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Well, you all likely know what I was doing this weekend. The Greater New York Wine & Food Festival, of course. (Here are links to my photos: Preparty, Friday Night Party, Session One with Chef Demos, Session Two with Top Chef).
Hope you enjoyed it… I know I sure did. But after brunch on Sunday, I headed back home and got to work in my garden. I had ordered several new plants from Raintree Nursery, which specializes in fruit trees and unusual edibles, and had to get busy planting them.
We had time to plant two of the crops: lingonberries and black currants.
Lingonberries are below. The varieties are ‘Red Pearl’ and ‘Ida.’
They don’t grow very tall — 10 inches to 3 feet at the very most — but they like to spread and they like to hang over the edge of a retaining wall, or as I’ve mounded up around my rock here, a raised planting bed. Lingonberries love acidic soil, to in addition to the compost, we added peat moss and Hollytone to the soil.
It’s kind of hard to see, but here are the black curants.
We used the hose to stake out a new planting bed and dug up the sod. We amended it with plenty of compost and brought dirt in from another part of the yard to mound the beds. There are four bushes, two of ‘Blackdown’ and two of ‘Willoughby,’ which I bought mainly because of Jane Austen.
I know they don’t look fantastic now, but give it a few years. I love having edible landscaping.
I just wanted to share, too, a few of the more mature plants in the yard. They’re fruiting out like crazy!
Gooseberries:
Apricots:
Sour cherries:
My first pears! (Anjou):
And apples!
The blueberries, strawberries and red currants are doing great, too, as are the vegetables: radishes, lettuces, herbs, and, of course, tomatoes. I’m hoping we’re in for a very fruitful year!
I was so exhausted on Sunday night that my very kind husband went to the store, cooked supper — and cleaned up.
Wings and a wedge, a la Greg:
And with that, here’s what people have been talking about this weekend:
New crops for farmers could help with profits. Farmers finding a market in growing out-of-the-ordinary vegetables and fruits? (NYT) (Hmm! Like gooseberries, lingonberries and currants! I must be some kind of trendsetter, huh? LOL)
Emily is big fan of Spadaro in New Rochelle. (NYT)
Reporting on Blue in White Plains. (CH)
Couple more posts on Sweet Grass Grill. (CH) Here’s my take on Sweet Grass from a couple weeks ago. And here’s a review from Chick in the Kitchen, which I missed a few weeks back. (Sorry Dara!)
Great cheese shops in Fairfield. (CH)
The Comfort Lounge in Hastings-on-Hudson is open. (WM via CH)
Nishi Japanese Restaurant in Ardsley. (CH) Hint: ask for the hand-written menu.
Dara cooks chicken and figs, based on a Rachael Ray recipe. (CITK)
Also, here’s Dara’s Menu Plan Monday for this week. (CITK)
Lettie likes to sit at the bar at the Kittle House and dirnk Sancerre with her friend Pat. She particularly likes the Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy because it’s not too expensive. (OAB)
Martha gets new honey bees in Bedford. (TMB)
My Personal Farmers is starting a CSA. (MPF)
Sharon visits The Cookery in Dobbs Ferry. (TGL)
Julia is excited about the openings of the Comfort Lounge, Sweet Grass Grill and Tarry Lodge. (WE)
