This is straight from p. 562 of How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman so the measurements will be exact. Even though it says "collards or kale," df and I use chard and it's pretty awesome. Actually, I'm addicted to this recipe.
1 pound colars, kale or broccoli raab with stems under 1/4 inch, well washed
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. thinly sliced garlic (about 5 or 6 cloves) plus 1 tsp minced garlic or more to taste
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
salt and freshly gorund black peper to taste
1/2 c chicken, beef, or vegetable stock or water
lemon wedges (although this is not absolutely necessary)
1. coarsely chop stems and leaves of the greens
2. place olive oil in a large, deep saucepan. Add the sliced garlic, pepper flakes, salt, and black papper adn cook over medium-high ehat for about 1 minute.
3. Add greens and the stock or water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for approximately 5 minutes, or until teh grees are wilted and just tender but stilla little firm.
4. Uncover the greens and continue to cook, stirring over medium-high heat until the liquid has all but evaporated and the greens are quite tender. Taste for seasoning and add red or black pepper and salt as needed; add teh remaining minced garlic and cook for 1 minute more. serve with lemon wedges (I usually just put the sprinkle of lemon juice on top and stir).
Monday, July 10, 2006
Tofu and Kale salad
this recipe is "adapted" from Strawberry Fields. this is a pretty vague recipe.
1 pkg firm tofu
a bunch of kale
corn (either frozen or 3 or 4 ears)
soybeans
cut up the tofu, boil the soybeans (they'll end up firmer than a black or kidney bean when they're done; maybe about an hour or 1:15?), defrost or cook the corn, and steam the kale. the best steaming method for me is to wash it thoroughly, then put it in a covered pan at a low-med heat with all of the water still clinging to it. don't let it get too wilted, but cooked enough, then run cold water over it in a colander so you can roughly chop the cooked kale. when all the ingredients are cool, mix them together in a bowl.
for the dressing, start with a mixture of sesame oil and vegetable oil. i worry that sesame oil on its own is too strong for a raw salad so i cut it with vegetable oil. i guess this is what they mean by "to taste"; i usually do a little more than a third of a cup of sesame oil and then a quarter cup of vegetable oil. like the spices in the zucchini cake, i kind of go by smell. quantity also depends on how much of the other stuff you have. mince 3-5 cloves of garlic, slice up some scallions, add some red pepper flakes and a little bit of salt. whisk up the dressing and then pour it all over the kale and tofu and stuff. mix gently.
this keeps pretty well in the refrigerator for a few days. you can tell when it goes bad b/c the tofu will get slimy.
1 pkg firm tofu
a bunch of kale
corn (either frozen or 3 or 4 ears)
soybeans
cut up the tofu, boil the soybeans (they'll end up firmer than a black or kidney bean when they're done; maybe about an hour or 1:15?), defrost or cook the corn, and steam the kale. the best steaming method for me is to wash it thoroughly, then put it in a covered pan at a low-med heat with all of the water still clinging to it. don't let it get too wilted, but cooked enough, then run cold water over it in a colander so you can roughly chop the cooked kale. when all the ingredients are cool, mix them together in a bowl.
for the dressing, start with a mixture of sesame oil and vegetable oil. i worry that sesame oil on its own is too strong for a raw salad so i cut it with vegetable oil. i guess this is what they mean by "to taste"; i usually do a little more than a third of a cup of sesame oil and then a quarter cup of vegetable oil. like the spices in the zucchini cake, i kind of go by smell. quantity also depends on how much of the other stuff you have. mince 3-5 cloves of garlic, slice up some scallions, add some red pepper flakes and a little bit of salt. whisk up the dressing and then pour it all over the kale and tofu and stuff. mix gently.
this keeps pretty well in the refrigerator for a few days. you can tell when it goes bad b/c the tofu will get slimy.
Chocolate chip Zucchini cake
The recipe is actually adapted from the Chocolate Zucchini cake recipe on epicurious. I wanted it to be more of a spice cake with chocolate chips and zucchini. Here's my variation:
2 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c. sugar (maybe a little less)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. buttermilk (but I didn't have buttermilk so I just used a little less than half a cup of regular milk and filled up the rest with plain yogurt and lemon juice and mixed it all together)
2 1/2 c (or even more) of grated zucchini
spices--cinnamon, cloves, ground ginger
1 1/2 c. of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used bittersweet)
Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour 13x9x2 inch baking pan (I ended up using a 9x9 square and then a 6 inche round). mix flour, baking soda, salt and spices (I eyeball it until it looks and smells the right amount of spice for a spice cake; maybe a 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 or 3/4 tsp of cloves and ginger?). Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients alternately wiht the milk mixture in 3 additions each. Mix in grated zucchini. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester is clean, about 50 minutes.
