hiatus.

Luckily, I only have one follower on here (although I do apologize to YOU) because I may be the world's worst blogger. My intention is to use this as a tool for myself so I can remember what I cook/plant/do and use it down the road since I have a TERRIBLE memory. And if others who read find useful recipes, planting tips, training info, etc. then that's great that I could spread some wealth.

None of the above works when you don't post on your blog.

I will get better...summer is halfway over and things are getting crazy but, I will (try to) get better.

supper 3/20.

Spring is officially here and it felt like it this weekend! All day Saturday and today I mulched, planted some ground cover, started new seeds, transplanted others, cleaned the deck and spent as much time outside as possible. I did get some cleaning done inside after dark but, for the most part, it's going to take a really rainy day for me to spend more than night-time indoors.

I'll post some pictures of my front step landscaping and of the garden later...too exhausted right now. I was too tired to make supper tonight after a 5 mile run this morning and then yard work all day, but after all that, I really needed to eat a good meal. Mark and I pulled out all available food and assessed what we could make that would be quick and easy. We had the rest of the turnips, mushrooms and spinach from the farmer's market last week. We also had some sweet and red potatoes so I decided to roast them with the turnips, cook up the turnip greens and make pitas with the rest of the ingredients. Mark ran to the store to get pita bread and I got started.

I think root vegetables roasting in the oven is one of my favorite food smells. I chopped up the turnips, potatoes and added some onions with oregano, olive oil and rosemary for flavoring. Side note - everyone should have some herbs in the windowsill. They are practically no work and the flavor they add is sometimes the only thing that gets me through winter without crying for fresh food.
I roasted them at 425 for 40 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. During the last half of cooking, I added a pan to the oven full of chopped shittake mushrooms, olive oil and garlic.

While that was cooking, I sauteed the turnip greens in olive oil, garlic and a dash of apple cider vinegar. This was my first time eating turnip greens (I'm not southern so please forgive me). I love that with so many root vegetables you can eat the root and greens - makes me feel like I'm not being wasteful. Mark loved the turnip greens and I think I would like them with some rice, orzo or something else mixed in. I'm not the hugest fan of sauteed greens but I eat them because they are ridiculously good for you and I hate not liking things.

I stuffed the pita with the cooked mushrooms, some of the onions from the root vegetables, chopped veggie sausage, spinach, micro greens, goat cheese and a yogurt sauce. It was really, really good and we were both happy we took the time to cook.

Ha - love Tulip looking up from below staring up at the "people" food.
I highly recommend making the sauce below for any sandwich or pita (I think I found it on the Food Network site):
Plain Yogurt
Cumin
Salt
Lemon Zest
Lemon Juice
Chopped Parsley - I was able to pull this from my garden! First thing this year I've been able to get from outside and it was awesome!

Happy spring!!

supper 3/15.

Just before I started cooking tonight, my friend Suzanne posted that she made kale chips. I had some kale that I bought this weekend and since I had no food plans, I gave it a try.
I'm still not sure if I cooked them long enough but they were delicious! It's a great way to eat a vegetable that I know is too tough for most people. Suzanne said you chop off the stalks and spread them in a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Spray them with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt on top. Cook them at 300 for 20-25 minutes and crunchy, tasty green chips await!

I paired it with some red potato soup - I chopped up celery instead of adding the celery seed but otherwise made it as is. It was pretty good...probably one of the last soups I'll make for awhile since it's getting warmer (soon).

dads.

A dear friend of mine's father passed away this week. He lost a strong fight with cancer and I know it was hard to say goodbye but even harder to see him struggle with the disease. It's a weird age we are growing into where we have to handle death on a regular basis.
I don't know if I will ever be "ready" to see either of my parents pass away. In fact, I really can't imagine it and just thinking about it is such a struggle. What strength my friends that have lost theirs have...what incredible people your parents made.

My dad...dancing at my sisters wedding.

At Christmas. Never wants anything, always positive, loves cracking lame jokes and then laughing at himself, friend to everyone.

Our first Gatlinburg trip. He can not sit still and relax...always up for exploring, making an adventure.
He truly is the greatest man I know. Here's to those lucky enough to have great dads. Hug them, call them...every day with them makes us better people.

seed starting.

Last year, almost all the gardening I did was from plants. I knew this year I wanted to try starting most of my garden from seeds and if that didn't work, use plants as a last resort. Not only are seeds cheaper, they are obviously the most natural way to start a garden with your own effort. And they are, not so obvious to my ambitious side, really hard when you are a beginner.

Last month I read The Seed Starter's Handbook. Honestly, I wish I would have picked it up a week or two sooner because I felt a little behind when I started my seeds. It's a great guidebook for what to start when and basic information on how the process works. I still have a million questions and will probably re-read this book every year.

