Tangerini's Farm

One of the fields

Yesterday, like today, was a hot and hazy day and the air was thick with humidity. What an odd summer. Rain, rain, rain. We'll be rolling into August soon and it feels like summer hasn't even begun. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the garden. Lot's of lush green foliage but that's about it. I will be pleasantly surprised if I get any harvest by the end of August. Time will tell. On the bright side, I picked a good year to be an experimental farmer. Experiments are "tests" and tests sometimes fail. Oh well.

This is the current shining star in the garden. And I do mean the only one. Sad but true.

So back to the hot and humid day...... I wanted to see how other local harvests were doing so I hopped in my car to go to a local favorite, Tangerini's Spring Street Farm. It's a great place - especially for kids. There are goats and chickens and cats wandering around which kind of baffles me because given the opportunity, my cats would not leave those darn chickens alone. The city girl side of me thinks that felines and foul just don't mix. Obviously that is not true on a farm.

So here is what was available tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, beans, zucchini, yellow squash and U-pick raspberries and blueberries. I guess real farmers are just that, real.

The farm stand and ice cream shop.

One of the residents.

The greenhouse wall. Pretty.

Piggy pottery. Very cute.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good

The "good" requires few words. A pretty Hydrangea bouquet with.......guess what? Leek scapes! Who knew they would add such great contrast!

The scapes are so cool! These are the same scapes that were cut a couple of weeks ago and are not showing any signs of dying off anytime soon. Awesome!

The Bad & The Ugly

In this case they are one and the same and I have no clue what it is.

I discovered this creature on my deck today. From a distance, I thought it was a turd! It was fat and fuzzy'ish and very very dead. It looks like it's part fish, part bird, part I dunno????

Then along came Mr. Ant hoping to bring home dinner for what surely would provide meals for the "next month of Sundays". He moved left, right and over but alas this monster was just too much for one little ant. But you must give him A+ for effort.

Damn Marigolds

There are not too many flowers that I don't like although I do tend to prefer those that stand tall and strong. Some I like for their foliage, some for their flowers and others for their uniqueness.

Then there are Marigolds. Yuck! They have no redeeming qualities. They smell gross. Even bugs hate them apparently. That's why I have them in my veggie bed. Rumor has it that they are supposed to keep the bugs at bay but someone forgot to tell the bugs in my neck of the woods because they have been decimated. Just straggly little skeletons at the feet of the tomatoes, etc. Not a success in my experiments.

Huggy Bug

A good bug post happens from time to time with a picture of something that does not freak me out. This is one of those.

Look at this guy! He seems completely enamored with the squash flower. Perhaps drunkenly in love with the sweet pollen. It certainly looks like love!

Veggies - Keeping Track

Finally a little progress in the garden - not what it should be but c'est la vie.

Zucchini Babies

Purty Pumpkins

I was very pleasantly surprised with these. I pulled my leeks more than a week ago and decided to put the scapes in a vase with water. What a beautiful sight! They make an excellent bouquet and last really long. Very very interesting.


My cauliflower is showing it's first bud. The brassicas sure have to put up with a lot around here. The critters are brutal. Last year was my first year growing any and in absolute frustration over the constant attacks, I yanked most of them. I left a few to see how they would do and surprisingly they recovered quite well.

Although they are under siege again this year, I will be patient and let nature take it's course.

I try to keep organic and that makes it more difficult but I am committed. Go cauliflower!

Cape Cod Mystery Shrub

I was down on Cape Cod a few days ago and the old Cape standard, Hydrangeas, was making it's annual appearance. Profusions of blue blooms were enjoying the salty air. Just gorgeous.

This year I noticed another shrub that was blooming blue'ish and didn't recognize. Perhaps another type of Hydrangea? Here's a pic:

I must do my homework on this one......

Time in the Trenches

Yesterday afternoon was spent catching up in the garden and checking out how my experiments were doing.

Les Pois
Peas were one of the NKTB's (aka New Kids on the Block). Must say, love them! The peas that is. My daughters were the ones who loved NKTB. They were pretty much pest-free, grew like the dickens and were very very yummy. I never even bothered to cook them - just pop 'em open and pop 'em in.

Today the last bunch was picked and I learned something new. Young sweet peas really are better. This bunch had gotten pretty big and were not as sweet as the ones picked earlier. (Note to self.) So today was the day to pull those babies. All in all I was very impressed and plan to have peas in the garden always.

Garlic (or as Emeril would say "Gaaah-Lic")
The garlic was planted last fall from kitchen garlic 'cuz the seed store was out of it. It was looking all shabby out in the garden today so out it came. I was happy with the outcome. Rather small but it's hard to be disappointed when you have no expectations. Haven't tasted it yet but it grew.........and that's what matters.

