The Season Has Begun!

I was on vacation for a week and have a lot of catching up to do! Between laundry, email, work and assuring the dogs that I will not be leaving them again for a l-o-n-g time it has been a hectic week. I started some of my seeds over the weekend.


From top to bottom I have: wildflowers (I think, I didn't label the package), lettuce, shasta daisy, kale, Swiss chard, spinach and under the lights three types of tomatoes. It isn't recommended to start spinach and chard indoors but I have not had any luck with direct seeding them. The chard came up last year but some critter got to it and I think the birds stole my spinach seeds. I figure if it doesn't germinate I still have plenty of seeds to try again.

I went to Home Depot to buy more lights and mistakenly bought ones that needs to be hard wired, not plugged in. Needless to say, those were retuned. I haven't been able to find florescent lights that can plug in, yet I have two from last year. I refuse to pay over $60 for a grow light system from the gardening supply places. I am sure shop lights will work just fine. Now only if I could find them!

The beginning of next week should fill in the greenhouse nicely. I have to start my Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage and something else that I can't remember right now. I ordered my potatoes today from Henry Fields. A pretty good deal too - 2lbs for $9.99!!! Considering you can get 10X the amount once harvested I think I will have plenty of potatoes!

Ideally I would like to start the Spring garden this weekend but the forecast is calling for snow on Friday. Yup, snow on April Fool's Day and it is no joke. I am thinking my peas and such won't get in the ground until the end of April this year.

Butternut Squash Tart

I am really not a butternut squash type of girl but I can't specify with Boston Organics exactly which squash I don't want. If I check off 'don't ever send me squash" that means I will never get zucchini, patty pan, or Kalibrocha. So I am stuck with the butternut they send me and am always looking for a way to make them taste. Yes, I said taste, not taste better, just taste. I find them extraordinarily bland. My mom gave me a recipe for a "rustic butternut squash tart". Here is the result:

All in all it was pretty tasty, and super easy. I think I liked it because I overloaded on the thyme, red onions and extra sharp cheddar. All of that tends to overwhelm the lack of flavor the butternut has :) And pretty much those are the ingredients. Squash sliced thin, red onions sliced into rings, fresh thyme and shredded extra sharp cheddar. Put all of that over a pie crust, fold over the edges, Brush with a wel beaten egg, Cook on 400 degree for 20-30 minutes and ta-dow - you have tasty squash!
And on a different topic - Spring is soooo close. We changed the clocks this weekend so it will be lighter at night. The waking and walking in the dark with the dogs really isn't a highlight, but the night walk certainly is! I saw so many Robins out this morning. Another sure sign Spring is on its way. The majority of Robins leave here in the Fall and in their place come the Juncos. Once you start seeing Robins you will start to not see Juncos and then Spring is officially here - no matter what the date on the calendar! Well, that is how I see things. That and when you can start gardening.

Signs of Spring!

It is so exciting after a l-o-n-g winter full of ridiculous snow storms to see signs of Spring peeking out. While out walking with the guys I saw my first crocus - granted it wasn't fully open, only about the size of my thumb nail - but it was so encouraging to see! When we got home I noticed that my crocuses, daffodils and jonquils were all peeking out of the ground too! And the birds! I love to hear the woo-hoo of the chickadees in the morning it really feels like Spring even though it is only 30 degrees. The male cardinals have all been at the tippy tops of the trees belting their hearts out in the hopes to find a mate for the season. I love it! I typically have a family of cardinals in late Spring and I am hoping he brings his family back here. I miss Flat Top - he was a cardinal that looked like he stuck his head in a fan belt because he lost his plume - but he was a character. He would sing at the front fence if the feeder was empty. And once I went back to fill it I was no more than a foot away and he was already on it! He had me trained. I was so sad when he didn't come back in the Spring. It is so hard to tell the birds apart but he was so different looking. He brought his 'kids' here to feed so I am hoping that the cardinals in the yard now are his offspring.

Garden season has officially begun!

I finally placed my order with Territorial Seed and as you can see it has arrived!



For Spring vegetables this year I hope to grow:
Ching-Chiang - which is a dwarf pac choi
Avalanche Snow Peas
Wild Garden Kales - a mixture of Siberian kales
Red Meat Radishes
Soloist Hybrid - which is a baby Chinese cabbage
Fordhook Giant Chard

Summer/Fall veggies include:
Kentucky Blue Pole Beans
Sayamusume Bush Bean (aka edamame)
Bitonto Tomato - allegedly the ultimate patio tomato
Raider Cucumber - the packet states "champion performer" let's hope so!
Roodnerf Brussels Sprouts

And that is only the 'new stuff'. I still have leftover lettuce, zucchini, delicata, and chard seeds, and heaven knows what else is kicking around. I think there maybe some spaghetti squash, edamame, and sungold tomatoes - oh my.

