What season is it anyway?

on APRIL 28, 2021

I was so unacclimated to the seasons when we moved here. They were so different than what I was used to, that I had to make up my own taxonomy. Here in Pescadero, I would say we’re about mid-Winter, which will be followed by a brief, warmer Summer1. Then we’ll hit Wretched Hellscape Sweatbox Season followed by high-season – a cooler Summer2 – which lasts ~5 months. The skinny is that the weather is pretty damn gorgeous all year. Except about 6 weeks where your knees and eyelids sweat and nasty little critters try to eat you and a few cool weeks that require the donning of a sweatshirt in the evenings.

Where I grew up, there were solid cues from nature when the seasons changed. Even in the Puget Sound where it rained most of the year, we had deciduous trees that colored and lost their leaves in Fall. The weather changed to colder and wetter and the ground froze many nights in Winter. Spring brought an explosion of new green and bright pops of color.

Here, with the highs hovering between 21c (70f) and 30c (86f) during the day most of the year, there are different cues for the change of seasons. Sometimes it is the weather (e.g. fog in Winter, clouds in Summer1), and sometimes it is the wild flora. For example, the local, aloe vera just finished it’s bloom peak and the palo verde are pushing out their bristles of yellow, so we are definitely in Winter.

Confusingly, I’ve already been harvesting tomatoes for several weeks, the first poblanos are about ready to harvest, and the corn is just getting to its final height before fattening its ears. Next will be more peppers and watermelon and a decrease of anything green as we sink into Wretched Hellscape Sweatbox Season where not much grows until the sauna gets turned off. Our greens consist mostly of cabbage during that time, but the ocean temp and sunsets are glorious. Many residents who can’t take it (or don’t want to) leave town, so it gets very quiet around here in September aside from the sporadic thunderstorms, house alarms and hurricanes.

winter garden tomatoes

We plant gardens after Wretched Hellscape Sweatbox Season has ended – I think I put my first seeds in the ground in October. From about then all the way through Summer 2 and then Winter is when herbs, lettuce, onions and other green things thrive. I found myself in a pickle the other day when I planned out a dish with shrimp and found out I didn’t have any at the last minute. The now abandoned shrimp recipe also made use of the inordinate amount of chard recently pulled from my garden. Look at this beautiful stuff!

I whipped up this simple, bright, assertive pasta to solve the chard dilemma and figured many of you were still sharing that dilemma too. It’s roughly based on the flavors of Gnocchetti Sardi con Verdura from Sardinia, but the end product is so different, it is really its own thing. Luckily, I had recently picked up a chunk of Pecorino Romano, because while you could sub parmesan, it wouldn’t be as good.

Cheesy Chard Pasta

• 2 bunches chard – stems removed (leafy greens only)

• 500g (1lb) orecchiette, medium shells or small penne

• 3 tbsp butter

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 shallot, minced (~1/4 c)

• 1/2 tsp chili flakes

• 1/2 c dry white wine

• 1/2 c pecorino romano

• kosher salt

• freshly ground pepper

• 1/4 lemon

Bring a large pot salted water to a boil. Carefully submerge the chard in the water and bring back to a rolling boil. Drain chard and rinse with cold water. Press out most of the water and chop roughly. Set aside.

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, melt butter over med-low heat in a large sauté pan. Add garlic and shallots and simmer until garlic is opaque and shallot softens (1-2 min) lowering heat if they start to color. Add chili flakes (if using), 1/2 tsp kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper and stir for a minute. Add wine and let reduce while the pasta finishes.

Drain pasta and toss with butter mixture over low heat. When the pasta sauce starts to thicken, add chard and cook, stirring for another minute to warm through. Take off heat, season with more salt and pepper if needed, and sprinkle a squeeze of lemon over the top. Serve with more pecorino romano at the table. Serves 4