Summer Celebrations

Hmmm Honey, where did I stash the camera battery recharger??? Apparently this item is currently in electronic witness protection for overused devices. So sorry, no pics today.

Last Thursday, I went to hear a great local singer/song writer, Jean Mann, in one of my favorite venues, the Kirkland Backyard Concert Series. It was a very cozy evening with lots of great food, and Jean played "The Dance" one of my all time favs to listen and dance to. Many congrats to Jean for being commissioned to write a song for a movie!

And speaking of reasons for a celebration, it was Ari's birthday over the weekend. The mighty petite turned twenty three! She had a day out with her pal, Tony,and the next day we had a garden party with friends; Lisa, Shanie, and Jean. There were grilled garden veggies, a big salad, basil lemonade, raspberry ice tea, and truly decadent French chocolate cake. Lisa added Hoppin' John, Shanie some delish curry croutons for the salad, and Jean's wonderful salty sweet and sour homemade chocolates completed the feast. The weather was gorgeous. We ate, laughed, did a craft, and planted some herbs. Now, when's our next excuse to celebrate?

A few folks have been asking some gardening questions. I'll attempt to answer a few:

1) How do you supply nutrients to your organic garden?

We use a variety of methods, the biggest being compost. We compost all our plant based food scraps in a 3 tier composting system. By the time, it hits the 3rd box, it's ready to go directly onto the garden plants. We also use worm casings (poo) from the worm bin. Tomatoes love this, and finally for our acid loving berries, I use an organic fertilizer with a low pH.

2) How do you control pests in the garden?

Again this is a multiple step process. First, we don't plant in rows. We lasagna plant. A typical raised bed has a squash of some kind, a tomato or two, leeks, lettuce, marigolds, chard, nasturtiums, an herb plant or two, and more marigolds. By not planting in rows, if bugs attack that can't take out all of any one type of plant. Nasturtiums act a bug traps for a couple of pest drawing them away from your zucchini, squash, and pumpkins. Marigolds help keep cut worms away from root veggie such as carrots, radishes, onions, and potatoes. Lettuces grow quite happily in the shade of tomatoes which seems to help keep the dreaded NW slugs away. Lots of bugs don't like the strong odor of herbs such as basil, lavender, rosemary, and oregano. If rodents are pesky in your garden, plant lots of mint! We have two chickens, Henrietta and Claudette, they do a great job taking care of ants and earwigs.

When bugs do attach, I spray the plant with this mix: 1 cup warm water, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp castile soap (like Dr. Bonner's), and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Put everything in a blender and whirl. Let sit 1 hour and shake. Put in sprayer bottle and spray plants after they've been watered for the day. Keep extra in the fridge for up to a week. Lots of bugs don't like the garlic and the oil helps gum up their larval stage, protecting your plants. A word of caution: don't use on foods non compatible with garlic, such as berries, unless you enjoy the subtle tinge of garlic with these.

3) Exactly, what are you growing this year?

Oh, the toughest question of all, because I keep starting seeds and adding new plants! So far, we have 21 tomato plants, mostly heirloom, 4 gypsy peppers and 2 jalepenos, 4 garden cukes and 2 lemon cukes, 7 pumpkins, 4 zucchini, 3 pattypan squash, 3 butternut squash (thanks Lisa), lots of leeks, 5 kinds of lettuce, marigolds, nasturtiums, runner beans, peas, pineapple, purple and common sage, Greek and Mexican oregano, lemon balm, lemon verbena, purple, white, and red potatoes, rhubarb, camomile, borage, dinosaur kale, rainbow chard, mustard greens, zinnias, Gerber daisies, Icelandic poppies, Asiatic lilies, rose geranium, red geranium, black eyed susan, sun flowers, corn, garlic chives, common chives, chocolate mint, citrus mint, French and English thyme, begonias, snapdragons, calendula, sweet and Thai basil, eggplant, curly and Italian parsley, rosemary, pasque flower, bleeding heart, tea rose bush, black currants, jostaberries, marionberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries, blackberries, grape, coleus, radishes, fuchsias, maple flower plant, aloe plants, cyclamen, an orange tree, canterbury bells, pansies, and lots and lots of dandelions (I count these as a garden crop since I eat them!).

