Change of Address

thank you, dear readers, for following INNA's adventures on this blog! It's been a great platform for stories and photos, but it's time to move to a few new homes:

for information about INNA jam products, check out INNA's new website.

to keep up on adventures, stories and photos, check out the new blog.

and of course, lots of bits of information floating around the INNA jam twitter and facebook pages, as well.

thanks for reading, eating, and supporting INNA! See you on the new website, blog, and at upcoming events!

Hello April

April in the arugula.

It's spring. The arugula bolted. I guess that's why it's also called rocket. To the sky!

recipe: pasta with pickled MEYER LEMONS

This is Laura Franek's recipe for pasta with pickled MEYER LEMON.

Laura says, "I love this dish because it takes about two seconds to make, and is crazy good." I can vouch for the crazy good. As far as the two seconds, you pretty much put the pasta to boil, and while it's cooking chop up the toppings. mix. eat. repeat.






1/4 pound of capellini (angel hair pasta).
boil in salted water until al dente.






A handful of parmesan cheese shavings.
A vegetable peeler is handy for this.






A handful of fresh basil, chopped fine.






4 pieces of pickled MEYER LEMON, chopped fine.






Drain the pasta, serve in a bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil, grind some black pepper.






Top with lemons, basil, and parmesan.

It IS crazy good. thanks Laura!

SEEDLINGS

Picking out this summer's seeds.

Some are from the store, some are from the seed library at the Ecology Center, some (the tomatoes) I saved from last summer's garden and farmer's market haul.






February 8.

Planted in reused 6-packs, placed by the sunniest window (which as you can see, isn't very sunny. It was a cold and rainy week).






The bottoms are reused sushi takeout trays (I eat a lot of Berkeley Bowl $4 avocado sushi). The identifying sticks are coffee stirrers.






February 22.

As the weather got warmer and sunnier, the seedlings got carted outside for some sun and fresh air. Check out that cart! It's a Salton Hotray!






The Salton Hotray cart is a mid-century food-warming hosting cart. See the plug, and temperature control? Your options are: off, hi, norm, and low. I don't have the power cable, so I don't know if it actually works. But I'll bet a tomatillo seedling that it does.






March 15.

And the seedlings are getting bigger!

MEYER LEMON pickle

MEYER LEMON pickle

SUMMER PLANS

We got a few days of sunshine, and I'm already dreaming of the summer garden.






Once the garlic gets pulled in June, I'll plant in that bed salad greens and root vegetables, which should last through the late fall.






The herb bed.
The garden herbs get used almost every day of the year, I feel like we can't have enough.






And in the sunniest spot in the garden, the summer favorites: many varieties of tomatoes, Armenian cucumbers, green and purple tomatillos, and zucchinis. I wonder if I can squeeze in some pole beans, too? I will try.

FEBRUARY

hello February!

(in this photo: INNA jam perpetual postcard calendar, large binder clip minus arms, windowsill)