Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Boy, I wish I really had a menu dial I could spin to figure out what to cook. A great bonus would be a corresponding grocery list—minus, of course, what’s really in the house!
Ah, dreams.
Anyway, if I had a menu dial, and if I had spun it today, and if the Gods were paying attention to the front garden, I’m sure the needle would have gravitated to pesto pasta.
Sunday, 27 June 2010
That is, the battles between me and the rodents and birds. The vermin. The aggressors. The greedy buggers.
My current tactic is to harvest the tomatoes when they’re about two-thirds ripe, and stash them on my kitchen window-ledge away from the hungry jaws of the pagan critters.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
I mean, I guess it’s summer because the pepper and tomato plants both have fruit that’s getting red. I’m confused about the pepper—actually two of them, ’cause it’s about the size of a Ping-Pong™ ball, but maybe that’s just the way it is. I probably didn’t read the fine print on the label when I bought the plant…. Of course, here’s a picture of just the green ones….
For tonight: barbeque—if you can call that if the meat is simmered in a Crockpot™ (the Kleenex™ name for a slow-cooker?) and not roasted over open coals in dry heat.
Friday, 25 June 2010
If you call it an upgrade to go from the general towards the specific, I upgraded some vegetation today from plants to weeds.
And pulled them.
So, the ’mater plants are freed from a few non-’maters.
I also pruned some over-agressive ivy. Or maybe it’s just normal ivy. Needing a trim.
I did this shortly after it got light enough to do so in the morning. I called it quits and came in, with a sheen of sweat (ahem, glow, if you go by the distinctions here: horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow) on more than my brow, and checked the clock. It said 7:16.
Which brings us to the picture.
This insulated mug is my constant companion most days, but especially during these 90°F-plus days. I only put water in it….
I paid a premium for the mug, which I rarely do (unless I’m buying shoes, I guess). It’s from Sawbux (a story for another time), and it performs. I can put water and several cubes in it, close the lid, and leave it on the counter overnight—and it will still have cubes in the morning!
So, having re-entered the AC, I grabbed my prepped mug, and gulped.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
I am often surprised to find insects in flower/plant pictures when I review them enlarged on-screen. I see three on this fine specimen (although maybe in this lower-res version, they’re too difficult to spot).
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
First, you see the poke salad*—of course, it’s in the center of the image!
This is the progeny (I think, or did it grow from the same root, meaning it’s the same plant and poke is a perennial, at least in this climate—ah, the boundless wonder of a run-on parenthetical remark) of last year’s monster (which certainly produced a full crop of berries, and thus progeny).
Then, you may notice the stump remains at the foot of the pokeweed. I certainly do!
The stump garden is lush this year, and the hostas are in bloom. I saw a bumblebee touring the blossoms from the kitchen before I grabbed the camera.
D’s garden is filling in elsewhere at the foot of the poke salad, with numerous blooms you can’t see in the photo.
But what I’m guessing really strikes your eye is the superstructure** around the poke plant. An engineering marvel! On the short list for best handmade architectural wonder in a tri-state area!
So, does this count as composing a long blog entry like KW usually posts?
* Poke salad has many other names; the scientific one is Phytolacca americana. The “lacca” part refers to the dark berries, which can be used as a dye.
** Last year’s specimen succumbed to gravity, one branch anyway, when aggravated by a heavy rainfall.
Monday, 21 June 2010
I haven’t given you pictures of this year’s crop of Arum maculatum in a while. Refresher: there’re three this year. They’re still bright green. I was going to transplant them, but, poof!, in this heat: no.
Remember yesterday’s oh-so-tempting tomato? I made the post and started thinking about how many chipmunks I’ve been seeing out front, and after about three minutes I was out there picking the ’mater! In another minute, I had performed minor surgery and had jammed a wedge, still warm from the sun (or perhaps the mid-90 temps), into my salivating mouth….
Oh, yum!
And, yes, I did share with The Guru….
Sunday, 20 June 2010
I just compared this to yesterday’s photo, and this tomato is noticeably redder in just twenty-four hours! Maybe I should go pick it and save it from the rodents and birds?
And, I want to add, it’s much larger than it looks here!
Saturday, 19 June 2010
I have discovered that fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), left on its own, will come back after the winter (at least in this hardiness zone). I had never grown it before, and this was one of the things I learned by doing, which I know I also could have learned by a simple web search…. So this is last year’s plant, returned. A Methuselah/Lazarus Long story from the floral world?
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Afternoon pop-up storms are good for the ’maters, but may be accompanied by hail and/or lightning, which are scary. And wind.
Due to requests, I’ve posted yesterday’s recipe here.