My New Twin Garden Helpers

I've been working on a little side project for the last 9 months...Garden time has been dramatically reduced this year for two very important reasons: my new babies!

In April I delivered identical twin boys, Nick and Tyler. They are loud and messy and completely adorable. I haven't done much in the garden this year--no seed planting, no weeding, no trimming back the ivy. I haven't even bought vegetable transplants.  However, I did find time last weekend to plant two new rhododendron shrubs. One of these days I might find time to photograph them instead of the boys. In the far-off future I'm looking forward to sharing my gardening hobby with the boys and growing vegetables with them. Until then I'll enjoy looking at everyone else's gardens.

Happy 2014 Gardening!

Spring, the Season of Change!

Lots of change in the air….

I got a new job! I start next week. I’ll be going from a slow-paced/academic/think-tank environment to a faster-paced organization where I’ll be more involved with public policy, and hopefully get back to doing more international work, which is something I have missed. I’m very excited for the change in pace and the chance to do something new. My schedule is going to change quite a bit, though. Right now I can set my own hours and usually work from ~7:30 – 4. At the new place the hours are set at 9-6, which will leave me plenty of time for going to the gym in the morning. The downside is that I’ll have no excuse not to go to the gym in the morning. :(

Posting may be sporadic as I adjust to the new schedule. This is part of the reason I've been wanting a "low maintenance" garden this year. Work on that is still underway. Wherever you are, I hope you're enjoying the changes of Spring!

A Love Note to Seed Catalogs

Remember those ground cherries I harvested last summer? I don't either, I only I harvested almost a full pint, not really enough to do anything with...

But now I have something to shoot for this year. My Baker Creek seed catalog arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I found this recipe in it for ground cherry crisp. I was debating whether to grow ground cherries again this year and when I saw this recipe, I got inspired to try again.  I hope to grow enough to make dessert.

Baker Creek is my favorite seed catalog. The pictures of food and flowers are so good. They're worthy of framing, I think. They certainly inspire me to try growing different things, which is probably why the company invests so much effort into making such a gorgeous catalog.

Look at that purple cauliflower! I'd love to see something like that at my farmers' market.

Look at all these carrots! Makes me want to try growing them again.

last year I grew a cucumber variety called Beit Alpha, which I ordered from Baker Creek. It did well. This year I have their Bronze D'Amposta red onions that I want to try. I need to get them started soon.

I can't wait to grow sunflowers again!

This time of year is probably very difficult for gardeners. As all the seed catalogs arrive we have to decide what our garden will look like for the coming seasons. The tough part for me is not getting carried away. I hope one day to have a real back yard with more space where I won't have to restrict my seed purchases so much.

Making the Perfect Risotto (almost)

Source: Uploaded by user via Angela on Pinterest

It’s 12/12/12! I’ve read that numerologists say this day is auspicious, but I just like that all the numbers are the same. When it comes to numbers, I like making lists and numbering things and wanted to record a post today before the rest of the month flies by. The time between Thanksgiving and New Year's always goes by so quickly. Here's what's been keeping me busy:

Source: guardian.co.uk via Angela on Pinterest

1) Work - I've been swamped. One co-worker just got married and is on her honeymoon. Another is about to have a baby and recently started maternity leave. To help me out, they've assigned a new person to my team, but it's a junior analyst that requires my supervision and in addition to my work, I have to review hers. Luckily she's very capable and eager and smart, so it's not painful, but days have been very long. Once my newlywed co-worker returns, I should get back to a normal schedule.
2) Job hunting - I am very happy to have a job in these tough economic times, even if it's a job that makes me want to poke my eyes out with a stick covered in fire ants. Searching for jobs has become a job in itself, as all of you who've gone through the process are well aware. No bites yet, but I hope that by this time next year I'm in a more rewarding, more challenging position.
3) Holiday visits - I've been spending time catching up with friends that I haven't seen in months and preparing to see family that I only see once a year. I just found out that a friend of mine is moving to the Philippines in January, so amidst all the Christmas parties and get-togethers, I have a going-away party to go to this weekend.
4) Cooking/baking - To continue with the job-hunting theme, my cooking and baking skills are "entry level." Every year around Christmas someone gives me a little gift--simple things like homemade cookies--and I always feel like an ass for not having something to give in return. So I decided this year that I wanted to make fudge and give it out to neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, etc around Christmas. However, I've never made fudge before in my life. It was quite a learning experience. I made three different batches and all turned out very different in terms of consistency and flavor. My husband and friends said it was all edible, and I'm sure they'd never lie to me.

