Everything about food, from matching food and wine to recipes, techniques and trends.

How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

Robin Garr

Rank

Forum Janitor

Posts

21612

Joined

Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:44 pm

Location

Louisville, KY

How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Robin Garr » Thu Sep 13, 2012 8:31 pm

Most of dinner came out of our garden tonight: Eggplant and tomatoes roasted with garlic, basil and olive oil, topped with grated Parmigiano. It would be interesting to calculate what percentage of our non-restaurant food this summer has come from the garden, and from farmers' markets, but I doubt we've kept sufficient records to do more than guess. Have any of you ever run similar numbers?

Image
no avatar
User

John Treder

Rank

Zinaholic

Posts

1925

Joined

Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:03 pm

Location

Santa Rosa, CA

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by John Treder » Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:15 pm

Other than herbs, which except for basil are pretty much year-round, I only grew tomatoes and onions. The tomato tree is, as is their wont, producing beautiful tomatoes all at once. I picked most of the onions two weeks ago - there are still three of them that are valiantly growing.
I've been eating all versions of tomato salad until it's running out my ears!
I think I'll poke around with tomato soup next week. Query to come in Cooking.

John
John in the wine county
no avatar
User

Rahsaan

Rank

Wild and Crazy Guy

Posts

9216

Joined

Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:20 pm

Location

New York, NY

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Rahsaan » Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:27 am

We don't do any hard calculations but in the summer probably 75-80% of what we eat comes from the farmer's market (we don't have a garden). And that extra 20% is mostly stuff like rice and grains that we can't buy at the market!

In the winter it's maybe 50-50, as we go the farmer's market year-round and buy as much as possible.
no avatar
User

Robin Garr

Rank

Forum Janitor

Posts

21612

Joined

Fri Feb 17, 2006 1:44 pm

Location

Louisville, KY

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Robin Garr » Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:36 am

Rahsaan wrote:We don't do any hard calculations but in the summer probably 75-80% of what we eat comes from the farmer's market (we don't have a garden). And that extra 20% is mostly stuff like rice and grains that we can't buy at the market!

In the winter it's maybe 50-50, as we go the farmer's market year-round and buy as much as possible.

We're pretty much on the same page, Rahsaan, although Mary's gardening skills gave us some mighty good eats over the summer. Cost savings are less clear ... watering during crazy July wasn't cheap, prompting her to guesstimate at one point that each eggplant cost us $300. :lol: And time spent is another factor. But there is something really nice about picking dinner an hour before you eat it.
no avatar
User

Mike Filigenzi

Rank

Known for his fashionable hair

Posts

8187

Joined

Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:43 pm

Location

Sacramento, CA

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Mike Filigenzi » Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:28 am

Have to say that we're no more than 50-50 on this. We don't garden and we can only get to one farmers' market on the weekend. We do try to get the bulk of our produce at that market, but are pretty poor at planning more than a couple of days ahead.
"People who love to eat are always the best people"

- Julia Child
no avatar
User

Jenise

Rank

FLDG Dishwasher

Posts

42547

Joined

Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:45 pm

Location

The Pacific Northest Westest

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Jenise » Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:27 am

An unfortunately small amount. I grow only tomatoes and lettuce. The three cherry tomatoes are my snack food, and the other two plants (Early Girl and Moskovich) have only produced about 10 tomatoes so far. There are a lot turning color on the Early Girl right now, but the extra long hang time is probably going to compromise quality and it's a crapshoot about how many we'll get--nights are down into the 40's now and the plants are shutting down.

This summer's been worse than usual for us with a sick cat. For the last month or so--prime summer produce weeks for our part of the world--we've either been in Seattle seeing specialists or chained to the house pretty much feeding her every few hours to get her weight up for amputation surgery. Hence I've not managed to get to our local Saturday market even once this summer, but I have picked up fresh produce at garden stands every chance I've had.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
no avatar
User

Bob Henrick

Rank

Kamado Kommander

Posts

3919

Joined

Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:35 pm

Location

Lexington, Ky.

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Bob Henrick » Fri Sep 14, 2012 11:02 am

Jenise,

I a very sorry, and yes touched by reading of your sick kitty. While I am not per se a cat kind of person, I AM an animal person, and at present have three dogs in my home. Two are female and one is male, all are "fixed" so there won't be surprises. Two are shelter rescues and one is a Is a purebred Brussels Griffon (female). The other female is (I believe) a full blood Vizla and the third is a Heinz 57. I sincerely hope that your kitty gets well, and goes through the surgery in fine shape.