I put cream cheese frosting on top, which was 1 8oz pkg of cream cheese, 1 stick of butter and confectionary sugar (I didn't really measure; just put a cup in and then added more until the consistency looked ok). Mix it all together and then put in the freezer so it firms up a little bit (that way, you can use less sugar).
df and I discovered that the cake tastes pretty good freshly baked when it's all moist but even better after a night in the refrigerator.
2 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c. sugar (maybe a little less)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. buttermilk (but I didn't have buttermilk so I just used a little less than half a cup of regular milk and filled up the rest with plain yogurt and lemon juice and mixed it all together)
2 1/2 c (or even more) of grated zucchini
spices--cinnamon, cloves, ground ginger
1 1/2 c. of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I used bittersweet)
Preheat oven to 325. Butter and flour 13x9x2 inch baking pan (I ended up using a 9x9 square and then a 6 inche round). mix flour, baking soda, salt and spices (I eyeball it until it looks and smells the right amount of spice for a spice cake; maybe a 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 or 3/4 tsp of cloves and ginger?). Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients alternately wiht the milk mixture in 3 additions each. Mix in grated zucchini. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester is clean, about 50 minutes.
I put cream cheese frosting on top, which was 1 8oz pkg of cream cheese, 1 stick of butter and confectionary sugar (I didn't really measure; just put a cup in and then added more until the consistency looked ok). Mix it all together and then put in the freezer so it firms up a little bit (that way, you can use less sugar).
df and I discovered that the cake tastes pretty good freshly baked when it's all moist but even better after a night in the refrigerator.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Maptastic
planbreaker whipped up this diagram last night, but netfiles access from home has been wonky lately, so I'm posting this diagram of the garden:
(Click on image for a larger version)
Nice rain yesterday...we'll be eating fresh produce in no time.
(Click on image for a larger version)
Nice rain yesterday...we'll be eating fresh produce in no time.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Minutes from the garden meeting at the Plot/the Esquire
After our assessment out at the garden plot and a quick weeding and watering, we retired to the Esquire for some refreshments and discussion. Here are things that are now settled:
- Watering schedule: we all agreed that we should each do a little weeding while we're out there. Everyone is on the calendar 5 times. here it is....
June 2-SC
June 4-DF
June 6-MG
June 8-TG
June 10-SC
June 12-RT
June 14-AW
June 16-DF
June 18-TG
June 20-MG
June 22-RT
June 24-AW
June 26-SC
June 28-TG
June 30-DF
July 2-TG
July 4-SC
July 6-RT
July 8-AW
July 10-DF
July 12-AW
July 14-MG
July 16-RT
July 18-MG
July 20-RT
July 22-MG
July 24-SC
July 26-DF
July 28-TG
July 30-AW - tomato cages: we're just going with the old standbys. df and rj are going to borrow John's truck to go to Farm n' Fleet and other places to gather them up in the next week or so.
- staking the peas: hungrygirl and sc volunteered to stake the peas some time in the next week. there are directions on how to stake the peas using a kind of wigwam design in the organic gardening book or we can stake them like last year.
- hay(hey)/straw and plants: tfoster volunteered to pick up some straw, along with two tiger-striped tomato plants. since i have no task yet, i'm happy to volunteer to go and throw some hay around.
- hungrygirl has 4 tomato plants at home that can go in the front plot with the 4 peppers in it.
We also have some other issues that we'll need to figure out in the coming weeks:
- beans and eggplant, basil & soybeans: how long do we wait before we decide to pack it in with these? I think I said I'll try to look for baby eggplant pictures on the web so we can distinguish. In the meantime, i'm happy to take on the weeding responsiblities for that plot.
- if we do have a little more room, what do we want to plant? SC said he'll research radishes, I'm going to see if arugula is a possibility and we all seemed excited about cantaloupe.
- harvesting: we had questions about onions, shallots, broccoli, and spinach.
Is there anything else? Vegetables soon! yay!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Big Time Progress / Bear Wrastlin'
After several aborted attempts, Your Garden Friends succeeded today in securing a tiller and a truck in which to carry it. Big ups to John of famed Champaign band Shipwreck for the truck.
