My Bit of Earth

I've moved

2006-08-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

You can now find this blog at http://mybitofearth.typepad.com.

Please come say hi over at the new place!

An Ity-Bity Bucket 'o' Beans

2006-07-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

I planted my little plot of soybeans to enjoy some fresh edamame, but my methods were a little faulty. Instead of picking them when they were young, I kept waiting for them to get bigger. Only, instead of getting bigger, they just got browner.

But all is not lost. I cracked open one of the brown pods tonight and, low and behold, there were nice little hard beans inside. Soup beans.

Some were more dry than others, but I put the not-so-dry ones in the oven for a bit to finish them off. My little bucket 'o' beans is getting fuller.

There was an article in the LJWorld the other day by the wonderful Miss Mellinger (of jinxing tomatoes fame) asserting that it's not worth the time and trouble to shuck beans for soup, given that they are so cheap to buy at the store. I see her point, but I think I have to respectfully disagree. Sitting outside, gleefully popping open the pods, and scooping out the verdant little beans was probably one of the high points of my weekend.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2006-07-23T19:22:00.000-05:00

A pretty summer trio--German Green, Yellow Pear, and Mexican Midget.

Moonflower

2006-07-20T21:29:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was at the farmer's market and saw someone with moonflower plants. At the time I had just dug up my potatoes and had free space so....(listen to me pretend I need an excuse to buy plants). As you can guess from their name, moonflowers only open at night.

I took this picture while the sun was still up--the flower was just starting to open.

Then I took this picture in the dark using a long exposure. In small quantities I don't think you get the full effect, but if you had a nice large planting and a full moon they would be spectacular.

The Good With the Bad

2006-07-19T20:26:00.000-05:00

Bad: The lawnmower guys haven't been here since before the 4th of July. I know it's hot guys, but sheesh--it's starting to get down-right pasture-like.

Good: The lack of lawnmowing has allowed my morning glories to begin to grow . . .

. . . and this funny flower outside our fence. I'm curious to see what it is.
(Update 7/24/06: They finally came and mowed! I'm almost surprised they didn't have to brush-hog. And despite the fact that they let the grass get to knee level, I'm pretty pleased with them--although they did cut down the mystery flower, they trimmed around my morning glories. Thanks lawn mowing guys!)

Today....

2006-07-16T19:34:00.000-05:00

....I hacked away at the tomatoes; they're kind of taking over. I've never really thought of plants fighting for space before, but my sweet tomatoes are definitely doing some pushing and shoving.

....I noticed I have beans. The beans are almost as vigorous as the tomatoes. Next year I need much taller trellises.

....But I found a few beans that were all dried and ready for picking.

....All told I got five Hidatsa Shield Figure Beans. I'm on my way to a nice winter pot'o'soup.

....I picked the first "Aunt Ruby's German Green" Tomato.

....And we made a grilled pizza. We had red tomatoes (from the store) and yellow pear and German green tomatoes (from our garden). Combined with some lettuce, onions, garlic, and fresh mozzarella--mmmm!

Eat Pickles!

2006-07-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

As I said, I was inspired to try to make pickles. It was easier than the jam. Or at least, it was much more my style. (I learned to cook largely from my Dad whose theory was, "Just throw stuff in until it tastes good.") And, even though hot water has a tendency to splash, it stings much less than hot jam. But I digress....

I followed this recipe--kinda. On the advice of several websites and the lady at the farmers market who sold me the cucs, I tried not to quite boil the jars at the end. Supposedly if you can keep the temperature almost boiling, but not quite, the jars will still seal and the pickles will stay nice and crunchy. Mine did end up boiling a bit at the end, but not for too long. I also couldn't find baby dill sized cucs so I used regular pickling cucumbers (i.e. somewhere between full-sized and tiny) cut into nice thick slices.

All told I ended up with 7 quarts. I'll report back in a few weeks and let you know how they taste.

Nice In Theory

2006-07-15T23:32:00.000-05:00

But maybe not in reality.

I picked up these pretty blue 'taters at the farmer's market this morning. They were really pretty when raw, but not so much once they were cooked. And the texture was a bit funny too.

Would All the Vegetables Come To The Front Please?

2006-07-14T10:27:00.000-05:00

Another great post from Garden Rant. As part of a project called "Edible Estates" the Foti family in Southern California has planted a vegetable garden on their front lawn. It kind of reminds me of my neighbors here in Lawrence that I posted about, only the Foti garden (being in a place where I gather the neighbors are a bit more likely to complain) is much more stylishly done.

Mr. Foti has kept a blog of his experiences (which both reminds me of my own blog and is tempting me to try to make my own pickles). I particularly enjoyed this observation:

I guess that in person, one of the things that is most striking about the garden when you first see it is how open and close to the sidewalk it is. How vulnerable it seems. There's no fences or anything to keep anybody out. It really makes you aware of how most lawns function as kind of buffer between public and private space. In a way, it sort of illuminates the value of a lawn to most people - not worth stealing, and useful only to the extent that it keeps people away, or doesn't need to be worried about.

Many people don't even take any pride in maintaining their own lawn. They pay a service to do it, usually when they aren't around to see (or hear) it being done. One of the concerns I've heard from some neighbors is that they fear I might have taken on more than I can handle in terms of maintenance. Lawns are so easy to deal with, especially if somebody else is doing the work. There is nothing low maintenance about our garden, and you really can't pay someone to give it the kind of care it needs. I couldn't afford it anyway. If I slack off on the maintenance, it will turn into an eyesore very quickly. I think that is valid concern, but do people really prefer their neighborhoods be maintained by low-paid workers who's main concern is efficiency rather than beauty? I think it's a vicious cycle. The more utilitarian and functional these spaces become, the easier they are to maintain, but also the easier they are to ignore and neglect. Ultimately, the upkeep of a lawn becomes nothing more than a kind of tax on the homeowner that he only pays out of some sense of obligation, or self interest in neighborhood property values.

Personally, looking at my own space, it's very evident what gets more care--and it's certainly not the grass.

(Edited on 7/20/06 to add: Here's a link to the NY Times article discussing the project in more detail and with more pictures. You have to login, but it's free.)

Milkweed, All Grown Up

2006-07-13T21:17:00.000-05:00

The pretty Asclepias (aka Milkweed) that I planted in April has been a wonderful little burst of color by the back door. But, somehow I'm not sure if it's growing correctly. It keeps getting taller, but it's very spindley. It doesn't seem like it would be sturdy enough for a butterfly cocoon--which is part of why I chose to plant it. I wonder if maybe I need to plant more of it to make it a bit thicker and more protective?

Lawrence City Band Concert at Southpark

2006-07-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

The Lawrence City Band holds a concert at Southpark every Wednesday night throughout most of the summer. After listening to the faint music from our house for several weeks now, Sweet Husband and I decided to drive up to the park to watch and listen this evening.

The music was great. The people watching was fun. The lemonade was to die for.

However, we discovered that Porterhouse does not like marches--too many booms--and I couldn't help but cringe at the kids running, not around, but through the beautiful flower beds. Before you parent-type-people get all up at arms, I generally like the little buggers, and I kinda enjoy watching them frolic. But stomping on Black-Eyed Susans just isn't nice.

Global Warming?

2006-07-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

That's what I thought at first, because these hibiscus (found on a random Topeka street corner) are way too big and pretty to be annuals that have been thrown in the beds for just a season. Seriously--they're as big as dinner plates.

But I looked it up and these ("Pyrenees Pink", perhaps?) are definitely hardy to zone 5. What's more, this gorgeous red "Fireball" would live here as well.

Now, where to put where to put it?

