Jagger and the garden are growing again

Plus: A garlic-heavy condiment to get into that spring state of mind.

Wow, so much has changed since our last dispatch from snowy December. Jagger turned 3, he’s potty trained, the snow melted, and we have a whole new crop of tiny seeds in the ground. Are those things all related to growth and new seasons or just my Q1 2021 headlines of note? Yes.

We removed some shrubs around the garden perimeter, which allowed us to plant more things than last year, and reinforced the fence to — let’s hope — keep out hungry critters. I picked out a bunch of seed packets at the end of last year, but in the weeks before planting time, Jagger just kept asking if we were going to grow strawberries. That wasn’t part of the plan, but who was I to deny him the pleasure of potentially plucking ripe red berries from our yard in a few months? So we ordered a bunch of bare-root Tribute strawberry plants from Stark Bros. in Missouri and, last week, planted most in the ground and a few in a special strawberry pot that my friend Erica told me about.

We’ve got 17 things in the garden: arugula, beans (Landreth)*, broccoli, carrots (Parisian), cucumbers (Spacemaster), fennel (Florence), ground cherries (Aunt Molly’s)*, Italian parsley, lemongrass, radicchio (Giulio), red shiso, ruby gem lettuce, shishito peppers, summer squash (49er), Thai basil, watercress — and strawberries (Tribute). I’m keeping track of it all through a planting schedule spreadsheet that I adapted from Lesa at the blog Better Hens & Gardens.

* These seeds are from Philadelphia-based Truelove Seeds’ Philadelphia Collection, which includes heirloom and historically significant seeds from this region. I learned about them from my colleague Grace Dickinson’s story in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Planting broccoli together.

Jags so far seems more into gardening with me than he did last year. Teri’s parents got him a fun book called We are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines, which we read with him a lot, and now he triumphantly puts his little fists in the air and declares, “We are the gardeners!” whenever we’re in the garden. He plants and rakes and pretends to weed with me, but his favorite task is still spraying the hose.

Making his own rainbow.

We’re still several weeks away from being able to eat anything we’re growing, but with all the springtime bulbs coming up around us, I’m sharing a recipe that awakens all your spring senses with a big bite of garlic. It’s for toum, the Lebanese condiment that you can spread as a toast topper, blend into a salad dressing, or use in place of mayo for just about any application — we can’t get enough of it here, and I think there’s a good chance you’ll love it, too.

It’s easy to make — if you’ve ever made an aioli or The Best Caesar Dressing, you can do this — and if you want an extra challenge, try the mortar and pestle method that Sohla El-Waylly describes at Serious Eats. Hat tip on the inspiration and recipe advic to Dan at Rainbow Tomatoes Garden , a Montgomery County farm that grows and sells more than 320 varieties of tomatoes and stocks a curated selection of international conservas, tinned fish, craft chocolates, and more.

Recipe: Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)

Emulsification magic turns a few simple ingredients into a thick and creamy condiment with an impossibly delicious kick. Let your toum mellow in the fridge for a few days after you make it so the lemon and garlic flavors have time to marry and settle down. It’ll last, covered in a jar, for up to a month, but there’s no way you won’t finish it before then.

Toum

Makes 3 cups

1 cup garlic cloves, “smashed” and peeled (from about 3-4 heads)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup ice water

3 cups neutral oil like grapeseed, vegetable, or sunflower

1. Combine the garlic and salt in a food processor, pulsing several times, then scraping down the mixture from the sides and pulsing again, until minced. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice and process until a paste begins to form, then add another tablespoon of lemon juice and continue processing for another few seconds.

2. With the motor running, add about 1/2 cup of oil in a slow, thin stream, followed by a tablespoon of lemon juice, another 1/2 cup of oil, and the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice. Continue to slow stream in the oil, 1/2 cup at a time, until none remains. While incorporating the oil, add a tablespoon of ice water if the mixture seems to get too thick.

3. Transfer to a sealed container and refrigerate.