Archive for June, 2010
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Monday, June 21st, 2010
I’m wrapping up the last weekend of spring and ready to welcome summer which officially arrives today. It’s here! And with the muggy, warm 90°F weather this weekend, it definitely felt like summer was on its way.
I woke up Saturday morning to the heat onslaught and headed to Greeley Park to watch my oldest nephew’s soccer game. It was fun to watch the kids tromp around on the field in the bright morning sun. Afterward they huddled together to receive their end-of-the-season medals.
7-year-olds play co-ed. I love it!
After the game, I lingered in Greeley Park to check out the public garden plots. As a gardener, I can’t help it if I want to see what other folks are growing and how their tomatoes are doing! It’s like perfectly okay spying!
Can you imagine how amazing it would be to have this much land for planting?
Seeing these gardens actually cheered me up, because I realized that I am doing okay despite my fears that my plants are smaller than they should be. I think planting from seed has a lot to do with it. In time my plants should catch up. The funniest part about my visit to the gardens was that I caught a few woodchucks being naughty.
FEAST!
That afternoon, my younger nephew came over to hang out. We picked the first sugar snap peas of the season!
One week from bloom to ready-to-pick!
Because it was such a hot afternoon, we decided to go for a walk… and make our way to the neighborhood ice cream stand. Because he’s so cool, he actually made me call his mom first to check to see if it was okay. Smart kid. She gave us the go-ahead. Phew! I really wanted ice cream!
on a mission!
Hanging out with such a curious, hilarious, insightful, intelligent, two-weeks-away-from-being-five year old was pretty much the highlight of my whole weekend.
We sat and ate ice cream and talked about how ice cream cones are really inconvenient due to the way the bottom gets soggy and starts to drip. We talked about school being out for the summer, the college campus we walked through on the way to the ice cream stand and why it has so many buildings. We wondered why ice cream makes you thirsty, why the moon sometimes comes out in the middle of the day… and on and on and on.
I didn’t have all the answers. And I was astounded by his questions and interests. In fact, I would say I haven’t had such vibrant, thought-provoking conversations with anyone—child or adult—in recent memory.
We had a blast together.
Tags: gardening, gratitude, spring, sugar snap peas
Posted in The Daily Balance, The Growing Season | 1 Comment »
let the june tomatoes begin!
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Okay, okay… so it’s a wee itty bitty start of a tomato, but it is a tomato nonetheless. Which means that hopefully there are more blossoms and more tomatoes to come. If you lived in New England last year, you will recall that we had a ridiculously wet, wet, miserable June. It caused early tomato rot and most plants had a hard time recovering. This year, my tomato plants have started to flower, but I would say that they haven’t grown a ton since I planted them in May. Not sure why?
Here it comes! This tomato is either a roma or a cherry. Hopefully I will know soon enough!
Tags: gardening, spring, tomatoes
Posted in The Growing Season | No Comments »
garden vegetable crustless quiche
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
What do you do with an abundance of radishes, garlic scapes, broccoli rabe, and cilantro from your garden? Well, I made a crustless quiche for dinner!
I was getting a little all set with the constant sautéing of broccoli rabe, so I tried cooking it instead. And it was really good.
Chopped up veggies for crustless quiche!
I used a pyrex square casserole dish and greased it lightly with olive oil. Then I diced up radishes, broccoli rabe, garlic scapes, broccoli stalks, red pepper, shallots, and red onion.
Then I added lots of fresh cilantro from the garden. It was starting to bud
which means it's time to clip.
Then I topped the crustless quiche with shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese. I mixed together 7 organic eggs, about a cup of leftover sour cream, and about a cup and a half of water. (You can easily use milk instead of sour cream and water. I just used what I had on hand.) I poured the organic egg mixture over the chopped veggies and dampened down all the veggies still poking out.
Then I got wild and crazy and added a very hard piece of pita bread we had lurking in the fridge. I broke the bread up into little pieces and pushed it into the liquid. I baked the crustless quiche for about 45 minutes at 375°F.
And wallah!
I served the quiche over a bed of freshly picked lettuces from the garden. And then of course we added the prerequisite ketchup and horseradish sauce. And freshly ground pepper. I know, I know. I could have eaten it plain, it was that good.
Crustless garden vegetable quiche is served!
Tags: broccoli rabe, cilantro, crustless quiche, garlic scape, lettuce, organic, radishes, shallots
Posted in Cooking Adventures | 1 Comment »
the pros and cons of tuesday
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Ah, Tuesday again. Not my favorite day. It always seems to have its way with me. It’s been a busy week thus far, and I’m pretty tired out for it only being Tuesday. I even went to bed early for me last night, but I didn’t sleep particularly well. It’s not supposed to be like that! The whole point of getting to bed early is so that I sleep on clouds!
And tonight I meant to come home and go running, but I took a 2-hour nap instead. And while I was napping I dreamed I was trying to tread water on a flooded road where the water was really murky and over my head. But I had a life jacket on? And there were also waves and an undertow. And I was with a dog and some other person. No potential lack of symbolism there.
Sheesh.
So when I awoke I was groggy and it was late. I’m behind on dishes that need washing, texts and calls that I need to return, a few cards I want to send out, and potatoes that need more soil added to the growing mound. I will get those things accomplished. But not today. Today I will chalk up to an icky Tuesday. I’m in my comfies and plan to try again with a better night’s sleep.
On the positive side of Tuesday, there is a ton of beauty and growth out in the yard. Our lillies are in full bloom.
Our big bush in the backyard that gives our porch lots of privacy is starting its summer berry bloom.
Sadly these yummy looking berries are not edible. The birds won’t go near 'em!
I've taken pity on the spiderwort and let it sprawl out in the back garden to its heart's content.
I can't remember if this is summer squash or zucchini, but it is starting to grow, grow, grow!
Slow but steady, our corn is coming up!
And even though it was a rough Tuesday, I did thoroughly enjoy “homemade” salad tonight for dinner with lettuces from our garden. What a satisfying reward. I am continuously grateful for the simple, wonderful, small things that make up the plenty.
Tags: gratitude, lettuce, lillies, potatoes, salad, spiderwort, spring, zucchini
Posted in The Daily Balance, The Growing Season | No Comments »
breezy night
Monday, June 14th, 2010
It’s beautiful outside right now. Crisp. Breezy and cool. But not cold. Just a non-humid last of the spring nights. The stars are out and twinkling. The breeze is rustling the trees and the air feels full of possibility.
So I’m going to put myself to bed. Yes I am! At a reasonable hour. I’m tired. Really tired. And I admit it. So I will go to sleep and get some rest.
Amazing it’s that easy.
Posted in The Daily Balance | No Comments »