And to keep this at least a little on subject, I am struck by the idea of a small greenhouse for your garden. our area is apparently not conducive to growing tomatoes, and you love them fresh from the garden, it could be an answer without a lot of cash outlay and a minimum of labor on your part.
Bob Henrick
no avatar
User

Redwinger

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

4038

Joined

Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:36 pm

Location

Way Down South In Indiana, USA

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Redwinger » Fri Sep 14, 2012 11:13 am

Jenise- Was pleased to see on FB that Tammy Faye seems to be recovering nicely from her surgery. I do hope things continue to go well for her (and you as well)

Bob- Why don't tomatoes do well in your area? I'm curious since my tomato harvests have been disappointing since moving here to So. Indiana, which isn't all that far from your locale. I've chalked it up to my garden being a tad too close to a black walnut tree and was planning to relocate my tomato patch next year. Maybe sumthin' else is going on??

BP
Smile, it gives your face something to do!
no avatar
User

Karen/NoCA

Rank

Hunter/Gatherer

Posts

6325

Joined

Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:55 pm

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Karen/NoCA » Fri Sep 14, 2012 11:31 am

I only grow tomatoes, herbs, swiss chard, lettuces, radish, spinach., and sometimes eggplant. All the big leaf plants, such as squash and cukes get sucked to death by white flies. Our Farmer's Markets here vary and I can go to one everyday of the week. I usually go on Saturdays and that is where I buy all the produce, nuts, evoo, breads, some cheeses, that I need. I can buy locally grown and milled grains at our local flour mill. Water is expensive here now, and since we have a huge landscaped yard, it is really cost effective to buy at the Farmer's Markets. I will, however, grow my own tomatoes as long as I can walk and think! Heirlooms are not very productive for me, so I rarely try any, preferring to grow the tomatoes which make my tasty tomato sauces and pastes. I have a flat of mixed lettuces and other greens sitting on my patio, next to the water faucet, waiting for the weather to cool a little, so I can heel them into the garden.
no avatar
User

Mark Lipton

Rank

Oenochemist

Posts

4285

Joined

Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:18 pm

Location

Indiana

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Mark Lipton » Fri Sep 14, 2012 12:42 pm

The produce that we get from our CSA is probably 60-70% of what we eat, the remainder being the pasta, rice, breads, fish and meat that get from the store. Our dairy comes from local farms as do the meats, so I suppose that if one includes them in the equation the number jumps to 85-90%.

Mark Lipton
no avatar
User

Carl Eppig

Rank

Our Maine man

Posts

4149

Joined

Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:38 pm

Location

Middleton, NH, USA

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Carl Eppig » Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:44 pm

So far this summer we have had our own lettuce, basil, thyme, rosemary, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans (three kinds), yellow zucchini, and some green zucchini that had to be supplemented by farms. We have had zero peppers nor eggplants.
no avatar
User

Jenise

Rank

FLDG Dishwasher

Posts

42547

Joined

Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:45 pm

Location

The Pacific Northest Westest

Re: How much of your summer fare is from the garden or farm?

by Jenise » Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:43 pm

Bob Henrick wrote:Jenise,

I a very sorry, and yes touched by reading of your sick kitty. While I am not per se a cat kind of person, I AM an animal person, and at present have three dogs in my home. Two are female and one is male, all are "fixed" so there won't be surprises. Two are shelter rescues and one is a Is a purebred Brussels Griffon (female). The other female is (I believe) a full blood Vizla and the third is a Heinz 57. I sincerely hope that your kitty gets well, and goes through the surgery in fine shape.

And to keep this at least a little on subject, I am struck by the idea of a small greenhouse for your garden. our area is apparently not conducive to growing tomatoes, and you love them fresh from the garden, it could be an answer without a lot of cash outlay and a minimum of labor on your part.


Bob, thanks for the condolences. Those are three lucky dogs! (Tammy has a vaccine-associated sarcoma, or VAS, and if you don't know what that is DO inform yourself on behalf of your dogs who get this more than cats do. Be very careful about vaccines in the future!)

Re the greenhouse, one of the few negatives associated with living on waterfront is our vanity about the view. We can't put one in back on the view side, and the front courtyard isn't really conducive either. Not even sure if it would help much since the issue is the marginal quantity of sunlight--the courtyard actually captures and retains heat very well.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ClaudeBot, Google [Bot], Majestic-12 [Bot] and 4 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign