Harvest Monday

Yes! I get to participate in this week's Harvest Monday! I didn't think I would have anything, but I ended up being able to squeeze one tiny harvest out of the garden last week. Yay!

My Whirlybird Nasturtiums are in full bloom... I find it interesting that out of seven possible shades, I have two colors on four plants. Hopefully the last two plants I'm growing this season will reveal a different color (or two)...

I wanted to try using them in something besides a salad, but I had no idea how to use nasturtiums. It's not really an ingredient typically found in recipe books or recipe collection sites. Thank goodness for the internet! Googling yielded a few suggestions, and I decided to go with making a Nasturtium Leaf Pesto recipe I found over at Poor Girl Gourmet's blog.

Being a pesto purist (for a simple lack of pesto branching out, really), I was a little scared to try a straight-up nasturtium pesto, so I decided to add a little bit of basil to the recipe. I snipped a few Cameo basil I started from seed, and some of the Italian basil I bought from a nursery last week. I didn't weigh the harvest because it was so small, but I ended up with 1/2 cup nasturtium leaves, and about 1/8-1/4 cup basil. Oh, I also added homegrown garlic to the mix too.

(I think I over-blended)

I was surprised by how much of the nasturtium's peppery flavor was lost when making the pesto, but still tasted good. I really enjoyed using it to make Creamy Pesto Shrimp (BTW, this is totally bad for the arteries and hips).

I froze the rest of the pesto on parchment paper in 1/2 tablespoon portions then transferred to a freezer bag. I plan on using it again tomorrow in this Pesto Polenta Lasagna.

Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week

Self-Watering Planter Update

It's been almost a month and a half since I planted my peppers in their SWP's, and thought it time for an update. Here's the crew, plus one more not shown...

The "not shown" is a Thai Hot pepper plant that I picked up today (along with Italian Basil). I needed more compost to add to my raised bed for the acorn squash going in soon, and after reading an article in the latest issue of Organic Gardening about hot peppers, I decided to bring another plant home with me. I'm having buyers remorse now, of course. One, I'm not supposed to be making unplanned purchases (oh, this has gone so well. NOT! My seed-buying self control sucks!), and two, I've already complained about two White Habanero plants being one too many. LOL. But hey, at least the Thai Hot has half the heat of the habanero...

Anywho... Here are close-ups of the first round of peppers. From left to right: White Hab.; Baby Belle; Baby Belle; White Hab. On each container I wrote which two received 1/2 cup each of d. lime and CRF (left two), and which two received 1/4 cup (right two), but the sharpie faded really quick. I wrote it down in my journal before the sharpie completely faded, but looking at the picture below, I'm not sure if I copied correctly. Doesn't it seem like the two that received larger doses would be larger? Grr! Lesson learned: better notes next time girl.

This is my new Baby Belle, planted on 5/3. If the weather will just cooperate and warm up already, this cutie shouldn't take long to catch up to the others.

Here are a few close-ups of the pepper plants. They have all been filling in, are growing wonderfully, and beginning to flower, but they are also beginning to show signs of something wrong.  Anyone know what's going on? Too much moisture? Not warm enough? It has been unusually rainy and cool for this time of year (ugh).

Bush Slicer Cucumbers... I started several in newspaper pots but waited too long to get them planted, and since I had a head start anyway, I decided to plant new plants to give them the healthiest chance possible...

Here's a close-up of the melons and petunias, and the Tumbling Tom cherry tomato I planted today (between the petunias). I probably packed a little too many in the container, so I guess we'll see how they do...

Sometime soon, I'll add a trellis for the melons and cucumbers. Dowels and the square tomato cage-wire stuff (blanking on what it's called) for the melons, and dowels and twine for the cucumbers since they're a bush variety--more for support than climbing.

There are only a few weeks left before Boy Wonder starts summer vacation (Momma screams "Noooo!"), so I'm taking some time to do things I won't be able to do for three months like veg and relax during the day. There is still gardening going on here and there, but my blogging may become less frequent. G'night.

Harvest Monday

This weekend's harvest was the second to very last of my spring plants (only garlic left now), and my last harvest for a while. I'm glad I was able to get a few extra weeks of growth out of my Sweetie Baby Romaines by shading from the afternoon sun. A couple were showing signs of bolting (look at the front left head), so they needed to be pulled...

A few also had guests...

I think these were cabbage looper eggs since there were one or two hanging about...

My total harvest from that bed came in at 7 ounces. Sure, it isn't anything like Villager's pounds of lettuce, but it'll give us several meals worth of greens.

I took leftovers from my Mexican themed dinner on Saturday, and turned them into Southwestern chicken salads for DH and I. Nom!

I also harvested some greens and flowers from my Whirlybird Nasturtiums. They added a nice zest which complimented the vegetarian Southwestern Egg rolls (on the left of the pic), and salsa "salad dressing" perfectly.