I purchased a shelf unit and some clamp on grow lights from Home Depot and set up shop in the spare bedroom. It gives me lots of room - three shelves worth! - to start plants and when it's nice outside, I just let them sit in the sunshine for the day. I started kale, kohl rabi and turnips first and I need to do some research on what I did wrong. I ended up with some plants that I could put in the ground but they are pretty leggy and have weak root systems. I'm not sure if it's over/under watering, not enough natural sunlight, under/over fertilizing or the soil. I need to read up on it.
I started eggplant, dill, tomatoes and peppers next and those are looking really good as plants...even better than my cold weather plants. I am trying to get them outside and used to the sun as much as possible but it's been so overcast and cold lately that it's been a little difficult. Crazy that in two weeks it will be warm enough that I'll be able to put them in the ground!
I started some herbs (basil, oregano, sage, etc) this weekend and some more tomatoes. I feel a bit behind on my herbs but I'm not sure how quickly anything will grow once it heats up so maybe I am okay. I need to get some cucumbers started this week and hope they hold up with being transplanted...I hear they are a bit finicky with being relocated.

I'm still so new that I'm not sure the timing of everything, what should be transplanted, what should not be transplanted, etc. I'm just trying to go into this with the attitude that I will probably kill some things and that's okay...better luck next year. Maybe. Hopefully.

square foot gardening.

I recently read a book about a method of gardening called Square Foot Gardening. For someone like me, it's EXACTLY what I needed to read. My hyper organized mind was having a hard enough time with all the uncertainty that comes with growing things and with trying to keep up with the timing of everything. This book recommends breaking your garden up into 12"x12" sections. You can fit in more vegetables in each square, are constantly rotating your crops to promote good soil and it's easy to organize! I immediately nerded out and used my graph paper to map everything out - and made an accompanying Excel spreadsheet and calendar - and feel so much more prepared for what to plant when. I would highly recommend it to anyone that needs to take gardening one square at a time.

I purchased some lumber at Home Depot and split my raised bed into 22 sections. Under the cold frame, I started three different kinds of onions, peas, my kale/kohlrabi/turnip transplants, beets, carrots, radishes, spinach and lettuce...and I didn't even use up all the space! When you look at each section individually, it also makes succession planting easier so I don't have a bunch of squares that are full of carrots all coming up at the same time. Now we just have to see what plants actually live.

supper 3/13.

So, daylight savings time is currently sucking the energy right out of us around here. Before that could happen, we had this weekend, which was full of projects. I planted a BUNCH of things - I'll put up details in my next post - went to the farmer's market, cleaned the house and finally cooked a fresh meal.
It's pretty sad how long I have gone without proper grocery shopping which for me is the start of bad, bad eating habits. I'll go all day and realize I had a slice of bread with peanut butter and SweetTarts. Disgusting. I'm hoping it was just a winter thing...really, really hoping considering these terrible choices and lack of proper food led to a 15 lb weight gain. Yikes.

On Sunday, we had some buddies over because that's what we do every Sunday and I love it. Seriously...stop on by anytime. Mark purchased some chicken for him and our friend Shaun but they got so distracted with fantasy baseball, they hadn't started doing anything with it by the time everything else I had made was done so I offered to cook it. I haven't cooked meat in almost five years and it is gross. I became a vegetarian because meat was too expensive and I hated beef and I thought I could live without everything else. I tried it as a new year's resolution and never missed it. Except Chicken McNuggets and the two cheeseburger meal at McDonald's...I know, disgusting, but I'm just trying to be honest.
Anyway, cutting chicken really is the grossest. Mad props to carnivores everywhere because I can't stomach it anymore.
Mark purchased some Panko crumbs awhile back because he wants to make some fried onion/potato thing so I knew we had those. I melted butter and mixed it with lemon juice and dijon mustard in a bowl. After cutting the chicken, I dipped the slices in there and then dipped them in the Panko with some fresh herbs and parmesan and baked the chicken at 425 for 15 minutes. The guys said it tasted great so I would definitely cook it if you are a meat eater looking for a quick meal. I made a sauce out of mayo, dijon mustard, a little soy sauce and a little sesame oil to dip the chicken in and that was really good. I may use that for potatoes in the future.

I also cooked some brown rice in my rice cooker with vegetable stock, garlic infused olive oil and fresh herbs from the window. I chopped up some shittake mushrooms I got from Delvin Farms at the market on Saturday - they were huge! - and baked them with olive oil and garlic for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times part way through.

I put them and sauteed spinach on top of the rice with some lightly toasted slivered almonds, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Finally, I grated three turnips and made this Spring Turnip Frittata from this month's Eating Well. I didn't have any broccoli raab but I would like to try it again when it appears at the farmer's market. I added goat cheese to the mix and it was really, really good.

