summer is coming!

We had a week full of the signs that summer is on its way! The pool is open, and despite the 68 degree water, the kids got in on Wednesday for the first time (its up to a "balmy" 74 now...I think I'll wait a few more days before I get in!).

The garden is getting into full swing. My spring onions from last year are in full bloom, we've had about a dozen ripe strawberries, and after a third (!) planting, I finally have some cucumbers and one lonely pumpkin plant coming up. 

pretty onion blooms!

My buddy and I went to a new-to-us farm for Strawberry picking on Thursday. We still had a few cups of strawberry freezer jam from last year in the deep freeze so we restrained ourselves and only picked 5 lb. The berries were significantly less expensive than the farm we went to last year, but I also found them to be smaller and less sweet. Hmm. Maybe the extra cost was worth it last year? Either way, we are enjoying the "fruits" of our efforts!

Friday, Hubby and the boy headed toward Dulles to visit the Udvar-Hazy Center, which is part of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. It is a huge hangar with literally hundreds of airplanes, helocopters, and rockets displayed, including one of the retired Space Shuttles. A fun day for the boys!

We are spending our weekend doing summer-variety chores---vacuuming the pool, mowing the yard and other yard clean up, as well as the other miscellaneous weekend activities. We will wrap up the weekend tomorrow with a "Welcome Summer" cookout at my Aunt and Uncle's house with all the local family.

Now its down to counting down the last two weeks of school for the girlie, and then we can say summer has truly come. Happy June, everyone!

thanksgiving and family friday

 Reviewing our Thanksgiving begins with this beautiful picture of our carrots: our final garden harvest of the season. After peeling and trimming, there was a full pound of carrots which we roasted and added a maple glaze...mmm, yum. We hosted this year's Thanksgiving dinner, with 11 attending.  I didn't get a good picture of "the bird" but you can imagine it: golden brown deliciousness. My secret: Reynold's oven bags, and cooking the "stuffing" outside the bird. Below is our tablesetting, with a runner and tablecloth I sewed up this week. The girlie made a full complement of handprint turkey place-cards. And we rejoiced and gave thanks, and ate too much.

 Friday, instead of joining the throngs doing "Black Friday" shopping-frenzy activities, we spent a family day together! We went to the B&O Train Museum to see Santa arriving on a steam engine (pictures turned out terrible, but it was fun). They also had a big Lego train display for the fans in my family:

 The decorations at the museum were wonderful, with a pair of these giant nutcrackers, and all the lit-up snowflakes hung from the rafters:

 And it was a sunny and fairly warm afternoon for a little play outside the museum:

 This is a nice view of the trains and roundhouse as we arrived back in the station after our train ride while we were there, and a view of the inside of a caboose they have on the train-yard:

Then! In case we had not had enough trains, we drove out to the Ellicott City Station (after a stop at Chick-fil-A, which was also very important), where our train museum membership also allowed us to visit, because they had ANOTHER large Lego train set-up as well as several other model train displays. I loved the wreath on the red caboose, so festive:

 And we got to see Santa! He had been hard at work on the railroad, and was dressed appropriately. It was good to have the kids get to tell him what they wanted and to at least have this one visit to count on, in case we don't get to see him somewhere else this month:

A fun family day. A good Thanksgiving holiday. We truly have so much to be thankful for, and we look forward to the coming season of joy as we prepare to celebrate Jesus's birth.

the pickle tree

About ten years ago, one of our friends admitted he had always presumed that pickles grew on trees...and thus begins a lifelong joke. Its just how things like that happen. Ask my sister-in-law about whittling a key sometime, and you will understand. For now, anytime we have new pickles, it must be asked whether they came from the pickle tree.

Alas, there is no tree. Our pickles started as lowly cucumber seeds (Arkansas Little Leaf H-19 Pickling Cucumbers from Southern Exposure), grew happily on the angled trellis made by hubby (which I blogged about ), were harvested last week as this:

 3 1/2 pounds of yummy cucumbers. Having never made pickles before, I decided to start with some refrigerator pickles. There are so many great pickle recipes online! Hubby requested sweet dills, and the little buddy loves his dill spears, the decision was made. So I sliced them up two ways, in spears and round slices, and sent them off to an ice-bath in the fridge for a few hours. I read that keeps them crispier, and it was easy, so why not?

 Then came the pickle making fun. I had enough for three pint jars of each type of pickle. My "recipe" if you call it that was loosely formed by all the various recipes online, for which I am very grateful! Here is what I did:

Dill Spears:  Place one smashed garlic clove and 1 tsp. dill seed in the bottom of each clean pint jar. Then cram as many pickle spears in as you can, and wedge another garlic clove in the top.  For the brine I combined 1 c. apple cider vinegar, 1 c. water, and 1 T pickling salt (found in the "salt" aisle at Walmart). Bring the brine to a boil, then pour over the pickles, leaving 1/4" headspace. Put lids and rings on jars, and cool to room temperature, then put them into the refrigerator. Shake once a day to mix. Start eating on day three!

