parsnip porn

strawberry

Yesterday, I picked 25 pounds of strawberries and made some strawberry, strawberry/rhubarb, and strawberry lavender jam. I still have about 15 pounds of strawberries left (help) and I smell like a Strawberry Shortcake doll.

Speaking of Strawberry Shortcake, did you know they redesigned her a few years ago?  Care Bears too. Ew.  Is nothing sacred?

new neighbors

Robins moved into the magnolia tree outside the dining room window, and I love them. 

how about them apples

The crazy weather this spring has not been kind to the vegetable garden, but our fruits are doing fine!  Baby apples on the espalier apple trees,

and strawberries (and weeds) galore!

in bloom

Really, it's spring.

Pasqueflower

Look what's blooming in the backyard!

ready, set, go!

As hard as it is to believe considering the weather, in just a few weeks it will be time to start some seeds for this year's garden.  So, last night I sorted the seeds I have, ordered the ones I don't and now I'm ready. 

Bring on Spring! 

This year we are going to grow:  celery, eggplant, parsnips, celeriac, radishes, carrots, spinach, parsley, romaine, escarole, mache, butter lettuce, zucchini, fava beans, hot peppers, sweet peppers, peas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, butternut squash, tomatillos, cauliflower, rutabagas, kohlrabi, beets, arugula, leeks, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, fennel, dill, basil, cucumbers, soy beans, green beans, black beans, turnips, artichokes, kale, chickpeas, garlic, onions, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries and apples!  

Can't wait!

images here.

even better than gingerbread

Architects Marijke Bruinsma, Marjan Van Capelle and Arjen de Groot created Eathouse, a shelter to grow food to eat! Made of a modular system using scaffolding and plastic crates, Eathouse makes it possible for you to grow fruit vegetables on the walls and roof of a backyard garden shed.

As much as I love the whole idea, and even though I can't stop fantasizing about putting an Eathouse in my own backyard, I think the model might be my favorite part.

more images and info here.

Espalier

I have wanted espalier apple trees for the back yard for a long time and we finally got them!  5 of them!

Espalier trees are pruned and trained to grow on a single plane, usually up against a fence or a wall.  It's an ancient technique that makes it possible to grow a lot of fruit in small space, on the inside of a Medieval walled city, or in my back yard for example.  There are many styles of espaliers, but since the kind of apples we wanted need pollinators, we went with the Belgian fence style so we could get 5 trees in our 12 foot by 1 foot space.  (one day, our trees will look like this!)

I am not a terribly patient person and I am a terrible pruner. (Really, it's embarrassing, it's not like it's rocket science, but I'm sure as heck no Edward Scissorhands.)  So instead of trying to espalier some trees on my own, we ordered them already trained and pruned from a nursery.

The only problem was that they had to wait for the trees to go completely dormant before they could ship them, and since we've had such a weird, warm Fall, that meant they arrived this Monday!  (Gus is very helpful when it comes to unpacking.)

The ground was a little bit frozen already (not too bad) so I stuck my seed starting heating pads on the ground for a few hours before planting.  (I think it mostly helped psychologically.) 

Steven dug the holes (or giant trench) and we got them in the ground!

I just hope they are still alive so next fall I can make homegrown apple pie!

a good end

We had really great luck getting our green tomatoes to ripen indoors this year and last night ate our very last homegrown tomato.  I kind of wanted to wait until December 1st so I could say we ate tomatoes from our garden in December, but I wanted tomato soup more so we ate them.

I can't believe that in just 8 weeks or so I'll be starting seeds for next years garden.  Looking out the window and seeing how dark it is today, that just seems crazy. 

produce

After 3 years tending to my (pain in the ass) citrus plant, it has finally produced one tangerine!! 
I kinda want to have it bronzed instead of eating it, but that'd be silly. 

time lapse

Because it's part of a community garden, our garden has a definite end date- this Saturday!  I've begun harvesting the final crops (anybody have some good rutabaga recipes?) and really need to get cracking preserving things.
  
I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed, but I'm hoping this video gives me the motivation I need because this is exactly what is going to happen in my kitchen if I don't get it together.

warning

Because of last night's frost warning, we picked most of the butternut squash.  Some of it is quite large, almost doggie size. 

The squash is 8 pounds and Ollie just 17, which seems to make him nervous.

But it's the piles of other things that are giving me a(nother) panic attack.

a keeper

Want to make sure that your husband loves you (even though you are clearly insane)? 

After a lovely Sunday spent picking vegetables and a delightful dinner with good friends, at around say 10:45pm, have a panic attack and ask him to go with you to your community garden to put a frost cover on some of your plants and see what he says.

Steven's a keeper. 

image here.

bulbous

I bought some bulbs and can't wait until they pop up come spring! 

Sigh, it's gonna be a long winter.

one potato, two potato, three potato, four

Because the nights are getting cool, yesterday I decided to pulled the sweet potatoes out of the garden. At first it was very exciting.

Then it got a little scary.

And then it got down right ridiculous!  (that's a 7 gallon bucket.)
check out other people's harvests Daphne's Dandelions.

best

What is better than stopping by your friend's flower shop, having a chat and picking up some roses?

Nothing, that's what.

overload

Since it's been really dry, squash borers killed the zucchini and the cucumbers went kaput I figured things would be slowing down in the garden.

Boy was I wrong.

30 pounds of potatoes not pictured.  (HELP!!)

check out more harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

fly away

Forgive my absence, I went on a little staycation.

The counters are full and no matter how much I cook, can and freeze I can't keep up.  But the light has changed, nights are getting cool and there's no doubt that fall is coming.  So, no matter how overwhelmed I am, I'm not going to complain.  It'll be over soon enough.  (too soon!)

The one thing I won't miss when there are no more tomatoes, peppers, zucchini or tomatillos on the counter is the fruit flies.  (ok, I won't miss the zucchini either.)  And since I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one with this problem, here's how you make a fruit fly trap.

You will need a cup, a piece of scrap paper, tape, scissors and some vinegar.

Take your paper, make it into a cone and tape the seam.

Cut a small hole in the cone, not too big, but bigger than a fruit fly.

Pour a small amount of vinegar in the cup. 

Put the cone on top of the glass, making sure that the tip is above the vinegar and not getting wet, and tape around it.

Fruit flies go in but they can't get out.

Oh and you know that old saying about attracting more flies with sugar than vinegar?  Total crap.

2 pounds 3 ounces