Everything on the plate (I ran out of spinach for the picture) was sort of the same color, which I try not to do, but otherwise it was a very good meal and most important of all, made me excited for fresh food over the next few months! It's spring on Sunday so it won't be long...I'm really going to miss my SweetTarts, though.

spring salad.

It's not technically spring yet but today could have fooled anybody. And we set our clocks back tonight so the extra sunlight will also be deceiving. 65 and sunny meant I had to go back to the farmer's market. I thought I would continue to go all winter but once our CSA basket was up, my good intentions left with it.
I woke up fairly early today and headed down to Franklin. It wasn't that crowded and it's a lot smaller than in the summer time but being back made me very happy. I put our deposit down on our CSA so we are officially signed up! We are sharing it this year with some friends so I'm rooting for my yard to supplement the smaller weekly veggie flow from our CSA basket.
I really, really love my CSA farmer and I highly recommend them. Yes, it's quite the trek down to Franklin every week but it's WELL worth it. They are a family of four that does it all together and their love of local food and farming is so sincere...their newsletters alone are worth it. Please check them out if you are shopping around for a CSA share - Beaverdam Creek Farms. If you already have a preferred CSA, then stop by their booth and check out their produce. It always looks great - and sells out quick! - and today was no exception. From them today, I purchased a bag of Red Cardinal Spinach, mixed lettuce and Purple Top Turnips, with the greens attached. I have big plans for the turnips tomorrow night in a Spring Turnip Frittata from April 2011 Eating Well Magazine that I want to pair with rice and steamed spinach.
I actually stumbled upon the frittata recipe while making a salad dressing from a different article in the same magazine tonight. Mark wasn't that hungry and I wasn't either, considering I got so excited to shop/plant that I forgot to eat anything until after 2:30. I washed the mixed greens from the farmer's market and put slivered almonds, hard boiled egg, red kidney beans, goat cheese, cheddar cheese, white onion with the Creamy Curry salad dressing from Eating Well (recipe below) on top - SO DELICIOUS! Maybe it's because we haven't had farmers' fresh salad for a loooonnnggg time but this tasted so great to us tonight.
I haven't purchased premade salad dressing from the grocery store in over four years and I think I may have become a little routine in what I mix together for our usual salads. I've lost a bit of creativity with the "throw a salad together" routine so this Creamy Curry dressing tasted even more fresh and fantastic to us - and it has no garlic?!? Who would have guessed it?

Creamy Curry Dressing - April 2011 Eating Well Magazine:
Puree in a blender (or Magic Bullet!!!) until smooth: 1/2 cup each nonfat yogurt and mayonnaise (I used more yogurt than mayo but to each his/her own), 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon curry powder and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

indoor sprouties.

It's a gloomy day today and even the dogs are depressed.

We've had such great weather lately but it's rainy and 41 today and I don't even want to put my cold weather plants outside today. Good news is it won't last long - 65 and sunny on Saturday so there will be work that gets done this weeend.
Since I don't want to go outside, I focused on my new sprout machine! Three days ago, I put broccoli sprouting seeds in one of the "decks" and every day put watered from the top. It's designed to siphon out water slowly and evenly through all compartments so that the seeds get the exact amount of water they need to sprout.

I was tentative when I started to fill more than one compartment. I originally started with mustard mix seeds but my friend Eddie and I couldn't figure out how the siphoning process worked and over soaked them. They sprouted but didn't really turn out right. My second attempt worked and I enjoyed fresh, healthy sprouts on my tuna fish sandwich today!

Just started some wheat and mustard mix seeds to enjoy later on in the week. I ordered my sprout maker from Johnnys.com for $30 and it came with 5 packs of sprouting seeds. Also, I have been using the water that has been siphoned on my growing plants.
I'll keep you posted on how they turn out and friends beware! Sprouts will probably make a creative appearance in my cooking moving forward. They are FULL of nutrients and are so good for you. Coming up next: sprouts on our tacos this weekend!

sour celery.

I planted some rhubarb and asparagus a few weeks ago. Since I am very new onto the gardening scene, I had no idea what these looked like when you planted them.

They both came as a dried root in a bag - 3 to a package for rhubarb and 8 for the asparagus. (I'm down to 7, though, because I lost one while planting) The rhubarb was pretty easy to figure out - there was a shoot/point that I correctly assumed was to go face up. The same on the asparagus - I planted the spindly root pieces face down with the point facing up...I had to call Anthony to get confirmation that I was on the right track.
That, I am learning, is the hardest part of being an amateur gardener. People who have been doing this for years rely almost entirely on instinct. People like me who completely missed the period of their lives (growing up on a farm...sheesh) when they could have learned this stuff hands on, have to rely on books, practice and step-by-step website instructions. I'm sure an experienced gardener would find it humorous to see me outside double checking the instructions on the back of a package to make sure I have every detail correct. I'm still convincing myself I will get to where I'm running on "guts" someday.

