boogaj

Backyard View

I love the window above my desk, which looks out onto the backyard -- and more specifically, two of our bird feeders.  In the last 10 minutes I've seen a male cardinal, goldfinches, a nuthatch, various other finches (including perhaps a red finch, or house finch?  My daughter is much better at identifying these), and a European starling.  We also have attracted catbirds, mourning doves, robins (of course!), many woodpeckers and a couple of days ago we caught a glimpse of a blue jay.  In fact, we have a bird identification guide, and we try to mark off the birds we've seen in the yard. 

What unique birds do you attract to your yard, and how do you do it?

My day so far...

Maddie and I hit the garage sales, as we like to do each Friday morning.  I found this excellent blue polka dot Pyrex bowl for only 50¢ and Maddie found a couple books and a Pokemon game of some sort.  I passed on a Wagner cast iron corn bread pan, but I may have to go back tomorrow and try to make a deal (if it is still there!)

Then home and out into the crazy heat to harvest some goodies from the garden.  The green beans have been ripening like mad, the strawberries are hanging in there and I could have picked twice as many peppers.  The jalapenos are plump and fragrant this year and my kitchen smells quite peppery.

I also bought a half dozen ears of corn from the local farmstand, so I'm thinking stuffed jalapenos, boiled sweet corn and a side of green beans with a fresh made margarita on the side, perhaps?  Now if I could just get my tomatoes to ripen...

Garden Happenings

Can you see the baby beans?

 

And look at those jalapenos!  They are big producers this summer.

 

And these bell peppers doubled in size over the weekend!

 

The broccoli is taking its own sweet time, but I finally see the beginnings of something.

 

The tomatoes are growing slowly, but I'm starting to see lots of little green fellas. 

We are trying 4 different varieties and the Amish Paste once again seem to be doing best.

 

The cilantro goes to seed so quickly that I don't know why I plant it, but this moth seems to like the flowers.

 

The strawberries are still going strong.

 

We harvest them about every other day.

 

The late season berries are even bigger than the ones we got in the spring.

 

And this onion looks like it's getting big!  Have to figure out when I need to harvest these.  (Don't mind the weed!)

Anyone out there have a good recipe that uses jalapenos?  It looks like I'm going to have lots of them.

Strawberries and Peonies

 

The heat wave has it's benefits -- namely the quickly ripening strawberries in our garden.  While the dastardly squirrels managed to steal and bury many of the first to turn pink, we are finally starting to harvest some for ourselves after enclosing the plants in netting.  (As I planted other parts of the garden this past weekend, I nearly cried every time I turned up some dirt only to find more buried, slightly pink berries -- darn squirrels!)

 

The peonies have burst open this week, providing me with lots of fresh cut bouquets.  And can you see the red roses in bloom just outside the window in this photo?  That rose bush has done almost nothing over the past 6 years that we have lived here, then suddenly it decided to burst into bloom this year!  A beautiful sight outside my kitchen window.

End of Season

Well, it's that time of the year.  Tonight we are under a frost advisory, so I had to pull what I thought looked good from the garden -- the rest of the broccoli, a bunch of little jalapenos and some tomatoes that I think may ripen inside. 

I'll have to do a post on the successes and failures of the garden soon, while it is fresh in my mind.  I think things went better than expected for our first year of serious veggie/fruit gardening and I'm already looking forward to the 2010 seed catalogs arriving in my mail box.

Garden Harvest

A view of the garden from my kitchen window -- Pete and Maddie are in the background harvesting a carrot. . .

 

(Yes, he is happy to see you -- he he.)  We had very few carrots come up and I guess I was too lazy to do a second planting, but at least we have a few.  And I only need one for the pasta sauce I'm making tomorrow.

 

And since the tomatoes are finally turning red, I decided to make some garden salsa.  Luckily we still have a few jalapenos ripening, so I was able to throw a couple of those in there too. 

Julie's Garden Salsa

3 medium sized tomatoes, diced
2 jalapenos, finely diced, seeds removed (unless you like it hot!)
1/2 of a small red onion, finely diced
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic, finely diced or run through a garlic press
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt to taste
Cilantro, chopped

Just combine everything, stir well and taste. Add more of whatever you think it needs.