Blackberry Jammin'

2006-07-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

It's a little seedy, but it's pretty gosh darned good. Here is the recipe I used. One proviso--boiling jam=napalm. Ouch!

But more philosophically....

As I was squishing and trying to remove the larger seeds from my blackberries, I started thinking about my grandmother. When she was growing up canning and preserving weren't things that slightly eccentric people with gardens did for fun; they were things everyone did out of necessity. And it makes me smile because--even though she's still very frugal to this day, and even though I know she did lots of it in her younger days--in my 25 years of life, I don't ever remember her preserving anything. In fact, if you even mention it to her, her smile gets very strained.

Yet, aside from the blackberry napalm, I found it to be almost meditative. Making a trip to the blackberry patch; enjoying the smells, tastes, and the cool juice on my hands as I mashed the berries; tucking away the beautiful, jewel-toned jars in my pantry.

Why is it that the exact same task can become infinitely more fun when you're doing it because you want to, instead of because you have to?

Berry Puff

2006-07-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

This was another treat inspired by Dear Alton. He made it on his show, but we couldn't find the recipe. Ever up for improvisation, I made it up. I took one square of puff pastry and cut 1 inch strips off of each of the four sides. I stacked the strips back onto the edges of the piece I cut from to make walls, folding over the extra at the corners. In the space between the walls, I "docked" the pastry (poked several holes in it with a fork) to keep it from puffing there. I cut a second piece of puff pastry, just a little bigger than the first, to make a top.

Then I mixed just a little less than a pint of berries (blueberries and blackberries) with a few good handfuls of plain bread crumbs and sugar. I spooned the berries into the center of the square with walls and laid on the top, pinching slightly at the edges to keep it together. The whole thing went in a 400 degree oven for (roughly) 45 minutes--just pull it out when it looks good. I would recommend using parchment paper underneath. It still came off the pan even without it, but it was a bit of a struggle.

After letting it cool a bit, I decided it would be prettier if you could see the berries inside. So I cut an X in the top and folded each of the ensuing triangles back just a little at the tip to make the center. We didn't have whiped cream, but that would have been awesome. As it was, I dusted it with a little powdered sugar.

Blackberry Pickin'

2006-07-08T13:34:00.000-05:00

Sweet Husband and I went back to Lawson's to pick blackberries this afternoon....

Blackberry goodies will follow!

On To-Do Lists, Priorities

2006-07-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

(I promise, I'll get back to blogging gardening soon--suffice to say I'm picking tomatoes, and not necessarily as many as I'd like. I'm thinking of starting a tally sheet actually, but for today....)

I was going through some files that were rescued from my old computer today (Thanks Donnie!) and I found this to do list, which I think must have been made just before graduation in December. I found it to be humorous, and you may too....

TO DO
1. make food [presumably for the people who were coming for graduation]
2. washcloths [we only had two at the time--thanks to the completion of this item we now have five]
3. try on pants [I have no idea what pants this refers to]
4. get fish from Merc [see #1]
5. take final to Beth [in this class, at least, my priorities were apparently in order--although this final, on which my graduation depended, still came after the fish]
6. cap and gown [again, essential for graduation, but somehow less important than the fish]
7. yard [aka pup poop patrol, understandably important, since people were going to be walking through]
8. greens? [again, not sure--I think maybe I was thinking of refreshing our evergreen Christmas decorations, but it also could have had to do with the food. But, the part that really made me giggle, tucked very last on the list...]
9. learn BA

FYI, "BA" is a class I was taking that semester, essential to graduation. And when I said learn BA, I really meant that I had to learn BA. I had given up on going to class 'round the first of November.

Yet somehow this is less important than fish and pants I can't even remember!

Granted I was pretty sure things would work out ok--they generally do--but when I think about how much fun it would have (not) been to have a house full of guests and food, but nothing to celebrate because I was too busy getting ready for the party to, um, I don't know, take my finals....Is it bad that I'm laughing at my own silliness?

Wow....

2006-07-06T15:49:00.000-05:00

....this is one of the smartest things I've heard from a politician in a very long time. As a kind of secular-new agey-moralist (translation: I believe in a higher power, but think that most of the mumbo-jumbo that people argue about is silly--you live in the way you believe is right, and let me do the same) I tend to be a bit militant about the separation of church and state. Sometimes I feel like I have to be, just to defend myself.

But if we all could use "fair-minded words" and appeal to "univeral values", as this speech suggests, our country would certainly be much better for it. I think I may be becoming a fan of Barack Obama.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2006-07-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

Sunshiney Yellow Pear Tomatoes--perfect and smooth....

....yucky Hillbilly Tomatoes--they look like someone purposely carved spirals into them.

Did aliens do this to my tomatoes? Some kind of bug, perhaps? There's nothing obviously wrong with the plant. No bugs that I can see. And the Yellow Pear is almost touching the Hillbilly plant (although they are in different pots, and thus different soil) so I would think if it was a bug they would both have it. Any ideas?

(Update: I did some lunch time research and figured out that it's a water problem. Apparently these tomatoes were at a critical stage when I left them to fend for themselves over the Fourth of July. I'm sad to lose a few, but relieved to know that I can easily fix the problem for future tomatoes.)

On Freedom

2006-07-04T10:47:00.000-05:00

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck

The Antithesis of Pretty Gardening Books

2006-06-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, this is better--much more my style . . . .

On Gardening Books

2006-06-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

There is a certain type of gardening book that I just shouldn't read.

I'm speaking of the kind with the big glossy pictures of English cottages covered with roses, herb gardens inside little stone walls, gorgeous green lawns with crisp edges. Or the kind with perfect, jewel-like courtyards tucked up on city balconies, eclectic potted gardens on rooftops--in short, wonderful.

Why should I avoid these, you ask? Well, because they're very inspiring. They give me all kinds of ideas about what to plant and how to structure things. And then I step outside . . . and realize that I have neither a tumbling down English cottage, nor an eclectic little rooftop terrace. I have two untidy forsythia bushes, one of which seems to be dying; some scraggedy, raggedy, patchy grass; a view that looks straight into our neighbors living room; and six beautiful, bountiful tomato plants. With the exception of the tomatoes, it's a little disheartening, and looking at other people's perfect gardens only makes it more so.

And we're always saying, "Oh, we don't want to do too much--we'll be moving next year," but we're getting ready to start our third year at this house with no end in sight. Even setting that limitation aside, there's still always a fine line between the garden I'd like to have, leaving enough space for the dogs to romp, and not pissing off the lawn mowing guys by having too much for them to mow around.

But after reading pretty gardening books into the wee smalls last night, and then stewing about it all day at work, this evening I just had to do something--anything to improve my little plot. So I pulled out our little weed-eater and edged the grass. Then I started thinking about Sunflowers.

I planted some Sunflowers this year, but the mowing guys accidentally killed them before they got much past the seedling stage. I meant to replant them, but just couldn't think of a good way to protect them. By the time I thought of it again, at the first of June, it seemed like it was too late.

Today though, I was on a mission. I decided that, even if they're just hitting their growth spurt in October, I wanted Sunflowers. So I dug out a little bed close to the woodpile, outlining the edges with wood to hopefully mark it out well for the mower guys. It took almost 20 minutes to chop out a little 2x2 bed in the weedy grass. I gathered up all the Sunflower seeds I had left and evenly spaced them, thinking that way I'd definitely get more than I need and could thin later. Satisfied that I had at least made things a little better, I went to pick up some tools.

When I came back the Wee Welshman was happily sniffing out the seeds, carefully picking them up out of the dirt with his teeth, and crunching them straight down his fuzzy little throat.

There is a certain type of gardening book that I just shouldn't read.

