Category: garden

Current Happy List

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Things that are currently making me happy:

  • The front porch smelling like lily of the valley, thanks to the blooming patch next to it. 
  • Noticing what’s grown and what’s bloomed since my morning garden walk during my afternoon garden walk (and vice versa).
  • Being able to grab fresh greens and fresh herbs out of the garden every night for dinner.
  • Running out and grabbing a few pieces of lettuce for sandwiches as I pack lunches in the morning.
  • Baby peaches, cherries, strawberries and blueberries on their various plants and trees.  Now to get them before the critters…..
  • Impromptu happy hours with neighbors and getting to know new (to us) ones.
  • Continuing traditions with old neighbors.
  • That golden glow in the afternoons.
  • Leaves on the trees that sprung out during the rain the other night.
  • The fact that every weekend I have a 3 day weekend.
  • Every plant species in the front left bed under Edie’s window is blooming at once.  Creeping phlox, wild geraniums, may apples, trillium and lily of the valley.  It’s divine.
  • The ‘side of the road’ garden that I’ve been working on for a good 8 years is finally coming together.  It started as a ‘5 year plan’ that turned into a ’10 year plan’ and has been a true lesson in patience. 
  • Several friends cleaning out their closets, resulting in new clothes and new shoes (!) for me!
  • Local asparagus is in at Reid’s Market.
  • Our family and friends in Alabama made it through the storms intact.
  • Despite starting the week feeling slightly overwhelmed by my to-do list and wondering if I could make it all happen, I did indeed do so and still found time to relax about it. I am learning to just let it go.  What a great feeling.  I should have figured this out years ago.

 Happy Weekend Everyone!

More with the arugula.

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I always have arugula growing.  I throw new seeds in the ground every few weeks or so, so I always have fresh, new arugula.  Of course, I also have a tendency to let it bolt and go to seed so that I can have more to plant. 
I pulled out all the arugula that was bolting the other day, washed it and prepped it to be ready to use.  I made that yummy pasta with it the other night, which didn’t really make a dent in what I had.   I made some mini-pizzas for dinner and gave some away and am still left with a solid bag full, which will probably become pesto.
I made a nice white sauce to go on the pizza’s – butter, flour, cream, garlic.  I kept it light on the cheese.  I had muenster, swiss and some parmesan on hand, so that’s what’s on there.  I also chopped some black olives and threw them on top as well.  So good.
I finally found a dough recipe I can whip up in afternoon and have ready to go.  I got it from a friend and it’s out of one her cookbooks, I’m not sure which one.  It’s pretty simple and works well.  This batch was really good – the directions say to let it rise for an hour, but I was working in the yard and it rose for much longer than that.  I also let it go a little bit longer in the kneading process, as I made it in my kitchenaid with the hook and wasn’t really paying attention to how long I left it in there.  Turns out it worked better that way. I love when that happens, don’t you?

First dinner from the garden.

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And it tasted good. 
I thinned my baby greens and radishes and after cleaning the dirt off, tossed them together in a salad.  I made buttermilk ranch dressing with fresh herbs and the combination was divine.
The pasta was this riducously easy recipe for Pasta with Tuna, Arugula and Hot Pepper.  So quick, easy and yummy. (Yes Kristin, even you could make this.)
Here’s my recipe for buttermilk ranch dressing.  I highly recommend fresh herbs.  It takes it to the next level.  And if you eat this, you’ll never eat that jarred stuff again.
Becky’s Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1/2 cup Mayo
Salt, pepper & garlic powder to taste
Chopped fresh herbs to taste*
Combine and serve.
*I use practically every herb in my garden. Rosemary, parsley, sage, oregano, thyme and chives.  If I have fresh basil I use that as well.  Sometimes I even throw in a touch of dill.

Loss of a local landmark.

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The other night at a most enjoyable wedding, our friend William introduced me to a table full of strangers who’s dinner table we crashed, as a blogger.  Thanks William, you made me sound  interesting and I was most flattered by that. And it was good to discover you are a regular reader. Actually, I may have thought that was the coolest part.

Sunday we drove up to Harrisonburg and helped a friend with his garden. It was yet another grey, chilly morning here, but as soon as we drove over the Blue Ridge, the sun popped out and it turned out to be quite the glorious day. Said friend bought this house from gardeners last year and is still learning what’s what. We thinned some things, I left strict instructions as to what to touch and what not to touch (Like ‘the weeds’ under the porch, which is actually a completely sweet columbine I’ve never seen before!) and the peonies that I want a tiny cutting from, but I have to wait until fall (which apparently is when you split and plant them)

  And I got some of this:

 Anything that resembles a daisy, I’m a sucker for.  And I think I grabbed some pink verbena.  I know I grabbed it from around this plant, which I think is Bloody Sorrel.   (I took these last year trying to help him figure out what’s what) so hopefully I got the pink and not the yellow.  He’s got both, so we’ll see what blooms.  I plan on getting a cutting of those pink peonies (I LOVE peonies!) and I should remember to get some of that Sorrel.  Darn rabbits ate all mine.