Sweet dill slices:  Place 1 tsp. dill seed into each pint jar. Slice 1/4 of a large sweet (Vidalia-type) onion, mix together with the cucumber slices and pack tightly into each jar. For the brine, combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, and 1/8 cup pickling salt. Bring to a boil, and pour over the pickles, again leaving 1/4" headspace. Put lids and rings on jars, and cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Shake once a day to mix. Start eating on day three!

Here are the kids at our taste test! I have to admit, I'm not usually a pickle-lover, but I do enjoy the sweet dills. And the kids, hubby, and grandpa are all devouring the rest. Glad there are more cucumbers to come!

garden journal 7.3.12

 We had quite a storm last Friday, coming through late at night with crazy winds and knocking out power to half our county (with many still waiting for theirs, 4 1/2 days later). We were blessed to have very little damage, losing only one sunflower, a few Roma tomatoes (which I am trying to ripen on the window sill), and a very dead black snake next to the garden.  Our power was out for 2 days though, and so we became nomads, spending time with friends who fed us, and sleeping in the AC at the inlaws, for it was HOT.  Regardless, I'm back now and hopefully will have several posts up on the blog this week. First, is the jungle that is our garden!

 Here you see the fabulous cucumber trellis that hubby built me. It shades the lettuce so that even in 100 degree days, so far very little of the lettuce has "bolted", and I am delighted. The cukes are starting to grow, too. I counted three 1" cucumbers when I was out today. Our hope is to have enough for pickles. Here's one of the baby cucumbers:

 And the zucchini (which got a late start as the first seeding never germinated and I had to replant) is starting to blossom:

 Did I tell you we got blueberry bushes? Four bushes, two of the "normal" blue variety, and two "pink lemonade" variety, which I must say live up to their reputation for sweet and delicious. I'm wondering if we put them in too shady a spot but only time will tell.

 And the cherry tomatoes are loving the heat. Loving the bounty of them and how the kids love to sneak one warm right off the vine. We have red and orange varieties this year, and so far orange is winning for volume of production and for sweetness. I've also been harvesting green beans, lettuce as needed for salads, scallions for those salads.  Dill is in, basil is coming along but slowly (perhaps too shaded in the tomatoes). The cilantro bolted early, and I'm hoping will re-seed for a fall harvest.

 

Love the joy of a summer garden.

garden journal 5.2.12

Yesterday I finished planting this year's vegetables and herbs. Its amazing to see the plants from March 21 doing so well, and funny to see things that I expected to do well not coming along as well. Here's what the garden looks like as of yesterday:

So the lettuce is just barely coming along, as are the scallions, but the strawberries are growing gangbusters and the peas and sunflowers are too. Lettuce grew like crazy last year but I think about half of my first seeding either didn't germinate or washed away in heavy rains. I've overseeded the area twice since then, and some new growth seems to be starting. Here's the run-down on what's growing where:

The tomato plants, basil, bush beans, dill, and cucumbers are what went in the ground yesterday. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have something to show for all those seeds. I've really crammed things in there this year. We'll see if I'm regretting it come July or August; will it seem overcrowded? There will be a trellis added for the cucumbers, and it will shade the lettuce, hopefully extending it's season.  But my "first fruits" will be strawberries. If my resident squirrel doesn't eat them all. Which reminds me I need to look into some kind of netting to protect them! He's been nosing around out there every day.

Everything's still green, but I'm hopeful that in a few weeks there will be a wonderful crop of beautiful red berries. I can't wait to taste their sweetness. There should even be enough to take in the house this year. Last year we only had a few berries, and we ate them fresh off the vine. Summer goodness is coming. I can almost taste it!

garden journal 3.20.12

It's spring! It has felt like spring for a while around here this year...at least for the past two to three weeks, but I was a bit too nervous to do much with the garden before now. But now its officially Spring! Hoping to get down to D.C. to see the cherry blossoms with the boy tomorrow (may have to bribe him with time in the Smithsonian but thats fine too!). Today, though, I picked up my last few seed packets and am trying to figure out my garden layout so I can get the early stuff in: scallions, carrots, peas, lettuce.

