DATE: March 17th
AVAILABLE IN THE GARDEN: snap peas, onions, thyme, sorrel, eggs
RECIPE: Sorrel/snap pea frittata with strips of red pepper (freezer)
Notes
A good number of pages in my journal are filled with lists of things to do in the garden. While I’ve got a pen in hand, I then make some notes about what’s growing, or how the squirrels are eating the almonds, or the way the chickens scratch like they’ve learned dance steps. I like to go back to read what was happening a year ago, or two, and I’m always gratified to find that eventually I did accomplish the jobs on my list, even if it did take me a while.
Notes on the start of my garden:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I know that I will forget to include someone in this long list of people I am grateful to. Unfortunately, and most likely, the person I forget will be someone of utmost importance. Let me apologize to you in advance.
For the rest I had an idea that I would categorize people and thank them in groups, such as “readers,” “editors,” “mentors,” “family,” “neighbors,” “friends-who-lent-me-books-or-bought-me-whiskey.” However, there was far too much overlap for such a system to work.Instead, I’ll start with “A.”
Thank you, Emily Albu and Alan Taylor, for tomatoes, wine, root beer, and happy travels. Thank you to my neighbors who have put up with a farm in the neighborhood and the goose noise that goes with it, especially Elaine and Richard, who bear the brunt of the honking, and Laura, Phil, Siena, and Daniel Cox who helped out in so many ways, including providing me with a freezer when I was in great need of it, and a charming weeder (Daniel) on my birthday. Thanks to Judith and Terry for the lemons, Jay for the gardening help, the Chertoks for the orange sticks, and Kate Scow for her soil science expertise.
Thanks to Krista Lyons, Domini Dragoone, Andie East, Merrik Bush-Pirkle, and all of the people at Seal Press for making The Quarter-Acre Farm the best it could be. Thanks to Angie Ehrdrich for teaching me about purslane, Dan and Sheri Fields for the talented chickens, to Melissa Franke for introducing me to roasted tomato sauce, and to Laura Gross who is that rarified individual who can be both a spectacular agent and a spectacular friend. Thanks to Lloyd and Sarah Johnson who have patiently taught me about the farming life.
Thanks to Ari and Leslie Kelman, Gail Schneider, and David Matlin not only for friendship but also for being such huge supporters of the Quarter-Acre Farm idea from the very beginning.
Thanks to Marie Lee for being a great writing pal—we will end up at a retreat together sometime soon—and to John Lescroart and Lisa Sawyer for being stellar mentors and friends. I most certainly would not have gotten far without you. Thank you cheese muse Sacha Loren, and thank you to my Sallys—Sally Madden the computer genius and fellow discontent, and Sally McKee the writer and historian who throws a great party, cooks like a maniac, and who also introduced me to Roxanne O’Brien who I thank for her culinary expertise as well.
I want to thank Mike Madison, yet another farmer with a generous heart, for reading QAF chapters; Josie Moody, the best niece in the entire world, for sharing writing with me; Deb Nemier for the keyhole garden idea, Roxy O’Brien for reading my recipes, Dr. Barbara Renwick for reassuring Louis about his wife’s health, Chris Reynolds and Alessa Johns for providing me with books and delightful dinners, Gingy Scharff for her gardening acumen and historical perspective, and Steve Shapson for sharing his mushroom expertise.
Thanks to Carol Kirshnit and Paul Siegel for counsel, latkes, and the fruit of the vine; to Joannie and Clay Siegler for all your help and the best walnuts on the planet; Chuck Krause for seeds and plants, and Deb Neimeier for keyhole gardens.
Thanks to Gary Snyder for sharing the poetry of a handmade life.
Loud and long thank yous to all of the Streeters—my mother and father, Mary and Bob; my sister, Summer; and my brother, Nathan—for appearing in this book again and again, and for loving me even though I am the middle child and now a tattle-tale.
Thank you Diane Ullman for being one of the fantasy sisters and teaching me about bugs, Deb Vanderlist, a fellow small scale farmer, and Eileen Rendahl and Andy Wallace, who most definitely aren’t. Also, Eileen . . . just forever thanks. From writing stuff to kid stuff, broken ankles and ailing cats, there are too many ways I depend on you to list here.