My salsa is a bit lacking because my cilantro has already gone to seed and the grocery didn't stock cilantro (?!?) but no matter, gotta make do with what you have.

Chicago Botanic Garden

This past weekend we took a little trip up to the Chicago Botanic Garden so we could check out the Bonsai Show.  Maddie has a bonsai book (which Pete and I purchased years ago at the Bonsai Show at the CBG) and has been interested in getting a bonsai of her own.  If you have any interest in bonsai, I have to recommend this yearly event which includes an exhibition of many bonsai created by both amateurs and professionals as well as a nice selection of vendors -- some quite helpful.

 

There is so much to see at the Chicago Botanic Garden in addition to the show.  The variety of gardens, all within walking distance of each other, are quite amazing.  There is a rose garden, fruit and vegetable gardens, water & waterfall gardens, a Japanese garden (actually a couple of islands) and so much more. 

 

If you live in the Chicago area and haven't been to the Chicago Botanic Garden before, I highly recommend it.  Check out their website before you go because they have lots of great events all season long.

Pickles from our Picklers

As part of the garden project for this summer, I planted two varieties of pickles -- a pickler and a regular, fresh eating type. The picklers went crazy and before I could figure out if they were ripe, a bunch went from immature to overripe in a week. I salvaged about 3 of them, and while they appeared to be a bit seedy, I decided to forge ahead and can a couple pints. At least we'll know if the flavor is good and will be able to adjust future batches.

These are simple to make -- slice up your cukes and place them in a jar with a garlic clove and a tsp. of dill seeds (important -- last year I used plain dill and it wasn't right. You either need dill heads, which are dill that's going to seed, or just pick up a jar of dill seeds and use those.) Then bring a vinegar, water and salt (non-iodized) to a boil on the stove. Use one cup of water, one cup of vinegar and one Tbsp. of salt for each pint you'll be canning. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the pickles in the jars, screw on lids and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

I think you need to let these sit for several days so the brine can penetrate the pickles. Maybe we'll crack open the first jar this weekend and give them a taste. In the meantime, I'm keeping a close eye on the sneaky picklers, so I don't lose anymore to over ripeness.

Garden Surprises

I took this photo of the garden this morning from my office window which I think shows off the amazing amount of growth that has occurred in the last few weeks. And while we have enjoyed eating from the garden -- salads, fresh pesto, peas and the occasional strawberry so far -- the surprising thing is that just having the garden has been so entertaining.

Every day Maddie loves going out and just looking at the garden -- seeing what is blooming, what it starting to grow, what is ready to be harvested. She loves picking the peas and helping me to shuck them. I have caught Pete stopping to check out the garden as he returns from work on many days and recently we have all had fun counting the new green tomatoes as they begin to grow.

I still am unsure how to grow so many of the things I've planted -- when to sow, water or harvest them -- but I'm growing more confident as time passes. There have been successes and failures (the lettuce is going to seed), but all in all, I'm calling the garden a success -- even if we don't harvest another thing -- because the whole family has enjoyed just having the garden so much.

Weekend Project -- Gardening

This year my big outdoor project is the new vegetable (and fruit!) garden. We have a 12' X 8' raised bed which is too big, I know. Two smaller beds would have been perfect, but this is what my contractor put in when I wasn't paying attention. I decided to put a path down the middle so that I can reach everything I grow.

This past Sunday I planted carrots, lettuce, spinach, peas, cucumbers and basil from seeds. I also transplanted some basil I had started indoors and transplanted the strawberry plants we purchased from the local nursery. I'm waiting a week or two to transplant the other seedlings I started indoors -- 2 varieties of tomatoes, green peppers, more basil and some flowers.

While I was planting, Pete was putting in the fence around the garden (and even making a gate!) We have rabbits and I've already seen them in the yard this spring, looking for goodies to nibble. They ate the leaves of the crocus plants down to stubs and I saw them eating the few weeds that were in the raised bed last week. We are hoping this fence will be enough to keep them away. Fingers crossed!

