s a stupid burn-in-your-mouth, grassy flavored heat. I question whether it’s really spicy food you don’t like or the jalapeño. (By the way, this seems to be a very difficult word to pronounce. Hal-i-pain-yo is correct.)

So what to do? Anytime you see a recipe call for a jalapeño, reach for a serrano. Technically, they’re hotter but they have a much more interesting flavor and the heat is an all-over high rather than a swift kick in the mouth by a donkey.

If you’re very sensitive, try removing the seeds and membranes. If you’re a trouper, as I suspect you are, just chop it up and use it in a salsa and see if heat isn’t a little more appealing with a serrano pepper.

For My Friends That Don’t Care for Hot Food

I know a lot of people who think they don’t like spicy food. The idea of a chile is a buzz-kill for these folks. It was a long time ago, but there was a point I didn’t care for picante things at all.

Internet friends, I believe part of the problem is the jalapeño pepper. It’s everywhere, it’s somewhat hot but it isn’t a nice heat. It’s a stupid burn-in-your-mouth, grassy flavored heat. I question whether it’s really spicy food you don’t like or the jalapeño. (By the way, this seems to be a very difficult word to pronounce. Hal-i-pain-yo is correct.)

So what to do? Anytime you see a recipe call for a jalapeño, reach for a serrano. Technically, they’re hotter but they have a much more interesting flavor and the heat is an all-over high rather than a swift kick in the mouth by a donkey.

If you’re very sensitive, try removing the seeds and membranes. If you’re a trouper, as I suspect you are, just chop it up and use it in a salsa and see if heat isn’t a little more appealing with a serrano pepper.

A Small Rant for a Hot Thursday

I used to sell beans bulk at the farmers markets. It was a pain but it looked beautiful and scooping up the beans and putting them into bags was kind of fun. The problem is that people with obvious colds or hygiene issues would insist on running their hands through the beans while smiling and telling me how good it felt. These were rarely the same people who actually purchased the beans.

As I contemplated going into bags, a fellow vendor insisted I do 10 or 12 ounce bags. “Most people think there’s 12 ounces in a pound.Charge ’em for a pound but give them 12 ounces.”  This seemed pretty creepy and although there was a moment’s hesitation, I did what I consider the right thing and stuck with an even pound.

I know our beans aren’t as cheap as pintos from China but they’re still good value and just pennies a serving. I’m seeing competition crop up and while I think more people involved raises the bar and the awareness about heirloom beans, watch the packaging closely. I’m seeing beans the same price or a little cheaper, but when you look, it’s a 12 ounce bag.

Heirloom Bean Recipes from McCormick

Sorry for the lack of posts but it seems like everything is coming to a head this week. The last of the production beans are going into the prepared beds and it's always a scramble, especially when you think you know where all the seed is and oops! How do you lose 700 pounds of Yellow Indian Woman? I also have a weird legal issue I hope to share with you before long that is consuming a lot of time.

Meanwhile, reader Judie La Flamme sent me this link to the McCormick spice company's website with some good looking recipes. They ordered a bunch of beans from us not long ago and it looks like they went to good use. If you make any of these dishes, please report back!

Link: McCormick

TRUE CONFESSIONS! Or Anything I’ve Learned of Any Value Comes From the Garden

Unfortunately I came to gardening and growing late in life. I grew up a pretty typical child of the 1960s in California. The good parts were my parents' love of Modern Jazz and the West Coast Sound. My memories of suburban life were of Dad diving for abalone and coming home to a big backyard barbecue. He'd grill the abalone along with thick, juicy steaks, which were served with a Caesar salad and ice cold gin martinis (in those days there was no other kind.) I remember all of our ashtrays were really spent abalone shells and I can still see the small little piles of ash that would form from the holes along the edge of the shell.

The bad part of this upbringing was a complete void as far as nature was concerned, beyond the abalone shells. Wine tasting was the Great Outdoors. Our house had grass that needed watering and mowing and that's about it, except for a brief but manic house plant phase my mother went through in the 1970s.

This might sound like a little too much confession
for you but the fact is that I grew up being one of those people who
craved success but didn't do a whole lot to achieve it. I just wanted
it and it didn't seem fair that others were enjoying it when I had so
much to offer and no one knew it. In fact, I don't think I had much to
offer except a lack of humility and little understanding of How Life
Works.

In my 30s, I experienced some humiliating financial situations and I
had many unfortunate jobs. I think in some way I knew I had to start
over and reinvent myself, even if the decision wasn't conscious.

I won't go into all the details (you'll need to buy me a drink for
that!) but slowly things started to fall into place. I also started
gardening at the same time. Plants and shrubs to start but it was when
I started growing food that I started growing up. And here are just a
few of the things I learned, and continue to learn:

• No matter how much I wished for it to go faster, nature had its own plan.
• There's something very satisfying in laying out your garden,
  weeding, planting seeds and then watering. But the next week is filled
  with anxiety as you wait. And you wait. And you doubt yourself.
• When the first seedlings pop up, you are relieved but your work isn't over, no matter how busy you are.
• You have to be on your game for the entire growing season, yet you can relax and you can't rush things.
• You can do everything right and a force of nature can bring you down.
• If you've laid a strong foundation, you can slack every now and
  then, but not for long and not always when you want it (or need it).
• The rewards when you eat your first tomato are beyond measure and make the whole thing worth the bother.
• I don't need to buy a lot of crap to be happy. My happiness now
  comes from seed and ends up on the dining room table. The complete
  circle is what really makes me happy.
• If you fail, there's always next year.

I hope I don't sound like a greeting card. I've found all these things to be true. It's funny that when I stopped being ambitious and just started doing what I loved, I achieved my first real dose of success.