Gardening in Wintertime

This time of year many of us are under a foot of snow and can't really do much in the garden but there are a few things we can all do. Composting is one of the easiest things to do this time of year since we eat so many vegetables and we also have lots of leaves around. Adding your leaves to a compost heap or basket, along with all those wonderful kitchen scraps, (don't forget the eggshells and coffee grounds), will make for yummy spring loamy compost for your garden.

On warmer winter days you can actually get outside and do cleanup chores in the garden. Getting rid of any weeds and basic clean up of dead plants is a good start. Also working on building raised beds and pathways is a great chore for wintertime. All that hard work is much easier to do while the weather is cool.

Sitting by the fire drawing garden plans is my favorite wintertime chore and planning how much to grow of everything is so much fun and makes me want to cook soup! Tomato bisque with a little rosemary and garlic foccacia.

Tomato Bisque is made with homemade marinara sauce, pureed and add 1 cup half and half, heat over low heat to a simmer until hot and steamy.

Here is my recipe for Marinara which we made last summer and froze several containers.

5-6 cups tomatoes, cored, diced and seeds removed if you prefer
2-3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
fresh herbs, Basil, parsley, oregano or marjoram, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Hot pepper flakes if you like heat

Add a little olive oil into a large skillet and add onion, cooking over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and herbs and cook another minute or so. Add tomatoes with their juices and cook for about 20 minutes until tomatoes are soft and turn from light pink to deep red.