Happy Halloween!

How can it possibly be the last day of October?

The last of the fall peas, beans, and peppers are harvested. Half of the garden has been "put to bed" for the winter...everything cleared, compost added and covered with a breathable black cover to keep the weeds back. All that remains are the spent plants from the peas and pole beans. I haven't been able to get those cleared because we've had so much rain and life has been busy. I also still have about six heads of Romaine growing, and I've enjoyed pinching leaves off for last minute Caesar salads at dinner time. Hope I can keep them alive for awhile longer.

I had high hopes of gardening throughout the winter, but ... truth is, I'm kind of a fair weather gardener. I'm not really one to don the rain gear and dig in the mud.

So what do I do all winter to satisfy my love for growing?

Well, the seed catalogs are fun to contemplate. My back yard really needs some landscape work, and winter will give me time to come up with a plan. I have some pathetically neglected house plants that could use some attention. Perhaps I will prune, re-pot, fertilize and wash the leaves of those plants. I will continue to feed the birds and enjoy the Anna's hummingbirds that winter over here in Oregon. That means checking, cleaning, and re-filling the feeders regularly. After the holidays, I can force some bulbs indoors, and by February, I'll be thinking about what seeds I want to start indoors. Before you know it ... I'll be planting potatoes again. Time flies. Happy Halloween.

The Return of the Little Green Worms and Other Stuff

$#@!%&*!! Those nasty little boogers have returned, and while my son and I were successful at picking them off the broccoli before they did much damage, we weren't so on top of it with the Brussels Sprouts I was so excited to be growing. I'm afraid my winter crop is a total loss. I pulled out all the plants because the leaves had been chowed down to nubs. They looked so sickly and horrible. So...how do I prevent this from happening next year? I don't know, I'm going to have to read up on these little pests over the winter. Simply picking them off regularly and killing them seems to be the only organic solution I know of, but perhaps there's another way. Oh well.....live and learn. That's what this is all about.

My fall green beans and peas are doing really well. The beans already have blossoms, and the pole bean plants are probably 6 feet tall. Hopefully that will be a good crop.

We had a couple of lovely days of steady, gentle rain, which was so good for everything, and now we've come into wonderful Indian Summer weather...cool at night and warm all day. Good harvesting weather and good growing weather. I will be able to do at least one more big batch of red salsa and one of green salsa before the tomato and tomatillo plants are finished, and I still have jalapenos growing, and 3 or 4 eggplants that will be ready soon. I'm really enjoying the harvest season. So rewarding.

I am up way too late. Must sign off. If you know about organic pest control for cabbage loopers, please do comment.

It's Salsa Time!

Here's photo of today's harvest. The tomatoes are coming in all at once. I picked a whole bunch of tomatillos and cut the plant back a bit because it was overgrown and covering up other plants. My cucumbers are just beginning to show some signs of powdery mildew on otherwise very healthy plants. I'm thinking...hey, it's September and they held out this long, that's pretty good. I stopped using the sprinkler hose once fruit was on the plants and began to hand water at the roots, so I'm sure that helped. Honestly, I've eaten so many cukes, I would have no problem ripping the plants out entirely and planting some fall crop, but...they are pretty healthy and there are a lot of baby cukes on the vines, so I just don't have the heart to do that yet.

I am up late and have just finished making two giant batches of salsa...one red and one green. I will take some of each to a dinner party tomorrow evening, share some at work, and still have a jar of each for us to use over the next week or so.

I also made a big cucumber-tomato salad to take tomorrow night: sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, Walla Walla sweet onion, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, a touch of olive oil, salt, pepper, little bit of fine sugar. Made it a day early so it could marinate a bit.

Yum! I love this time of year!

September Morning

Heavenly Harvest

Well, I had to resort to abuse, but the tomatoes are finally ripening! I withheld water and pruned off all the new growth and blossoms and within a few days there was color and in a week there were some ready to harvest. The plants are now looking a little sad, but the tomatoes are beautiful. Last night I made a simple dinner of chopped fresh tomatoes, basil, sliced green onions, garlic and canelinni beans, tossed with hot whole wheat penne and a little olive oil and parm cheese. It was yummy. What a difference good tomatoes make! Even my kids...who don't usually like fresh tomatoes... ate it. When you toss the fresh ingredients with the warm pasta, the flavors really come out. So easy and so yummy. We're going to a pot luck dinner party tomorrow evening and I plan to make a batch of salsa and a tomato-cucumber salad. I love sharing my wonderful garden bounty!

Anna's Hummers

As I've written already, the hummingbirds are spectacular this year, and I'm really enjoying watching them. Tonight my husband and I were sitting on the front porch, and he was sitting in a chair under a hanging basket of assorted flowers, and they kept buzzing near his head, like, as he put it, some kind of big giant bee. He found it a little unsettling...I thought it was very entertaining.

