Seafood and salsify.

11/2/19

(Above: Black sea bass served with a fresh farmers’ market salad.)

Active Summary: After this morning’s ride around the beef pasture and creative writing time, I set out to procure some garden seeds from Sparr Farm Supply. Surprisingly, Sparr did not have any seeds, but I was able to acquire a hoe. This was followed by my venturing down to the Harbison Farmer’s Market where I gathered the weekly produce / seafood – the latter being black sea bass, and some shrimp.

I returned to old-house afterward whereupon I put away the vegetation, discovered I had forgotten to purchase tomatoes, and did another quick run back to the market. On returning to old-house for the second time, I finished putting vegetation away, and I set about preparing a lunch of soup (Harbison made), salad, and baked sea bass.

(2:30 PM Update:) Made an order from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange for garden seeds. More in TIL.

(7:38 PM Update:) After tending to various farm-related activities, I helped a little bit with the Madre Workshop project (shoved fish tape through one of the conduits that Madre was having trouble with), and I also filled 10 Moo Magic compost bags.

TIL: Today I learned about a seed site, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, that caters solely to the south-east United States. The static shipping cost for the website appears to be less than $5.00, and their smallest seed pack sizes are about ~ $2.50 – $3.00. Though these are not the cheapest seeds available, they are chosen from special strains of plants that are adapted for the Southeast’s seasonal temperatures, humidity, and diseases. To add to this, SESE sells seeds for plants that I have never heard of before – one of which I did procure for the garden along with the order that I made (bolded).

1 x Mammoth Melting Sugar Tall Snow Pea, 28 g (15301)  = $2.50
1 x Misato Rose Fall Radish, 4 g (28109)  = $2.95
1 x Waltham 29 Broccoli, 2 g (21105)  = $2.50
1 x Lark’s Tongue Kale, 1 g (25111)  = $2.95
1 x Long Standing Bloomsdale Spinach, 5 g (67102)  = $2.75
1 x Arugula, Even’ Star Winter (Roquette), 1 g (64102)  = $2.75

1 x Sandwich Island Mammoth Salsify, 3 g (63101)  = $3.25

According to many sources*, the Salsify tastes like oysters when roasted / baked, or it can be grated fresh to add a savory flavor to salads.

Commentary: Though I was disappointed when I could not find seeds at the local farm supply store, I am now quite happy that I did not. Otherwise, I would not be bound to experience the uniqueness that is the Sandwich Island Mammoth Salsify. Today’s other highlight would probably be mine and Padre’s delicious sea-bass lunch. I think it may be the first time I ever tried sea bass, and I must say, it was quite clean-tasting and very meaty for a white fish. The only spices I utilized on it were salt and pepper (and olive oil), and really, it needed nothing else. 

I did not get any other pictures today, so I think I’ll include a video of what I found a few nights ago when venturing back home to Jacobhouse:

Final Note: The seeds will take a few days to get here. So, over the next brief period, I shall work on extracting all remaining tubers / weeds from the garden area and gathering materials for the construction Jacobhouse’s front deck railing. I must also fill Moo-Magic bags either this afternoon.

*And there are many sources. Pliny the Elder mentions the root in some of his historic writings, and Dioscorides described its health benefits in his De Materia Medica (one of the first medical encyclopedias).