While we were eating dinner, a grasshopper stopped by to hang out on the window screen. I caught him in a bug holder-thingy, and each boy was allowed to share a piece of their lettuce with it.

Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week.

Tomato Concern

I'm a little late at getting this up, so hopefully I haven't waited too long... My tomatoes have been showing signs of something going on. I'm hoping someone can help me identify, and tell me how to fix their ailment. I planted them in the ground on 4/6, and by the end of the month these brown splotches began appearing:

I have my soil prepared to retain moisture through our rainless summer, but it's actually been raining here once a week since the end of March, so I'm wondering if this could be from too much moisture? Or... Before I placed the plants in the holes, I threw in some Epsom salt and some slow-release fertilizer. I didn't think it was too much, but could it have been? Or... I have this bed mulched with Earth-gro's pine bark nuggets (not touching the plant bases). Could this be hurting instead of helping? Or (giggles)... Am I totally off in my tomato-illness-causing assumptions?

On the plus side, all three plants are beginning to flower now...

...and they have really grown!

(day of planting)

Today

Breakfast Guests

This morning as I was putting the breakfast on the table, two unexpected guests arrive. I grabbed my camera and ran outside to get as close as I could--forgetting the grass was still wet with dew, and ending up with soggy socks and pant cuffs, LOL...

Turkey Vultures! They weren't exactly our guests, as they were on our neighbor's chimney, but we certainly did enjoy their presence (I was a lot more excited than the boys, but they were busy eating pancakes).

When I saw the first vulture landing, there was also a crow. I'm guessing the vulture stole the mouse sized creature (seen two pics down) from the crow...

Shortly after the crow gave up his crowing and squawking at the vulture, a second vulture showed up...

After their meal was done, one moved to the roof, and the other began basking in the sun. It sat like this without moving for about 10 minutes, and then it started preening.

They stuck around for about an hour before before taking off. It was amazing seeing these large birds so calm and relaxed. Not skittish or in a hurry like most birds seem to be.

This is one creature I don't mind hanging around! Beautiful to look at, and wonderful critter control.

Harvest Monday

Before I get into my harvest form the past week, I hope all of you Mother's out there had a wonderful day yesterday (and all of you non-mother's gave those in your lives a good day). It was a pretty relaxing day here... I was served a bacon, mushroom and onion omelet (DH said he was almost eating the homegrown onion raw, it was so yummy) and cinnamon rolls (no way! DH didn't make them. They were from Costco, and they rocked). Then I had DH take Boy Wonder out for clothes shopping. I don't know why, but it seems to be an annual thing to send the two of them off to buy some clothes. One less thing for me to do I guess...

We ended Mother's Day with a wonderful "adult" dinner of grilled coriander mahi mahi, couscous (from Costco), and broccoli. DH grilled the fish perfectly. It was divine...

Well, on to my harvest... One of my Russet Burbank Mini's had been failing, so I pulled it from the bucket late last week.

Yes, folks, this was my harvest. 5 teeny weeny, itty bitty potatoes. I'd been itching to see if anything was growing in the potato buckets, and I guess something is happening! HA!

In other news, almost all of my summer vegetables are up and running. The last thing to do is pull all of my Romaine lettuces, and put new plants in their place. I can't decide whether to plant more bush beans or attempt growing two bush King Acorn Squash in my 4'x2' bed... The packet says to grow them 3' apart, so I'm wondering if I could push it with two in the bed. What do you think? Should I save myself the trouble and stick with beans, or go for it?

Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week.

"Shareaway" Winner

Thanks again for stopping by and reading my blog everyone!

The winner of Sunday's 101st post "shareaway" is... #4, Liisa from Liisa's Garden Journey. CONGRATS!!!

Email me your address, and I'll send the prize your way...


BTW, I used the number generator on random.org to determine the winner of the shareaway.

Crime Ridden Garden

It's a little early (or a tad late) for Garden Blogger's Death Day, but it's been a rough thirty-six hours in this here garden, and an interruption for a special Death Day is needed.

Monday kicked off  the carnage with three consecutive hits. I checked on the lettuce seedlings I planted in my salad table on Saturday to find only three in existence. I'm sure this was a case of early rising birds. First, what else would eat seedlings without leaving a single sign of stopping by for breakfast? Second, the only three left standing had red tinged leaves! This sounds a lot like the case of Granny's red leaf lettuces that escaped mutilation two weeks ago. 

The birds may have gotten away with their crimes, but the masked green goblin below was caught with mouth full of green bean leaves. I wonder if he/she has other partners in crime... I'm sure I'll find out all too soon.

And then there was the incident which took mere minutes to occur that afternoon while I was walking guests to the door... These cuties lasted all of 48 hours before the LO got a hold of them.