Now We Get to the Risotto Part...

I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but I did have two goals for 2012: 1) run a 5K, and 2) learn to make risotto. I ran my 5K race back in October at the Zombie Run, and recently I’ve learned to make risotto, although I’m still perfecting my technique.

I really like rice. Although I am not a vegetarian, I frequently order vegetarian dishes at restaurants, and if there’s risotto on the menu, I always order it. Risotto is an Italian rice dish cooked in broth with other ingredients, like seasonal vegetables or mushrooms, and topped with Parmesan cheese. The trick to making it is to constantly stir the rice while adding just the right amount of liquid so that it absorbs properly. The first risotto I made was way too mushy and soupy. I made this version a few weeks ago, with Swiss chard from the local farmers’ market and onions from my garden (and non-seasonal, non-local frozen peas).

Last year was the first year I ever knowingly and purposefully ate Swiss chard, and it was because of the Eat Local Foods challenge. I bought another bunch this year and was trying to think of ways to cook it. I thought the Swiss chard risotto came out well, and the chard gave it nice texture.

Then I got cocky and decided to make a sweet potato risotto for Thanksgiving, and I think it came out too dry. I probably cooked it way too long. I've read that it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to cook a cup, and I was at it for about 30 minutes. Oh, well, I'll just keep trying! I have no problem eating my own bad cooking, and it's really fun to try to make such a challenging dish. Maybe next I'll try with butternut squash.

Do you like risotto? I hope you have a happy and auspicious 12/12/12!

Eating Locally: One Year Later

{Stuffed peppers--my first all-local ingredient meal ever}

It was a year ago this week that I started the challenge to eat at least one locally-sourced meal a day. Called the "Dark Days of Winter" challenge, it seemed like the logical thing for me to try after spending a couple of summers growing some vegetables and reading books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I met some cool people via our posts and recaps, and after the challenge ended, some of us started our own breakout group (the SSFC) to continue to challenge ourselves to eat locally throughout the summer and fall. Although our mini-group's challenge ended last October, we've decided to continue throughout the winter.

Our new SSFC Challenge period begins this week also, and I'll have a post on what I made later. But something about the unseasonable warm temperature today (near 70 degrees!!?!) makes me want to recap some of the summer meals I ate.

Although we are supposed to feature at least one meal a week made from all-local ingredients, I have found myself incorporating locally sourced food into all my meals. This was a lot easier for me in the summer than last winter because of the greater variety of fruits and veggies. Some of my Almost All-Local Meals:

 

{grilled chicken, mozzarella, tomato & olive salad}

I found a great farmers' market near my house. According to the site: "The farmers markets sponsored by the Fairfax County Park Authority, is a locally grown, producer-only market system. You must grow, raise or make all products you sell. No distributors, re-selling or brokers are allowed. All produce grown, meat raised and other products made must be within 125 mile radius of Fairfax County." Perfect! This became my go-to market until they closed for the season in October. The chicken and olives above weren't locally sourced but the veggies and mozzarella cheese were.

 I have found a great VA-based source for mozzarella cheese. I've used it in omelets, salads, and just as a snack on a roll. I probably never would have stumbled upon this great company if I hadn't forced myself to look for local sources of cheese. Love them!

Cuban-style ropa vieja (shredded beef) using flank steak from Smith Family Farm, based in Virginia. Onions and peppers came from my garden.

Another light salad. The chickpeas and olive oil obvs weren't locally sourced, but the tomatoes and cucumbers came from my garden.