Bottling Day (Homebrew Day 8)

2006-06-25T20:50:00.000-05:00

Last night Sweet Husband took a final hydrometer reading on the beer and decided it was time to bottle the beer.

The hydrometer measures the specific gravity of the beer, allowing you to figure out the alcohol content. When the reading is the same for several days in a row it means it's time to bottle.

This is what the beer looked like when we began.

The beer is syphoned into a bucket for bottling to avoid getting the scummy sediment from the big bottle in the final beer.

The beer flowed into the bucket fairly quickly.

The nutrient rich gook in the bottom of the big bottle went into my garden.

Meanwhile Sweet Husband and Best Man Friend started syphoning the beer into bottles. We've been collecting bottles for a few weeks, but we still ended up having to buy a few.

The bottling was a two person job. Best Man Friend kept the bottles coming while Sweet Husband controlled the hose.

I ran the capper, and Best Man Friend's Nice Girlfriend packed the bottles into waiting boxes.

All told we ended up with 47 bottles--they'll be ready to drink in about 3 weeks!

Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew....

2006-06-23T18:59:00.001-05:00

It was a nice evening. Sweet Husband and Best Man Friend were out doing some car work, and I wanted something to do outside as well. The vines had almost completely died back, so I decided it was time to dig up my potatoes.

After a long week at work, running my hands through the crumbley, warm, black dirt looking for potatoes was very soothing. There were 23 (counting the one I had for lunch the other day). Some are a little small still, but, as Best Man Friend said, they are going to be some very good eats.

Bottom (Homebrew Day 5)

2006-06-22T19:16:00.000-05:00

In case you ever wondered what the bottom of beer looks like....It's stopped bubbling as much, but it's slowly turning a darker color.

It's the First Day of Summer....

2006-06-21T20:45:00.001-05:00

...and I searched all day for some appropriate snippet to post. But, wouldn't you know it, it was just waiting for me--I FOUND THE FIRST RIPE TOMATO TODAY!!!

It was one of my pretty little yellow pears!

And we have midgets as well--not ripe, but they will be soon enough.

Not to mention we're going to have a feast of edamame later this week.

And Sweet Husband pulled up our very first homegrown onion.

It was a good day....

Po-tay-toes

2006-06-20T21:04:00.001-05:00

The leaves of my potato plants are beginning to yellow and wilt, so I decided it was time to check and see if there were potatoes forming. I rifled through one end of my earthbox quickly and pulled up these three potatoes. As you can see, one was nice and big, but two were pretty small still. I think I'm going to let them stay in the ground until next weekend to see if they'll get a little bigger.

Charm Your Own Cheese

2006-06-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

(If you don't get the title, don't worry--it just means that you're less of a Harry Potter nerd than me.)

On our trip to the beer making store, I was inspired by the many books they had on making your own cheese. I've made labneh (yogurt) cheese before, but I decided it might be fun to try something just a little more complicated. I opted for this mascarpone recipe. It's simple in that it doesn't require a cheese press, but more difficult than labneh because of the warming step.

I began with some nice, locally gathered cream. I couldn't find "light cream" like the recipe called for, so I used heavy.

The next step was to heat the cream to 185 degrees in a double boiler.

It took a suprisingly long time, but eventually it got there.

Then I stirred in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. After putting the lemon juice in, I kept the cream at 185 degrees for 5 more minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so.

Next the cream went, pot and all, into my refridgerator for 12 hours.

This is what the cream looked like after about 6 hours.

And this is what it looked like the next morning, about 12 hours later.

After 12 hours I dumped the, now fairly solidified, cream onto a clean, white towel.

Then I hung it in the fridge over a bowl to let gravity drain out the rest of the whey.

24 hours later we had cheese! The texture was very nice, but the flavor was a little bland. A little salt helped though.

It's ALIVE! (Homebrew Day 2)

2006-06-19T21:04:00.000-05:00

The beer has developed a funky, scumy looking stuff on top, and the cork that lets the air out is bubbling away.

Dragonfly

2006-06-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

Look what posed ever-so-nicely for a picture on my garden fence the other day!

Homebrew

2006-06-18T10:02:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure exactly when it began.

At some point over these past few months we became super devotees of Food Network mad scientist Alton Brown. I think it was largely just a matter of timing. His show is on at 5:30 right when we both get home from work and are in the mood to just sit mindlessly in front of the TV for half an hour. And I'm sure it also had a lot to do with content. The how-to appeals to me, and Sweet Husband enjoys the "science behind the food"--a good his/hers combination that can't be found in "Monster Garage" or "Surprise By Design".

Largely our relationship with Dear Alton has been very enlightening. He's lead us on several culinary escapades that we wouldn't have otherwise taken. We've tried fresh artichokes and collared greens; learned to make pie crusts and how to process all sorts of cuts of meat.

Apparently, on Monday when I skipped Alton to take the Wee Welshman to agility, Dear Alton made beer. This evidently set off fireworks for Sweet Husband. He was quickly on a knowledge quest for all-things-brewing-beer.

I was pleased. Sweet Husband is one of those fortunate souls who loves what he does. Metal is his job and his fun. Which is great, but...well, it makes for a lot of metal. It makes it hard to buy him Christmas presents. So a new hobby is a good thing.

In pursuit of this new hobby, yesterday, we took a field trip to Bacchus and Barleycorn Winemaking and Brewing Supplies in Kansas City. If you've ever had any interest in making beer, wine, or cheese (more on that later) Bacchus is a good place to get inspired. They have all manner of supplies and information. The very Helpful Lady quickly set Sweet Husband up with a "Deluxe Brewer Starter Kit" and a "Wheat/Weizen ingredients Kit". This morning when we woke up, he was ready to make beer.

The kit ingredients assembled on our kitchen counter. A lot of this is actually used for the bottling as opposed to the brewing, but it was nice to have it all pre-collected.

This is the yeast. Inside of this bag was a little pouch full of liquid that Sweet Husband smashed to make the yeast start growing.

To begin with, everything had to be very well sterilized with a sterilizing solution.

It took a lot of water to clean this huge bottle . . .

. . . but we got there eventually!

All of the other equipment had to be sterilized as well.

In the meantime the biggest pot we own was coming to a boil on the stove. The instructions said to fill it with as much water as possible while leaving room for the other ingredients. The stuff Sweet Husband is pouring in is liquid malt.

Adding the dried malt.

Giving it a stir.

Adding the hops. These are pelletted hops--i.e. dried hops that have been crushed up and pressed out in order to make them keep better.

Irish Moss also went into the brew.

The mix had to boil for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile the yeast was growing.

After it had boiled for the required time, the "wort" went into a sink full of cold water to cool off.

While it was cooling Sweet Husband filled our jug with 4 gallons of water.

Next the wort went into the jug.

It looks kind of gross, but it actually had a very nice nutty smell.

Once the temperature was between 70 and 80 degrees it was time to add the yeast.

By that time it had ballooned up nicely.

If you like the smell of yeast, this stuff is for you. It was super concentrated.

A few sloshes to get things mixed around . . .

. . . and it was time to stop up the bottle. The special plug allows air to come out of the jug, but not go into it.

Last but not least--stored away! This whole process took about 3 hours. Now the beer has to ferment in a cool, dark place for 8-14 days before it will be ready for bottling. After that it has to sit in the bottles for a few weeks, so we should have drinkable beer by the end of July-ish. Updates on its progress will be forthcoming.

From the Bargain Bin

2006-06-17T17:56:00.000-05:00

We nipped into Sunrise just before closing today so that I could grab a basil plant. The ones I started from seed weren't coming along fast enough, and since the tomatoes are going to be ready in a few weeks the situation was beginning to get critical.

