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When Money is No Object

June 16, 2015

These little white seeds were the inspiration for the title of this post: Pelleted Carrot Seed costs, like, 3x more than regular seed. But hey, I'm still saving money by growing my own, right?
These little white seeds were the inspiration for the title of this post: Pelleted Carrot Seed costs, like, 3x more than regular seed. But hey, I’m still saving money by growing my own, right?
We gardeners love to act like we are all frugal — growing our own veggies, you know! Oh, don’t you? It’s really not that hard… Wouldn’t you like to harvest your own organic veggies? It’s SO healthy! And cheap!

No it is not.

Nor is it an efficient use of time. Or energy. Or much of anything else. [What it IS, is a good summer workout plan that also gives you a head start for contracting skin cancer.]

Don’t let people like me make you feel like an underachiever. Seriously. We are not overachievers. We are insane. Battling mother nature and the animal kingdom with weapons [remember, we are ORGANIC] that would translate to a rubber knife and plastic squirt gun out on the battlefield.

Anyway, this is my mid-June garden update. Things are actually looking pretty good. Mostly that’s because we have been mercilessly missed by the worst of the damaging weather and because I finally fixed the garden gate. It latches now and keeps Lola [mostly] out of the garden. What it doesn’t keep out is the adolescent bunnies that love nothing but edamame. (I have never found any bunny damage to other crops — which I find very strange) Every year, after the bunnies either 1) mow down the entire planting, or if I’m lucky, 2) only nip a few plants, I haul out my insanely unwieldy “portable” electric fence and spend about, oh… 3 hours setting it up. It is hideous, and tedious and dangerous to work around.

And quite effective.

Several years ago, I was contacted by a representative of a company asking if I would be interested in testing a product to keep rabbits and deer away. It was my first (and only) offer for free swag, courtesy of this ridiculous blog. Unfortunately, the kind woman who contacted me, made the gesture in October — not a prime gardening month in Minnesota. I told her, “Sure. Send it in the spring.”

The next year, forgetting all about that, I dragged out my fence and did it all over again.

She contacted me again in November the next year. The same thing happened the following year. I get it: she’s probably busy in the spring. I was ready for her when she got back in touch last Fall: I told her to send it to me right away. Then, I would use it the following spring. I don’t think she liked that idea, but she sent it anyway.

So here we are in the early summer of 2015 — and I almost forgot about all about it! And when I remembered, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to roll the dice–replanting is SUCH a drag. Nevertheless, I do have a renegade bunny that is working hard on my edamame. And, I am also feeling very old and lazy these days. Spraying some stuff sounded a lot easier to me than dragging out that damn fence. Besides: we are all kinda sick of edamame. Isn’t soy bad for you now? If I lost the crop I would shake my fist at the sky and plant a cover crop.

Here are examples of an uneaten plant and a recently eaten plant that is starting to recover (sometimes they don't)
Here are examples of an uneaten plant and a recently eaten plant that is starting to recover (sometimes they don’t)
The product isn’t anything new or ground breaking, from what I can gather. I remember my mom using Liquid Fence at various times during the past decade or two. I also remember that she had to reapply it every time it rained, which was a total pain. [A bigger pain than the electric fence? — who’s to say.] Happily, this formula doesn’t require that. However, it also says nowhere on the label, that it is safe for use on vegetables. In fact, I can find no mention of vegetables at all. Hmmmm. That seems like, I don’t know… kind of important? And ominous?

Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent (zoom in to verify my claim about no mention of vegetables). Does "EcoSafe" mean organic?
Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent (zoom in to verify my claim about no mention of vegetables). Does “EcoSafe” mean organic?
Undeterred, I sprayed it all around the bed, and then all around the entire garden perimeter. The next day I had another two plants nipped off.

This was surely a dilemma.

[Oh my gosh. Is it me? Or is this the world’s longest, most boring story? Why can’t I stop?]

I stood there for long enough to get a nice sunburn on the back of my neck while I contemplated dragging out the stupid (but effective!) fence.

Then, in a sudden flurry of decisivity (yes, I made that word up), I sprayed the Liquid Fence all over my edamame. To HELL with organic.

And I haven’t lost a plant since!

