Harvest Monday 3.19.12

March 19th already? Wowsa!

I have a new harvest (actually 2, but I digress) for the week. Finally! Lookie what I've got!

5 oz of Mulberries! Not much, but something different, and now that they have started I know that they will be coming in droves. The whole tree is loaded with them and if I can get to the berries before the birds do it will be a minor miracle, but non the less I think there is probably enough of them to share. The strawberries on the other hand... I seem to be coming up short on. I am only managing to bring in about a dozen a week now that aren't completely ravenged by birds or squirrels. They are starting to steal the unripe blueberries, too and that isn't good at all! :-( I'm debating on spending the $40 on one of those electronic owls that moves it's head but I don't know if it is worth it. Anyone tried it yet?

As for the rest of the week, I harvested 2 small heads of cabbage, a bunch of small heads of lettuce, some snow peas, snap peas, english peas, turnips, broccoli, spinach, carrots, onion (not pictured, grabbed for cooking) parsley, cilantro, a tomato, and the first cucumber of the year - WHOOT! I've got 3 more nearly ready on the vine so there will be more next week and they will be added to the lettuce and carrots and tomato for my salad. This is the first time in MY gardens history that I've ever had all three at the same time. :-D I'm so happy I'm a doin' a jig! *jiggity jiggity* and it's got nothing to do with St. Patty's day! ;-) Of course my failure to take a picture of said tomato is testament to happy I was to see it along with the lettuce, carrot and cucumber at the same time. I also put the strawberries, broccoli and snap peas in there, too - 'cause I just can't resist temptation.

I also ate until I thought I was going to be sick because I'm not real smart all the time.

However, the purple cabbage did NOT make it into my salad because i don't care for cabbage so don't ask me why I grow the stuff. *snort*

Linking in to Daphe's Dandelion's for the Harvest Monday down low. Stop on by her place to see what everyone is harvesting all over the world! Thanks Daphne for being a great hostess - I hope you enjoyed your holiday and have a fantastic harvest awaiting your return!

'Till next time!

Barbie~



Golly.

So big. *sniff* It never ceases to amaze me... It also never ceases to amaze me just how many times they can "graduate" LOL Of course the ceremony isn't for another couple months - but the 'official' pictures are in. I am thinking I'm not in love with them, but they are cute at least.

Some times I think they look more and more alike and other times less and less. Go figure.

Barbie~

Bloom day?

I think these are usually done on the first of the month, but I need a little cheer right now.

My little Annah is not feeling well still. So here are a few of the blooms and things around my home right now.

 What... you didn't think it would all be just flowers for show did you?

I could never leave the edibles out!

My plum tree has finally awoken for Spring... and the grapes as well. Only 2 vines and so far 12 itty bitty grape bunches. :-D

Here is a shot of the peaches - the flowers still coming with the fruit already setting. It's a first for me. A beautiful first.

I thought my peas were done but when I looked closer I found this....

They have begun blooming again!

So they escaped the grave and will live at least another 10 days to give another small crop of peas. YIPPEE!!! I <3 peas! I'm astonished that they are going another round in this heat- but I am so happy and I feel so LUCKY.

The mulberry - wait take a closer look...

 Oh yeah baby!!! it's COVERED in berries on every branch and just about ready for picking. I'm just hoping I can get to them before the birds. I'm ready to invest in a trained bird dog at this point. LOL.

And the beauty that is the blackberry has also woken up. A little early but you are surely not going to get me to complain. I thought I was dreaming when I saw it, but it's neighbor is doing more than flowering, it's already setting fruit. Evidenced here. I love these petite flowers. It may not be summer, but it sure feels like it. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so!

I hope my blooms can make you feel better, too. Just posting them gave my spirits a little lift.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Baby B and her Surgery

My poor little Annah B.

She had to have surgery. She was only a little nervous. It's a place she's been before, so it wasn't completely new to her.

She's a big girl, though and here she's waiting with her Daddy. They were playing Cars.

She new the Dr and some of the staff. Her regular ENT office in one door, and the Surgery Center is in the other. That makes it less scary. She sees the office pretty often.

We got matching pink bracelets that identified us as owning each other. He stuffed animal got one, too. ;-)

Then we went into the 'holding tank'

Looked more like a fish tank to me, but eh- whatever. She was very brave, indeed.

Next thing she knew she had a Popsicle and was all through! Of course an hour had gone by, but she'll never know that!

She was still pretty sleepy, but the next day she was right as rain again and playing games.

We kept her inside and busy all day reading and playing games.

But, last night and today she is not well. He temperature is having a hard time regulating itself. It keeps bouncing around like a Jack (or is that Jill?) in the box. One minute she's fine and the next she's burning a fever that has us on high alert waiting for the pediatrician to tell us to go to the hospital. Twice now we've only narrowly avoided it. Tonight doesn't look any better. Wish us luck.

I hope to be back soon with a good update!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 3.12.12

It's Harvest Monday. *Yawn* and I'm an hour late. Imagine that. That darn clock may have sprung, but my mind didn't. :-/
Funny thing is that up until Friday I had been waking up long before my alarm went off. But now that I need to be waking up that early I am not. Go figure.
Linking into Daphne's Dandelions for the party at her place. She's such a great host- even when she's not around she still put on a great show for us! Thanks Daphne!