We found a spry looking basil start (Sweet Basil, not Thai--because Sweet Husband doesn't like the licorice flavor) and then started admiring their pepper plants (which are much taller and more productive than ours, despite being in 3 inch pots). Next to the peppers were a hodge-podge of left over plants for 99 cents apiece. Our lettuce went to seed a few weeks ago and the watermelon I planted got washed away, so we had 2 square feet free. Nonetheless, I was stalwartly about to walk away when Nice Older Sunrise Lady came over and told me they were all half price.

That's 50 cents each, and, well, I've never really needed much encouragement to buy plants, now have I?

I picked a Tigger Melon and a Slicemaster Cucumber. They're both supposed to be grown in hills, but that just wasn't going to happen with our space limitations, so I trellised them. It will probably mean coming up with a creative support system at some point later this summer. But, hey, they were a buck!

How Are Things Growin'?

2006-06-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

Glad you asked . . . .

Aunt Ruby's German Green Tomato

Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Hillbilly Tomatoes

Jimmy Nardello Pepper

Hidatsa Shield Figure Bean

Soybeans

Lemon Tree (much recovered from its winter inside!)

Onion

Hanging Basket (a reminder why I should quit buying these--no matter how tempting they are....)

Hens and Chicks (a reminder why carefree plants are the greatest....)

Proud Parent of Another Canine Good Citizen!

2006-06-07T21:34:00.000-05:00

Porter has always been a very good citizen, of course, but now she has the title to prove it.

That's right, at the ripe old age of 8, our sweet Bella is officially an AKC Canine Good Citizen!

(Update 6/12/06: And she got her TT (that's "Temperament Title") this weekend also. It's ok, you don't have to say it, we know she's awesome.)

Guess what I found?

2006-06-04T19:48:00.001-05:00

And don't I feel silly--all that looking and it's about 5 blocks from my house! It's the....

And it's really nice. The plots aren't enormous, but there would be enough room for a nice little pumpkin patch

I think I'm going to put my name on the waiting list.

Lawson Brothers Farm

2006-06-04T17:56:00.002-05:00

About three weekends ago my calendar said, "Lawson Brothers Farm--Strawberries Ready". Lawson Brothers is a pick-your-own berry farm a few miles from Lawrence. They grow strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries, all of which are available at different times of the year. Last year we kept intending to go out, but were always busy doing something or other and never made it. So this year it's on my calendar--strawberries at the end of May, blackberries in July, and raspberries in August.

But, even with it on my calendar, we still ended up being a little late. When we finally found the farm today, there was a sign up that said "Patch Cleaning-Out Day. Pick what you want, Pay what you think they're worth." We were a little downhearted, expecting that not much would be left.

We were pleasantly surprised though. We probably had to do more hunting than we would've had to a few weeks ago, but we ended up finding quite a few good strawberries.

This is the back half of the patch where we started. We thought maybe it would be less picked over.

A good one!

I felt a little bad making Sweet Husband come pick with me--he doesn't really even like strawberries. But when we got home he tried one and said, "Hm, if strawberries usually tasted this good, I might eat them more often," so I guess he was just earning his share.

A few strawberries in our box.

Two pretty strawberries hiding in the leaves.

Me with our final haul. It took me about a half an hour to hull about two-thirds of them, but it was so worth it--they're so much better than the ones from the store, right at that perfect place between tangy and sweet. Their juice made my hands smell delicious and Poppy and the Lovebirds went crazy for the tops!

The other third are sitting in the sun to ripen a little more before we dig in. I thought about trying to make jam but we didn't quite get enough. Besides, they're so good fresh it seems a little heretical to mess with them much.

A Drive Around the Lake

2006-06-04T01:42:00.000-05:00

Sweet Husband and I were going to take the pups for a swim today. We drove all the way out to the far side of Clinton Lake, but unfortunatley the swimming area and beach were "No Pets Allowed". Just the luck!

But we did get a nice drive out of the deal....

We were searching for another place to swim when Sweet Husband saw this gate made by one of his professors. I love how perfectly it fit with the surrounding field.

And when we did finally find a place where Moe could dip his toes in, these pretty little white and pink flowers were growing up out of the rock.

Reinsch Rose Garden (Part Two)

2006-06-02T21:01:00.000-05:00

I spent lunch at the rose garden again. It was a perfect day--sparkling blue sky, just the right temperature.

The garden made me a little sad though. It's just messy--not in a wild, secret kind of way. In a neglected, unloved kind of way. Made me wish I could stay and weed and deadhead. But maybe everything seems a little more run-down when you're trying to navigate it in heels....

As you can see the roses are definitely blooming.

A Betty Boop Floribunda.

A Pink Meidiland Shrub.

And last, but not least, a comparison shot. I took this picture about 2 weeks ago--look how much more is in bloom now.

Bloomin' Onions and Stunted Strawberries

2006-06-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

My onions are about to pop, however my strawberries....

....are slightly stunted. They still taste good though.

Help With My Mission

2006-06-01T08:53:00.000-05:00

I had started to give up on my idea of finding a community garden. I drove around, checked signs, called people--but no information was forthcoming. It was beginning to seem like a secret society that I was going to either randomly fall into on some dark and stormy night, or never find at all.

But--lo and behold--this morning I woke up to this article in the LJWorld with information, addresses, and even contacts for, not one, but FOUR community gardens. Yahoo!

I think it may be too late for this year, but I'm going to drive by the Eastside garden tonight. If I like what I see, I can at least put my name on the waiting list and maybe we can have some squash next year....and if we do I'll have to send some to Jennifer Oldridge for her timely assistance.

Mexican Midget

2006-05-21T21:24:00.000-05:00

I finally made it back to Sunrise to check on the Midgets yesterday. Good thing too! They only had 3 or 4 left. I can't wait for their tiny tomato goodness....

This beautiful, organic, heirloom bouquet...

2006-05-20T21:19:00.000-05:00

...is brought to you by the Saturday Lawrence Farmers Market. It smells beautiful, but not floral-shop-y. It reminds me of my Grandma Mary's house in the country when I was little.

If I should die tommorow....

2006-05-18T22:39:00.000-05:00

....it'll be ok. Because I've grown and eaten one gorgeous...red...perfectly ripe...perfectly sweet strawberry.

Yup, it was really that good.

Shameless Advertising

2006-05-18T21:22:00.000-05:00

If you're around Lawrence this weekend, you should come to Sweet Husband's show. I have some pictures of his work posted here, and here are the details for the show....

Attack Repelled

2006-05-16T20:51:00.000-05:00

If the curtains hadn't been in the washer, we'd have never known. Luckily, they were being cleaned, and therefore weren't obscuring our field of view. Sweet Husband saw them first. There were three of them--perched on the fence greedily surveying my garden, their intended prize. I quickly sprang for the door. I threw it open and stared the invaders down for half a heartbeat before the dogs--valiant, fearless pups that they are--ran past me to attend to my arugula, to champion my carrots. The three rascals quickly retreated to the high ground, and I snapped this picture of one as he turned tail to run.

Reinsch Rose Garden

2006-05-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

I made a quick trip to the Reinsch Rose Garden in Gage Park in Topeka over lunch today. It's not quite ready yet. The climbers and shrubs were all in bloom, but the tea roses were all buds still. Nonetheless, it was great--I didn't want to go back to work!

An overall shot of the garden. As you can see they have a ton of teas all out in the middle. It's really going to be gorgeous in just a little bit.

This yellow rose was part of the border. It was a little raggedy. So much so, in fact, that I couldn't see the name plate to figure out what kind it was. It smelled lemony.