I’m sort of hoping my lady finds me again so I can ask her if I’m going to die when we eat the edamame (because we will be eating the edamame). My rationale is that it absolutely fine. These plants are still tiny and not even close to flowering — that is still many weeks away. (I am no botanist, but doesn’t that make perfect sense?) Plus, from what I can tell from the smell as you spray it, it just might be organic: dead fish and coyote urine? Decomposed and liquified flesh? As long as whatever is inside this bottle didn’t eat GMO corn before it was turned into Liquid Fence, it’s probably fine, right?

The good news is, that smell goes away when it dries. The bad news is, Lola rolled in it before it dried. The good news is, after it dried on Lola, it didn’t smell. The bad news is, when she got wet I smelled it again.

The plants only need to get another inch or so taller and then they should be safe. So, I totally endorse this product. Assuming I don’t die, I will even buy it again. It’s appears to be a good weapon.

On to the photos. Captions included.

Hello Garden
Hello Garden!
Isn't this pretty lettuce? This is what lettuce that is properly thinned will look like. I only achieve this when I transplant already-started seeds. I'm bad at tough love when it comes to direct seeded lettuce.
Isn’t this pretty lettuce? This is what lettuce that is properly thinned will look like. I only achieve this when I transplant already-started seeds. I’m bad at tough love when it comes to direct seeded lettuce.
This is a back bed where I often grow the garlic. I rotated it to another spot and sprinkled lettuce seed everywhere. It's a total experiment. I don't have high hopes.
This is a back bed where I often grow the garlic. This year, I sprinkled lettuce seed everywhere (aka “direct-seeded, and un-thinned lettuce”. It’s a total experiment. I don’t have high hopes.
Another shot of the non-properly-thinned lettuce. My guess is that it will bolt much quicker. My guess is that I will know very soon.
Garlic plants are already showing signs of yellow. THIS YEAR will be the year I harvest it ON TIME! ...right?
Garlic plants are already showing signs of yellow. THIS YEAR will be the year I harvest it ON TIME! …right?
Let us out! (missing cages are right out of the farm in this shot protecting newly planted apple trees that the deer decided tasted "just right."
“Let us out! ” said the still-healthy tomato plants. (the missing cages are right out of the frame in this shot protecting newly planted apple trees that the deer decided tasted “just right.”)
I'm hoping for a good tomato crop after last year's devastation.
I’m hoping for a good tomato crop after last year’s devastation.
Glamour shot. Aren't I cute?
Glamour shot. Aren’t I cute?
Kind of arty, eh? I believe I will come to rue this day. I used to grow beans on my center trellis and then I stopped. Something tells me there was a good reason I stopped, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was.
Kind of arty, eh? I believe I will come to rue this day. I used to grow beans on my center trellis and then I stopped. Something tells me there was a good reason I stopped, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was.
New for this year: growing the peas (and cukes) on round tomato cages. Hoping for less potential storm damage. Damage from dog is not expected to change
New for this year: growing the peas (and cukes) on round tomato cages. Hoping for less potential storm damage. Damage from dog is not expected to change
Snap peas on far side. Cucumbers on near side, interplanted with spinach and cilantro
Snap peas on far side. Cucumbers on near side, interplanted with spinach and cilantro
Glamour shot. Sugar Snap peas reach for the sky!
Glamour shot. Sugar Snap peas [before the German Shorthair murders them…]
Seriously, man. What is this all about? Right after this photo was taken, I pulled out all the Broccoli Raab. I'll try it again in the fall. All I got were these spindly little flowers. #fail
Seriously, man. What is this all about? Right after this photo was taken, I pulled out all the Broccoli Raab. I’ll try it again in the fall. All I got were these spindly little flowers. #fail
The cucumbers took forever to sprout. But hopefully with a little warm weather, they'll mutate (aka grow)
The cucumbers took forever to sprout. But hopefully with a little warm weather, they’ll mutate (aka grow)
That’s it for today! I’m going to be changing my RSS subscription to Mail Chimp as soon as I have time. Look for an email if you were a previous subscriber, and if you want to become one, just fill out the box in the side bar when it shows up.

Filed Under: Garden Tagged With: Rabbits, June, garden, Liquid Fence

Hello.

July 28, 2013

20130728-161252.jpg
Remember me?
I have no excuses. I won’t even try. But as easy as it has been to use up the time freed by not posting my shenanigans here, it’s simply impossible to not share pics of the garden this time of year.

And what a year it’s been.

Surprise! Carrots are ready!

20130728-161307.jpg

The Monarda (Bee Balm) in the prairie is breathtaking right now. Even if you aren’t keen on purple.
20130728-161615.jpg
Something is missing from my brassicas this year. Can you see what it is?

