Blackberry Peach Crostata

Loosely based on this Barefoot Contessa recipe and featuring blackberries I found growing behind our garden shed!

Veggie Garden-June Update

Well, almost everything is in. I still want to get some eggplant, onions, and some more herbs, but as of right now we have planted:

Pickling Cucumber

Burpless Cucumber

Butternut Squash

New England Sugar Pie Pumpkin

Baby Blue Hubbard Squash

Watermelon

Sugar Snap Peas

Red Bell Pepper

Green Bell Pepper

Yellow Banana Pepper

Zucchini

Parsley

Basil

and 7 varieties of tomato

Steven wondered if it's a little overkill on the tomatoes, but since all but one of the varieties were started at home from heirloom seeds, I wasn't quite sure how many would germinate or how well they'll produce.

While there's plenty more work to be done, it's nice to see the improvements since we moved in almost TWO YEARS AGO. (Where has the time gone???)

Changes/additions since last year include rototilling the remaining jungle-esque portion of the bed, removing an errant Norway maple tree, and adding a compost tumbler. We also split the bed up into 4'x4' mini beds (a la Square Foot Gardening) with a straw lined center aisle, and will be adding some trellising along the northern perimeter to try and grow the cucurbits vertically. We added a significant amount of organic matter by tilling in last year's mulched leaves and compost purchased in bulk, but I still think the soil is a little..bleh...so we plan to do this yearly.

I'm happy to report that there are already quite a few veggie plants blooming and/or sporting little baby veggies, so I'm hoping this year brings a bountiful harvest. (All I'm asking for is improvement over last year...and some fun, funky tomatoes!)

Spring Flowers

I am excited to report that spring made a much more dramatic showing in our yard this year compared to last. I'm not sure why, but there were more blooms on nearly every plant and shrub in the yard...and in some cases, we saw flowers on plants that were complete duds last year.

Was it some factor about the weather, the heavy snow blanket for much of the winter, or perhaps our somewhat distracted but nonetheless earnest efforts to weed and compost last year?

Either way, we had tulips spring up that we definitely did not see last year, more prolific oriental poppy blooms, and new lupines appear. Even the crabapple tree, which we had concluded was dead when we first moved in, burst forth with a full canopy of pink flowers.

Here are some other highlights:

*The bearded irises split from my mother's garden and planted near our side door last summer apparently like their new home. The purple ones smell like concord grapes!*

*These deep red roses next to the garage have a ton more buds this year, and thus far have been spared any aphid attack*

*We have more white peonies than either of the pink varieties, and they make such a stunning impact when cut and arranged in a vase.*

(Like that vase? I picked it up for less than $10 at a glass factory in the Czech Republic nearly 10 years ago, and it is one of my favorite possessions. I finally dug it out of the attic this spring and put it center stage where it belongs.)

*The foxglove, which is not typically a favorite of mine, won me over this year*

*Our deep pink peonies hardly did anything last year...just a few small, late blooms. This year was a different story. There must be at least four times the flowers, and they're much bigger. LOVE. Incidentally, I just realized that we only have one light pink peony bush (probably a Sarah Bernhardt?) in the yard. I think we could use a couple more.*

(Another vase related note: I just scored this milk glass cutie at a yard sale for 50 cents! :)

*Last year, I found a tiny fledgling lupine that had sprouted next to our driveway and transplanted it with some compost & TLC. It's about a billion times bigger this year, and much to my surprise, it's PINK!*

*The catmint Steven planted in front of the house last summer is crazy happy. As are the cats if we bring them in a little sprig.*

*And here's one of my faves: an old rose bush with gorgeously full flowers and an amazing scent. Steven pruned the bajeezus out of it last year and it's really paid off. Tons of buds!*

Very happy with the yard this year!

~LT

Garden Wish List: New Plants!

Yesterday I spotted hyacinths and daffodils that have broken through in the yard! Yay! This of course led to fantasies of warmer weather and all of the life that bursts forward with it.

Here are a few perennials that I would love to add to the yard this year:

1. Lots of lavender.

(Preferably the 'Grosso' cultivar, a highly fragrant hybrid with deep purple flowers)

2. Pom Pom Poppies

Bonus if I can find a beautiful salmon color like this:

3. Purple Hydrangea

4. Snowball Viburnum

Pretty sure I've been loving these for years but mistakenly assuming they're hydrangeas.

