What’s Up, Doc?
19 Jul 2009 1 Comment
I recently harvested my very small carrot patch and found these two twisty friends carrying on a love affair underneath the ground. We are still producing cucumbers and lettuce, but everything else we planted is finished. Next year we plan to make more boxes and expand a bit. I am definitely missing corn, tomatoes and green beans so will give those a try next time. We’re still learning as we go and trying to turn these thumbs into greenies is a process.
Cool as a Cucumber
05 Jul 2009 3 Comments
in cookin' it up, planting my garden
Here’s what I made with the first two cucumbers from our garden. My attempt at my mom’s refrigerator pickles. Getting a “recipe” from her is like pulling teeth, if it is something she just makes from memory.
Her: “Oh, just throw in a little of this, then some of that. Do such-and-such for a while. “
Me: “What’s ‘some’? A cup? 1/2 cup? 4 gallons?”
Her: “Oh, whatever you think.”
Me: “What’s ‘a while’? 15 minutes? 3 hours?”
Her: “Oh, until you think it’s done.”
Me: “…”
So here’s the recipe, if you want to call it that.
Slice cucumbers and onions (ratio of approximately 4:1). Soak in salt water (1 T salt and water to cover) for two hours. Rinse and add 1/4 c vinegar, 1 cup sugar and some sweet pickle juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Here It Is!
27 Mar 2008 Leave a Comment
The first daffodil of the season! We’ll just pretend we can’t see all of those dead leaves from last fall that need to be cleaned out, m’kay? I noticed it Saturday morning and ran over to snap a pic on my way out. My daffodils never look all spritely and flouncy like my various neighbors’ seem to. They are sort of clumpy and floppy. But I don’t do anything at all to them, so perhaps that explains it. A gardener, I am not, though I do wish I knew more about it. So we’ll just also pretend that I have lovely landscaping and whatnot as well. Maybe someday…
Deluded But Now With Extra Sunshine
10 Mar 2008 2 Comments
I love Daylight Savings time! It doesn’t get dark at 5 pm anymore! Yipee!!!! For some reason it is much easier for me to fill the hours until Bubby gets home from work when the sun is shining. You know, because it’s been one whole day so far, so it CAN’T just be that we are having a good day. It is going to be like this EVERY DAY. It IS, why are you laughing? Or as I jokingly told Juju four years ago when we were talking about what my life was going to be like post-baby: Every day will be like Christmas. RIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHTTT.
I picked these up at the grocery last week and I have managed to keep them alive for one week so far. Not sure if I should repot them (do we have any potting soil?), plant them outside (is the dirt soft enough to dig in or still frozen solid?), or just let them fade away on their own. Last year our first daffodil bloomed on March 20 and I know this because I wrote it in my calendar. Yeah, I’m weird like that SO WHAT. In 2006 our first daffodil popped open on February 28. So far, I haven’t seen anything yellow in the yard, but they are out of the ground and have buds (if the snow didn’t kill everything off over the weekend).
I don’t really know where I’m going with this other than I’m so glad spring is arriving, and I really have nothing else to talk about. Today I’ve been spending a lot of time doing what I like to call Home Secretarial Work. Signed Arwyn up for a Sibling Class in May, called two places about possible soccer classes for her, talked to Bubby about the THIRD estimate for our basement, called various banks, tried to come up with some activities for Arwyn so we don’t kill each other this summer. If only I got paid to do this crap. And now I must awaken my child from her afternoon slumber so that she will go to bed sometime before midnight tonight.
As My Garden Grows
30 Mar 2007 Leave a Comment
This tulip is outside our back door and it has now been joined by seven of its brothers and sisters. And that black plastic which I loathed? Gone! I plan on filling this space up with flowers, flowers and some more flowers. We might be eating canned beans by the end of the summer, but at least our yard will look good. Bwa-ha-ha-ha!
This is a small tree in our backyard. It was half expired when we moved in and we (by ‘we’, I mean Bubby) had to remove several branches, and we weren’t sure if the tree would survive the amputation. Now it is so pretty! Our neighbors told us it had beautiful flowers in the spring, but this is the first year it has looked this good.
The peonies are coming out of hibernation. These babies grow so fast! I think I took this picture two days ago and they are already doubled in size. Incidentally, I’ve always called peonies “pee-on-mes”. Sick, but true.
I have no idea what my recent fascination with the flowers in the backyard is all about, but I’m going with it. It’s that or poop talk. That’s all I’ve got right now.
This is a really pretty little tree on our side yard. I have no idea what anything is called. It has these gorgeous flowers in the spring and then dark red heart-shaped leaves in fall. I like it.
Bubby, I hope you like canned beans.
Can You Dig It?
27 Mar 2007 Leave a Comment
I made a list of everything we planted so I wouldn’t forget anything. I’m such a nerd, but we already knew that, didn’t we.
- Hyacinths (2) – one purple, one white
- Cosmos (seeds) – orange and yellow
- Zinnias (seeds) – multi-colored
- Daisy mix (seeds) – multi-colored
- Anemones – purple
- Dutch Iris – don’t recall
- Bearded Iris – black
- Phlox (2) – purple
- Viola (6 pack) – orange and purple
Here is the “tool” I was using before Monday. This is actually a promotional item given away at a library grand opening. Suffice to say it was not meant to be used to dig any actual holes, but I did anyway because that was pretty much all I had on hand.
My first actual gardening tool. Its amazing how much faster the digging went once I wised up.
My assistant’s tools. They don’t dig too well either, but they do fling dirt really well in all directions and water anything in sight.
Wilderness
26 Mar 2007 1 Comment
We walked outside this morning to leave for errand-running and were thrilled to see a profusion of flowers had popped up overnight. This is the second year for these and they were one of the first things I planted in our yard. We have an odd assortment of things planted around, but most of them were put there by the previous owners. I was truly amazed that they lived and continue to do so, as it seems the multitude of squirrels living in the tree above these tulips like to dig up the bulbs. Perhaps I’m messing about in their favorite nut hiding place.
We have quite a few daffodils scattered around and I’m always glad to see them show their sunny heads. These are in our front yard, which is still a bit of a muddy mess from pulling out old shrubs last year.
Arwyn and I spent some time outside Saturday and today putting in a few new additions to the ‘flower garden’, which is quite an overstatement. We both ended up sweaty and covered in dirt, but I felt like I’d accomplished something and have the sore hands and arms to prove it.
And, lest you think the whole place is brimming over with beauty, we have a few of these as well. I actually don’t mind them and Arwyn likes to pick them, which keeps her from picking the actual flowers. Although, she seems to have moved on to a worm obsession and every time one was uncovered she would carry it around until it escaped her clutches.
The weather here has been amazing, and even a little frightening. 80+ degrees and running the a/c in March seems a tad scary, even though I am so glad for the sunshine and ability to be outside for long stretches.
Happy Monday.
