My garden

My first harvest is about to be executed

Practice what you pray. Last year I already gave it a try, but a transfer to Milano made it impossible to fulfill the whole growing process.  This year another try, in a more capable house and a suitable climate. A report of the first few months and the first harvest.

I started on a sunny and reasonably mild day in February. I took the seeds I brought from Holland and put them in the soil I put in some recycled egg-boxes. Every day they were given some  water and attention. After a few days they even opened-up and showed some green. But then the winter returned, it got cold again, and the seeds decided to give up: it wasn’t the right time yet.

So a few weeks later, when the spring was definitely coming, I tried it again. This time successfully. After a long week the sprouts were even big enough to replace them in bigger baskets. And since temperature was rising, I could them place them outside as well.

Being outside in a mild or even warm climate, touched by the sun some hours a day and enough rain to still their thirst gave them the power to grow. And now, after 3 or 4 months, they really start to become something. Not only did we already enjoy some of the rucola and basil, we already see the first flowers on the tomato plants and a carrot is coming up. This is where you can see some pictures.

Although patience isn’t my strongest characteristic, waiting for my own harvest gives a satisfying effect. Especially because you can follow the process, learn which things go well and which aren’t (f.e. sage doesn’t go very well in the sun, tomato plants need a lot of space for their roots) and profit from your work while eating good, local food.

Some suggestions? Use the right seeds, preferably those you got from friends but at least the ones that allow you to use the seeds you obtained from your fruits, again in the next year. Furthermore you need to find the right place (we have big windowsills) and the right exposure to the sun (all-day sun means that you need to give a lot of water). And for the rest it is trial and error: what soil is best, how often to water them, the size of the containers, etc. Just try it. Like many do. You will learn it yourself!

The art of.... making bread

Here in Milano it seems that you can’t organize a food event without organizing a ‘How to make your own bread’ workshop. Where is that hype coming from?

Bread making used to be done at home regularly. It doesn’t even have to be that hard when you have a bread making machine. You just put in the ingredients, insert the details in the program and wait for the delicious smells filling your house. Isn’t that enough reason to wake up every morning?

But at easy as it seems, as little people do it at home. It is so much easier and faster to take your wallet to the nearest baker shop and choose the bread you feel like eating that moment. Bread which is almost as fresh as the ones at your house and maybe even more delicious. At least as far as a regular costumer could see.

The profession of baker might be in danger. It is hard work with strange hours and the resulting income might not be in balance with what you offer from your own and your family’s time. But isn’t that with all the artesian jobs where -  in the end – the love for the job is bigger than the hate of the side-effects?

But if being a baker is still a hard job can be questioned. Unfortunately it is really hard for a baker shop to survive in this society where most people prefer to buy the cheapest products instead of the ones with a good quality. Bakers have to deal with this too – besides the competition of supermarkets and chains – and look for ways to keep their clients satisfied. Most do that by going down in prices thereby choosing for flour of a inferior quality or by buying their ready-to-finish dough which is delivered frozen to their pre-heated ovens (read here the explanation of an frozen dough company). Easy for them, sufficient for the consumer.

Luckily there are still some bakers who love their job and know the difference between a pre-fabricated-frozen pasta and the ones made in their own workshop with a lot knowledge of the products and ingredients and the way to treat them to create the best bread in town. Preferably made with so called pasta madre (dough without yeast) and well chosen ingredients.

When you think these bakers are fighting hard for their clients you are wrong. It is exactly these artisans which encourage people to make their own bread. Not because these bakers are too lazy to do it themselves. I guess they just want their clients to see what it takes to make good bread and how nice it is to eat the result of your own work. So look and sniff around to find your own dedicated bakery and enjoy!