A Bloom in the Nick of Time - Brugmansia

It has been a long wait!   My brugmansias (aka:  Angel Trumpets) were put out in April.  All rooted and potted and looking fine.  And finally, for the first time this year, I have a bloom!  Woo-hoo.  Only about 3 months later than expected.



Isn’t it beautiful!!  I really didn’t think that I was going to see one at all this year – with the arrival of the cool weather it wasn’t looking good.  But this baby pulled through and I am just delighted!

Final Harvest - Tongue In Cheek !

Harvest?   How dare I use that word!  I have been gardening for years but none compare to this year.  From the end of May until mid-July it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  Which would be great - if I were growing moss and mushrooms.  But that was not the case.  And I'm over it.  So in the interest of putting the garden to rest for this year.

Here is the final hu-hum harvest:

• 1 Snake Gourd - 8 1/4 lbs
• 1 Eggplant - 7 oz
• 1 Atlantic GIANT Pumpkin - 15 1/6 lbs (I kid you not!)
• Banana and Jalapeno Peppers - 6 oz
• And a whole helluva lot of acorns

And not one.single.zucchini!  Now that's a statement!

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Duck.Duck.Goose - Fall in a Pond

I love the outdoors.    Mother Nature paints the most beautiful pictures.  In all seasons.  Last week I came upon this pond of ducks and geese in a neighboring town.  What a blessing to enjoy animals in their natural habitat.

Pictures from Norfolk MA….

Ain't life grand.  Reminds me to “stop and smell the roses”.

Mother Nature’s Magic - Fabulous Fall!

Fall is in full swing in New England.   What a treat to get out and enjoy the riot of color.  The pictures I took in my yard this week are awesome.

The summer weather may not have pleased the garden but the trees must have loved the deep watering.  Pine cones and acorns are abundant!

The pine cones pose no threat.  But these……

…..are downright dangerous!  Oy!  It has been snowing acorns non-stop for the last 4-5 weeks.  The assault is relentless!   If not dinging us on the head then they are under foot.  Having to watch where you step while taking cover from the air assault can cause quite the contortions.  Which might be funny.  If it didn’t hurt so much!

Chicken Goes Dutch

Since the newly purchased dutch oven needs to earn it's keep, it was put into service again.  This go around was chicken. 

The recipe that I chose to experiment with was one that I found on one of my favorite blogs - 66 square feet.  I love this blog.  It chronicles life and times in THE big city - New York of course!  It intrigues me that a city dweller can produce food on a rooftop garden.  I would love to do it.  So that was the initial interest but beyond that it is diverse, informative and well written.  I sense a woman of character.

So, here we go.....no, first let's discuss vermouth.  This recipe called for a bunch of it.  Obviously I have heard of it before but had no idea - zero - of what exactly it is.  So since "Goodsearch" is my friend (Google's cousin but it donates money to worthy causes for your searches and shopping) I found out that it is a quasi-wine with herbs added.  K.

So here is what it looked like.....

The recipe called for whole chicken but I chose split breasts.  Legs will never be eaten in this house.

Chicken with potatoes, grapes, tarragon and other aromatics.

At the last minute I had some patty pan squash that needed to be used so I threw that in too.

 

De.light.ful!  Check out the recipe here.

Got Harvest?

After a rather dismal summer, weather wise and thus garden wise, I am finally reaping the fruits of my labor.  For what it's worth, yesterday I harvested my first.ever.celery.  Woo-hoo!  It grew very slowly but with very little attention.  I picked just this one and have four more to go.

This is what it looked like after plucking off the small outer celery stalks.

All chopped and cleaned and ready to munch on.

First up.......the Barefoot Contessa's "Company Pot Roast".  Time for an experiment. 

While I was out picking the celery my neighbor was lurking in his backyard. We chit chatted about this 'n that and I told him that I was attempting a pot roast in my spanky new dutch oven.   With that, he ceremoniously bent over and pulled a bunch of carrots from his garden.  Cool!!!  I am not much of a roast lover but hubby is so....this one's for you Mr.

With all the ingredients in place, today was the day.

Sweat those veggies.

Brown that beef.

Add those herbs.

....and we're off!

Suffice it to say that by the time it was ready I forgot to take a picture of the final dish. I was hungry and anxious to taste it.   It was...mmmm....mmm.....good!

If you want the recipe you can find it on the Food Network website.....Ina Garten...The Barefoot Contessa.....click here.  You won't regret it.

My New "Toy"

With the arrival of cooler weather my thoughts have turned to cooking.  Like clockwork.  Most of the summer consists of steaks on the BBQ, tomato salads and other foods that keep me away from the stove.  Yesterday the urge to cook kicked in.  So I turned on the Food Network and read through blogs to see if I might come upon something enticing.  And I did!  But there was a downside.....both called for a dutch oven.  Shopping I must go.