On Sunday, hubby and I turned the soil, and added 2 bags of Leaf-Gro compost to each bed (1 bag/16 sq feet) which seemed about right.  Strawberry plans from last year are growing well and hopefully will produce more fruit this year.  Now to get moving! This is where my garden is this afternoon:

On paper, in my head, on the computer screen, and in lots and lots of seed packets. I'll need to buy my tomato seedlings but not for a couple months yet. Hopefully I'll get the plan made today, and seeds in the ground by tomorrow. Hurrah for Spring!

this week

This week I have...
...enjoyed the earliest spring I can remember, as exhibited above! Windows are open, birds are singing, (allergies are in full swing), sun is shining. Life is beautiful.
...made my first (but not last) batch of homemade granola (recipe to come soon...). Low calorie? No. However...yum.
...signed back up for Weight Watchers (after a break of about 5 years).  Looking  forward to seeing the scale going down. In the meantime, re-learning how to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat. Which, I won't lie, is not making me very happy.  I'm trying to figure out how to balance my love of baking and cooking (see granola, above) with the kinds of foods that WW is telling me I should be eating.
...started reading Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst, which is challenging me to eat healthy for the right reasons.
...been living with a four year old boy who really wants to give up his afternoon nap. He really needs that nap, however. And so we have been riding the rollercoaster of fussing and tantrums on the days when sleep is really needed.
...pondered getting the garden started this weekend. As warm as it has been, this may even be a week or so later that it should  have been. To do: buy some compost and mix it in well, get lettuces and peas and anything else cold-tolerant planted.
...been working on some knitting projects that have been "in progress" for far too long. And realized that I never did get photos of the kids wearing this year's knit hats, having never had a good snowy day to take those pictures!
...been adding bookcases to an upstairs area, because you can never have too many bookcases or too many books. And dreaming of a big soft squishy beanbag chair to make it into a cozy reading nook.
...gone with hubby to a parenting seminar by Tim Smith, who wrote The Danger of Raising Nice Kids, and been challenged to be more intentional about teaching character to my kids.

Happy (early) Spring, Everyone! Get outside and enjoy it.

garden journal 10.24.11

Garden wrap up. On October 23 (!) I harvested another quart of green beans for the freezer, the rest of the carrots, more cherry tomatoes, and the 6 green romas that are big enough to eat (see above). Ripening the tomatoes with apples in brown bags. I can't believe we are coming up on November next week and I am still harvesting! There are a few more romas coming along, and lots of baby green beans too!  So here is the summary for this years garden:

• Lettuce:  success! plant more next year...not all at once, do some succession plantings.
• Peas: mostly a failure. not even enough for a meal. plant earlier? or just forget it?
• Zucchini: one good zucchini, and a bunch that got started but the heat was too much for them. Try again? Maybe a different cultivar?
• Cherry tomatoes: great success. the kids loved the orange ones from the farmers market this year too...get some of those next year?
• Roma tomatoes: success. don't plan vacation for the week they all ripen! (ha) 
• Herbs: basil quite successful and lots of pesto in my freezer. That was our only herb this year. Next year add cilantro at a minimum so we can make salsa!
• Strawberries: plants grew gangbusters, very few berries. We'll see if we get some later this fall or if we get a good crop next year. Jury is still out.
• Pole beans: success once they started to bloom. My July 1 maturation date was more like Sept 10. But I'd grow them again just the same.
• Carrots: fair. We got some carrots but they didn't do as well as I hoped. Try a different cultivar next year!

Also think about for next year:  scallions? blueberry bushes? watermelon? Oh, so much to think about! But for the first year out, I am really pleased by the garden, by how much joy it brought me, and for the produce. My farmers market doesn't need to fear losing me as a customer any time soon, though.  Every little bit of local is good...whether it is backyard local or farm market local. It was a great summer of fruits and vegetables. Hurrah!

right now...

This week I am...

• harvesting green beans every other day...ones that were supposed to be ready to harvest in July, finally growing. blanching them and freezing them, hoping to save enough for thanksgiving!
• making one more batch of pesto before the basil flowers and is done
• reading Patrick Taylor's Irish Country Doctor series in every free moment...and wishing for a quieter pace of life.
• wishing that cooler weather would get here (tomorrow, they think!)
• thankful for how pretty ragweed is...since it has no redeeming value otherwise 
• thankful for antihistamines and good eye drops (see ragweed, above!)
• getting out the autumn decorations...but not the halloween ones, yet!
• feeling somewhat lacking in crafty inspiration....which is why you haven't seen more of me here on the blog
• working on three separate knitting projects, all half-heartedly
• promising myself not to start a new sewing project until I hem all 5 pairs of the girlies pants (2 done today, 3 to go) and work through my mending pile! 
• looking forward to a girls morning tomorrow while the boy is at preschool (girlie has off for Rosh Hashanna)...haircuts, clothes shopping, and a library trip all planned by her!
• planning an apple pie for tomorrow evening with friends
• enjoying my new Bible study group from church, and looking forward to building new friendships
• thankful for this list reminding me that there IS more to my days than disciplining a certain 3 1/2 year old boy...it only feels like thats all I've been doing!

the long awaited green beans!

Perhaps there will be some apple pie on this blog soon....stay posted! 

garden recipes: : chocolate zucchini bread

This is about the unhealthiest way to eat zucchini that I have ever made. But each loaf does have 1 full cup of shredded zucchini in it!  I couldn't resist trying "Selma's Chocolate Zucchini Bread" when I found the recipe in Knitscene Magazine, Summer 2011. It is rich, and chocolatey and has just enough cinnamon to give it a little zing. Yummmmmmy!