Garden Update

Well, I didn't update the garden progress like I intended. I actually started ignoring the garden itself - other than quickly grabbing some potatoes, carrots, or cucumbers. So, when the frost warning was issued and I was prompted to have a late night garden hunt with a flashlight, I was pleasantly surprised to rediscover some of my garden.

I had a lot more squash than I thought. I have a rubbermaid tub in the garage and threw a few on my counter. The flying saucer looking ones are pattypan (I think). A new one to me, not an exciting tasting one, so I might have to get creative. I had forgotten about the hot peppers also - fun to see some of them so big. I had almost given up on the kohlrabi, they just weren't doing much at all. But, I did find about 8 good sized ones!This is how I wish my brussel sprouts had looked when I cut down the stalk...

...but mine were signifcantly smaller.However, we still got a big bowl full. And, I have to say they were the best tasting ones I have ever eaten!! I have lots of herbs waiting to be dried. I dried out my lemon balm leaves in the oven overnight, so I am still enjoying tea. I blanched enough swiss chard for at least 8 batches of soup...

so, all in all it was a success, but I still will do some things differently next year!

Lanelle's Green Sweater

I finished knitting my first sweater. Moved beyond hats and leg warmers. I am exceptionally proud and find I have been annoying myself by having to tell everyone I see. And now I have told you!

Recipe: Zucchini Cream Soup

2 c chopped onion
1 T butter or oil

3 c chicken broth
4 c chopped or grated zucchini
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce (sometimes...)
salt and pepper

1/2 cup skim evaporated milk

Saute onion. Add other ingreds except milk. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Blenderize! Stir in milk. Enjoy and love.

Seems like lots of onion, but it doesn't overwhelm. I have used frozen chopped zucchini all winter long for this soup. Simple but perfect. Let me know if you like, Julia!

cozy days.

I'd rather tell myself we are having cozy days instead of rainy days. I asked yesterday at work, "what would go well with hot chocolate and marshmallows for supper?" Well, we had creamy zuchinni soup. But, at the super table I enjoyed when Kellen said, "I think we should have hot chocolate tonight!"

Anyhow, earlier this morning it was looking like another cozy day. But now I see the sun shining and Kellen is asking if we can go to the beach - maybe! We'll have a good one whatever we do - the weekend has begun in our house!

Perfect Weekend.

I woke up this morning with a wonderful feeling about the fullness of life. We had a great weekend. Got a few things done and had a few good adventures. This was the highlight - a hike, brunch, and egg gathering at Kerry Farm with some wonderful people. We enjoyed taking time to smell the flowers, pick some berries, and marvel over a caterpillar. Sue is so knowledge about flowers and plants, it was so fun to pay a little more attention to what's around us.

Kellen and Lanelle were such good hikers, I was really impressed with how well they did and how much they enjoyed it. Kellen wanted to show me how high he could jump - fun action shot, eh?

Taking a closer look!

Taking a snack break at the top of the hill. They were starting to get tired...

Refreshing to cross the creek at the end...

It was hard to get pictures in the dark barn. Lanelle learned to be gentle with the eggs after throwing the first one in the basket.

The kids got to help wash the eggs and candle them to check for cracks. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the beautiful brunch. Sitting on the patio shaded by the gorgeous old stone house around the beautifully set tables was so fun!

Pretty fun to poach super fresh eggs for breakfast this morning! The kids thought it was pretty cool that they had gathered them and washed them.

Recipe: Lamb on a Stick (or pork or beef)

This is for Crystal (and whoever else is interested).

Next time I make these, I'll take a picture to add here. I picked this recipe to make with lamb that I was promised, but then was given pork instead. It was still delicious, as it also was with beef.

1/4 c chopped fresh mint
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1 egg
750 g ground meat
6 skewers

1. Combine above ingredients
2. Divide into approx 6 mounds. Form into a sausage shape along the skewer
3. Grill skewers approximately 8 min.
4. Serve on pitas with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomato, and cucumber.

YUMMY!

Tour our Garden.

We decided to try a little different gardening plan in our backyard. I am loving all the advantages of it. Here is where I got the basics of my plan. According to him, I'm not really doing square foot gardening because I didn't section off my boxes into square feet. But, otherwise its the same idea.

I'm trying out a few new to me vegetables this year: kohlrabi, parsnips, fennel and several other herbs. I'm trying broccoli, brussel spouts, and turnips again, which I haven't had super success with before. We also have beans, carrots, peas, snap peas, lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, peppers, onions, garlic, and beets in the boxes. I also put in 5 different kinds of flowers into the boxes, which are starting to grace our table now. I told the kids that the nasturtium flowers are edible, so they ate them out of the vase which seemed fun at the time. Now, they want to eat all the flowers. Whoops, I guess that wasn't such a good idea after all.These were taken a couple of weeks ago, I can't believe how much everything has grown since then. The cucumbers and squash are up to the top of the verticals now. We've had our first 2 cucumber now! The zucchini are taking over the corner and the tomatoes are huge!This is my herb box. I am loving the basil and parsley and have discovered yummy pesto. The cilantro is not getting used as well, since the kids really don't eat anything I put it in. The marjoram is being used for the lamb that we've been eating lately. The dill made the best broccoli soup the other day. The lemon balm makes incredible tea. I haven't been using the fennel yet. I made the mistake of planting dill and fennel next to each other. I read last week that I may have dilly-fennel and fennely-dill since they are closely related. I have never had such good success with my herbs. I really think it's the light soil mix that we used in the boxes, plus it's very weed free. Other years it seems like weeds took over before the herb seeds ever germinated.The kids are a really fun age this year to enjoy gardening. Kellen is always wanting his own plants now. Here he is with the flower Grandma bought him at the farmer's market. They both like to help with watering. Lanelle especially will stay at it forever and I have to pay attention or things get overwatered. Here she's watering my mint, which I've enjoyed in meat and in tea.

I'll have to remember to take pictures again soon and document the progress.