Holes! Made by the ubiquitous cabbage worm/moth. Why? I have no clue! They simply are not here this year. I will not be heartbroken if they don’t make an appearance. I’m loving it! These are my Brussels sprouts. Aren’t they gorgeous?

20130728-161327.jpg
And this is the kale. I thought I was planting mostly Nero Black Tuscan, but it looks to be mostly Red Russian and the curly variety.
20130728-161702.jpg
Here’s the popular edamame. After a rocky start from leaving the electric fence turned off just one night (bunnies!) I had to replant. It’s finally doing well.
20130728-161629.jpg
Here’s a view of onions and tomatoes. The onions are SO LATE. Course, I didn’t get them planted until late May but still. They look marvy. Very excited they are all standing upright and haven’t bolted. I haven’t had a good onion year in at least 3 years.
20130728-162041.jpg
My pretty (rotten, lichen-covered) bench. The blue in front is borage (haven’t cooked with it, but just found a recipe for borage ravioli and might try it). The feathery white flowers are actually cilantro gone to seed. I love how it looks and that’s where I get my seed (and coriander for cooking!) for next year.
20130728-162053.jpg
Hello, asparagus! Just who are you trying to impress?
20130728-162102.jpg
More onions. These are the reds.
I realize I didn’t get any shots of the tomatoes. I’d run take some, but I’m trapped on a fishing boat pretending to be a good wife. (In fact, that’s why this post looks so funny — I’m doing it from my phone!) The tomatoes are… Struggling to catch up after a very late spring, a later summer, and most currently: nighttime temps in the 40s. Thankfully I bought a large Early Girl to plant or I wouldn’t be looking at a fresh tomato for at least another month. I still have two (out of eight) plants without a single tomato! 🙁
20130728-162111.jpg
Very excited to see what colors these sunflowers are! As usual, I don’t remember what I planted.

20130728-162348.jpg Arugula: how I do love thee. There is no more simple thing to grow than you. I love you more than lettuce. But maybe not cilantro.
20130728-162357.jpg
So that’s it for now. On a side note, there is a movement for National Kale Day! In honor of a post I wrote of the same name, go like it on Facebook and help them out: https://www.facebook.com/nationalkaleday.

Filed Under: Garden Tagged With: garden, arugula, brussels sprouts, July

Rainy Saturday…

October 13, 2012

You may thank me, drought-striken Minnesotans, for this unexpected, unforecasted rainy Saturday.

Why?

Because I started washing windows yesterday. Because it always rains the day after I wash windows. Inexplicably. Without fail. I don’t actually believe that, and yet… it hasn’t rained for something like 75 days, I wash windows yesterday and even though the forecast from last night doesn’t call for rain, it is currently raining.

Coincidence?

I remain on the fence.

And while we are on the subject of windows, you may think I’m overly ambitious. That my windows may not actually need to be washed.

I disagree.

For that is what each and every window looks like. And understand this: it is ever-so-difficult to capture those spots in a picture. Because that picture doesn’t do justice to the overall effect of gray water spots covering every entire window in our house. (Of which there are 67 and I have washed 15. Not that I’m keeping track.)

The spots are from the Plunkett’s man, sprayed in September to deal with our boxelder bugs and asian beetle problem.

Last year we couldn’t spray because we were painting the house. It was a melee! I was actually feeling quite smug about the whole thing and thinking I wouldn’t spray this year either, because it was only really bad for a few weeks and *presto!* they were gone.

Only they weren’t gone. I slept with, vacuumed — and even almost ate — boxelder bugs on a daily basis throughout winter and well in to summer. They were fricken everywhere. So this year I bowed to the chemical god, suppressed my holier-than-thou organic attitude and called Plunkett’s.

And the trade off is this. The window spots. Which are a beast to remove. Even with a nylon scrubby  they remain visible when the sun hits the window just right.

Whatever.

I’m ticked I can’t continue on my window-washing death march. I was all ready to tackle the remaining main-floor windows when it started misting.

Instead, I turn to the garden.

And the rotting vegetables on my counter.

And the kale.– Though that is fodder for another post. (One I started writing about 2 weeks ago and have yet to complete, actually.)

And the apples, which I haven’t even wrapped my mind around yet. And the longer I procrastinate, the less I will have to deal with because the wasps are steadily working on ingesting each and every apple.

