Zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and deep-fried are a classic summer dish. The petals are too delicate to hold on to for long, so in the short time they are around we tend to stick to the tried and true recipes. Until now.

I recently saw a post from Neil Faba, the man behind the wonderful Communal Table blog, about baked zucchini blossoms. Neil did his simply just sprinkling with salt and pepper before tossing them in the oven. I decided to try my traditional stuffed and breaded blossoms baked in the oven.

To clean the zucchini blossom, open it up as delicately as you can and pinch out the little stamen in the centre, they are now ready for stuffing. The ricotta was mixed with lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon thyme and delicate pea shoots. This was then scooped into the blossoms. They were put into the fridge for a few hours to firm up and when it was time the oven was pre-heated to 400. Each stuffed flower was dipped in egg wash then dredged in breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and a touch of cayenne. The breaded bundles were then laid out on a parchment covered cookie sheet. They went into the oven for 8 minutes, were pulled out and flipped before going back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes to brown both sides.

They came out beautifully crunchy on the outside and meltingly soft in the centre with no greasy residue on the palate or the fingers. Served over a salad of farm fresh baby lettuces with radish and more of those wonderful pea shoots, they were a big hit with my dinner guests. After the dessert was served there was no huge pan of oil to clean up, no scent of deep-frying in the air. Just one crumb-y sheet of parchment to ball up and toss.

Thanks Neil, you’ve inspired and healthier and easier alternative to an old standby without sacrificing any flavour!

Before

Our yard is small, we live in the city so we accept it. Most of our gardening is done in containers. We stick to herbs and flowers mainly after a few unsuccessful attempts with tomatoes.

My husband Kerry is in charge of the yard. His idea of gardening is to let weeds thrive so things look lush & green, hence the lovely milkweed and crabgrass border leading to our door.

We have this horrible area in the back of the yard that barely gets any sun. Kerry decided he wanted to make it nice, so he transplanted some of his precious weeds over to it.

Enough was enough. I dragged him to Fiesta’s Garden Centre and told him to stock up on real plants. After the requisite ‘kid in candy store’ routine, we brought everything home and started planting.

Some English ivy, Lady ferns and forget-me-nots went in, with a few Stiletto hostas – the most reliable shade plant ever. Our dog Betty regularly digs up the hostas or lies on top of them and they just keep on growing. We like tough plants that can stand up to dogs. Maybe that’s why Kerry has such a soft spot for tenacious weeds.

Some other plants that do well in shade are wild geranium/cranesbill geranium, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Dogs Tooth violets, plumeria, bleeding hearts and Canadian Colombine.

Get yourself some rickety old pink flamingos and you’ve got a lovely shade garden. The forget-me-nots didn’t do so well, but everything else is thriving. It’s been hot & dry so Kerry is watering every day, including the milkweed & crabgrass border.

After

January harvest

Linda Crago runs Tree and Twig Heirloom Vegetable Farm in Wellandport. This winter she started posting photos of her harvest on Twitter. Beautiful green swiss chard and arugula that she was growing in January! How does she do it? Does she have some kind of veggie grow op in her basement?

No, she has an 84 foot long hoop house. Which is essentially a wooden frame with greenhouse plastic stretched over it, this frame is placed over a raised bed, giving her a garden she can harvest from all year long. “One of the keys is to have agricultural fabric. It’s a polyester fabric that floats over the bed and the crop grows underneath it. A lot of people use it to grow organically and avoid insect problems.” Crago explains. She is able to use the harvest in the CSA baskets that she sells and for restaurant orders from esteemed restaurants like Niagara’s Inn on the Twenty, Wildflower in Font Hill and Treadwell.

“The vegetables freeze overnight but they don’t die. They thaw out by mid-morning and then I can harvest.” she explains.

” They taste different after they’ve been frozen, sweeter. I wasn’t a fan of raw chard until I tasted it like this.” They may freeze at night but the house stays warm in the light of day, forcing Crago to strip down to her t-shirt when harvesting. “On a day like this, it’s 80 degrees in there. You can take a lawn chair out and sit in the sun.”

Indian Runner ducks and heritage Mottled Java hens live out their peaceful retirment in the hoop house at Tree & Twig farm

She sells vegetables and eggs from her farm and being vegetarian she makes sure her laying hens have an idyllic life. “When the chickens get too old to lay they live out their retirement in the hoop house. It has been a challenge keeping them out of the veggies though.”

Sturdy winter greens do best, she recommends planting miner’s lettuce, arugula, collards, kale and Asian greens like tat-soy. Her favourite though are the mustards, like Green Wave, Giant Red and mizuna. “In the spring when the days get warmer they sprout flowers. Beautiful yellow and white mustard flowers, they taste amazing.”

Through careful harvest each plant can continue producing throughout the winter. Taking a few leaves here and there keeps the plant intact to produce more leaves.

Just think of it, an endless supply of greens from your backyard. Spring is coming, maybe it’s time you got started on your own hoop house garden.

“People say you can’t eat local year round and that’s just not true.” she says, and it’s thanks to inspirational growers like her that we can all be locavores 365 days a year.

all photos by Linda Crago

The 84 foot hoop house at Tree and Twig Farm. City dwellers can easily make a much smaller version.

Many Fiesta Farms customers bring their own bags to the store. And while our cashiers are always on hand to pack your groceries, we’ve noticed many a frazzled customer chipping in. So, we asked our seasoned employees to boil down their collective wisdom on the lost art of bagging groceries. Enjoy!

Here’s a little cheat sheet to help you remember. Bag Your Own Groceries