UPDATE: Gardens abound...

Here's the update!

It took a little longer to get the big garden prepped and planted this year.

We're about a month behind.

There were tiller issues - don't get me started.

On the upside, our plants (which weren't planted yet) were not harmed by a late May hail/wind storm.

On the downside, everyone else I know is already harvesting stuff from their gardens.

What we planted this year:

-beefsteak, roma, cherry and yellow pear tomatoes

-cabbages

-green, yellow and purple beans

-white corn

-beets

-peas

-green zucchini

-potatoes

-jalapeno peppers

-regular and pickling cukes

-carrots, both orange and purple

-broccoli

NEW:  brussel sprouts - never tried growing this one before!



The big garden bed on a lovely sunny morning

The actual garden work feels like its been on hold lately.

I manage to weed the garden for about an hour in the morning or an hour in the evening, but I can't seem to manage both.  Between the incessant heat and the bugs...it's just not happening.

At least there are no water shortages this year!  WOW! 

Rain aplenty...wishing we had more rain barrels though.

One thing we have at the new house (that we certainly didn't have at our old house) is

DEERFLIES!

OMG these suckers take a chunk out of you!

I have yet to get a deerfly patch for the back of my gardening hat...

but its coming sooner rather than later.

Husband has been feverishly clearing some neglected sections of our property.

The dried area you see above was previously a sumac patch riddled with long dead, wild raspberry canes.

It also was hiding a small play structure from the previous owners approximately 20 yrs ago.

Our plan is to clear it, then add more beds to the space.

We are both excited to plant berry bushes!

A space for huckleberries, fresh wild raspberry canes, blueberries and blackberries.

As an aside, Husband is super stoked to get a blackberry variety called Chester.

(his name doesn't get many shout outs...especially from fruit)

Way in the back yard, by the fire pit, is a small bed I made from deadhead rocks in the immediate vicinity.

I planted a citronella plant that I purchased from a local garden center.

The plant had been over-wintered (brought inside after its first year) and was enourmous!!!

We pick leaves, crush them up a bit and stick them in our pockets or shoes.

I stick them on top of my ears, like a flower.

Using them this way, you can also judge when you've gotten too close to the campfire.

(Discovered by accident! I was tending the campfire and forgot I had them behind my ears.

I was greeted with a strong lemony smell...much stronger than just crushed leaves)

Close up on the citronella flowers above.

Now to the front beds!  Above you can see the herb garden at the front of our house.

I labelled each herb and plant.  The green onions were transplanted from our stash last year.

The dill getting out of control!  Owen, my little guy, says it looks like a rainforest.

The mint has rooted nicely!  I still think we needs another area for mint...let it grow wild and crazy.

Momma likes her mojitos!

This side of that front garden bed was like the dumping spot for everything last minute.

(It was supposed to be for tea herbs...but I really need to do more research on teas)

The lavendar so far has been disappointing. 

I thought I would have tons for tea this winter...we'll see how that goes...

I have never grown horseradish, but it sounded like fun.

I don't even eat the stuff, but Husband does!  So I bought some...a week before someone pointed out wild horseradish that stands up to my waist in a completely unrelated area of the yard....sigh...

All that hard work deserves a snack!

Before bed snacking is big at our house.

Here is what was on our snack plate:

Swiss cheese from Wilton Cheese Factory

Gala Apples

Fresh peas in pods from the garden (not enough for a family meal, but enough to snack on!)

Breton mini crackers



Helping out helps everyone...

I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned this before...but we don't really have a full garden this year.

In the meantime, we are committed to helping out my mother in law with her garden!

She just lives around the corner, so its not an inconvenient endeavour.

I have to say, it's great to get my hands back in the dirt and taking care of blooming plants.

She planted cabbages, herbs, carrots, beets, beans, peas, pumpkins and cukes.

There are also tomatoes of various varieties.

Our mother in law is a busy lady and always has loads of stuff on the go.

She returns the favour by offering up some of the surplus veggies as well as bringing us the odd bucket of compost!

