One Year

Today is the one year birthday of Presidential Living!  To celebrate I made a lemon cream pie to help me accomplish one of my Summer goals to become an excellent pie maker.  I used this recipe minus the topping.  There weren't many ingredients, it seemed simple enough and I wanted to use lemons so I would have peels for a candied lemon peel recipe I want to try out.

The key to pie dough is having everything cold.  I cut the butter into pieces and put them in the freezer, I chilled the flour, and made sure to use freezing ice water.  I am not sure if enough water was added, I used the maximum amount but it still seemed a bit too crumbly.  I didn't flour the pastry mat well enough so I ended up overworking the dough when trying to roll it out.  The crust turned out ok but not great.  The filling was tart but wonderful.

Canadian Thistle

I have to weed the garden about once a week.  The weeds keep popping up but as long as I stay on top of them they aren't a problem.  Except for one.  The bane of my existence and arch nemesis is Canadian Thistle.  Canadian Thistle spreads though an underground network of roots.  If you pull the thistle and break the root you have not gotten rid of the plant but allowed the root to split and produce two.  Canadian Thistle runs rampant, will push its way into any open space, and can grow anywhere.  I think even during atomic warfare Canadian Thistle would be the only surviving organism.

My first year gardening I pulled the weeds and doubled my problems.  So last Summer I started by using an organic natural spray to spot treat just the thistle and kill them.  But this quickly became pricey and they just kept coming.  So I started just snipping off the leaves at the soil level.  This doesn't get rid of them and they do come back at the same root.  However if I catch them while they are small it does keep them at bay.  I've tried boiling water which seems to work well but now that the garden is planted I would be killing off my vegetable plants also.  

An excellent example of how much of a terrorist this plant is.  This one has managed to grow into the wood and push through the paint on our privacy fence.

Porch Project

Our front porch is one of our favorite places.  I love to sit out there with a glass of wine in the evenings, coffee in the mornings or my favorite is during a rainstorm.  But since we bought the house slowly over time the rust has begun to come through, the paint has chipped, and the steps started falling apart.  Fixing up the porch has been a project on my list for over a year now that kept getting pushed aside.  However I couldn't tolerate it any longer.  Earlier this Spring we fixed the steps and with my first full day of Summer Break I began working on the porch.  Of course it was the hottest week of the year and I spent three days outside in it but the porch face lift is finally complete.  I am ready to enjoy the spruced up porch all Summer long!

Before: Rusting Railings

After

Before: Rust stains on the concrete

After

Before: Chipping Paint

After



Bee Meeting

We have joined a bee club this year because we wanted to have people we could learn from to help us with our own beekeeping.  Normally we meet in a church basement and have discussions about different topics relating to bees but the June meeting was at a fellow members house who has around 40 or so hives.  We split up into a couple of different groups and opened up lots of different hives.  Experienced bee keepers showed up what they do to inspect their hives and then we looked around each hive for different teaching points.  It was an excellent meeting because instead of just talking about bees this meeting I got to see what different beekeepers do.  I learned alot!

I have been curious what a queen cup looks like and finally saw many of them.  The large cell with opening facing down is a queen cup.  The larger cells around the queen cup are drone cells. 

It might seem cruel and unusual but the best way to check for mites is to pull out drone larva.  Drones are male bees and much larger, mites always go for the drone larva.  Since drones are only around to mate with virgin queens its not a big loss to the hive.  Can you see the mite on the larva on the right picture?

Harvest

I continue to harvest plenty of radishes.  I have been using the entire plant eating the radishes on sandwiches, in salads, or plain; while cooking the radish tops and tossing them into pastas.

This was a surprising find, an albino radish.  This radish is one of the purple radishes and the crown is slightly purple.  Normally even when the radish bulb doesn't form the roots are still the proper color like the radish at the right but this one for whatever reason became white instead of purple.  It tasted the same as all the others.

Over the weekend some of my first planting of radishes were starting to bolt so I pulled them all.  Many of the radishes hadn't formed so I am going to use just the leaves.  As I was cleaning the greens I found this clump of eggs on the back of a leaf.  After that I made sure to double check all of the leaves.  But in good news our lettuces are getting large enough to start cutting them and I was able to cut enough for a salad Saturday night.

 Lettuce and Radish tops

Arugula

The arugula never got large enough to where I thought I could start to harvest it.  And now it has gotten too hot and it has bolted.  I have decided to let it be and go to seed hoping that maybe it will self sow and I might get some Fall or next year an early Spring crop.

