Cream of Asparagus Soup

1 lb fresh asparagus (we like McClaskeys or Idagro Farms at Capital City Public Market)
1 bunch lovage
31/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp sea salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste

Trim the coarse ends of the asparagus into one inch pieces, chop lovage. In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute asparagus in one cup of broth-about 7 minutes. About half way in add the lovage.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and remove from heat. Add the flour and stir well until smooth. Gradually add the remaining 2 1/2 cups broth. Return saucepan to the heat and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

Add the cream, salt, pepper and cooked asparagus and lovage with liquid. Stir well and heat thoroughly.

Enjoy!

The season is upon us...

Just a quick update...We are very excited for the new season. We already have our germination boxes full. Our little greenhouse is warmed up and slowly starting to fill up. Here are some pictures from our day in the greenhouse.

One of our germination boxes!

Our other germination box!

Mom planting more seeds!

Joanna and I transplanting!
















Thanks! I hope you enjoy!
Sarah

We are going organic

January and February find us busily preparing for taxes, cleaning up the greenhouse, daydreaming of the moment we can get into the garden and doing paperwork to prepare for organic certification. A visit to Next Generation Organics took the worry out of some of the paperwork as they were in our shoes last year. It is always nice to have friends share the road with you.

We knew that the process of organic certification was going to be a time consuming but (hopefully) worthwhile experience. Over the past four years we have operated using organic principles trying to decide if certification and the accompanying work and expenses were worth it for the size of our garden. One acre seems so small compared to operations like Rice Family Farms or Peaceful Belly Farms but we made the decision that if we were going to "talk the talk" we needed to "walk the walk". We feel that it is important for our customers to know that we are willing to go the extra mile to provide the best product available with the certification to back that up. So we will take a deep breath, work through the mountains of paperwork, dig into our pockets for the fees and hopefully the ISDA will send us that coveted piece of paper after our summer inspection that states that Lazy Dog Gardens is certified organic!


Wintertime gives us time to reflect on the reasons we do what we do. We are already looking forward to our days at the market talking to our regular customers and meeting new ones. It is this kinship that reminds us that all the hard work and effort are worth it. Occasionally we hear negatives regarding prices which can be discouraging (would these folks like to have their work compared to Walmart?) but we know that we are constantly working to bring to market our best produce at a reasonable price. Healthy, excellent quality food is important to a good life.

We've been quiet lately

It's not so much that we haven't been cooking or thinking about the garden. Robin is getting close to ordering seeds for the year. Some of the garlic is pushing up through the ground. Sarah and her little family are enjoying adventures in solid foods and teething. Scott and Michelle are attempting a new adventure: cooking through Anne Willan's Country Cooking of France. They aren't very far in yet, but it's been fun so far. Scott's classes start back up at Boise State on Tuesday, and Michelle's looking at going back to school herself. The project is an attempt to set time aside for each other. They'll be looking for adventurous eating companions for some of the dishes. The book includes recipes for kidneys, ham in aspic, snails and homemade pate. It should be fun. If you're interested in following along, check it out at A French Kitchen in Boise

For now, we'll try to get better about blogging on occasion. Sometimes it's hard to think of what to say...