I spent the better part of the weekened paying back for all that good compost we laid on the vegetable beds in the spring. The cosmos were seven feet tall. The zinnia were so big they had simply collapsed and were splayed all over the ground. The “mammoth” variety sunflowers had grown into sequoias, towing over [...]
Tags: compost·fall·germination·greens·planting
It’s only because I had not been paying close enough attention that I was walking around with the completely mistaken impression that nothing much was happening in the radish patch. From a distance, it looked like all foliage, no radishes. But with a Polar Express bearing down, I was out yesterday pulling anything edible from [...]
Some braised meat dishes are so rich they take your breath away. I place oxtails in that category. Richness dictates smaller portion sizes, which fits oxtail perfectly since this is one piece of meat that is mostly bone. Oxtail belongs to that group of odd bits that butchers in a bygone era would practically give away. [...]
Tags: beef·braise·entertaining·fall
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
What's in your turkey? We killed and butchered more than 80 birds on the farm of Mike and Michelle Klein in Prince George's County. Thankfully, Michelle did the gutting. Unfortunately, Mike bought his turkey chicks earlier than usual and they did not stop growing. Our prize for helping was a carcass that weighed nearly 40 pounds. It barely fit in the oven. Here, Mike is subjecting a slaughtered bird to the "magic fingers," a machine with a nubby, rotating barrel that removes most of the feathers. 
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