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With the holidays on the horizon and food an important part of them, I asked locally respected cooks to share their favorite cookbooks for festive vegetables. Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten was the first choice of a friend who volunteers her time to make incredible meals for weddings and seminars. One recipe she loves from that book is a salmon salad with new potatoes and green beans. Victoria and Tom Benenate, who make soups and specialty foods at Luna's Deli in Olympia and Shelton's Café Luna before that, adapted many recipes for their eateries from Joyce Goldstein's The Mediterranean Kitchen. For Victoria, another old standby is The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Marash, which she says has the most useful vegetable recipes. Filled with information on growing, harvesting, storage, and quantity equivalents, she uses it now primarily as a reference book.
Fall Harvest. Harvest what may not survive the winter, like cauliflower, beets, nappa cabbage, and bok choy.
Clean Up! Garden clean-up prevents many diseases and pest problems. Cut out the dead parts of perennials and remove all dead plants. Compost those that are free of disease. Dispose of diseased plant parts in the garbage.
Ready for Raking? It's easy to rake leaves when they are dry and frozen. Enjoy a dry frosty morning by raking them into the compost pile or onto flowerbeds.
Prevent Erosion. Pounding rain can cause soil erosion and damage soil texture. Protect bare soil by mulching it with leaves, straw, or other material.
Compost Care. Protect compost and manure piles from heavy rainfall with a tarp or other covering. Rain will cause them to become over-saturated and leach nutrients into groundwater.
Get Your Tools Together. Organize the tool shed and clean garden tools. Sharpen shovels and shears. Sand and oil wood handles.
Get Fit for Your Garden. Stay in shape for spring gardening and ward off extra holiday pounds by stretching and taking part in fun physical activities several times a week.
