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Kathy’s Garden Writing |
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SPRING TONIC Since moving to northern Columbia County, I’ve had to readjust my seasonal mood regulator. In Philadelphia, spring is heralded by a fanfare of bloom: weeping cherries, magnolias, dogwoods, and throughout the season an unfolding riot of azalea and rhododendron. Maybe those of you living in towns around here get a bit of this floral blitz too. But here on my windswept hill, surrounded by meadow grasses and a few hardy trees, it’s the awakening of the palate that really signals spring. Have you ever had farm fresh eggs, stolen from under the hen as soon as she’s made her daily delivery? All winter we are deprived of these treats, because our birds suffer from their own version of seasonal affective disorder. But sometime in early February, as day-light increases, the first egg is found in a tidy little nest, following which all the ladies get back to work. Each day, I experiment with a new egg dish, although the best preparation is a simple scramble with butter, salt, and pepper. These are no ordinary store-bought eggs, laid by factory-warehoused chickens fed grain laced with various suspect additives. Our chickens patrol the barnyard all day long, ever on the lookout for a tasty bug or weed. The resulting egg is a delicious tapestry of nutrient-rich ingredients, containing half as much cholesterol, twice as much vitamin E, up to six times as much beta carotene, and four times more omega-3 fatty acids. And about when I exhaust the possibilities of eggs, along comes the asparagus. You who claim to dislike this vegetable cultivated since ancient times, calling it bitter and strong, have never experienced a lightly steamed asparagus spear straight from the garden, perhaps with a drizzle of good olive oil – the essence of spring green. In fact, fresh asparagus is a multi-vitamin in a stalk, high in vitamins A, B, and C, potassium, and iron. High brow French chefs tell us it is acceptable to eat asparagus with the fingers, so why not indulge your inner child. In fact, served with deviled eggs, your whole meal can be finger-licking good. What next in this parade of seasonal palate pleasers? Well, around June 1, I start looking for that first ripe strawberry, often hiding under a rosette of leaves. These red gems are bursting with spring sunshine, warm and sweet, with a hint of citrus. As with asparagus, they are native to North America, perennial, and easy to grow, especially if you take their name literally and surround them with a mulch of straw. Strawberries pack a wallop of nutrition for a small fruit, especially vitamin C, iron, and important phytonutrients. Some claim they can help lower cholesterol and reduce inflammation. I simply claim that they taste divine eaten right in the berry patch, still warm from the sun; or served alongside those deviled eggs and asparagus spears, for a full range of taste and nutrition. And so goes my antidote to the long and sometimes depressing winter months. I don’t miss the floral extravaganza of my former home, particularly with its attendant pollen counts. A parade of fresh food lightens my mood, as it brings to my table the essence of spring renewal: fertile, green, warm, and refreshing. Now who needs Prozac? Kathleen Arcuri Published June 3, 2007 – The Danville Daily Item |