fuzzy baby melons

it seemed like my melon plants were lagging behind, but this week two little guys were spotted on the watermelon and canary melon vines.

these make me want to turn my yard into a farm!=)

growing garlic and herbs

if i had known how effortless garlic was, i would have started growing it long ago.

on a whim last fall, i planted some grocery store cloves from the fridge. after reading now was the time to get those garlic bulbs in, i stuck 'em in the 2' by 2' box, and that was that. no fussing, pruning, staking or trellising. yes please.

the cloves sprouted before winter and grew very quickly come spring. eight out of nine made it, but two were very small. this fall i'll choose the largest cloves, and i'd like to plant many more.

the browning leaves are a sign it's time to harvest. mine were ready mid-june.

they were washed and set out to cure on our porch in the shade. it'll be a few weeks more before they are completely dry.

we sampled the two smallest bulbs and oh my, homegrown garlic is gooood.

growing my own has become quite an addiction. a few months ago i planted a piece of ginger root in a pot. today i noticed a little sprout - yippie!=)

in pots we also have cilantro, oregano...

basil, sage and dill. in the ground we've got spearmint, which comes back and spreads every year. it makes a very nice addition to our smoothies. oregano is also a perennial. we cut the tops off and dry them in a brown bag.

in a few weeks the leaves are crunchy enough to be crumbled and stored in a jar.

the rest of my herbs (basil, sage, dill, cilantro) were started from seed. basil seedlings give me such a hard time that i think i'll buy starters next year. if it's not the bugs eating them it's the sun scorching them...

csa week three

muth family farm's organic csa week 3: curled kale, collards, mizuna, purslane, chioggia beets, romaine and green leaf lettuce, savoy cabbage, yellow squash, cucumbers, eight-ball squash, zucchini, and blueberries from a local organic farm

today i made a jar of sauerkraut with the cabbage and two beets. the zucchini are going to my friend - i'm told she makes a delicious salad with cannelini beans, lemon juice/zest and basil. fingers crossed the kale keeps 'til the weekend so i can make a big batch of cheesy chippies to bring to a bbq.
 
john requested vegan pancakes with the blueberries. i also plan to surprise him with zucchini brownies -  he loves them and i didn't make him any last summer. better do it soon before it's way too hot to use the oven. (note: i sub coconut oil for the veg oil in both recipes and top our brownies with coconut flakes instead of the icing.)

i'm really looking forward to a nice big salad with fresh cucumber and blueberry vinaigrette and recreating last season's smoothie with honeydew melon.

 salad with john's blueberry vinaigrette

 smoothie prep: pear, collard greens, lemon, banana, bloobs, canary melon, purslane and cucumber with ice cubes - one of my favorites!

 green pear-tini

smoothie-sippin' in the summer... does it get any better?=)

community garden update

the gourds

(watermelon, canary melon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, acorn, spaghetti and kabocha squash, and cucumber)

spaghetti squash?

not sure what these are - any guesses?

sunflower

below shows the garden less than three weeks ago! 

june 8th

my thumb there shows how thick the sunflower stems have gotten.

those zucchinis were used to make "crab" cakes.

the gourds will soon take over the surrounding plots if i don't trim them. i'm very grateful for the fruitful season we've had thus far.

my thoughts and prayers go out to those afflicted with terrible weather conditions, especially those losing their homes and harvests to floods.

echinacea blooms

csa week two

muth family farm's organic csa week 2: swiss chard, fennel, curled kale, purslane, savoy cabbage, bok choy, lettuce, scallions, eight-ball squash and zucchini

for lunch i made a smoothie with purslane. purslane contains more omega-3's than any other leafy vegetable plant. i like the flavor it adds to my smoothies and it's something different from the usual greens. 

with the savoy cabbage, or curly cabbage as i like to call it, i whipped up philip mccluskey's simple herb cole slaw. usually i make it with basil and cilantro but this time i tried my homegrown garlic, dill and caraway seeds.

i'm about ankle-deep in zucchini - not quite knee-deep or up-to-my-elbows -  yet!  last week i made fried "zucchini parmesan-less' and pizza with zucchini sliced length-wise as the base. both were scrumptious. 