Finally, another post! (It's been awhile)

 Ari at here 21st birthday celebration at the Wilde Rover Celtic pub. Our friend Safe bought her a CD by our musician friend Dan (to the right).

 It's thistle season in the Northwest

Anni leading the way on our recent hike through the woods.

 Anni went to gourmet cooking camp for a week. Here's the salad Nicoise she made during
French cooking day.

 The sun is shining and the veggies are growing. Here we have sage, chives, zucchini, berries, Thai basil, salad, greens, peas, squash blossoms, Italian basil, mint, calendula, and tomatoes.

 We took a trip to the San Juan Islands aboard the Washington State Ferries.

 We had a wonderful breakfast at this restaurant overlooking the harbor.

 We laughed at the name of this boat from our home town.

 Why is Ari so enthusiastic about this tree?

 She loves its cool umbrella shape.

 Alex attempting to hit peak speed along the Sammamish River trail.

 Here's the set-up for my camping trip with my friend Lisa, who'd never been camping.

We spent Thursday through Sunday camping at the NW Herbal Faire.  We enjoyed organic food, workshops on Herbalism and more, terrific music, and friendly folks, all in a beautiful lake side setting in the Walker Valley, near Mount Vernon. And the weather was gorgeous!

A dragon fly resting on a wild cherry twig during an herbal plant identification walk.

 Rafe Pearlman provides some beautiful tunes at the Faire.

 While the farmer was away, the garden got to play and grow and grow and grow. This was the daily harvest when I got back on Sunday.

 And here's today's harvest. Veggies galore! Today we went to Pike Place Market. We ate hombows and chatted with merchants. Today's finds were fresh oysters, local apple sausages, mushrooms, peaches, cilantro, French bread, basil garlic pasta, giant tomatoes, huckleberries, and peanut butter doggie biscuits (for Barkley, the wonder doodle). It was a beautiful warm day in the Seattle area.

 What's in this beautiful mini bouquet? Thai basil leaves, mint flowers, radish flowers, dandelions, and clover flowers. Who says weeds can't be fun?

This one has radish flowers and mini flowers. It was our centerpiece for dinner tonight. A lovely, no cost, no mileage bouquet!

The weeks in review

We've had a really busy couple of weeks. We've been busy hiking up mountains, going to camps, and finishing up classes.
Anni enjoyed her science camp. Next week, she's at gourmet cooking camp.

Alex finished up his math class and is enjoying a break with his video games.

David and Ari are still slogging away at college for another few weeks. Ari had a great time at her 21st birthday celebration. She even got up on stage and sang Happy Birthday to herself with the Celtic band at the pub.Then she danced!

I've got a great tan this year thanks to all the time in my garden. The sun came out and everything suddenly grew and produced. We've been getting a zucchini a day! The tomatoes and berries are in too. Yum! Tonight, for dinner, we make back garden pizza, full of veggiliciousness!

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!

Happy 4th of July!

Anni and Julie Ann watching the 4th of July Kirkland Parade. (Note the resemblance to my mom!)

Ari and Alex pretending to watch the parade while drinking coffee, playing Nintendo, and reading a book! (Teenagers!)

The hind end of the parade. Note the jackets and blankets. Ah, summer in the Great Pacific Northwest!

Alex digs into Southern BBQed ribs.

Ari pops a popper on the deck. Open your eyes!

Alex pops a popper on the deck. Happy 4th everyone!

And special congratulations to our friends Ellie and Joey who just found out they have a baby on the way!

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Father's Day!

The daily garden harvest: one giant leek, strawberries from our patch, a handful of peas, and lots of lettuce.

Yesterday's finds from the Redmond farmers' market: gigantic radishes, tomatoes, apricots, free range ground pork, apples, organic strawberries, and Parmesan garlic herb bread. We came home yesterday and had a simple lunch with the bread, radishes, strawberries, and some cheese. Delish!

A photo from one of David's early morning adventures. This one is of Denny Park creek.

Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads out there. We had a fun one. We had a big funny farm breakfast and then went bowling. We had a blast. Everyone has their own unique style. Anni sit down and pushes the ball, very, v e r y s l o w l y. Ari drops it with a wicked curve. Alex hurls it. Julie Ann gets down low and lines it up. And David? He just rips it down the lane. After bowling, we went out for pizza at Zeeks. We love Zeeks. They have lots of veggie topped pies. Yum!