carrot people

Fruit tree update and plant swapping

2012-02-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

The mid pride peach is in full bloom, but the 4-in-1 has fruit already on it. Time to do the difficult deed of knocking off most of them so there's enough space in between. Also have changed my mind and think the almond trees are alive (although they look mostly dead). I think the buds might be slowly getting bigger - kind of like the nodules in the photo of the plum tree. By next week, I'll have nectaplum pics to share.
As further proof that I am not a plant hoarder, I very happily passed off some plants today to friends who stopped by for a totally different reason. They decided I should open a nursery for my next career. One of the things they took was a bit of the pretty mega aloe plant that I got for $20 a few weeks ago then split into 8 different plants. So glad to share! And the hummingbird loves the aloe blossoms, which is fun.

Second batch of mushrooms

2012-02-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

The second batch of home grown portabellas was only 5 caps, so I decide it would be a meal for myself, full of onions. A tiny butternut squash (the last of the 2011 harvest) was baked, then added to sauteed onions and mushrooms. Topped it off with a splash of fancy, sweet balsamic vinegar then threw it on a tortilla with some monterey jack cheese and it was one of the yummiest meals I've created without adapting someone else's recipe.

Peach blossoms and beer brewing

2012-02-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

You know what I always say, the only thing better than peach blossom season is peach eating season. The mid-pride is in that wonderful place of near full bloom with almost no leaves, just gorgeous. It's buzzing with bees, even had a large fuzzy one making the rounds. As I was puttering about with garden stuff, the farm boy brewed his first batch of beer, which will hopefully help carry us through the months between blossoms and fruit.

Mallow butterfly mania

2012-02-06T21:53:00.000-08:00

The first mallow plant (a red-flowered butterfly plant that appeared as a mystery last year see here) is hosting 4 chubby, happy monarch caterpillars. They're munching it up and being just generally adorable. I bought a second mallow plant last weekend, which will have yellow blossoms, and was thrilled to get an adult monarch hanging around all Saturday. It was oddly unafraid of me that so I was able to take some photos and videos, even got one of it laying eggs on the new plant.

Yummy gifts

2012-02-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

On a whim, I asked for a mushroom growing kit and a cheese making for Christmas, and I have to say the mushroom kit is pretty awesome (and probably a lot less work than making cheese, but I haven't tried that yet). I set it all up per the instructions, then mist it every day and voila! Once they get going they get big crazy fast. These are portabellos. The first harvest was 8 mushrooms, shown below. BBQ'ed them in a flavorful wine/balsamic marinade, yum yum yum.

New garden additions

2012-02-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Now, I've been remiss in not sharing a lot of (to me) super exciting things... including the 2012 class of fruit trees, a Nectaplum, 2 almond trees (which look dead), and 3 (yes you heard me 3) apple trees. We welcomed a Braeburn, a Fuji, and an Anna. The Anna has blossoms on it already, the Braeburn will leaf out next, and the Fuji will be last but the Fuji is big so I'm excited about it becoming the new shade tree. The Braeburn and Fuji are pollination partners, and I'm hoping a neighbor nearby has a Dorset Gold so the Anna tree will be happy.

Latest dinner craze

2012-02-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

I'm fairly addicted to this... It's in the same theme as this, taking what used to be a "pasta" salad and altering the ratio so the pasta is less than the healthy stuff, while retaining the yummy taste. This started out as pasta with broccoli and sausage... But now it's got more broccoli than pasta, and tastes just as good:

1 cup dry pasta (something small like spirals or bowties), boiled but before it's done add
1 lb frozen broccoli and boil until it's cooked a little, strain the pasta and broccoli together
Sautee some garlic, then add back in the pasta, broccoli, and add (I use Morningstar farms veggie) slices of cooked sausage, red pepper flakes, and last but not least, top it with a lot of parmesan cheese.

This day in garden

2012-01-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen... the top three most exciting garden happenings of this glorious, warm Saturday:
1. Giant tomato is hinting it's going to turn red
2. Finding four tiny monarch caterpillars on my butterfly bush
3. Scoring a tangled mess of an aloe plant that I can split into 4 plants

Color

2012-01-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

The experiment of planting summer flowers in winter is going reasonably well. Among the seeds have grown into young plants are a sunflower, several dahlias, and several cosmos (in addition to the uninvited guest tomatoes and bok choy). Also debuting in the yard is a perennial vine with sunny flowers that I hope will cover the fence and go wild.

Silly putty?

2012-01-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Tried to make a swatch of a lacy rib pattern, didn't turn out so well... but still does its job of telling me what the yarn looks like when knitted up (generally). Looks shiny and decadent in real life, but looks rubberized in the close up.

Make the easy choice? Nope!

2012-01-22T17:49:00.000-08:00

So I've gone and done it again. After poring over the list of fruit trees for a week, checking cold hours, and pollenation requirements, I marched into the shop ready to buy. But they apple tree I had settled on was unavailable this season (the trees didn't grow big enough to sell?)... so I had to reconsider. Dorsett Gold or Anna's are the most frequently recommended in So Cal but I had space only for one and they do better with cross pollenation... so on a bit of a whim I bought a "big" Fuji tree. (Big for a one-year old fruit tree means it's above 5 feet tall.) Got it home and the beermaker said it was too big for the spot we had selected, so we changed gears and put this in the middle of the "lawn". Which left open the other spot, so I marched back down to the store and bought another "small" apple tree, a Braeburn (which is a pollenation partner of the Fuji). The big risk is the lack of cold in my area - these trees are rated for colder winters - so fingers crossed that we get fruit.
Also purchased on Orchard Expansion Day 2012 were 2 almond trees and one Necta-plum tree, which is hailed as having gorgeous blossoms and foliage. These are also at risk of not fruiting (it doesn't get cold enough here for anything if you believe the tags), but hopefully I'll get a show of spring flowers and some shade as the trees mature. My pruning has been a bit more severe and I'm following instructions better, so with luck we'll have some nicely shaped, large trees (in about 10 years).
Braeburn tree pictured, with a wood lean-to behind it (to keep the dogs from running into it).

Like riding a bike

2012-01-18T21:29:00.000-08:00

The wedding preparations have sparked something surprising, my return to knitting! Much time was spent researching yarn and patterns for flower girl sweaters, and that sucked me back in... I've joined ravelry, combed through my embarassingly large yarn collection, counted up plastic bags full of unfinished projects, and gotten inspired again. This is a tank for me (or whoever it fits) that must have been started over 5 years ago, and is about 30% completed. I've added 3 rows in the last 10 minutes, and bet I could finish it up in a few weeks... (famous last words).

She's bloomin'

2012-01-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

The "floribunda" part of the 4 in one peach tree is lit up with blossoms. They came with the first of the year and are the only variety to bloom so early. January 15th, the first bloom came on the "mid pride" tree but it's just one blossom, with the rest of the tree seeming weeks away, which is more typical. Almost time to knock blossoms off, which is hard but these things make double and triple blossoms in the same spot which isn't sustainable. And finally, I give you bloomin' broccoli, which I'm not proud of, but we ate it and it was yummy.

