White Flower Farm:The Chef's Culinary Garden

The northeast Georgia mountains are home to some of the leading producers of fresh food Georgia. Vegetables, fruits, flowers, cheese, wine, nuts, grains, poultry, eggs, fish, pork and cattle are seasonally available throughout the area. The abundance of fresh water, combined with a nutrient-rich soil and mild climate offer a great recipe for fresh and seasonal foods. Rabun County is particularly known for its cultivation of cabbage. Maybe it's the soil, but the cabbage grown here only knows best. As spring progresses into summer we can hardly wait for our first of Osage ears Silver Queen Corn.With all this local abundance each spring to worry about what things should be planted in our garden next to the inn kitchen. We have been in restaurants where moments before they sit down to dinner to watch the chef wearing a tip toe white layer in the gardens to cut fresh herbs and edible flowers. You just know you're in for a treat. We offer the kind of experience in the restaurant sees and knows things know your dish out of the garden minutes before. Garden culinary chef must provide wonderful products, but also has to be near the back door of the kitchen so it is as useful as it entered the pantry. And we want the garden to enhance and add to the flavors of the variety, color and unique dining guests experience.Through the years we have perfected our culinary garden cooking our way. This is what we have planned for this year. Let's plant a hedge of Genoese basil, and about 8 varieties and colors. Other needs are of laurel, dill, thyme, English, tarragon, lavender, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, parsley, savory and fennel, a rainbow of toy box tomatoes, lemon verbena, bee balm, heirloom tomatoes, edible flowers to bloom in succession. We also have an established asparagus patch, raspberries, blueberries, two varieties of crabapple, wild cherry (for drying), peaches, plums and a forest of chanterelles. We can also count on the stack Leckie provide some seasonal fruit farm stack including Asian pears, persimmons and grapes. And Jenny Sanders to join us wild season ingredients, such as ramps, elder flowers and berries, ferns and a variety of mushrooms.We one hectare is planted basil if we could. For many gardeners, basil is the king of herbs. Basil can play many roles in the sunshine. Basil is indispensable in our kitchen, but also very ornamental in our gardens and on our tables. Add the branches of flowers. Warm summer days become bearable if you can start fresh basil and use it in pestos, vinegars, herbs, vegetable dishes, and most divine of all, is the leaf between slices of fresh bread with a large slice inheritance of a ripe tomato and creamy mayo.Members home some of the mint family, basil is native to India, Africa and Asia, but have a long and rich history of legend and use worldwide. Fresh basil is the best option. Small-leaved varieties can grow in a pot on a sunny windowsill in winter. To preserve the taste of summer for the winter make lots of pesto and freeze it.We ensure that each year the garden has several Thai basil plants. It features a liquorice aroma and flavor. Thai basil has many applications in the kitchen has wood because of its great taste. It is the culmination of many Asian cuisines, including Thai, Vietnamese and India. The inn's specialty is Thai Basil Rolls with Peanut Satay Sauce. Another basic component that is planted each spring verbena (Aloysia triphylla). It is native to South America and grows well in northern Georgia, but do not survive winters outdoors. The Spanish brought it to Europe where it is used in perfumery. It has been a favorite for garden rooms in North America since its introduction in 1800. It has a strong lemon scent and clean which makes it the queen of lemon-scented herbs. In Gone With the Wind, lemon verbena plant is mentioned as Scarlet O'Hara's mother's favorite. A whiff of scent, and I predict that you will not want to live without this delightful inn specializes herb.The smell the lemon verbena ice cream, but we use the leaves in a series of recipes. It makes an excellent tea, especially when mixed with mint. It can also be used to brighten the flavor of fish, poultry, vegetable marinades, stuffing, salad, sorbet, pana cotta, jelly, and vinegar. As the leaves are tough, remove them before serving. Finely shredded leaves can be added to the batters carrot, banana or zucchini bread. Try adding cooked rice just before serving.A rainbow toy box tomatoes is essential to our culinary garden each year. They are cherry and grape tomatoes in a variety of wonderful colors and flavors, some a hybrid heritage. Most important to the chef is the palette of colors and flavors they offer. Some are sweet and tart candies are some puckeringly. But, oh, they are beautiful in cakes, salads, kebabs and salad dressing. Last year we planted about a dozen varieties and had to resist eating while I picked fresh from the vine. Plant them in giant containers and surrounding gardens beechwood. People are often seen pulling a sample, as they walk heirloom tomatoes by.Our are good in almost anything, but one of our favorite recipes is Black Krim tomato marmalade. Our wild cherries and crab apples are very acidic, so they are best used in coulis, jams and remoulade. Blueberries and raspberries are a new form to our breakfast table and also baked muffins, bread and sinfully wonderful desserts.The gardens also produce a succession of edible flowers in season. Today, many restaurant chefs and innovative cuisine home decorating dishes with flowers flowers for a touch of elegance. It can be sprinkled on salads or added to your recipe. The secret of success when using edible flowers is to keep the dish simple. Most edible flowers have a delicate flavor, so to use as a flavor component to add something not already have strong flavors. Today this nearly lost art is enjoying a revival.Not all flowers are edible and edible varieties that are grown without using pesticides or other chemicals. Edible flowers should be carefully identified and in some cases, are only part of the flower are edible (some flowers the anthers must be removed). The Beechwood Chefs often use a flower as the central part of an appetizer or main course. For example, we use organic colors and daylilies fill a fill light of local goat cheese and fresh herbs.Writing on our garden and the thought of cooking these recipes makes us long for tomato season again. Planting our garden every spring culinary renews our spirit and brings us joy. We appreciate the efforts exerted by local farmers and ranchers, but most of all thank God for the variety and abundance of fresh produce that we bring to our table.