Maybe it was just what was in bloom, but it seemed like there were a ton of single blossom roses. I really love them, so it was a lot of fun to see so many different varieties. This is a Playboy Floribunda.

An Altissimo Climber--love, love, love the color.

A Flutterbye Shrub.

A Carefree Sunshine Shrub.

A Trumpeter Floribunda. Doesn't the color of this just fit the name perfectly?

A Just Joey Hybrid Tea. When I get my rose garden someday this will be one of the first roses I plant. I adore the color and smell.

This poor sweet flower somehow got the name "Fred Loads". Pretty rose, unfortunate name.

More in a few weeks . . . .

Introducing....

2006-05-13T17:24:00.000-05:00

....My Bit of Earth the Website! Yup, that's right, I finally found some page building software that I could figure out how to use effectively (thanks Nice Google People). It's not quite as easy as blogger, but it's pretty darned close. Comments on how to improve the layout and flow (as well as comments catching my spelling mistakes and typos) will be much appreciated.

First Fruits

2006-05-12T17:17:00.000-05:00

I haven't been so excited about something in the garden for a long time! I tried to grow strawberries last year and they failed miserably. I let out a little squeal of delight when I saw that this little guy and his friends were beginning to form. Fresh strawberries soon--yum-o!

The potato plants are also coming along really well, although I wish I had a taller container to plant them in. I read, and experienced potato growers confirm, that the secret to getting lots of potatoes is to keep adding dirt as the seedlings grow. The more of the plant you can get underground, the more room there is for potatoes to grow. The trouble is, the tallest container I had was only about three feet tall, and it's already full. But even if we only get a few it's still been fun!

Requiem for Roses

2006-05-11T10:48:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it or not yet, but my roses did not survive their winter sojourn in my attic. My heart did a little nose dive when we pulled them out and they were all brown and brittle. When I cut them back almost to the ground and there wasn't even a speck of green, I knew they were past the point of rescue.

I've kind of fallen in love with my little eclectic, hippie vegetable garden, so I haven't really had time to miss the roses. But all of sudden everyone else's roses have started blooming and it's made me a little sad not to have my own. They were a lot of trouble, but they were the kind of trouble I don't really mind taking.

For a few seconds this morning I thought about getting a bush and just planting it outside of our house. It would have to be something much less fussy to be sure; something that could live without much care when we move, because you never know if the people who move in next will be gardeners or not. And it would be pushing the "no gardening" clause in our lease...but I suppose that hasn't stopped me yet!

But maybe the better answer is just to enjoy other people's roses, and wait until we're more settled to get more of my own. The Reinsch Rose Garden is about 2 miles from where I work, and is supposedly gorgeous, the Laura Conyers Smith Garden was great last year, and (although it's a bit of a drive) the Capaha Rose Garden in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is also one I'd like to see.

I'm such a little rose junkie, right now I'd be happy with just a sniff.

Proud Parent of a Junior Earthdog

2006-05-07T17:45:00.000-05:00

The Wee Welshman and I traveled to Iowa this weekend to attend an earthdog test. What is this earthdog-thing, you ask? Well, it goes something like this....

Most terrier breeds were originally bread to search out and kill vermin and/or to flush out foxes and other quarry when hounds chased it into its den. Earthdog tests are meant to emulate that type of work. Generally speaking an earthdog "den" is begun by digging trenches in the ground. The sides and roof are made with a plywood "liner" which is then covered over to create an underground tunnel. At one end of the tunnel--behind bars so they don't get eaten--are rats in a cage. The terrier is released at the other end and (hopefully) makes it's way to the rats. Once there the terrier has to "work" (bark, bite, or paw at) the rats for a set length of time.

There are four different levels a terrier can work up to. The first is called Introduction to Quarry, then Junior Earthdog, Senior Earthdog, and Master Earthdog. As you go up each level the tunnel gets longer, the terrier has a different length of time to get to the rats, and the terrier has to work the rats for longer. Also, for each step up the terrier has to "qualify" one extra time.

For example, this weekend Moe did Intro and Junior. For Into he had 2 minutes to get through a 10 foot tunnel to the rats and had to work them for 30 seconds once there. He only had to do this one time to qualify. For Junior he had 30 seconds to get through a 30 foot tunnel and had to work for 60 seconds once he got to the rats. He had to do this 2 times to get the title. In Senior obstacles get added to the tunnel and the dog has to do it 3 times, and for Master the dog is released a long ways away from the tunnel and actually has to find the tunnel. A Master dog has to qualify 4 times to get the title.

So now that you (hopefully) understand what earthdog is--our weekend.

We stayed in Stuart, Iowa which is West of Des Moines. It was kind of a pretty little town, but there wasn't much there--lots of corn fields, a tiny old-school downtown.

This is the Junior Earthdog den from far away. Everyone else has to stay 100 feet away while each dog is taking the test so I didn't really get any good close up pictures. But you get the idea kinda-sorta. The tunnels were literally in the middle of a sheep pasture. The Wee Welshman had a great time eating and rolling in the sheep poop.

This is me and Moe with our judge, Carol Anderson, accepting his ribbon for the 1st leg of his Junior Earthdog title on Saturday. That morning he had done ok on the Intro tunnel, but when we got to the Junior he was a little unsure about the longer tunnel and it took him 29.5 seconds to get to the rats. Phew--just under the wire!

Once the tests were over for the day (and after a shower and a nap) Moe and I did a little exploring. We found a little state park, Nations Bridge park, just up the road from our hotel so we went for a little walk along this stream there.

Purple flowers along the stream.

We found these tracks in a soft spot along the stream. I'm not good enough to tell what they were. A few were definitely dog tracks, but some had really long claws. They were almost what I thought beaver tracks would look like?

Moe sniffing new smells. I was a little worried about how he would do being in a strange place and staying in a hotel, but, other than a few middle of the night trips outside, he did very well.

Saving the best for last! Here's me and Moe with judge Jim Moore as we got the ribbon for his Junior Earthdog title. By the time we got to his last test--he did one Intro and one Junior each day--he wasn't messing around. He got to the rats in under 9 seconds, and barked and dug well for the entire 60 seconds.

As a pro-separation-of-powers girl...

2006-05-03T16:43:00.000-05:00

...this article troubles me.

The First Farmer's Market Booty

2006-05-02T19:29:00.000-05:00

I was grocery shopping this afternoon when I had a happy thought--it's Tuesday and the farmer's market is open.

Pictured here are chives and French Breakfast Radishes from the Guy With the Cool Tomatoes, Purple Asparagus from the Basil and Arugula Lady, and some Spun Honey from...well, from the Honey Lady, I guess.

(5/3/06 Update: I think some the early heat must have gotten to Guy With the Cool Tomatoes' radishes--the texture was wonderful but they were very spicy!)

On the Cost of Pets

2006-05-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

Having just had to pull out the evil plastic to pay a fairly expensive veterinary bill myself, I find this discussion on veterinary costs and whether pets are luxury "items" to be interesting.

Around the time the Wee Welshman turned one, Sweet Husband and I made a rough estimate of how much money had been spent on him in the last year. Suffice to say we could have gone on a fairly nice vacation.

Of course, our pups would appear to be a little spoiled to some people. They eat high quality food, go to doggie daycare once a week, and take classes in obedience and agility. I think it's unfair to expect them to be wonderful dogs if I'm less than a wonderful dog owner, and doing all that I can to keep them physically healthy and to provide an outlet for their doggy-brains is all part of the deal. I made the choice to have dogs, so now I have the responsibility to keep them well. And, for me, the returns have been much more than worth the costs.