Did you know that? That wasps eat apples? Literally eat them so that when they are done it looks like a human took a bite?

Anyway.

Here’s another “Did you know”:

Did you know that if you don’t harvest your carrots in a timely fashion, that someone else will?

Who?

I know who, but I did not get a picture of the culprit. Here is all the remains of the evidence.

I also hope to deal with the already-mentioned-rotting tomatoes today, that I harvested over a month ago, but weren’t totally ripe at the time.

Now they are going to bad. In addition to my own festering stash, it seems I was visited by a tomato fairy, who generously came to let my dogs out one day that I was gone last week, who deposited some of her own on my counter as a “gift.”

And just when I think I am getting to the end of this thankless task, I go out to the garage and trip over this:

Not to mention, this surprise — found when I was gathering sheets from the garden as it started to rain:

It will never end, I tell you. Never.

 

Filed Under: Garden, Food Tagged With: apples and wasps, kale chips, Plunketts asian beetles, garden, kale, boxelder bugs, rotting tomatoes

My Potato Patch: A Retrospect

December 12, 2011

I know it’s been a while.

I know.

Let’s put that behind us and move on to greener pastures.

Or dead ones.

The potato patch, to be specific.

Potatoes are a cash crop and worth the effort.

[No, not really.]

Potatoes grown in the garden are amazingly different from their supermarket counterparts and worth the effort.

[No, not really.]

Potatoes are so easy to grow and rarely fall victim to pests or blight and are worth the effort.

[No, not really.]

Like corn, it seems, every year, I grow potatoes, regardless of what my notes from the previous year tell me to do. I think the main reason is that I always have an empty planting box and withered, sprouting potatoes from the year before in the lower garage. It just seems silly not to plant potatoes.

So I do.

And then I listen to my dad bellyache about it for the next several months since I often guilt him in to digging them for me. He’s probably only really done it two, maybe three, times. But you’d think I had him out there slaving away every year since 1995 the way he goes on about it.

“Potatoes? Potatoes! Why’d the Hell you plant potatoes? I’ll buy you potatoes. I’ll pay you not to dig them. They don’t taste any different from the store. Geez”

…and on and on and on.

So it was this year as well. And I really had no intention of having him dig the potatoes. Really, I didn’t. But a series of events forced me to ask.

First, he was going to paint the barn. Then, when that didn’t pan out, he offered to paint the lattice on the screen porch. When we needed to use the parking spot where the lattice was laying, we farmed that project out as well.

Clearly he was in my debt.

And yet, still I refrained from assigning him potato duty. Not that I didn’t tease, and threaten. Sure I did. But I had no plans to go through with it.

Until that fateful Saturday in November.

He had willingly offered to accompany Charlie to his second annual Robotics tournament. Charlie had to be there at 8 am. It was a 45 minute drive, which meant they would have to leave at 7:15 am. No easy task for Gramps. He’s not a morning guy. I totally get that and it was one of the reasons I was delighted he wanted to go. –I take after him; I’m not a morning guy either.

The other reason was that last year’s tournament went all day.

All day. A robotics tournament, all day.

To be fair, I did want to make sure he didn’t feel like he had to do it. I even said, “You don’t have to do it, dad. I was planning to dig potatoes tomorrow, so if you don’t want to go, maybe you can dig the potatoes?” heh heh.

No, no, no, no. My plan worked! He was going. I was thrilled. My dad is the best!

Unfortunately, at 7:15 am the next morning, the loft was pitch black.

Pitch black.

So I threw the covers off, threw some jeans on, whipped my way-too-long-hair-for-a-46-year-old into a ponytail, screamed some things like, “WHAT ARE THOSE CLOTHES IN THE BATHROOM? WHY ISN’T YOUR BED MADE? ARE YOU READY? DO YOU HAVE YOUR STUFF?”

I threw the car into reverse and…

…nearly backed over my mother.

Who had run down the driveway in a panic wearing her gigantic fur coat that she keeps at the loft to tell me, “He’s up! He can take him. It’s fine!”

Which I knew was not true. He might be up, sure. But was he ready to go? Was he in the car? Why was my mother in the driveway, freezing her butt off? Or not freezing her butt off since she was wearing a big bear fur, or coyote. Or something.

“No, no. It’s fine. Just tell him he can either come relieve me at noon or dig the potatoes.”

And then I left her in the dust.

