The Thick of Summer

We seem to be alternating between air conditioning, cold swimming holes and eating anything we can coming out of our garden and the gardens of others.

My vegetable garden is starting to look like typical early August. Totally overrun with weeds and neglected by me. This has been our relationship for years now. I need to be okay with it, because I don't seem to make any attempts to change how it plays out. Grumbling about the weeds, without the where-with-all to do anything about them, is just starting to feel silly.

Inside with a book and a tall glass of iced sweet tea is where I want to be, not hacking away at weeds in 98-degree heat with high, hair-raising humidity.

There, I said it.

More on indoor pursuits:

Reading: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; Bossypants; The Glass Castle; Old School (by Tobias Wolff); The Little House (a childhood favorite that Uncle Chris bought for Willa).

Watching: True Blood Season 3; Kitchen Nightmares (the early, more palatable seasons with more coaching, less screaming); and we are starting Treme tonight. Also, I went to see a Sunday afternoon matinee of Crazy Stupid Love with a friend - *GO*.

Eating: Homemade applesauce with those tart, midsummer green apples from Henley's; also from Henley's - their peach ice cream; pickles (still); 'Sugar Baby' watermelon ice pops (just puree watermelon in the blender and pour into molds); Sungold tomatoes - warm from the garden; corn-corn-corn; iced Republic of Tea Ginger Peach refrigerator tea.

Visiting: Various Sugar Hollow swimming spots and thinking about Grand Caverns sometime this week. Where it stays a cool 54-degrees year-round.

Thank you: To Albemarle Family for a sweet LISH mention in their magazine.

Harvesting Right Now

Garlic and lavender! And a little bit of dill and Red Russian Kale (I keep harvesting from this one plant and it keeps producing. Amazing.)

The okra, collards, green beans and tomatoes are coming in nicely.

The swiss chard and the beets are un-remarkable, but I am still curious to see how they will turn out.

Little Sugar Baby watermelons are sprouting on their vines and we have two (TWO!) fig-lettes on our fig tree.

I also have two HUGE squash/pumpkin volunteer plants - one in the very neglected part of the vegetable garden and one next to the compost pile.
(Time to start appreciating the unexpected and looking away from the disappointments. We won't talk further on the pumpkin starts that I actually killed.)

We also won't talk about the English shelling peas that I harvested, handed over to Willa and she exuberantly tossed and scattered (never to be seen again) around the meadow, to the wind and . . . to the dogs. While my back was turned. Um, yeah.

Summer Planning

Image from CaptainCat's etsy store - Birdcage for sale!

It doesn't look like we will be traveling much this summer. So I have turned to planning small day trips and treats from home that might serve the same purpose as a mental break from the routine. Which I am actually really excited about . . .

:. Slurping Serendipity's Frozen Hot Chocolate. (I used to go to Serendipity's when I lived up in NYC.)
:. Eating cucumber sandwiches. (Hello, white bread!)
:. Finding the perfect vintage birdcage.
:. Listening to more Bessie Smith.
:. Running more through The Women's Four Miler Training Program. (I ran the 5K two weeks ago, so hope to step it up to four miles by this September.)
:. Enjoying a summer reading list that includes: The Thirteenth Tale, See You in a Hundred Years, The Help, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and The Girl Who Played With Fire, Bossypants (Tina Fey) and Water for Elephants. All somewhat light and good distractions.
:. Taking day trips - including Richmond for the gardens at The Virginia House and Agecroft Hall.
:. Visiting swimming holes! Cold and shaded. Willa and I love hunting for salamanders and crayfish, too.
:. Going to the movies with friends. Air conditioning + salty popcorn = a mini-vacation. Last night, Sarah and I saw "Midnight in Paris." LOVED!
:. Getting outdoor chores completed in the morning and then napping in the afternoon.
:. Watching Doc Martin on Netflix streaming.
:. Getting back to sewing and upcycling clothing.
:. Letting the garden be for the next two months. Some weeding, some watering.
:. Baking our own bread. (Now reading: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.)
:. Going to see The Decemberists at the Pavilion in August.