5. Purple Allium

6. Pale Pink Peonies

We have medium pink, white, and even a deep magenta...but I'm loving this delicate pale pink.

*Sigh*...aren't they all beautiful? I'd settle for 3 out of 6 this summer. And... uhhh...finally getting last summer's roses in the ground. ;-)

2011 Garden Planning

One peek at the mountain of snow outside and this post might seem a little premature. But spring will be here before we know it (seriously, how is it already the end of January???) and I'm already starting to think about this year's veggie garden.

I've been flipping through the seed catalog from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and I just can't get over all of the amazing varieties of vegetables. So far I've picked out a couple types of tomato seeds to order.

The "Egg Yolk" tomato...

...reportedly a great producer, with a rich fruity flavor.

The Black Cherry Tomato...

...with that super flavor unique to "black" tomatoes.

And the Pineapple Tomato...

...which grows up to 2 lbs in size and tastes awesome! (I had one of these last summer, and I couldn't believe how juicy and fruity it was.)

I've also checked out a couple books on intensive gardening since last year, and discovered that my plan to "improve" my garden by making better rows is actually counterproductive. From what I've gathered so far, this book is the bible of intensive gardening:

Essentially, it proposes that designing a garden in rows is not only a poor use of space, but also requires more weeding and more water. Basically, it's inefficient. The logic is pretty compelling (as are the supporting stats), so I think we're going to try and split the garden up into quadrants this year and also follow the suggestion to use more vertical space by planting more climbing plants (such as vine green beans and indeterminate tomatoes).

I definitely need to look into it more, but that's where we're leaning right now.

And just for some fun, take a look at these awesome/funky varieties of veggies I found in the seed catalog:

*Shamrock Squash*

*Plum Lemon Tomato*

*Ananas Noir Tomato*

*Japanese White Egg Eggplant*

*Cannibal Tomato EGGPLANT*

Aren't they cool?

*All images via Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds*

Grape Harvest

Last year, Steven discovered a grapevine hidden in all the weeds of the then neglected veggie garden and just threw it up and over a nearby bridal wreath spirea to get it out of the way. This spring, we were delighted to see that it had set fruit! (Apparently this will never happen if the vine is lying on the ground, regardless of how healthy it is.) All summer I've been checking, checking, checking the progress...and yesterday, when I approached the vine and inhaled that sweet ripe grape scent, I knew it was time to grab a bowl, some clippers, and Steven.

I figured we wouldn't actually get enough grapes to make anything significant, maybe just a grape syrup to use in spritzers or something, but we ended up with a total of ~4 lbs! Most grape jelly recipes I've seen call for 5 lbs, so it would be totally feasible to make jelly out of our own backyard grapes! How adorable is that?

BTW, not sure what kind they are. Any guesses? Of course Concord is the go-to answer, but I think they seem a bit sweeter...

Anyways, we were downright charmed by this harvesting process, and kept the momentum going in the veggie garden, where things are winding down...just as they got going. (Note to self: start earlier next year!)

We ended up picking most of the acorn squash (6), even though they could have hung out for a bit. Powdery mildew had become an issue about 1 month ago, and although it supposedly only damages leaves, I was paranoid about losing the fruits that I had lovingly nestled in straw, and creepily stalked for months, LOL!

So hopefully I'll get a chance to play in the kitchen this weekend, in between coats of paint. I'm shooting for just one of the following: grape jelly, tomato sauce, eggplant bruschetta, or acorn squash risotto...

Garden Center Super Buy!

Just wanted to gloat about share our super score at Weston Nurseries last weekend...

Not only did we have 2 Groupons to redeem ($20 for $50 worth of merchandise), but when we got there we discovered that they were running a "cart promotion", where everything you could fit on 1 cart was 30% off.

We picked up 2 "sixteen candles" summersweet shrubs to plant on the side of the house, right under the living room window. It's a native, deer resistant bush with wonderfully fragrant white flowers in the summer, so it's perfect under an open window.

We also picked up an ornamental maiden grass (Steven loves these) to hide the gas meter on the side of the house. They are super hardy, full, and will grow to about 5'.