That's probably why we're not big questioners of vet bills. We've found a group of veterinarians that we really like and trust, and if they say the pups need it, they need it. Fortunately we have that luxury. For us a large vet bill just means we don't get to go out to eat as much for the next few weeks. We haven't yet--knock on wood--had that really huge bill to put our convictions to the test.

But I appreciate the fact that for a lot a people, taking the dog to the vet means a person has to do without necessities, and consequently their pets don't go. Should those people just not get to have pets? Is it better for a dog to be euthanized in a shelter rather than be adopted into a home where it will be loved but maybe only get minimum care? I don't think so, but I think there are a lot of people who would disagree with me.

Thoughts?

A Lovely Wedding

2006-04-30T12:53:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to Sweet Husband's cousin's wedding. I may be a little biased because I had so much fun hanging out with the littlest flower girl (aka Adorable Baby Niece), but I think it was one of the nicer weddings I've been to in a while. Very traditional, but sweet and spontaneous at the same time.

Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked because I forgot to change the camera batteries, but here's a sampling at least.

Sweet Husband and I helping to entertain Adorable Baby Niece before the ceremony.

Adorable Baby Niece taking shelter from the rain outside the church. It rained hard all through the ceremony and reception, but, although it made getting around a bit more difficult, it made the church seem all that much more cozy.

The wedding cake. Multi-talented Sister-In-Law (mother of Adorable Baby Niece) made it, and it looked and tasted wonderful.

And here are the Bride and Groom cutting the cake. The stained glass windows and molded ceilings in the Timmons Ballroom (where the reception was) were such a perfect backdrop. And, of course, the Bride and Groom were beautiful and happy.

These buckets hung on the pews at the church and then doubled as centerpieces for the reception. Very pretty.

(Hopefully Not) Jinxed

2006-04-25T22:20:00.000-05:00

Normally, I love Gwyn Mellinger's columns, but if it frosts tonight I'll never forgive her. Last week she wrote this article--"Beware of late-April frosts when planting in Kansas". Can you guess what there is a danger of tonight?

She jinxed us! And she's so gosh-darned logical about it too.

"[H]ot-weather crops nearly always catch up with those planted a week or two earlier. In mid-June it will be impossible, all things being equal, to tell the difference between a tomato planted April 20 and one planted May 5."

It may be true, but that's far too sensible. How anyone can be so patient is beyond me.

In closing...

Please don't frost on my tomatoes.
Please don't frost on my tomatoes.
Please don't frost on my tomatoes.

On Elevators

2006-04-25T15:50:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know, it's a little weird, but it's really cold and rainy out so just go with me....

I think one of the elevators at work is possessed. Truly. Earlier today I pushed the button to make it stop at my floor. When it arrived the doors opened, and just as I moved towards them they slammed shut. I pushed the button again, and again they opened and shut. Open, shut. Open, shut. For a second I thought about sticking my hand in quickly to trigger the safety mechanism that keeps the doors open, but then I caught myself--not a good idea! Eventually, the other elevator stopped and I got onto it instead.

(And to head off questions, yes, I could have taken the stairs. But the stairs are actually more scary than the elevator. Because of Stupid Terrorists they have to remain locked, and, while I do have a key, I've been warned that the keys don't always work well. As very few people take the stairs, if I got locked in I could be stuck for awhile.)

But this whole exchange got me thinking--elevators are really kind of a strange device. You get into them in one place, and, without any real expendeture of time or energy, you get off in another. You're moving, but you're staying in one place. It's kind of like when you bring a small animal home from the pet store. It's in one place, it's dark for awhile, and then it's in a completely different place.

If you want to learn all about elevators, check out this site. I won't reiterate here, but it certainly has more information than I ever wanted to know.

*Sigh* I hope the sun comes back soon.

Friday Field Trip--Capitol Dome Tour

2006-04-24T20:13:00.001-05:00

Nice Carpool Gal and I have started trying to walk a bit at lunch. It gets us away from our desks, and it's helping me learn a bit of the geography of Topeka. (Like where the yummy chocolate store is!)

Early last week we were on such a walk when Nice Carpool Gal noticed there were people on top of the Capitol building. She said she thought it would be fun to go up there someday, like for a special occasion or something. A few hours later, I was sitting back at my desk working when an email popped up. Nice Carpool Gal had done a little research and discovered that anyone could go to the top of the Capitol Dome. In fact they have several tours a day.

A field trip was clearly in order. So we made a reservation, and, along with two other friends, we traveled the trecherous path to the top.

This is the Capitol dome from the outside as we walked up.*

And here's a shot from the first floor up at the dome. The ceiling that you can see in this picture is the inner dome. It basically ends where the green copper starts on the outside of the building. To get to the top of the building we had to go further up.

This is from the stairway that we took to get above the inner dome. It runs in a huge spiral around the edge of the domes.

This was the last stairway that led to the top. Yes, it was high! I'm not terribly afraid of heights, but my grip on the handrails was pretty tight as we walked up. The stairway felt sturdy, but it still seemed to just be kind of floating in the air. It really wasn't connected to much!

And at last we reached the top. Well, this isn't us on the top, but it's where we were, all 296 steps up.

As much as I'm not a fan of Topeka, there are some cool things to see there. We have a few more field trips in the works, so hopefully I'll have more to post about soon!

(*Sweet Husband needed the camera that day to take pictures of his work, so these pictures are courtesy of Nice Carpool Gal.)

Hail

2006-04-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

Moe ran outside to eat the pieces. Porter hid from the scary noise. Sweet Husband cussed profusely at the damage it was doing to our cars. And I, as usual, ran to grab the camera.

(Next morning update--Not only did the hail beat the hell out of my vegetables, it broke our lights outside as well. And I can't even talk about our cars yet--it hurts my heart.)

A Mission

2006-04-23T20:58:00.000-05:00

There are no coincidences.

After getting everything tucked into the planter yesterday, I started thinking how nice it would be if I had a little spot to plant some pumpkins. Last fall I had the greatest time cooking pumpkins, and it would be ever-so-much more fun to be able to cook my own. I kept mulling over how it could be done, and gradually it has turned into one of, what Sweet Husband calls, my missions.

On another such mission we spent a perfectly beautiful Saturday going from store to store looking for a mortar and pestle. 3 hours, 7 stores. I take these seriously.

While still thinking, I spent the afternoon reading a book I picked up on a whim when Nice Carpool Gal and I went to the--surprisingly nice--library in Topeka for lunch the other day. The book, "Urban Gardener" is a compilation of newspaper colums written by Elspeth Thompson--isn't that the most wonderful name--for the London Sunday Telegraph in the late '90s.

In her first columns, Elspeth had only a small balcony garden, but she quickly gets an "allotment" and goes to work. It took me a few pages to figure out that an allotment is what we would call a plot in a community garden. As the columns progress Elspeth and her sister transform the allotment from weedy wilderness to a respectable little vegetable garden...complete with pumpkins.

*Light bulb*

Lawrence--this wonderful haven of hippies that it is--has at least two community gardens that I am aware of. One appears to be fairly well kept, but I'm not sure if one can just go in and claim a plot. The other is very overgrown. I've heard from several sources that anyone who wants a plot is free to go in and take it with the caveat that anyone who wants to go in and take vegetables from that plot is free to do so also.

Clearly more research is warranted, but maybe....

Rain and Thunder

2006-04-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

Garden 5.0

2006-04-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

As I was potting and repotting and planting today I realized that this is the fifth clearly separate incarnation of a garden at this house. Five separate arrangements in less than two years. Yikes! But I'm sure I've learned something or other along the way. If nothing else I've learned how to garden in a small space with dogs--containers!

