Friday 10 April 2009

The hungry gap? / Le trou affamé?

april harvest_1_1

There isn't much to harvest in the garden at this time of the year, when the winter cabbages and leeks are finished and we're still waiting for the summer crops of tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and peppers. But there is still a huge range of varieties of plants growing in and around the garden which we can eat.

Il n'y a pas beaucoup à ramasser au jardin à cette saison, mais il y restent plusiers de variétés de plantes qui poussent dans le jardin ou près du jardin que nous pouvons manger.

Yesterday we picked and ate 16 different varieties of leaf or flower:

Hier on a ramassé et mangé 16 variétés differentes de feuille ou fleur:

cos lettuce (laitue), spinach (épinards), sorrel (oseille), broad bean leaves (feuilles de fève), wild rocket (roquette sauvage), mint (menthe), parsley (persil), savory (sariette), oregano (oreganum), thyme (thym), chard (blettes), rainbow chard (feuilles de bette) - from the garden / du jardin.

borage flowers (fleurs de bourrache) - from the wild / sauvage.

coriander (coriandre), oak-leaf lettuce (feuille de chêne), mizuna - from the balcony / du balcon.

The chard and rainbow chard we ate cooked with mussels and an onion and white wine sauce. I used the herbs with goats' cheese to make parcels as I did with the borage leaves the other day. The other leaves made a salad to accompany them.

On a mangé les blettes et les feuilles de bettes avec des moules à la sauce au vin blanc. Avec les herbes j'ai fait des parcelles comme celles à la bourrache. Avec les autres feuilles j'ai fait une salade pour les accompagner.

We're looking forward to the summer vegetables, but in the meantime there are plenty of exciting flavours in the garden!

On attend avec impatience les légumes d'été, mais pour le moment il y a beaucoup de saveurs dans le jardin!

8 comments:

HappyMouffetard said...

Gosh, with all of those leaves to eat, you don't have a hungry gap at all! We have the last of the kale ot consume, but after that it's a wait for the broad beans and salad leaves.

ilex said...

Early spring greens are, I think, when greens are at their most spectacular. The cold air prevents bitterness from setting in; winter concentrates nutritional content since greens can't grow as fast or as big.

At my nearby community garden, we overwintered a lot of Asian greens last year under small hoophouses. Their growth slowed down to nearly nothing, but the flavor is just spectacular- we've been harvesting for the last few weeks now. Our favorite is komatsuna; it's a Japanese relative of the turnip, but you eat the leaves. Astonishingly, our brutal winter did it no harm. Komatsuna is our new favorite winter green.

chaiselongue said...

HappyMouffetard: yes, I know we're lucky, but I still can't wait for summer vegetables!

Ilex: komatsuna sounds wonderful - maybe I'll try it next winter. We eat turnip leaves, too - in soups, especially.

syrahsuzie said...

We brought some purple srpouting brocolli seeds back from the uk to fill the hungry gap and it is loving all this sun and rain we have been having lately. I am giving away a couple of bouquets a day!
Must try a few of your leaves they sound great.

syrahsuzie said...

I've just read your post about "stwnts"
We called it "stwnch" and it was carrots and swede I never liked it as a child maybe I would now. Your carrots and parsnips sounds much nicer.

chaiselongue said...

syrahsuzie: 'stwnch' is the same - but 'stwnts' is a more Welsh spelling. I don't like it so much with swede either, but with parsnips it's delicious! Sounds like you're another Welsh exile!

Michelle said...

That is a lovely harvest! I was just thinking this morning though, how fortunate I am not to have to depend entirely on my garden. Leaves are tasty and nutritious but not very filling. California grown asparagus is in now and I've been feasting on that.

syrahsuzie said...

Yes from Snowdonia. Been reading your blog for a while comparing notes on the garden. We're in the Aude.