Harvest Monday: August 3, 2015

I normally only post for Harvest Monday's what I have harvested up to Sunday evening.  Since today is a Civic Holiday in Ontario, I am at home and thought I'd do one more picking ... and a colourful one it is!  Included here are kale, chard, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, Delinel and Royal Burgundy beans, my first of the Yukon Gold potatoes and a couple of fingerlings, a pimiento pepper, Hungarian Hot Wax peppers, jalapenos and my second small harvest of tomatoes (see below for my first harvest).  Quite a haul for just 20 or 30 minutes of work this morning! 

Also from this morning is another batch of escarole.  None of them have fully matured and I'm still just picking them to thin out the plants (I planted them far too close together):

And these two spaghetti squash!!  I'm not sure if they are fully mature, but I really don't need monster sized squash.  The one on the left is already 5 pounds!

This photo below is from Wednesday's pick and includes more beans (both Delinel and Royal Burgundy), another zucchini squash, a small broccoli side shoot, various greens (kale, chard, lettuce, arugula).

Plus more of these Pimiento peppers:

I also harvested this lettuce from my "summery melody" mix packet. It has bolted like my other lettuce heads but I think it was something like Michelle's Italienischer.  Obviously not the amazing size she was able to grow, but I'm pretty sure it was the same variety.

And I've pulled the rest of the kohlrabi. I did not get much size out of mine compared to others I've seen, but I really enjoy the taste so will try them again next year.

The other harvest this week was Saturday morning and included more beans, another mini broccoli side shoot, some ridiculously tiny carrots, a crookneck squash, my first ripe tomatoes and parsnips.

I'm quite excited about the parsnips - these are Albion parsnips - as it is the first time I've grown them.  I knew they grew like carrots so assumed the upper part of the plant would be similar. So wrong!  The above-ground portion of the parsnip is HUGE, easily 3 to 4 times the size of the root.

These few baby carrots were also pulled later Saturday to thin out the carrots. I am WAY behind on carrots and beets for a variety of reasons and I certainly hope to get some good ones soon.

And that's my review of the week ... pop by Daphne's place to see what other folks are doing this week in their garden.

Wild Turkeys ... Again

Wild turkeys are back in my yard.  I posted about the family of four wild turkeys that lived in my yard last summer ... I don't actually remember when they left.  I only spotted this one (and a big one it is) this morning hanging about my squash patch; not sure if there are others in tow.

Winston's Curry

So I bought a goat about two months ago. 

Hmm ... maybe that's a confusing way to start this story.  Let me back it up a bit.  I have a friend who is a sheep farmer and I buy lamb meat from him once a year.  When the lamb is "ready" (whatever that means), he takes the lamb to the butcher and has it cut to my specifications and then delivers it to me (sight unseen so to speak). 

I've been wanting goat meat lately - mostly for the curries.  There are stores in Ottawa that sell Halal goat meat, but to my understanding (feel free to correct me if I am wrong here), Halal is more about the method of killing and has nothing to do with whether the animal was raised in a humane, organic way.  My friend knows a goat farmer just a few minutes from me so I called him up.  Turns out it would be way to costly for him to take the goat to the butcher himself and he'd have to charge me a bundle.  So my friend suggested he take me to a livestock auction and buy my own goat ... he would then take it to the butcher for me along with my lamb that I had already ordered.

I used to be a vegetarian so I realize I've had a radical change in how I think about eating meat.  My reasons for being vegetarian were more about the atrocities and resultant health issues associated with commercial meat production.  I decided that if I were to continue eating meat, it must be local, organically raised and ... I should at least be able to look it in the face (well, once in a while).  In fact, I personally know the farmers who raise 95% of the meat that I eat.

So I bought a goat about two months ago. 

The auction itself is an entire other story ... weird experience for sure.  But when my sheep-farmer friend took it home overnight before taking it to the butcher, he named it Winston.  So I dedicate this recipe to my goat, Winston, to whom I am ever so grateful for giving up his life so my friends and I could enjoy this curry.

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The curry recipe:

Just a few notes about this curry as I've tried to make goat curries before but they weren't very good.  This one was AMAZING!  And from what I've researched, I think the critical ingredient is the Jamaican curry powder.  Previously I had tried to make my own curry powder mix, but it turns out I really needed the packaged kind - so not easy to find for everyone.  The other interesting part is that you don't cook the spices and onions first and build the flavours up in the same way as Indian curries.  The onions (from the marinade) go in raw closer to the end of the process.

Ingredients:
1.5 lb of goat meat (leg plus neck slices), cubed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp Jamaican curry powder
1 medium onion, sliced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
2 jalapenos, minced (with seeds)
5-8 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 cups stock or water
1 Tbsp ketchup
1/2 pound potatoes, cubed

Combine the cubed meat, salt, pepper, curry powder, onion, garlic and jalapenos.  Refrigerate overnight or at least 5 hours.  When ready to cook, remove the meat and set aside the rest of the marinade (onions, etc.).

Heat vegetable oil in a large pan and brown the cubed meat.  Add thyme and 2 cups of stock.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer.

After one hour, add the remainder of the marinade (onions, jalapenos) plus the remaining 2 cups of stock.  Take this opportunity to check seasonings - add more salt or curry powder if needed.  Add potatoes and ketchup.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes and meat are tender.