Anyway, the rhubarb is starting to turn red at the point. This is a rated 'G' blog but I'm not gonna lie...it is very suggesting seeing a plant poke its way out of the ground. If you think I'm crazy for thinking that, read Michael Pollan's Second Nature. He has a hard time looking at some flowers without seeing lady parts.

It's hard to see from the picture but the small part that is turning red used to be brown two week ago and dried up. It's starting to form some color, which means it has now come to life. Pretty subtle in general but very exciting if you are looking for it. And if you want to eat a LOT of rhubarb this summer.

Some of you have probably only had rhubarb paired with strawberries in dessert and you are missing out. In Iowa, rhubarb grows everywhere - ditches, lawns, along the road, in fields - literally all over the place and it can get HUGE. When we were kids, if we saw rhubarb growing, we would just tear off a stalk and munch as we went along our way. I learned very recently that the leafy part and the roots are extremely toxic so you have to be careful to only eat the stalk.
I knew I wanted to plant rhubarb when I went to the grocery store a few years ago and paid an obscene price for a few stalks. It's a weed! When I go home, my dad has bags of it in the fridge! It's not a delicacy! At the farmer's market last summer, a lady was charging $5 for THREE STALKS! What?!?
Moving on from that tirade...
When I brought some (overpriced) rhubarb home, both Mark and my roommate at the time were really curious since none had tried it before. I took a bite like it was celery and they both followed suit. Except they spit theirs out immediately and looked at me with total disgust. Rhubarb, for others like them that don't know, is REALLY sour. It's like eating a red mulberry, for those that have done that. It's usually made in desserts because the sugar pairs down the extreme sourness of it. I think after that episode the only way I'm going to get people to try and love it is in dessert form. My mom makes the best rhubarb bars and paired with ice cream, they are delicious. They don't have strawberries in them so you can still taste some of the subtle sourness come through. I'll make some this summer for most of you but I'm hoping I can convert at least one person with strong taste buds to become a rhurbarb lover in it's natural state.

cold frame.

My dear friend Anthony helped me build this a few weekends ago and it has held up GREAT! (Rumor has it that the one he built for himself blew down in a storm the same week he finished mine which is just about how life goes)

It's over half of the raised bed that Mark made me last year so it's about 3x12 feet long.

It's STEAMY in there and definitely warm enough to get some things started. I have kale, turnips and kohl rabi hardening off outside right now in the hopes that I can plant on an overcast day next week.

(there's some tomatoes, peppers and herbs growing too but those will go in the ground at a later date)

It's going to be in the 60's this weekend so along with some bulb flower planting, I'm hoping to direct plant under the cold frame carrots, lettuce, spinach, radishes and green onions.

under the shade tree.

Things are starting to grow! Well, really they have been for awhile but I'm just now taking note. This is the time of year when I get really excited about all the outdoor things I can now do and in a few weeks it will quickly turn to me being overwhelmed/exhausted.

One of my favorite backyard spots is under the shade tree along my fence. I purchased a super cheap - and super durable/cute - bench from a salvage place near my house a few years ago and I love the shady spot. I really never sit under there but it's nice to know I COULD if I wanted to.

This is what the area looked like last year in the end of May:

This is what it looks like now:

This was the first attempt I ever did a few years back at "landscaping" and there are definitely a few things I would change. For example, I LOVE some of the groundcover in front - the Creeping Jenny especially - but some of it is getting tall with large gaps. I do love how in the spring it's SO green under there - especially with the pots - but I am going to sprinkle in some color this year. I bought some perennial bulbs that I'm going to plant this weekend but they have to be dug up every year so I'll probably just keep them in the pots. I'm going to have morning glories grow up a lattice on the right side of the tree which I'm excited about - my first experiment with vines!

I also planted tulips around the front edge last fall and they are getting HUGE:

No flowers yet though. In the front yard there is one daffodil that has come out to the world:

This is really why I have come to enjoy gardening so much. I have always loved being outside but observing nature, watching things grow, seeing seasons change...it's all very happy and exciting to me. Probably because it's so rhythmic and yet unique every time. I'm already wondering if that daffodil will be the first one to come up next year..and what tulip is going to appear first and what color will it be.

Yep. Nerd.

(almost) spring

I did a terrible job at keeping up with this after a certain point last year but I figure it all evens out since no one reads this anyway. For the 1-2 people that may be interested, I am sorry. For myself I am the most sorry as this will be the easiest way - I think - of keeping up with all the plant chaos that surrounds me. Didn't think nature was chaotic? Try controlling it.

So much is going on and I hope to update this weekend with pictures, projects, etc.
I'm going to post a few updates on the current state of the backyard...welcome back, plants! It was a very long winter.