Ironically, it was also to be the first snow storm of the year. Which started around 11am and made it silly for him to drive all the way in to town to relieve me, and even more important for me to get the potatoes dug. And so began a day long email exchange:

The first, from my dad:

 

In between these two emails he called me and we decided he shouldn’t drive in. And he grudgingly said he’d dig the potatoes.

By this time, I was starting to suspect he was just messing with me. –That he had dug the potatoes hours before and was simply having fun at my expense. I went along with it, acting enraged.

 

 

 

 

He called me again, to ask me where the garden fork was. He was really hamming it up. I mean for crying out loud. I continued to go along with it. “DAD! It’s in the garden! If it’s not in the garden it’s in the barn hanging up! Where have you looked?!”

KJDJDSHSHST…YOU ARE BREAKING UP…. silence.

And he was gone.

*******

The sloth really didn’t dig the potatoes. He laid on the couch, watching the snow and reading a book all day. Morgan and my mom both tattled on him, so I know it’s true.

And, after the snow melted a few days later, I went out to the garden to see this:

The garden fork, in the potato bed.

So he’s a liar, too.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Garden, Babble Tagged With: funny, digging, potatoes are not worth the effort, dad, garden, potato, planting, potatoes

How I Spent My Birthday

May 30, 2011


(the most important day of the year.)

We, in Minnesota, are in the midst of about the worst Spring ever. Rain, snow, frost, wind and more rain. It hasn’t been the best environment to garden in.

It. Has. Been. Dismal.

But on the most important day of the year, the sun shone. All day.

And I planted almost the whole garden. On May 25th, all I had in the garden was rhubarb (perennial), asparagus (perennial), garlic and shallots (planted last year), and onions (planted in early April).

And by the end of the day on May 26th, I had added tomatoes, perppers, beans, peas, edamame, cucumbers, corn, zucchini, all my potted herbs, zinnias.

I was tired, sunburned and princess for a day.

I love my birthday!

First I planted my herbs that wintered in the barn all winter.

The sage is so pretty!

The rosemary is a little worse for the wear, but will rebound fine, I’m sure.

Next, I went after that damn, damn “non-invasive” ginger mint.

You might remember that from last year and the year before, when I attempted to dig it out. Over and over. This year, I started with Round-Up. And after two applications, it’s still doing just fine. So I took out the big guns: Round-Up Poison Ivy and Tough Brush Killer. Somehow, I’m not optimistic. But stay tuned for an update in a few weeks.

And speaking of invasive, though on a much cuter level, we visit the ever-burgeoning Johnny Jump-Up population. Which, as predicted last April, has exponentially increased in number. But I didn’t Round-Up them. I probably should have. But I didn’t.

Instead, I dug them all out and placed them inside my round trellis. (All except one, that is.) Something tells me I’ll rue this day.

Needing refreshment, I decided to run up to the house for a drink and came upon Lola, with the door wide open. She apparently wanted a fresh drink too, and let herself in. Then decided to bask in the sun a bit.

Well, hello Lola. You bad dog!

And who is this, lurking among the garlic?

Why, it’s my psychotic rooster, Senor. He has finally figured out he is free.

And our lives may never be the same again. He is scary as Hell. And while he never attacked me all day, he did attack Dave when he got home with a delicious picnic lunch for my birthday! I have a video of it happening. It’s hilarious.

It was a great day. I was so grateful to be able to work outside. Then I had to pack it up and head off to a soccer game. Which isn’t how I’d voluntarily spend my birthday, given the choice. But that’s just the way it is sometimes, kids. And when that happens, I have to act like like a grown-up and not complain. (too much.)

We went out for a late bite at a Mexican spot the next town over. And had Boston cream pie for dessert at home! Like I said, it was a great day.

I should note that the temperature dropped steadily all night and was 34 degrees when I woke up. Looking out the window, I saw what looked an awful lot like frost on the roof of the barn.

Huh. Imagine that.

Filed Under: Garden Tagged With: Lola, mint, Birthday, rooster, round up, garden, tomatoes, Sage, Rosemary, johnny jump up

Kale Harvest and a Winter Soup

November 15, 2010

Mmmmm. I know I tend to go on and on about Kale. But seriously? It’s that good.

Everyone just assumes it tastes like spinach. But it really doesn’t. Lacking a good comparison, however, that’s what most people say. Including me, I’ll admit. Because there isn’t a good comparison.

It tastes like Kale. Nutty, earthy, sweet… so good!

While spinach can be too earthy, a bit mushy, sometimes harsh tasting. –At least in comparison to kale.

