Old Food

I have been thinking a bit differently about food lately.  Yes, we have a CSA share and I have treated regular readers to a large number of pictures and food posts.  Still, it is different.  Perhaps it is because this year's garden has come to an abrupt halt thanks to that new sewer pipe.  The pipe is in.  The garden is not.  There is no sense doing so until after the parsonage is stripped and painted in the fall.  All that paint dust could spoil whatever we put in.  I guess this means that I am limited to those hop plants in the 12 gallon containers...

Anyway, this gives me a ridiculous amount of time to plan for next year.  The CSA provides us with a goodly chunk of our regular seasonal vegetables. Much of the rest is supplied by means of the grocery store or the Natick Community Organic Farm (where the boys are currently learning to grow things, make cheese, and weed the produce).  I am thinking, therefore, of branching off in a more experimental direction by growing plants that are no longer popular.  In today's New York Times there was an article about what is growing in the gardens of places like Plimouth Plantation.  This has given me some ideas.  I am considering burnet, smallage, and purslane.  Of these, purslane is probably the most common.  In fact, I remember pulling it out of the garden when I was a kid.  The CSA packed some and it was a challenge to sample.  I will be braver this year.  Also I might like to try growing Good King Henry though the name is apparently the most exciting thing about it...

Here is a link to the article.