Chicken and snow peas

Lets start with the smallest head of cabbage from my garden EVER.  But it was tasty, I can say that. I will grow the Columbia River cabbage again except I will put it back between the rows of corn for better shade.

 And some of the green onions I've grown too.  I love the green bunching onions.

 Purple Kohlrabi, regular green kohlrabi, and a bit of garlic (it wasn't quite ready and I hadn't cured it so it wasn't very strong). I like the garlic tops to fall over and after you pull them up you let them dry in the hot sun for 2 weeks and this is what it takes to get great flavor. Learned about that from this show although the garlic feature is no longer there.

The last of the snow peas.  They were like candy.

 Here is the cabbage all chopped up and in the pan.

And here it is beginning to cook with a little olive oil.

And here are the snow peas with the sliced water chestnuts. The nice thing about snow peas is that by the time you get sick of them, they stop growing for the season.  I'll let you know how the fall crop goes.  I haven't wanted to grow one before but having my own Honda Mini-tiller really helps! Today I added 2 more rows of green beans and 1/2 row of lettuce.

I pulverized the chicken then cut it into small pieces. Very tender that way and super fast to cook. Here is the link to the recipe I sorta used. Moo Goo Gai Pan

Garden Fresh Lettuce

I'm not terribly pleased with my lettuce yet.  Just as it takes once or twice to get a new recipe to work out perfectly, it takes a little time to perfect growing plants you're going to eat.  One of the things I've noticed though is that if I pick it, bring it inside, wash it, cut it, and place it in a bag it gets used much faster.  Romaine lettuce is just one of those things that I like having chopped up and ready to go in the fridge. It's almost done growing with the temperatures getting hotter and hotter.  I started some more inside but I might just rip the row out and put the seed directly in the ground and see how it goes.  

I tilled up the spinach and put in another 2 rows of green beans.  And I think I picked the last of the peas.  I might replace that with another row of green beans.  And then move the cattle panel over by the garlic and start a row of peas over then in a few week when it cools off a bit more. 

This year I've also tried experimenting with heirloom tomatoes because I love their taste for slicing.  I planted two in my square foot garden.  The Red Beef Steak is already out performing the Brandywine in buds and tomatoes that I can already see growing.  Now I see why my mom loves them so much.  I can't wait to slice into one of the heirloom tomatoes.  I love how they look too.  So much character.  

I've also got a few photos to share and a recipe for the snow peas. The kohlrabi is pretty, well the purple one but it's a bit tough.  I don't think I'll grow it again (except maybe to just use up the seed packs I have and edge a flowerbed with it)

Gardening update

This is how it's looking as of Friday.  Love it and grateful for it.

Yellow columbine.  It's the biggest I've ever seen and blooming more than ever.  Must be a good year for columbine.

Corn and a little sunset.  I love silhouettes.

Day lily with some red in the center.  Very pretty.  I like the vivid reds, purples, and multicolor varieties. I purchased red and purple day lilies this year from Springhill Nursery on their 80% off sale for $1.60 each.  Can't beat that.  You can sign up for their email discounts.  Some plants I can get here for less.  So watch for the big sales.

I originally bought purple and pink.  Now there are 4 shades.  Guess they mixed but I like it.  It's a weird little plant though.  It likes to re-seed to grow.  Sometimes it grows from last year's plant.  Not always.

I love clematis.  I am trying to get several different types because some grow on old growth and some grow on new growth.  Some grow fast and tall and some stay short and wide.  It's a great vine and It's covering this terrible looking rain spout.  Now I just need a 10x10 foot trellis for the center of this wall and we're set.

Strawberries

This is the first year we've been able to grow enough strawberries to eat. I can't eat them but the rest of my family can.  My children helped me pick them and then I washed and cut them up.  We added a touch of sugar and my children were in heaven.  There is no better way to get them to eat fruits and veggies than to grow them yourself.

Plants

It's my favorite time of the year, ok, well almost, but it is that time of year when the plants that I started in the spring are actually growing outside and starting to look like something.

Corn

Cabbage

Heirloom tomatoes

romaine lettuce: 

Jade Bush Green Beans

Roma Tomatoes

Bright Day Light flower photos

As you can tell I am fascinated with my Nikon D7000 because it handles the highlights better than anything I've ever used.  Digital has been challenged by highlights.  So here it is in bright sun at 1pm.  Can you believe it?