Les Tomates
This years tomatoes are rather obnoxious if you ask me. Just behaving very badly. Growth is all over the place. Some are huge and skinny - some are short and fat. And only a few itsy bitsy tomatoes. June was a bust with relentless rain so I guess I should cut them some slack. I have to remind myself that it is only mid-July and there is still time but I. am. so. damn. IMPATIENT! Hmmmmf.

More Grossies in the Garden!

It is abundantly clear that I hate creepy crawlies. I wish I were not such a woos. But I am.

Through the wonder of the web, you "meet" all kinds of people. One such person is EG. He has no issues whatsoever with bugs. He keeps a running total of squished squash bugs (whew that's a mouthful - say that fast 3 times!). He also likes to include videos in his blog which is kind of cool because you get to see what's going on in other parts of the country. And mostly feel twangs of envy 'cuz his garden is miles ahead of mine. Come to think of it, he hasn't posted in over two weeks and that's not like him. I hope he's on vacation. Check it out at Engineered Garden.

Back to my creepy crawlies. I'm not quite sure why I am including this picture. Perhaps to face my fear. Cue music - theme from "Jaws" please.

Ewwwwwwwwwwww. Can't wait until this post is archived.

Ugg...Bugs...

I HATE BUGS! I really go all psycho-girly when it comes to creepy crawlies in the garden. You would think that after 20+ years of gardening I would get over it - nope. I am not a girly girl in any other way - except when it comes to bugs. I wish I would get over it but I don't think it's even a remote possibility.

Today was a particularly "buggy" day. Squash bugs, cucumber beetles, worms galore and this big bugger who has pinchers. Ewwwwwww. I was kind of getting into pyscho mode - a tomato branch brushed me and I almost jumped out of my skin. This is not right. Get a grip girlfriend - get a grip.



To date I have never come across a snake - thank you God - cuz that might just be the end of my gardening days. In all likelihood Iwould become the girl in the bubble.

2

Look! A Vineyard in Training!

I love the look of grapevines. I don't know anything about growing them but I like 'em. That's why I have one growing out back - it's completely unruly and a vintner would chastise me for such a wild thing but I like it. It's been growing out there for 5 years or so - just living la vida loca. Never saw so much as a single grape on it. "Saw" being the operative word - past tense my friends.

Now I have not quite achieved vintner status yet but hell if things keep going as they are, I believe I will be the proud owner of 4 bunches of grapes! At this rate I might just be pulling a Lucille Ball a few years from now. Likely for a single bottle of wine but that's OK.

The Pea Post

You may or may not know that I have never eaten a fresh pea before. Well today was the day! Wow! Have I led a deprived life! Yummmmmmmy! The pea experiment was a success. They will become a staple in my garden. Quite frankly, I don't know that I will ever eat another pea unless it is picked fresh from the vine.

So, back to today, as I picked the peas I noticed that the 2 young boys (4 and 7) next door were out playing and I offered them some. To my great pleasure and quite unexpectedly, they said "yes". They were popping them like candy!

I was so obsessed with this wonderful little veggie that it turned into a little game. Squeeze along the seams to pop the pod open......reveal perfect little green orbs......pop the slightly crunchy little orbs in mouth. And oh how pretty for pictures. I was glad that my kids were out and hubby was visiting the neighbors cuz a pea photo session was a little over the top for them.

Who knew how delectable peas were? (Probably everyone but me but that's OK. Better late than never.)
From this.....

To this....

To this.......awesome!

Another Day in Paradise...

Guess what? It rained today...again. Not only that but it was severe enough that the National Weather Service interrupted radio transmissions to announce that a tornado could potentially touch down. My town was on the top of the list. Thankfully it didn't fully materialize. The reports are that supercells and microbursts hit a few miles to the north and a few miles to the south - hail, flooding, downed trees, etc. but we only saw heavy rain. One town about 15 miles north of here has gotten 9" of rain since last Thursday - only 6 days!

It has been relentless this year - rainy and very cool. It's 59 degrees right now! I haven't even been in the pool yet this year. That is just wrong! I am usually in the pool in May. I'm thinking that my garden may be a bust. My banana peppers are not even 6" tall and they've been in since the end of May. Oh well since I can't change it, I might as well get over it.

Uh-Oh Tomato Problems

I was poking around on the internet this morning and found an article about tomato problems in the northeast. Apparently tomato plants bought at big box stores are experiencing late blight. I know for sure that I didn't get any plants from bix box stores. Whew! This year I either grew from seed or let volunteers grow where they popped up. Hopefully my tomatoes will be fine....fingers are crossed.



http://umassvegetable.org/LateBlightAlertforTomatoandPotato.html

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20090703/US.Farm.Scene.Late.Blight/

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th!

As the sky lights up with color and everyone is celebrating, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to my adopted country.

Happy birthday America!

Enough Already!