Good bugs and Grevillea sp.

2012-01-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

The grevillea was in trouble for a bit, it was growing too big for it's spot and we thought about getting rid of it. But since I cut it back (so it's out of the path) and since it's gotten some water (with winter), it's blooming up a storm and drawing all sorts of awesome bugs. On sunny days the whole bush hums with bees. I stalked this one bee yesterday because it had giant yellow leg warmers full of pollen - clearly it was the early riser. Also saw ladybug adults, larvae and pupa. All these bees are traveling from the grevillea over to the peach blossoms, which not only will bring us more fruit later but makes me super happy today.

Pretty and yummy

2012-01-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

I'm addicted to this stuff. And still thanking my lucky stars that when I planted carrot and beet seeds with homemade compost, I ended up with a whole mess of volunteer tomato plants that have been giving me sweet cherry tomatoes all winter. It's just peas, pasta, tomatoes and the dressing (to serve 8 people): 1/3 cup white vinegar, 2 T water, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, mashed/pressed clove of garlic, and 1/4 cup olive oil.

More free plants!

2012-01-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, the first pic is a young lemon tree I bought a few months ago, but had to share the first bloom!!
The others are all free plants I rescued from the sidewalk of a yard that didn't want it anymore... The giant agave was almost broken even though I carefully removed it from my car, as I couldn't hold it upright and dig a hole in the ground at the same time. Thankfully a neighbor from the across the street appeared and helped me tremendously. The little ones are waiting a few months for the front yard makeover. Finally the creeping rose bush that came from my first free plant adventure is doing a great job making it's way through the fence and will someday hide the neighbor's trash cans. The blossoms are so full they look like carnations.

The new babies are here!

2012-01-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

So the 4 new glassybabies arrived. And I like them but I have to say they're not what I was expecting. It's so hard to tell from the website what they are going to look like, I guess I'm going to have to plan a trip to Seattle to pick them in person... And they look so different in bright vs. dark rooms. I added another light blue to the right on the second photo.

Happy new year!

2011-12-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all the best of health and happiness in 2012.
We're celebrating by opening the oldest bottle of wine in the house, a red from Paso Robles dated 2004. Not nearly as good as the 1995 my father opened for Christmas, but as expected since our house gets really hot in the summer and we don't throw down big bucks for nice wine. (My father received his 1995 bottle as a gift, but it still came in at more than us cheapos would spend.)
I lit our glassybabies in honor of new year's eve. There will be more joining our family in a few weeks as I was given a gift to order some. Always exciting, but as these may make an appearance as part of our wedding decor so I'm even more impatient for the package to get here. In case you're unfamiliar with glassybaby, not only is it a small company that makes gorgeous candle holders, but a large proportion of the proceeds are donated to charity. Good people rule. Cheers to your 2012!

Turn of the year

2011-12-30T21:04:00.000-08:00

It's December 30th and of course we've got crazy garden things going on in Southern California. The dafodils have sent up leaves every winter since I've lived here, but this is the first year it has bloomed. The peach tree with multiple varieties has open blossoms, and an aloe has sent up a bloom shoot. The fig tree is the only thing doing what it should - dropping its leaves. I pulled all the remaining leaves off the peach trees since they are budding. So the experiment for 2012 is the leave the buds/blossoms (instead of knocking them off because they were too early as I did in 2011).

Freezing

2011-12-19T20:35:00.000-08:00

Picked some tomatoes before the temperatures dropped to freezing a few weeks ago. And learned that my yellow tomatoes are ripe when yellow (they don't turn red), and are quite yummy. I saved some seeds so hopefully can try with another plant for summer. Looks like there was no damage from the frost (thank goodness) so more tomatoes are ripening slowly, and the greens like the chard and boy choy are fine. Hoping the oranges ripen soon, but it's so hard to tell when they're ready. I can't handle the extreme tartness so will wait a while longer. The mandarin is blooming again so hoping for a great harvest next year.

Winter pics

2011-12-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

If you can correctly identify the locations from any of these pics I'll buy you dinner. Contest ends January 2nd, and if someone gets one right in a public forum, that one is out of contention for future guessers. Click on them to make the images bigger.

Sunsets

2011-12-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

Been a little obsessed with sunset pics this week. Probably because it gets dark so early so I notice the sky as I'm leaving work. Here are Monday, Wednesday and Friday's sky shots.

Beer (of this week)

2011-12-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

Been to a lot of beercentric restaurants and bars lately... and had so many wonderful brews that I felt the need to start writing down the ones I get and love. That's the upside and the downside of the rotating taps in San Diego, so much variety that I can remember I've seen the beer before but too much variety for me to actually remember whether or not I've ordered it before or like it. So I'm getting serious... now you may find that I'm schizophrenic, and heaven knows I change my mind a lot, so I probably am. I generally like Belgian-style, I generally don't like hoppy beers, but can handle hoppiness if there is belgian yeast, reasonable sweetness and/or if it's in the really flavorful high alcohol content beers (see the last few entries below). If I order a beer on it's own I tend to like it, however when you line them up for a tasting next to each other I'll turn my nose up on some . Completely illogical, but since my drinking pattern is 95% one beer at a time I end up liking most which is a good thing!

Bruery: 4 calling birds (belgian spiced strong dark ale) 11% seasonal winter beer (on tap at Counterpoint - but seasonal so it's going to be hard to find) link
Unibroue: La fin du monde (triple golden ale) 9% (brewed in Quebec, I've only seen it by the bottle) link
Alesmith: Grand Cru (belgian strong dark ale) 10.5% link
Het Anker: Lucifer (blonde special beer) 8% (actually brewed in Belgium, most of the rest on this list are brewed in CA, on tap at Tiger! Tiger!) link
Avery: White rascal (belgian wheat ale) 5.6% (brewed in Colorado) link
Lost Abbey: Devotion (belgian pale ale) 6.25% link
Russian River: Damnation (belgian strong golden ale) 7.0 (on tap at Counterpoint) link
Stone: Cali-belgique (belgian IPA) 6.9% (the least hoppy of Stone beers, but still a bit hoppy - in fact everything below this is fairly hoppy) link
Green flash: Trippel 9.7% (fairly easy to find) link
Stone: 15th anniversary Imperial black IPA 10.8% (this is only made for 1 yearish so try it while you can - on tap at the Stone store in Northpark) link
Stone: Old guardian barleywine 12% (do NOT order if you're driving) link
Alesmith: Wee heavy (scotch ale 10.0%), Old numbskull (barleywine 11.0%), Decadence (varies year-to-year) link

And if you run down the list and try these, don't be alarmed if a lot of them come in a smaller glass than a pint. They do this for high alcohol beers so you don't get dangerous too fast. Sometimes I disagree on the pour size, but only if I am used to getting 0.5L at one bar for $6 and go to another bar and get 0.25L at a different bar for the same beer. (Which happened to me last week with Cali-belgique and I can tell you I'm not going to the 0.25L place again! They should know San Diego customers better than that!)
Now check out this funny beer review/weather report about Lucifer on youtube.