For those of you unfamiliar with the use of a tiller, it is sort of like a lawnmover with anger management issues. We are talking serious negative affect here. Sasha and I managed to bend the machine's animosity to our will, but to me it felt like wrastlin' with a bear. (Full disclosure: I have never actually wrastled with a bear of any kind, and hope to never be called upon to do so.)
Good news - we have progress. Below are some pictures and a link to a movie of an epic struggle between Sasha, the tiller, and a big weed. See how Sasha expertly forces the conflict between the tiller and the weed and escapes unharmed - sort of like being in a fight with a lion and then coming upon a shark and somehow convincing the lion to kill the shark for you. Ladies, Sasha also rides bikes, is in an excellent graduate studies program, and can cook well.
A small bit of bad news - I have killed a large number of beets through poor thinning technique. Rest assured that they have been replanted and five or ten of the original crop survived my wrath.
Enjoy!
For Weeds - The Movie go here and click on the '2006_05210022.avi' link.
Now, pictures:
Hungrygirl and RJ weeding the lettuce
Beautiful onions, shallots, and peas
The Bear
Tim vs. The Bear
Sasha vs. The Bear
Tilled dirt + Dead Weeds = VICTORY
Nature's glorious abundance
For those of you unfamiliar with the use of a tiller, it is sort of like a lawnmover with anger management issues. We are talking serious negative affect here. Sasha and I managed to bend the machine's animosity to our will, but to me it felt like wrastlin' with a bear. (Full disclosure: I have never actually wrastled with a bear of any kind, and hope to never be called upon to do so.)
Good news - we have progress. Below are some pictures and a link to a movie of an epic struggle between Sasha, the tiller, and a big weed. See how Sasha expertly forces the conflict between the tiller and the weed and escapes unharmed - sort of like being in a fight with a lion and then coming upon a shark and somehow convincing the lion to kill the shark for you. Ladies, Sasha also rides bikes, is in an excellent graduate studies program, and can cook well.
A small bit of bad news - I have killed a large number of beets through poor thinning technique. Rest assured that they have been replanted and five or ten of the original crop survived my wrath.
Enjoy!
For Weeds - The Movie go here and click on the '2006_05210022.avi' link.
Now, pictures:
Hungrygirl and RJ weeding the lettuce
Beautiful onions, shallots, and peas
The Bear
Tim vs. The Bear
Sasha vs. The Bear
Tilled dirt + Dead Weeds = VICTORY
Nature's glorious abundance
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Round two?
We should start thinking about when we want to do some round-two planting. We went to Prairie Gardens to buy some stuff for our backyard garden yesterday and ended up getting some more tomato plants for the Parkland plot too, b/c we wanted to make sure not to wait too long -- plus we liked the idea of buying them small (read - "cheaper"), repotting, and then planting them later. I am gonna be travelling a lot in June, and planbreaker may have end of semester grading plus some of the same travels -- that said, I could do some planting on the morning of the 7th and/or the 13th. I think 2 half-days might be just about all we need to do, if we get a few people out. I could also do some evening stuff the week between the 7th-13th. What does everyone think?
By the way, M. was out at the garden the other day and said things were looking pretty good.
By the way, M. was out at the garden the other day and said things were looking pretty good.
Friday, April 21, 2006
4/21 -- we have sprouts
Just got back from Eddie Albert Memorial Gardens and wanted to fill you all in: The bed containing the onions and shallots has some green sprouts about 1 inch long sticking out of the ground and looking good. The mesclun bed has some very tiny sproutlings starting to show through. The small plants we put in all look good (broccoli, etc). The rest of the beds don't have any action yet, but I'm not surprised as it's only been a week. We aren't supposed to get any rain for a few days, so I gave everything a pretty good soak. I will go back and water on Sunday/Monday but if anyone else would like to do it instead, just let me know and you can swing by and pick up the hose.
All in all, things are looking good.
All in all, things are looking good.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Update as of 4/18
FYI:
A and I went out to the garden on Sunday and installed windguards on the rest of the baby plants that we put in the ground on Saturday (and were scared witless when the Parkland tornado alarm went off for some reason while we were there). I will try to get out there to take a look and see how things are doing on Friday. We got the rain on Sunday night and are supposed to get more tonite, then some good sun the rest of the week, so that should make for good growing.