I imagine him seeing these adorable amphibians hanging from their containers, and unable to control himself, he picks both of them up then accidently drops one. "Oh. It broke. Neat. Let's do it again,"  his brain tells his hands. Only, as his hands are banging them on the concrete (the evidence of this was clear), his mind is realizing that there is something wrong with what he is doing. This is when Momma hears the pitter patter of little shoes behind her and, "Ma, come back. See. See." Leading me to the scene of the crime to show me the dismembered frogs laying on the ground... It was an innocent act, and I couldn't be mad at the poor child, but it ruined the rest of my day. He understood  that braking the frogs was wrong. This was obvious with the only decipherable things coming out of his mouth the rest of the day being, "We fick fogs?" "Fogs bokenen?" "Go ou'side we fik fogs Momma?" Somehow that sweet little hopeful voice asking for forgiveness the only way he knew how only added salt to my wounds...

Yesterday was a day of garden recovery. I reseeded my salad table and protected against further lettuce burglary by adding a cover. And then it was a busy morning out of the house today, so when I checked on my plants waiting to go into SWP's, I found more carnage. The deaths were by own hands this time. My tomato and pepper plants went from being overly moist to uber dry in less than 24 hours...

So, I've decided to take the rest of the evening off (only thinking about these events again briefly to finish up this post). Crocheting Boy Wonder's blanket while watching the girlie girl movie that's been in my queue for way too long, Julie and Julia. A movie about blogging about cooking a TV chef's creations that I myself used to love watching... Whoa, and g'night!

Harvest Monday, and More Planted

This weekend was satisfyingly productive. Sigh... Beautiful weather, happy boys who listened and played well, and accomplishing a lot in my PJs. Yes, the proof is in the PJs... This is how I meander into my garden most weekend mornings... T-shirt, flannel jammies, and socks (maybe that's why so many of them have holes).

The alliums are coming! The alliums are coming! Quick! Run for your knives!

I removed the onions (Texas Grano 502) that I started from seed on 8/7/09. I didn't want to pull them just when they were starting to plump up, but I needed to get my melons in the ground. Ya' know? I'm not too sad about it. They produced something! Including the greens, they weighed in right at 4 pounds.

The largest one is a little smaller than a tennis ball...

I also pulled part of my California Early White Garlic. These were also small of course, but they're a little lumpy, so it looks like I have something usable. These weighed in right at one pound.

Geez, they look big in these pictures, but they're not...

Fortunately, I have ten more left that will have the chance to get nice and plump...

In the picture above, you can see that 3 of my 5 Charentais melons are set to grow up the trellis. In front are more Purple Queen beans. I'm not sure how well the beans will produce... They look pretty scraggy. The last two melons will go into an 18 gallon SWP  when I finish this post.

While I was amending the soil for my melons and beans, I found this beast...

Last week I received an order from Park Seed Co. of flower seeds along with a packet of heat tolerant lettuces. I've complained in the past about mixed lettuce packets because I don't know what I'll end up growing, but I got these after I went through Park's heat tolerant lettuces and my basket was full of most of what was included in the mix anyway. Although it's late to get a new round going, and I'm more than likely going to end up with bolted greens, I wanted to give it a try. So, I mixed up some soil for my salad table (40% peat, 40% compost, 10% perlite, 10% vermiculite, fertilizer & some lime), and planted the pre-sprouted seeds. The table will receive first light, and then about 2 hours of sun around 11-1pm.

Each week Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday. Check out her page to see what other's have been munchin' and crunchin' on this week.

My 101st Post, and a Thank You!

It's hard to believe I've accomplished 100 (and 1) posts, and on May 11 it will be one year since I started blogging about my adventures and failures in the garden. I had no idea how my posts or my garden would develop when I started, and I have to admit I'm proud of how this blog has challenged (and hopefully improved) both my gardening and my writing skills.

I have been so inspired by many of your blogs and gardens. You have given me so much. A gardening community where I had none, a place to go to blab on about my growing's on without eyes glazing over (too much), knowledge gained from your successes and sometimes failures, and creative ideas for me to implement here. Now I would like to give a little something back.

Last week I received seeds from a friend of a friend's husband who is unable to continue gardening. My friend's husband kept a bunch, and the rest were given to me. I've kept four packets for myself...

And I want one of you to have the rest...

Since these were hand-me-downs, most of them were packed for 2009 (Pumpkin for 2010, Chard for 2008), and it's an odd mix of seeds, I don't want to call it a "giveaway." How about a "shareaway?" If any of you are interested in this set of seeds, please let me know in the comments section, and I'll enter you in a drawing to be held on Friday (5/7).

Thank you everyone for reading my blog, and for the inspiration you have brought me through yours.

Bees Everywhere!

I was walking from my shed back into the house a moment ago when I noticed the shadows of flying bugs on the patio. I closed the screen door, turned around, and saw bees. LOTS of bees...

They were only there for a few minutes before flying to the next yard... What were they doing?