Spring Has Sprung!

Do you see what I see????

That's what I saw yesterday afternoon when I went to check on my little pots of dirt...if you look really close, you can see one - yes! - One little sproutlet! An itsy bitsy, teeny weeny Green Zebra Tomato Plant!

And the shocking thing - to me anyway - is that it was a seed in an envelope 6 days earlier! AND, it was a packet of seeds I had purchased LAST year, but never opened!

I always say, I usually do pretty good with outdoor plants, but houseplants I destroy nearly as soon as they arrive, so I always get nervous when I try to start seeds indoors. Will my black houseplant thumb mistake these "outdoor" sprouts for its victims? I hope not...I have a lot of little pots of dirt hanging around!

But 24 four hours later - exactly one week from planting half of my seeds - I came home to this....

Front row is Morning Sun - they are taking the lead! I can't believe they grew this fast in one day - I must have missed them yesterday.

Here's some new friends for Green Zebra...Steve will be happy. Looks like his Fox Cherry tomatoes are going strong!

A couple other tomatoes are starting to peep out, too, but I couldn't get a good enough shot.

This is the most remarkable one, though.

Hard to see, but there are two little greenish sprouts coming up, one in each of these two pots. Those are broccoli....that I planted Sunday. Four days ago!

I hope that's a good sign!

I can breathe a little sigh of relief now that some of the seeds have germinated. I always have that fear that I'll plant all these seeds and nothing will grow.

Now if I can just keep the cats away...

Thanks for stopping by!

Come On, Spring!

It don't look like much.....yet.

But the season has begun!

And this year I seem to be more excited about the vegetable garden than ever. I think that's maybe because Grace is almost five, so when we're out in the yard she no longer demands my complete attention. She likes to go off on her own a bit and go on "treasure hunts" or work on her own "garden" ... both involve piles of rocks, a shovel and mud. And this year she even planted her own tray of flowers and food, although I'm not sure how those twelve watermelon plants are going to do in that one four-inch pot.

I started my seedlings March 18th, and pretty much finished them up today. Just about everything else has to be planted where it will grow - things like winter squash, zucchini, cucumbers don't transplant well for me, and of course root vegetables don't either. I even decided to keep a journal, especially since this year I, um, went a little overboard purchasing seeds!

So far, this is what I've got:

Tomatoes: Green Zebra (green, striped), Sungold Select (small, orange cherry variety), Striped Roman (really cool-looking! Red roma type with yellow striping), Fox Cherry Red (hubby's favorite), Hazelfield Farm (big red heirloom from Appalachia), Orange Flesh Purple Smudge (I can't even picture it...), Morning Sun (where'd THAT come from? Did I even buy those seeds?)

Peppers: Italian Pepperoncini, Jimmy Nardello Italian (sweet Italian pepper), Anaheim, Patio Red Marconi (these might end up in pots on the deck - they're like an Italian all-purpose sweet pepper, bright red when ripe), Cayenne chili peppers, good ol' California Wonder Bell, and eight - yes, eight - Jalapeno's!

Cruciferous: Cauliflower - Purple of Sicily, and Broccoli - George's Favorite Blend (my grandfather's name was George, so that's why I picked this one)

And I even started some of the herbs, although I usually have good luck throwing the seeds in a pot or the garden and forgetting about them. So far, Thai Sweet Basil, Lime Basil, Siam Queen Thai Basil (clove-scented, they say) and lots of Oregano. Two other Italian Sweet Basil's will once again be sown in a window box I keep on my deck as well as a couple rows in the garden. And finally, Summer Savory.

All that's left to do now is wait....

Meanwhile, here's a glance at gardens past....

"Memories....Light the corner of my mind...."

Herbs and peppers on the corner of the deck....

Hot cherry peppers and jalapenos after a summer rain....

"Misty, watercolor memories.....

The vegetable garden of 2008 - my first "real" one on a long time...tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, butternut, zucchini, summer squash and even a pumpkin (didn't make it, though)

"What's too painful to remember......

....We simply choose to-oooh fo-orget...."

Yes, 2008 was the ice storm, so 2009 we decided we should count our blessings that it didn't fall on us and take down the old maple...

Some of us were more upset about that than others...

Even Martha helped with the clean up...

In fact, it didn't cost us a thing to have it hauled away...Martha just ate it.

BURP!

And as I was browsing through old garden photos, I came upon this one.

That's the one good thing about this time of year...everything is cleared out, so hopefully THIS YEAR we'll be able to maintain this area behind our garage!

So tell me, how does YOUR garden grow? :)

(P.S. Martha can be rented out - cheap! - if you have any major cleaning up to do!)

Anticipation...

Late January and early February tend to be pretty dreary in these parts.

The sparkle and excitement from the holidays is gone, and the days are cold and bleak. We've been lucky so far this year - just a few smatterings of snow, really, but by day two the pure white wonder of new fallen snow has turned a dingy, dirty gray, thanks to the sand and salt used to treat the roads.