We also started a bunch of seeds at home, I'm not sure what, but A can fill you in. If anyone else wants to start some seedlings at home, I think there may be other stuff that needs to be planted now, but I think we already have most of the seeds already.
Also, we will try to send an email with a list of all the seeds and plants we bought, so if anyone sees an omission that they would like to grow, just post a message or buy the seeds, or whatever.
--df
A and I went out to the garden on Sunday and installed windguards on the rest of the baby plants that we put in the ground on Saturday (and were scared witless when the Parkland tornado alarm went off for some reason while we were there). I will try to get out there to take a look and see how things are doing on Friday. We got the rain on Sunday night and are supposed to get more tonite, then some good sun the rest of the week, so that should make for good growing.
We also started a bunch of seeds at home, I'm not sure what, but A can fill you in. If anyone else wants to start some seedlings at home, I think there may be other stuff that needs to be planted now, but I think we already have most of the seeds already.
Also, we will try to send an email with a list of all the seeds and plants we bought, so if anyone sees an omission that they would like to grow, just post a message or buy the seeds, or whatever.
--df
Monday, April 03, 2006
the blog rules!
So I just looked back and discovered that we didn't do our planting/tilling until the weekend of May 1 last year. Yippee for the blog and its recording of our garden history.
I bring up the date because I think we should start figuring out a plan for when we till, plant, and put up the signs. I know M. is away the weekend of the 29th and df has exams. Which of the next three weekends (the 8th, the 15th, the 22nd) would work for our big garden day? Or should we split up the tasks.
One thing I would like to attempt to do is sketch out the plot before we start planting. So what do we want to plant. Here was last year's wish list:
Eggplant, Tomatoes of all kinds, Yellow squash, Zuchinni, Lettuce, Mesclun mix, Leeks?, Beets, Green Beans, Chili Peppers, Bell peppers, Cucumbers - reg and pickling, Spinach, Arugla, Collard Greens, Chard, Chives, Scallions, Onions, Broccoli, Soybeans, Peas?, Rhubarb?, Brussel Sprouts?, Chayote Squash, Butternut Squash, Rosemary, Basil, Lemongrass, Fennel, Mint, Marigolds
I think we ended up with tomatoes (did well), squash and zucchini (kind of sketchy because of the bugs), lettuce and mesclun (went well but i feel like we should split up our planting so we have more over time), beets (more beets!), green beans (beetle victims), peppers (did ok but not great), cucumbers (we had a bunch and everyone liekd them), chard (chard tart!), butternut squash (did anything ever happenw ith that), broccoli (1 or 2 heads and that's it), rosemary, basil, mint (would have done better if we had planted them closer together and without the weed infestation), snow peas (bugs and bad supports), soybeans (weeds). What else do we want to add and take away?
If we want to do a little bit by hand and clearly mark it, I wouldn't be against planting some shallots, garlic and maybe some early lettuce before the big till.
I bring up the date because I think we should start figuring out a plan for when we till, plant, and put up the signs. I know M. is away the weekend of the 29th and df has exams. Which of the next three weekends (the 8th, the 15th, the 22nd) would work for our big garden day? Or should we split up the tasks.
One thing I would like to attempt to do is sketch out the plot before we start planting. So what do we want to plant. Here was last year's wish list:
Eggplant, Tomatoes of all kinds, Yellow squash, Zuchinni, Lettuce, Mesclun mix, Leeks?, Beets, Green Beans, Chili Peppers, Bell peppers, Cucumbers - reg and pickling, Spinach, Arugla, Collard Greens, Chard, Chives, Scallions, Onions, Broccoli, Soybeans, Peas?, Rhubarb?, Brussel Sprouts?, Chayote Squash, Butternut Squash, Rosemary, Basil, Lemongrass, Fennel, Mint, Marigolds
I think we ended up with tomatoes (did well), squash and zucchini (kind of sketchy because of the bugs), lettuce and mesclun (went well but i feel like we should split up our planting so we have more over time), beets (more beets!), green beans (beetle victims), peppers (did ok but not great), cucumbers (we had a bunch and everyone liekd them), chard (chard tart!), butternut squash (did anything ever happenw ith that), broccoli (1 or 2 heads and that's it), rosemary, basil, mint (would have done better if we had planted them closer together and without the weed infestation), snow peas (bugs and bad supports), soybeans (weeds). What else do we want to add and take away?