TJ Maxx here I come.  Just 5 minutes from my house.  Bingo!  A beautiful red enamel, cast iron dutch oven.

Cuisinart Dutch Oven - Purty, huh?

Let me say, they don't give these things away!  $60 at a discount store!  The "Compare at" price was $110!  Oh well if it is well used it will be worth it.  Tomorrow it goes to work!  Let the experiments roll.

To be continued.......

The Forgotten Harvest

Not sure how this happened but I forgot to post a picture from my largest (only, really) harvest this year.   Here it is…..teehee.

Taken September 4th. 

How could I have forgotten!

An Annual August Concert

Every year when August rolls in and the humidity is kickin' butt there is a very strange occurrence.  The sun sets and the trees begin to sing.  Like a symphony or choir.  Legend has it that it is a chorus of tree frogs.  I've been living here for 10 years and have had never seen one.  Until today.

I really didn't need to see another frog because I had just come running from my veggie garden.  Chased away by resident toads, frogs, whatever they are.  I don't stick around for long enough to look.  They hop - I run.  These damn critters have been hanging out in my garden for most of the summer.  I am living in a state of paranoia.  I thought I was "safe" on my deck.  Maybe I am meant to be gardening on a city rooftop.  If I ever stepped on one I think I would need to be institutionalized.  Seriously.

First I saw this....

This would be a tree frog's ass.

Very bold don't ya think!

He then got even bolder, almost challenging.

Dude!  Leave me alone!  This is MY deck!

You are on my brugmansia!

Crossing the escape bridge..

Leaping over to the rhody.

Off and running.

I would have preferred to believe in the "legend".  I really didn't need to see one.  I really need to rethink my outdoor life.

P.S.  After posting, I googled treefrogs and just in case you are interested, here is a link.  I don't care what their story is - they are grosse.

The Garden That Wasn't

Let me start by saying that I am am thankful that I was not relying on a harvest this year.  Cuz it didn't happen.  I am also thankful that I didn't count myself in for the Monday Harvest Tally over at Daphne's Dandelions cuz I would have been run out of dodge!  After 40+ straight days of rain in June and July the truth was quickly becoming apparent.  You can't beat Mother Nature.

So rather than cry over what didn't happen, I choose to laugh at what did.  This is the grape "crop".  In it's entirety!

I may taste one but otherwise I'm leaving them for the birds.  This vine is about 4 years old and these are the first grapes ever so at least I know it can produce.  See that....looking on the bright side.

Then there is the snake gourd vine.  This one was new in the garden this year.  The vine went berserk.  During the rainy, rainy days the vine escaped it's "enclosure" and went to visit the grapes.  It climbed up the trellis and intertwined itself amongst the grape vines.  There are several small snakes growing but with the weather being much cooler, I would be very surprised if anything comes of them.  There is just one worthy of mention - about 3 feet long...here it is.

I am almost tempted to OCD on this bugger - make it the object of my affection.  Wrangling and tying it so that it ends up in a more interesting shape.  Hmmm....

Now on to my most successful bounty of the year.  Eggplant.  I picked one and made a nice eggplant parm - mmmm...good. This was another newbie for me.  Very pretty plant.  In addition the one already picked, this one might make it too.  I emphasize might.

All of the tomato plants were yanked yesterday and put in blight bags for my trash man tomorrow.  Not one darn tomato sandwich for me this summer.  Boo-hoo. 

Between the rain, and the critters and other nonsense this summer, the garden and I were not exactly BFF's.   Oh and my absence of more than 30 days over the growing season didn't help either.  Whatever.  There's always next year.  Maybe.  Stay tuned.

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D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G

Ewwwwwwwww!  I headed down to the garden earlier for what I thought would be the end of tomatoes for this year.   T’was not to be.  I was not alone.  There were critters out there today.  Frogs a ‘hoppin’ here and there, and this disgusting creature.  A tomato hornworm I think.  I’ve never seen one before (except in pictures).  It sent me screaming like a little school girl.  Once I regained my composure I was able to snap a few pics.  Of course during the photo session I had imaginary things crawling up my legs and was happy that the macro feature on my camera let me take the pics from a distance.  I’m starting to wonder if I am really cut out for this gardening business.  Silly as it sounds, I’m not sure if this is one of the fears that I want to conquer.

 

Quite the athlete, huh?

Back Home

Been on the road again. Once again my 4 day road trip to Montreal turned into a 9 day trip. Thankfully my husband is fine with it. It's the 3rd time that I've done it this summer.