So, if you haven’t tried Kale, then go buy some. Or stop by my house and I’ll give you a gallon freezer bag full.

I’ll also admit: it is very difficult for me to buy Kale at the grocery store. You get about six stems for about $3. Seriously insane. It reminds me of a lunch meeting I had. I was a bit late (always) and came in after they had ordered a couple appetizers. Being polite (hardly ever), I didn’t ask what they had ordered. When the waitress set down two steaming bowls of edamame, I blurted out, “You paid money for these?!”

Of course they paid money for those. Everyone pays money for edamame. Except me, who can’t keep up with the ice cream pails full of pods that start coming out of the garden in August. And they are so much better than the ones at the restaurants. So I encourage you to try planting edamame as well. A simpler crop cannot be found.

Anyway.

Kale.

I will admit one more thing. Processing the kale for the freezer takes about three “jennie days” consisting of anywhere from 1-3 hours each:

  1. Cutting and hauling
  2. Stripping stems from leaves
  3. Boiling, freezing and bagging

Four days this year, due to the volume of stems harvested. (It was a good year for kale.)

I detail my process here, if you are interested. Which, of course, you are not, because who but me does stuff like this? This year, I was able to do all the boiling outside which saved me from the usual three-day kale smell in the house. (Not a good thing. Imagine broccoli times ten.)

I also cut one step out of the process. Instead of chopping the frozen pieces before bagging, I simply crunched up the frozen leaves as I put them in the bags, thereby saving the cutting board clean-up. Always the innovator am I.

I saved about 6 fresh leaves and made this amazing, amazing soup. Sort of a take-off on Italian Kale soup. I substituted barley for white beans, since I had frozen barley left over from my Fall Barley Risotto and didn’t have any white beans in my pantry.

This soup was insanely delicious. And so ridiculously simple. I did start with homemade chicken broth. I’ve got a dearth surfeit** of it in the freezer that I’ve got to use up because I’ve also got a dearth surfeit** of chicken bones waiting to be made into more broth. It’s a vicious circle. I am certain it would also be great with store-bought broth.

Kale Soup with Barley, Sausage and Quinoa

  • 1 pkg hot Italian sausage (I used Johnsonville, but Chorizo with be amazing)
  • 1 medium onion diced or equivalent shallots. (I’ve got to use my dearth surfeit** of shallots up, so I used shallots)
  • 3 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 cups chicken stock
  • 4 cups thinly sliced kale, stems removed
  • 1 cup pearled barley
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 T balsamic vinegar (yes, every recipe I use includes balsamic)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • shredded Pecorino Romano for garnish

Slice the sausage into disks if using Johnsonville-type with casings. Otherwise roughly break up if using bulk sausage. In a large soup pan, brown sausage and remove from pan, leaving fat. My sausage did not render much fat, so I added some bacon fat to the pan. Sauté the onions until starting to brown, add the garlic and sauté another minute. Add the the chicken stock and barley to the pot and cook an hour until the barley is just about done (My barley was already cooked, so I added everything at once and simmered for about 45 minutes total). Add the kale, quinoa and sausage and cook another 20-30 minutes on a low simmer. Taste for seasonings. Add the balsmic and serve hot with pecorino (or parmesan) shreds and crusty bread.

Serves: 500 with leftovers*

*kidding. It serves: I don’t know, but I’m guessing 16. We ate a ton. I ate 4 days of left overs and I’ve got a container in the freezer with an additional 4 cups. Hope that helps!

**Update, 11/16/2010:
dearth (noun) LACK, scarcity, shortfall, deficiency, ANTONYMS surfeit.

Filed Under: Garden, Food Tagged With: barley, soup, italian kale and sausage soup, quinoa, garden, freeze kale, harvest, kale, black tuscan, red russian

It’s Still 40 and it’s Still Raining

May 13, 2010

I need a garden fix. I want to weed. I want to escape this stupid computer and stupid soccer and get the Hell out of my office. My dog is ready to implode. I have chicks in my laundry room. The cats are sitting in the trees with the bird feeders. It’s raining. It’s cold. And I never went looking for more Morel mushrooms. My asparagus has stopped growing. I want to take a bath. I want to take a bath and go back to bed. I want to eat banana bread in the bath and then go to bed.

Waa waa wahh.

How’s that for a pity party? I’m good at those. Oh. I forgot one thing. I have a headache. I had two meager glasses of wine last night after a long day and today I have a headache. So stupid.