Dog feet and genealogy

2011-11-27T20:12:00.000-08:00

So in an effort to better guess what breeds make up the new dog, Max, I looked up a bunch of traits and features of dogs and "webbed feet" caught my eye. Having never looked at my dog's feet closely I wasn't sure what I was looking for but inspected both dogs. Max absolutely has webbed feet. It doesn't show as well as I'd like in the photo, but there's a lot of skin and it extends up to the very edge of his pads on each toe. Sam has less skin and it has a scooped shape that doesn't extend anywhere near as far. I'm probably the only person excited about this discovery... but anyways we've got a new leading theory on his genealogy - lab and weimeraner. His height and sleekness and shiny coat and curly tail differ from the standard lab characteristics. And I have to brag about how he was a rockstar at his first family holiday with toddlers and 13 people in a new place. The worst thing he did was lick the 2-year old's face, but as soon as he learned the no licking rule he was solid for the rest of the long weekend. Won the "rookie of the year" award.

Thanks for tomatoes

2011-11-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Returned home from a long thanksgiving weekend to find these stunners. I tasted the first of the long/skinny ones, and it was amazing. There are tons more green ones, so if the warm weather keeps up hopefully they'll turn yellow then red and we'll be munching on fresh tomatoes through the end of December and into next year!

Squash paternity

2011-11-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

OK - so pretty sure some squash got lucky over the summer. But who was it? In early summer, I planted acorn squash, butternut squash, and pumpkin. Winter beets and carrots were planted in August with a lot of our home grown compost, and what to my wondering eyes would appear? In addition to the volunteer tomatoes, four squash plants grew. Apparently if pollen is spread, the original generation (summer in my case) looks fine, but the next generation would show the change. Two of the volunteer squashes look like regular acorn squashes, but two are crazy squid squash. So what plants do you think mated to make the goofy squid squash?

Flash back to October

2011-11-16T21:18:00.000-08:00

So... back in the end of May I planted pumpkin seeds and 6 thriving plants grew up. Come the end of September, I had two orange fruits. I was happy to have something, but a bit underwhelmed by the size. The seed packet had advertised "head size" fruits, and while they might have been approximately head size, that's still too small for me. But that's not the interesting part. Fast forward to carving season, after I cut into it and pulled out all the seeds... to find many of them had already sprouted! Sad to have fewer seeds to eat, but happy to have the pumpkins at all.

Happy to have the holidays coming

2011-11-16T20:45:00.000-08:00

Picked up this lovely holiday beer glass during San Diego Beer Week, courtesy Anchor Brewing (San Francisco based) and the Regal Beagle (bar in San Diego). I was thinking it would be generically branded, but love that it says Happy Holidays 2011 on it. I only made it to 3 beer week events, but will make a point to attend more next year. Between the special beers, the free glassware, and the charity events I had a great time. The peak was the Green Flash Anniversary party to raise $ for Susan G. Komen cancer foundation - it was such a pleasure to mingle with a bunch of happy, friendly folks who were tasting beer and supporting a good cause.
Also wanted to share pics of my "Christmas pumpkin" which is green and still getting bigger, making me think it will be ready around the end of December, but maybe it will be a new year's pumpkin.

11.11.11

2011-11-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

Sneaky me, visiting the garden shop before work today to secure the last packet of brussels sprouts seeds. Yes! That and romanescu are new for this season, but I got some broccoli and napa cabbage as well. Also check out my tomatoes that are not round... they're oblong and not like anything I've seen before. But they're numerous and starting to ripen, as you can see from the changes in color. Hopefully they're yummy! I think they're a result of some procreation between the summer plants, as these sprouted from the compost. I'm not sure I can quite call them mutants, but they are markedly different from any other tomato I've ever grown. Check out the shot from before they started ripening, where you can compare the one different plant with a round tomato on the right with the elongated ones on the left.

Cutest costumes of the year

2011-10-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here's when I spend hours looking at costumes and selecting the best of the best to share with you. These are all from the burdastyle website, and were entered in the sewing contest. Some are funny, some are awesome, one or two are ridiculous. But without further ado...

little cupcake
alien
strange marge simpson

nacho libre
squirrel!
soft serve (much cuter than when I tried to be an ice cream sundae in middle school)
knights of ni
lego princess
owl
angry bird (there were a lot of green pigs but this was cuter)
slutty smurfy
sushi
little red riding hoodwith a twist
wild thing
mouse cookie
adult cupcake
butterfly kids
tequila
sea turtle (love the skateboard!)

Mystery squash

2011-10-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have some theories, but what do you think? I have two fruits that have this shape, each on a different plant. The green one is younger/smaller, the older/larger one has turned yellow over time. Happy guessing...

Starting with today

2011-10-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

There is much to be shared about the end of the summer's garden happenings, and what better way to start than with today's pumpkin harvest. Six plants grew up and sent vines all over the place, but I only got 2 pumpkins. So the yield was less than I had guessed, and the size was smaller. The seed packet says "jack o'lantern" bred to be the size of a human head. Way smaller than I had guessed, but I'm glad to have them. A success to be celebrated; ending a summer of lazy gardening... I'll go back in time over the next few days and share images from the past few months.

Really tall, dark and handsome

2011-07-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

He leaps mountains in a single stride. Well kinda. I've been working on getting a video of him jumping up trying to catch the ball, because he's quite clumsy but he really does have serious vert, but none of the videos are publishable yet. Instead you'll have to suffer with still shots of our billy goat. For a dog I've never seen climb on the couch (which is blocked by books and magazines when we go to work, so I think I could tell if he were on it), he sure wants to climb on top of things. Outside he goes on the brick bench, which is too small for him, and now he's started standing and laying on the little tiny side table that is about half his size. This is the same giant dog who lays down and fills up the entire floor space in my kitchen.

Colored tomatoes

2011-07-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

Since last weekend, two of four of the unknown tomatoes have shown their colors. And (knock on wood), I seem to have a red and an orange. I'm super excited about the orange which are usually sweeter, but I have to wait until it softens to make sure it stays this color. And it means that there was some success from my attempt to propogate the farmers market tomatoes from November/December which is exciting. Also thrown in for fun, the lemon sprouts I've got from seeds of my friend's (former) kickass tree. There are 5 that look viable, but I really just need 2 - one for me and one for the people who's lemons started this whole thing.(You can find the green tomato pics a few posts down.)

What I learned tonight...

2011-07-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

Been doing some wedding research and am fairly amused by what I'm finding (not surprising as I can be oblivious sometimes)...

September is the most popular month to get married in San Diego
A nice garden property that looked great is actually owned by a cult (thanks to them for having a footer on the website saying operated by... and thanks to wikipedia for explaining what the group is all about - apparently public reaction to this cult actually prompted the "anti-cult" movement in the 1980s)
Hotels minimums for Saturday nights vary wildly... one was 20k another was 7k.
April is a month in which I may be able to negotiate a lower rate (according to the hotel that has the 20k minimum)
There are places out in the country that advertise "theme weddings" for which even the staff will dress in costume (think Renaissance Faire)
Photographer's websites are the most entertaining way to find wedding ideas, be it locations, necklaces, netting hats, etc.
It's going to be really hard to decide things as there are tons of great options locally

Next, I will do the research on the other towns we are considering (also full of options!). This really couldn't be more fun, considering one of my favorite things to do is look through pictures, and this provides a heckuva reason to do that.