 

Finally, Ribollita (aka Italian peasant soup)--the local ingredients were all from my garden: yellow squash, zucchini, and onions. 

Although some things are impossible to get locally (like beans, olive oil, spices), I've tried to buy organic when possible, and I've also tried to eat with the seasons. It's strange--but not really, it makes sense--but I've noticed a change in my palate. I'm not craving blueberries and strawberries out of season anymore, which is good because the berries sold at grocery stores in the fall and winter often taste like water and I used to waste money because they'd go mushy in a couple of days. Lately I've been craving butternut squash, sweet potatoes, chard (what?! used to not like it), and I'm really looking forward to this winter's challenge. One great side-effect of these Challenges are that I've been inspired to get more creative in the kitchen!

Stormy Thoughts

I started this blog to keep track of my garden (and now, my attempts to eat locally and with the seasons). But I feel a little odd posting about plants and food right now when so many people in New York and New Jersey are still without power, without hot water, without a hot meal. I've heard from all my friends up there, and some have gotten power back, but many haven't. Many of my friends have small kids, and they're going stir-crazy! They're stressed about their empty gas tanks and the long lines to fill up. One friend's parents are in Staten Island. They're OK, but their business is destroyed, and I'm not sure about their home. That poor borough is a mess. I used to live in NYC, and I worked in lower Manhattan in a building whose lobby is now totally flooded. I'm grateful that the storm did not negatively affect me at all, and I feel guilty too. I'm frustrated that I can't help my friends, I can't invite them to my house for a hot shower, to wash laundry, to have a hot meal. Similarly, I always feel bad when the Gulf Coast gets hit with hurricanes. I used to live in New Orleans also, and I was fortunate enough to move away before Katrina. But I have many friends who still live there and I still go back often to visit. Some parts of that city have recovered, but it took a long time. I think the NY metro area will recover faster. Those are some resilient people! We're heading to NY the week of Thanksgiving. The trip was planned a long time ago, but it will be more meaningful now as I will, hopefully, be able to see most of my friends in person. As we begin November and approach Thanksgiving, I want to remember to be grateful for things I often take for granted: electricity, the ability to take a hot shower with the lights on, clean hair, clean clothes, hot food, hot coffee, hot tea, no line at the gas station, a fully-charged cell phone, a warm house, my family and friends.

(sigh) Well this is getting heavy. I've got to lighten the mood, so here's a picture of my cute little cat.

Here's another happy Autumn thing: pumpkin butter....

Source: spoonforkbacon.com via Alyson on Pinterest

 (click the pic or here for the recipe link)

Have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are!

Back From the Wild West

{wild flowers in the Badlands, SD}

How did it become September 15 already??!? I haven't had much Internet fun-time lately. Between busy days at work, trying to get some home remodeling projects contracted, and a quick trip out West, I haven't had time to spend visiting my favorite garden blogs.

In between work my husband and I took a little vacation. We've been on an American travel kick in the last year or so, trying to see as much as this country as we can while we're young and child-less. We were up in Maine and New England earlier in August for a wedding, and that was a beautiful part of the country. Lots of mountains, forests, and so close to the ocean that you get lots of fresh seafood. I've been up and down the Eastern seaboard and all over the South, but I haven't seen much of the Midwest or Southwest, so we decided to take our annual vacation in what used to be part of the Wild West. We mainly stayed in South Dakota, but we rented a car and drove into Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, and North Dakota. 

It was a great trip, it's so beautiful out there and not as flat as I imagined. The cattle industry is huge, and we saw many, many cattle ranches as we were driving around. We also visited several national monuments and national parks, including Devil's Tower (the first designated U.S. National Monument), Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and drove through Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the Badlands National Park, and the Black Hills National Forest.  We stayed in Keystone, SD, and Deadwood, which was such a typical Wild West town (but with computerized slot machines now), and learned a little about some old-time cowboys and outlaws.

{prairie dogs}

I saw bison, coyotes, wild horses, wild turkeys, and lots and lots of prairie dogs. They were so cute! Although, they did remind me a little of the squirrels that have been terrorizing my garden. We ate some good food--lots of beef around, as you might imagine--and I had sarsaparilla (which is really just root beer) and drank beer in a few saloons, and talked with a lot of nice locals.