If we want to do a little bit by hand and clearly mark it, I wouldn't be against planting some shallots, garlic and maybe some early lettuce before the big till.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Waiting for RJ
I am eagerly awaiting the response of our newest invitee, RJ. However, since she is in the Dominican Republic, I expect that it will be a few days. in other news, we all have admin capabilities, so if you get a hankering to mess around with this here blog, mess away.
I would like to attend both nerdy garden events.
I would like to attend both nerdy garden events.
Here's your chance to meet Mr. Food!
If anyone wants to *really* geek out, planbreaker and I are thinking of attending the Home and Garden show on Sunday at Assembly Hall to see what that's all about. Anyone wanna join us?
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Kick-Off the 2006 Gardening Season in Style!
Hey gardeners, welcome back to our much-neglected blog! A special welcome goes out to our new gardening partner, Renee (By the way, who is the blog administrator? I think we need to add her to the blog).
Two bits of gardening news. First, Prairie Gardens is having some kind of "Gardening Kick-Off" extravaganza on Saturday, April 1. As part of the celebration, they're holding seminars in the morning with local garden experts on a variety of topics. There are two that I thought might be helpful for us. At 10 a.m. there's a seminar on "Organic Gardening," which promises useful tips on enriching the soil, pest control, and crop pairings. Also, at 11 a.m., there's a seminar on "Pest Control," which has a special emphasis on those damned Japanese Beetles.
I think I'm going to go to both seminars. Is anyone else interested? As an added bonus, they'll have coffee and donuts!! The seminars are free, but they ask that you sign up (there's a book at the information counter). I optimistically signed up myself + 1. I thought it might be a nice way to kick off our own garden season. We could get brunch afterwards & discuss the garden, perhaps?
Second point of business: If you or anyone you know drinks milk in plastic containers, please start saving them. We can use them to protect our baby plants from the destructive prairie winds. Remember last year how we didn't do that? And remember how well that worked?
Is anyone else getting garden fever yet?
Two bits of gardening news. First, Prairie Gardens is having some kind of "Gardening Kick-Off" extravaganza on Saturday, April 1. As part of the celebration, they're holding seminars in the morning with local garden experts on a variety of topics. There are two that I thought might be helpful for us. At 10 a.m. there's a seminar on "Organic Gardening," which promises useful tips on enriching the soil, pest control, and crop pairings. Also, at 11 a.m., there's a seminar on "Pest Control," which has a special emphasis on those damned Japanese Beetles.
I think I'm going to go to both seminars. Is anyone else interested? As an added bonus, they'll have coffee and donuts!! The seminars are free, but they ask that you sign up (there's a book at the information counter). I optimistically signed up myself + 1. I thought it might be a nice way to kick off our own garden season. We could get brunch afterwards & discuss the garden, perhaps?
Second point of business: If you or anyone you know drinks milk in plastic containers, please start saving them. We can use them to protect our baby plants from the destructive prairie winds. Remember last year how we didn't do that? And remember how well that worked?
Is anyone else getting garden fever yet?
Friday, July 15, 2005
watering and beetle schedule
now that we have traps to empty, it seems like the person in charge of watering should also do the emptying. i'd definitely recommend getting someone else to go out there to help, if only for moral support.
15-TG
17-MG
19-DF
21-TG
23-DF
25-AW
27-AW
29-TG
31-MG
there was some logic to this schedule but now that it's just the last part, i'm not sure how much sense it makes anymore. please be assured that everyone was on the original watering schedule 3 or 4 times. except for jenny, who was on 5. i guess we should work something up for August so if people want to email me with times they're away, i can figure it out.
of course, we also need to have a beetle summit about the other bugs that are out there. ugh.
15-TG
17-MG
19-DF
21-TG
23-DF
25-AW
27-AW
29-TG
31-MG
there was some logic to this schedule but now that it's just the last part, i'm not sure how much sense it makes anymore. please be assured that everyone was on the original watering schedule 3 or 4 times. except for jenny, who was on 5. i guess we should work something up for August so if people want to email me with times they're away, i can figure it out.
of course, we also need to have a beetle summit about the other bugs that are out there. ugh.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Traumatized by beetlemania
I went to 5 stores today to look for beetle traps. Good ol Farm and Fleet finally hooked us up. I bought two and I also bought some organic pesticide at Lowes just in case I couldn't find any traps, so I can return it if we don't use it.