I was leaving work one night recently, my usual time (5:01 P.M.) and I noticed something different....the sky was still light on the horizon, all purpley and orangey. Funny how it hits you all of a sudden: The days are getting LONGER! And suddenly you realize that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. Spring is slowly but surely sneaking up on us.

It was dark by the time I got home - I have a half hour commute, so I watched as the sky slowly darkened as I made my way home. But even though there was blackness above me as I pulled into the driveway, I still felt light and happy, giddy with anticipation of spring's arrival.

And it was for good reason...when I walked into the house, I found I had gotten mail. Just like that fateful day when Ralphie finally gets is Little Orphan Annie Secret Society Decoder Pin, the package I had been yearning for (um, for like, 4 whole days....) had arrived...

"My Baker Creek Seeds have arrived! Come to me, my precious....."

Yes, I had ordered a few packets of seeds from them last year, and lo and behold a couple weeks earlier a beautiful catalog arrived in my mailbox. And I was totally seduced by the glossy photographs, the cheerful descriptions of each item that screamed to me subliminally, "You know you want me...No one else on this street has some Jaune d'Or Ovale radishes." Not to mention, the thought of "heirloom" seeds, nothing genetically modified, no "frankenfoods".

OK, I don't even LIKE radishes, yet I found myself trudging towards the computer, glossy-eyed, arms out-stretched in front of me...."Yes, Master...."

I mean, just look at these!

And don't get me started on the tomatoes...

Virtually every color of the rainbow...red, pink, purple, yellow, green, orange.

Striped, spotted, plaid...

Just kidding... they're still working on plaid.

Oh, and blue. No blue, yet! But I did order those Striped Romas in the lower right corner of the page.

Melon, anyone? Look at these....

And squash...

I am MOST excited about a few bush varieties of squash they offer...bush buttercup, bush zucchini. My puny little garden can be so overrun with those greedy vining plants that both my squash and my other veggies usually suffer.

Wait, instead of showing you the whole catalog here, I'll just post a link at the end of this entry so you can come over to the dark side with me and start your own wish list! Come on! We can all dream about growing fields of Amaranth, eating the leaves and grinding up the seeds into amaranth flour! I was going to use my coffee grinder, but wouldn't it be cool to build a mill, with a water wheel and redirect a river through your yard and mill your own flour?!?

Then I realized I have just under a quarter-acre of land...including where my house and driveway sit. And half of what's remaining is the front yard, my husband's domain, where he crawls on hands and knees with tweezers and scissors, tending to his grass. My back yard garden is currently....6' by 10'? Amaranth will have to stay on my wish list for now...

ANYWAY! As a little public service announcement, I thought I would share with you the dangers of browsing fabulous heirloom seed websites in February.

This is what was in my package...

Wait, let me organize them for you.

I can barely fit them all on the table, yet somehow I want to cram all these plants into a 8' x 12' plot of land?

Better get the pick axe, honey! We need to expand!

Did I mention my husband's idea of a vegetable is a potato? He's going to hate me....

Nine...yes, NINE...kinds of tomatoes!

Four kinds of peppers...soon to be six, when I add jalapenos and bell peppers.

Pak choy and spinach and fennel and purple cauliflower...these are a few of my favorite things!

Oh, did I mention rutabaga and dragon tongue beans? Seduced by the beautiful artwork on the packages....

And despite the fact that I have very rocky soil and no luck with root crops, I couldn't resist golden beets or little carrots.

And I like lima beans...LOVE fava beans.

And herbs, glorious herbs!

Including, four types of basil...two Thai varieties, lime basil and normal basil. I also scored some slo-bolt (yeah, we'll see about that!) cilantro, dill, parsley, oregano and another one I am somewhat excited about, summer savory. Luckily, most of these herbs will be residing someplace other than the aforementioned 10' x 16' plot of earth, like in pots on my deck or an empty patch of dirt above a retaining wall.

(Wait a minute...is it my imagination, or is my garden ... growing?)

Anyway! I refuse to admit I overdid it. Instead, I can't wait to get those seeds started and stick my hands in the earth. More importantly, I can't wait to taste that lime basil, slice up those striped romas and pluck buttercup squashes from a bush.

And if you'd like to join me in my madness, go visit the wonderful folks at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

If you dare.... :)

A Thing of Beauty

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....

On a cloudy, almost raining day, I gazed out my family room window and realized that on days like today - overcast, rain threatening (again!), unseasonably cool, those little things in life seem even more glorious than ever.  I realized that on beautiful summer days, the sky blue, the sun shining, I tend to overlook some of the more dramatically beautiful things in my own back yard...

Like future pesto.....

And THRIVING cilantro, the photo of which came out blurry as I was shedding tears of joy at my triumph...

"You like me! You really, REALLY like me!!!"

The first baby summer squash.....

Mmmm...grow fast, little one! So I may sliced you up, drizzle you with olive oil and saute' you for dinner.....

Piles of marigold flowers...standing one by one, sure, they're pretty, but after being plucked (without permission) by a four year old and piled on the patio table, the colors are truly astounding...

Cool Coleus!