What about you?

Food Production in the Garden

I have to say, I am on the fence lately about vegetable gardening. Maybe because it tends to be peppered with a robust bit of frustration. And, it is a lot of sweaty work. I like gardening, but I don't like sweating. And getting all itchy. And being attacked by biting ants. And strategizing on how to foil the deer and the bunnies and the groundhog.

You see, I rarely have harvests that leave me speechless. I grow more along the lines of grazing opportunities. Our small cold frame has actually been the most productive part of our growing food endeavors. Along with the rhubarb. And a lot of rhubarb, as much as I love it, is, well, A LOT of rhubarb.

But, I remain hard-wired to continue and try. And so, a quick inventory of this year's efforts.

Garlic - So close to harvest time. Garlic scapes are happening right now.
Broccoli - I hate it. Willa loves it. So I grow it. But I missed its fleeting harvesting moment this year and it bolted within a day.
Asparagus - Entering its second year. Slow progress there, but progress just the same.
Collards from seed (*new to our garden*)
Okra from seed (*new to our garden*)
Beets from seed (*new to our garden*)
Swiss chard from seed (*new to our garden*) - The beet seedlings look exactly like the swiss chard seedlings. And I didn't mark them. This should be interesting.
Sugar Baby watermelon - A favorite that grows easily under the walnut tree.
Tomatoes - Brandywine, Yellow Brandywine, Cherokee Purple and Sungold and Yellow Pear cherries
Strawberries - Presently residing in two containers on the deck.
Connecticut Field pumpkins - A Willa request.
Green beans
Radishes
Sprinklings of Red Russian kale, shelling English peas and sugar snap peas (The peas were discovered by the deer a few weeks ago and were decimated rather quickly - a few survivors are keeping the faith and sending out new flowers and pods. The garden is now wrapped within rebar posts and deer netting.)

Just as I question the labor, I'll then watch Willa gobble down something - straight from the garden - and it sends me back out there. To do battle with the brier patches, quack grass, evil-looking spiders and the bald sun. I want her to know what these things taste like, fresh from the earth, warm from the sun and grown from a seed that she planted all by herself. Turns out, life experiences involve a little sweat equity. I think I can live with that - and plan to garden from 8 - 9 p.m. during the summer months.

Trees and Shrubs and Cooperation

Looking up from under a flowering tree is an important part of life.
(Photo taken last weekend in Staunton's Gypsy Hill Park.)

Last autumn, I planted my first tree. A red bud. The power of planting a tree and keeping it alive kind of intimidated me. So every day for the last month, I have checked in with it. Staring at it. Willing the buds to happen. And they are starting to show. I am thrilled and relieved and now want to plant more.

Corey and I got a little stuck in planning for the larger components in our landscape. But I think we have figured it out and will be heading to the nursery this weekend. I will focus on the understory trees and shrubs and he will pick out the bigger trees. That is how our house works/worked, too. He focuses on the bones and structure and then I swoop in with the details. It seems to sort itself out - although I know it made him crazy when I wouldn't have much of an opinion on house construction. I just didn't get into that part of it all and this confused the hell out of his genetic make-up. I would be happy moving into any already completed structure and adjusting to its ways through playing around with furniture and color and light.

My wish list for this weekend includes - a pink dogwood, a weigela, a scented viburnum, a caryopteris 'Blue Mist' (or two) and a fruit-producing quince. I bought a fig yesterday - a 'Chicago Hardy'. I might get all crazy and purchase a 'Brown Turkey' or a 'Celeste', too.

In other garden news:

We bought a few more strawberry plants yesterday and put them in containers on our porch. Willa was so excited about being a part of the planting, she wanted to check on them first thing this morning. I know the feeling, sweet thing.