At any rate, today I filled the last spot in the big planter with Hidatsa Shield Figure Beans. I also went ahead and caged the tomatoes and peppers. As I was literally wedging the cages in I momentarily started to doubt the wisdom of Mr. Mel Bartholemew (of Square Foot Gardening fame). One tomato per square foot seems awfully tight now that the cages are up to denote the full size the tomatoes will be. But then I remembered that Nice Father-In-Law had his tomatoes on something close to a square foot plan last year and they did well, so hopefully all will be well with mine also.

I also went to Sunrise and got herbs for my spare pots. I got some small starts of Munstead Lavendar, Oregano Thyme, Curry and Bronze Fennel. I'm trying to keep experimenting (as well as go easy on my budget) so I decided to try a few plants from seed.

I planted Alaska Nasturtiums around the bases of my tomatoes by the door, Italian Pesto Basil, Fine Leaf Chives, Dukat Leafy Dill, and Cilantro.

In the interest of continual greens, I planted a big pot of Apollo Arugula. I also got a Silky Asclepias for outside the backdoor. I was intending to plant Marigolds there, but I saw a sign at the nursery that said Monarch Butterflies are drawn to Asclepias so I thought it's be fun to try.

I made room for the Marigolds in an old hanging basket, instead.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I planted some strawberries too.

Phew! What a busy day!

Reality and Virtual Reality

2006-04-21T21:37:00.000-05:00

These are two of Sweet Husband's projects. One is a picture of a real object, the other is a computer rendering--the object itself doesn't exist. Can you tell which is which? Leave your guess in a comment if you'd like, and I'll post the answer in a few days.

You Say Tomato....

2006-04-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

After work last night I snuck into Sunrise just before closing and got tomatoes.

Lots of tomatoes.

I was planning two--maybe three. I came home with five. My eyes are bigger than my planter box.

Unfortunately, someone got to the Midgets before I did. The Sunrise Lady (as opposed to Older Sunrise Man or Younger Sunrise Man) said that mice nibled up her seeds before they could grow. I think she could sense my concern, however, because she immediately said she had planted new ones and they'd be ready in a few weeks. For a brief moment I considered offering her the day services of the Wee Welshman to scare the mice away, but then I realized, Moe chasing mice would do more damage to baby Midgets than mice alone ever could.

At any rate, I saved a spot for them, and got tons of cool heirlooms to boot.

Starting at the top left and working clockwise, I planted Hillbilly Potato, Amana Orange, Cherokee Purple, and Aunt Ruby's German Green.

I was planning to plant flowers in the two pots by the door where the roses lived last year, but hey--flowers are for sissies, real women plant tomatoes.

So I put a Yellow Pear to the right side, and the Midget (assuming the mice at Sunrise cooperate) will get the space on the left.

Oh, and I planted some peppers too--a Jimmy Nardello Sweet Italian Frying Pepper and a Mandarin Bell Pepper.

Proud Parent of a Canine Good Citizen

2006-04-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

I almost lost him when we were doing the "walking through a crowd" exercise, but he was awesome on the "stay" and "come".

Our little Moe-Moe-head is officially an AKC Canine Good Citizen!

The Map

2006-04-19T22:30:00.000-05:00

If I were a bit more clever I would have the little "Map" cartoon character from "Dora the Explorer" bouncing all over the screen, singing, "I'm the map! I'm the map! I'm the MAP!" As it is, this took more phinagling than I'm willing to admit to, but it's much better than the numbers.

Greens!

2006-04-18T20:35:00.000-05:00

"In the past, when your mother was with child, she developed an unusual appetite. She took one look at my beautiful garden and told your father that what she wanted more than anything in the world was

Greens, greens
and nothing but greens--
Parsley, peppers, cabbages and celery,
Asparagus and watercress and
Fiddleferns and lettuce!

He said, "All right,"
But it wasn't, quite,
'Cause I caught him in the autumn
In my garden one night!
He was robbing me,
Raping me,
Rooting through my rutabaga,
Raiding my arugula and
Ripping up my rampion
(My champion! My favorite!)
I should have laid a spell on him
Right there,
Could have changed him into stone
Or a dog or a chair...

But I let him have the rampion-
I'd lots to spare.
In return, however,
I said, "Fair is fair:
You can let me have the baby
That your wife will bear.

And we'll call it square."*

For the record--just in case it should coincidentally happen--I'm not to the point of giving the pups to a witch to lock up in a tall tower to get some, but goodness I'm enjoying munching on my baby spring greens!

(*From Into the Woods a Sondheim musical.)

More Planting

2006-04-17T17:31:00.000-05:00

Saturday evening I recruited Sweet Sister to help me plant s'more.

We put 9 Envy Soybeans in 08. I couldn't find a reference for the proper spacing of square foot soybeans, but I figured it would be easier to have a few too many to start and then pull them up later.

We also planted 2 Picnic Watermelon seeds in 09. I know I won't have room for both of those, but I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket (i.e. all my faith in one seed) so one will have to come up once it becomes evident that one is growing better.

Along the fence we sprinkled in a mix of Clark's Heavenly Blue and Scarlett O'Hara Morning Glories. I was just going to plant the Clarks because they were so beautiful last year, but the name Scarlett O'Hara caught my whimsy.

Lastly we hodge-podged in some Mammoth Gray Sunflower seeds in the same spot as last year. This is about the same time I planted them last year--although the warm weather makes it seem much later--so hopefully these will do as well.

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T12:35:00.000-05:00

Ahh, Easter eggs--those festive symbols of fertility, those sunny spots of Spring, those root causes of age-old sibling feuds.

Ingenuity

2006-04-15T12:35:00.000-05:00

I'm always complaining that I don't have as much space as I'd like. Obviously I'm not as creative as the people who live in this house 'round the block from us.

These hay bales have been out since the fall, and from the hot boxes that were on top I would guess there were some early seed starts or cool season crops. I haven't been able to catch the gardener outside to discuss what he's planting for summer, but it looks like it's a little bit of a lot of things including some climbers. Very cool.

Lilacs Blooming At Twilight

2006-04-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

I was driving with the car windows open the other day, when all of a sudden I caught a huge whiff of lilac from a hedge of it that had bloomed and was warming in the sun. This lilac is across the street from our house. The tops of it are just starting to bloom, and they smell incredible.

Lilac is such a classic flower, I thought there had to be some sort of story or myth associated with it. I was right. Lilac is in the genus Syringa. The word Syringa comes from the Greek word for "pipe." Because of the lilac's pithy stems, two early names for it were "pipe tree" and "blow stem." Both allude to the Greek myth in which the nymph Syrinx, pursued by the god Pan, turns herself into marsh reeds, which Pan then joins and uses as his flute, or panpipe. (From marthastewart.com)

"No pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater...

2006-04-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

...than central air."*

We finally cracked tonight and turned it on. I wouldn't have given in, but Sweet Husband reminded me that Nice Family is coming this weekend and might appreciate not having to sleep in the furnace that is our upstairs with no air on. And you know, making Sweet Husband and the pups suffer is one thing, but since we're having guests . . . .

And it's really hot!

(*From "Dogma" 1999, Directed by Kevin Smith--very funny if you have a sense of humor about religion.)

My Heart Wants To Be In Italy

2006-04-12T10:14:00.000-05:00

My very good friend C.C. (now commonly known by her grown-up name--Christina) just sent me a link to pictures from her Spring Break trip to Italy.

Oh to have been a little mouse in her pocket!

Sniffing the Good Stuff

2006-04-10T20:57:00.000-05:00

I was walking down the block to get some lunch today when I remembered another reason why Spring is so wonderful--the smells! Newly mown grass warming in the sun, freshly blooming tulips, about a hundred different kinds of flowering trees--not to mention the plain and simple Spring breeze.