Zinnias are lovely

2011-07-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

In one of my first attempts to try growing flowers instead of exclusively food in the garden, the sunflowers and zinnias were the only seeds to sprout (3 other kinds didn't make it). The sunflowers were lovely but the zinnias are the star of the show right now. One thing I love is the way the blossoms look different when they are young and old, and it looks pretty in all stages making them last for months. The flat one with the most yellow is the youngest, then they get more full with time, ending with a large brown center, kinda like a coneflower.

Craving tomatoes

2011-07-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

My tomatoes are big and green, but the seem to be taking for ever to ripen. Exacerbating things is the fact that most are volunteers and I don't know if they will be turning green, yellow, orange, red or pink when they ripen. Top shot is the only ones ripe so far, 1 red and 2 pink cherries. Below is one shot from each of the other plants that are yet to show their true colors.

Vines on the march

2011-07-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

The pumpkin and watermelons are taking off, with the pumpkin a good 8-10 feet away from it's base. Check out how they've come along the sides of the new bed in this before/ after shot. In the top photo, the watermelon has left the bed, but the pumpkin is just about to. Then in the shot taken this weekend (20 days after the top shot), you see on the left edge it's clear past the new bed (6 ft long)... Also shared are photos of the largest pumpkin (only about 4 inches right now), and my high tech attempt to keep the pumpkin vine dry even though it's growing right over the radish sprouts in the new bed.

July bugs

2011-07-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

The ugly green june bugs are back in the figs because I haven't cleared them fast enough, but they were not worthy of photographing this week. Instead, the following arthropods will be displayed:

Best of both worlds

2011-07-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

You may think I love plants, because that's what I talk about most of the time... but I'm actually kinda partial to a certain human being as well. And thanks to a wonderful gift he gave me this weekend we have a melding of worlds. Getting to share a wonky eggplant from my garden and news of our engagement at the same time is just awesome. =) We've had a lot going on around here this past week, and between the engagement bliss and the adventures of getting to know our new dog (Max), things couldn't be better!

Summer, phase 2

2011-07-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

The peaches and plums have all been consumed. Yield was low this year, but understandable since the weather was weird and the darn trees started blooming in November! Now we're in the phase where cucumbers, zucchini and snow peas are ready as fast/faster than I can eat them. The figs are starting to ripen, but in a few weeks I'll be in trouble as there are way more than I can handle. Coming next are the tomatoes, with the butternut squashes and watermelons following in a few months. The pumpkin plant looks vigorous but I haven't found any blossoms or fruit yet - fingers crossed that some will make it! The yard is becoming chaotic, as is the norm, with the tomato plants overflowing their cages (but this year I'm better at cutting them back), the zucchinis taking up 4 feet each, and the trailing vines like the butternut squashes and watermelons spreading all over the place. More beds were constructed today to go where the dog is sitting (that's Max, he's new to our family and a total sweetheart), so there will be even more space for fall/winter planting.

Attack of the purple carrots

2011-07-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

These were picked in mid-June, the peak of purple carrot season. I had to play with them, the color makes them so much more fun. There were several males in this batch.

Patience

2011-07-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

It's kind of funny how you give me a dying or unwanted plant, and I work with it to see if I can make it grow. I've taken cuttings from friend's front yards, free plants from the sidewalk (they had a sign on them), cuttings from lemon trees (which probably won't live), and large chunks of a dying succulent like plant from a friend's trash can (which revived just wonderfully). But when it comes to growing things with seeds and starting anew, I have no patience. Case and point the potatoes. I went in with a friend on some banana russian fingerling potato seed starters. I had a pound that I planted, leaves grew, I mounded, more leaves grew and all seemed to be working great in the box the farm boy built for me. The internet was my only source of information, and somewhere I had read you cut the tops off the plants 4 weeks before harvesting them. So before our summer vacation, the scissors came out and the plants were chopped. As soon as I came back, I spent a long hour trying to find them to dig them up and finally found... potato peas.

Upon reflection, I see that I only let the plants grow for 6 weeks and they probably were supposed to have 4 months of growth. My impatience got the best of me. But, on the bright side, I think they are pretty hilarious. The red ones came from a 4 inch pot that was already growing at the store (not starters), and they did much better - they were probably that size when I bought them. I will try again, but not for a while. Right now there's a yam in there that was sprouting in the cabinet - and I put the peas back in the ground - I figured why not.

Goth sunflowers?

2011-07-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

The second set of sunflowers to bloom were the "Chianti hybrid". Of the 3 that sprouted and grew tall, 2 were deep burgundy, reminding me of goth plants my friend told me about... I guess it's a thing to grow black and purple and dark plants if you are the deep brooding type (or a teenager who is trying to be unique). The dark flowers are just gorgeous. And one was more partially yellow and has a more country-side quilt store kind of feel. A nice surprise to get two different shades. Also threw in a zinnia picture - only two plants sprouted and grew big in the ground, both hot pink, but later on I planted a lot in pots that will hopefully have more color variety. It'll be awhile before those get large enough to bloom.

Sunflowers and bees

2011-06-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

The teddy bear sunflowers are showing off big time. I can't wait to see what it looks like in a few weeks when all the little side shoots are in full blooming. The bee seemed to get lost in the petals - climbing in so far that he seemed to disappear. The burgundy one has yet to open, but it seems close, I can't wait. Thanks so much to the farm boy's mom who sent these seeds as a gift last year. Magnificent! Also on parade are a giant butternut squash blossom, and a cabbage that I harvested yesterday.

Lemonade, lemonade, lemonade

2011-06-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

A box of lemons from some friends who were moving out of a house with the world's best lemon tree was converted into a lovely concoction of booze-imbued lemonade to the delight of all, or at least the three people who downed the pitcher. Here's the recipe from Esquire, which is straightforward. I used the line on a pint glass to measure Makers Mark, not the Irish Whiskey the recipe calls for, but it was what I had sitting around and tasted great. The toughest part was chopping the peels for the compost bin.

A few good flowers

2011-06-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Things are slow to get into swing this year, but the first blackberries and sunflowers are here.

Attempted gourmet

2011-05-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

We ate some meals that were attempting to be fancy, but it didn't quite work out. I loved the goat cheese on the figs, but the honey lover would have preferred a stronger dose of sweetness. I made this again later on, with more honey and a very ripe, giant fig, but it didn't suit me as the honey flavor was too strong. There seems to be a balance, and I am resolutely on the goat cheese side of the equation.
Which brings us to the polenta and tomatoes, which was a grand idea, but the tomatoes were too sweet for this meal. I'm happy to eat them alone; there's nothing better than sweet summer tomatoes.