Sadly, you can really see the effects of the drought in this part of the country. Everything is DRY and there are warnings in all the campgrounds, national parks, and practically every gas station indicating that the risk of wild fire is high, so don't flick your cigarette butts anywhere. There was a huge wildfire that had just raged through northwest Nebraska/southwest South Dakota. Locals told us it had been started by a lightning strike in a field. People told us storm clouds have been rolling in all summer, but there wouldn't be any actual rain, so when the lightning stuck, with conditions as dry as they have been, all that grass and hay just ignited and it burned for days. Firefighters from as far as Arizona and California came in to help them fight it. Funny how we haven't heard about that here in DC. There was so much blackened, scorched earth, and when all the grass and hay are burned up, there's nothing for farmers to feed their horses or cattle. You can imagine what this is doing to their local economy. Despite this, everyone we met was so nice, and it was nice to see this rugged part of the country and get away from the crowds of city life. It was the perfect end to our summer.

I'm still working through photos and trying to get my house and garden back in order after some neglectful days. I hope to have more updates soon and see what everyone else's gardens are up to now that we're officially approaching Autumn!

Have you seen the Wild West? Where have you vacationed this summer?

Back From Down East

Source: google.com via Angela on Pinterest

{picture of Bar Harbor, Maine, via Pinterest}

I just got back from a long weekend in Maine. We were there for a family wedding and my husband and I decided to take an extra couple of days and explore Maine and the rest of New England a bit. It was so beautiful, but I didn't get a break from the heat like I thought I would. We were near Bangor and it was hot and muggy there, just like it is here at home. We did spend one afternoon in Bar Harbor, and the nice breeze coming off the water helped cool us off. It was a great trip in a beautiful part of the country.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice or comments on my Mortgage Lifter situation! I haven't finished reading through comments yet but appreciate your help. I'll post more later this week...have LOTS of laundry to do...

Why I Have No Blueberries or Sunflowers

 {Giant mammoth sunflowers growing in containers, 2011}

First -- a big Thank You to the lovely Tammy of Casa Mariposa for the kind words of solidarity in my on-going Battle Against the Squirrels. Thanks for the support and encouragement, Garden Sister! If you'll indulge me, I have one more sad story to tell....

{The giant containers I usually use for sunflowers. This year they hold my Mortgage Lifter tomatoes.}

This is the first year that I will not have sunflowers in my garden.  We have successfully grown sunflowers in containers in years past, but this year I'm using those giant containers for my Mortgage Lifter tomatoes. However, I do still have some Teddy Bear sunflower seeds, and I saved one pot for those flowers. I wanted to have their sunny yellow blooms near my front door. But here we are in mid-July, and I still don't have sunflowers. Squirrels dug the seeds out of the pots every time I planted them. I'd find piles of dirt and holes in the pot, the bastards. They even climbed up on the deck and dug them out of the starter flats. I finally moved everything to a protected location, and when the seeds sprouted and were transplanted, I waited until the plants were big enough to move the pot to the front yard.

 {Here's a picture of the flowers I don't have in my garden.}

One morning I left the house and noticed that each Teddy Bear leaf had been perfectly snipped. I don't think that was the work of a squirrel, though. I think that was the little rabbit I've seen hopping around and destroying my neighbors' gardens. I'm having a hard time getting angry at this rabbit, though. I volunteer at an animal shelter and that means I sometimes care for and play with rabbits, and feed them treats. To me he's just a poor little homeless bunny trying to survive in the wild, scary DC suburbs. What's a couple of leaves here and there? Besides, the flowers are coming back, sort of...