Tiny Tomatoes

The first tomatoes are coming in which is very exciting!  These are the yellow plum tomatoes.  Some people don't want to take up space with cherry varieties of tomatoes but they always give me the season's first tomatoes.

Farmers Market Find

Over the weekend Andy and I hit up the Hyde Park farmers market specifically to buy shitake mushrooms because the vendor who I normally buy from at the Madeira's farmers market wasn't there.  While there we also browsed all of the other vendors.  I found Traderspoint Creamery whom I had never seen at the market before.  I was especially intrigued because while I have seen cheese vendors at the markets I have yet to see anyone sell milk. 

We stopped to taste some of their goodies and walked away with their herbed greek yogurt and spicy fromage blanc.  The herbed greek yogurt was delicious and flavorful and I plan to use it in place of mayo like below on the burgers or as a base for creamy herb salad dressings.  The spicy fromage blanc had kick but not too much heat and I look forward to using it also spread on sandwiches, in sauces or mixed into other dishes.  I'm glad that I had to venture over to the other market last weekend because we have found some new favorites!

We have been successful in the past year of buying as much of our food locally as possible.  Most of the meal above was purchased from a local farmer or from my garden.  We picked up some fresh saffron pasta while at the market which was delicious!

As an adult I have rediscovered brussel sprouts.  I was never a child that disliked brussel sprouts but I also didn't willingly pick them to eat.  Brussel sprouts is a food that if it isn't cooked correctly it tastes awful.  In an effort to continue to eat a large assortment of veggies I have added brussel sprouts to my repertoire of recipes.  My favorite way to eat them is simple to make and with bacon.  What isn't good with bacon?

I don't actually measure items when I cook so these are ballpark amounts based on what I use.  Cook up 2-3 pieces of bacon depending on their size and how much bacon you want.  While bacon is cooking quarter about a pound of brussel sprouts.  When bacon is finished drain most of the drippings but leave just a little bit and then add a tablespoon of olive oil.  Brown brussel sprouts and while they are cooking crumble bacon.  Allow to cook for a couple of minutes stirring so they don't burn.  If brussel sprouts are still too crisp add a quarter cup of chicken broth or water to pan, immediately cover to allow them to steam for a few minutes.  Then sprinkle in bacon and a squeeze in a bit of lemon juice.

Flowers

I enjoy vegetable gardening and while it gets the most time here I also enjoy the flowers just as much!  Here are a few of the flowers we have growing around our house.

Supertunias, Geraniums, and Calibrochoa

 Amaryllis

Lillies

We should have plenty more on their way as the season continues!

New Adventures

When planning the garden I left some open space for overflow because I knew that the best laid plans don't always work out.  But the space I left open was still empty as of last week.  But I finally filled it with plants I have never tried to grow and thought it was a good opportunity to expand my horizons.  So in the empty spot I planted a Sugar Baby Watermelon which is a small variety of watermelon.  I also planted 3 spaghetti squash which I can't easily find at the farmers market so I thought I would try to grow my own.

Hoses Are In

I have learned the hard way that overhead watering causes nothing but fungal diseases on plant foliage and problems.  So starting with last year I used soaker hoses to water the garden when rain isn't plentiful.  I find this way best because you hook up the hose and walk away for 20-30 minutes to make sure that you water deeply and then you only have to do this about  once a week.  I placed all the hoses in last week and have used them already since things have finally dried out around here.

Harvest

I have been harvesting more radishes, keeping some of the tops to cook and discarding others.  I also finally was able to harvest some lettuce finally!  Some of the lettuce seed must have scattered while I was sowing it because some lettuce grew in between the rocks of our border.  I picked the lettuce to go on our burgers over the weekend. 

Blossoms

The first blossoms of the season have emerged on our tomatoes, cucumber, and squash.

Moles

The moles once again have found their way back to the garden.  They have been running amuck in our yard but as long as they stayed out of the garden I was going to give them a pass.  But their move into the garden means it's time for me to fight back.  The mole tunnels of course took out some of my lettuce that was finally growing in.

Summer Break

I had my last day of the school year yesterday which means it is time for Summer Break and time for projects.  This is the first Summer in years that I haven't had a Summer job and I plan to use my time to the fullest extent.  Here are some of the items off my to do list:

*Repaint the Front Porch and Railings
     -We already skim coated the front steps and decided that the kitty paw prints are cute and not worth redoing.  But the railings are cracking and rusting and the paint on the porch is chipping.  Everything needs a face lift.

