Our "go-to" garden

We are back and forth between the Imagery Farm, ESTATE 

and area behind the girl & the fig. 

Right now the winter plants at Imagery are flourishing, 

so we can put some effort into our "go-to" garden at the girl & the fig. 

As usual, herbs will dominate here, making it easy 

for the chefs to grab what they need. 

Our raised beds have always served us well and this season will be no exception. 

last season's herbs in one of the beds 

we are getting started with the herb beds  

Also continuing to thrive in the garden behind the fig 

are nettles, chard and rhubarb. 

In "What's growing" post a few weeks ago, we talked about 

how nettles are considered a "super food," because they are high 

in protein, iron, fiber, Vitamin A & C–making the effort to 

harvest them (3 pairs of latex gloves!) worth it. 

And how they taste in John's ravioli filling 

inspires us to keep them growing. 

Alongside the chard we are planting kale. 

This effort is a true family affair, with John, 

his wife Tina and mom Judy working the beds. 

Maybe this will be a new kind of kale –"Toulze kale!"

porchetta on a bed of polenta and kale

soon these beds will be lush with kale 

One of the signs of Spring is rhubarb and 

what we have growing at the fig is almost 

ready to taste–a tad too tart today 

in November this rhubarb was dormant in the bed at the fig

now the rhubarb is thriving 

almost ready 

waiting for the stalks to get red and ripe

but you can see the red stalks are getting ready

 to soon become our rhubarb tart.

photo of tart by Steven Krause from Plats du Jour book

John and Chef Ashley survey what's growing at "the fig,"

making plans for tending the garden 

and then what they will cook in the kitchen.

Working our gardens is hard but satisfying work.

It feels good to know where our food comes from 

and we take great pride in creating dishes for you, truly from "farm to table," 

something we have been doing for 15 years.

We appreciate that you come to our restaurants for this experience.

It is amazing to us how much we can grow in the garden 

behind the girl & the fig, only about half an acre.

A few posts ago, as part of our promotion of a fundraiser 

for "The Organic Life" documentary, we posted 

this insightful talk by Roger Doiron.

If you missed it, we are sharing it again.

It inspires us to keep growing–and hope it does for you too. 

 (TEDx talk, courtesy of YouTube)