Pat thinned out the strawberry patch and I brought home the ‘waste’ and used it to square up my volunteer strawberry patch.

Really, it is squared now.  You just can’t see it quite yet.  It is laid out in a more linear, thought about pattern.  Sort of.
My volunteer strawberry patch is smack dab in the center of my garden.  I bought one of those fancy looking strawberry pots and I moved it around my vegetable garden.  Well, some runners jumped and attached themselves.  I couldn’t bring myself to pull out perfectly good strawberry plants and the next year they gave out enough berries for all three of us to have fresh berries with breakfast for a solid month, so I really couldn’t yank them, now could I?  So, now I’ve added to them….I keep saying I’m going to build a new strawberry patch and I really mean to do it, one of these days….maybe next year?   It involves terracing the hill next to the house covered with the sort of grass that never dies, no matter what and we can’t decide on what building material to use, actually, we really like the idea of rock walls, only I really should pay someone to do it right and if we put the garden on the list of things we pay other people to do….well,  there’s a few more important things on that list, so it might be awhile.  Unless of course, I get the gumption to just figure it out myself.
Next year.
I’ve been saying that since we bought the house, almost 12 years ago. 
Anyway.  
There is my early April garden.  That green spot smack dab in the middle is my strawberry patch.  It takes valuable tomato real estate, which is why I really need to get motivated…
And behind that is Pat’s work rig.  And that will be the last picture I have of that thing in the background of one of my garden pictures.  As of tomorrow, we will no longer be ‘the people by Greenleaf Park with all the canoes’.  He’s changing jobs.  He’s going to be the new Upper James RiverKeeper for the James River Association.  Pretty exciting stuff.  His job for the Bay Foundation brought us here 14 years ago this September.  For almost 12 years, we’ve been known as the canoe people by Greenleaf Park.  I’ve overheard it referenced in conversations, I’ve given directions to people and told them our house is the one with the canoes and they always exclaim “I know exactly where you live!”  or “I’ve always wondered about those canoes!”.  After tomorrow, they will disappear and no doubt people that don’t know us will wonder what happened to them.
We’ll get a new boat or two, but it won’t be the same as a big rig of canoes that people stop and ask about.
Although I won’t miss that thing being parked in a spot by the road where it’s blocking the sunlight to my garden. 

Plants I’m happy to see.

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 Last summer, my Japanese painted fern really struggled in the dry weather.  I carted water down to it from the rain barrel quite a bit, but I never seemed to water it enough.  I worried all winter I had killed it.  It originally came from my Aunt Loretta’s garden and I didn’t know how to tell my Uncle Peter I’d killed it.  Thankfully, I’m spared from that.

The pink dogwood is getting ready to open up too.  More things are opening up every day and things are getting greener around here.  The seeds I planted in March are popping up, both the greens I planted in the garden and the seed trays I started in the sunroom. 

What plants are you happy to see coming up?

That kind of weekend.

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My Hellebore is glorious this year.   It only took 4 years to do so.  Gardening requires such patience that I really don’t have with anything else, but when I see things like this, it makes it all worthwhile.  If only I could apply that to other parts of my life.
It was the kind of gloriously beautiful spring weekend where everyone in the neighborhood was outside and puttering on projects or just visiting.   Edie had a few friends over and they wandered through the back yards to play in Brian’s yard. 
How awesome is it that we live in a neighborhood where the kids can do that.  I’d want to go play in that yard too, wouldn’t you?
And lastly, it was the kind of weekend where neighbors wandered over after wrapping up their project to check on your project and we had gin & tonics to celebrate such a lovely, productive day.  I’m so happy it’s the time of year for those kinds of weekends again.  I missed them.

I Declare it Spring.

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It was so awesome to be able to work in the garden yesterday.  I weeded the perennial bed at the end of the vegetable garden and got some greens and broccoli rabe planted.  I’ve never grown that before, we don’t really eat it actually, so I thought it would be fun to try.  I’m also giving spinach another go – I never have much luck with it, it does nothing and then the first warm day, it takes off and bolts.  I’m trying two different kinds, both of which are supposed to be slow bolting.  We’ll see.
Today I started tomato, pepper, basil and tomatillo seeds in flats.  I’m trying to be more organized about the garden this year and plant a few new things.  I want to try a new green bean this year, and rethink which squash I grow.  I’ve also selected, much to Pat’s delight, where the next garden spot in the back yard will be. (As opposed to my usual, just go out and dig up a spot.)
As I was working in the garden yesterday, a man running by asked if it was spring.  As a matter of fact, I have decided that, Yes, it is.  Crocus are starting to bloom, the daffodils are on their way, the peach, quince, tulip magnolia, blueberry and hydrangeas bushes and trees are forming buds, and the columbine were noticed to be peeking up.  What other signs do you need?

