No Dark Things Blog

Out with the old, in with the new

9/24/96 - Pulled half the squash plant because it was dying. Damn squash were rotting on the vine. The other half of the plant seems to be doing ok still. Squash is indeed the gift that keeps on giving.

The same cannot be said for the white flies...

Learning Gardening

It's time for fall planting at The Back 40. Today we said goodbye to the Padrone plant. The Padrone was planted in a 14" pot and was placed in full sunlight. The plant yielded 16 full sized padrone peppers. Since we bought the plant for about $4, that's about $2 less than a pound of padrones at the market from The Pepper Lady (there's another vendor there with the same type of peppers, picked younger that go for $6 per QP). The root system on the plant had maxed out the pot, so next year, we'll try a bigger pot and see what happens. We'll also try to save seed from this year and see how well that goes.

Learning Beef

Ed and I have been frequenting Marin Sun Farms for a number of months now. Our first introduction was probably at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Or maybe the Marin Farmers Market. In either case, the discovery of true local, grass raised beef has led to a much higher consumption of beef.

The one challenge is that neither one of us know much about beef. I mean, yeah, it comes from a cow/steer/bull, it's high in protein, can be high in fat and is generally quite tasty. But what's a baseball cut? Is that better than a flank steak? Back ribs aren't the same as short ribs, obviously, but what's the best way to cook either of them without finding yourself gnawing on shoe leather for dinner?