Chef Celebrity Sighting & The Left Side

Yesterday we made a trip down to Marin to go to the Farmer’s Market, which we try to do at least once a month. (oh and Katrina, even with your notice, we of course arrived without our own bags at Bring Your Own Bag day!) As we were strolling through the middle aisle I realized that Tyler Florence, his wife and young son were walking right towards us! I had heard that he had moved somewhere around here. Anyway, we were trying to play it off very cool, as though, ‘oh yeah, that’s just Tyler Florence shopping at our market, no biggie’. But of course as soon he passed we turned right around like gaping fans and looked as he walked by. Poor guy, just trying to shop with his family and he’s got people like us staring at him. Over the years we’ve watched almost all of his shows but Tyler’s Ultimate is my favorite. My mouth is always watering at the end of the show at whatever he’s just created and I always think, I have to download that recipe. He’s a great food stylist and his lighting guru is a master. And it was nice to see him just walking around with his family taking in a lovely Sunday at the market. His son looked just a bit younger than our youngest and I smiled as I passed him later struggling to keep his son from wiggling out of his stroller….a situation I deal with daily. It made him seem like a real and genuine person. From the look of his website it looks like he’s going to open a place in Mill Valley.

So, onto the garden. I’ve been so overwhelmed with all that has gone on in it. April is always full of crazy growth, and new plantings so it’s hard to keep up. So this week, I’ll be starting from the left and moving, as the week goes, over to the right of the yard. Scott constructed some quickie, pell-mell sort of raised beds to house our cold weather spring crop and they look very happy there.

collards, peas and cilantro
We are trying collard greens for the first time, planted with some very slow growing peas, cilantro and parsley.

Broccoli
Next to that is a bed of broccoli, cauliflower and raddiccio hidden in the middle, contained by our snail guards. I think a few carrot seeds were sprinkled in there last week, but none have come up yet.

bok choy
And next to that bed, is this bed of bok choy. It’s our first year growing that too and we are enjoying having it young. You know how fiberous it can be when it’s fully mature—chew, chew chew.

Radishes
Behind all of those we have a bed of radishes, remember when they were so tiny? Radishes grow quick. In fact at the begining of October of 2006 one of our neighbors who runs the Slow Food Movement in town was running for city council. He stopped by our house campaigning and gave us a package of radish seeds and told me, “plant these today and by the time you are ready to eat them, you’ll remember me and hopefully vote for me on November 7th.” Sorry to report that he didn’t win the election, but I certainly voted for him.

Oak leaf lettuce
Next to the radishes is our lettuce and raddiccio patch. We’re growing a bunch of different lettuces there and since the chickens have been relegaded to the cottage yard (note to self: chickens love lettuce), they are all growing beautifully.

artichokes
And to cap off the left side of the garden, our artichokes. We aren’t getting that many this year. In fact it seems like artichoke prices are through the roof this spring. One sign at the farmer’s market this year read ‘$4/artichoke’! Has anyone read anything about the artichoke crop this year?

So that is the state of affairs for the left side of the yard, next up, the center plot.

Comments

  1. says

    I am so impressed with your garden!!!It looks wonderful. My escapee chickens made a mess of most of my winter veggies. I now have them in chicken lock up so my summer veggies have a chance. I have a question about your artichokes? How big do you let them get before you harvest them? I have 4 little artichokes on my plant and I’m not really sure how much longer I need to wait. What’s you opinion on the perfect artichoke size?

  2. asonomagarden says

    Thank you! As for the artichokes…that’s a good question. We let them get to about what you would find as a medium size one at the store. Like about the size of my fist. Unless we are super hungry for them, in that case, we pick them at whatever size they happen to be :) We usually let a couple go completely to flower too, they are so beautiful. But this year, since we are only getting about 8, I’m sure we’ll eat them all.

  3. says

    What a gorgeous garden! You truly have an amazing space there, and that artichoke is to die for! We considered starting some artichokes this year, we’ve never grown them before, and after inquiring about them at the nursery the clerk also predicted astronomical prices for artichokes, especially organic. bummer. i think it’s a little too late in the season to start with artichokes, what do you think? thanks for sharing a slice of your life with us, it’s lovely! :)

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