Gardening! - not food, not cooking.

This is a gardening blog. Not a food blog. Not a cooking blog. However . . . When one is offered a splendid bag of greens for purchase, as I was this morning at the local farmers' market . . . Well, you understand we've got to talk about food and cooking.

First thoroughly wash and then roughly chop or tear the greens.

Cook a some garlic and red pepper flakes (or, in this case, Sambal Oelek) in a little olive oil for a minute or two.

Add the greens, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover, stir the greens, cover again and cook for another 5 minutes.

Ready!

A fabulous lunch, with a chunk of your favorite bread, spread with pesto. And, of course, a glass of your favorite wine (a California Chardonnay in my case). If there is a better lunch to be had, more easily prepared, on a hot Saturday in July, tell me about it!

Plants, Poems and Peace

Cheryle and Ray Maddox have 5 acres of peaceful loveliness in rural Northeast Georgia. As they were clearing the land of the property they bought 28 years ago, they found stones, and stones, and more stones - tons of them. They were all hauled up the gentle slopes, towards the house, where they were used to help terrace several ribbons of planting space, where Cheryle's herbs and writings now provide grace and beauty. Ray has installed raised beds farther down, where he grows onions, carrots, lettuce and other produce. Starting on April 25, the Maddoxes will be at the Hoschton Farmers' Market every Saturday with their wares, starting with the herbs.

Cheryle says she has no training as a writer, but writes "from the heart", with divine inspiration. In addition to incorporating her own words and biblical quotes on stones and tablets in her garden, she also publishes books, calendars and greeting cards. No web site, but if you come to the Hoschton Farmers' Market, you will meet her!