My Green Ambitions

Sunberries

2010-08-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

These lovely things are sunberries. They're relatively new to me. I don't think I'd ever heard of them before my friend Cassie started growing some in her garden last year. And, since lots of sunberry seeds went into her compost pile, she ended up with tons of sunberry seedlings this spring - which she then shared with me! I believe I planted about six sunberry plants in my garden this year. Sunberries are lovely with big green leafy plants and tiny white flowers. The berries themselves look sort of like blueberries, but they taste more like sweet tiny tomatoes.
To be honest, they're not my favorite things to eat - though strangely enough my children who usually avoid tomatoes (and blueberries, for the most part) loved the sunberries. Know what I love about sunberries?
That's right, I just love to squish them. They're full of all these tiny seeds, and smooshing them between my fingers is strangely satisfying.
And with all the seeds I've squished and then dropped into the garden, I'll probably have lots of sunberry seedlings in the Spring, next year myself!

Gardening victories and disappointments.

2010-08-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already August. The year is flying by. I was just looking over my old blog entries, at older photos of the garden. So much has changed! We've had many gardening successes. This photo to the left is a picture of one particularly lovely purple pole bean in my Three Sisters garden. I just love that photo. And I love those purple beans, even though I think we harvested a grand total of three of them so far. But the season isn't over yet! Hopefully we'll get some more. We have both purple and green pole beans, and some green bush beans as well. But I know we won't have enough for canning. What little we get, we end up eating right away. So I'll definitely plant more next year.

Here is a photo update of our Three Sisters garden where you can see the different leaves of the two types of beans, crawling up the corn stalks. We actually ate the corn shortly after this photo was taken. The ears were small, but there was no mistaking the difference between home grown and store bought corn.
We've also had gardening victories with our zucchini.This is a common sight in our kitchen. This year, I have learned several new ways to work zucchini into our diets! I wish my kids were more excited about it. My oldest son can't stand it. Even if it's something delicious like zucchini orzo, where the zucchini is shredded and mixed in with a bunch of pasta and cheese. Who could argue with that? But he won't touch it. Sigh!

Here is a photo of my cucumbers, taken about a month ago. They were growing up their little mesh trellis and seemed pretty happy. We had tons of adorable baby cukes growing all along the vine. New tendrils were sprouting every day. It was really thriving.
And then I'm not sure what happened exactly. The leaves started looking a bit spotty. Then they started looking sort of bleached out. And then, adorable baby cukes that looked like this:
Looked like this a week or so later (you can see the diseased leaf in the background):
So, no pickles for me this year. I'm so sad. We also had two Boothby's Blonde Cucumber vines. I got two cukes from them, before the same disease (fungus? mold? blight?) killed them off.

In addition to that disappointment, my watermelon vines are likewise shriveling. We had over 20 baby watermelons at one point. But only 3 actually grew. The rest shriveled and died, though we have another variety that is doing OK so far. I'm not giving up hope yet!

Tubular!

2010-06-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

Check out this Seashell Cosmo. The tubular petals are so cool! The funny thing about these is that the seed packet said it came with a variety of colors. And we have had a few other colors (white and pale pink) come up - but this color is the only one with true tubular petals. I kind of wish I'd planted more of these. i had so many packets of cosmo seeds. Why didn't I use more of them? Oh well. There's always next season!

Three Sisters Update

2010-06-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Here's an updated photo of our Three Sisters garden. The squashes along the bottom are really taking off. We even have several baby pumpkins (or are those Long Island Cheese Squash? Maybe Marina di Chioggia?) on some of the vines. I really wish I'd remembered to mark what squashes I planted where. I was so excited to get the seeds in the ground when it was planting time, and I really believed I'd remember what I put where. Oh well. It'll be fun to watch things mature so we can figure out what we actually have in this garden!

The corn has several ears now. And the beans continue to climb! They have flowers, so I'm hoping to see some bean pods developing soon. I have both green and purple pole beans planted here. When they were tiny, the only difference between the two was that the stem of the purple beans was a big darker and more purple (imagine that!) than the green beans. Now that they've climbed up the corn, the purple bean plants actually have purple leaves. The purple plants seem heartier than the green ones. Or maybe the purple ones just get more sun. Regardless, both types of beans are doing well. This seems to be a happy garden plot!

A Gift of Apples

2010-06-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

My friend Leslie has an apple tree in her yard that produces loads of fruit. Leslie isn't quite sure what to do with all of it, so she asked me if I'd like to take some off her hands. Look at this gorgeous basket of fresh apples! They're so pretty, and they smell divine. But now I have to decide what to do with them! I'm thinking some applesauce and apple butter. But in Ball's Complete Home Preserving I found a recipe for apple preserves that uses thin slices of lemon. I'm sure that probably looks really pretty in a jar - with thin slivers of lemon peel running through the apples. So I want to give that a try. I need to get to work soon, though! They might look pretty sitting on the counter in a basket, but they're not going to keep forever!

Valentine Sunflowers

2010-06-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I adore this variety of sunflower! These are some heirloom seeds I purchased from
Seed Savers Exchange. They're just gorgeous. They're much smaller than other sunflowers I've grown. These end up being around 5 or 6 inches across. The petals are a very pale yellow, and there are several blooms on one stem. It makes them perfect for putting in a vase. Of course, I have never actually cut any for a vase. I just leave them growing in the garden. I'll definitely plant more of these next year. So pretty!

Garden Harvest

2010-06-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

It's funny when I look back over the last few blog posts and see pictures of the garden. Whenever I take photos, I feel like the garden looks so good and the plants are getting so big - but then it changes so much in just another few days' time! I can't tell you how much joy this year's garden has brought me. It's so soothing to walk out in the yard, checking all the plants, watching things grow. Gardening is rewarding on so many levels. On a very literal level, we're experiencing the reward of fresh veggies! New zucchini are ready to harvest almost every day, along with small (but delicious!) yellow crookneck squash and lots of cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes are mostly from that volunteer plant that came up along the fence. I love all the vibrant colors! And I also love how excited the kids are about the garden, too. So far they're still a bit shy about actually eating the vegetables. But we're getting there.

June Gloom

2010-06-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

After a nice heat wave at the beginning of the month, the days here in San Diego have softened into the gray haze known as June gloom. The mornings are misty. The temperatures are mild. I actually like it, since I'm somewhat sun-phobic. That's what happens when you come from a pale tribe like mine! Anyway, though the weather has seemed less than ideal, the garden is very happy! I am astonished at how big some of the plants have become.

Here is a photo of my cherry tomato plant. I have it in the largest tomato cage they sold at the nursery, which I then also secured with two bamboo stakes. But the plant is so large that the cage is starting to lean to one side and there are new shoots going in all directions! You almost can't see a cage in there at all, can you? (That is a 6 foot fence behind it, by the way, to give you an idea of the size).
Next up is my very happy zucchini plant. We're almost ready to harvest out first few zucchini! I don't know why, but I thought we wouldn't be harvesting much from the garden until much later in the season. The leaves are simply enormous on this plant. I love it! I'm a little nervous that it will obscure my Blue Lake green beans that are growing to the right. I hope they'll still get enough sun.
I was quite excited to discover baby watermelons on the vine! We have several now (about a dozen at my last count) but this was the first one I saw. I planted the watermelon in a raised bed, and the vines are all cascading down this rock wall I built to shore up some crumbling railroad ties. (We'll eventually built a new retaining wall, but for now I'm going with what we have). I love how it looks with the vines creeping down the rocks. So pretty.
My cucumbers are also coming in nicely. I'm trying to train them to grow up this mesh trellis. I've never really used a mesh trellis before, so I hope it will work and will be sturdy enough to hold up the vines.
In the Three Sisters garden, the beans finally sent up shoots saying they were ready to climb! So I helped them find the corn stalks. In this photo, it might be hard to see the beans climbing the stalks - it looks just like a sea of green. But I was so excited to see the plan for this garden actually working! How the beans have climbed almost to the top of the stalks, and they've grown lots of new leaves.
I was also thrilled yesterday when I found a bit of corn silk showing up on one of the stalks. I actually have an ear of corn! The stalks were growing tall and green and healthy, but I hadn't seen any actual corn show up yet. I'm so pleased. I can't wait to have fresh corn on the cob!

My next gardening endeavor, I think, will be with some roses. We had to take out one of the hedges we had in the front of our house when we redid some of our plumbing. It looks so bare out there now that I want to fill it in with something. I thought about trying a blackberry hedge, but I really like the idea of some roses. And the front of the house would be a great location for them. I'm especially in love with Mister Lincoln roses, which are really large red ones that smell fantastic. We'll see what happens!

Fennel

2010-05-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my fennel. I only have one bulb. I've never grown fennel or eaten very much of it. My one experience with fennel was at a restaurant where they served salmon on a bed of mashed potatoes, topped with fennel slaw and a slice of red grapefruit. When I ordered it, the fennel slaw didn't sound appealing to me and I figured it would be something I'd put up with in order to enjoy the salmon and potatoes. But the fennel was my very favorite part. It was crunchy and delicious and wonderful. And it tasted great paired with the grapefruit, too. Anyway, that's what led me to plant fennel: happy memories of fennel slaw.

This photo really doesn't do the fennel justice, because I think it's one of the prettiest plants in my garden. It doesn't look that impressive in this picture. It's this lovely green color, and it's light and ferny looking. I honestly wish I would have planted a bunch more. I certainly plan to have more next year. When I think about actually eating this fennel I feel almost sad because I don't want to pull out the whole bulb and lose such a pretty plant. I know that's silly but...whatever.

Of course, since I've never grown or really cooked with fennel I don't know much about how to prepare it or what to do with it. So now I'm on a quest to learn. I want to put it to good use!

Viva la fennel!!

Progress

2010-05-25T14:32:00.001-07:00

My little patch of earth is full of green, growing things and I couldn't be more delighted. I know I've said it before, but I really did doubt that I'd be able to manage a garden. Working full time and having three energetic kids to wrangle can demand so much of my time, attention and energy. But, truly, there is something so beautiful and satisfying about gardening. I'm caring for the plants which then provide sustenance for me and my family. Being part of that cycle is and edifying experience - pun intended!

So here are some recent photos of Our Patch. Look at that cherry tomato plant! It's going nuts! No tomatoes yet, but plenty of blossoms.
The watermelon is starting to flower!

Look! That's a baby crookneck squash! And it's the cutest little squash ever! Yes it is! There are actually a few little squashes starting on this plant. Quite exciting.
Here is a recent photo of my Three Sisters area. It's really coming along nicely. I'm so pleased with how healthy and strong the corn is! The beans are getting tall. The squashes are getting bigger all the time. The pumpkins I planted are just finally starting to sprout. I can't wait to see what this spot looks like when the squashes sprawl and full in the empty space. It'll be so pretty!
And here are my wee basil plants. They're in kind of a shady spot and aren't really growing as much as I'd like to see. But I'll give them time. They smell so nice. I can almost taste the pesto every time I walk by!

Wishing you all similar garden blessings!

The Joys of Warmer Weather

2010-05-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Once again, it's been far too long since I last posted! But I blame it on being very, very busy outdoors. The weather has warmed up and the garden is coming to life. There's something so magical about this time of year. I love seeing all the trees in bloom, like this peach tree in my mom's yard:Lots of flowers this year, so I'm hoping that means we'll get lots of peaches this year as well. Last year, Japanese beetles ate ALL our peaches. It was a tragedy.

This year it seems like we have an abundance of California Golden Poppies. They pop up everywhere! They were my father's favorite flower, and my mom refuses to pull out any Golden Poppies that come up. So she has poppies all over the place. Here's one that sprouted in the middle of the lawn. She just mows around it. I love that sunny orange color!Back at my own little patch of earth, the garden is doing well. That volunteer tomato plant that had sprouted near our fence is going nuts now that the weather is warmer. It had flowers on it for the longest time, but no little tomatoes. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever have fruit on it. Obviously, I just needed to be patient. The plant is now COVERED with little tomatoes!In fact, this volunteer tomato plant now currently has more tomatoes on it than I harvested all last year from my three tomato plants. Isn't that crazy? Of course, the tomato plants I had last year were in pots and I don't think the soil was very good. I only got about a dozen cherry tomatoes, total. I easily have three times that on this one plant right now. I'm so pleased!

In addition to my volunteer, I have eight other tomato plants. Some are doing really well. A couple others are struggling thanks to hungry snails. But I'm still hoping to have a good crop so I'll be able to can a bunch. Homemade marinara sauce, here I come!

The "three sisters" area of my garden is doing great, and I think it's going to be simply gorgeous when the plants get a little bit bigger. I planted a ring of sweet corn, and then I planted green and purple pole beans around those. The beans will climb up the corn (in theory). Then I planted an assortment of squashes in a ring around the corn & beans. Here's what it looked like about a week ago:It's a little hard to see everything (I'm a crummy photographer), but I wanted to show how it looks with the squashes coming in. The larger squash plants in the back are yellow crookneck squash. Zucchini coming in toward the front. I'm not actually sure what all the squash are. I foolishly planted stuff, thinking I'd remember what went where. But of course I didn't. So it'll be a fun little surprise for later this year! Anyway, here's a little close up on the beans and corn:I can't wait to see how it all fills in!

This past weekend I worked on putting in more herbs. I now have cilantro, parsley, thyme, tarragon, rosemary, chives, basil and dill. So far they seem happy in their little garden plot, but I'm concerned there might not be enough sun. We'll see. Dill is supposed to be more of a cool weather herb, so I didn't think mine would make it. It looked a little sad and brown for a while, but it's perking up now and has lots of new green growth. Yay! We'll see how it handles a Southern California summer. I planted it in partial shade, so I hope it will be happy and thrive.

More pictures and garden updates to come!

More Sunflower Babble

2010-04-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

My goodness, has it really been a month since I last posted? Time flies! Especially during Spring when there's so much to be done outside. I am delighted to report that my garden is all planted, and thus far doing well. I may or may not have nightmares about snails eating all my wee seedlings during the night. Grow, little plants! Thrive!

My local gardening expert and dear friend Cassie helped me plan out what to plant where - and then came over and worked with me: digging in the dirt, transplanting seedlings, planting seeds. I don't know what I would have done without her help. Hopefully, if I'm able to pull this gardening thing off, I can show my gratitude by sharing lots of delicious produce. I think I might have enough corn and beans to feed an army if everything comes up. Fun! I will post photos of the garden progress soon. But for now, let me babble about the sunflowers some more.

The sunflowers near the back fence have all bloomed, and they're simply gorgeous. There are a few different types of flowers. Some stems have multiple smallish flowers on them, others are the big mammoth sunflowers with just one big flower at the top. The big ones are my favorites, even though they're kind of sticky.
Look at that drop of stuff in the middle. Do you know how much self restraint it took not to touch that bead of...whatever it is? Nectar? Sap? Is it sad that I don't know?
I also love seeing how many bees these sunflowers attract. Can you see the bee in this photo?
Here's a close up. Look at all the pollen on her little head! I'm sure she was a happy little worker going home to the hive. Here's hoping she and her friends come back and help with lots of cross-pollinating when the garden comes in. I can use all the help I can get - especially with my 10 tomato plants.

Things are growing and blooming and coming alive after the long Winter's nap. Exciting stuff on the horizon!

Signs of Spring & Garden Plots

2010-03-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

It's Springtime at last! The weather is warming up and things are in bloom! In fact, I got some lovely photos of the peach blossoms on my mother's tree, but those will have to wait for another post. The main signs of Spring in our yard are the sunflowers, which have finally bloomed. I love to look out my kitchen window to see these bright spots of yellow slowly emerging.I asked my daughter to stand in front of the sunflowers to show how tall they've gotten. She decided to to the "bunny ears" thing to herself. That kid cracks me up.

I'm also pleased to report that the little marigold that sprouted from last year's seeds is also blooming. It has one small yellow flower at the top with the petals slowly unfolding, which makes it look a bit scraggly for right now. But I'm sure it will continue to grow and will impress us all within a couple months. Note how there are a bunch of assorted rocks and stones in the pot. Those are additions made by my oldest son. He's convinced the extra rocks will help the marigold grow. I figured it can't really hurt, so why not?

It's time to start planting things, and I really haven't come up with a definitive plan on where to put everything. I still have weeds (not that you're ever truly rid of them), and I still need to get some decent compost to help improve my soil. Hopefully that will be coming sometime this week since our dear friends The Smiths have generously offered to share a trailerful of compost they got from the local green waste site. (That sounds so much nicer than "landfill," doesn't it?) The compost is so dark and rich - like crumbled chocolate cake. I never thought I'd ever be so excited about a truckload of dirt. Anyway, with those plans underway I guess it's time to start plotting the garden. Here are the general ideas I have. First, there's this little patch of grass near our garbage cans:It gets full sun almost all day, so I'm thinking about making it our watermelon patch. After I pull out all that grass, of course. Figured this is a good area for watermelon since there's plenty of room for the plants to spread out. I also tossed around the idea of using this area of my three sisters garden. One or the other. Guess I should decide pretty quickly. Seeds need to go in the ground pronto! Then we have this area along the eastern fence line. You can see my tumbling composter in the background:This area has partial shade because of our two orange trees, and it's not the most accessible place for vegetables, either. I've planted some sunflowers along the fence, and I also plan to put some nasturtium here. In that enclosed stone thing in the foreground of the photo, I thought to plant some carrots. that spot gets more sun since it's not under the trees. Here's a photo of the rest of the fence line:This is where I grew my tomatoes last year, and had decent success. I think that the soil pH wasn't great because I got lots of lovely green plant, and not that many actual tomatoes. But I didn't feed/fertilize at all last year. So hopefully this year will be better. This area gets plenty of sun during the day, too.

Along the back (north) side of the fence, where the sunflowers are currently growing, I plan to put in cucumbers. I have a few plants started already, but want to direct sow more. I hear cucumbers that are directly sown often do better than ones that are transplanted seedlings. We shall see.I need to build some supports for the plants so I can maximize the space. I'm hoping the cucumbers and sunflowers will like each other. I think they're good companion plants. I need to check my reference materials on this.

Finally, in the far northwest corner is this little arbor thing. Eventually this will be the home of some grape plants. Figured I'd plant green grapes on one side and red grapes on the other. I don't plan to actually put the plants in the ground until later in the year, after the heat of the summer is dying down. At the base of the fence toward the right of the photo you can see this little volunteer tomato plant. Here's a closer shot:It's humorous to me that I had several tomato seedlings that have already withered in the sun, despite my gentle care, and here is a plant I have never watered, never cared for, that is thriving completely on its own among the weeds. Nature has a way of reminding you who is REALLY in charge.

Happy Spring, everyone!

Attempts to Crochet

2010-03-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, my pal Cassie tried to teach me how to crochet. I've wanted to learn for quite some time. As a starter project, she had be try making this little leaf shaped thing. You crochet two halves of a leaf and then fasten them together. Here you can see Cassie's version and my version. Bet you can't guess which one is which!Mine looks more like half of a baby bootie or something. It's supposed to be a nice smooth curve. But I drop stitches a lot or something. Still, it was my first try, so I still felt okay about it. We all have to start somewhere, right? Cassie left the hook and yarn for me so I could practice. I've tried to do a few rows every day this week. Here's what I have so far:Note how it's getting smaller and smaller as I go. I must not understand what a stitch really looks like or something. Or maybe I just get confused when I get to the ends? I don't know, but I obviously am doing something wrong. Sigh! Hopefully with a little more work I'll figure it out.

Sunflower update

2010-03-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

Back in January I posted about these curious plants that had sprouted in my backyard. I thought they might be sunflowers, but I really wasn't sure. Back then, they looked like this:The tallest one was about 5 inches tall at that point. I did some weeding around them and figured I'd let them keep growing to see if they did, in fact, turn out to be sunflowers. So they did their thing through February, and now they look more like this:the tallest one is around 3 1/2 feet tall, and they are definitely sunflowers. In fact, a few of the stalks have a flower head on them already (though, obviously not open yet). I'm quite pleased! I have more sunflowers I'll be planting over the next few weeks. Some are pale yellow, some are deep orange. Some are small, meant for cutting and putting in a vase. Others that are enormous and sticky and meant to attract bees and birds to your garden. The kind where you harvest the seeds! Fun, no?

Spoony!

2010-03-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I was out at
Summers Past Farms (which is a magical place, and if you live in San Diego you simply MUST go there) and I purchased this daisy from their nursery. I loved the spoon-shaped petals! My mom had a similar plant, only with white petals. Hers cross-germinated with another daisy, though, and has since lost the delightful petal spoony-ness. That's right. I made up a word. This blog is a magical place, too! Anyway, the Spoon Daisy (also a name I made up, because I know it's called something else) seems very happy since I re-potted it and put it out in the sun. It has tons of blooms on it, with more sprouting all the time. It's giving me a glimmer of hope that maybe my garden might flourish after all.

Olla Envy

2010-03-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

Ollas are unglazed clay pots that are planted in your garden up to their necks. Because they're not glazed, when you fill them with water, they slowly irrigate the surrounding area. When you sow plants next to it, the olla basically just sends water right to the roots. It's supposed to be this really efficient and beneficial way to water plants. Of course, I'm all for being efficient - and for keeping plants alive! - so these ollas definitely appeal to me!

I've been reading today about how ollas work, and it doesn't seem like a single olla really waters that much around it. Like if you have an olla that's 6" across, the water will reach about 6 inches in either direction. It might be wonderful and efficient to water that area, but...that's not a very big area. You'd need a lot of these ollas for a full garden. And from what I've seen, ollas aren't exactly cheap. A small one is about $26. They go up from there. I'm wondering if I could find someone with a potter's wheel who might make some of these. Or if they have some at a local nursery or farmer's market. If they're so wonderful and efficient and amazing, they should be available all over, right?

For now, I just envy those who have a garden's worth of ollas on hand. Sigh! Maybe someday it will be me.

Three Sisters Garden

2010-03-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Last week I attended a fantastic little gardening talk done by my BFF Cassie (you can follow her over at Long Life). Cassie never fails to get me fired up about gardening. She really is an inspiration. I'm not just saying this because I know she reads this blog, either. Anyway, one of the things she talked about in her gardening class was a Three Sisters Garden. I had heard the term before but didn't really understand what a Three Sisters Garden was all about.

A Three Sisters Garden reflects a Native American agricultural tradition where certain plants were grown together to be mutually beneficial. Specifically, they'd plant corn, beans and squash together. These are the "three sisters." The corn is planted first, and will eventually be the supports for the climbing bean plants that are sown next. The beans will just climb up the corn! Fun! And beans have bacteria living on their roots that help them absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that plants can use. So the beans put nitrogen into the soil. Corn requires a lot of nitrogen to grow, so this all works out nicely. Squash are then planted around the corn and beans, which both shields the ground from the drying effects of the sun, keeps weeds at bay, and also deters animal pests. Look at the three plants, growing and living in harmony! I think we can all learn a little something from the Three Sisters, no?

To plant a Three Sisters garden, you start with a mound of dirt that is about a foot high and between 18" and three feet across. Plant 4 to six corn plants 6 inches apart. I'd probably just have four at the four points of the compass to make things easy. Also, I'm a science nerd at heart. After two or three weeks when the corn is about 4"-6" high, plant the beans and squash. You'll plant about 6 pole bean seeds in a circle that's about six inches from the corn. Then you plant 4 squash about a foot from the beans. The squash should be the rambling vine type, not spiny squat ones like zucchini. For me, it's all about the pumpkins.

So, after hearing about the Three Sisters Garden, I again went nuts with the garden plans and bought some more seeds: both yellow and red corn, both green and purple beans, some pumpkins, and a type of squash that looks like a flattened pumpkin and resembles a wheel of cheese. The Cheese Wheel squash is supposed to be really good for pies. I'm excited about growing all of these things but I don't know if I'm being realistic. I have a pretty small yard, and I have a lot of things I want to grow. This is also my first year of gardening. I am relatively clueless about all this stuff. I was going to start small. Just a few plants. But my plans keep expanding and expanding!

Cosmos & Why They'll Flourish in My Care

2010-02-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

My seed packets finally arrived a couple days ago, so sometime between now and the weekend, I will be starting my wee garden - even if it's just putting some seeds into peat pots by my kitchen window. Oh, and I guess I should really get going in terms of getting the actual garden plot set up. One thing at a time. There's still frost to contend with - so I can focus on indoor efforts for now.

One of the flowers I planned to grow was Cosmos, which are sort of a wild daisy. I am still unsure if they're actually a member of the daisy family. Let's just roll with it, shall we? On the back of the Cosmos seed packet, in big bold letters it says that Cosmos do well in either full sun or partial shade. They prefer poor soil, need very little water, and require very little attention. Um, doesn't that make Cosmos the most desirable flower to grow? A flower that basically thrives on neglect!

This is something I know I can grow. I went out and bought two more packets. I'm growing Cosmos EVERYWHERE this year.

Hello, Marigold

2010-02-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of rain a little over a week ago, and some warmer weather and sun this past week. While cleaning up the patio, I noticed this little guy in the pot where we used to have some marigolds. When the marigold gave up the ghost, I took the last couple dried seed pods off the plant and just stuck them down in the dirt of the pot. I suppose the proper seed-saving technique would have been to put them in an envelope or other sealed container and wait until Spring to plant them. But marigolds have never really been my favorite, so I figured if the seeds made it, they made it. If they didn't? Meh. But, strangely, seeing this little marigold sprout made me feel so happy. I hope it will continue to grow. I'll bring it into the house to keep it warm if necessary. Somehow, even though they aren't my favorite, I'm really in love with the idea of having a pot of marigolds this year. In the past, I remember our family would buy marigolds from Home Depot and plant them around the yard. They'd grow and bloom and do fine, and then at the end of the season they'd die and that was that. We'd just buy more marigolds the next year. I know it's silly, but I find something thrilling about the idea of keeping a Home Depot marigold going. The idea that it wasn't just a disposable plant, only good for one season. But something I could keep seeing every year. It might be corny to say, but I really feel like a little kid: so full of the wonder and discovery of the garden & natural world. There's a joy and a reverence for being a steward of the Earth. Even if it's just over a marigold sprout.

Keep growing, little marigold!

Sunflowers?

2010-01-31T15:01:00.000-08:00

After the recent rains, I went out to work in the yard to try and get the weeds a bit under control. It's amazing how fast stuff starts to grow with just a bit of extra moisture! I noticed that in one section of the yard, there are these somewhat impressive stalks growing. I think they might be sunflowers. This spot is close to where we had a bird feeder for a while, and the mix we used in the feeder had lots of sunflower seeds. If they're not sunflowers, they're some of the sturdiest weeds I've ever seen. They've grown really tall, really fast. Here's a closer look:Those are sunflowers, right? If they are, I'm delighted. As I mentioned in my flower post a few days ago, sunflowers make me think of my dad. I plan to plant a few different types. So if some want to volunteer themselves, I welcome it. I just hope they'll survive the frost. The coldest weather is still to come. Of course, if they aren't sunflowers I'll feel like a fool.

Future Herb Garden

2010-01-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of the spot where I plan to plant my herb garden. This little strip of earth, which is just around the corner from my kitchen window, was where a hedge used to be. The hedge wasn't very pretty to look at, and was ridiculously tall. I didn't like having something that thick and unruly so close to the house. Thick foliage means bugs, and I don't want them in my house. I feel like when we're outside, we're sort of in the insects' domain. We have to learn to live together. But my house is MINE. Bugs will go squish if they come inside. That is the way of things. Anyway, back to the herb garden. I figured this little strip sees plenty of sun, and it's close to the kitchen. Seems like as good an area as any. Of course, right now it has assorted weeds growing in it, so I need to do some work to get it ready. There are also those red tiles on either end, covering sections of the dirt. I'll get those out of the way to maximize the space. So, there's still plenty to do. But it shouldn't take long. In theory.

The herbs I particularly want to grow are rosemary, basil, and cilantro. Though I probably should expand that to include some dill and chives. I'm trying not to bite off more than I can chew as I start out. What other herbs would you have in your ideal kitchen garden? What do you cook with the most?

My Poor Orange Tree

2010-01-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

This is one of our two orange trees. As you can see, there's lots of fruit this year! And the oranges are enormous. Most are the size of softballs. I notice that these oranges have a really thick peel, though. So even though they might look gigantic, the actual fruit part is closer to average. They're delicious and sweet, though. We've had lots of fresh squeezed juice, and oranges to snack on. And, as you can see from the photo, there's still plenty of oranges to enjoy!

But my tree is suffering. We still have problems with white fly. I have some insecticidal soap to use, but I'm hesitant to bother with it now since we've (gasp!) actually had some rain around here lately. I don't want to spray the whole tree only to have the wonders of nature rinse it all off. So I'm waiting until we've harvested the fruit. Then I'll prune the tree, and I'll spray it to help with bugs. White fly isn't the only thing "bugging" this tree, though. In the photo to the left you can see how the leaves are curling and brown, and have kind of a squiggly pattern on some of them. These, according to The Internet, are classic signs of citrus tree miners. It's a moth larvae that burrow between the layers of the leaves. Stupid moths! Go have your babies somewhere else! I'm pretty sure the same insecticidal soap I need to use for the white fly will also take care of the citrus miners.

I guess I should get a book on caring for citrus trees. I bought some special citrus fertilizer, and I'm hoping that with a little extra TLC and maintenance, our two orange trees (and one lemon tree) will flourish. I guess the late winter & early spring are a good time to do maintenance on trees, because it's after the harvest and just before the new buds appear. Here's hoping I get the timing right. I'd hate to further injure or harm the poor thing.

As I start down this gardening path, I'm saying silent prayers that I will have inherited my dad's green thumb. My dad really was pretty amazing with plants - though he never really exercised that talent until the later years of his life. It was when he became a grandfather that he really took an interest in landscaping. He wanted to make the yard and beautiful and safe place where his grandchild could play. He reshaped the whole yard. But the one thing that stands out in my mind the most was how he took little clippings of geranium ivy from a neighbor's plant, and somehow managed to grow them into dozens of plants. He only got a few leaves from the neighbor, and within a year or so, the entire side bank was covered with gorgeous lavender geraniums. There are only a couple patches left, since my mom hasn't really had the time or patience to maintain the flowers since Dad's been gone. Maybe I should take a clipping or two and see if I have a little bit of the same magic within me.

Some thoughts on bottled water

2010-01-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

I am, admittedly, kind of foolish when it comes to bottled water. But I'm trying to make some changes. As all those Brita commercials proclaim, thousands of plastic bottles end up in our landfills every year. And even though I'm sure thousands upon thousands of plastic bottles are also recycled, it's better for our planet to cut back on plastics in general. Especially the plastic containers that are not made for continued use. There's also increasing evidence that nasty chemicals can leach into your water from the bottle. So, I went out and bought myself a trusty sports bottle type thing to replace the disposable plastic bottles I'd used before:I've been using bottles like this one for several months now, and I love them. We also have a couple stainless steel water bottles, and other sports bottles around the house. So we've cut back on bottled water in that respect. We still used a lot of bottles during soccer season, though. But I'm hoping to only use sports bottles and reusable bottles in the future.

I feel good about this change, but I'm still a fool. Know why? Because even though we don't buy individual bottles of water, we still buy big 2.5 gallon jugs of Arrowhead water at Costco. We keep them in our fridge. I guess our fear of tap water runs deep. So, we might not have a ton of individual bottles, but we still have these big plastic jugs that we use. Yes, we recycle them. But they're pretty much the least "green" thing about our household. Know why? Not only is it wasteful in terms of the plastic, but it's wasteful in terms of energy. Because they're the kind of jugs that have a little spigot on the end. We keep them in the fridge. When people want a glass of water, or to fill a water bottle, they stand there with the refrigerator door wide open while they do so.

The worst part? When we bought our house, it came with a water softening system AND one of those fancy reverse osmosis water filters:That's right. I have a very expensive filtering system right there under my kitchen sink, and it basically doesn't get used. I need to have people come out to replace the filter on that thing, but otherwise it's perfectly serviceable. And, really, it's an invaluable piece of equipment! WHY are we not taking advantage of it?

So, that's one of my "green" goals: ditch the bottles and use the filter we have!

Food, Inc.

2010-01-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, as I know I briefly mentioned in a previous post, a friend and I watched Food, Inc. This movie gave me a lot to think about. I'm sure that's the main objective of these Shock and Awe type movies - give you something that disturbs you enough to think about things in a new way. Watching Food, Inc. made me feel almost the same way I felt when watching An Inconvenient Truth: that while I was not unaware of the problems at hand, the problems were much, much larger and more complex than I realized. In fact, both movies made me feel a sense of helplessness, if I'm being honest. The problems are so big, and I'm just one small person. What can I do? At least each movie had some suggestions at the end. That made you feel a glimmer of hope after the message of DOOM. Maybe I can't do that much to impact the whole problem of massive commercial agriculture and food culture, but eventually a bucket will fill even if it's only a drop at a time. I can do little things. I can be a little more conscientious. I can educate myself and my family. I can try to get the word out. I can make little changes.

But I doubt that I'll get the image of a fistulated cow out of my head. It was one of the most horrible sights I've ever seen. A fistulated cow basically has a hole cut in its side to access one or more of its stomachs so the farmer can assess how it's digesting food. Or something like that. But it's a hole in the side of a cow. The hole is typically ringed with a plastic or rubber collar. But it's a hole straight into their stomach! And there are lots of photos in Google Images showing people who are reaching inside the fistula all the way up to their shoulder. Shoulder deep inside a cow! Disgusting! I'm sure the fistula doesn't really bother the cow that much, after it's initially put in. It's sort of like any stoma. Just keep it clean and it will heal and be fine. But...still. That's a pretty extreme way to monitor your livestock. And then we end up eating said livestock. Bleh.

Anyway, I highly recommend checking out the movie. Just to get you thinking about food and where it comes from. Be part of the change!

Garden Plans: Vegetables

2010-01-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

Purple carrots. Tell me that's not awesome. I completely love varieties of fruits and vegetables that defy convention. Like these carrots, or purple string beans. Or orange and yellow watermelon! It's just a testament to how amazing and vivid the plant world can be. And it's also a sad reminder of how many varieties of plants fall by the wayside in the wake of commercial agriculture. Most people I know, when I mention purple carrots, are amazed that they even exist. And I admit I was one of those people until I took up an interest in gardening a couple years ago (not that I've done much actual gardening!). I thought for sure my kids would love the idea of purple carrots, too. But they were NOT enthusiastic about it. And since these Dragon Carrots are described as having an "almost spicy" flavor, I was a little nervous about actually enjoying eating them. So, I wimped out and got seeds for regular, orange carrots. But sometime in the future I'll try out the purple ones.

Going through the seed catalogs, there were tons of different vegetables I was interested in trying to grow myself but I felt like I should limit myself since this will basically be my very first garden. I managed to keep 3 cherry tomato plants alive last year, but that's the extent of my gardening thus far. I don't want to take on too much and then end up overwhelmed and failing! So I thought about the items I really wanted. I wanted some Brandywine tomatoes, for sure. My friend Cassie grows them in her garden, and they are DIVINE! I don't even like tomatoes, really. I usually request them off sandwiches and things because I don't like them. But there's something so delicious and downright magical about a homegrown, fresh tomato. Last summer we had a BBQ at my house and Cassie brought her tomatoes. I normally have no tomatoes, but at that BBQ I had two thick slices. There was more tomato on my burger than anything else - bread and meat included! And it was scrumptious. I want that from my garden, too. So I plan to grow some of those. And I got the carrot seeds I mentioned in the last paragraph. I also plan to grown a zucchini or two, but I didn't buy seeds for those. What I did buy seeds for were these:

These are called Boothby's Blonde cucumbers. They on the small side, and supposedly have a thin skin and great flavor. I adore cucumbers. They are by far my favorite vegetable. I don't know what drew me to this particular type. They just looked interesting. I hope they're as delicious and crunchy as I picture them being! This year I'm also hoping to try my hand at pickle making for the first time. The catalog said these cucumbers are good for Bread & Butter Pickles. I usually only like dill pickles. I wonder if these would be okay as dills as well. Guess we'll see! But even if they're just cucumbers for munching on as-is, I look forward to it!

I bought this variety of cucumber especially for pickling. These are called Snow's Fancy Pickling cucumbers. The name says it all! They only get about five or six inches long, and are about an inch across. They're short and chubby, but are supposed to be really good as pickles. Here's hoping that's true! I'm quite excited to try making pickles at home. When I was a kid Grandma Effie used to make pickles at home all the time. She had a big crock that she kept in her pantry. I think she only made sweet pickles. You'd think with all those homemade sweet pickles around that I would have learned to like them, but I certainly did not. Sweet pickles are just wrong. Why have a sweet pickle when you can have a dill? DILL PICKLES 4EVAH!!

This last item isn't a vegetable, but it was still listed along with the vegetables in the seed catalog. So why not? This is a Blacktail Mountain watermelon. I chose this particular heirloom, organic variety of watermelon because it's described as having a reliable crop of melons with seedless, crunchy flesh. Watermelon is pretty much my favorite food, but it needs to be good watermelon. It's a tragedy when you cut into a watermelon and it's mushy or mealy. I like crisp melon. I also don't like fussing with seeds so much when I'm eating them. So this Blacktail watermelon sounded perfect. Cassie tried growing watermelon a couple years ago and said that it was too difficult and she didn't want to do it again. She said it was too hard to know when they're ripe. Too often she'd pick one, only to find it was green inside. Or it would be overripe and moldy. She never knew how to find the perfectly ripe ones. Despite her warnings, I really want to try to grow these. They were raised by a farmer in Idaho, where temps get down into the 40's even in the summer. Supposedly these still do well in hot climates, too. Here's hoping!

So, the seeds are on their way. Now to get the garden into shape so I can plant stuff there! We've been having some crazy wet weather, so the weeds are growing happily! At least with all the rain the ground will be nice and soft so we can pull out the last few stumps of things. I'll post some pictures of the progress!

Garden Plans: Flowers!

2010-01-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

I put in an order for some stuff from Seed Savers Exchange yesterday! I received several different seed catalogs, but I decided to go with Seed Savers because I want to support their mission of passing along heirloom seeds. Also, they're in Decorah, Iowa which is where my grandmother was born. Chances are good that I'm related to the fine folks running the main farm there. Not that it should make a difference in the grand scheme of things. But I still felt some affection for them, seeing they were in Decorah. So...yeah. Moving on.

I bought seeds for a few different varieties of flowers. I love flowers and our yard is sorely lacking in the color department, especially since my beloved Paraguay Nightshade (aka Potato Vine) was taken out by my in-laws during the Extreme Yard Makeover. So here are a few of the flower packets I purchased:

First, these Valentine sunflowers. My oldest son has wanted to grow sunflowers ever since we moved into our house. I think it's because at the end of my father's life, he always wanted a vase of fresh flowers in the house and sunflowers were some of his favorites. In fact, at the luncheon after his funeral my mom had sunflowers as the centerpieces. Anyway, sunflowers make us all think of my dad, so we'd like to grow some. I really liked this variety because of the pale, lemony yellow petals and also because they're on the smaller side. Valentine sunflowers are supposed to be really good for cutting and putting in a vase.

Next are these Seashell Cosmos. Daisies are my favorite flower, and cosmos, being so tall and colorful are one of my favorite varieties. Wait...cosmos are a variety of daisy, right? I'm actually not sure about that. Well, whatever, they look enough like daisies to me! These Seashell ones really appeal to me because I love the tubular petals! These flowers grow to be four or five feet tall, so I'm expecting them to be really impressive in the garden. The description in the seed catalog says they're really easy to grow from seed, so I'm really hoping that's true!

I also bought a packet of these Benary's Giant zinnias. When I was growing up, my babysitter Effie used to grow zinnias in a flower bed near her front door. They were a really tall flower. Probably just as tall as the cosmos I talked about in the last paragraph. They're beautiful and very colorful, and they make me think of Effie. They're also drought tolerant and resilient, which will be good for our climate. These are also supposed to be really good as cut flowers in a vase. Pretty!

These flowers are called Sweet Alyssum. I didn't even realize these flowers were cultivated until I was an adult. I thought they were a wildflower, because bunches of them volunteer and grow every year in my parents' backyard. I also thought they were always white, until a few purple ones sprouted one year. I was delighted to see this mix, with all different colors of flowers. I think they're lovely and sweet looking, and they remind me of childhood. So I bought some. In fact, I bought a package of 1000 seeds. I know, I know - it's a lot. But I plan to grow some at home, and then plant some at my parents' house, too.

Finally, I bought seeds for these Johnny-Jump-Ups. This is what I thought violets look like, but apparently these are violas. (Don't ask me the difference). Violas, according to the seed catalog, can be used as an edible garnish. That's a fun fact I'll tuck away. These flowers are tiny, but really colorful and pretty. They make me happy. I'm planning to grow these in containers, most likely. Maybe in a big hanging basket by my front door. I'm not sure.

So, those are my flower garden plans for this year! Tomorrow: vegetables!

Do I Really Want to Make Bread?

2010-01-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

There's this book called
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day that I have added and deleted from my Wish List several times over the course of the last year. I have mixed feelings about making my own bread. I have this really inspirational friend (hi, Cassie!) who makes all of her own bread for her family. I think that's awesome. And her bread is delicious. I've made bread a few times in my life, and it's even been edible! So, it's not a matter of IF I CAN make bread. It's a matter of whether or not I want to bother. Especially by following this book, which has you making bread almost every day. See, I don't really like bread. Well, that's not true. I like bread just fine. But at home? I don't really eat it unless I'm having a sandwich, which really isn't that often. We might go through a loaf of bread over the course of two to three weeks. (Which often means it gets moldy before we finish it). But it's rare that we eat more than that. Maybe we'd eat more bread if we had hot, homemade yumminess available. But do we really NEED to eat more bread? If we eat so little of it, would making my own be worth the trouble?

My mom has this cousin from Canada who comes down for a visit every year or so. When he comes, he always baked a ton of bread. And not just bread! He makes cinnamon rolls and muffins and all kinds of delicious things. It all gets eaten eventually. We usually freeze some of the bread/rolls for later. It's tasty, and it doesn't have all the scary artificial stuff that's in store bought bread. Shouldn't I want to provide that for my family? Homemade bread looks and smells so divine. It's the embodiment of home: warm, cozy, and comforting. I like the idea of that. But making bread just so your house smells good sounds silly. And eating a lot of bread just because making it sounds like a good idea doesn't make sense either.

I think that, for me and my family, homemade bread is going to be something that I'll do occasionally. But not every week. At least, not for now. Maybe as things change for us, I'll be inclined to bake more often.

A Rambling Post to Catch Up and Refocus

2010-01-21T10:45:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it's 2010. That number still sounds like some distant, futuristic year when we'll all be living like the Jetsons. (I'm waiting for my robot maid to arrive!) It's been several months since I last posted, so I figured it was high time to catch up and talk about my plans for the new year.

Last year, I had lots of big ideas for my garden, which never materialized. Though, with the help of my very kind, generous, and slightly insane in-laws we cleared lots of space in the yard where I will eventually plant things. My father-in-law and his wife came to San Diego to visit us in the sweltering heat of August. They spent most of their 3-week "vacation" working in our yard. They trimmed back trees, pulled out dead plants, removed a dying hedge, fixed our fence, got rid of a giant & useless trellis on the east side of our house, built a patio cover, and moved my future grape arbor to a new, sunny spot. Truly, it was an extreme makeover for the yard - and not one we could have possibly handled on our own in such a short period of time. There is still much I want to accomplish in the yard. For example, we still have retaining walls made of crumbling railroad ties that need to be replaced, and I need to beef up the raised beds with decent topsoil. But, overall, I have a blank canvas to work with at long last, and I am so grateful for all the work that was done for us.

In my quest to make more things by hand, I tried making a few of my Christmas gifts last year. I made scarves for several close friends and one for my fabulous sister-in-law. I had been to an employee craft show at work, and one woman was selling scarves she made out of cotton knit fabric. They were super soft like a t-shirt, but still very warm. I was in love! And I also knew I could easily make some myself. So I bought some fabric and got to work. I hand sewed the fringe as well. I was quite pleased with how they came out. It felt good to give a gift that I'd made myself, though I had my usual paranoia that the recipient would hate what I made. I want to try making something for people every year. I don't think I'm quite to the point where I want to give *only* handmade items. But maybe someday. This year for sure I plan to give some homemade preserves. Jams, jellies, syrups, sauces...I don't know what exactly, but I'm going to put those canning skills to use!

Speaking of canning, I was delighted to received a pressure canner for Christmas from my husband's mom, sister and brother-in-law. I can't wait to give it a try. I'm really hoping to make and jar up my own caramel sauce. I don't know why I'm fixated on caramel sauce, but that was one of my main motivations for getting the canner. That, and making pickles. I don't know if you can use a regular hot water bath type canner for pickles, but now I have both types! Hooray for home preserves!

Now that it's January, the seed catalogs are arriving in the mail and I'm looking through them daily, trying to decide what I want to grow in my fledgling garden. There are dozens of things I want to try, but there's no sense in trying to grow everything in my first year. I need to start small. I plan to start an herb garden, for one thing. Some rosemary (to replace my giant rosemary bush that we removed since it was so woody and overgrown), basil, cilantro and parsley. I think those are the main herbs I use in cooking. Maybe eventually I'll branch out and expand. Dill and oregano might be nice to have as well. I also want to try some watermelon, though I might try planting that at my mom's house where there's more sun. There are some nice cucumbers from Seed Savers Exchange that I want to try. Some carrots. Zucchini. Maybe that should be it for veggies. I'd like to try growing berries, but I'm not sure of the variety to choose or which ones grow best here. And I have a few different types of flowers I want to grow. Specifically some sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos and Johnny-Jump-Ups. Is that too many? Can I actually grow all this stuff and keep it alive? Will my water bill cripple us financially? Time will tell!

My husband and I are working toward getting healthier and more fit this year. With our dieting efforts, we've stopped eating out as much and are eating more at home. I enjoy cooking, though sometimes I run out of ideas that are practical from a time perspective. I've been really trying to incorporate more vegetables, and trying to be more aware of eating fruits/veggies that are in season. I'm also trying to cut back on the amount of meat we eat. I watched Food, Inc. a couple weekends ago. It was sobering to say the least. While I was under no delusions that the meat industry was a pretty picture, I didn't realize how bad it really was. The film wasn't just about the meat industry, it also talked about all types of foods. The cheap calories, the preservatives, the artificial junk. It really made me reconsider what I eat, and what I feed to my children. We could eat much better, both in terms of nutrition and in terms of the larger social/ethical issues surrounding food. It gave me a lot to think about. In fact, at first I felt sort of overwhelmed and hopeless. Like the problems are so gigantic, and there's so much to change. Where do I even start? But, much like doing right by the environment, it's all about willingness to change and taking steps in the right direction. Maybe I can't be a perfectly green vegetarian homesteader right now. Maybe I'll never be. But I can try to make better choices, even if they're small ones. Really, I think that's what this blog - what my ambitions - are all about: making progress.

Handkerchiefs

2009-10-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

I am so very susceptible to the power of suggestion.

Recently, I noticed a friend of mine had a lovely vintage handkerchief in her bag. She used it to dab some drool off her baby's chin, and so we (there was another friend there at the same time - I'm not using the royal "we") asked her where she got it and if she routinely used handkerchiefs. She said that she has several, and uses them all the time. And then this past weekend, when we were together to see a church broadcast from Utah, I noticed again that she had a pretty handkerchief that she used to hide her face when she got a case of inappropriate giggles during a very serious spiritual discussion.

Anyway, it made me think about how when I was a little girl, I remember my mom had a collection of hankies that she kept in the top drawer of her dresser. Some were floral, some were embroidered, some had scalloped edges. I thought they were neat. And I still think handkerchiefs are cool. They've got such a wonderful old time charm. And, from a green perspective, they're kinder to the earth than using Kleenex, right? Though obviously a handkerchief would be more for dabbing the occasional tear or sniffle and not for any major nose-blowing action. I'm all for saving the earth but I don't need cute little embroidered bundles of snot in my purse.

So, I've been scouting out vintage hankie auctions on eBay because now I have it in my head that I MUST own some handkerchiefs of my own. There are some really lovely little collections out there. And I'm shocked with how popular they are. I think that people cut them up and use them to make quilts and whatnot. I'm also hoping I can convince my mom to give me one of her hankies. She has this purple one with Can-Can girls on it. It must be mine.

Daffodils & other bulbs

2009-10-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

I've been receiving emails from various seed companies, telling me that now is the time to start thinking about planting bulbs for the Spring. For some reason, a lot of them are pushing tulips in particular. Now, don't get me wrong - I love tulips. And I'm considering getting this mix of bulbs, which has a fair number of tulips in it, for my side yard:Isn't it so happy and pretty looking? I love all the purples and blues. Anyway, I've always loved spring flowering bulbs. There's something kind of magical about seeing them bloom. It's quite literally watching nature wake up after a long winter's nap. I love it. So, now that I have a yard of my own and some decent time to plan and plant, I definitely want to put some bulbs in the ground. Specifically: I want to plant hundreds of daffodils.And, fortunately for me, you can get whole bushels of daffodil bulbs. Delightful!

I think my love of daffodils in part comes from loving the poem by Wordsworth. In the literary community, I've noticed, not everyone is crazy about Wordsworth. They say he's too verbose, too flowery, too cheesy. Whatever, haters. I LOVE WORDSWORTH AND I AM NOT ASHAMED.

Daffodils
By William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Daffodils are the embodiment of springtime joy. I love them. I love seeing them springing up in gardens. I love seeing them in flower arrangements. I just love daffodils! I'm a little nervous, though, that they won't be very happy in our warm San Diego weather. Daffodils like to freeze. And while I know it works, I don't particularly like storing bulbs in my refrigerator to "force" them. It just feels like cheating.

Backyard Grapes

2009-09-11T11:49:00.001-07:00

This weekend I'm hoping to go to the local nursery and purchase a couple of grape plants to put in the back yard. I've been wanting to plant grapes for a while, but I really wasn't sure when the best time to start them would be. Since I was talking with the Master Gardeners about my orange trees (see my previous post), I asked them about grapes at the same time. They said that right now it's still a little too hot to put new plants in the ground, but that I could buy them and keep them on the patio for a while and then plant them when it cools off a bit. Which works out well, since I need to work a bit on building up the soil in the area where the grapes will go. I plan to plant both green and red seedless grapes.

When we moved into out house, there was a wooden structure in the corner of the yard where the previous owner had a big wisteria growing. The wisteria was alive, but it never bloomed. And it was surrounded by lots of dead brush:We worked at cleaning up all the miscellaneous plants and dead things, and eventually that area of the yard looked like this:We have since moved this little arbor thing to a different area. We cut the legs, so it's now only about 5 1/2 feet tall (before it was more like 7 feet). I plan to put green grapes on one side, red on the other, and let them climb up over the top. According to what I've read, you're not supposed to let the plants bear fruit the first year. Instead you're supposed to carefully prune them to help them grow strong, thick vines. Actually, all the articles I read said that you're supposed to "ensure they grow thick, strong wood." But that phrase made my inner 12 year old giggle, so I'll just call them vines. Hee!

The Heartbreak of Woolly Whitefly

2009-09-11T11:16:00.001-07:00

Our orange tree is invested with woolly whitefly. It's disgusting and I hate it. This photo shows what woolly whitefly does to the leaves of the orange tree. I also have nasty photos of the white fluffy goop that's also globbed all over the green baby oranges. But those are especially yucky, so I thought I'd spare you. The amount of whitefly yuck seemed to come and go over time. I'm sure it probably has something to do with the season. But every time I would see an improvement I would think that the problem was going away. What can I say? I can be a master of denial sometimes. I'd heard that using a soap solution could take care of the problem. But what kind of soap was I supposed to use? And how was I supposed to apply it to the tree? How long would it take to work? I tried looking around online a bit, but finally just decided to ask the San Diego Master Gardeners.

Apparently, the woolly stuff is the egg casings from the whitefly larvae. There are lots of beneficial insects that prey on whitefly - but those beneficial insects are often chased off and/or killed by ants. There are tons of ants in our orange trees! Apparently, the whitefly suck sap (or whatever it is they eat) from the orange tree, and excrete this stuff called "honeydew." It has a lot of sugar in it that the whitefly get from the tree but cannot digest. The sugar attracts the ants. The ants kill the insects that eat whitefly. So the ant and whitefly have a good thing going, I guess. But I am determined to stop this vicious cycle. The Master Gardeners suggested I use ant bait to get the ants out of the tree. Then they told me the type of soap I needed (a special insecticidal type) and to use a garden sprayer to coat the tree and leaves with it. The soap will kill the whitefly, but won't harm most of the beneficial insects. They also said that it would be good to prune the tree first to open it up so that the soap would get to all the leaves. Because I work all week and can't get to the nursery to look for insecticidal soap, I just went to Amazon and purchased both the soap and a garden sprayer. They arrived a couple days ago, so I'm ready to get to work tomorrow! I'm hoping it will get rid of the whitefly problem and ensure lots of big, healthy oranges for us in the coming year.

Tumbling Composter

2009-09-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

I've had my eye on a tumbling compost bin for a while. I know that you don't really HAVE to get any special equipment to start composting. You just make a pile of stuff somewhere in the yard! But we have a smallish yard, and I was concerned about attracting pests (specifically rodents). So I liked the idea of having something enclosed. The Mister and I looked around at several compost bins both in stores and online. I was pleasantly surprised with how enthusiastic he was about getting a compost system started. So, ultimately we decided to purchase the Envirocycle Composter. It's a big drum which collects compost tea at the bottom. I think it's going to be perfect for our family. At least, I hope so! I think it's supposed to be delivered sometime today. Just in time for all the clippings from Saturday yard work!

Fruits of My Labor

2009-09-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

Back when they were just wee things fresh from the nursery, I said that if I could get just one single tomato from my tomato-growing efforts, I would consider it a success.Success was served on a bed of Romaine with some chopped cucumbers this week! If I'm being honest, the tomatoes were a bit on the bitter side. But you'd better believe I ate them all, and was mighty proud. The Mister looked at me like I was crazy when I was taking photos of my salad. Clearly, he doesn't understand blogging.

Some Thoughts on Convenience

2009-09-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

I work full time and I have three children. Two of those children are in school, and they both play sports. One of those children is also involved in Cub Scouts. We are all quite active in our church, and spend lots of time with extended family. I'm a one the board of directors for the soccer league. My husband is a league referee. Thus, like most families, we are very, very busy! Thank goodness I have a job that allows me to take breaks - sometimes that's the only "spare" time I have! Because I am so busy, convenience is a big deal for me. For example, I do most of my shopping online. I don't want to spend the time driving around to various stores looking for something, when I could easily find it with just a few keystrokes and then have it delivered to my door within a couple days. When my daughter needed a new soccer ball, and really wanted it to be pretty and yellow, I didn't bother going to any sports stores in town. I just went to Amazon. When I needed a gardening hat, I didn't bother looking around in local stores. I just found what I wanted online and had it delivered. It's convenient.

Convenience plays a part in the foods I eat, too. Stuff that's simple and easy to grab is usually favored over stuff that needs preparation. I'm more likely to grab a couple pieces of fruit leather from the pantry rather than put together a salad. And at night when I need to cook for my family, I'm no stranger to pasta from boxes or Rice-a-Roni. Because they're convenient.

And, really, convenience is a factor in my green efforts, too. It takes effort to change habits. It's not really always convenient to avoid plastic bags. Not always convenient to use the library rather than buy a book. Not always convenient to maintain a garden. Not always convenient to save your kitchen waste for composting. Definitely not convenient to make things from scratch.

After giving it some thought, I'm realizing that "convenience," in my case, has become an excuse for laziness. Yes, I'm a busy person. And sometimes I think that striving for convenience is justified (in other words, I refuse to stop shopping online). But, everyone in their own way is busy. It would be great if everything was easy. However, no one ever made any progress by staying firmly within their comfort zone.

Convenience has been my mantra for too long.

Tomato Progress & garden musings

2009-08-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

So, remember a while ago when my tomato plants looked like this?They've really grown! Well...they're not exactly huge. But there's been progress. Now they look like this:The one on the left has gotten bigger, but it looks like the bottom part is mostly wilted and dead. The middle one can't decide what it wants to do. I think maybe its pot is too small. It will get flowers, but nothing ever comes of them. I have the most tomatoes on the plant furthest to the right - the tallest one. This week I was delighted to find that a couple of the tomatoes are changing color. One of them is almost entirely red!As I've stated before, when I first started nurturing these plants, I honestly didn't really expect them to stay alive much less produce anything. I had zero confidence in my gardening abilities. Maybe I'll only have two or three tiny grape tomatoes as garnish on a salad, but I'll be mighty proud. You know I'll be taking a picture of that salad for the blog.

The other day when I was at work, I went by the coffee cart to buy a morning scone and they had a dahlia in a vase. Dahlias are such enormous and beautiful flowers!It really made me want to grow some in my own yard. There are several different types, and of course several colors as well. In the Burpee catalog, the big ones are called "dinner plate dahlias." And for good reason - they really are that big! It would be so great to have a bunch of them growing together. It would be an explosion of color in the garden!

In addition to the coffee cart dahlia, I've also been inspired by the flower beds in a few of the gardening blogs I read, like A Gardener in Progress. I've always wanted to plant a few flowers - namely sunflowers, daisies and cosmos - but now I'm thinking that maybe I should try out a few other types. I'm looking through some seed catalogs to get some ideas. They have a lot of variety packs of seeds. Maybe that's the way to go to see what works? I'm also thinking that maybe instead of trying to revive our sad front lawn, maybe I should just tear out most the grass and instead plant flowers and herbs.

So many big gardening ideas...so little time to actually make them happen. But I can dream!

Quilt Projects

2009-07-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Over the years, I've made several quilts. It started out with what I like to call anarchy quilting, because I didn't measure a darn thing. I just cut fabric into reasonably square-shaped pieces and sewed them together. I didn't care if it looked uneven - I thought it just added to the charm. One year when we decided to make a quilt for my mom for Mother's Day, my younger sister bought a rotary cutter so the squares would be even. After that, I always rotary cut my fabric. But I still was pretty sloppy when it came to putting quilts together. Then a couple years ago, my youngest sister was getting married and I decided I wanted to make a quilt for her. I wanted it to be extra special. An heirloom quilt, if you will. So I bought a pattern (my first one ever!) and set to work. It took me a long time, and I tried to do things by the book. I couldn't believe how much more work it was to make a quilt the right way! I also learned the hidden, ugly secret to good quilting: buttloads of ironing. IRONING! Like, more ironing than I've ever done in my life! But I have to say, I was mighty proud of the results.

My favorite part is the border. It took forever to sew all those little squares together, but it looked so great in the end. I was so proud of that thing. And thus began my semi-obsession with quilting.

Since then, I've made quilts for several other people. Including one Christmas when I went absolutely insane and made quilts for my mom, my two sisters, my sister-in-law, and two of my best friends. All within about a 3 or 4 month period! At least with most of those, I'd bought quilt kits so I didn't have to cut my own fabric. Still, it was a whole lotta work.

Lately, I've been wanting to start quilting again. I bought a couple new patterns, and I have another pattern book on my wish list. Here are some of the quilts I want to make. First, the snail trail quilt pattern. I love this pattern, especially done with all the bright batiks like in this photo. The swirly pattern is so pretty.

Next, the "crazy quilt" or string quilt. They're made of lots of different scraps sewn together, and it's a great way to use up extra fabric - especially those awkward left over bits you don't know what to do with, but don't want to throw away. I just love these type of quilts.I've made many of these quilts before (almost all of the Christmas quilts I made that one year were string quilts, since I love them so). But never with this particular configuration. I really like that inner border. I'd like to make one like this to go in my living room. All in blues and browns to tie the color scheme together.

I also want to learn to make these puzzle quilts. I think they might require a foundation piece, though, which doesn't thrill me. But it might be worth the hassle to make something so cute.

Here's a photo from a quilt kit I recently bought on eBay. I decided that I wanted a Christmas quilt of my own, and I thought this one looked pretty. I like the little triangle border. (I'm a big fan of flashy border pieces!)I like that it's a scrappy quilt. I like the look of a lot of different fabrics together. I also love quilt kits because all the pieces are pre-cut and measured for you. It's just a matter of putting it all together! In theory that should make it quick and easy...but it still takes forever. (Because of the ironing involved!)

The problem now, of course, is finding the time to complete all these projects. I can barely find time to hang picture frames on my blank walls, much less spend hours hunched over at the sewing machine. I have a huge plastic tub in my garage that's full of quilt tops and fabric from the many ambitious sewing projects I've tried to undertake over the last couple years. But it's not like you see a bunch of pretty, completed quilts around my house! So...yeah. I get big ideas, and generally don't have the time/motivation to complete them. Kind of reminds me of my dieting efforts, come to think of it.

Buca's Lemon Chicken

2009-07-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

One of my all-time favorite restaurants is Buca di Beppo. We stumbled on this restaurant while on vacation with my family. We were at Universal Studios, and my sister who is a very picky eater wanted Italian food. So we tried Buca, not having ever heard of it before (even though it's a national chain). We loved their family style dining and fun atmosphere. But what we especially loved was the Chicken with Lemon. It has this buttery lemon sauce that's simply to die for. And I'd looked around for a recipe for quite some time, never finding one that quite duplicated the original. I even tried writing to Buca's corporate office to see if I could weasel the recipe out of them. No luck.

But, the internet is a wild and wonderful place. You can find almost anything if you're willing to look hard enough. Fortunately, I didn't really have to look very hard this last time. Apparently others out there were looking for the same recipe, found it, and then wanted to share. And now I'm paying it forward. Because this recipe? Awwwwwesome.

I made this with fresh lemons from my tree. I didn't have capers on hand, and my family usually doesn't like them anyway. Since the recipe is for 2 servings, I doubled everything. Actually, I cooked 6 chicken breasts. It worked well. Plenty of sauce. A word to the wise: if you're like me and love lemons, you might be tempted to put some extra lemon in there. Don't go overboard. The recipe is good as-is. If you add too much extra lemon, it gets really tart. I still liked it, but the wee ones in my family did not.

Happy cooking!

Buca's Chicken with Lemon

2 x boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 oz ea) pounded to 1/2 inch
Salt to taste
1 cup flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
4 large lemons
1/2 stk unsalted butter softened
A small handful drained capers

Cut three lemons in half and use for fresh lemon juice. Cut the last lemon into wedges for garnish.

Begin to heat the olive oil in a 12-inch saute pan on medium-high heat. While oil is getting hot, lightly season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt. Lightly dust the chicken breasts in the flour. Shake off excess flour. Place chicken in the saute pan.

When the chicken is golden brown, turn over and brown the other side as well. It is important to brown both sides to insure the chicken is completely cooked through. When both sides are nice and brown, add white wine and lemon juice. Continue to cook for approximately two to three minutes. The liquid should reduce approximately half.
Once the liquid is reduced, remove the chicken breasts from the pan and turn off heat.

Finish the sauce by placing the softened butter in the pan. Using rubber spatula, work the butter into the sauce as it melts. Pour sauce directly on top of chicken breasts. Garnish with capers and lemon wedges.

This recipe yields 2 servings.

Signs of Life!

2009-07-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I posted about how I thought I'd killed my rose bush when I moved it from its previous location into a large plastic container. We're planning to overhaul the area where the rose was previously growing, and I wanted to move it before we reached the true dog days of summer. Of course, when I did that all the leaves and rose buds withered and eventually died. I was sure there was no hope for the rose. But I kept dutifully watering it, and my sister-in-law (who is no slouch in the gardening department) gave me a few tips. She suggested I actually strip all the dead and dying leaves off the plant. I thought this was a bad idea, but I knew that I was a novice when it came to growing roses. So I trusted her advice. The bare rose looked pretty sad. Here's a photo I took today:I took the photo to show how sad it was without leaves. But, much to my surprise - there's new growth! It's coming back!! I'm so excited! I didn't kill it after all!
And, even more exciting - there are actual tomatoes on my tomato plants! They're very small, and very green. But they're real tomatoes! I've grown something! Success!! Here's s photo of my one, single cherry tomato:Here is a photo of my unlabeled tomato plant. I have no idea what kind it is - just that it's the tallest one of the bunch. And there are a ton of wee tomatoes on it. So exciting!!I've been thinking a lot lately about how I put off planting anything this season because I wanted to spend some more time getting the garden ready. I think I missed an opportunity. I could have easily grown a single zucchini plant in a container. One zucchini plant would grow plenty for our family (since I'm the only one who's really crazy about them...everyone else just sort of tolerates them when I add them to dishes). I could have tried cucumbers, onions, beans, herbs...I really should have done more with containers! So, this winter - whether I have a proper gardening area or not, I'm planting some stuff. This is my resolve!

Paraguay Nightshade

2009-07-28T15:18:00.001-07:00

When I was a little girl, both my parents worked full time so I went to a home daycare. Of course, back then they weren't called day cares. She was Grandma Effie, and as far as I was concerned, I was part of her family. I was closer to her than I ever was with my actual grandmothers, who both lived in Minnesota. So most of my happy, grandma-related memories were of Effie. Who, technically speaking, was simply a lady who made her living by babysitting me all day. But she was very, very dear to me. Actually, saying that feels like a gross understatement. She died when I was 16. The grief of that loss will never leave me. Anyway, at her house, I remember she had this tree. I always thought it was so lovely. The branches were thin and willowy, and the tree had these beautiful purple flowers with yellow centers. When we bought our house last year, I was pleased to see the same type of tree growing on the East side of the front yard. They're pretty, and they make me think of Effie. So I adore them.

I did a rather extensive Internet search today trying to figure out what they're called. Do you know how hard it is to identify a plant when all you can type in the search bar is "purple flowering tree?" I looked at a bunch of pictures, figuring that would be the best way to zero in on what I needed. I love the Internet so much, you guys - because of course I found it. Apparently, it goes by several names: Blue Potato Bush, Paraguay Nightshade, Blue Lycianthes, Royal Robe, or Lycianthes rantonnetii. I think the ones that I see around here in San Diego are probably Blue Potato Bush. But I prefer Paraguay Nightshade. It sounds sexy, doesn't it? Nightshade makes me think of a character from Something Wicked This Way Comes. I loved that book! Um...where was I?

Oh, yes. My Paraguay Nightshade. Right now, it is situated at the southwest corner of my house. It's kind of tucked into the corner where our fence begins. Sort of on the back side of where our chimney is located. Sure, you can see it from the front of the house, but it's kind of part of the backdrop. I want it to be more of a feature in the yard. So, I have this idea of moving it into the front yard. Maybe building a little raised bed for it. Like with a circle of these type of blocks:I think it would look nice, don't you? The tree right now leans over because it was planted close to the house, and was never staked or anything to grow straight. If I move it and put a raised bed around it, maybe I can reposition it so that it's straight? Or straighter, at least? The thing is...I have no idea how to move a tree. How far down would I have to dig? What kind of roots does it have? A big rot ball? Or lots of spindly things going all over the place? I need to do some research, and maybe contact the Master Gardeners for advice. Here's hoping it will all work out. I love that tree!

Feathered Friends

2009-06-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

We have a little arbor thing in the back yard that one day I hope will be a grape arbor. For now, it's just a wooden structure without any real purpose. I decided to hand a bird feeder there. I thought it would make a nice addition to the yard, and the kids were excited to see how many birds actually came around. It took a few days before any birds noticed there was food to be had. But they figured it out! When I first filled the feeder, it took about a week for them to empty it. Now it takes about 24 hours. There are several feathered friends who visit every day. My favorite are these birds with red chests. I don't know what type they are. My sister in law said they're probably finches.
It's neat to wake up in the morning hearing songbirds outside the window. I like welcoming the birds, though I must admit they're pretty messy. We have seed all over the place. Good thing we haven't planted anything over there. No water means no seeds are germinating. I heard that if you microwave the seed before putting it in the feeder it will prevent it from sprouting. But something in me feels like that's almost genetically altering the seeds for my convenience. How does microwaving the seeds affect the birds? So, I just let them make a mess for now. My tune will change once I get around to planting stuff.

A Few Things Growing in my Garden

2009-06-27T22:50:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, my son came home from his weekly Cub Scout meeting with some potted plants. These were the first plants we were going to introduce to our garden, so I really wanted to take care of them. He came home with one pot of marigolds, and three tomato plants. The tomato plants were still in the plastic containers you get at the nursery. Not in proper pots/containers. But they seemed to be doing fine. We watered them and made sure they got plenty of sun.

The flowers on the marigolds shriveled after a few days, and my son was sure that this meant the plant had died. I explained that it was just the flowers that had died, and that more would come if we took care of the plant. So we kept watering. Now the new flowers have bloomed, and it seems to be thriving.Here are the three tomato plants. We transplanted them into these pots because I'm concerned the soil in this area is too sandy. Plus, we're going to be starting some projects back there (like the new retaining wall that I mentioned previously), and I wanted to be able to move the plants if needed. The three different plants are cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and one that wasn't labeled. They seem to be doing okay, but not many flowers on them. And no sign of any tomatoes. I figure if they're still green and growing, there's still time.
Even if we only get a couple small tomatoes to put on top of a salad, I'll consider it success!

My dear friend Cassie says she has cucumber plants and melon plants to give me. She had too many starts to put in the ground. I'm excited to take them off her hands, but I have no idea where to actually plant them. Or if I can keep them alive. I don't have much confidence in my gardening abilities. But we'll see!

I Think I Killed My Roses

2009-06-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

When we bought this house, there was a weird little rosebush in the back yard. Actually, I shouldn't call it "little" because it was just as tall as I am. But I definitely think it's reasonable to say it was a weird rosebush because it was one single shoot. You know how there are usually several canes on a rosebush? This one was like one single stalk with a ball of leaves and flowers at the top. But it bloomed with these gorgeous pink flowers:It was growing in kind of a strange spot in the garden, right in front of a makeshift retaining wall that was made from railroad ties. The railroad ties were all rotten and ugly, and the one just behind the rosebush finally gave way. So there was a bit of a dirt avalanche. I figured it would be a good time to move the rosebush to a different location. Both to showcase it properly, and also to get it out of the way since we plan to rebuild the wall very soon.

I have never grown roses before and had no idea how to go about digging one up. Does it have deep roots? Wide ones? Are they really sensitive? I consulted with my sister-in-law who has several gorgeous thriving rosebushes in her garden. She gave me some tips AND a container to put the rosebush into while we decide where its final home will be. So I felt like things would be okay. I dug around the rosebush and found two large roots. One I dug up without difficultly. The other was going at an angle sort of up and into the retaining wall. I did the best I could, trying to ease it out of there. But I still snapped off the last 4 or 5 inches of root. I worried about what this would do to the plant. I filled the container with dirt and gave it a good soaking. Then I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

The next day I went out to look at the rose, and found that all the newish growth (including, sadly, two new canes that were forming at the bottom of the plant) were all drooping. The plant did not look happy. I keep hoping that maybe it's just the initial trauma of moving the plant, but I don't know. I'm so sad to see all the new rosebuds dying.

I hope it comes back. I know I'm new to gardening, so I expect some mistakes. But I still hate to see plants die in my care. Think there's any chance those rosebuds could still make it?

Jam Session

2009-06-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my friends taught me how to make jam. I'd wanted to learn for a long time, but was very intimidated. Mostly, I was afraid of boutilism poisoning. I'd read these horror stories about not having properly prepared jars, and I was just sure I'd end up messing things up and killing my loved ones. But once I was shown how it was done - and how you basically boil the jars after filling to kill any nasty bacteria that might be lurking in there - I said good-bye to my fears. And hello to some of the most delicious jam I've ever had.

I don't really remember having homemade jam around the house growing up. It wasn't something my mom made. And, to be honest, I don't normally eat a lot of jam. Maybe on the occasional piece of toast or in a PB&J. That's about it. So I thought there was no way I'd ever get to the end of my 12 half-pints of strawberry jam. I gave a few jars away to family members, but kept most for myself. And, amazingly enough, we went through it all within about 6 weeks! I found that I'd seek out reasons to eat jam. I had it on pancakes, on ice cream, and on cheesecake. It was so delicious! And when we ran out (actually, we're almost to the end of the last jar...not quite finished), I knew I needed to make some more.

The past two nights, I've made jam. On my own! No friends to guide me. I made one batch of triple berry jam (raspberries, strawberries and blackberries), one mixed berry (raspberry & blackberry), and one of plain raspberries. I felt such a wonderful sense of accomplishment. And the jam is simply delicious. Especially the mixed berry. Here is what the jam looked like as it was cooking. Isn't it the most beautiful ruby red color? The mixed berry was my favorite. With that batch, I filled the jars and found I had just a bit left over. Not enough to fill a jar. So I put it into a small bowl and stuck it in the fridge. The next morning I tasted it, and it was so good I ended up eating it out of the bowl with a spoon. So delicious and sweet! And it set nicely, too. Not as runny as my strawberry jam had been.So, the kitchen smells of berries and my jam cupboard is full! My dear friend Cassie has access to an apricot tree and I'm hoping to maybe get my hands on some for jamming purposes. I also got a book about homemade preserves from the Ball Canning Company. It has lots of cool recipes. It gets me thinking about all the many things I could make and then preserve. Spaghetti sauce and salsa sound especially good to me. There's even a recipe for a lemonade concentrate!

I feel like I'm learning a really valuable skill. Delicious food with no scary preservatives or chemicals. Next, I'm going to attempt to make yogurt. This great blog I found (Old School) has a recipe for making yogurt from powdered milk. I definitely want to try it. I also want to start making more bread at home. But one thing at a time.

Home Improvement Projects

2009-06-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

We've lived in our house for almost a year now. I can't believe how the time has flown by. When we moved in, I had these big plans for the yard. I still have those big plans, but now they are tempered by a more realistic idea of how long it takes to get yard work done. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever get it all accomplished. Will I ever have the garden of my dreams?

I guess our improvement projects are going to get a little bit of momentum soon, because my father-in-law is driving down from Idaho later this summer. He and his wife plan to "help" in our yard during their 2 to 3 week visit. They asked for photos of our yard, and what we wanted done. Of course, I have a laundry list of things I want done - not one discreet project. So I discussed that with them. Now I feel like their plans to "help" are spinning a little out of control. Like they really plan to take the reins on things. They've even talked to my sister-in-law, Wendy, about what we should do with our yard. And what she'd do if it were her yard. Wendy has a really beautiful yard, and I know that she took a lot of time to meticulously plan things. But I also know that what she wants in a yard/garden and what I want are very different. She and I have some different priorities. So I don't really think that she needs to be the consultant on this. Not that I'm really in a position to complain, right? Someone is willing - and actually WANTS - to come help me with manual labor. I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, right? And yet, I feel a little defensive and wary when my father-in-law emails me about the yard. I'm not sure I'm going to like how this all pans out.

Things I Want Accomplished in our Yard:

Rebuild the unstable sections of fencing on the west side
Replace the fallen gate on the west side
Remove weird trellis/mister thing from the west side
Rebuild retaining wall on east side with bricks/blocks
Remove existing plans (everything except the orange and lemon trees)
Build raised bed for planting (with a brick/block border)
Level the yard
Replace dead/dying grass with sod, or reseed
New sprinklers for the front yard

Things I Want to Plant Once the Yard is in Shape:

Grapes (both green and red seedless)
An apple tree
Blackberries
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Garlic
Onions
Carrots
Zucccini
Herbs (esp. Basil, Rosemary, Parsley & Cilantro)
Watermelon
Lavender
Assorted flowers (esp. sunflowers & cosmos)

Blessed Are the Cheesemakers

2009-06-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we decided we were going to learn to make our own cheese. This is part of what I hope will be kind of a series of learning experiments. They taught me how to make jam a few months ago when we had a bunch of strawberries on hand. This time cheese! We were inspired by a few passages in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that talk about cheesemaking. We followed Barbara Kingsolver's advice and got a cheesemaking kit from cheesemaking.com, gathered our ingredients and got to work.The cheesemaking kit that made things relatively simple. There was a booklet (with hilarious illustrations, like the goat in a graduation cap & gown) with recipes. We chose 30 minute mozzarella. It seemed straightforward enough. You start with a gallon of milk, add some citric acid and some rennet (a cheesemaking enzyme), separate curds from whey and voila! Cheese! So, we begin! Here we are warming the milk to a cozy 90 degrees. So far so good!
In this photo, the curds are starting to separate from the whey. We were instructed to slice the top curd into little cubes. (Insert your own "cut the cheese" joke here).
Now the mixture is sort of like soupy, lumpy yogurt. Are we really going to get cheese from this stuff? At this point, I have to admit I was having my doubts. Also, might I add, this is the point where the cheese-to-be started smelling less than appetizing.
In this photo the cheese had progressed to a new level. See what it looks like? It smells the same way.
Here the cheese has reached the point where we separated out the curds with a slotted spoon. It's ready for the next phase! We poured most of the mixture through some cheesecloth (who knew?) to separate everything. I wasn't sorry to see the whey go down the drain. One friend pointed out that some folks like to use whey when they make pizza dough. She even initially was trying to save it. But there was quite a bit of whey - more than we initially thought. So she let most of it go down the drain. We might save it next time.

After separating the curds, we had to heat them in the microwave a couple times, and then pull them like taffy. The recipe book suggested wearing rubber gloves to protect you from the heat. The ones we wore (I'm not sure if these came in the kit or not) were more like surgical gloves and didn't protect us from the heat at all. And, unfortunately, using the gloves made our cheese taste like latex. Disappointing.
Here is the finished product - our cheese blob. It was so cool seeing how it changed from lumpy curds to smooth, shiny cheese.After this point, we rolled them into string cheese type logs, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and chilled them in a bowl of ice water. This helped the cheese set up nicely.
Here, Cassie tries the finished product. She looks happy, but after we took this photo she stated rather adamantly that she would not eat the latex flavored cheese and threw hers away. Can't say I blame her.
So, for our first try, I think it went rather well. I mean, other than the fact the cheese wasn't exactly palatable. It was still cool to go through the process and see everything come together! We'll definitely try it again sometime in the near future.

This experiment with cheese also made me think of the times in the past when I made my own yogurt. I'd read about how to do it in a magazine or book, though I can't really remember which one. It's a fairly simple process, and I used a crock pot set on "warm" to keep the yogurt at a good temperature while it did its thing. It's been a long time since I've made some, but I think I'll have to start again. Baby steps toward sustainability and self-sufficiency!

Now if only I could get my garden started...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

2009-04-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

At the end of last year, during my brief stint in a book club, I had the pleasure of reading Barbara Kingsolver's fab book
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a Year of Food Life. The book chronicles Kingsolver's attempt to raise and eat only foods that she and her family raised themselves, or were locally grown. In addition, it also talks about the farming industry, the commercialization of food, where our food comes from, the resources that are used to get it to markets, and the nutritional ramifications of food commerce. It really gave me a lot to think about. It made me take a long hard look at my relationship with food, and how much I take for granted.

The book points out how fruits and vegetables being available at the grocery store year-round has made us all lose touch with our agricultural roots (no pun intended). Which is totally true. Sure, I know that oranges are in season in the middle of winter (since we have our own trees), and that Fall is typically "harvest time." But I had no idea when, say, onions should be planted or harvested. I honestly didn't have any idea. I am a typical big city American consumer. Totally out of touch with how nature works, except in the modern, commercialized way. That's not how it should be.

The first chapter of the book talks about asparagus. Now, I've seen asparagus throughout my life. I knew what it looked like, even though I admit I didn't actually eat it regularly until I was an adult. But until I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I really didn't know much about asparagus. I didn't know that the asparagus we see in grocery stores, the stuff we actually eat, is just ONE DAY'S GROWTH. It's the first little sprout that comes up out of the ground. Asparagus has to be harvested every day. Or else the little triangular bits at the top of the spear start to become little branches. Asparagus, if it's left alone, becomes a lovely ferny little tree with red berries on it. I literally had no idea. I also didn't know that asparagus is really an investment, at least in terms of time. You have to leave asparagus alone for three years after it's planted. You cannot harvest it, because the plant will get depressed and die. It needs time to grow and become well established. Even after it's well established, it's recommended that you only harvest asparagus for a few weeks. Then you need to leave the plant alone to do its thing. It needs to become the ferny thing in order to be happy and thrive. Three years of tending to asparagus before you get anything edible out of it. Now that's dedication!

I admit I'm out of touch with gardening and the concept of food "seasons." In the book, Barbara Kingsolver has a picture of something she calls The Vegetannual. It's an illustration that basically depicts a hypothetical plant that provides all plant foods, from roots to fruits, in sequence. First it puts out fresh leaves, then flowers, then seeds and fruits; in the fall, it plumps up the bigger fruits and stores sugars in its roots for winter. So the first vegetables in the spring will be greens - lettuce, kale, etc - herbs, and garlic; followed by the early stems such as rhubarb, asparagus, and green onions. Then come the "flowers," which include head lettuces, broccoli, and cauliflower. Mid-summer, the seeds and fruits will show up: peas, green beans, raspberries and strawberries, summer squash, tomatoes, cucumbers. Late summer brings the bigger fruits, such as melons, peppers, and corn. Fall is the time for apples, winter squashes, pumpkins, and the tubers such as potatoes and yams. Of course, I'm sure there are adjustments for Southern California weather. But those are the Vegetannal basics.

The main thing I took from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is that food has an ethical component to it that I had never really considered. In summer, the oranges are the grocery store are flown in from Australia. Think of all the money and resources it takes to get them here. And, sadly, think of how foods are now raised - often genetically engineered - not so much to have excellent taste, but just to look good at the market and to endure the shipping process. What is that doing to us from a nutritional standpoint? And from a global standpoint? As I endeavor to be have a "greener" lifestyle, I have to consider these things. So, I am trying to eat foods that are in season. I'm trying to start my own garden. And I'm trying to buy more locally rasied foods. These are small changes. But I think they're steps in the right direction!

Ready, Set, GROW!

2009-04-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

All my life, I have been fascinated with gardens. Back when I was a kid (when dinosaurs still roamed the earth), there was this segment on Sesame Street with a song about gardening. And it showed a family all going into the garden to plant and work. I still remember the words to the song and everything: "Come into the garden, it's the early month of May. Come into the garden. If you come, you'll want to stay. Keep the bunnies from the lettuce, keep the crows from the corn. You've got to work hard when you work on a farm..." Anyway, I just loved the idea of growing things. I also got it into my head that the only time to successfully plant anything was in May, but that's another story. I had several failed attempts at gardening over the years. I just didn't know anything about how it's done. I thought you just put seeds in the ground, watered them, and maybe pulled a few weeds. I still don't know much more than that, to tell you the truth.

But this year, I have big plans! I have a yard of my own, and while it's not very big, I know it's big enough to grow at least a few things. We have a lot of old plants to remove first, and a fence to build. So, even though it's not like I'm ready to put seeds in the ground, I'm starting to formulate my plans.

First order of business (aside from cleaning the yard and building cute raised beds) is to get an idea of what I'd like to grow. I have a number of different vegetables I'd like to grow, like carrots, spinach, asparagus, cucumbers, tomatoes, maybe celery - though obviously they're not all in season at the same time. And I don't even know if they all will grow in SoCal or not! Since I'm entirely new to gardening, I'm going to try out the square foot method:Square foot gardening has been recommended as a good way for beginning gardeners to figure out how things work. I don't know if that's true. But I'm going to give it a try!

In addition to vegetables, I really want to grow some of my own herbs. I already have a lovely rosemary bush in the back yard, and I love going out and clipping fresh rosemary to use in my cooking. I made this goat cheese and rosemary omelet for breakfast one day. Seriously - SO good, I almost wanted to cry. In addition to the rosemary, I'd really like to have some basil, dill, cilantro, and parsley. I'd be okay if I just grew some basil my first year. Loves me some basil. I also love how there are strawberry plants used as a border in that herb garden photo. I wouldn't mind having some berries, myself.

The garden isn't going to all be about food, though. I also really want to have some flowers. I love the idea of having a vase on my table with fresh flowers from the garden. My mom's next door neighbor has sweet peas growing along the fence line, and several times she bought over big bouquets of them for us (since they had to be cut regularly in order to keep growing). They smelled lovely and were so pretty. I want a piece of that action. I also love the look of having flowers in containers. I have this really clear memory of driving downtown to a meeting one time, and we passed this house that was kind of run down and shabby looking. But all around the front door were these different kinds of pots overflowing with brightly colored flowers. It was so pretty, I wished I could have had a picture of it. I love the idea of having a bunch of bright flowers outside my door like that. So, add flowers to the list of my "green ambitions."

The challenge now? To learn how to make it happen, and then to find the time to make it happen. Neither one will be very quick and easy, but ultimately rewarding if it pans out. I have a friends who are gardeners who can give me tips, and there are community classes as well. Stay tuned for my progress!