Well and this thing is amazing.  My neighbor dug it out of her yard 2 springs ago and begged me to take it. Its very prolific. We got a few flowers last year.  But this is insane.  I can't wait to see them all in full bloom.  It's going to be spectacular.  Of course because they are so white, I will photograph them at dusk or on a cloudy day to capture more detail.

And here is a peek inside of some of my tulips out back.  Yes, it's June and I have tulips.  It snowed Monday.  What can I say? The thing that makes these tulips really look good is the f2.8.  It's fun to see them and see the background but be able to focus on the tulips.

And the alliums are starting to appear.  This is one from the small grouping.

And this is one of the larger alliums.  His Majesty is its name, I believe. I can't wait to see these in full bloom and I promise to share as long as the wind doesn't tear them off their stems tomorrow.

Again, straight out of the camera only because I forgot to pump up the vibrance with the jpeg raw slider. 

Carpet Phlox

All of these images are straight out of the camera - no retouching or manipulation of any kind.

I'll let you pick which images you like the best and I am just going to put the time.  Will you tell me which photos you like best - and why?

#1 - 7:02 p.m.

#2 - 7:10 p.m. (yes, these are the same purple flowers)

#3 - 7:03 p.m. 

#4 - 7:10 p.m.

As you can see on this last photo I added an element in the foreground.  Although it's out of focus having it there and something for the flowers to rest on gives the photo more dimension.  Oh and this is all carpet phlox.  It blooms only in the spring here.

Square Foot Garden - and other news

My dad came up with this concept and so I can't take credit for that.  He found this galvanized steel at Smith & Edwards in Ogden, Utah.  I hear they have other size panels too.  This is 6 inches deep and the box measures 10 feet by 3 feet.  The panels have been laying on the ground in his side yard for 4 years. As you can see, they don't rust. 

My Dad also recommended using clothes line cord to make the squares with.  So today I drilled 2 holes on this end that you can see here.  They are 1 foot apart.  On the far end I drilled 1.75 holes.  I would have finished but the fully charged battery gave its all.  So tomorrow if it's not raining I will drill a few more.  I have to drill 9 on each of the long panels too.

And as much as I love galvanized steel, I don't like the color.  So I got out the spray paint.  Let me just say right now that I WILL NEVER BUY SPRAY PAINT AGAIN THAT DOESN'T HAVE A TRIGGER. Trigger sprayers are the ONLY WAY TO GO.  Ouch! I sprayed the water buckets for grandma's train with a trigger sprayer I purchased at Lowes - much better!

For prep I got out my Black and Decker mouse sander and put the scrub pad on it.  Then I quickly buzzed all the way around the outside.  It cleaned it off wonderfully. Then I just sprayed the outside  of the box.  It looks 1000x's better and since my Dad gave me the supplies and I had the spray paint in the closet my bill is a whopping $1.50 for the bolts. 

You can see the weed mat in the bottom here.  I spent the better part of an afternoon digging the grass out of this flower bed.  I have so much more to dig out. Yes, it goes up that hill side.  you can see some of the daisies starting to grow for the season.  But instead of digging I decided to let every thing dry.  

I'll be filling it with the ready made Square Foot Garden mix from Millers.  

#1 reason- I don't want to try and mix it myself.  I have enough to do (like digging).

#2 they have tested everything from the pH to the nutrients to make sure it's complete.  

#3 they are located a few miles from here and a trailer full is less expensive than bags. 

Other news:

I thinned the Spinach today.  Why? Because I used more seeds than normal because they were a few years old and because my 5 year old helped me plant them. And because I hear that spinach needs to be 6" apart.  That means I'll be thinning more when it gets older.  You don't want to thin your vegetables too much the first go round because you don't want to end up losing some and not having enough plants.  

Digital Scrapbooking News: 

I've just started working on a new class for ReneePearson.com  It's going to be available in July hopefully.  I'm learning a new software to put this all together. But it's going to make it look better than ever.

Also, I have another giveaway on Monday MAY 30TH!!!  Oh yeah! And I will post everything in a day or two.  I know you can't wait to see all the prizes we'll be giving away. Can I just say Cathy Zielske is participating this time!

Spring and getting outside

Can you see the difference in these two photos? I added more punch to the color and increased the contrast. That's something you'll learn in week 1 of my Photo First Aid class. Then I added a photo of clouds to the top so you could actually see them. Yep, that's something you'll learn in my Photo First Aid class in week 4.  

