My husband and I are pretty lazy gardeners. This year we wintered over some crops, just so we didn’t have to figure out what to do with them. In Western Colorado, spring brings occasional snow storms and usually my garden is still dormant. But this year I have some active harvests: carrots and garlic. I am so excited on Saturdays to dig up the things I have wintered over for the week ahead. I brush aside the mulch that I have over the plants and pull up what I am going to cook with that week.

Our garden does not provide everything we need for the year, but it does help us all year round. And especially this year, the plants I wintered over have helped me keep my momentum and hope for my garden in the coming year.

I think having a garden is a practice in patience, perseverance and hope. I started with a container garden when my husband and I were first together: growing tomatoes and peppers in a pot. I am not the most patient person, and having planted seeds and waiting for a rather long time for a plant was quite the lesson for my first garden. Another lesson I learned has been rather more recent: perseverance. Last growing season, several of the seeds I planted just didn’t grow. I have no idea why; I am not a horticulturalist. I had several little places in my garden that just didn’t have anything come up, so I tried again with something different. Lo and behold, I was more successful with plan B. Was it an ultimate crop? No. Was it better than nothing? Yes. Did it make me smile that something came up even though I thought I had failed? Absolutely.

In order for my garden to be successful, I must have hope. Hope (and water) is the key to my garden. The second I put a seed or plant in the ground, I have hope that the plant will grow. That hope sustains the momentum I have to continue to work in the garden until harvest time. But it pays off, every year. This time, it paid off all year. It made the food I cooked that much better, too.

CHICKPEA AND CARROT STEW

SERVES 4

4 cups cooked chickpeas

4 cups raw carrots, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 ½ Tbsp garam masala

1 tsp salt (to taste)

½ tsp pepper (to taste)

4 Tbsp oil or butter

4 cups chicken stock

3 Tbsp flour

Juice of half a large lemon

1. Sauté the onion, garlic and celery in oil or butter over medium heat until sweating.

2. Add the carrots and continue for 10 minutes or so.

3. Add the flour and brown slightly in the butter.

4. Add the chicken stock and chickpeas. Add the garam masala, salt and pepper. 5. Simmer over low for 30 to 40 minutes

DILL BREAD

MAKES 1 LARGE LOAF, OR 12 ROLLS

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

2 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)

¼ cup butter, melted and cooled

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 ½ lukewarm water (not hot!)

2 Tbsp dill

Additional melted butter to brush on top

1. In a small bowl, add the yeast to the water and stir. Set aside for five minutes to activate. If it becomes milky and slightly foamy, then it is good yeast.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flours and dill. Whisk with a fork. Make a well and add the egg, butter and water/yeast mixture. Mix until dough is shaggy. Knead dough until it’s stretchy and sticks to itself rather than the counter or bowl. In my mixer with a dough hook, this is about five minutes on medium.

3. Place in a greased bowl in a warm place on the counter to proof until doubled in volume.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Punch the dough down, shape and place in greased pan. Proof again until doubled in size.

6. Bake in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

7. Brush melted butter on the top of the bread with a little more melted butter. Enjoy!

Originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Spring Recipes From A Local's Garden Of Hope

CHICKPEA AND CARROT STEW

DILL BREAD