Not many of us know much about where our food actually comes from. I know I definitely fall into that category. My father always grew a big garden so I did learn some of the basics: tomatoes are usually red when they’re ripe, potatoes grow underground, etc. but there are so many vegetables I know nothing about – have I ever tried a pickled beet? I’m sure I have not!
This summer I begin a journey of discovery; learning how food is grown and harvested, and finding ways to prepare all of these delicious vegetables!
Forsythe Family Farms 2009 Inc. is the perfect place to begin this journey of produce discovery. The Forsythe's have a charming farm in the quiet countryside of Uxbridge, ON where they love to guide and educate people in all that is involved in bringing fresh food from little sprouts in the soil all the way to the tasty veggies on your table.
Join me every Friday throughout this season as Farm Life Fridays will be a weekly update on my journey of food discovery and will keep you up to date with different events and activities around the farm.
This week my journey began with Spring Garlic.
I learned that while garlic can be grown year round in some climates, here, Farmer Forsythe has to plant his garlic in the fall and it will start to be ready to harvest in mid Summer. Last season some of his garlic was lost in the weeds and wasn’t harvested. Since they were in a weedy area, they didn’t grow as big and full.
They pulled this garlic early and this is the spring garlic you can find right now at their farmer’s market. It hasn't matured into a bulb separated into cloves, and it looks a lot like a green onion! The regular garlic you’re used to seeing will be available later in the season, in July.
Spring garlic tastes like regular garlic but with a slightly less intense flavour. It can be used in almost the same ways. They’re great in stir fry, soups, or salads.
An easy way to give them a try is to simply slice some up and saute it, then crack a couple eggs on top! I have also heard of people roasting spring garlic bulbs on their own as a kicky little side dish.
For my first time trying out these greens, I wanted to go for something fairly simple - I have all season to get into more complicated dishes, after all!
I decided to try out a recipe for Spring Garlic Bruschetta that I found on http://www.crazyhorsegarlicfarm.com. The only changes I made were in using a French bread loaf (my favourite!), beefsteak tomatoes, and of course I topped it off with a bit of melted cheese.
If you have any Spring Garlic recipes or favourite ways to use it, let me know in the comments – I’d love to hear your tips for spicing up my cooking!
Spring Garlic Bruschetta
INGREDIENTS
1 demi baguette, cut into 12 ½” slices
3 plum tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine, seeds scraped out (don’t worry if some remain)
4 spring garlic cloves, outer layers peeled away if necessary
2 tbsp olive oil
Fresh basil leaves finely chopped or dried basil
Salt
Pepper
DIRECTIONS
Roast the spring garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes. Then roughly chop. Dice tomatoes into small pieces and mix with garlic, olive oil and basil. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon mixture onto slices of the baguette and cook at 350 degrees for 5 – 10 minutes or until the bread has browned on the edges. Serve warm.