I felt like I was in a horror movie when I attempted to set up the 2 traps in the garden. Hundreds of beetles flew from everywhere and landed on my face and hair and hands even after I set the traps down because I still had the scent of the trap lure on me. It was scary.
The good news is that there are beets and broccoli that are ready to be picked, and I picked two green peppers today too. More peppers are going to be ready soon. I could only find one zucchini in the jungle that is the squash plants though.
I felt like I was in a horror movie when I attempted to set up the 2 traps in the garden. Hundreds of beetles flew from everywhere and landed on my face and hair and hands even after I set the traps down because I still had the scent of the trap lure on me. It was scary.
The good news is that there are beets and broccoli that are ready to be picked, and I picked two green peppers today too. More peppers are going to be ready soon. I could only find one zucchini in the jungle that is the squash plants though.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Beetlemania
Melissa and I checked out the beetle situation today. It looks like they are mostly eating those huge weeds, but they are also eating the tomato plants and the basil. The milk jug trick didn't kill anything, so we went to Home Depot to see if they had any organic pesticides that would kill beetles (Strawberry Fields didn't have anything). They had one brand that said "made by vegetables for vegetables" but melissa and i couldn't figure out what one of the ingredients actually was (and now I forget what it was) so we didn't buy it. Maybe Melissa will remember the brand so we can look up that ingredient.
Bottom line is that we need to do something about the beetles on the tomato plants--in one section of the garden, it's relatively bad. I have some issues with touching bugs, so if everyone else decides to do the potential plan of picking beetles off plants and drowning them, I don't think I can help with that. If you want to wait until Donovan gets back and he sees what's up, that is ok. Melissa and I are ok with organic herbicide (if indeed we can figure out what the mystery ingredient is in the kind we saw today). She and I are also ok with using the other stuff our garden neighbor recommended. Let us know what you want to do.
P.S. Donovan, I picked a bunch of pickling cucumbers for you, so they will be in my fridge til you get back
Bottom line is that we need to do something about the beetles on the tomato plants--in one section of the garden, it's relatively bad. I have some issues with touching bugs, so if everyone else decides to do the potential plan of picking beetles off plants and drowning them, I don't think I can help with that. If you want to wait until Donovan gets back and he sees what's up, that is ok. Melissa and I are ok with organic herbicide (if indeed we can figure out what the mystery ingredient is in the kind we saw today). She and I are also ok with using the other stuff our garden neighbor recommended. Let us know what you want to do.
P.S. Donovan, I picked a bunch of pickling cucumbers for you, so they will be in my fridge til you get back
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Snake
In addition to the beetles, we also have a black snake living around our garden plots. I take this to be a good sign--our garden is so beautiful, all of the creatures want to live there. Apparently, this snake has been around for a couple of years--it's a familiar friend to some of the other gardners--and it is totally harmless. It's also very small. But, if anyone is afraid of snakes, do be careful. Thrash around a bit before entering any high weeds, for example.
Weeding Tip
Our experienced garden neighbor (the nice one, not the mean one) passed along a little weeding advice to me yesterday. She says that when the weeds get this out of control (and trust me, they're totally out of control) you should pull them, but leave them in the garden. She says you should then take the piles of weeds and throw them over the other weeds. Supposedly they will suffocate the other weeds, thus reducing the amount to be weeded. I thought the advice was worth a try--especially since it means I don't have to carry piles of weeds over to the dumping ground.
If you notice weeds piled in the garden, this is why.
If you notice weeds piled in the garden, this is why.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Exciting News!
I went to the garden tonight and pulled weeds all around 7/9 pepper plants and watered. I didn't put more straw down around the pepper plants because it was impeding the weeding process and there is much more to weed over there next to the tomato plants.
The exciting news is that a big cucumber AND a big zucchini were ready to be picked today, as well as tons of the peas. Also I gave Sascha lettuce and in exchange for the gift, he said that he would help me pick vegetables that were ready next week.
There are weeds everywhere though and it's driving me bonkers! Maybe I can get Sascha to weed too in exchange for all of the lettuce we can't eat.
The exciting news is that a big cucumber AND a big zucchini were ready to be picked today, as well as tons of the peas. Also I gave Sascha lettuce and in exchange for the gift, he said that he would help me pick vegetables that were ready next week.
There are weeds everywhere though and it's driving me bonkers! Maybe I can get Sascha to weed too in exchange for all of the lettuce we can't eat.
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