Scorpacciata

It's that time of year: eat whatever is in season in any way delicious until you are sick of it. By then it will be time for another crop to arrive and start all over again. This wonderful word was coined by the Italians and explained to me by Mario Batali. So we are hitting whatever is growing in the garden hard and just loving it. It means a lot of salads, with some roasted chicken (no WD hens) or eggs, some veggies grilled and in different combinations, but always great tasting. Some grilled flatbreads along side. And for dessert, why, cantaloupes of course!

 

It is also scorpacciata for the hens: overgrown zucchini, melon rinds, anything green, it is all much appreciated. This is a different kind of compost pile, one that produces delicious eggs.

I must admit I am not one for a lot of canning or freezing. I would rather spend my time outside and eat whatever is fresh in the winter. I am totally enthused by Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman and am making plans and preparations to put his ideas into practice starting in August. I thank my friend Phil for telling me about this book. I am looking forward to a great winter garden.

Meanwhile, everybody is getting a second wind in the monsoon season. The cactus wrens are building yet another nest, we see a lot of brandnew quail chicks and plants are setting bloom again, including the tomato plants that shut down during the June heat. With plants everywhere greening up, the beans in the garden are being less molested. It is a good time of year. This cactus, which normally blooms in April deferred and decided to put on its show this week.