A couple of nights ago, the Anna's hummingbirds were flitting around my vegetable garden. Here they also looked like some kind of giant pollinator. We had had some rain earlier in the day, and the nasturtiums that spill over the sides of my raised bed were still full of rain and the hummers were enjoying themselves flitting from them to the tomatillo blossoms to the purple eggplant blossoms. I really should pinch the eggplant blossoms and let the energy go into ripening the little eggplants that are on it, as it's getting pretty late in the season, but the blossoms are so pretty, and the hummingbirds just seem to love them, so I don't have the heart.

I have tried time and again to photograph these lovely little green birds, but they are just too quick and I don't have the quality of zoom lens I need for the pictures to be any good.

I can't believe I'm growing Brussels Sprouts

I love vegetables, and for most of my adult life I've been able to eat just about any of them. Except one and that is the Brussels sprout. When I was growing up, these were stinky, mushy, light green, overcooked little balls of limp cabbage. I really thought they were disgusting. And while, as an adult I have been able to make peace and with and even enjoy broccoli, cauliflower, and many other vegetables, I just could never do Brussells Sprouts. I even told my kids that this is the one veggie I do not eat, and will never ask them to eat.

So why do I now have 6 little Brussels sprout plants growing in my garden?

Enter Martha Stewart...my sister...and a really good friend of mine who is an excellent cook and gardener. Last year during the holidays, all three of them mentioned roasted Brussels sprouts as part of a holiday meal. (Well, it's not like I actually spoke to Martha, but I read a recipe in one of her magazines or saw it on her show or something.) Anyway...if you put garlic and olive on just about anything and roast it, I like it, so I thought, what the heck, and I bought some of those little guys and I roasted them. Not until they were mushy, just until they were crisp-tender and a little bit browned. I think I glazed them slightly with a bit of balsamic vinegar, too. They were, admittedly, kind of yummy. Completely different from the ones my Mom used to cook and really pretty tasty.

When I was shopping for starts for my fall/winter or "second round" garden, the owner of my local garden center told me that Brussels sprout plants are about the most cold hardy plants you can buy. They can take a lot of gray, wet weather, and they can take near freezing and even a little bit of freezing weather. Since this is my first shot and a second round garden, I figured, what the heck, sounds like a good thing to grow in the fall. And, they came in six packs, so...there you are.

Here's a recipe I might try when they are ready:

Ingredients:
1 pound brussels sprouts (trimmed and cleaned)
1 teaspoon oil
2 ounces pancetta (chopped)
2 ounces roasted chestnuts (chopped)

Directions:
1. Boil the brussels sprouts in water until just tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a pan.
3. Add the pancetta and saute until just crispy, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the chestnuts and saute until warm.
5. Add the brussels sprouts and toss to coat.

How bad could that be? I'd probably have to add some garlic, though!

Now...if I could only learn to enjoy Lima beans....

But there's always the garden

It always happens ... just when things are going smoothly, life throws you a surprise punch.

But there's always the garden. For me, the garden provides a place I can come back to. I can rely on it being here. It's familiar, safe, beautiful, quiet. It doesn't get hurt or angry.

And although there are definitely cycles of life and death in the garden, for the most part there are no surprise punches. It's just the expected, natural cycle of life. It won't hurt you and it doesn't make you cry.

The garden will listen. It will entertain you, distract you, give you a workout, and feed you. It will show you beauty. It will make you happy.

Tomato Abuse and ... 101 Things to do with Lemon Cucumbers

So today I declared war on my tomatoes. I am withholding food and water until they ripen. I have cut back all their blossoms and new growth. I've got big green tomatoes and I want them to turn red. The weather is warm. Hopefully, this won't take long.

While I was cutting back...I kind of went crazy on my cucumber vines, too. I have never eaten so many cukes in my life. Sheesh. I've also taken them to work and given them to friends and neighbors. Next year I will have to remember to only plant one plant, and to give it more room to climb. In the meantime, here is my list of things to do with lemon cucumbers. I'm sure there's lots more...I won't really come up with 101.

1.) slice and eat plain
2.) cucumbers and sweet onions in vinegar
3.) refrigerator pickles (good recipes in this month's Herb Companion)
4.) slice and put on sandwiches
5.) Greek salad
6.) Spa Water
7.) Sneak some into the green salsa with the tomatillos, no one will ever know
8.) grill them...yes grill them. I read about this in an article and they're really good.
9.) tzatziki sauce
10.) slice and eat with ranch dressing
11.) slice and add to a veggie tray for a party
12.) cut into "sticks" and serve with sandwiches instead of fries
13.) eat like an apple ... my kids actually do this
14.) put in a tossed salad

That's about all I can think of right now...but I'm sure there's lots, lots more.

