To get you up to speed...

As I sit here under the blanket of the first snow of the season, I am reading over the shoulder of my better half. He is reading Eliot Coleman's "Four Season Harvest," a GREAT book for any gardener wishing to extend the season of fresh food. We  currently have two small hoop houses in which we are growing bok choi, spinach, lettuce, and radishes. We are also overwintering carrots and bunching onions. They are staying warm under a layer of straw and a low hoop house. What a fascinating adventure it is to grow food during the winter!!

This year was my first real gardening experience. The good... and the bad (but mostly AMAZING). Last winter while still living in a dingy basement apartment, with only north facing windows, we tried an indoor container garden. Being thrifty college students, we used our grow light as our reading light, and spent most evenings watching our plants grow. We had some success with lettuce, spinach, and carrots (yes, carrots!) see picture.

Spring came and we moved into an above ground rental, where we are lucky enough to have a huge yard and garden! We began our transplants immediately, readying ourselves for a full blown garden. We also volunteered for our student-run organic farm, so we were keeping up with the schedule set by "real" vegetable farmers. This student farm also runs a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for 25 families. We were anxious to learn everything we could before we left the comfortable confines of college.

Tomato starts which spent the first part of their life in our bedroom, where there was much more natural light and heat than anywhere else.

So now we have just finished our first summer and fall season of gardening. We are experimenting with winter growing and are having some success. We have already learned some valuable lessons, such as planting earlier that we did (early October) and doing successive planting. And we are also planning an indoor garden of some sort to see what else we may be able to grow completely indoors.

Now... on to the cooking. My other half has many food allergies which make cooking a constant challenge. No wheat, no dairy, sparing amounts of corn, rice, tomatoes, and chocolate (I hear your gasp). It's tough to have two eaters in a household with very different eating habits and styles. But I am learning everyday to stretch and grow as cook. My recent foray into gluten-free cooking has been successful, and I am so glad that my other half is an amazing baker. He has been whipping up squash carrot ginger muffins weekly. Along with our weekend pancakes of potato, millet, amaranth, arrowroot pancakes. We haven't been missing wheat in our house at all!!

My first try at gluten-free pizza. Delish! 

Thanks Bob's Red Mill for making a simple to use crust!

Tomatoes and basil are from our garden too!