And, my favorite part of the purchase: 2 David Austin "Abraham Darby" rose bushes.

I have major performance anxiety when it comes to keeping these healthy and alive...but I just couldn't resist. They are gorgeous, with apricot pink super full blooms that smell amazing.

Not sure where they're going yet, but I would love to add a bench seat to our wedding arbor (which Steven built for our wedding day!) , then plant these around it. Wouldn't that make for a lovely little garden refuge?

In the end, we got $150 worth of plants for...$49. That's...carry the two...~67% off.

Awesome.

Inspiration: Potting Station

*Via Brabourne Farm*

I want.

Frugal Fix: A New Used Fridge

For almost a year, we used the refrigerator that came with our house. It was pretty nasty, but it was free and it worked...so I figured we wouldn't replace it until we renovate the kitchen (in which case, a crummy drippy old fridge would be completely unacceptable).

A great frugal mentality in some ways, yet maybe a little extreme if you're secretly praying that nobody ever rest their eyes on your fridge, lest you be mortified.

Steven and his Craigslist obsession to the rescue! :)

He found a 4 year old used Maytag refrigerator in great condition...for $125.

We scrubbed it down, bought new storage racks for the freezer, and gleefully hauled the old fridge off to the dump.

Now, I'm no neat nick, but I do love to sort/organize/purge things. Give me a box of junk, a pile of papers to be sorted, or a closet to be cleared out, and I'm as happy as a clam. No idea why this is, but obviously cleaning out the old fridge, tossing out any nasties, and organizing the new fridge was a veritable TREAT for me. I even forbade Steven from helping, just so that I could have the job to myself, LOL. (freak)

Ah, a great deal (a steal!) and a freshly organized fridge? Isn't that everyone's idea of fun? ;)

On a related note, I wanted to share this great frugality post from Get Rich Slowly. Considering how much time, money, and brainpower is spent in this world trying to get us to buy buy buy because we neeeeeeed it...it's always nice to review the counter argument: that frugality is all about identifying what IS and what ISN'T important to us and spending our hard earned $$$ accordingly.

For example, we recently went on a little trip to a local garden center, Attleboro Farms, which was running a promotion on perennials ($8 per plant if you buy 10 or more), so we loaded up.

When we got home, I said to Steven: "Do you realize that we spent more on these plants than we did on our refrigerator?"

We got a good chuckle out of that. :)

Veggie Garden Today

I wanted to share the most recent pictures of our first veggie garden.

It's looking pretty good, I'd say. There are a bunch of green tomatoes (not so much as a *hint* of red on any of them)...hurry up!!!! :)

The eggplants have really started blooming & producing, and the acorn squash...well, it's taking over the lawn.

The plant I thought was a cantaloupe has itsy bitsy little babies on it and it turns out it's actually a CUKE. (upgrade!) There are 2 leeks and 1 green bean plant that managed to make it through a rather rough start, and the celery root looks good.

In general, it's been mostly a SUMMER SQUASH harvest so far, with a green pepper here, eggplant there...

But I did just pick this honker of a kohlrabi!

So all in all, we're pretty happy with the garden. I already know I'll do a bunch of things differently next year (MORE compost, do a better job hardening off the seedlings, more green beans, fewer squash*, better rows, etc.)...but it's been fun this year and I'm just glad we have anything growing! I can't wait for some tomatoes!

*The majority of the squash was given to us by "the garden fairy". For a couple of weeks in the early summer, I'd go out to the garden and find pots of seedlings left on the edge of the veggie patch...no note, no indication of who left them, nothing. Just offerings. My mom and MIL both denied dropping them off. Despite the mysterious nature of their origins, I planted *almost* all of these mystery plants, not knowing what they were, just that they looked like a squash/melon/maybe cuke? I said to Steven "I sure hope we like whatever I just planted 12 of...."

Then one day our neighbor in the back, whom I don't know, stopped by as I was checking out the garden (and yammering on my cell) and told me that HE was the garden fairy. well, he didn't use that term...He told me what they were (summer squash and acorn squash), didn't say much else, and I haven't seen him again. It was kinda funny...such an overtly friendly gesture from a rather reserved person. Anyways, he'll be finding a basket of squash on his porch any day now...