Eating locally from our own gardens

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EATING LOCALLY & EATING FRESH

Our gardens with lettuce, carrots, garlic,herbs and much more!

At Cuisine Classique, we try to grow most of our
own vegetables and all the herbs for our classes

We plant in small "pocket gardens" all around the yard so that
each has its own identity. We like to group herbs with the
veggies and then mix in some flowers to make things pretty.
This has a double benefit as many of the flowers help rid
the beds of pests. Marigolds are especially good in this
regard. One of our frequent and persistent troublemakers
is the grub. It is the larva of those brown Japanese Beetles
that are so annoying in the summer. While still in the larval
stage, they are busy, busy, munching the heck out of our
roots! Rumor has it that the herb, Rue is a good combatant
for these grubs. We intend to try that. We grow organically
so chemical pesticides are never used.

Eating locally can be tricky sometimes unless you
grow your own or shop at the local farmer's markets.
In our world now, you may never know where your fruits
and produce come from. But, you can be sure if you just
picked it from your own garden!

Over this winter, we grew lettuce; Romaine and red leaf, onions, garlic,
and carrots. Through the spring and summer we will be growing chiles,
peppers, tomatoes (several varieties including a half dozen heirlooms)
and a host of herbs year-round. Basil will do well, as will mint, sage, thyme
and oregano. Of course, Rosemary is ubiquitous here in the desert. We
also grow all our own citrus; Lemons, oranges, grapefruit and wonderful Mexican Limones.

We are excited to be getting some of the first offerings of completely
organic Heirloom Tomatoes from Aravaipa Farms. They have a wonderful, large selection and you can shop for them here:
www.aravaipa.com Simply order from them online and pick up your
plants from a number of locations when they are ready.

Our other local farmer's markets are also a good source of locally
grown plants for your garden. You will be surprised at how much you
can actually grow in a small space, with minimum effort!
When you attend our classes, we will be happy to share our
experiences with you and give you the "grand tour" of our little gardens.

In April we added another garden with tomatoes; Roma, Early Girl and
one called Mr Stripey. Couldn't resist the name. We also planted zucchini, eggplant, squash, leeks and fennel. We are also growing 6 varieties of heirloom tomatoes and six different kinds of peppers and chiles. All the tomatoes and chiles are beginning to produce so it won't be long now until they are on our plates!