Also, we picked up some broccoli starts in the same trip. I hadn't grown it before last year and it was a surprising winner. We had enough to freeze from just a few plants. Huh.

I am thinking that some more asparagus is in order. We only have three plants in the ground right now and it is a spring-time favorite at our house.

I got on the Kubota tractor two weeks ago and used the front loader. I now understand the beauty of big machinery.

A friend and I took the little ones the other day for a hike up at Sugar Hollow. She has eagle eyes for and a knowledge of wildflowers. It was like having a curtain lifted - I saw things I hadn't noticed before like - cutleaf toothwort, bloodroot and hepatica.

That same friend gave me a generous bundle of rhubarb. That means rhubarb syrup. This weekend. Hopefully with something cold and dirty.

Radish Butter

Sometimes, if I can't fall asleep, I set the iPod up and listen to podcasts of The Splendid Table. And just before drifting off one winter night, I listened to The Lee Brothers talk about radish butter.

This sent me back out to the cold frame in early February to sprinkle down some radish seeds. And yesterday, I harvested the first one.

I have always been meh about radishes. But radish butter is another animal. Peppery and savory. On toasty bread. Whoa. I didn't push it further when Corey declined a taste. Without any hesitation, I just turned back around and polished off the serving myself.

Here's the recipe. If you are lucky enough to have access to fresh, local butter, make the investment!

Toss or Be Tossed

Just a few photos from life as of late. Although, I have to admit, these are highly selective - other life stuff tossed us around earlier in the week. There's the way I handle stress and the way I would like to handle stress. Grrrrr. Any increments in between make me hopeful for future challenges. Chocolate seems to help sustain those small moments of clarity, too. But all is well and I (literally) now know that I have my health.

Too tired to really cook dinner last night, I knew I could at least chop some vegetables and roast them (top photo). The butternut squash went with pasta, the beets will become a salad and the okra. Gah! Well, the okra never made it to a plate - I snacked on it all while cleaning the kitchen. Yes - it was that good. I just tossed everything with olive oil, salt and pepper. 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

The Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello (middle photos). Tomato tastings and TJ's vegetable garden. My trusty, adorable and curious side-kick, Willa, and I went last Saturday. I am writing more about it over at Virginia Living Magazine.

Our tomato patch seems to like September as much as I do. The bottom photo is of Cherokee Purples. The Sungolds are going gangbusters with a second harvest, too.

P.S. A comfort meal for the tired soul - Alisa's Basil BLT. With a basil-mayonnaise. My husband hates bread (one of life's great mysteries) and mayonnaise (more understandable) and loved this sammich.

The (Second) Time of the Year for Beginnings (And Other Stuff)

Leni - teacher-cook-gardener-historian-awesomeness.

New beginnings for an old stand-by.

Late summer walk/evening light self portrait.

Garden harvests.

Late-August into September is the second time of renewal in both my personal world and my gardening world. My inner-dweeb picks up on the new school-year jolt of life and it tends to be the real beginning of the year for me. So there are fresh plans and kinda-sorta resolutions.

I would like to clean and de-clutter the house to make way for all of the crisp activities autumn brings.

I would like to hit up the local nurseries (and their sales) and plant perennials, shrubs and trees through early November.

I am planning a fall balcony vegetable garden outside of Willa's room. My first thoughts on this project are here at Virginia Living.

I am thinking about knitting and sewing again.

I am trying to increase my exercise during the week to four days and have been loving Zumba at the Old Crozet School Arts (and plan to take ballet there in the fall). I also took a yoga class yesterday at the university that, sadly, left me with a kink in my neck. Which also left me confused.

The change in weather usually releases us back outside for more evening walks (photo from one above). We were chased inside earlier in the month by the chigger-tick-tiger mosquito trinity that left us all looking rather pocky and pathetic. But I need (fresh) air and sun. (I am secretly looking forward to that first frost, too.)