I already have the Escargot that I use for the slugs around my hostas but my sister told me that they also do a number on Brussels. So I went the extra step and ordered Slug Off Copper Rings here's hoping 1) that I can actually grow sprouts and 2) that if indeed I can grow them I can keep the slugs away.

Now I just need to figure out where all this is going to fit in the yard!

Some More Kitchen Experiments

So, it turns out that I actually do like turnips! I can't be 100% certain that I love them, but roasted with basically every other root veggie known to man they are pretty good. Based on my first experience with them I have taken them off my "Do Not Send" list for Boston Organics. Now if they would just send me parsnips - those I know I love!
And speaking about Boston Organics, I was digging through some old newsletters they sent me. (To be greener they no longer send paper newsletters and everything is archived online). These old newsletters had recipes in them and I found one for Lebanese Green Bean Stew. I had frozen green beans and tomatoes from last summer's garden so I thought - what the heck - I'll give it a try. Pretty simple and I made it simplier by using diced tomatoes along with my frozend ones. The recipe is as folows:
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 pound potatoes, peeled and chopped in small pieces
1/2 pound green beans
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp veggie oil
3 teaspoons cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Now, that was the given measurements. I totally didn't measure the cumin or cayenne - just shook the bottles vigorously over the pan....

Heat oil in large saucepan over med/hi heat, add onions and cook several minutes, stirring frequently, Add potatoes and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Add green beans and then seasoning. Mix well. Add in tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes till tomatoes 'sauce' thickens.

Presto - you are done! And all of that is off the top of my head - I don't have the recipe in front of me.

Like I mentioned I used frozen green beans and in addition to the can of diced tomatoes I threw in a good handful of frozen Sungold tomatoes. They were whole and then burst with the heat. All in all pretty yummy.

Tomorrow will be my attempt at making fried parsnip ribbons, radish chips and finally ordering my seeds for the garden!

Pear and Gorgonzola Pasta

Yeah, not so much. I keep getting pears from my organic delivery and although I like them, I don't like them that much. Sometimes I make an apple/pear crisp, sometimes slice them on top of some toast and peanut butter for breakfast and I have even roasted them with sweet potatoes. It was time for something different. I really like pear and gorgonzola pizza (which I have also made), but I had no pizza crust or even a tortilla so I thought why not pasta?
It wasn't so hot. I used two pears, a good amount of gorgonzola and some Parmasean cheese and even added in some whole milk (I had that left over from making some mac n cheese and cornbread) to make it creamier and some crushed toasted walnuts. Something was totally missing. I am thinking SPICES! Maybe some roasted garlic would have helped. Or maybe even some sauted greens like chard, kale or collards. Well, nevertheless I ate it : )
On anther not so great kitchen note I also made apple/kiwi bread. Although it tastes delicious it didn't come out of the pan so hot. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for it to cool or maybe that extra kiwi I added made it too moist. I used one apple (kind unknown) and three very ripe kiwis. I started with only two but then thought - hmm two is good, three would be better. Right, not so much. I can't even slice the bread it is so moist it just falls apart. I ended up eating it with a fork, kind of like apple/kiwi crumble. But again, I ate it : )
I haven't yet made it out to the compost bins. I have tons to throw out there. I am (as I type) making roasted vegetables - turnips, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions and garlic. All that peeling amounted to a great deal for the bin. I am now waiting till I have a 'boat load' to add because we just had another storm here and the snow is now almost impassable. But like I said, I am determined to get out there. I refuse to throw it in the trash and my worms can only consume so much!

Being Green Isn't Easy

Kermit was so right. Sometimes being green is just not that easy. This is a picture of my compost bins.

Can barely see them, right? There are two in the foreground of the picture. I took this from the window so you can see the screen in the shot as well. In order for me to get to these bins I have to go through knee deep snow at the backside of the deck, to then go through what I think may be chest deep snow, and then clear the snow/ice from the bins to then add my 'stuff'. This truly is way too much work! But I am committed and I will do it!!! I had the thought today that it may just be easier to climb out the window I took the picture from and dump everything that way. Keep in mind that is a rose bush, with some serious thorns, in front of the window. We shall see.....