This weeks harvest were not very varied but abundant none the less. More so than I thought they would be. The snow peas tapered off for the heat a bit -but are blooming again so we'll see if I can get one more run of them before I have to turn them under for the season until fall. but here are the pictures! :-) I do like to show them off when I can.

Check out the size of this non bulbed onion my cell phone is in the corner there - *ZOINKS!* I can't wait to see how big they get when they actually get some bulk on!

Last but not least I went out Sunday morning for a few strawberries to go on top of our blueberry pecan pancakes and ended up shirtvesting. My FAVORITE thing to do. You SO know what I'm talking about. You go out to pick just a thing or two to finish a recipe or top off that final ingredient and end up with this...

And of course that ended up turning into....

and that is my favorite thing ever. Not because it's just so much and all -but because it's unexpected.

I thought I was just bopping out for a handful of berries and came back with almost a pound of peas, and ate a bunch, too. :-D Love that. Plus of course I got to play a little while I was out there in the sunshine.

So that's it. Harvest Monday. I'm exhausted it was a long weekend. I'll have a lot more posts this week. Plenty to talk about. Gardening, Kiddos...but right now work is calling.

'Till next time!

Barbie

My 'taters.

So after doing some more research I found out that (these) potatoes don't do well after the soil warms over 80 degrees. Maybe I should clarify that. They don't form tubers well. Small, misshapen, or perhaps, low quantity of tubers.

After checking with FAWN (Florida Automated Weather Network) it appears that for this general region that time is oh, right at 65 days form the time I planted my seed taters. I was planning on planting more this weekend. Bummer. I guess I'll take a look and see if what I've got left is worth offering as a giveaway. I know it's not much, but if I can't use them I may as well make someone else happy!

Now I know that sweet potatoes do just fine in our sweltering hot sand so I will be looking for a great variety that can fend off all our pesky pests. Preferably something a little more determinate than rambling as I am still very limited on space even after the construction of the fence planter. While it's easy to remember now during blueberry season why I planted the ends in permanent planters for the berries, it isn't always so easy when I'm looking at the diagrams to find space for hogs like these to spread, and peanuts, and.... Oh yes I must reign in the Spring fever a little. I haven't even figured out my green beans yet. I need to get the new soil a good start with legumes and beans, so the first season on that side will be mainly that - and a LOT of marigolds. I've found the nematodes are a little too happy there yet.

Did I mention that hubby wants me to get a tiller? Such a cute and sweet thing to say to me. It makes me think he just wants some brownie points. I can't imagine trying to contain a tiller in such a narrow bed! Do they make micro tillers? LOL. That would serve him right for suggesting it. I told him I just needed a couple hens to take care of that problem - but that went over like a lead balloon. He seems to think the HOA president might REALLY start picking on us then. But, has that stopped me yet?

Peaches are blooming, . After all - they're not on 'the list' :-)

Actually they are setting. Little fruits are pushing out of the blooms while more blossoms open. It's the first time the blossoms haven't all come at once. But, nary a pip on the plum or persimmon yet. Still waiting for them and for the grape to break dormancy. Everything else is alive and well here. As am I.

I had a chance to escape the tirade here. It meant 15 minute commutes to work instead of an hour and a half each way. But, it also meant giving up everything I've already put into this home. It meant not only starting over, but giving up. I can't do that. Maybe in a few years, when the market turns and I can do it fairly but not like a coward. Why should I, because I can? To ruin my credit like so many millions of other Americans - because they did? Nah, no thanks. I'm tougher than that. I'll stick it out and complain here. I'll pretend that it makes a difference - at least it makes me feel better. I'm so glad you here blog.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

Harvest Monday 3.5.12

Ah- March. Spring has sprung. Of course as the old adage goes Spring has DEFINITELY come in like a lion. Yesterday I had to fish my greenhouse out of the pool. It was not a pretty sight. It took a long time, and my hands were icicles by the end of it all. The greenhouse suffered for it. There are a few holes in the visqueen cover and some of the connectors are broken, but nothing that will keep me from using it again next year. I think after it dries out I'm going to break it down and store it away for next year.

The storm that put it in my pool came through with 50-60 mile an hour winds and other than knocking a few pots over and sending some seedlings for a ride it didn't bring much damage with it. Thankfully.

After the storm I found these few gems waiting for me:

Yup. The first tomatoes of the season were knocked free from the vine- but they were nearly ready anyway so no harm no foul. More snow peas and a good handful of shelling peas to boot!

I spent the rest of the VERY WINDY day inside doing this....

I made strawberry jam. I just love this stuff. I can't get enough really. It's like apple butter. I find myself making excuses to use it. Finding things to eat it on. I get the feeling I'll find every ounce of it and every ounce of the food I'm putting it on placed evenly across my scale later this week. HUMPH> Worth it though. It's so fresh and lovely tasting. I just can't help myself!

As for the rest of the week? Here are the harvests!

