A tasty soup from the gardens

Sometimes what I do makes sense, and other times I do wonder what is going on in my mind. Take yesterday, for instance. It was the coldest day so far, only in the 20's, and it is not even winter yet. I am coping with my indoor temperature of 62 degrees, dressed in extra layers to keep me warm. I look at how cold it is outside, and knowing Mia has a cold, think how nice it would be to make some homemade soup to have for her today. So I raid the freezer for broth and then think how great it would be to have fresh greens to pump up her immune system.

Fresh greens, you think, and where to get them?? In the gardens, of course! So I check out the window at the newly planted herb garden right outside the living room window. What a great idea that was!! I can just look out the window and gauge whether I can harvest anything on any given day. I did not come up with the idea on my own. I learned about zone gardening in Toby Hemenway's great book, "Gaia's Garden". (He explains how having certain plantings closer to the house, for those plants you would use more frequently, would make it easier for harvesting and maintenance. How right he was!! LOL How much easier it is for me to just look and see what's available, then to have to get all bundled up and hike out to the different plants. This way they are all together in an area close enough to just run outside quick and get what I need! Also, being closer to the house, the frost will not be as quick to freeze up my herbs.)

Sure enough, the Dandelion greens are still growing, not being frozen stiff yet.



Also, the Parsley,



both varieties,




the Thyme,



and Chives have not been affected.



So I get bundled up, with scissors and basket in hand and head out with the supervision of my granddog, Riley, who is visiting for the weekend, (AGAIN!!!) But I do not complain, he is great and has much better behavior than Abby!! And he knows good enough to stay out of my path so that he does not get bumped into all the time like Abby does! LOL

I find that is is very, very cold outside and I quickly scope out those plants that are still able to be utilized. As it is nice and sunny I opt for those furthest away from the house, as I realize they won't be usable much longer. I find several Dandelions,



Plantain,




and Violets to pick the tender young leaves from.




The Violets are more difficult to harvest. Those areas that usually have Violets and Plantain all over have been heavily affected by all the frost and they are gone. But in the areas where we left the leaves for winter mulch I found lots still growing. As I have to brush away the fallen leaves in the areas where we have left the leaves for winter mulch, I find myself out much longer than anticipated. But it is well worth the effort as there are so many to choose from. The leaf mulch has created a great nestling blanket which is keeping the frost from decimating these tender shoots. Up until now that is, who knows how much longer I can harvest them. But it is November 21, and what a gift to be able to still be doing this. Free Greens!!! Keep 'em coming!!

Have to snip quickly as it is very cold outside.

But then my eye catches the Daylily patch right by the garage. And I immediately think how great some tubers would be in the soup. I have used up all the Jerusalem Artichokes which we enjoyed so much and have no potatoes on hand. It is about noon time and the sun, nice and bright, is providing some warmth, so I go and get my kneeler, trusty Cape Cod Weeder and a pitchfork.



To harvest Daylily tubers I have learned that you just need to lift the plant up with a pitchfork and it exposes the tubers. You can cut the fresh ones off (they are a brighter yellow than the older ones), and then reposition the plant back in the ground.




I found the soil not frozen and very easy to work with. I only had to lift the plant a bit and got right to the tubers, with the help of a friendly earthworm who decided to join me. Initially not many tubers can be easily seen as they are covered in dirt.




With just a little work with my weeder, I am able to easily get to the tubers, and start to cut. This is what they look like before being cut. They have little roots from the end,




and are attached to the plant by a thicker length of root. You can see there are several on this one plant.


After being cut from the plants and their little roots snipped off, this is what they look like.




And this is the batch after they have been scrubbed and readied for cooking. They can be eaten raw, but on this cold day they all went right into a pot of soup. I harvested almost 60 tubers from two plants.



And these are the greens that will be joining them! Not a bad day's work!



I added in some left over rice and beans and spaghetti sauce, some frozen vegetables and came up with a great vegetable soup for supper.

So that is how I spent over two hours outside on such a cold fall day, harvesting free, fresh ingredients for my dinner soup! By the time I got back inside, my 62 degree indoor temperature felt quite toasty!!

And I can see myself doing it a lot over the winter as I planted a large group of Daylilies right around my septic tank, right in front of my front door, where the thyme never freezes due to the heat from the septic tank! Even if it snows, I will be able to get at this great new patch right outside my door!!