Under "Other":

The bold colors from our gardens are something else (photo above of Sungold tomatoes and zinnias). It really is amazing that they are still productive, after the summer we had.

Dutch baby pancakes. They cook up easily and they taste like those eggy Swedish pancakes - especially if you don't skimp on the lemon and powdered sugar. Big thanks to the friend who recently made these for me and Willa.

Cold-brewed iced coffee from Smitten Kitchen.

The $1 vintage tricycle find. Would you believe that I sit at my work post and daydream about the satisfaction I will get from sanding rust off of chrome later that night? Photos of the fixed-up tricycle coming soon. (Also, it didn't hurt that I married a bicycle mechanic.) Next: Restoring a Chevy Nova.

I learned how to make Mexican tamales with Leni last weekend (photo above of Leni with her zinnias). She encouraged getting together with friends to make vast quantities that can be frozen. A Tamale Party! With sipping tequila, I envision. I already hit up a local Mexican grocery for the corn husks and masa. And a curious purchase of dried hibiscus flowers that I needed to have, but haven't the slightest idea how to use.

Miscellany in the June Garden

Love-in-a-Mist patch from our gardens (above). Start one - you won't regret it.

We've been eating broccoli, Red Russian Kale, mustard greens, Sungold tomatoes, garlic scapes and a small harvest of juneberries from our garden. I returned home from our trip to find that a woodland creature had snibbled away all of my much anticipated 'Endless Wonder' blue hydrangea blossoms and some of the elderberry plants. Round one of the deer foil project has been put into effect. I need to become comfortable with the fact that I will probably be on the losing end of this war.

Watermelon, honeydew melons, zucchini and muskmelons were planted over the weekend. Annnnndddd a bunny has already decimated the muskmelons. *Big sigh of frustration*. All the tomatoes and basil are in - Brandywine, Pink Brandywine, Old German, more Sungolds and another cherry variety. I also just bought a 'Blue Beard' caryopteris, a pale pink rose and more blue speedwell for under our walnut. And I am going to do a very small rock and container garden with petunias and verbena and other sturdy annuals that hopefully won't become bunny fodder.

These long nights send me out to plant, weed and water with a glass of chilled lemoncello to keep me cool. Last night I was out there until 9:20 - with a nice, loopy buzz. I'm not going to lie - I am looking forward to a little more sitting with that lemoncello during the cicada-zzzzzzy, humid nights of July and August and appreciating my garden from the porch.

On a side note: We drove through the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg after a several hours at Amazement Square a few weekends back. The trip also included Corey buying a new work trailer for his truck - which looked mildly creepy and predatory lumbering through a cemetery. But I must get back there to stroll its gardens quietly - and they were selling antique rose cuttings! The ones, I imagine, that have that nostalgic scent I am always looking for . . . the scent of summer.

I Love My Early Spring Garden

I spend a lot of time out here starting in February and usually giving up in June - when it gets blisteringly hot and I leave the garden to fate. But these early months are the stuff - supremely satisfying in the smaller moments and small steps. Tucking away some lettuce starts, building a rustic trellis for the snap peas, harvesting herbs. Sixty degrees with a breeze and the sun on my back urges me along in my chores. Though truth be told, I don't need much urging these days.

What is growing right now :: Garlic, rhubarb, broccoli, thyme, snap peas, lettuces, borage, chives, oregano, sage, lemon balm, dill, rosemary and parsley.

What is not growing right now :: The evil, relentless, undermining weeds of the South!

Weekend Dreaming :: Six Moments

Cut tulips :: Jadeite :: Vintage globes

Coral honeysuckle at the Native Plant Sale

Pinxterbloom Azaleas

Rhubarb Crisp with Chantilly Cream

Asparagus crown plantings

More yoga :: More walking!

Happy Friday.

