Newport Garden Walk 2 of 2

Here are some more pictures of the beautiful gardens we saw.

We saw plenty of gorgeous, large established hydrangea.

 

Beautiful Containers

 

One interesting gardener loves to bake bread and installed an outdoor brick oven as an integral part of their design.

 

And of course I got excited to see things like rain barrels and their newly installed community vegetable garden.

 

Newport Garden Walk 1 of 2

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to go to the Newport Garden Walk.  This was my second year, Andy's first.  It is quickly becoming a tradition to go with my Mom and then have lunch in Bellevue at Virgil's a French Creole inspired restaurant.  I love this garden walk because it is in a historic part of Northern Kentucky so the architecture is gorgeous and many of the houses have beautiful grand porches.  We are only 15 minutes from our house and just barely across the river but this part of town feels as if you have driven hours into the South.

Most of the houses have very small yards and thus are densely and lushly planted.  I love the character and vibrant gardening culture in this neighborhood.  Here are some of the things we saw:

Mirrors are used in interior design to reflect light and make small spaces seem larger, they can do the same thing for your garden.

 Edibles in the landscape

Instead of a climbing flower they chose grape vines to drape their fences.

Strawberries fill an entire decorative bed.

 Decorative garden ornaments are used to support tomatoes instead of the typical cages.

Fences aren't used just for privacy or property division.  These gardeners know how to use them as another surface to garden on.

 

 

 

 More pictures tomorrow!

New Harvests

Last week I continued to harvest small amounts herbs and radishes from the second planting.  In the first picture on the right you can see my entire spinach harvest this year, not quite what I was hoping for but at least it is something.  The first green beans were harvested along with a few of the royal burgundy snap beans that were ready too!

Goodbye Broccoli

I decided to pull out the broccoli.  I transplanted them April 10th, they have been slow to grow and now they continue to do nothing.  No tiny broccoli heads, nothing.  I have however been picking off cabbage moth caterpillars and checking them daily.  I'm afraid soon they will be infested with them.  Last year we had an unfortunate experience with broccoli from another's garden.  Even after three salty water baths I still couldn't get all the tiny caterpillars out and eventually we just tossed it all instead of risking eating one.  We decided to do broccoli this year, harvest them and then pull them before they got infested. 

When they were small I planted radishes in between and now the broccoli are stunting their continued growth by shading them.  I figured it was their time to go since they have produced nothing useful yet and at least if I give the radishes more Sun I will get something from this plot.  I planted some cilantro in their place for a late Summer/Fall crop and will probably sow Kale once the radishes have been picked.  We left one lone plant to see how long it takes before it finally produces some broccoli.

Before

After

Turner Farm

Andy and I recently got a chance to visit a local sustainable farm.  We spent a Saturday an evening walking around, looking at what they grow, how they grow it, watching the animals and enjoying the open space.  Here are just a few of the things we saw.

 

Goodbye Asparagus

The end of asparagus season is here.  We celebrated by eating asparagus our favorite way: blanched with hollandaise sauce, along with a good steak.  Hollandaise is actually quite easy to make despite what people think.  If you have a electric hand mixer the process is much easier otherwise you will definitely get a good arm workout.

Hollandaise Sauce:

4 egg yolks
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 stick of unsalted butter melted
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of salt

In a stainless steel bowl over barely simmering water whisk egg yolks and lemon juice until doubled in volume.  Make sure water does not boil or get too hot and scramble the eggs.  Slowly drizzle in cooled melted butter while whisking until doubled in size.  When thickened add in a pinch of cayenne and salt to taste.  Cover and keep in a warm spot until ready to use.  If it becomes too thick add a few drops of warm water.

Bean Flowers

I had no idea the bean flowers were going to be so pretty.  They really brighten up and add color to the garden.  Little teeny tiny beans have started to set.

Garden Progress

It's amazing how overnight the garden just seems to really get going.

Almost all the tomatoes have set fruit.

These are San Marzanos

The beans are filling in and the squashes are getting larger by the day.

Lettuce

Goodbye Spring lettuce, hello Summer.  The lettuce is going bitter and I have Summer varieties growing but nothing ready to pick.  With the first day of official Summer being tomorrow it is time to move on.

This is just some of the lettuce picked.  I have also been picking plenty of herbs but I normally just take what I need before cooking and none of it gets recorded.

Aerials

Things have been progressing quickly now in the garden.  It looks quite different from the last aerial which was a little less than a month ago.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day out there to all the Dad's.  We celebrated a few weeks ago when my Dad was in town and had brunch for him.  At the time I was barely getting anything from the garden but you can see the chive blossoms on the salad.

This is a video that was passed onto me awhile ago and I have been saving it especially for today.

Wildflower Cafe

In our quest to eat locally, humanely and sustainably raised food we have also been frequenting restaurants who share our same beliefs.  One of our favorites is Wildflower Cafe.  We have actually been eating there before we started this quest because the food there is excellent.  My mother in law turned me onto this restaurant and we even had them cater our rehearsal dinner. 

They use all local sources for their food and all of their farmers raise their food sustainably and humanely.  When I eat there I always feel good about what I am eating.  The menu is constantly changing based on what is in season and available.  In the main dining room the menu is written on a wall sized chalkboard.  The restaurant has the charm of a cute cozy farm style restaurant but still has bistro appeal for any urbanite with a wine bar upstairs.  Based on appearances you might think that the food is going to be simple but the Wildflower easily competes with all the upscale gourmet cooking in the city and won the #1 burger in Cincinnati in 2010 by Cincinnati Magazine.  We love this restaurant and always keep going back for more.

Two different versions of the burger, it's hard not to always get one especially since it is the best!

Steak and Crab with garlic mashed potatoes, fresh veggies, and beurre blanc