Shawna Yang Ryan—I can’t imagine being a writer without you there to scheme with, complain to, to ask for edits from, and to celebrate with. And if we weren’t writers, we would still be fast friends.
Thank you Yaddo for not only a wonderful place to write, but for inviting the most amazing writers to come at the same time I did. Thanks also to the beautiful Ucross Foundation for the time to write in Wyoming, and finally to the Mesa Refuge, where I put the final edits on the book and tested the QAF recipes on gracious tasters Peter Barnes, Jacob and Gail Needleman, and David Sassoon.
Of course, those that I am most grateful to are my guys. They have all contributed hugely to this effort. Sam was one of my editors, an epicurean of high standards, a fellow animal lover (and wrangler), and a convert to the QAF. Jesse not only illustrated the book but also provided lots of help on the farm, from physical labor to artistic sensibility to horticultural expertise. Further, he brought the darling Nicole into our fold, who knows food and farming and makes a lovely bottle of wine. I couldn’t ask for better kids.
As for Louis: while he wasn’t always a good sport about the Quarter-Acre Farm, he is always a good sport about me telling people he wasn’t a good sport. He was my first reader, an indispensable editor, and a smart critic. He is also a mulch mover of the highest order and a great weeder. He really does love our little farm underneath it all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Spring Warren was born in Casper Wyoming to parents who designed water treatment plants for a living but also managed to spin wool, throw pottery, and name each of their three children after seasons. Spring graduated from Black Hills State College in Spearfish, South Dakota, and she received an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis. Her novel Turpentine (Grove Atlantic, 2008), won the bronze medal in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year for Historic Fiction, was a recommended title of the New York Center for Independent Publishing, and was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection.
INDEX
A
acorn squash
albatross mosquito-hawk
albumen
Alotta Frittata
aluminum foil
alyssum
Amanita muscaria
Anasazi beans
anchovies
angelica
antioxidants
ants
aphids
apple juice
apple pears
apples
apricots
aqueducts
arsenic trioxide
artichokes
artificial refrigeration
assassin beetles
automaticity
automatic watering systems
azuki beans
B
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)
bacteria
baked bananas
Bascomb, William
basil
beans
acidity effects
cooking tips
garden space
gas
Green-Chile Chili
growing and harvesting
nutritional ranking
salt
soaking
soil
bee balm
Beefmaster tomato
beer
Beet and Chevre Sandwiches
beet greens
beets
Beet and Chevre Sandwiches
edibility
growing considerations
nutritional ranking
Roasted Tomato Sauce
root length
soil
beneficial insects
bentonite cla
ys
Better Boy tomato
bindweed
birds
birdseed
Birdseye, Clarence
Bison priscus
black beans
black olives
black scurf
black whisker mold
blight
blue jays
blue potatoes
Borden, Gail
Borrell, Brendan
broccoli
Alotta Frittata
cabbage worms
edibility
flowers
growing considerations
broken foot incident
Broom
browned butter
buckwheat
budgets
see free garden supplies
bugs
bush beans
Bush, Mrs.
butter beans
butternut squash
C
cabbage
cabbage moths/cabbage worms
cactus paddles/cactus fruit
calendula
California Experimental Station
California-style pitted black olives
Calistoga, California
canaries
Candied Orange Peel Dipped in Chocolate
canned tomato incident
canning
Capra aegargus
Carnation milk
carnivorous insects
carpenter bees
carrots
insects
Roasted Tomato Sauce
root length
Carson, Rachel
Casper, Wyoming
Castroville, California
cats
cauliflower
ceanothus
Celebrity tomato
Central Valley (California)
feed lots
frost/freeze damage
potatoes
temperatures
chalazae
chard
Alotta Frittata
edibility
garden space
growing considerations
insects
Roasted Tomato Sauce
Cheaper by the Dozen (Gilbreth)
cheese
cherries
cherry tomatoes
chevre
see goat cheese
chicken houses
chickens
chickpeas
Chilca, Peru
chile, green
Chili, Green-Chile
China
Chinese weeders
chiogga beets
chitin
chitting
chlorpyrifos
Chocolate, Candied Orange Peel Dipped in
choline
Christmas gifts
see homemade holiday mushroom kits
Christy, Liz
Chromelium fulva
cilantro
cinnamon brown mold
clay
clover
Coalinga, California
cockroaches
cocoa hulls
coffee grounds
Colossus
commercial beans
company eyes
compost
cooperative work
copper peptides
cornichons
cornmeal
costs
see free garden supplies
Craigslist
cranberry beans
creeping Jenny
see bindweed
Crema de Caracal (snail cream)
Crete
crimini mushrooms
cucumber beetles
cucumbers
diseases
garden space
pickling
productivity
Cullen, William
cured olives
D
Dactylium
daisies
dandelions
Davis, California
garden space
neighborhood covenants
olive trees
potatoes
weed control
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
dead trees
deep watering
dehydration
Delft, Netherlands
Delmas, A.