Dandelion Offerings and Other Spring Fun

Good grief, we are being sent the loveliest of spring weather and afternoons and evenings. I mean, really. Fields dotted with dandelions and wild violets. Lilacs and red buds and dogwoods. Crimson and salmon colored tulips. And our one Virginia Bluebell plant has hit its stride this year - along with the other natives - Spring Beauties and May Apples. Those Bluebells look mighty fine next to my blue bench.

Red, white and blue organic potatoes from Wood Prairie Farm have been planted. I am harvesting arugula every day from our cold frame (yahoeey!). Our oregano is begging to be used for some fish oreganata dish. Rhubarb is close to ready. The community garden is dotted with green here and there - collards, broccoli, cabbages, kale.

My parents were here for a visit and it was so needed and so cherished. We went for walks up at the University, Mint Springs and the Downtown Mall. And we ate at Taste of China. Twice within three days. Have you heard about Peter Chang? (Anyone from Charlottesville will laugh at this question - so it is for my far flung readers, too.)

And ::

This weekend is Historic Garden Week Virginia time! My lofty goals include Staunton gardens on Saturday and taking a day off from work to see the Albemarle-Ivy gardens on Monday.

I'm planning my black walnut guild with lots of edibles that work with the tricky toxicity of a black walnut - mulberries, currants, elderberries and tomatoes. More on that soon.

I bought a plastic Diana lomography lens for my Canon and can't get quiet enough of it. Blurs and saturated colors and lens flares. Perfect for capturing spring!

Some rest and more time with my pile of books - A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor; The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West and The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway. Reading in the late evening is best enjoyed with the window open to the mountains and the peepers while ignoring the laundry, dishes and dust bunnies.

Ruth Stout Was A Bad Ass (And You Can Be One Too!)

I took Ruth Stout's No-Work Garden Book out of the library last month (and then again, this month, renewing it as often as is allowed) and it has me ready to get back out to our vegetable garden. Including a future asparagus bed and possibly, just maybe, revisiting a strawberry patch. Without the elaborate trench digging for the asparagus or the hair-pulling frustration of strawberry patch weeding.

Ruth Stout gardened well into her 80s and was one of the first gardeners to write about organic alternatives. Her no-work method basically involves six to eight inches of mulch - straw, hay, shredded leaves, kitchen scrap, pine needles. The thick mulch cuts back on weeding and watering. That just leaves mulching, planting and growing. The latter two being every gardener's favorite things ever! Whenever she saw a weed, she tossed more mulch on top of it instead of removing the interloper. Hah!

One of my favorite quotes of Ruth's - after writing on old gardening methods: "I think I'll go lie down now. I'm exhausted just from writing about all the unnecessary work that some people do."

These recently discovered videos are astoungdingly wonderful. I love Ruth's no-nonsense New Englander attitude and now hear her voice as I read her book. She was a rabble-rouser from her youth and used to garden on her Connecticut plot buck-naked!

Hither and Yon

Oh, spring in Charlottesville. Every time you show up, I am immediately transported back 20 years to when I first experienced you as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia. From there-on-in I was unable to settle for a springtime experience that was any less than spectacular (that also started in mid-March!).

On the home front - bulbs are blossoming, garlic is sprouting, rhubarb is peeking up out of the ground and the herb bed is coming to life (oregano, lemon balm, sage). Lettuce and arugula are pushing up through the soil in pale greens in the cold frame. Snap peas are reaching for the sky.

Our sweet community garden is full (all spots taken!) - and it is a thrill to hear people working out there, having fun and getting ready to grow their own food.

While a nasty cold waylaid me from the garden, I took solace in reading - Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters and Ruth Stout's No-Work Garden Book and another Ruth - a foodie Ruth - Ruth Reichl. Nothing like a few wise women to keep you company when you are feeling sorry for yourself.

We drove up to Monterey (also known as Virginia's Little Switzerland) for their Maple Festival this past Sunday. The drive alone was so needed - winding through towns like Churchville, Headwaters and McDowell and through George Washington National Forest. I realized later that it was the first time since September that I had left our area (?!). Returning with maple donuts and local maple syrup in a leaf-shaped bottle extended the visit into our evening at home.