Monday Sunny Monday

Gorgeous sunrise this morning. I hate getting up to exercise, but once I'm up and witnessing that time of morning -- the colors, the sounds, the fresh smell, the quiet, (the coffee!) --I'm always glad I did.

I also really enjoy watering in the early morning. The heat is returning to our area today and I just spent the last hour watering the pots and hanging baskets and putting fresh water in the birdbaths and refilling the fountains. I love getting out in the yard before work and touching base with the plants, seeing how they've grown, taking in and caring for nature before my busy work day begins. It's a great way to start the day!

I have a bumper crop of lemon cucumbers. I made a big batch of cucumber salad ("refrigerator pickles") but I'm the only one in the family who eats that, so I am taking a bowl of lemon cucumbers in to work today. Garden offerings get snatched up with enthusiasm. People really appreciate it and I enjoy sharing my bounty.

Click Click Zoom

It's been an incredible year for hummingbirds in my yard. I started the summer with just one feeder, but as the summer went on, and I watched how territorial the little boogers are, I added more and I'm up to four now. Every morning when I wake at 5 a.m. to exercise, I can hear them outside my bedroom window: "Click Click ... Zoom." I've always heard you are supposed to take down the feeders at the end of the summer, but I was talking with a neighbor today who said the Anna's hummers are just arriving and they winter over here, so she keeps one feeder up all year, and makes sure it's not frozen in the winter. So that's why I spotted one twice last winter -- once in January and once in February, and couldn't believe it. Kind of nice to know we have those little visitors year round. I keep them in mind when I'm planting flowers, and ... I'll happily keep them well fed with nectar through the winter.

How can it be Sunday already?

Weekends are never long enough. They really need to be three days: one day to garden, one day to clean house and shop and one day to rest and have other fun. Oh well...

The Thai Basil Eggplant was delish last night. Easy recipe I got via Google. Would have been good with some fried tofu or even chicken in it, but we did it vegetarian. Asian fish sauce is a very strange thing. My husband thinks it smells like dog poop. It does, really. But once it's cooked in things it tastes pretty good!

Hope to squeeze in some deadheading, watering, and weeding today. Heat wave is supposed to be on its way. This is that time of year when things tend to get brown and crispy, if you don't pay attention to them. Hopefully, the heat wave will ripen the the tomatoes, though.

Off to walk the dog....

Cheap and (Not Very) Good Lookin'

The front yard is for the deer, the back yard is for people where I live. The back yard is fenced, so the deer don't bother it, and we like to spend a lot of time out there. But it desparately needs a landscape plan. Little by little over the 10+ years we've lived here, I've been sticking plants I like around the perimeter of the yard. There's not a lot of rhyme or reason to it, but I still enjoy it. I tried veggie gardens in a couple of different places, but the soil's bad and when I tried to amend it, the good soil would wash away down the hill. I want to put in raised beds, but don't yet know where I want to put them permanently. One of these days I'll have a landscaper draw up a plan. But in the mean time, I decided to do something temporary and inexpensive: a cinder block raised bed. It doesn't look great, but it's practical.

One picture above was taken in May -- right after we built the bed. First I put down lots of layers of newspaper. Then we put the blocks down. We filled the "holes" with pea gravel to half way up on the top block, then filled the main area and the top of the holes with a mixture of my own compost, a garden mix, and some planting mix we had delivered from a local place. I put block caps on a few of the blocks on one side to create a seat as well as a step for harvesting.

The other picture was taken the end of July. By that time I had harvested broccoli, hot peppers, tomatillos, and a few Japanese eggplant. The nasturtiums and marigolds I planted in the holes reallly filled in.

Now it's August. Tomatoes are large and green. I'm still harvesting tomatillos and eggplant. The peppers have slowed down but there are still a couple coming. I am harvesting oodles and oodles of lemon cucumbers. Where the broccoli was I have planted pole beans, bush beans and some snow peas for fall harvesting, along with brussel sprouts. I don't even like brussel sprouts, really, but I didn't think I liked eggplant, either, and we've eaten it. I planted them because they are supposed to be very resistant to cold. I figure ... put some garlic and olive oil on them and roast them in the oven. Just about any veggie tastes good done that way.

Anyway...the ugly cinder block garden isn't so ugly to me anymore. It's really worked out well. Next year I might just add a couple more.

Welcome

I blog in my head a lot. I really do. But I never thought I'd actually start a blog. Then I saw the movie Julie & Julia. I was inspired. I don't think anyone's going to make a movie about me. And I really don't think what I have to say is all that interesting. I just thought this might be fun. So here I go. But first...Thai Basil Eggplant is ready for dinner. Gotta Go.