With plenty of work-work to do today (work-work is my made up word meaning ‘real work’ for ‘real clients’), I put on my  ugly hood (shown on model with the face I use to scare my kids with):

And went out to feed the chickens, the birds, empty the compost bucket and take some garden pictures. Come along for the ride…

First stop: Let the chickens out. You think that’s a scary face in the photo above? How about this one? Especially when he flies at your face. I have a big stick I use to keep him in his place.

Sadly, I lost one of my two hens — on MOTHER’S DAY of all days. She must have flown out of the 7′ high fence. We are blaming Lola.

Next stop: Empty the compost and check out the garden.

That’s looking back toward the house. You can see that not much has happened in the last three weeks.

Lettuce, spinach, kale, arugula and cilantro are all just eeking along.

One big surprise are the strawberry plants. They were new last year. I struggled with bugs and this year I have removed the straw mulch, having read it makes the bug problem worse. My *plan* is to keep the refuse under the plants very clean. We’ll see how that goes…

Look at all the blooms!

Here is the garlic, planted last Fall. It is huge compared to other years. The heavy snowfall protected the bulbs and I didn’t lose even one. I predict a June harvest instead of last year’s August harvest. That is both good and bad. Good because I’ll have garlic sooner, bad because it is much harder to store through the hot months.

Here are those scary red potatoes I planted in early March. They are doing well, except for the frost damage from last weekend.

It got down to 28 here in Watertown. See the damage?

And they were even covered with a heavy blanket:

In fact, I tried to cover EVERYTHING with blankets, which was actually quite funny:

So glad I did. Not sure what the apples will do, but you can tell which blossoms were covered and which weren’t.

Here are those shallot plants I was so worried wouldn’t fill in. I should have planted the bulbs last Fall with the garlic, but I forgot. They went into the ground in late March. Most came up and and I am excited. I haven’t had shallots in several years.

I have a bunch more pictures to share, but my ‘work-work’ awaits. After the garden/compost stop, I filled the bird feeders. Thanks to Red-Winged Blackbirds, my gallon-sized feeders have to be filled daily if I want to sustain my little Chickadees, Nuthatches, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and so on. On the way, I pass my very favorite shrub, the Snowball Viburnum:


I hack about six feet off this thing every year. (I have no idea how large it would eventually get.) I’m trying to prune it so that the left side sort of arches over the path. Yeah. Good luck on that one. I’m a spaz with a pruning saw…

That’s the flower close-up. It is the most gorgeous chartreuse green at this time of year. No scent to the flower, unfortunately, but man are they pretty in a vase.

Then it’s back into my God-Forsaken house with my God-Forsaken animals and the new God-Forsaken chicks.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Jennie. Please send Sunshine. And a personal assistant. I promise to try to be a nicer person.

Filed Under: Garden, Home Tagged With: Snowball Viburnum, garden, Frost, Lettuce, garlic, spring, kale, shallots, potatoes, Rain, Strawberries

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About Me

Jen menke

I’m a mostly-retired, pretend graphics and web developer (but don’t judge my skillz by THIS site!). We sold our dream home in Watertown, MN and downsized to a “Villa” in Excelsior, MN and built a home in our dream location of Eagle, CO and now split our time between the two states. It is truly a dichotomous life of absentee gardening and getting together with friends & family while in MN and playing hard and hermitting while in CO. I’ve let the blog go but a trip to Alaska has me resurrecting the Road Warriors series. My beloved brother is my biggest fan and I am doing this just for him.

Latest Reads:

Jennie's bookshelf: read

Trail of Broken Wings
2 of 5 stars
Trail of Broken Wings
by Sejal Badani
Started out strong and dwindled off for me. I wasn't enamored of the writing and -- maybe it's just me -- but the secrets!? I understand that you have to be willing to swallow a fair amount of incredulity when enjoying a lot of fiction, ...
The Girl on the Train
3 of 5 stars
The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
Audible book. Good, mindless listen. Pretty good action and twists. Not as good as all the hype, in my opinion, but I did enjoy. --Not enough to choose for my bookclub though: it would have been carved up by those English-teaching wolves...
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away
4 of 5 stars
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away
by Bill Bryson
Not my favorite Bryson book. However, it's been several years since I last read one and I was -- once again -- astounded by his writing style and voice. I just love him. I think this book is mostly compiled from columns he wrote over a c...

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