Berry Season!

The strawberries are finally ripening! Here's today's take along with some chives, sage, chard, peas, and lettuce. Yum! Everyday, it's a game of race the slugs for the strawberries, followed by wash 'em quick before Anni or Barkley see them. Today, I got three! Anni got the rest!

Field Trip!

Today, we fed the chickens, let the dog run around, watered the garden, and after packing up the Prius, went on a suburb field trip. We took the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Then we drove along the water, stopping at quaint Port Gamble, trendy Port Ludlow, and finally Victorian Port Townsend. We arrived just in time for lunch at our favorite local sandwich shop. Delish! Then it was out to Fort Warden for a long trek around all the old artillery batteries and trails. The weather was iffy when we set out but beautiful once we arrived. After hiking until our legs were about to fall off, it was back to town for pie. Hmm, pie. Of course, since we were in town, we had to check out a few of our favorite shops. We love the Phoenix Rising new age bookshop and the Bead Store. We ended our outing with coffee for the journey home and Chinese takeout once we arrived. All in all, a terrific way to spend a Thursday. See pics below.

Ariana checking out the kelp on the beach. Unite marine science nerds!

Anni and Julie Ann checking out the seaweed. Nerdity runs in the family.

Beautiful view of the sound from the top of an artillery battery, irony in action.

Is this Queen Nefertiti in her tomb. Not even close!

Alex and David playing womp a gopher. Just kidding!

The monoliths are back!

Ari sporting perfect ringlets.

Anni cracking up in the sunshine.

Alexander the Great on his throne.

Alex and Ari at the Memory Vault art installation.

David on the Memory's Vault art installation.

David on the ladder.

David off the ladder.

Papa deer.

Mama and baby deer. Too cute!

Happy Midsummer?

Hmm, Midsummer? Isn't the 21st the start of summer? It is here in the Seattle Area. We finally hit temps over 75 degrees today! Well anyhow, Happy Summer Solstice! We celebrated by spending most of this most excellent day outside.

There was lots to do in the garden. Peas, radishes, squash, marigolds, sunflowers, and lettuces to transplant to the garden from the greenhouse. Tomatoes and peppers to pot up a size within the greenhouse. Berry bushes to trellis. Strawberries to harvest. Yum! Everything to water. And finally, the ever present slugs and weeds to deal with.

We've been having a problem with bees and wasps coming into the greenhouse through the door and not finding their way back out. They then spend a few hours bouncing off the glass wall, getting more and more agitated. Our solution, gently usher them back outside with the help of a long handled fine mesh butterfly net. Here's the score so far: Bees rescued 3. Wasps rescued 0. Stings received in rescue attempts 0, so far. Huge wasps that have send me running from the greenhouse in a girly state of panic 5.

After lots of fun in the garden, we had a bar-be-que and then went out for ice cream. Rocky road on a waffle cone for David and Ari. Mint chocolate chip on a waffle cone for Alex. Anni had chocolate chip on a sugar cone, and I had pistachio almond on a sugar cone. Delish!

However you spent your solstice, we hope it was a happy sunny one!

Flowers and Followers

 The irises are blooming! First in purple

 and then in yellow. Now, if the slugs will just leave them alone!

 The lupines are standing at attention and attracting lots of pollinators. Yeah!

The red rhodie has also bloomed. The garden is full of beautiful colors.

We've had a busy couple of weekends with Greenfest and the Folklife festival. My friend Lisa and I  danced the day away at Folklife on Memorial Day. We tried Zydeco, Cajun, and Scottish dancing. I got home barely able to move, and then Ari wanted to go Irish dancing! I managed one more hour of jumps and kicks! It was soooo much fun! This weekend, we caught up with our family friend, Ellie, and her lovely new baby girl, Charlie, at Greenlake.

We love that it is local farmer's market season again. Two of my favorite things at the market lately are the sustainably caught local tuna from the folks aboard the St. Jude and the beautiful recycled Scrabble tile charms from Ponder Press. Most of the warmer weather produce isn't available yet due to our especially wet and cool spring, but the market is alive with rhubarb, asparagus, lettuces, onions, spinach. The upside of the down weather is that the cool crops, normally done by now, are still going strong. Ah, I love silver linings!

Anni made pasta noodles with her school chums today with the hand crank pasta machine. They were delish! Last night, Alex and I gave the machine a turn making lots and lots of mushroom ravioli. We had it for dinner, topped with a very old Italian recipe for tomato sauce. Yum, yum, yum! Here's the recipe:

Ye Olde Italian Tomato Sauce:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion quartered
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
1 stick of butter
1 LARGE can of San Marzano Tomatoes. These tomatoes are definitely NOT local, but are very Italiano. (Substitute at your own peril)
1/3 cup of dry Italian red wine

1) In a sturdy large pot (I used the crockpot), heat the olive oil over medium low. Add the onion and garlic. Turn to very low and cook for 1 hour (why the crockpot works!)
2) Add the butter, cook another hour.
3)Add the Tomatoes, cook another hour or two.
4) While to sauce is cooking, be sure to peek and stir occasionally. You want it to be barely at a simmer.
4) Just before serving, stir in wine.

Serve over your favorite pasta. You will find this sauce is a true burst of rich tomato with a creamy consistency. It's decadently terrific!

Finally, a big shout out to all the folks who've been checking out the blog! We love to check the stats and see where folks are a viewing us. Many blessings!

Holy Mole!

We've been cooking lots of meals from the Spanish speaking parts of the world this month. Here's our mole dinner.Chicken in the classic spicy chocolate dark mole sauce.Arroz con zafron, rice with zafron (like saffron), and pasilla peppers, with Alex's homemade salsa.Broccoli rabe in spicy butter, mango, and homemade tortilla chips. Delish!

To those who've asked: what are all you growing in the garden this year? Here's the list so far:
1. Marionberry
2. Blackberry
3. 4 varieties Blueberry
4. Raspberry
5. Boysenberry
6. Jostaberry (cross between gooseberry and black currant)
7. Black currant
8. 3 varieties Strawberry
9. Rhubarb
10. Pumpkin
11. 5 varieties Tomatoes
12. Tomatillos
13. Ground cherry
14. Zucchini
15. Yellow squash
16. 2 types Potatoes (red and white)
17. Eggplant
18. Radish
19. 2 types Carrots
20. 6 varieties Lettuce
21. 2 types Peas
22. 2 types beans (long Chinese asparagus and bush)
23. broccoli rabe
24. Chinese cabbage
25. Cauliflower
26. Brussel sprouts
27. Collards
28. Mustard greens
29. 2 varieties Peppers (jalapenos and serranos)
30. Spinach
31. Chives
32. Cilantro
33. Sage
34. Thyme
35. Oregano
36. Rosemary
37. Grapes
38. Leeks
39. Basil
40. Orange tree
41. Nasturtium
42. Marigolds
43. Pansies
44. Sunflower
45. Wildflowers
46. Lupine
47. Dandelions
48. Cucumbers
49. Parsley
50. Lavender
51. Butterfly bush
52. Calendula

Today, we uppotted beans, tomatoes, tomatillos, and eggplant. We transplanted chinese cabbage, lettuces, and radishes to the garden, and harvested chives, cilantro, spinach, and radishes