Figured it out

2011-05-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

The beautiful flower in the post below, a bush that appeared as a stalk in my yard a few months ago, is a milkweed! In fact, it's the ones that monarch butterflies feed on... I feel like I won the lottery! So I bet if I can keep it alive for a year, I'll have some larvae next spring. My neighbor about a block away had some this spring (pictured below). I've also done quite a bit of gardening this weekend, including adding a lavender pincushion next to the sunflowers. Looks quite a lot like the white one I saw in Joshua Tree earlier this year.

Please advise about mystery plant

2011-05-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

OK folks, you've been (surprisingly) helpful before. Here's your next assignment. It's a mystery plant that has sprung up in my front yard. It's lovely and I'll relocate it to the backyard to save it from becoming part of the dirt pit that is the front of my house this year (construction about to commence - maybe it will look nice in 6 months). But please, if you can, tell me what it is. In all my travels to the garden shops and walking around my neighborhood with the dog, I don't think I've noticed it before. The plant's shape is kind of like a stalk, with leaves coming off of it and clusters of the flowers at the top. It's about a foot tall. Click on photos to see them bigger.

Guilty pleasures

2011-05-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

Something about my friends in northern California complaining about getting snow this weekend makes me want to show off my spring/summer garden. Being in the desert practically, it's so warm here that by mid-May I've harvested the first peaches, munched on the first fig, and have artichokes and pickling cucumbers that will be ready pretty soon.

Dessert for dinner (and charity!)

2011-05-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

This morning I bought a selection of lovely baked goods at a bake sale for which the profits go to fight hunger. It was organized by a group of San Diego food bloggers who provided the yummy treats. So now it's dinner time and I'm cutting into all of them tonight and calling it dinner. Later on I'll check out all their websites and drool. (You can find the full list here, and if you only have time for one visit, make it vintagesugarcube, my friend's super stylized and fun site.) But for now, excuse me as it's time for the taste testing to begin!

Cabbage!

2011-05-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

After a lot of cleanup, my cabbage was beautiful! I ate it with a light dressing of oil (1/4 cup), sugar (2T), seasoned rice vinegar (3T), salt, pepper and topped it off with almonds. It's an adaptation from a neat cookbook I bought when I lived near Seattle, Wandering and Feasting: A Washington Cookbook. The author collected recipes from folks living around the different regions of the state, and it ends up feeling like a "best of" recipe collection from real people you might have met at a potluck. Which works for me - most are simple and unassuming and quite tasty.

Darn those brazen critters

2011-05-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

So if you're wondering why I asked the farm boy to put chicken wire (i.e., poultry fence) under and over the potatoes, here's why! I found this little critter at about 6:30 tonight (in broad daylight) on the edge of the yard. Luckily the dog did not notice her, so after I encouraged her to leave for about 5 minutes, she grudgingly climbed into the bushes along the fence. Now about those potatoes, here's the pic from when the green first popped, then only 16 days later when they grew something like 10 inches. So the carpenter added a level and we mounded with 2 bags (yes, 2 whole bags) of compost... Also I bought a cluster of red potatoes to add to the banana fingerlings (there was a quadrant with nothing growing), so now I have a mixed bed and am even more excited to harvest when the time comes.

Making way for spring

2011-05-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

More winter crops were harvested to make way for the goodness that comes with summer. I discovered a surprise cauliflower and picked all the broccoli and the first cabbage. YUM! And we're on track to have a million gazillion figs on the tree that grows 4 feet every year. Also newsworthy is the first artichoke blossom.

Savory watermelon salad

2011-04-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

Watermelon salad had been featured on the summer menu at Urban Solace for a long time, but I was afraid to try it. Finally a waiter convinced me to try it and I am so glad he did! You should try theirs if you get a chance; it's much more dynamic than this. While my cheater version is simple, it's still quite a tasty summer treat, and an easy choice if you're growing cucumbers or watermelon in your garden!
Savory watermelon salad
Cut watermelon into cubes. Peel then cut cucumber into chunks. Pour on some crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle on balsamic vinaigrette (I use Newman's Balsamic Light). You're done! If you make this ahead of time, wait until just before serving dress it: pour off any juices that may have collected at the bottom of the bowl and then add the dressing.

Spring bouquets

2011-04-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

In my yard, we don't search for colored eggs on Easter morning - we yank out radishes. Also making a debut are the first purple carrots! They are not as moist as the orange ones, so next time I'll slice them very thinly and/or cook them a bit before throwing them on my salad. Gosh are they a beauty as garnish. The photos of veggie bouquets bring a flashback to high school when I went to a prom with a guy who had asked his mom to create a corsage from vegetables. To top it off he gave it to me inside a plastic McDonalds burger container. It was totally awesome.

The family lineage

2011-04-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite family traditions is when my dad makes sourdough pancakes for breakfast. He has sourdough starter yeast from years ago that he has kept going for more than 20 years. And some of his starter was passed on to me a few years ago, so I could continue the tradition. It sat dormant for a while, but this year I'm getting it going again. In the spirit of the holiday weekend, I made 2 batches of pancakes yesterday. There's something innately fun about making pancakes. And the sourdough gives such flavor that the pancakes are a great snack without bothering with syrup or any of that sticky mess.

Bzzzzz

2011-04-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

Someone who lives in the neighborhood asked if I have bees in my garden, and it sounded like they were seeing fewer in their yard. My yard is full of bees as long as the weather is warm enough. This week the were all over the Echium and I just happened to snap 100 pics of them, but, because I like you I'm holding myself back and only posting a few. (click on photos to see them larger)

Easter egg radishes

2011-04-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

Some the easter egg radishes were harvested today for one of my favorite fruit containing salads. Oranges, avocados and radishes make up the salad - add a little lemon juice, salt and optional olive oil and you're done. I love to make this whenever avocados are on sale, although this time the motivation was my first batch of home grown radishes. This salad is worth trying - even for those of you who aren't fond of radishes. The orange flavor is dominant, and the combination works really well.

For this batch of salad I used 4 oranges, the radishes shown in the first photo, and 1 avocado (but if they had been on sale I would have put 2 avocados in). I squeezed the juice from 1/2 a lemon and sprinkled salt on. The ratio is not critical for any of the ingredients - use what you have. Some recipes call for olive oil in this type of salad, but I tend to skip it. If the rest of your menu is short on fat, add some oil to helps you absorb vitamins, but chances are you are going to eat something else with butter or oil in it already that can do the trick for you.

Taters planted

2011-04-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

The chicken wire is up, the dirt laid down, and the little russian banana fingerling potato starters are nestled in place. Here's hoping we see green leaves soon! In the meantime, I've decided radishes are the fastest, easiest thing to grow ever. Before most of my other seeds have grown to 2 inches, the radishes are ready to harvest. In other parts of the yard, the broccoli is making more flowers, and the dog is asking nicely for her dinner.

