During the winter we cannot do as much gardening as in the spring the Spring, Summer and Fall, so it is the perfect time to do some recipes and cooking with the lovelies we get from the garden!
Cool weather crops of cabbage and carrots make a perfect combination for one of my favorite foods, eggrolls! It is also a great item that can be made with meat or in a vegetarian version, your choice! I can eat mine either way and love them both, so lets get cooking!

Eggrolls

Ingredients you will need:

one whole head plus 1/2 head of cabbage

shredded carrots 1/2 - 3/4 cups

(give or take depending on your tastes)

3/4 pound of sausage or chicken or meat of choice cooked

 (make sure it is crumbly or small pieces so it mixes through out your cabbage)

soy sauce 3-4 tbsps 

 (give or take depending on your tastes)

water

salt & pepper as needed

Cut up your cabbage into quarters and then cut into thin slices to shred it. You can also do this in a food processor with you shredding blade, just don't make them too thin, you don't want it to disintegrate on you when you are cooking it. Shred your carrots to match stick sizes. I use a food processor when I am not time crunched, but you can buy bags of these at most grocery stores if you are short on time. Place all of this in a large frying pan on med heat and add about 1/2 cup of water. 

Begin stirring the cabbage as the water begins to heat up, you will want a slow simmer. Stir and cook the cabbage and carrots until it becomes translucent, stirring as needed and adding small amounts of water to keep it cooking until it is tender. 

While your cabbage is cooking, brown your sausage in a separate frying pan until done but not crispy or over done. Once your cabbage and carrots are tender and translucent add your sausage and stir well. Add your soy sauce and salt and pepper and stir well. Taste as needed to see if you need more 

soy sauce or salt and pepper is needed and add to your tastes. Continue to stir and cook until the soy sauce is incorporated and most of any water or fluid is gone. Put into a bowl to cool and stir until everything is evenly mixed.Once cool enough to handle you can start making your egg rolls. I just use any egg roll wrappers I find at the local grocery, you may have a favorite.Time now to roll up the egg rolls.

You will need a small bowl of water to make the egg rolls stick. Scoop a large generous tablespoon of your cabbage mix and place in the center of your egg roll wrapper. You can add more or less depending on how full you like them, you just don't not want them too wet or they will split when you cook them. You can also drain off any extra liquid if needed as well.

 1. Using your finger, making sure you have washed your hands, dip them in the water and run them around the outside of the egg roll.

2. Pull up the bottom end and tuck it under the cabbage just a bit

3. Pull the right side in to stick to the rolled up bottom. You can always put a bit more water if it is not sticking, but do not soak it.

4. Fold in left side to stick as well.

5. Begin to roll upward toward the top corner and be sure it is wet enough to stick.

 Do just a few at a time so they do not sit and get any extra moisture. 

Time to cook them!

Using a large frying pan, pour in 1 & 1/2 inches of oil and heat on a medium burner until hot.

Add egg rolls a few at a time and cook until golden brown, turn and finish cooking on the other side until golden. Remove from pan and set on a dish cloth to help drain oil. I don't buy paper towel any more but if I have napkins from fast food bags I use them to help, if not I have special dish towels I use when I need to fry items. 

Let cool slightly, and serve with your favorite plum or sweet and sour sauce. You can share them as well if you want =)

( If you want a vegetarian version you can add any vegetables that you would like, bean sprouts, peas, broccoli chopped up etc. Be creative and make them just how you would like! )

 

Intercropping

 This week we have a guest blogger, a friend and a great gardener, Gardening Jones. She has a wealth of knowledge and this article on intercropping can be very helpful towards your success and growing an awesome garden!

Harvest More with Intercropping

Take companion planting to the next level by intercropping and you will get higher yields from the space.

If you already know which veggies grow better together, you can use that information to plant your garden by taking a look at their growth habits.

For example, carrots and beets grow below ground while Chinese cabbage and kohlrabi grow above. Therefore they can be planted closer together and use space that would otherwise be wasted; or worse, filled in with weeds.

Similarly, tomatoes grow well with greens and basil at their feet. The tomatoes will shade what is growing below and help prevent them from bolting. Many gardeners grow carrots at the base of their tomatoes. We have found this tends to inhibit the carrots’ growth, though we have had success with white carrots. Go figure.

Strawberries and asparagus were made for each other. As the berry runners skim across the soil surface, the asparagus are happy to stand their ground year after year. If your bed is still new, fill in any gaps with spinach and bush beans; strawberries just love that. All together it is a wonderful, and tasty, way to get more from your space and help prevent weeds at the same time.

Most gardeners have heard of the Three Sisters of the Field, intercropping at its finest. In the days of the indigenous people, they would plant field corn, dry beans, and winter squash. The beans helped to feed the corn and anchor the stalks, while the squash vines kept away weeds and deer. All were harvested at the same time as winter approached.

Many gardeners still intercrop the three sisters, but instead use sweet corn, green beans, and squash or melons. Other than harvest time, it is the same idea.

We accidentally grew pole beans in with our tomatoes one summer; don’t even ask. When we realized what had happened, we thought for sure the legumes would give off too much nitrogen and our tomato harvest would suffer. Instead they did really well together, and we didn’t need to stake the beans as they used the tomato stems and stakes for themselves.

Think this sounds like fun and a great way to do less weeding and more harvesting? Then check out a book on companion planting, like Carrots Love Tomatoes, or find a website that has the combinations listed.
We have one here on our website.

Think about what the plants look like when they are growing. Which ones go together, but can either shade each other or save space. Where were you mostly likely to be pulling weeds last season, or did you have to mulch for prevention?

One last thing to remember: When you intercrop, also known as intensive planting, be sure to provide your veggies with enough nutrients and water to keep up with their needs. Garden on!

Gardening Jones is the pen name for Jeanne Kunz Hugenbruch, mother of three, grandmother of one, and married to her childhood sweetheart. She has been gardening and putting food by for decades in their home in northeast Pa., zone 6. Find more on her blog Gardening Jones and follow her by that name on social media.