Spring's a-comin'

I'm having the ceiling repaired in the living room at Greenvalley, and everything is covered in plastic. The effect yesterday morning was eerie and beautiful.

As if the house had been commandeered for a ghostly ball. 

I'm also having the deck refinished, so workers cleared away the potted lemons. As they passed, this lemon got caught in the railings.

Before the morning was gone, I went to the Santa Monica Farmers Market. Do you recall the ancient gentleman at Betty B. farmstand? The one I've been visiting for weeks in hopes that he would remember my request for Seville oranges? I dropped in on him.

"I bet you forgot," I said.

"Seville oranges?," he croaked, pointing a thickened hand towards a basket of fruit. "Right here."

He seemed rather pleased with himself.

"I wrote it down last time and saw the paper a couple of days ago and thought, 'oh, boy, I better remember to take those,'" he said. "I can't certify that they're Seville oranges and the Department of Agriculture can't certify that they're Seville oranges, so I won't charge you. You be the connoisseur."

I thanked him and promised to bring him a pint of marmalade as payment. But let me tell you: I just cut one of the gift fruits, and although it may be a sour-tasting orange, it isn't a true Seville sour orange.

Next I went to the Windrose Farm stand. The only produce was winter squash, but Lincoln said they had sold a ton of flowering branches. These are plum and some apple.

All the apricot branches had been sold already, but here's what the blossoms look like. They're the pink ones. (Incidentally, my favorite source for Blenheim apricots told me that he, too, has a good bloom on his 60 trees and is looking forward to a bumper crop this year. "If nothing goes wrong," he added. A frost could wipe him out.)

The best surprise was finding that Zuckerman's asparagus has come in. Zuckerman's is the only place I buy asparagus. His jumbo spears are without a doubt the very best I have ever eaten.

I stocked up, as you can see.

Just kidding! That's someone else's truck, but I did buy four pounds of asparagus to pickle.

I've had some new ideas about how to do asparagus pickles, so I'm not going to share the recipe until I get it  worked out. But here's what the "first draft" batch looks like. The best thing about making asparagus pickles is the leftover ends that are too long to fit the jars. Last night I blanched them and tossed them with homemade creme fraiche and chervil from the yard. They disappeared too fast to get a picture.

Comments

[C. Allyn]

My mom gave me her old canning pot so now I have two.
I have been researching recipes to test/tweek and I am anticipating making some jam/jellies in the next little while.
But, I have a sewing committment first, a promise to my niece.
When those cherry blossoms burst forth I am itching to greet Spring head on and plant some seeds.
Patience is a virtue. Whose, I don't know.

[LeAnn]

I'll be back for the pickled asparagus recipe. I'd like to do that.