 zucchini pizza with walnut "sausage"

following a suggestion from my blogging buddy kt, i tried raw squash blossoms stuffed with my cashew cheese. though they were very tasty, i don't think i'll be making them again. there were too many ants and ladybugs living in the blossoms that had to be relocated, so i'll stick to just eating the fruit.=)

for dinner i decided to make a veggie burger with zucchini, similar to "beet this burger". zucchini took the place of the cooked oats. it was very good, though there was quite a bit of chopping and shredding. the recipe was doubled to make eight patties, and six were frozen for three other meals, which made the labor worth it.=)

pre-cooked patty

looks a little like raw meat, doesn't it?!

csa week one

my beloved nikon coolpix was left behind at my mom's house, so i had to resort to the cell phone for capturing today's highlights.

muth mondays have arrived! *happy dance*

muth family farm's organic csa week 1: curled kale, basil, zucchini, collards, scallions, swiss chard, romaine lettuce, pak choi, parsley, and baby beet greens

a view of the farm from the parking lot

extra-green smoothies with banana, apple, peach, lemon, collard and chard

(due to the IC, i have to watch my intake of fruits, hence the little guy)

dinner tonight/lunch tomorrow: pak choi, zucchini, bell peppers, mushies, and garden pea stir-fry with quinoa

squash plants at the community garden

 

miss madji coming out her cat cave to ask, "you gonna feed me or what?"

=)

today's blossoms and harvest

first zucchini and canary melon blooms of the season=)

    mustard greens and kale

    lettuce, peas and purple plum radish

    today's lunch: mustard greens, kale, and kidney beans in a curry cream sauce

on the menu for tonight: garden salad and veggie burritos

my day...

began at 5:40 am when i was woken by a furry paw tapping my face for breakfast. she fell right back to sleep, but by the time i fell back asleep it was time to wake up.

after doing the usual morning stuff, i picked sugar snap peas and basil to go with my lunch. i'm amazed the peas are still producing with the heat we've been having.

something's eating my basil again this year...

breakfast was an apple and plantain tea. the tea helps ease the pain from a bladder condition i have called interstitial cystitis. coffee is one of the main agitators because of its acidity, so i haven't had any since the start of my flare-up about a month ago. grrr.

it was a hot one today... the temperature read 86° at 8 am! coming home it read 104° yowza!

there's my exit... (don't worry, i was very careful taking photos in my car - just pointed and clicked.)

(i like how these folks re-purposed automobile chairs.=)

oscar greeted me when i got to the porch. he's so sweet.

the kids and i played outside, took a walk around the neighborhood, painted, blew bubbles...

then made peanut butter and fruit sandwiches for lunch.

i had leftover raw pizza and salad. the pizza was so yummy, the kids kept asking me for more bites!

after babysitting, i made a pit-stop to pick up biggles' favorite coconut oil.

they were all out but i grabbed some other things on sale. i also had a 20 percent off coupon.=)

when i got home i found my csa newsletter in the mail. the season starts monday - woohoo!

using the roasted pepper hummus i had just picked up, i made john and myself a snack.

then i laid down in bed to unwind and fell asleep.

when i awoke from my nap it was time to water the thirsty plants.

our zucchini has taken off and is starting to produce fruit.

the echinacea will soon be blossoming, finally. i started the seeds in april of 2010!

john watered the home garden with the hose since our rain barrel has been empty for over a week now. we're supposed to get rain this weekend *fingers crossed*.

i rode my bike to water our plots at the community garden.

most plants are doing well, except the nasturtiums. this is my third year trying to grow nasturtium with no luck. hmph.

on the bright side, this is my first year with pole beans and they are starting to vine.

when all the watering was done i picked veggies to go with our dinner - sugar snap peas, kale and sweet peas.

din-din was a scrumptious stir-fry over quinoa. i don't like to use my stove often so i made enough quinoa for veggie sushi to have another night.

my day tomorrow will look pretty similar, except i'll be going swimming after babysitting. it's supposed to be even hotter. ugh. two heatwaves and it's not even summer yet!