I just watched The Botany of Desire on Netflix the other night.  It’s a PBS special based on Michael Pollan’s book by the same name.  The documentary is narrated by Frances McDormand and features Michael Pollan. The movie follows four plants and their evolution with respect to humans.  Apples, tulips, potatoes and cannabis will never be looked at the same way.  It’s amazing how these plants have adapted to become more desirable to us and in turn, proliferate in places the plant would never have grown. It’s pretty fascinating and I definitely walked away with a new respect for these four plants. As a result, I have been drawing up plans for the spring and summer gardens.  So, as a warning, this documentary will make you want to get your hands dirty.

I give it 4 daisies.

We just planted 150 tulip bulbs so I’m pretty excited about seeing all of that beauty next spring. I love growing potatoes, it’s easy and fun and so rewarding and earthy. I like to grow them in a cage, tossing a bag of forgotten organic potatoes into the bottom and piling on the dirt and leaves, waiting for the green leaves to shoot through.  Then, the flowers, potato plants have really pretty flowers.  Once the flowers fall off and the plants yellow and fall over the potatoes are ready to harvest. You simply pick up the cage and feel around for potatoes.  This year I will be using the cage method in the smaller kitchen garden and potato mounds in the big garden. We will be planting a couple of apple trees early spring to provide the lonely pear tree with a couple of friends.  Then we can say we have an orchard.

It’s autumn here, which is my favorite season, and the season that always makes me crave soup. I love soup.  I love the simplicity of soup, one meal captured in a bowl, steaming hot, accompanied by a huge hunk of warm bread.  And I also love having only one pot to scrub.  I grew some sorrel this spring in my front yard and it’s still going pretty strong.  I know that sorrel soup is predominantly considered a spring soup however, I did not get a chance to do anything with it until the fall as a result of an onslaught of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and squash that were all desperately vying for my attention and counter space in the summer. To be honest, the only reason I ever made this soup was because I felt that if I planted it and grew it, I should do something with it, otherwise what’s the point.  I am so glad that I did. I’ve made this sorrel soup twice so far and it never fails to deliver.  I think I should get one more harvest out of it before I start a fresh batch in the greenhouse. The first time I made it I used my potatoes that I had just dug up that very day, so it was all the more satisfying knowing it traveled only a few feet from the garden to the table.

Sorrel or sheep sorrel is a weedy herb that has detoxifying and antioxidant effects, plus it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals, like B, C, D, E, K and P and calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and beta carotene.  It is tart and tangy and pleasantly bitter. It loves cool weather so it can be grown in a greenhouse through the winter and in the early spring as soon as the ground can be worked. It is incredibly easy to grow, you just plant it and harvest it, nothing more.  I think the tender, baby leaves taste the best but I use a mixture of both and haven’t noticed a difference in flavor.

Now, on to the recipe:

Sorrel Soup

A bunch of fresh sorrel

6 cups of vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound of potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup of heavy cream

creme fraiche

1.  Wash the sorrel and remove any tough ribs from the larger leaves.

2.  In a saucepan over medium heat, add the sorrel and stir it until it “melts.”

3.  Add the veggie stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

4.  Add the potatoes, lower the heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes can be pierced with a fork (15 minutes).

5.  Add the heavy cream and using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is creamy.

6.  Ladle into bowls and top with a dollop of creme fraiche. (sour cream will work in a pinch)

Enjoy.