de-pitting plums
dermatitis palaestrae limosae
desserts
determinate tomatoes
dill teenies
dirt
see also compost
discarded plants
domesticated animals
Doratomyces
Dow Chemical Corporation
dragonflies
dried beans
dried fruits and vegetables
drip irrigation systems
see also irrigation systems
driveways
drupes
ducks
E
earthworms
edibility, plant
eggplant
frozen preservation
garden space
Roasted Tomato Sauce
eggs
Alotta Frittata
chickens
egg whites
egg yolks
geese
nutritional value
Potatoes and Eggs
egrets
elm trees
end-of-year reflections
endotoxins
engineered plants
ergothioneine
escargot
see snails
escargotierre
Escargot in Two Colors
Euphates River Valley
Eureka lemons
evaporated milk
F
falling tree incident
farmers
see also Johnson, Lloyd
farms
fava beans
fermentation
figs
as desserts
Figs and Goat Cheese
frozen preservation
garden space
insects
Roasted Tomato Sauce
fish pond
floating row covers
flowers
Focaccia, Olive
folate
Food
food preservaton
canning
dehydration
fermentation
frozen foods
lemons
pickling
forest-green mold
Franklin Expedition (1847)
Freecycle Network
free garden supplies
freezer burn
French green lentils
French-style Escargot
French Tart, Rough
French Toast, Walnut
frittatas
frost/freeze damage
frozen foods
fruit
dehydration
as desserts
frozen preservation
health benefits
Roasted Tomato Sauce
Smoothies
Walnut French Toast
fruit flies
fruit juice
fruit trees
fungi
see also mushrooms
fungus gnats
fuyu persimmons
G
Gallus domesticus
Gallus gallus
garbanzo beans
garden critique
Garden Plan
garden space
garlic
Alotta Frittata
edibility
Roasted Tomato Sauce
geese
aluminum can incident
behaviors
egg laying and hatching
feeding choices
watermelon rinds
weed control
see also Goosteau; Jeannette Pepin
geophagy
George (goose)
Getting Started
giantic pickles
Gibbons, Euell
Gilbreth, Frank and Lillian
give-aways
gleaners
glycoproteins
gnats
goat cheese
Beet and Chevre Sandwiches
Figs and Goat Cheese
goats
golden beets
Goosteau
aluminum can incident
behaviors
egg laying and hatching
falling tree incident
watermelon rinds
weed control
Gorrie, John
Granny Smith apples
Grape Nuts
grapes
Great Gatsby, The (Fitzgerald)
Great Northern beans
Greek olives
green chile
Green-Chile Chili
green devil’s food cake
green food
green lentils
green olives
green onions
green plums
green tomatoes
green trimmings
greywater recycling
Grilled Zucchini
grocery store discards
groutweed
Guerilla Gardeners
Guthrie, Dale
H
habits
hair dye
hallucinogenic mushrooms
Harp, Christy
Harris Ranch
Harvest
harvesting
artichokes
beans
birds
mushrooms
olives
peaches
potatoes
pumpkins
zucchini
haulms
hawks
hay
heirloom tomatoes
see tomatoes
Helix aspersa
Helix aspersa Müller
hens
see also chickens
herbicides
herbs
Hestia (rabbit)
Holst, Vincent
homegrown food tastes
homemade holiday mushroom kits
home orchard care
honeydew
horses
I
Iced Tea with Lavender, Lemon Verbana, and Mint
indeterminate tomatoes
insecticides
insects
International Potato Center
Ireland
iron
irrigation systems
J
jays
Jeannette Pepin
behaviors
egg laying and hatching
falling tree incident
mushrooms
watermelon rinds
weed control
The Quarter-Acre Farm Page 22
