A Garden of my Own

This is every foodies dream – to have a garden of ones very own.  While I do have an herb garden and raised beds for my vegetables, I have found it is not easy to grow ones own food.  I do have a reasonable amount of success with herbs, but alas, my vegetables are touch and go.  Yet, I continue to try for that perfect crop of tomatoes for canning or beans to lay-away in the freezer for winter.  I continue to dream and plant.

Recently I was able to visit a dream garden in the beautiful Napa Valley.  It is a garden that provides the food for the famous restaurant of renowned Chef Thomas Keller, the French Laundry.  His restaurant delivers the perfect earth to table cuisine that you could ever experience.  Imagine a 9-course tasting menu with ingredients that have been freshly picked that morning, farmstead butter from a small creamery in Vermont, and cheeses from a dairy that is exclusively for your restaurant.

I know the main reason for this blog is to provide food photos and recipes but I could not resist the pictures of the gardens of the French Laundry.  As you look at these photos I hope that they will help inspire you to continue to dream and plant and harvest.  There is no better feeling than picking that tomato and using it in a salad or going out your back door and cutting a handful of thyme to add to a sauce.  So, let this be your mantra . . .