Relentless bright sunny days get on my nerves if not interspersed with rainy days here and there. And hot steamy days really irritate me. I've said it before and I'll say it again "I like rain.". I really do. A good thunderstorm is necessary and often gives me the opportunity to hunker down with a good book or do some blog surfing. Recharging time - guilt free!

This morning, I woke up to the thunderstorm of thunderstorms. It was pitch black outside and I thought it was the middle of the night. It was 8 am! I was totally confused. Luckily I didn't have to be anywhere. This is the thing though, after two months of mostly rain, I need for it to stop. My veggies are calling for help. Enough already!

Happy Canada Day!

It's our birthday! 142, eh? Woo-hoo!

I started thinking about my roots and the history that I had lost due to the passage of time.

So I decided to google it and after spending a couple of hours reading, for those who might be interested, this is what I found:

http://www.linksnorth.com/canada-history/discovery.html

I've been living south of the border for 10 years and still miss so many things. No matter where you come, your country is always in your heart. Canucks included. I am grateful to be Canadian - we are good people.

The Green Mountains of Vermont

I once again made the trek north to Montreal yesterday. The scenery had changed quite a bit since my trip at the beginning of May.

Trees are fully leafed out and everything is very green. There were bursts of purple this time. It was a pleasant surprise to see lupines growing randomly along I-89. What a beautiful site! As the road winds up and down, left and right through the back-drop of the Green Mountains the addition of flowers growing wildly is the icing on the cake. I wish I could have taken pictures but I thought it might not be wise to be taking pictures while driving 70 mph. I was able to take a few at a rest stop.

I have made this trip many times and am still awed by the beauty.

Tada! Done!

Digging & planting.....tada! Done for this season. I think. Feeding & watering done for today. Weeds still to come. Time to chill with a glass of wine. After all we need to balance the work with down time, right?

Tomorrow I am hitting the road again. Big sister came in for baby sister's graduation and it's time to go home.

Bees & Blooms

Weather is still not what it should be - cool nights with extreeeeeemely comfortable days. Great for stuff like lettuce but the warm weather crops are in a holding pattern. Oh well, such is the life of a gardener.

A few more shots of what is in bloom......

Graduation Day!

This is it! My baby girl graduated today! Miss Olivia is off enjoying the all night party at her school tonight. In my solitude, the tears are welling.

I really need to thank "Mr. D" (pictured) for all that he has done for all of my girls. He's a kind man who cares about "his" kids. It has not been an easy road but Mr. D was always there. For this I am grateful.

I have great confidence that she will soar. Happy life sweetheart.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It's June?

Brrrr. Somebody forgot to tell the powers that be that it's June! I'm OK with it but what about the tender veggies? They are not doing a thing. No growth at all. It has been 50-60'ish during the day and 40's at night. Will they recover? I dunno.

So with the garden at a standstill.....some feathered friends.

Patience & Crazy Cats

The lack of sunshine is holding up production. The sun has been hiding for 4 days and it shows in the garden with only an itty bitty growth in the past week. At least the lettuce is still holding up. It will become dinner over the next few days.

I Taut I Saw A Puddy Tat
Tonight, as I am washing the dishes I looked out the window and to my amazement one of my crazy cats (Mr. Smudgie) was chillin' out and grabbing a nap on the edge of the pool ring. Hello? Optical illusion? Apparently not!

After about 15-20 minutes of chilling he woke up and decided he was thirsty and very conveniently slurped some water from the pool (thankfully no chlorine had been added yet!).


I wasn't quite sure what to do at this point - after all he could easily puncture the pool ring. So I let out a whistle to catch his attention.....then off and running he came. Silly, silly cat.

Spinach Salad & Strawberries...Yum

A few days ago I was looking for something to do with the abundance of spinach that I had just picked before I resort to blanching and freezing.

I opted for and posted a recipe for Orange Almond Salad. Thing is, I didn't have any mandarin oranges so I made do with what I did have.......juicy strawberries. Let me say this, as long as strawberries are available, no mandarins for this salad - they are for the off season. It was superb! I has been a meal accompaniment for 3 days and each one is as good as the last. I am posting a picture that doesn't look as attractive as it did before I decided to chop up and dive in but I wasn't thinking. Heck, I was hungry.

Rain & Living Life

A chilly and damp weather pattern is holding over this area. Not a complaint, simply an observation. In the past I would have been tweaking out about my newly planted seedlings but I am working on letting life play out as intended. Que sera, sera....whatever will be, will be.......

Although I am not a particularly religious person, there is a prayer that I have adopted for daily life:

"God grant me.....
Serenity to accept the things that I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can, and
Wisdom to know the difference."

Pretty simple. I like simple. It makes life, well, so much simpler.

What's Growing? Week 1

Things are popping up everywhere! With everything that is going on at this time of year and all of this pictures I take, a weekly update seems like a good place to gather it all for a "week in review" post. After all, the point is to keep track of growing progress and more often than not the pictures are the story - no words required.