A cell phone shot of the berries and snow peas I brought in for the kids to snack on while I made dinner one night.

 This was the grand haul here... this turned into 4 gallon bags of lettuce, a gallon of spinach,  a quart of cilantro and a colander of assorted other veggies. That was a fun night. We had to hurry to get everything in before dark!

Here is another pound of snow peas blanched and ready for the freezer before I can seal them.

Final tally for this week - of what got weighed prior to eating.... Carrots 13oz, Lettuce 1lb 10oz, Cilantro 3oz,  Strawberry 8oz, Snow Peas 1lb 15oz, Garden Peas 5.5oz

Linking in to Daphne's Dandelions - don't forget to check her out and see what others are harvesting and how they are using those harvest. People sign in from all over the world! Thanks for being such a great host Daphne!

'Till next time!

Barbie~

My colanders

My colanders have been full lately.

Full and overflowing.

I am loving it.

Yes I am on a posting spree today.

I roll like that.

Ain't it just beautiful? I cna't stand it. I have to go eat a salad, then for desert, some salad.


Bye now!

Barbie~

OOPS! I did it again!

I did, I really did!

I messed with my HOA again!

I trimmed back the orchid tree pretty severely and they really enjoyed that. Made a point of saying so. But, I did it to get more sun to the veggie beds that are directly on the other side of that fence and to get more blooms, not for them.

It's been a couple weeks since then, and now I've gone and gotten the hornets nest all stirred up again. :-) Oh yes, I have. See, I might have built just a teeny, tiny retaining wall....

OK, maybe teeny tiny isn't QUITE the right description for it.

It's about 60 foot long and over a foot tall...Well, What do you expect? I had to do something this year to mess with it! This bed has been messing with my head on how to get it more productive and more edible since I started it and I finally figured out how to do it and get away with it. Make it match with the big one in the front. Of course now we have a GIANT RETAINING WALL ALL THE WAY AROUND OUR PROPERTY!!!!  (see first retaining wall) It looks really intimidating and slightly impressive if you don't know that it's (or is going to be by tomorrow) mulched to 3" deep to prevent the weed in there and has all the right types of bushes and things to keep from having to rip up and out plants every year.

I may also have plans to put some more edibles in there.  Possibly. OK, definitely.

Then again they haven't figured out yet that 16 of those bushes already ARE edible.

Tomorrow the cardboard and mulch is scheduled to go in. The guavas are beginning to bud out again so it's really important timing to retain that moisture!

In this side bed: Hong Kong Orchid White & Pink,  Majesty Palm, Pineapple guava(4) Strawberry guava(4) Sea grapes (4)  Gumichama (2) Brazilian Cherry (2) Hibiscus & Croton  - scheduled to enter within 4-6 weeks in seedling trays: Amaranth Greek giant, Amaranth Jacobs coat, Calalloo, Red Thai Roselle

SUCKERS! Just WAIT until they see me out there every week with my colanders collecting things and bringing them in. You know that is just going to make them itch to send me that $100 a day fine. What do you bet that they try to figure out what it is I am eating? *snicker* Good thing that the amaranth is so beautiful it is sold locally as Florida poinsettia and very expensive to boot - and the calalloo so prolific. They will never guess those- as for the Roselle it is truly a hibiscus so they can't do a darn thing about it but gawk and wonder why my husbands cholesterol is so low.

The next street over belongs to a different neighborhood and the neighbors over their actually came out of their way to come over and complement us on all of the work we put into the house and the changes that they see us making to it. She told me that not only does she see me working in the front yard and see the difference there, but hears us outside with the kids day to day and how I keep on them and discipline them, etc. She said it was a breathe of fresh air to know that some of the older generations' habits were still alive and well teaching and training children the way they were meant to be. With love and respect and care. Out with nature and not left to their own devices. What a wonderful compliment! To know that I am teaching my kids to grow up and be responsible people and to love not only the environment and gardening but each other as well. Some times I feel like I'm too strict or overbearing or whatever but I think that is just part of being responsible and protective - what we are meant to be to our children. (sorry side jig there)

Off to soak my poor fingers that have been worked to the bone now...Oh, and my head 'cuz I got hit in the head with a falling shovel and I don't think the explicatives I might use are proper for a family friendly blog so I won't tell the story here. Suffice to say one of my kids dropped a shovel (yes a full sized, no not a kiddy sized) shovel on my head and I have a lump there and it hurts, BAD but it was still soooo worth it.

'Till next time!

Barbie~

FOODS~!

Oh! I just had to post this. It's not like I don't cook every single day. It's just that I am so enamored with these snow peas I can't get over it. So I thought I'd post a picture of one of our dinners that is almost entirely from the garden - well all except the meat that is.

I am pretty sure this is the best stir fry I have ever had. Like in my life. Now- I lived in Hawaii for 5 years of my life - so that is saying something. It wasn't the sauce. No, certainly not that. Cause it wasn't the best sauce int he world it was the best veggies and the freshest taste.

O...M...G....

That's all.

Snow Peas, tatsoi, and broccoli with fresh garlic and green onion.

YUMMM

I think I died and went to heaven.

'Till next time!

Barbie~