I'm counting down the days to Historic Garden Week in Virginia. There is also an event at Monticello - Meet the Gardeners (as in Peter Hatch and Peggy Cornett! Eeeeep!) that looks like fun.

Unrelated to gardening, but smile-inducing : My new vintage-looking orange peep toe shoes, fresh-made pasta from Mona Lisa Pasta and visits to Charlottesville from two Bens (the first visited this past Tuesday, the second will be here in April).

Let's hear it for spring!

A Little Something Fun is Brewing

The Sugar Hollow Community Garden!

Vegetable garden coaching and full-sun plots available on our land. The plots are available in exchange for weeding the pathways and keeping the area under control. (No small task!) Garden coaching fees are accepted as donations and not expected. From an announcement that I sent out earlier:

Hi everyone,

I have several raised beds that could accommodate gardeners this season and am going to hold an informational meeting this Wednesday at 3 p.m. at my home. Based on the interest - we can decide on the size of each gardener's bed - but I am thinking at least 10' X 4' plots for beginners.

The beds are located in full sun with a water spigot next to them. They do need to be worked/weeded and compost needs to be added. But we can talk more on Wednesday about those details.

I am encouraging gardeners of *all* levels to take advantage of this - I am a horticulturist and organic garden coach - so will be available for questions and encouragement during the growing season on specific Saturdays. Beginners are very welcome.

Please email me (sugarholler@hotmail.com) if you are interested and I will send directions. We live about 11 miles west of town - almost a straight shoot if you take Barracks/Garth onto Sugar Hollow Road.

P.S. This venture is also very family friendly, including Wednesday's meeting. Also, there is a non-raised bed area that could be tilled and farmed, but that would be more labor intensive.

The Cold Frame :: Up and Running!

So we did indeed meet in the middle, and as always, Corey's ideas were super helpful and important for durability and efficiency.

Our rendition of a cold frame went up last Saturday. An old, reclaimed glass door, Fox Farm soil, some cinder blocks along the sides to keep out digging doggies and that was it. All things that were sitting around on our land (which I love). Propped up against the south-facing side of our house - to capture some of that oh-so-useful thermal mass. That's my father-in-law helping fill the cold frame with soil.

On Sunday, I sprinkled down some lettuce and arugula seeds into the warmed-by-the-sun soil. Have I mentioned that we are trying some new (to me), organic seeds? High Mowing Organic Seeds and Seeds of Change. They will join the mix of dependable Johnny's Selected Seeds and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange seeds. The lettuce seeds have already sprouted as of yesterday.

Transplanting of kale and mustard greens to follow!

The Cold Frame Summit Talks :: Part 1

Being married to a skilled and very talented carpenter makes the most beautiful designs, materials and craftsmanship available to you at all times. Attention to exquisite details and a sense of things lasting forever and forever are a big part of how his mind works.

So when I brought up the fact that I had in mind a very basic design for a cold frame, that I would pull together from materials sitting around our property, I knew I had a little battle ahead of me. You see, gardening (for me) is about testing or switching out variables from season to season and playing around with the different things that nature offers to get something growing. I was thinking about leaning some old windows at an angle at the base of our house and putting bricks or cinder blocks (not the prettiest, but great for thermal mass) on the sides, throwing some soil in and growing greens months earlier than they would be ready in our raised beds.

This set off alarms with Corey - The windows wouldn't last for more than a few seasons! They need to be at a certain angle! My experiment was pure chaos in his mind. Instead, he had a door that would work out just right - he could craft something, put the door on a hinge, cut pieces of plywood for the sides, etc., etc. He is all about the planning and being precise from the start, I am all about getting out there, giving it a go and learning from that point onward.

We're working on meeting in the middle. More soon . . .

Resolutions In The Garden

Cosmos will be part of Willa's Butterfly Garden and our honeybee sanctuary.

Happy New Year to all! What time is it? It's make big plans and promises time. Talking the talk without yet needing to lift a finger. Some I'll keep, some I'll drop. But for now, mid-January, the big plan making is all I got. Without further ado - The Garden Resolutions for 2010.

1. Getting back to vegetable gardening. There will be help in that garden this year. Since our house and other huge projects are finishing up, Corey is setting his sights on helping out - recognizing the importance of Willa witnessing and being a part of growing our own food. I can't begin to tell you how this will affect our vegetable garden. Perhaps some fencing? More weeding? Tilling so we can have that pumpkin patch I have dreamed about (and the harvest time-pumpkin picking party I envision for our friends)? If for nothing else, I know I am a social gardener and having both Willa and Corey down in the veggie garden will provide momentum and good gardening energy.

2. More and more edibles, please. Raspberries, figs, mulberries. Things that will establish themselves and be less maintenance than the aforementioned vegetable garden.

3. Garden sharing. We are thinking that we have a lot of land and would like to share one of our huge raised beds with someone not as fortunate. In return for access to the bed, we will just ask that the garden plot renter help out with weeding.

4. A portable salad box and testing out shade-grown lettuce varieties to extend the season.

5. A cold frame. I've wished for one of these for years. Maybe 2010 will be the year. I'm already gathering materials for my own version of a cold frame and will write about that over the following months.

6. A butterfly garden for Willa and a a honeybee sanctuary for the little buzzers. My inspiration for the sanctuary can be found here.

7. Embracing Ruth Stout. My pregnancy with a big baby and a little me left my body with torn stomach muscles, a hernia and back problems. While I try to work on these in physical therapy, I am going to save my back with Ruth's mulch methods. Eight inches of fluffy hay to cut back on hauling heavier mulches and weeding. Her thoughts on do-able, attainable asparagus beds without all that trenching really has me in a dither. More on this soon.

8. And while not directly related to our garden, a small attempt at eating more and more local food. 2009 included small harvests from our own garden and also belonging to a CSA for our vegetables and our eggs. This year I hope to incorporate grains from Wade's Mill, fish from Virginia Aqua-Farmers and meat from our neighbor, Gryffon's Aerie. My new favorite thing on the planet, Retail Relay, makes a lot of this local eating ridiculously easy.

I just re-read these and I sound like a nut-job. A full-ish time job and all of these projects? Laugh-laugh-laugh with me mid-July, dear readers. When my January garden thoughts summoned in front of a wood stove, curled up on the couch with my feet up, in the dark of the winter are challenged with the reality of bugs, brutal heat, humidity and droughts. At least this summer, I'll have more company for kvetching (in the the garden).

Sweet September Salad

(Nasturtiums)

+

(Container-grown lettuce)

=

A September flower petal salad. What a treat!

The Slower Side of Summer

Drying lavender.

Eating calendula biscuits - with Foster's Seven Pepper Jelly (not pictured, but you get the idea).

Sand and sun at Mint Springs. Picnics with friends.

A Sunday supper with Uncle Chris out on our back deck.

Making the most of our CSA and our gardens. Willa has taken a liking to snap peas. Lucky her! Weeks 2 and 3 of the CSA involved many, many salads; bok choy with toasted sesame oil, red pepper flakes and garlic (Thanks, Sarah!); spinach pesto; and Red Russian kale wilted in our favorite Jacques Pepin sausage-potato-onion packet from Fast Food My Way.

I'm trying out this recipe tonight - to use more lettuce and spring onions.

Remembering that some of the best moments are the ones that lack focus. And that summer is best experienced in as many girly skirts as possible.

(This one is from anthropologie a few years back.)

********************

All of my spring work in the front (newish) garden is paying off and getting ready to burst. Butterfly bushes, rose-y coreopsis, nasturtiums, bachelor buttons, daylilies and echinacea.
I need to find some vintage garden chairs so I can watch the show.