It was a gorgeous Saturday morning and my children were excited to get outside and enjoy the sunshine while Daddy mowed the lawn. The flox is just starting to bloom and I love the colors.  The medium pink starts first.  Then the purple goes next.  After that the brightest pink shows its colors. I've been transplanting some of the sedum around, especially the one with pink blooms.  It's great between the rocks and grows like crazy this time of the year.  Can you see the bottom step? That means that the grass has finally grown to its mature height. It's as tall as the step.  Of course, ignore the big patches the voles took out this year.  I think when it gets hot that they should fill right in again.

Growing our own food

So I found out the tomato seeds really like sprouting in these peat cups much more than they like the little  trays - see the last photo.  The cold weather vegetables really did well in those trays, especially the romaine lettuce. We are growing Roma tomatoes and Early Girl's.  I want to grow the Romas for tomato sauce that I want to can this year.  I tried just a little last year and froze it.  It was wonderful in our spaghetti sauce.  The Early Girl tomato plants produce like crazy.  They are great bottled too.  I love them in my pico de gallo salsa like stuff that I freeze in the Ball freezer jars.  

Someone was feeling bored here waiting for me to say we could head outside and let him plant the peas. Daddy was at school for birthday lunch with our oldest.  He brought donuts for her class.  And he brought Subway sandwiches so she wouldn't have to eat school chili. After lunch he came home early and then we picked up the steer compost and covered our garden with it. 

And these plants are nice and prepared for cold.  They just desperately need to go in the ground.  As soon as it's dry enough to till - I promise.  It's been soaking wet this spring even with the lake melting earlier.

Improving the Garden and the Environment

We purchased 3 cubic yards of compost from Millers weighing about 1,000 lbs/yd. It took two trips to get it.  It was only $15/yd which is nice on the budget.  I also found out Millers has a prepared mix ready for Square Foot gardens.  They've already had the soil tested and made sure that the Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium levels are where they should be. Which makes me happy because my Dad is making an awesome 10x2 foot square foot garden for me out of galvanized steel.  Buying or making compost is good for the environment.  We don't have mature trees or even enough grass clippings to make our own yet so we purchased it.  And it's really helped the soil.  Not only is it rich and produces beautiful vegetables (my cornstalks triple in width when I apply it) but it also makes room in the soil for air and water.  We have some seriously dense clay here.

It's been a cold wet spring here.  You can see all the snow on the mountains in the background.  In fact it snowed last week and I'm pretty sure we'll have snow in May too.  Although we'd welcome rain instead.  They, whoever they are, are worried about flooding this year.  I guess there are two borderline rivers here in our valley.  We live up on a foothill so we won't have to worry too much.

It is nice to have this garlic sprouting.  You have to plant it in October.  And I put the wire panel up to keep the tiller out.  After it gets tilled, I'll move it to the other end of the garden so I can plant the peas and trellis them on it.  I'm buying my own mini tiller this year for sure.  I talked Tyler into letting me use the money from my last class to buy one.  I just don't have the energy to weed by hand anymore.

Drought Tolerant Plants

I think these are gorgeous little understated plants.  The end of each stem looks like a rose but rather it's just the shape of the leaves.  These are drought tolerant. Break off a piece and stick it in the ground and wow! More sedum. They are great to stick between the cracks in rocks and we have plenty of boulders that are just perfect for this plant.  Want to know more about Sedums - there is a list of the top picks at Better Homes and Gardens. I love the flowers on the lighter green version I have out front  - bright pink.  Beautiful tiny little things!

Gardening - Cold Weather Vegetables

I love Erin's idea in her Photography 101 class at ReneePearson.com of photographing through leaves, so I decided to experiment a little with the idea myself.  There aren't many leaves around here this time of year.  These are actually the cold weather vegetables I started indoors.  Yep, they are sitting in my window sill in my bedroom and the white behind them is actually snow.

I put this one first because I love it the most.  What do you think? 

Click on it to see it larger.

Romaine Lettuce

Columbia River Cabbage

Big Daddy Onions

Purple Kohlrabi

I can't wait to get these in the ground.  The lake has thawed. That means good things around here.  It snowed this morning but it's already gone.  The tulips are starting to poke up through the ground out front and I pray the deer leave them alone.  I cannot wait to see how the alliums do. I purchased 2 types of purple alliums and I know the deer don't like them.

Don't forget to get your cold weather vegetables outdoor hardy before planting them in the ground.  Don't know how? Find out more here...

(Registration for Erin's class ends soon and my class, Photo Preserves begins next week - giving you until the first week in April to get registered.)