*Clean Out All Closets
   -I don't wear half the stuff I own and we hold on to too much stuff hoping to use it someday.

*Reorganize Recipes
     -I have binders of recipes I don't use which are taking up space and make it hard to find what I need when I actually need it.

*Become a Master Pie Maker
     -Yes you read that right.  I want to perfect making pie crust.  I love to cook and bake but used to make crappy pie dough and then for years used to take the short cut and buy frozen pie dough.  Last year I tried a recipe for Pate Brisee and had excellent success the first time and second time it failed miserably. This Summer I am going to perfect my pie making skills, although I don't know who is going to eat all these pies.

*Can extra harvest, make sauces, jams and homemade goodies for later in the year

*Reorganize Files
     -We hold on to way too much paperwork, it's time to streamline.

*Read Fiction
     -I spend plenty of time reading blogs, cooking and home magazines, and doing garden research.  Years ago I used to devour fiction books.  In fact as a child I used to hide books under my pillow just to read them from the crack of light in the hall.  I even used to try to con my sister into hiding my books for me when my parents caught on to my schemes.  But adult life and responsibilities have set in these last few years and I just don't seem to find the time to read like I used to.  The first on my list is Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, who is my favorite author!

*Tend the Garden and Bees
     -This is a no brainer but in order to be able to can extra harvest you have to have crops that give you the harvest.

*Travel
     -This one is a little unfair because we already have some trips planned.  A visit to see my sister, a family reunion, and a work trip to Charlotte for Andy which is over our anniversary so we will find some time for fun!

I hope to be able to complete this list and more.  But every Summer always flies by and before I know it school is around the corner.  I am looking forward to a busy but fun Summer filled with hard work that will be rewarding!

Growing Hive

Almost 2 weeks ago we opened up the hive to monitor it's progress.  I am happy to report that the bees are continuing to build out the wax.  Our first batch of young bees have "hatched" and we watched one new bee break free from it's honeycomb cacoon.  In their place the queen has begun to lay more eggs and larva are growing.  We have taken off the sugar water feeder as the bees are able to forage and feed themselves these days.  The hive is growing and seems to be doing well!

  

Tomato Support

Yesterday I told you that the tomato cages and stakes went into the garden.  It seems that how to support the tomato plants is an ongoing issue in our garden.  Our first year I had basic tomato cages that did almost no good.  Last year I bought bigger cages at 54" and even then eventually the tomatoes became so tall and large that they took the cages down. Luckily I was able to rig the cages up with stakes, bamboo poles and tying the plants to the 6' privacy fence. 

Tomatoes last year tied to the fence and anything else I could use to prop them up.

This year where the tomatoes are located I don't have a fence to act as a last resort support. I considered buying Texas tomato cages but decided they were too pricey for not being able to touch and test them out before buying them.  So I decided to use the 54" cages which are actually quite sturdy but then also to stake the tomatoes so that when they grow taller than the cages the tomatoes have an extra support.  The issue last year was that they became too tall and top heavy, the stake will hopefully solve this problem. 

I wasn't able to find stakes tall enough so I went to the lumber section of my hardware store and had them cut 1x2x8 cedar boards into 1x1x8.  I wanted stakes that were eight feet in length because I needed to put a good 12" or more in the ground to make sure that they are sturdy and able to hold the weight of the tomatoes but still have enough length above than the cages.  Right now the height of the stakes (at 7' tall) does look a little ridiculous and overkill but I am sure come July and August I will be happy with my decision. 

Garden Chores

The beans have been thinned to 4 inches apart.  Succession plantings of beans and radishes have been sowed.  My flowers for cutting have been planted.  I sprayed the tomatoes and squash again with fish emulsion to help the tomatoes fight off foliage issues and hopefully to revive the squash.  The tomato cages and stakes went into the garden.  Now that it warmed up here things are definitely chugging along.  Since the monsoon has finally ended I am going to place the soaker hoses into the garden this week because soon I will have to start watering again once the soil has time to properly dry out.

Thinned out beans and the succession planting coming in.  The second planting germinated much quicker in the heat we have been having.

It's hard to tell but my cutting flowers are coming in, the zinnias are doing the best which is the green row of tiny seedlings.  In the back of the box you can sort of see the ferny asparagus growing.