FARMER'S MARKET
My trip to the Laprairie farmer's market was a quick one this time. I sidetracked from the direct route home to make a pit stop to pick up some delicioso curd cheese (cheese curd??). It's one of the things from home that my family misses. Eaten as is or in the fabulous Quebec staple "poutine". French fries with BBQ gravy and curds.....mmmmm....mmmm. It's not available here in Massachusetts - at least not that I am aware of. It's available in grocery stores back home but nothing compares to the the fresh from the market version.

With the dismal condition of my garden, I wish I could have picked up some fruits and veggies. They had 10 lb bags of beets for $3.50! Pickling onions too. Alas the powers that be do not allow the transportation of fruits, veggies, meat or plants. Doesn't leave much choice at a farmer's market.

SEEDPODS
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. That is the case with the datura seed pods that I scooped up at my daughter's house this past week. These are some gnarly monsters. They bite! Prickly as porcupines! My daughter didn't know what to do with the spent flowers (deadheading) and just let them be. I happily pinched the pods and rid her of those nasty, seed-filled pods! I shall try my hand at daturas this winter. We shall see, we shall see.

Maine Seacoast

This may have been the worst, or best, thing to do with the garden under attack from blight. I took a little road trip. I felt that I could do no more to protect my tomatoes and decided to let nature take its course.

So on Monday I drove to Vermont to pick up my daughter who bussed it from Montreal. And headed for the Maine coast for 2 days. What better to do than head for the ocean during a heat wave of stifling, humid days. The sea breeze was just what the doctor might suggest when the air is so thick. I love how it cools as you approach the beach from the parking lot - the return trip at the end of the day when you are salty and sandy, not so much.

We drove Route 1 from Kittery (outlet shops galore) through York, Ogunquit, Wells and Kennebunk. Antique shops, thrift stores and consignment were EVERYWHERE and it killed me to drive by but we were only there for 2 days and with the weather what it was, the beach was more important. We did do the outlets (yuck!) because my daughter hadn't been before. It's close enough that I can take a day trip any time.....probably September or October.

Potato, Pa-tot-ow

As one of my experiments this year, I grew potatoes for the 1st time. Not only that but instead of planting them directly in the ground I bought some "Smart Pots" and gave those a whirl. All were planted in pure homemade compost. So yesterday I pulled the potatoes from 2 of the 3 sacks. Success? Failure? Somewhere in between. Most of the few potatoes that I did get were small but they were nice and firm with no rot. This is a good thing cuz this summer's weather was not co-operative. A resounding success? No. But everything is relevant isn't it...

Tomato Blight Rampage

It's for real now. In the 10 years that I have lived in my town there is a tomato garden that I have always admired. It is a beautiful little garden on a corner lot and always perfectly maintained. Nothing out of control. Several rows that probably add up to 100+ tomato plants. Just yesterday I drove by and saw that things were looking dry and the leaves were curled and dried out - late blight. On one hand I feel comforted to know that I am not alone. On the other hand, I feel for the tomato grower. Mother Nature can be a......bitch.

To Compost or Not to Compost...That is the Question

Any gardener who has jumped on the composting bandwagon knows that it is awesome stuff. When it is ready...mmmm.....the earthy smell. For weenies like me, getting there is a little more challenging. But I did it. And if I can do it, anyone can.

In case you're on the fence about it. Check out your options on the Compost Guy. There has never been an issue with odor or critters. The only critters I encounter are those wild wiggling worms. And that's a good thing.

2008 "Newborn" picture

Just Peachy

In my quest to support local farms, I took a little trip to a farm in the next town Cook's Valley Farm. I try to make the rounds of local farms to "share the wealth". This farm has been worked for over 300 years!

While there I bought peaches. In my absolute ignorance I was unaware that peaches grew in this neck of the country. Who knew! These peaches had major fuzzies - very very hairy. They need a shave! The mottled colors are beautiful.

So time to make some peach preserves. I was flying by the seat of my pants because I am not the "preserving" kind of gal. I have issues with sterilization. Not sure why but it freaks me out. Sooo...I found some plastic "Ball" jars that do not require sterilization! Woo-hoo! I'm in.

So I chopped up my bounty of peaches and threw them in a pot just long enough to break the chunks down a little. Added a little sugar and freezer jam pectin. Voila! Lovely topping for cottage cheese, waffles, etc. And not too sweet! Mmmmmmm!




Then into the handy dandy little Ball containers and then into the freezer. What's not to love?

Beautiful Butterfly

No words...just a pic of a "purty" butterfly.

Pretty Blooms - Peegees?

Picked some pretty blooms in the field at Tangerini's again. They have cut flowers in the farm stand but I just love wandering around the fields and cutting my own flowers or picking my own fruits and veggies.

This is what they looked like when I brought them home......awesome!

Outside bunch

Inside bunch