The Pea Patch

So at the end of August, the backyard project was finished and I finally had my raised bed.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any seed that late in the year (despite several trips to garden centers around town).  Then one Saturday Pete and Maddie stopped at the local Ace Hardware and while looking through the clearance bins found a lonely packet of peas.  Hmmmm. . .

I rushed to plant them so that they would have a good chance of growing before the first frost hit.  When they began to flower a couple of weeks ago, I had high hopes.  In fact, we do have some pea pods:

The weather is supposed to take a turn later this week, but today is sunny and warmer than the forecast predicted.  Grow peas, grow!

A Terrarium

This is a project I've been wanting to tackle for ages -- but of course it didn't work out at all as I had planned.  About a month ago I bought some awesome huge, old canning jars and I planned to make little terrariums in them -- one for me and one for Maddie.  Never mind that my hand couldn't even fit in the mouth of the jar, or that I couldn't find plants small enough anywhere.  I carried the list of supplies and plants with me optimistically for weeks -- visiting every "garden" center I could find.  I ended up buying rocks for the bottom layer from Hobby Lobby (and needed a second bag which Pete graciously ran out in a downpour to acquire!) and never found horticultural charcoal -- I'm using fish tank filter charcoal instead.  Sphagnum moss (used to keep the layers from leaking into one another) was nowhere to be found, so I cut pieces of tulle and used that instead.  And finally . . .

gave up entirely on the jars and opted for an old fish tank that had been banished to the basement awaiting the next fish or a new purpose.

Whew.  (This is why I call these things my "crazy" projects!)

New Lawn Toy

The way we take care of our lawn has been evolving.  First we gave up the professional lawn mowing -- I mean, they used a big gas guzzling monster mower and had to drive a big truck to get it here.  Not very environmentally friendly.  After that we canceled the lawn service -- no more chemical herbicides, pesticides and fossil fuel fertilizers.  And finally. . . we got a new mower.  Not gas, not electric, just good old fashioned human power. 

We purchased it last night and today Maddie was very excited to see it in action, so even though there isn't much grass to cut yet, I took it out and gave it a spin around the back yard.  It is a good work out and I think I'll be able to give up the elliptical machine on the days I mow.  I also like that I can mow the lawn -- at my leisure -- without a lot of fuss.  There isn't any gas or oil that has to be added, there isn't any cord that I have to pull (I've never been able to start a gas mower!)  Oh -- and a reel mower is quite inexpensive.  We got the wider model (20 in.) because we have almost a 1/2 acre lot and it was just over $100 -- the smaller model was under $100 (and no gas or annual service charge!)

Peonies

It was an awful year for the lilacs, but whatever the lilacs dislike, the peonies must love.  Our two peony bushes are looking incredible this year!  The pink one is blooming now. . .

Almost open. . .

Open!

But you know what they say about peonies -- the ants love 'em!  I guess there is nectar on the buds.  They seem to leave the flowers alone -- but look at a bud on the bush that hasn't started bloomin yet. . .

This makes my happy that they are located at the back edge of the yard and nowhere near the house!

Sunday Afternoon

Before:

After:

Not only did the windowboxes get filled, the front planters got planted:

Want to know my secret for getting beautiful full planters like that?  Buy a pre-made hanging basket.  Pop it out of the plastic container and into your planter, fill in around the edges with potting soil and you're all done!  Super quick and you end up paying about the same once you add up everything you would have bought individually.

I'm trying something new this year too.  A vegetable garden!  In a size that won't freak me out:

We bought two big pots and I planted two tomato plants and two basil plants in each.  I am trying two different locations to see which does better.  We have lots of trees, which means lots of shade, so I'm not sure how this will go, but I thought it would be fun to try.

Now I'm all worn out!  Time to go lie around on the couch and eat some of that homemade peanut butter ice cream I made last night!  Yummy!  (I used the recipe from Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book and it was a winner!  I bought a copy of this in a used bookstore ages ago and use it every summer -- one of the most used cookbooks I own.)

My favorite garden visitors. . .

Every year I forget about the butterflies -- then they arrive and I remember how much I love them!  The first ones are just starting to arrive this week.

And of course there are the bees.