Ok, maybe famous is a bit subjective here, but for foodie types, especially farm-to-table foodies, Russ Parsons, is right up there with Michael Pollan as a fresh food guru and being thoughtful about connecting what happens in a farm to what passes through our lips.  A couple of weeks ago, he wrote a great article about Rhubarb, and he made passing mention that he just planted some in his brand new front-yard veggie garden.  Obviously, my ears perked up and I sent him an email, requesting pictures.  Apparently, I wasn’t the only one and he directed me to the LA Times food blog with new pictures of his new raised beds.  Not too shabby in my opinion.  So thanks for your writing Russ and good luck with the new garden!

I will be chopping down the sweet pea forest soon in order to make room for things that I can eat and to give the garlic some light again, so I thought that I would post some pcitures of the sweet peas as a final tribute (we who are about to die, salute you!)

Remember, I did not plant any of these sweet peas this year. These were entirely volunteers this year. That is they sprung up from the sweet peas from last year plants that went to seed. This abundance was after I already thinned once!!

This is a post title that I think could get overused because it so
often happens that I go out to the garden with one thing in mind for a meal and come out with another. The snap peas above (sauteed with a bit of butter and lemon) were a premeal treat that I did not nticipate when i went out for some lettuce & herbs for a frittata. But wow were the peas good! Right off the vine the sweetness is tough to beat.

I used some lettuce from the garden as a green and sauteed it with chives and marjoram and turned it into a frittata with a little Tillamook cheddar. Marjoram makes everything taste good. Neither picture does justice to the meal but trust ne, they were great!

Originally uploaded by chris brandow

Crowns fit for a king

Originally uploaded by chris brandow

These look kinda creepy, like a strange tentacle-y sea creature that
might attach to your head and suck your brains… Or something like
that. But in reality these are the root systems, or “crowns”, of
asparagus that are planted in the ground. Asparagus spears should
soon emerge from the ground. You can be sure that I will be posting
pictures when that happens.

Cilantro root

Originally uploaded by chris brandow

Nothing much to say other than this is a cilantro root, which can be
used in cooking. Mine got thrown out by accident. I will try something with the
next batch. It certainly must be recognized that cilantro is a useful plant: leaves, seeds (coriander),
and roots are all edible. Any other plants that useful??

Today is planting day at frontyardveggies central! As any gardener knows, the first step is laying out a basic plan and this year is much more cursory than usual, but it is enough. I am just so pleased to have four beds to play with! I put in the tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and beans and was somewhat confused when they all fit.
Doubling my space really helps!

Originally uploaded by chris brandow