My mother-in-law, while she adored flowers, was always appreciative of foliage - this was one of her favorites.

And THIS is one of my favorites...

My favorite color is the one that you're not sure if it's blue...or purple.  I love this color!

And in that oh-so neglected corner of the yard, where weeds run rampant and some grow to eight feet tall, a surprise sprouted sometime over the past few weeks....

Which is why I rarely weed....you never know what you might be destroying.

Close up, it's even more beautiful...

I do remember planting this, but it was several yards away...ah, the mystery of backyard life!

And further on down the yard is a rose bush.  I remember planting it, then forgot about it.  This year we dug up and handed to a neighbor an overgrown wisteria that never did take well in our shady yard.  Without that, and without our giant maple, I came upon this....

And what would an essay on beauty be without mentioning Bubbles...

(which, by the way, was Daddy's nickname for her as an infant, when she was constantly blowing cute little spit bubbles...)

...And of course, Best Friends!

And perhaps the most astonishingly beautiful thing I have seen...

The Quilt Square (?)

Complete with oil-slick trimming along the coast...and state borders.  (Huh?  If it's so plentiful, then why am I paying $2.65 a gallon???)  I ditched the birds.  They scared me.  The square came out fine.  Not what I had in mind - I tend to have big ideas that don't fit on a 9" x 9" square of cloth...but I feel I redeemed myself by putting a recipe for Boston Cream Pie on my "Memory Book" page....a recipe that I think shall make an appearance on this blog....some day....SOON!

And because I like people to walk away from my blog with a smile, I leave you with this.....

(No, it's actually straight...I cock my head and say "Aw!" every time I see this photo, so THAT's why it's crooked!)

Thanks for stopping by!

My Culinary Deck - The Beginning

Last year I grew a wide assortment of herbs - aside from extra basil and parsley in the vegetable garden - in pots on my deck. While my kitchen doesn't connect directly to the deck, it's definitely close enough to run out and grab a handful of basil or a sprig or two of rosemary in the midst of cooking.


Let's see, last year I grew parsley, chives, garlic chives (didn't do so well), mint, rosemary, sage, marjoram, cilantro (did great as soon as I gave up on it and ignored it), thyme, basil, oregano and some peppers - jalapenos, chili peppers and hot cherry peppers.



This year, I'm off to a bit of a slow start but there's still time...



First, we did a couple big pots of annuals to go on either side of our front entrance.




Problem is, I like seeing that gorgeous cobalt blue lobelia and those pink double impatiens so much that so far they've remained on the deck where I spend more time. We've had quite a rainy spell lately, so everything is waterlogged. I need to go whack those impatiens a few times to get the wilted petals off, making room for some new ones - the color is really pretty and they look like little rosebuds.



I never had luck with basil until last year. I threw a packet of seeds in this window-box planter and left it on our outdoor table (which we never use for eating, because I use it mainly as a potting bench). This was last year's crop...



Mmmm...pesto!

This is how far we've gotten so far...

This time I put two rows of basil the entire length of the planter. It freezes BEAUTIFULLY. Last year's crop lasted me until maybe February? I chop it, pack it into ice cube trays, add a smidge of water and freeze. When the cubes are frozen, I pop 'em out and seal in a plastic Ziploc bag. Each "cube" is about a tablespoon, although if you're like me you rarely measure herbs!

My only issue is, I expect I'm supposed to thin them out somewhat, but I've always had a toughtime deciding who lives and who dies, so I might just let them duke it out.
Sharing a cozy little flowerpot with my friend, Rosemary (who has a twin sister also named Rosemary who lives next door with the Thyme twins) is my one-time nemesis, Cilantro.

Me and Cilantro got off on the wrong foot a few years back, when I made a Black Bean and Orzo salad and went a little too heavy with it. I hated it! Then a few years later I started to acquire a taste for it, tried to grow some, and it hated me right back. This year, we've hopefully put all that in the past...and if all goes well, maybe I'll resurrect that recipe!



Now onto Greece, which I now want to visit, I have some Greek Oregano where the Marjoram once grew...M might be coming back, so they'll be neighbors.

Now onto those boisterous Thyme sisters...

Lemon Thyme is the one with the flowers - she got a haircut shortly after this picture was snapped. I have a large patch of Lemon Thyme and Common Thyme in my front yard - I plopped a couple small plants on the hill, just to get them in the ground one hot summer, and they've been there ever since. Because my husband tends to use fertilizers and other yucky stuff in the front yard I never harvest that for cooking, but I love to squeeze a handful and smell that wonderful lemony-thymey smell. This year I opted for some in pots so I could actually use them. I'm thinking "tea" this summer, and I also saw a recipe somewhere for thyme cookies...lemon thyme might work, too!


Finally, I'm recycling/reviving some chives I found growing in a pot this spring. I put them in the top of a strawberry pot with some coleus in the side pockets for some color.


Oh, that other pot was some sort of heirloom carrot. This is was happened to them...


It's called "Martha" and it is very, very destructive!

But cute...

We'll visit the vegetable patch soon! Thanks for stopping by!