one garden evening late in May

hens and chicks from the neighbor

the oaks are leafing out very slowly

but not the maples

weedy patch of earth taken over by the fairies

strawberries by the raised beds

this oak has leafed

four year old seed from the fridge does sometimes work (lettuce and peas)

self-seeded columbine

prairie smoke

pussy toes

the tree people said the hackberry is "the new elm" ... we like it, but it grows helter-skelter

unearthed a green beetle whilst I looked for big bluestem I thought I'd planted

ginko leaves burst

the girls have to catch the beetle, in their p.j.'s.  (he got away.)

Feeling more like myself, though Jeff and I are still foggy and tired.  (What a strange spring sickness.)  Girls are still bright and healthy, thank goodness.  We're prepping for the start of a busy summer, already booked here and there through mid-July.  Hurrah?  Yes... hurrah;  it will be good.

This past week has been a parade of window and drywall guys coming through for quotes then measurements.  The upstairs porch will be progressing!  (But poor Jeff has a lot of work to do before windows and drywall.)  This is such a funny old house, but we fit well here among the creaking floors and wavy windows. 

(Off soon to new adventures!)

a small fence, and a lot of tomatoes.

(before:)

We have been thoroughly enjoying our new backyard area.  Above, "before,"  you see where Jeff removed the last of the original sidewalk that used to go all the way from the back to the front of the house on the south side, about 3-4 feet away from the foundation.  When we moved in, the small garden area was filled with hostas (in the bright sun) and a couple sad roses and peonies.  The peonies are finally back in a good location on the south side of the new fence after being elsewhere in the meanwhile, and I've had such fun filling in the new east-facing garden space.  This area never seemed to grow well, from the tulips I planted the year we moved in, to the various "part-shade" plants that followed.  Now the plants seem to be matched to the area, thanks to the local garden center.

Sitting outside on a Sunday afternoon, listening to the fountain and windchimes, (and *not* viewing whatever crazy is going on over there at the apartment parking lot), has been so lovely.  Who knew a 6 x 13' section of fence would make me so happy?  Next on the outdoor to-do list is new back steps which will also leading to a patio there on the north side.  This may or may not happen next spring, as we're also currently, slowly, remodelling the upstairs back porch.  I do really love this old house.

We, the dog, and the garden all made it through the past week of heat and humidity.  We're breaking from new garden work for the season, just maintenance for now, and we'll simply see how things do over the winter.  There's enough to do with keeping the new bushes and perennials alive, weeding the raised-bed tomatoes, and keeping the pumpkin from talking over the world.  Sooner than later tomatoes and apples will need processing, but I don't want to think that far ahead.  Fun of the travelling kind is coming up soon, and there's plans and reservations and packing (and a head cold for me to fight).  The weeks move so fast in summer.

this week in the garden (June 1)

After having a lovely time with family (hi Cary!) and waiting out the rain, we went out into the chilly late afternoon and did some garden work.  This has been such a cold and cloudy spring (and still is) for planting, but I was sick of the sad little tomato and pepper starts in their sad tray, so we planted everything out and will hope for the best.  Those sad peppers, not even longer than Gret's finger.  A bunny's going to come by and snap 'em off in a second, but all we can do is try!  (The ground's still so cold, that if and when that does happen, we'll just hit the nursery for more -larger- seedlings and they'll do better than these will anyway.)

~ Didn't get everything in, these are the girls' thyme and marigolds, plus some miscellany.
~ The walk to the side (south) garden, our smaller raspberry patch on the left.  We had bugs/worms in the raspberries last year, so chopped to the ground they went, and Jeff dug out the (unliked) white raspberries at the same time.  No spring berries this year, but also hopefully the berries won't have worms (eh, more protein, I say).
~  Eight sad tomatoes and one nice healthy (from the co-op) cherry tomato plant in one raised bed, then
~ more sad tomatoes, very tiny green peppers, and a nice pumpkin which we'll trail over the edge of the raised bed to the empty spaces adjacent to it, in the other bed.
~  Harebells growing under my mushroom
~  Ash and red oak reflected in the bird bath (which the robins frequent)
~  A sunny area for herbs is near the compost bin;  I didn't know tarragon was a perennial!
~  Finally getting around to taking the remainder of the sidewalk out.  This walk used to go all the way around the south side of the house, and the dirt on one side and grass on the other was taking over.  The walk becomes a pool in the rain, and prevents us having proper drainage from the house, so this is the last bit to go.  I'll be moving all these plants so Jeff can regrade at some point, but I'm looking forward to it, as these beds have always been odd.

Still more garden ideas brewing as Spring moves along to Summer!

one photo, one thought

A project while I was gone for a few hours;  they even saved (and cleaned!) the seeds to cook.  Gret's been eating the seeds for days now.

End of the summer basil.

Before the hardest of frosts, we picked the rest of the basil.  It had been nipped a bit, some stems a dingy dead brown, but most was fine.  My helper picked leaves from stems, and I only had to pull out a couple tree leaves from the bowl (before it went to the food processor, fortunately).

In the past, I've had a little problem with pine nuts.  Did you know there's a condition where eating pine nuts can cause a metallic taste in ones mouth everytime something is eaten, for up to weeks after eating the pine nuts?!  Having had it a few years ago, I know this problem quite well and am loath to repeat it.  Imagine metallic-tasting everything:  cereal, tea, coffee, pasta, meat, ice cream... every thing you put in your mouth makes a bitter, metallic taste.   (Similar to tap water in Michigan!  ha!)  Anyway, I know there are pesto recipes with different nuts, but that would have meant shopping for nuts and the basil, parmesean, and olive oil were sitting right there on my counter.
This recipe turned out great!  Pesto without nuts

Although I didn't have nuts for pesto, I did happen to have all the ingredients to make different pesto with my Thai basil:  Asian Basil Pesto 
Nothing compares to Thai basil when you need basil for Asian recipes.  I always throw some in stir fries or fried rice.  This pesto recipe I froze in an ice cube tray, but the oil must keep it from freezing solid, because days later it is still a bit soft.

I like to over-winter the basil plants inside, digging them out and potting them, but they'd already started to freeze, and they truly aren't particularly happy being houseplants in Minnesota, with our 8 hours of (weak) daylight in the winter.  (I'm already starting to wear a reflective jacket to walk the dog in the morning:  sad.)

The regular basil was lovely with a package of cheese ravioli...hmmm, what else to add it to?!

one photo, one thought

must must remember this in February, when we've been eating frozen (both me and the food) for months.

what *eees* it?

(you have to say that title in your best "Ren and Stimpy" voice.)

(and yes, I was a teen in the 90's, why do you ask?)

So I didn't know what to do with the kale in the CSA, ran across an intriguing recipe, used up all the kale, and took some blurry photos for you... in that order.  They were salty and oily and crispy and... kale-y.  And addicting and good.  And no, I don't really care for kale, either.

Tonight we're having this (but a kale/chard mix). ..continuing in our CSA-finding-new-recipes theme.

So if unusual leafy things find their way into your kitchen, I recommend cheese sauce, oil, and salt.  Not necessarily together, but that probably works too.

Hey, I never claimed doing a CSA would equal low-calorie meals, but we're certainly eating a wider variety of organic fresh veggies!  Now, off to grate zucchini to freeze for chocolate chip zucchini bread come winter... (is there any other way to eat zucchini?!  wait... don't answer that, 'cause I won't listen...)

(but I didn't eat the flowers, though I'm sure I could have.)

I love CSA salad night.

(the night we get the share, we eat the biggest salad we can for supper... so good..  This is the first of my 2 helpings.)

During dinner, while Dad was at consistory, we had lovely discussions about the weeds I was eating.  Yes, literally:  very tasty dandelion greens were in this week - yum!  Little gret tried them, Kaatje, of course, not.

I've heard Americans don't have a taste for bitter like other countries develop in their cooking.  I've heard we automatically think "bitter = yuck", because everything here is so over-sweetened. ...but I'm developing a love for the spicy-bitter taste, arugula (rocket, for the Brits) and the other sharp leaves are just so good!  (in small quantities!)

It might be rainy and 50 outside, and I might be so tired of wearing long pants and long sleeves I could scream, but we're all So Excited for that ever-changing weekly box the next 3 or more months!  I'm sure you'll see much more as the weeks go by.

red food in my kitchen.

As long as I can get out there, just about every other day at the least, we'll be filling the freezer with raspberries for the next few weeks.  Lovely raspberries!  One of the (very) few (healthy) things all in our family love.  Dog included.  (dog whom was severely scolded yesterday when I caught him with the fruit end of a raspberry branch hanging out his mouth, guilty expression on face.)

Couldn't be easier to put up: pick.  look through for bugs/icky parts.  lay out on parchment paper, on a baking sheet.  freeze.  put in plastic freezer bags, and hope they're not all gone by November.

But what is that peaking out behind the berries?

...bringing the portent of standing over a hot stove for hours at a time?

sigh.  and we do hate store-purchased canned tomatoes, with all their hard-stem-ends not cut out, so it really is for the best, but... sigh.  I've got a date with the stove today!

I do think this is in the near future, however: soule mama's carrot-tomato soup.  Maybe even 3 of the 4 of us would like it!  (dog not included)