So here's the double standard: I have no such sympathy for those little rodent squirrels. When I was younger I used to laugh when my friends told me stories about their parents and grandparents flipping out over squirrels in their garden and trapping them and dropping them off across county lines.  Old people are so weird!, I used to think. Well now I'm an old person, and I TOTALLY get it! The rabbit may have only caused damage to my Teddy Bear leaves, but (as I mentioned in a previous post) the squirrels climb up on the deck and getting into my raised beds and are tearing up everything!!  Take my blueberry plants, for example. My husband built this mesh net around the blueberries to protect them from the birds and squirrels.  One day I saw that some of the berries were starting to turn bluish-purple, and they were almost ready for harvesting. I went back the next day to harvest them, and they were gone! Plucked right off the vine. Something had chewed a hole through the net. We fixed it and waited for a few other berries to ripen. A couple of days later I  went to harvest the berries, and I caught a squirrel red-handed!!! Or blue-handed, as it were. I swear that little jerk had blue juice on his face and he gave me the finger as he slipped through the gaps in the fence.

 

My husband then put a wire fence and some boards in the back against the wooden fence (you can see the wide board on the left). That took care of the gaps by the ground, but the squirrels were still climbing up through the top gaps to get the berries. Last weekend, we just pulled the net and boards down. All the berries have been eaten, so what's the point in keeping them up?

As I write this post and reflect on everything, I can't help but feel a teeny tiny bit of admiration at their persistence. I wonder if their moms gave them "If at first you don't succeed, try again" speeches. I wonder if I would be so persistent in going after something I really want if someone kept putting up obstacles (and hoped I would die). Also, there's a McDonald's not too far from my neighborhood. Sometimes I smell that wonderful fried potato smell when I'm working in the garden. I've even seen birds flying by with fries in their beaks, and I've seen squirrels carrying brown things in their paws, probably buns or nuggets or hash browns. I am impressed that these critters would want to balance their diets with some healthy foods.

 So now that this is all out of my system, I'm just going to let it go....(until next year).

Independence Day

Source: july.tipjunkie.com via Angela on Pinterest

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!

Do you know that I've never been to a 4th of July party where someone serves an American flag cake or pie? I feel like I'm missing out on an important tradition. Maybe I should try to make one myself.  We've been invited to a cookout/fireworks party and I was asked to bring dessert; however, they want us there at 2:00, and on a day that's supposed to get up to 95 degrees, I don't know if I want to spend that many hours under the broiling sun. Maybe if there are plenty of cocktails...

I associate the 4th of July-- and all of summer, really--with cookouts/grilling/BBQ-ing, etc. I found this interesting organization called the Southern Foodways Alliance. It's all about the food traditions of the Southern U.S., and of course, barbecue is an important focus. There's a section on the history and oral traditions of BBQ in the South, and it includes this interactive map of different restaurants where the owners talk about their association with BBQ, how their restaurants started, and how food fits into the local culture. It's a pretty cool site. I'd love to go on a BBQ restaurant road trip and visit as many of these places as possible.

If you're going to a 4th of July party, I hope there's lots of good food. And to all my friends in the northern hemisphere--stay cool today!

Thomas Jefferson's Garden and a Vineyard Visit

My husband and I took an overnight trip to Charlottesville, VA, over Memorial Day weekend. The last couple of months had been pretty stressful for both of us, and a quick getaway was perfect to recharge. We chose Charlottesville because I'd heard there were a lot of good vineyards and wineries to tour, and we've also been on an American history kick, so I wanted to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

I might have mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we've been on this self-directed American history tour.  Last November, we toured Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home, and during a weekend trip to Philadelphia last fall, we saw the Liberty Bell and toured Independence Hall. We live within a short drive of many historical spots, we figured we should take advantage. It was also nice to avoid the beach crowds and beach traffic on the holiday weekend.

I had toured Monticello as a child as part of field trip for school, but I don't remember the gardens at all. I'm not even sure if they were fully developed then? I remember bits of the house itself, which seemed bigger to me as a kid. Now that I garden, I was also very curious to see TJ's garden and learn more about his agricultural interests and experiments.

The Monticello gardens are huge and include flowers, vegetables, an orchard, and other trees. Many vegetables and flowers that he grew were native to Virginia, but TJ also liked to experiment with plants from around the U.S. and the world. His garden included trees that were brought back to him by Lewis and Clark's expeditions...

