Long Island Gardening Community Resource

Tonight I made a dish that was so good, I needed to document it one way or another. We had some fresh pumpkin ravioli in the fridge and it so happened we also had about 30 tomatos ripened in their vines (unlikely circumstances I know). I wanted to make sauce and store it, but I also wanted to use some of the sauce for the raviolis.

The base sauce was made of the tomatos, garlic, onion, dried oregano, dried rosemary, and some salt and pepper (simple base sauce for making other sauces).

Cube a Butternut Squash and peeled some garlic and cut the cloves in half (bout 8 cloves). Got a saucepan pan nice and hot. Throw in some ghee (substitute: olive oil) and then the squash. Brown the Squash a bit and get some delicious brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Threw in some red wine after about 5 minutes and the base sauce as well (equal parts) and deglaze the brown delcious bits off the bottom and into the sauce. Added a bit of honey, corriander, pinch of cumin, salt and pepper. and let it reduce to a nice thickess about 10-15min. (depending on how much you make). During that time boile some water with salt and oil and throw the raviolis in. When they float to the top, I take them out and place them directly into the saucepan with the sauce reduction. I added 5-7 tablespoons of the pasta water to the sauce (to spread it out a bit). Let the raviolis simmer in the sauce for a minute or two. Serve and add parmesean shavings on top.

This sauce can be used with any pasta or whatever you want. The technique of deglazing is one that appeals to me because it captures the concentrated burned bits that deliver so much flavor to the sauce. Usually, it is used with meat, but in this case the browned squash bits really packed the harvest flavor.

This flower did fantastic this year. This plant grew straight up and got to over six feet tall. However, it did not branch out the top too much. The humongous flower(s) look like brains, and are the most amazing deep magenta color. When this flower is dried out, it looks like velvet and maintains the FULL color pigment of the flower.

My next door neighbor came over and asked me about it. He wanted to know where I got it from. I told him I started it from seed. But I think it would do good when seed planted directly in the ground, especially after the first year when you notice that each flower hold about 10,000 seeds in it. I have never seen anything like it before, but it is a great producer and is striking when planted in a row or grouping.

Wikipedia Link

Community Supported Agriculture is a program where a farm (or group of farms) trades their bounty directly with the people who sign up for “shares.” For example, I would pay $350 for a year, and every week from May to September, the farm sends out my share of whatever is in season. Normally, there are dropoff points where share-owners will come pick up their share at a nearby location.

This form of farming is the best way to ensure you know where your food comes from (aside from if you grow your own food).

I volunteered early this summer on the Organic Farm “Garden of Eve” in Riverhead.

Here is a listing of the CSA’s on the island

Garden of Eve – Riverhead, NY

Green Thumb CSA Huntington (Halsey Brothers)

Quail Hill Farm

Sophia Garden – Amityville, NY

Hamlet Organic Garden (HOG) – Brookhaven, NY

Hawthorne Valley Farm – Garden City, NY

The Golden Earthworm Organic Farm – Jamesport, NY

CSA Farms in Long Island

CSA Dropoff and Pickup Locations in Long Island

In our house, we are lucky enough to have a kitchen that has a window directly over the sink that heads to the backyard. So we just toss all out kitchen scraps right out the window directly into the compost pile.

If you make your own compost, you know its always fun to get rid of the kitchen scraps.

There are so many ways to get all those leftover banana peels turned into the nutrient rich compost that adds value to the soil. For starters, keep your grass clippings (im talking to those of you who do not add any pesticides or herbacides to their lawn) and throw them into the compost pile or toss them on top of some newspaper around your plants to use as a mulch.

Build your compost pile with all the organic material you can find. But there are a few things to note about making compost.

1. If you add seeds to your compost you will get surprises! I can vauge that too many squash seeds in the compost heap will most certainly sprout many MANY squash seeds the next year. We let it grow and boy did it flourish, and with many varieties of squash, some hybrids it seemed.

2. No bones, or animal flesh. I dont know why, but I dont do it.

3. Try and get a balance of green material (grass clippings) , brown material (mulched leaves and tree bark) , and kitchen scraps.

4. The amount of compost you get 6 months down the line of so will be a third or so of the size it started as, but it will be so full of nutrients for the upcoming crops and full of beneficial soil micro-organisms.

5. Keep your compost moist to ensure there is enough heat to maintain optimal conditions for matrial breakdown.

6. Dig around somewhere moist and fertile and get some earthworms. Introduce them to the compost pile and they will reproduce and work their magic as only earthworms can do.

7. Don’t add citrus peels to the compost. Im guessing its because they are too acidic. But I throw them under the pne trees (which love acidity) and hope they are doing good over there.

This article about compost will be updated periodically as helpful information becomes available.

This site has been developed by and for the community to share and take part in. It is a space where people can document their experiences and relationships they have with the diverse botanic ecology that defines Long Island, NY.

Plants are defined by the elements that make up the days and nights of the area they live in. When I spend time in the garden, I develop a friendship with it. We go through the seasons together. It provides an incredible amount of enjoyment for me as I get excited for “Springtime!”, nurturing young seedlings and watching them grow. And after it has shined in the sun for a while, it gives up its warmth and nourishment to its brother or sister in the form of “compost.” YeeeeaaaaaAAA COMPOST!