Georgia Magazine - July 2010 - (Page 45)

moved from Lawrenceville to the Savannah area three years ago. Always a gardener, he and his wife, Marianne, now maintain a very large garden brimming with cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, radishes, pole beans and bush beans. And loads of tomatoes, which he quarters and freezes for winter cooking, too. It’s true that commercial growers have turned to sturdier varieties of food that are bred more for shippability and visual appeal than for flavor. Meanwhile, home growers are seeking out old-timey “heirloom” fruits and vegetables that don’t need to travel farther than perhaps the next-door neighbor’s front door. And increasingly, home growers are putting aside the pesticides, chemical weed-killers and man-made fertilizers. “I’m a big proponent of composted horse manure, and we have abundant supplies in the area,” says June McKenzie, a master gardener who moved to Georgia from England in 1995. She and her husband, Craig, maintain a large, year-round garden and an orchard, in the summer harvesting rhubarb, cucumbers, corn, fennel, rutabaga, turnips, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, okra, figs, grapes, apricots, peaches and cherries. They freeze or dehydrate excess, and June also cans tomatoes, tomato juice, beans, pickles and pickled okra, rhubarb and fruit preserves. “That keeps June and Craig McKenzie maintain a year-round garden and me out of mischief,” orchard in Jasper, where their harvests yield enough to freeze, dehydrate and put up for later use. she says. The Dotys prefer to freeze most of their bounty, which touch of sugar and streak-o-lean to they grow in a 5,000-square-foot gar- bring out the flavor. “My mother den and an orchard. “It’s almost more always said you should have your than we can eat and give away,” Bill colors,” Eloise says. “If we have okra says. In the summer they harvest and tomatoes and squash and peas, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, then you’ve had just about everything figs, grapes, nectarines, plums, sever- you need.” Of course, one doesn’t have to al varieties of peppers and tomatoes, corn, onions, potatoes, okra, squash, grow food on such a large scale. Just cucumbers and Southern peas: zip- a tomato plant or two is enough for per, crowder, lady and purple hull. most families, and it’s always best to Eloise describes her cooking tech- start small, anyway. “You can grow nique as “country style”—simple, on your deck, your patio, your balstraightforward preparation that cony—it doesn’t take a lot of space,” emphasizes the natural Bob says. He suggests starting with a disgoodness of the vegetables … with maybe a carded shrub container. “You can go to any nursery, and if you ask the guy, ‘Do you have any empty containers?’ they’ll say, ‘Go in the back; take whatever you want,’” he says. “All you have to do is get one, fill it with a bag of potting soil, and you’re off and running.” Salty, oil-packed anchovies enhance the flavor of good, home-grown tomatoes. June McKenzie peels her tomatoes (the skins will slip off if you quickly dunk tomatoes in boiling water, then ice-cold water), but you can leave the skins on if you prefer. Tomato and Anchovy Salad Zest of half a lemon Juice of 1 lemon 3 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar 45 Taylor County residents Bill and Eloise Doty grow a variety of fruits and vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, raspberries, peas and more in their garden near Butler. July 2010 www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - July 2010

Georgia Magazine - July 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
Where the Wild Things Are
Still Going Strong
Reliving History and Exploring Nature
Around Georgia
Georgia@Home
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - July 2010