Today's blooms

2011-04-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

First the Echiums. The first has all-green leaves and sporadic very tall flower spikes. The second has variegated leaves and every branch turns into a small flower spike. Then more of my free plants are blooming! The climbing rose is blooming and doing a fine job of winding through the chain link fence. And this little succulent has a cool trick - after it blooms, it makes tiny little plants on the flower stalk. (story of how I got the free plants)

Death Valley sunrise

2011-04-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Death Valley wildflowers

2011-04-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

My trip, the first weekend of April, was too late for "the bloom" according to the super-friendly tan, wrinkled couple who checked us into our campsite. But we still saw some flowers - nearly 20 different kinds by my count. And different flowers than I saw in Joshua Tree 2 weeks prior (scroll down for those posts). Some on the bottom are about to bloom or I added just because I recognized the foliage, the Arizona lupine for example. (Yes, I do seem to be addicted to hunting wildflowers.)

What I'm shamelessly ignoring

2011-04-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

The day laborer made this beautiful modular potato box for me; the sides will be added as the plants grow up. And the potatoes arrived in the mail (actually by way of my friend who placed an order for both of us), they are gorgeous Russian banana fingerlings. I chopped them up and let them dry "for a night"... which turned into a week and a half! I've got them in a box in the closet (the coolest part of the house) and hope they're patiently waiting for me. The delay is due to my determination to keep critters out of the box. Tonight we bought chicken wire (which is called poultry fence at the store, which I find odd) so hopefully soon we'll construct a cage for the bottom and the top. Also awaiting attention are some Cascade hops. They came with instructions that they could be refrigerated for a while before planting (thank goodness), and so they are chillin' awaiting their backyard destiny. Last shot is the gorgeous witbeir prior to bottling. Can't wait for to try it... next week so I'm told.

What I've been up to lately

2011-04-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

Been harvesting winter crops round here yonder. Too busy to do much gardening, but pull up and chop off is right my speed. The broccoli was chopped a week ago and it was good sauteed, but better raw - kind of spicy. I'll eat the next ones raw for sure. The carrots and beets were roasted and served with dipping trays of fancy balsamic vinegar and salt, and the greens were sauteed. Yum. I had some carrot mutants as you can see, there's a three legged beast, but this one caught my fancy more after I chopped the legs off - when it looked like octopus served at a sushi restaurant.

Recipe inspiration

2011-03-23T22:41:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about posting adaptations to recipes for quite some time but haven't pulled the trigger. Maybe it's because the food I cook, while quite tasty, always ends up looking like ugly mush. So now, instead of actual recipes/ adapted recipes, here are some pics of my favorite meals of this week in case you need ideas for what to make (or what not to make, if you're into good-looking food).
First is my comfort food. A lot of people go for macaroni and cheese, but I'm a mushroom risotto girl all the way (recipe from my crazy friend Kelli). Then there's some squash bisque I tried for the first time tonight (recipe from magazine found on the counter at work), using carrots picked from the garden today and the remaining 2 butternut squashes from last year's harvest. As a grand finale, there's the Sunday special plate so named because the last 3 weeks in a row on Sunday I've gone down to the veggie bed and chopped off 10-15 stems of red swiss chard and cooked up this dish of lentils, chard, pasta and cream cheese. Super savory and yummy (recipe from Sunset Complete Vegetarian Cookbook circa 1993).

Joshua tree wildflowers: colorado desert

2011-03-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

These flowers were found on March 18th, before the proper bloom season, but it was still quite a show! Even the cholla were blooming. All but the first two pics were taken on the oasis trail near Cottonwood (south side of Joshua Tree and part of the Colorado Desert). I can imagine how the full bloom would be have more dense patches of flowers - similar to the blue flowers filling up the dry creek in the fourth shot below. (click on it to make it bigger and see the full effect)

Joshua tree wildflowers: mojave desert

2011-03-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

March 18th is a little early in the season for wildflowers, but that made it more fun to hunt them out. Joshua Tree is a large national park, with the northern part classified as Mojave Desert and the warmer southern part Colorado Desert. As predicted by the park ranger, most of the flowers were found on a hike in southern part of the park (the oasis near Cottonwood). But first here are my favorites of the Mojave Desert. The first one was comically microscopic. And the orange bush made me stop in my tracks, and while there I found the lupine. A bonus prize! (click on photos to make them larger)

Ready or not...

2011-03-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

A friend and new gardener asked me yesterday how to know when to pick your vegetables. My answer was a definitive "It depends...". Carrots and beets might be the easiest because you can see the tops above the soil when they get close to big enough. Cauliflower and broccoli I have less experience with, but I understand we're racing to pick them before they bloom so one must check them daily. And when all else fails, if you've got more than one of whatever it is, just pick one and see what it looks like, which is what I did today with the beets. Thanks to the wonders of cell phone cameras, now you can play the "ready or not" game, too! (answer key below)


a) one inch broccoli crown

b) beets

c) tomatoes


d) slightly pink strawberry

e) one inch peaches

a) not ready
b) the full spectrum of not ready on the top to ready on the bottom
c) 5 months away from being ready
d) 3 days away from being ready (the bottom one)
e) 2-3 months away from being ready (I'm counting the days; they are heavenly)

Spring seed planting

2011-03-12T22:49:00.000-08:00

The laborer was enlisted today to help with moving some compost from the bin into the a planting bed to refresh it before new seeds were planted. And what treasures he found... a cache of worms, some of whom were moved into the new bed and some were left in the compost to keep procreating. I planted in the raised bed some of the familiar seeds, 3 different kinds of cucumber and 3 kinds of beets, 2 kinds of carrots, butternut squash, watermelon, and a new find - something called easter egg radishes. They're a mix of pastel colored radishes. But the novel part of this planting was what went into the area outside of the planting bed. Flowers. I planted flowers. Yep. I know, shocking. Some of the seeds were gifts and some I went out and bought on my own. If all goes well, soon I'll have yellow and burgundy (chianti they call it) sunflowers, pink quinoa, zinnias, red poppies and something called butterfly flower growing in the yard. Most of them get tall so I'm hoping to be wowed by their bright colors and prowess.

More ladybugs spied

2011-03-12T22:23:00.000-08:00

Aloe blooms are here

2011-03-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

The two aloe's that are blooming now are putting on quite a show. Some before and after shots so you can see what I mean. And then there's my favorite plant to photograph, which is blooming once again.

New crush: airplants

2011-03-12T21:49:00.000-08:00

The first one (the big one) was a gift. The rest I snatched up at a nearby store, and I might be addicted becasue I have 8 of these now. Some are blooming which is pretty, but I read on the interwebs that after they bloom they will die, so hopefully the blooms (and plants) will last a while!

Mutant orange

2011-03-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

My orange tree has been having some trouble lately. It didn't produce any fruit last year except this goofy mutant. It's not quite orange and fully ripe, but I decided to get it off the plant. Resources should go toward the two normal looking mini fruits growing up this season (fingers crossed).

Local restaurant: Sea Rocket Bistro

2011-03-12T21:27:00.000-08:00

Among the neighborhood restaurants we frequent is one that features meals made with locally grown food. Sea Rocket Bistro has been a favorite for the last few years. And one night I took some pics of our food (not my regular habit but I was inspired for some reason)... This Northpark San Diego restaurant has personable staff, a fantastic regular menu of fresh food, and often they have specials which are excellent. Don't get me started telling you how good the bread pudding is. Now these pics are of fish, but there's meat and vegetarian options as well, and local beers and wine are featured. Consider this restaurant highly recommended.

