Spaghetti With Asparagus, Green Garlic; Spring

As a change of pace I decided to make something with asparagus and green garlic…. It being spring and all.

If you don’t have access to green garlic, you can substitute 1 clove of garlic, minced or 2 tbs garlic chives and 2 green onions, sliced. Or garlic scapes which are something I know nothing about but have heard rumors…..

I like to roll-cut vegetables. It gives interesting looking pieces with lots of surface. I do it when cutting carrots, asparagus, or any small, round vegetable.

To roll-cut: cut the end off at an angle, roll 1/4 turn and slice at the same angle, roll 1/4 and slice, etc.

Print Recipe

Spring…. A study in opposites.

It’s a lovely, sunny day. I wear a jacket indoors because the old stone house hasn’t warmed up yet. The heater doesn’t run because the outside temperature is too warm. I take my jacket off to go outside. We have the doors and windows open to let some warm air in.

Along with the warm air come the flies and lizards.

The flies are food for the centipedes and spiders which have come out of hibernation.

The centipedes and spiders are food for the lizards.

We leave the windows open until sunset. Most critters will leave once the house is darker inside than the outside.

Of course that lets the cooler air back in.

We’ve cleaned the stove and fireplace for summer and keep telling ourselves that the house will warm up soon. ‘Just one more day….’

The apples and oranges from fall and winter are done but the summer peaches and plums haven’t started yet. We’re making due with the last of the kiwifruit and pears.

On the positive side we have more strawberries, asparagus, green garlic and artichokes than we can eat…. Although we are trying valiantly to keep up. We have great hopes for cherries in another few weeks.

I bought tomato plants last week. The weather had been beautiful and the forecast was for it to continue. The next day the forecast changed.

We had frost last night.

Mon mari roto-tilled my potager a month ago. There has been soft, loose dirt there for 4 weeks.

Bunnies love soft, loose dirt. They ignored it.

I planted onions, shallots, lettuce sets…. All was fine.

I planted seeds. All was still fine.

The seeds sprouted and one could see little rows of green shoots.

A rabbit broke through the fence and had a merry time digging holes all over the sprouting seeds. It didn’t eat anything…. Just dug and made a mess.

On the positive side the rabbits have not touched the morning glory seedlings that I planted along the fence.

The slugs took care of those.

Just when I am thoroughly frustrated with spring I walk under the acacia tree and inhale the wonderful fragrance. I sit down under the tree, look up at the flowers, maybe pet a dog or two…..

Spring.