Thursday, May 15, 2008

Quick Update

Hey everybody.

I've been dividing a lot of time lately and getting to spend not nearly as much as I'd prefer to at the farm. But I have started selling rhubarb and spring garlic very locally. I'm hoping to be able to sell in Madison, but my quantities for each are so small, that at 4 bills a gallon, it may not pay for me to make that trip. But I do keep reminding myself of the term "loss leader". So if you're a chef, you may be getting an e-mail and a call from me before long.

Anyway, germination problems have slowed down my tomato starts a little, but they should catch up as soon as I squirt them with a little fish guts. They love that stuff. Cardoons should be plentiful this fall, barring any unforeseen disasters (those unforeseen ones always seem to surprise me, for some reason, though).

A few hundred rhubarb divisions are going into the remainder of my 1/8 acre rhubarb plot. Hopefully that stuff will be available for sale in 2 years. Lots of garlic, lots of tomatoes (heirloom, cherry, paste, slicer) and lots of cardoons.

Oh, I should mention a couple of great restaurants I had the recent opportunity to visit for the first time (as a diner anyway). April 28, I went to Van Halen in Milwaukee with a good friend of mine and we went to Zarletti beforehand. We both had the ossobuco with rissoto al milanese, which was incredible. I wish we still lived in Milwaukee whenever I have a chance to eat a meal like that in my old hometown. But luckily, Madison is a little closer. For our 8th wedding anniversary, Robyn and I decided we'd lived far too long to not have ever dined at Lombardino's. It didn't disappoint. Trio of pork, asparagus with a egg fried in olive oil and Umbrian lemon oil, ribbolita, panna cotta, etc., etc. Crazy good. Inspirational, in fact. I'm looking for any excuse to get us back there ASAP. And last, but not least, is a newly-opened little gem in La Crosse called Nell's City Grill. My buddy Stacy Hanson is the chef there and he's introducing La Crosse to a kind of French bistro cuisine not typically found in these parts. We've actually been there twice now and everything has been sensational. The appetizers are especially good. Mmmmmm..pommes frites.

The next place I have to go is Sardine. I drive past it a lot and I need to eat there. It's calling me. But first, I have rhubarb to plant.

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