Ladybugs and echium

2011-03-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I look there are ladybugs. And the echium is starting to send up bloom shoots that will eventually have purple and blue flowers, but for now the white is striking. They remind me of protea.

Fruit trees this week

2011-03-06T21:53:00.000-08:00

One peach tree has tiny peaches, the other is full of pink blossom, and the plum tree has clusters of white blossoms popping open. It's just about time for me to start thinning the blossoms on the pink peach. The branches can only hold so much fruit...

On to the spring beer

2011-03-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

This one has white wheat and barley and is flavored with coriander and bitter orange, which sounds like it'll be perfect for summer. We're a few weeks into the process, and have a few more weeks before drinking it. The spent grains were shared with friends who want to make dog treats - I have some reserved but haven't done the baking yet.

Gotta love her

2011-02-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

She sleeps. She barks. She gets in trouble. She sleeps. She barks. She uses a pile of freshly pulled weeds as a pillow (1st photo). She sighs when you take too many pictures of her (2nd photo). When you catch her with the flash you can see how her face is white from old age (3rd photo), but don't think she hasn't slowed down too much. She's still a ton of fun.

February in bloom

2011-02-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

In San Diego, mid-February brings the kickoff of spring. Peach blossoms start to open right around Valentine's day. The strawberry plant has gone from first blossom to showing off multiple spikes of yellow fruit. The tayberry and raspberry vines are becoming thick with bright green leaves. And the fig tree has decided its short rest is over; it's shooting out lime green leaves in an effort to maintain its place as fastest growing plant in the backyard.

Ordered rows

2011-02-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

For once my planting bed looks proper. Carrots and beets are lined up rows and broccoli and cabbage are interspersed with red swiss chard. The only goofy part is right now I have no idea which are the broccoli and which are the cauliflower. And I fear if they bloom at the same time they might cross-pollinate and be some sort of a hybrid. But that won't really be a bad thing as I am sure whatever comes out of this will be tasty in a stir fry.

Beautiful insects

2011-02-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

Bugs fascinate me. Aside from their beauty, it amazes me how the juveniles and adults look so different. In the garden this causes trouble because it's even harder to tell if it's a good bug or a bad bug if you can't recognize it. So, kind readers, please help me out if you know what the mystery caterpillar is - it's the first photo. My neighbor's lantana bush seemed to be covered in fuzz, and closer inspection revealed several striped caterpillars. The next pic is a ladybug larvae (which are all over the yard this month), and after that is a moth I discovered while pulling weeds. I love the pattern of the eggs - lined up so closely next to each other.

Blooms on the way

2011-02-02T22:03:00.000-08:00

As with all the other plants and trees in San Diego that think summer is around the corner, the aloe plants are about to bloom. I've had these for about a year and a half and this is the first show they've put on. The blossoms seem to get about an inch taller each day. Looking forward to this weekend to see what they look like when they open!

Berries looking strong

2011-01-29T17:55:00.000-08:00

Guess what I found growing next to and under the strawberries I planted a few months ago? Blackberries are rising from the dead - these were planted 3 seasons ago, didn't do well and I hadn't seen them since. Can't wait to see if they can be good neighbors or if I'll have to relocate the strawberries... (the darker, smaller leaves in the center and left bottom are blackberries)
Also spied emerging are new canes from 2 of the tayberries (from my mother's yard) and raspberry branch planted bare root. The third tayberry has no canes at the base, instead it's growing leaves shoots from every point on the stalk that used to have leaves. So exciting. I love berries and missed them after moving away from the Seattle area. Plus I'm super curious to see how the tayberries do in SoCal. What grows like a weed near San Francisco might not like it here...

Beer bottled

2011-01-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

Last night the kitchen became a bottling factory. Not quite the Laverne and Shirley assembly line, but pretty interesting nonetheless. Step one, acquire bottles (some were new and some were collected). Then the good stuff was transferred from the glass bottle to a plastic one for bottling (the white gunk is yeast waste and is not transferred). After the bottles are sanitized, they are filled, then capped and crimped with the cool red sealing device. About 5 gallons were bottled with some reserved for measuring the alcohol content, and some had to be tasted. First tastes were quite good, and it will gain some bubbles and be ready to go in about 2 weeks hopefully. Looking good (knock on wood).

What was she thinking?

2011-01-26T22:23:00.000-08:00

My dog is getting on in years, she's 12 or 13 we think, so you'd guess that she's had time to mellow out and doesn't get into much trouble anymore. That's generally true. But tonight we got home to find a ridiculous scene.
And, you ask, what is there to be learned from trying to clean the mess made by a dog who stole a bag of flour off the counter and ripped it open all over the floor?
1. Flour makes floors very slippery, so even though I was wearing running shoes with full tread I felt like I was ice skating. Kind of fun and kind of treacherous at the same time.
2. A broom is an inadequate tool. Sure it will get the surface flour out of the way, but when dog slobber mixes with flour it forms cement-like blobs that require much more labor intensive cleaning.

To serve man (a recipe): yams and cherry tomatoes

2011-01-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

First in the hopefully recurring series of recipes for humans. The goal is easy and healthy. And they're all adaptations with ingredients dropped because the creativity is lacking and simplicity rules. This has jumped up to my number one favorite when the cherry tomato plants are producing.
Yams with cherry tomatoes
Boil yams in 2 inch chunks until soft then let cool.
Slice cherry tomatoes in half.
Stir with low-fat or non-fat red wine vinaigrette
And that's it...

A recipe that's fun to make but you're not going to want to eat it

2011-01-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

Having pondered posting recipes to carrotpeople for a long time, it seems only fitting to finally start posting with this one. Something you aren't going to want to eat, but maybe someone else in your household will?
My keen eye noticed the home brew store was selling dog treats made from spent barley mash. If they could do it, surely I could and with only one google search, 3 seconds later I had the recipe. Without further ado, here's the first recipe:

Homebrew dog treats (adapted from a thread on realbeer.com)

4 cups spen barley mash

4 cups flour

1 egg

1 cup peanut butter (I used Jif)

Bake for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees. Then dry at 200 degrees for many hours (they said 8-10 and one lady used her food dehydrator instead). They said if you don't super dry them you'll get mold after a week. My plan is to give lots away and gorge my dog on them so as to not let them last a week and not test the mold theory.
But as you'll soon learn, I'm fairly lazy and try to simplify most recipes I make. And in this case I altered the recipe a bit by drying the mash for a day before starting. So I have two test batches in the oven right now... one with the 4 cups of flour called for in the recipe and one with 3 cups. The 4 cup batch seems super dry, but I know it's not smart to judge before the whole process is completed.
I scored them a variety of ways, and declare the cookie cutter a failure. The top of the peanut butter jar worked ok but the jigger and pizza cutter seem to do the best job. From my manhandling the things so far, they seem to flake and break so it's possible my dog will be eating crumbs for the next week as they may not be shapely enough to give away, but time will tell as I check the oven next time. With more beer batches, I'll have more chances to test this and report back on progress. But based on the dog joining me in the kitchen and following me around while I gave her samples to taste, every batch is going to be a success in her eyes.