...and tropical plants like yucca. The "TJ" on the label indicates that the plant was grown by Jefferson.

The Foundation grows other vegetables and flowers to complement what's in there now (like the zucchini above). There's a harvest event in the fall, and the volunteers said that sometimes the extra harvests are donated to shelters nearby or given to them (but with so many volunteers, they sometimes only go home with one cabbage). They mentioned that they they grow tulips in the spring to provide dramatic effect when walking up to the house, but tulips in TJ's day were probably not grown because they were very small then and prohibitively expensive.

I would love to grow onions like this.

I'd love to have just 1/10 of this space! I liked the layout of his garden, the neat tidy rows and structures, and how he interspersed flowers and ornamental plants between the vegetables. I know people do this today, but if you're like me and can only garden in pots, it's a big deal to walk through a garden like this. I got a lot of inspiration for the type of garden I'd like to have some day.

We also toured Montpelier, James Madison's home. Montpelier recently underwent an extensive renovation, and there's not as much to see as at Monticello, but I enjoyed seeing his home and learning more about this lesser-known president. Lesser known to me, anyway.

Now the good stuff--the wine!

Originally we were going to tour the Jefferson Vineyards, but many locals recommended Veritas Vineyards,so went there instead. Once I learned that Jefferson didn't actually make wine (he tried but couldn't get grapes to survive the bugs) I realized that it wasn't actually TJ's vineyard, so I didn't really care which one we chose. Veritas was a great recommendation. Wine tastings were only $5 for 8 wines, and they were so good we came home with 4 bottles. The people were very nice and the grounds were beautiful. They said they host a lot of weddings there, and I can see why.



Are there vineyards near where you live? Which gardens inspire you?

'Serena' angelonia

'Serena' angelonia

'Serena' angelonia is a new plant in my garden. Angelonia are often referred to as "summer snapdragons." They are annuals that tend to do better in hot, humid conditions than snapdragons, and my garden tag says it needs very little water once established. 

My husband bought me this plant because he said it made him think of me--my name is Angela and my favorite color is purple.  I like this plant. The flowers are a beautiful shade of purple. I think it'll add nice color variety to my garden, which is dominated by vegetables. This plant is heat-resistant and low maintenance--also just like me! ;)

Easter Break

The new blueberry bush looks good.  From this picture, it seems scraggly, but it has blooms and the branches look sturdy. The leaves of the new bush are a pinkish-red, which provides some nice color in the garden.

A few other things going on in the garden right now:
- Two of my azalea bushes are blooming--a red and pink one.  the pink one was first to bloom last year, so it's right on schedule.
- The snapdragons are budding! I didn't think they'd come back this year, but I'm pleased to see them.
- Aside from a few tomato seedlings, no other tomato or pepper seeds have germinated yet. :(
- It looks like only one of my hostas is coming back. I don't understand what happened, why the other one hasn't emerged yet. Is it dead? Why?? Very sad about this.

- My husband said he saw a frog in our fish pond. This is really exciting. (Another post about my fish pond here, if you'd like to see).

Bumble Lush is on spring break and will be back after Easter. Enjoy the rest of the week and the Easter holidays!

Lazy Garden Weekend

I didn't do much in the garden over the weekend. I meant to start some tomato and pepper seeds but didn't quite get around to it. Maybe next weekend...In the next week or two, once the temperatures aren't fluctuating so much, I also plan to start potatoes!! My husband built me a box to grow them in, inspired by the different ways to grow potatoes that I posted about here. I'll post more about that once I actually start those tubers. 

My outside activity consisted mainly of watching a woodpecker scare the little finches away from my neighbors' birdfeeder and trying unsuccessfully to get a good picture of the many robins hopping around, trying to catch seeds that spill from the feeder. 

In non-garden news, I managed to make my first batch of refried beans.

In typical March fashion, temperatures are ranging from the 60s during the nice sunny days to dropping to around freezing at night. Temperatures grew chilly last night so we moved our broccoli transplants inside for protection. 

Did you get any garden work done this weekend?