Birthday Week, Part Two.

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You’re supposed to make a big deal about birthdays in my book, so having only one child means it’s probably a little bit excessive around here.    First, there are the required cupcakes for the class.  My child is quite vocal about how she doesn’t like storebought cupcakes.    She says it’s the frosting, she doesn’t like what passes for buttercream.  Can you blame her? 

 

 
So, for the class, I made Red Velvet cupcakes from my 1956 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook.  I frosted them with Cook’s Illustrated Creamy Chocolate Frosting.  This is the first time I’ve paired the two recipes and they work well together.  That cake definitely needs a big, fluffy frosting to go with it and this one does it.
 
Then, for her family celebration, we had what has become tradition – carrot cake from The New Basics Cookbook, complete with their cream cheese frosting recipe.  I know they say that cupcakes are on their way out and are being replaced with pie, but in this house, cupcakes are still pretty popular.  Perfect portion sizes AND you can pop the extras in the freezer.  They pack much better in a lunchbox than a piece of pie (or cake for that matter). 
 
 

I tend to follow baking recipes pretty religiously.  It’s all chemistry and since any variation can throw a recipe off, I don’t try to get funky with it.  The one exception to that rule are those carrot cake cupcakes.  I substitute half a cup of applesauce for oil and I use a cup of wheat flour.  They are also made from carrots that Edie plants herself in the garden every spring (or at least reminds and then supervises my planting of the seeds).  It’s one of the healthiest treat I bake and so, so good.   The only thing I throw in carrot cake are raisins – we’re not fans of nuts in our baked goods, so they don’t get thrown in, nor do I add anything else, like coconut or pineapple. 
For dinner, I made lasagna, but it didn’t quite turn out.  I may have used too much sauce, or cheese or both, with not enough noodles.   I used the no boil noodles and I guess I thought they would spread out more than they did.  It still tasted good, but it wasn’t quite lasagna….oh well.  It was edible and no one minded and the cupcakes more than made up for it.
Tomorrow is Pat’s birthday.  He has yet to request a dinner or a dessert, leaving it up to me to surprise him.  No idea what I’m going to throw together yet.  Saturday night, we are hosting 5 of Edie’s friends for a slumber party and our menu has been planned for weeks.  There will be more baking of course, and then I’m looking forward to NOT baking and NOT entertaining for at least a week.  I get burned out on it right about this time every year – I’ve been baking since November after all and even though I love baking, I’m pretty sure that 6 dozen cupcakes, a cheesecake and a yet to be determined treat is a bit much for a week’s worth of baking.
Thankfully, we’ve shared a good bit of it, so it’s not like we have it lying around the house.  Forget the holiday gain, I’ve got January birthday gain.  I’m soooo hitting the gym next week…..

Thinking Ahead.

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Last August, when it was so hot and dry, but yet the pole beans were doing fabulously production wise, I spent alot of time canning. And harvesting seeds. Yes, I was putting things away for next summer’s garden as well as for the coming winter months. While I was at it, I was thinking about Christmas gifts.

I hate the consumerism of the season. Hate buying a bunch of stuff. Hate receiving it too actually. The year I got a new crock pot for Christmas I was ecstatic, because I love getting everyday things I can use. Part of me feels old and boring with this, but I suppose that’s what happens when you are married with kids at a certain age. I got alot of handmade gifts growing up. My Aunt Loretta gave me the most wonderful handmade gifts. I still have alot of them, like the paper bead necklace, the ornaments she made me, the story she wrote for me and best of all, the recipe for the cherry cheesecake she would make me some years. She would bake gifts for everyone – there would be a pie or cake for every member of the household. I’m still in awe of the amount of baking that woman could pull off at Christmas every year. I aspire to bake like her, but even the years I do 25 dozen cookies and 3 cakes, I’m not sure I come close. That woman baked.

In that tradition, I give handmade gifts. I used to sew everything, some years I still do alot of sewing, but I have come to figure out things I can work on all year long. Which makes me feel slightly uptight and way too on top of things, but right about now, when I’m starting to get overwhelmed thinking about everything that has to happen between now and the big day……..I really start loving myself. Sort of like the years I get Pat’s January Birthday peach pie in the freezer in August, so after all that holiday and Edie birthday baking, I can pull something out of the freezer and have it be homemade and good. And last year, when I was out flat recovering from surgery, I was giddy to discover a stash of things I had already knit for Pat & Edie throughout the year, so they still got a hand-made mommy gift. I know I wasn’t that good this year (admittedly, I’ve been working on the same pair of fingerless gloves since last winter’s swim lessons), but I do have some good garden treats ready to go. If I learned anything from last Christmas, it was that my little bit of planning ahead is a very good thing.