Backyard beer

2011-01-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

Most lessons are learned the hard way - as it was with the first beer brewed in my backyard. We now know, Rule #1 for home brewing: Don't water the plants before you start brewing. Water is used to cool and rinse things and you're going to want to use it to water the plants after its job in making beer is finished.
First we went and bought the barley and hops at the nearby home brew store. Then a whole lot of boiling and resting and rinsing then boiling again then adding hops and yeast happened. Lots of science involved which suits my brewmaster well as he's a chemist per schooling. Measuring volumes and hitting exact temperatures and calculating ratios for the recipe really made his day. Plus his homemade crossflow cooling hose cuts time off the process (the coiled hose and copper tubing contraption). He was really in heaven. The dog stuck by the warmth of the burner since it was a cold winter day, but after it was over I wrapped her in a blanket to make her cozy and she stayed there all wrapped up until bedtime.

(above is the sanitizing agent that helps make this all clean and safe)

Last of 2010

2011-01-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

I know it's a bit silly to lament the year that has passed, but my last tomato of December was quite awesome. Check it out below. And I've got my eye on the biggest, greenest fruit on the "big" tomato plant that is certainly to be the first celebration of 2011. (This plant was reseeded, so I don't know if it was a Celebrity or Champion, which were both in that bed over the summer.)
Nevermind the cherry tomatoes which grow like weeds. In fact I was very proud to cut nealry half of those plants back in order to reign in chaos. It's psychologically hard for me to chop up plants that are vigorous but I found the happy medium on these guys, cutting back all the blossoms while keeping all the fruit. So it ended up with me cutting to the "fruit line". So hopefully now the fruit will get more sun and air and ripen even faster. I can't let this plant go too much longer as eventually I should plant different crops, but I'll wait a few months since I have yet to have anything harvest-ready in the other 2 beds (in which the seeds were planted fairly recently).

Return of the good bugs

2011-01-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

Ladybugs have been spotted in the yard, zig-zagging around the grass, like busy bees. Looking forward to more and more - hopefully they're scoping out mates and planning to use the yard as a breeding ground. Check out the story from a few years ago when their procreation made me a bit nervous. Link here

Coveting pretty things

2011-01-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

Ever since I saw the seed catalogs at my mother's house I've been eating, sleeping, and dreaming about what kinds of seeds I should buy for 2011. A conversation with a coworker got me excited about some new varieties of broccoli. Color is the theme this year!
(click on link to real name and where to find them)
Purple flowered broccoli:

Purple stemmed broccoli:

Watermelon radish:

I'm also hoping to get big green tomato plants from the seeds I saved from the farmer's market a few months ago (link to that post) but in case that doesn't work, it looks like more can be ordered. (here)

And the winner is... berries and artichokes

2011-01-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went window shopping at the garden shop. A dangerous thing some may say. Something that makes my companion sigh and wonder how many hours we were going to be there. But very quickly I honed in on the bare root section. The blackberries I got 3 years ago have been very good to me.

So we got a raspberry and an artichoke. Match these up with the strawberries I acquired before and the magnificent tayberries I got a few weeks later, this summer is going to be sweet. And we'll see if they take over the yard like they have my mothers... She very much appreciated me digging up her tayberries that had migrated across the yard and carting them away.

Happy Holidays from Carrotpeople

2010-12-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

The bright side

2010-12-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

Dropping your magazine in the bathtub before it's full of water means you don't have to worry about getting it wet while reading it in the tub. It also means you had better make it a very long bath and read every article and contemplate every photo, as very soon it will dry and the pages will be fused together.
Things could be worse.

From hell to heaven

2010-11-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

The right answer to "What kind of music do you want?" is not "I don't care".
The previous time I've gotten MRI's they've handed me earplugs. This time it was headphones. I guess I though classical would be the default and/or it would be too complicated/unnecessary for them to go through all my options.
So the loud music kicks in right after I'm positioned to where I'm supposed to stay still for 24 minutes. "Soft rock 102", says the station promo. That's not good. The first song was Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. The second was Jingle Bells. The british accented announcer confirmed that this was "the station for ALL my Christmas favorites". Oh boy. 24 minutes can be a very long time, between listening to the music, trying to stay still and fighting an overwhelming urge to start coughing.
The 25th minute comes and I am allowed to move for a few minutes, and as soon as the nurse appears I change my answer. Channel 94.9 please. Back in the tube for another 15 minutes, and I realize all the songs this station is playing are the same band. It's 8 o'clock albums. They were playing Lucious Jackson's 1996 release Fever in Fever out, which I listened to semi-obsessively over the years and still love. I could have stayed in there longer. They could have turned up the volume.
Valuable life lesson learned for next time anyone asks me that important question. Don't let soft rock Christmas tunes happen to you.

Spouting and sprouting

2010-11-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

People ordering calendars at work reminds me of the early 90s when I worked at an event planning company and everyone had daytimers.
San Diego breweries make fantastic beer (my fave of the moment is Green Flash's trippel).
I should not try to roast any more butternut squash seeds. Raw ones taste way better than mega burned ones.
Dogs are awesome.
The chocolate covered caremels with sea salt my mom sent me are awesome but also the devil's work. A glass of red wine and one of these treats makes me unnaturally happy. So what if my candy has traveled more of the world than I have? Tastes so perfect.
Music soothes the soul and until a few weeks ago I had spent too much time apart from my favorite CDs.
Sisters should come to visit every year because it is so much fun to run around with them.
After finally trying something other than a sidecar at the fancy bar, I think I have a new favorite. It is something like orange juice, ginger beer, bourbon, and smashed fresh ginger poured over ice. Will try to recreate and report back. Yummy. Yum. Yum.
I forgot to carve my halloween watermelon.
Work life balance is going to reclaim the life part after my work project is over in 21 days (knock on wood... seriously, please KNOCK!!!).
It might not work to save seeds from the tomatoes acquired at the farmers market last weekend and try to grow them, but I'm going to try anyways.

Jack

2010-10-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

In Tennessee they post signs outside of bars to let you know if you're allowed to bring your firearm inside. You can't do that in California, it's much more of a refined place. At least some parts of the year. A few night ago I walked into a bar and they smiled, handed me a knife ("It's really sharp!" the nice lady says), and sent me over to a booth covered with a garbage bag. What a perfect night! Drink beer, eat cheap food, watch baseball playoffs, and carve a free pumpkin. The event was hosted by Vintage Sugarcube (great photo shoots and recipes) so a perfect heath bar cupcake topped off the night.

Buttflies

2010-10-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Not sure if they are always there and I just never noticed, or if this morning was something special, but the shrubs were bustling with butterflies. And they were not afraid of me or my camera so I got to watch closely. They have a nifty black appendage that reaches into the blossoms for nectar (you can see this pretty well if you double-click on the first pic).