In the chaos that is my house, I also find it soothing to go outside to check on my veggies and water them. Some gardening tasks I don’t like. They actually seem to me to be hard labor with dirt and bugs, to be frank. Would it be wrong to hire someone to dig up my grass for a garden plot? Hmm…

But I digress. The idea had been in the back of my head, but then I went to a local used book store, Downtown Books and News, and flipped through the cookbook section. I happened on Fresh in Winter, and that basically sparked the idea that I should plant, in fact must plant, a fall and winter garden.

So I started with some pumpkin seeds I actually bought in the spring. Those have been growing like crazy in front of my house. Here’s how they look:

I also purchased a whole bunch of seeds from Park Seeds. Here is my little basket full of seeds and my new winter cookbook:

I am not feeling in the mood to undertake a whole project of digging up a new garden plot. I do have a book with really cool directions on a low-effort method to have a plot next year by laying down cardboard to cover the grass, piling up organic materials on top, piling on compost all fall and winter, and then ta-da: garden plot next spring. That sounds more like my kind of effort level.

For now, I am going to clear some of the flowers from my bed, put in something for the climbers like the peas, and plant in front of my house. I also have three big aluminum containers with holes drilled in the bottom that I plan to use for the lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

Here are the seeds I have. I may not get room to plant them all, but I hope I get close. The root vegetables concern me the most, since I know they need some room down deep and around the roots to grow. I thought there wouldn’t be much that was enticing to choose from, but then I happened on this great Cool Weather Vegetables section at Park SeedCool Weather Vegetables. And the entire order cost something like $20 plus shipping:

• Leeks
• Celery
• A master chef lettuce blend
• Blondie (white) peas
• Touchstone gold beets
• Radishes
• Very cool-looking orange cheddar cauliflowers
• Small miracle hybrid broccoli
• White satin carrots
• Tumbling cherry tomatoes in yellow and red (which I plan to try inside in a hanging basket with a light)

I can’t wait to see how they do as I get into fall and winter (and I need to get to planting ASAP with some of these!). There are some really amazing-sounding recipes in my cookbook, like Allspice Cabbage, Chicken and Butter Leek Soup, and Thyme Buttered Baby Roots.

Tomatoes. Tomatoes that I grew on my own. This may not sound amazing, but considering my brown thumb, this is nothing short of miraculous.

It’s funny the simple pleasures for a foodie mom like myself, too. It’s amazing that I found the time to grow these tomatoes, and it’s amazing they grew. It’s amazing that I could walk over and pick four fire engine red tomatoes from my own garden.

I looked at my special little tomatoes and pondered what to do with them. There really wasn’t enough to make something for the whole family. Each tomato was maybe one to two inches around. I could smell the tomato awesomeness just oozing from them. I also have so much basil growing, I don’t even know what to do with it. So it clicked. It was time to make bruschetta. Brilliant.

I should also specify that I decide to make brushetta for me, and just for me, and not for anyone else. It isn’t very often a mom can do something completely and utterly selfish. We’re constantly thinking of the kids first. But I had this gift, and it was just enough for one.

I waited for the kids to go down for nap. Then I did it. I diced the tomatoes. I grabbed a couple of the little dices just to get a pure taste of the tomatoes. It was so amazing, I had to take a sample to my husband. I had to bug him to try it (“This is what home grown tomatoes taste like, honey!”), and even he (the lover of all things pizza and burger) was impressed with the flavor.

I chopped some basil, then let them marinate in some organic extra virgin olive oil. I then tossed in some crumbled feta cheese and sprinkled a little sea salt, and served it over toasts.

Then I sat back, relaxed, and tasted. Unbelievable.

So even though it took hours of effort, and it cost money for my raised bed, and I had to encounter all sorts of Homeric-like challenges (well, bugs, dirt and the threat of frost), it was all worth it.

This is the ultimate local food. Forget farm to table, this is yard to table. Delicious!

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