Owen checked to make sure the apple trees are still strong...

Helping out has so many benefits:

-healthy outdoor exercise!  (my legs are killing me)

-aiding another's desire to grow their own food is never a bad thing.

-pooling your resources is a wise endeavour.

-if you don't want to dig up your own property but still want home grown organic foods, helping someone else could supply you with that extra food!

-make a deal with your gardening neighbours, food for work!

-building relationships with your gardening buddies.

-takes the load off of someone who is busy.

-builds good karma!

and last but not least...you can still get the opportunity to get in the garden...even if it isn't yours!!!

Left Over Night

I started a new job last month...and it's been great to be back in the workforce.  I will admit, though, that being back at work doesn't allow me the time I'd like for meal planning (of course).  I used to hate cooking.  Once I became unemployed last March, I was a woman on a mission.  We didn't have very much of anything and I was determined to make the most out of what we had.  I was the shoe-string meal MASTER!

Now that I'm back at work...and it's shift work at that...I have been very good about not buying lunches out.  In 4 weeks, I have only bought one bagel from Tim Hortons...and that is saying a lot!  I make all of my lunches ahead of time and package them up so that I can see them even if it were still dark out.  Coming home to my husband in the kitchen and my son yelling MUMUMUM! as soon as I walk through the door...its been wonderful!

Last night we decided it was time for a left over night...and it was definitely a smorgasbord!  See picture below... 

Its not the most colourful meal I've ever taken a picture of...but the taste was DEVINE!  Clock-wise from the top:  Tourtiere from the local farmer's market, spatzle that my hubbie Chester made one evening I worked, and fried cabbage with apples.  This post is going to discuss the cabbage mainly, but I'll also include a bit on spatzle.  Before I move on, I'd like to add that the tourtiere (for those who've never had the pleasure) is a french meat pie with mashed up potatoes in the meat mixture.  I buy mine from the farmer's market here in Verona.  It's made with pork and tastes almost exactly like the ones my step mom Mary Elaine would make at Christmas time.  How flavours can carry so many memories is beyond my comprehension!

 

This is a close up on the cabbage.  First off I am not a fan of cabbage.  I'm not sure that growing them last summer turned me right off of them completely...as I wasn't a huge fan before that...but when I saw how they hve a habit of harbouring slugs and earwigs...ugh....

I would probably research more about how to keep the pests off of them...if I liked them a little more.  That could explain why I'm not planning to grow any this year. 

That was...until Ches made this side dish a few nights before.  WHOA MOMMA!  It was the most amazing taste.  He used about a half of a cabbage, sliced julienne, and added some of our frozen apples that were already peeled and sliced.  There was some water and vegetable broth, a splash of apple cider vinegar, a dash of salt and pepper and a little dap of dijon mustard.  The result was pretty inconspicuous looking...you'd never expect something this bland coloured to taste so vibrant.  Add a little butter and a turn of your salt grinder...serve while warm!  If you require more colour from your side dish, you could always leave the peels on the apples, or use red cabbage instead.

We get a monthly food box stuffed with veggies...and we've gotten a cabbage in each box for the last 3 months.  I don't even want to look at the things, so I'm very happy that Ches did something useful with them! 

The spatzle is a funny story...as far as I know, my husband has no German blood in him...but every now and then he gets a HUGE craving for this german side dish.  Apparently, his maternal grandfather and name sake Chester Lane used to make it on occassion.  Its basically a dumpling.  The Joy Of Cooking recipe is as follows:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of milk

6 cups of salted water

Mix dry ingredients together.  Mix in wet ingredients.  Form a batter ball and force through a pasta strainer into the simmering water or stock in a frying pan.  Toss in pan until brownish.  Serve while hot.   My husband likes to add a sprinkle of nutmeg or parmesan to the mix.  Both good variations indeed!

In a typical meal I don't like to have so many carbs going on, but I did preface this post by saying it was left over night.  Not shown is the huge salad I made to go with the meal.