Makes me want to have a picnic on the front lawn.

First Planted Things

2006-04-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

I finished filling my new raised bed with soil this morning, and even got a few things planted. I've divided up the bed into 12 square foot sections. For reference, I'm numbering them like this, when I face the bed coming out of our house:

12, 11, 10, 09, 08, 07
01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06

Today I just started some cool season stuff. It took a large amount of will power not to bring home a few of the beautiful baby tomato seedlings that are already out in nice neat little rows at the nursery, but hopefully in a few weeks....

This is what I planted:

2 Leeks in 07
9 Onion sets in the rest of 07 and the top of 06
8 Oxheart Carrots in the bottom of 06
1 Packet of California Spicy Greens mix (Arugula, Endive, Mizuna, Red Mustard) in 05

I also planted some "Red Norland" potatoes in the Grow Box. I found that it didn't work well for tomatoes last year because I couldn't keep slugs out of it, so I drilled some holes in the bottom and made it into a regular planter.

Eh, and I almost forgot--the joy of gardening with a wee terrier.

Future Site of a Square Foot Garden

2006-04-06T22:30:00.000-05:00

I have 12 square feet. Now to decide what to plant....

Day of Trees

2006-04-05T10:08:00.000-05:00

My calendar today says "Day of Trees (KOR)". To the nearest I can guess, I think that means today is the Day of Trees in Korea.

If you feel like celebrating, this is how easy it is to plant a tree. A year ago, on a whim, I sent a very small donation to the Arbor Day Foundation. They sent me back twelve sticks with roots. I only had a place to plant one, so I stuck it in a pot where it lived all of last summer. I didn't want to bring it inside for the winter, and I knew it didn't have a very good chance of surviving outside in a pot, so I literally stuck it into the ground. I may have watered it a few times, but other than that I left it to fend for itself.

And here you can see -- well, if you can see it, it's still kind of a stick -- my little tree has survived the winter and put out new buds and leaves.

Twins

2006-04-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

After trying numerous plants in the mucky little spot under our kitchen window, I decided we'd give this a shot. It's a compact version of Forsythia called Forsythia Sunrise.

They're supposedly "very forgiving". Between the dogs and the clay they'll have to be.

A Spot I Could've Loved

2006-04-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

Sweet Husband and I went to look at a house for rent yesterday. It was out in the country on top of a windy little hill. But not a bare hill. It had trees--beautiful, old, gorgeous trees. There was a little stone wall that enclosed the yard, and you could see the lake in the distance. Under a particularly big, old, brambly tree there was a little stone bench that looked like it had been there since time began.

The house itself was an old stone school. The outside was great.

Unfortunately the inside...not so much. Watery basement, rusty bathtub, olive green refridgerator. It broke my heart.

I wonder if I could pay the man rent and live there in a tent.

Daff-o-dilly Pretty Part 2

2006-04-02T21:20:00.000-05:00

These are Nice Mother-In-Law's daffodils. I knew that there was a type of daff that was all white, but I don't think I'd ever seen any up close and personal. I think I like them better than the yellow ones.

Don't get me wrong, the yellows are beautiful in the spring. But somehow--even though the white ones aren't as showy--I think they win.

A Nest 'o' Eggs

2006-04-01T20:38:00.000-06:00

We were in the 'burg this weekend and Nice Sister-And-Brother-In-Law asked us to bring the pups and go for a walk in the park with them and Adorable Baby Niece. Aside from many trips down slide for Baby Niece and some good "meeting a friendly stranger" training for Moe-Moe head, we also saw this little nest'o'goose eggs.

Truly, I've always been a little afraid of geese. One time when we were little, nice cousins and I were paddleboating and a goose climbed up on the back of our boat. Every since then, I've just not been into them.

And I know the eggs are going to grow into big, scary geese, but somehow they were still OK.

Daff-o-dilly Pretty

2006-03-31T21:20:00.000-06:00

And we have daffodils....

"I Am A Living Jewel"

2006-03-29T21:29:00.001-06:00

That's what the label that came on this jade plant said. A self-affirming plant.

I've been a little hestitant about doing much decorating in my office until I'm sure I've passed the bar--it would be awfully sad to have to pack it all back up. I feel like it's tempting fate a little to bring in a plant at all, even one as small as this. But it certainly looks like a jewel in my bare little office.

And it's probably a good plant to have chosen, come to think of it. Jade is also known as the "Money Tree". Maybe it'll bring me some luck.

I Looked, I Cried, Now I'm Angry

2006-03-28T13:03:00.000-06:00

I probably keep up on animal news better than I do on people news, so I saw a link "Pitbull puppy dipped in acid" pretty quickly after the story broke, about a week ago. When I first saw it I asked Sweet Husband, "Sometimes is it OK if you just don't want to know?" "Yup," he said, when he saw what I was looking at.

So, I avoided the story for awhile, even though it continued to get bigger and bigger. There have been protests about perceived inaction by animal control officials and currently a $15,000 reward is being offered for anyone with information that leads to the person who did this.

And then, I saw another link to it today after lunch, and for some reason that I'm not even sure I can explain I decided that I just had to know how bad it really was.

It's really bad. (There are pictures at this link so be prepared.) If it was intentional--and although the evidence strongly tends in that direction, they still aren't sure--a slow, painful death isn't good enough. If this was one of my two, the person who did it would have to start a new life somewhere else under a false name.

But the horribleness of what happened to Mooie (the pup's name) isn't the only thing that made me angry. One of the editorials linked to on the site added fuel to the fire. It said:

And part of it is a tad ridiculous. Web sites? Petitions? Rewards? Flocking to town meetings? Putting the law under such hyper-intense scrutiny? All for ... Mooie?

Even after looking at the heart-wrenching photo of the burned dog, a word comes to mind: perspective.

One wonders where all of the caring in the world goes when violence -- just as ugly and senseless and mean -- strikes people rather than pooches, stirring little more than a fleeting public whimper, if anything at all.

Yes, it's "just a dog" (not my words, obviously). Yes, people are getting hurt in horrific ways every day and they don't get petitions and protests. But does that really make this less awful?

People arguing for tougher animal cruelty laws make arguments along the lines of, "We need tougher animal cruelty laws because people who abuse animals will hurt other people too." I realize that part of that is just rhetoric to get support from people who couldn't care less about animals, and it does add to the list of reasons for tougher laws.

But do we really need more reasons?

Isn't animal abuse inherently wrong enough that we can punish for it without having to always compare or tie it to human consequences?

Viva la Différence!

2006-03-27T10:55:00.000-06:00

Today when I woke up in Lawrence, the world looked like it had been freshly washed. It had rained sometime in the night, but the sun was shining and the sky was a glittering blue. It was refreshingly chilly out but not too cold--in short it felt like the start of a gorgeous Spring day.

As we drove into Topeka for work it got yucky and cloudy and gray. Through the window that I can see from my office, it looks as if things have only gotten worse.

There are signs everywhere, and I'm thinking this morning might have been one.

Sweet Husband and I are thinking about buying a house in Lawrence. But housing in Lawrence is expensive, and we could probably get almost double the house if we were willing to move to Topeka. For about half a heartbeat the other day we thought about it. I made the suggestion, there was a second's pause, and then we both said, "Nahhh...."

It's interesting to me that two places so close together are so different.

Long live the difference!

Sunday Morning Muscari Musings

2006-03-26T08:52:00.000-06:00

I planted 50 of these last year (that would be fall of 2004)--so far only about 10 have popped back up. I'm having some, not insurmountable, problems with them.

The flowers are pretty, but their leaves come up midwinter and get horribly raggedy. The first winter after I planted them I made the mistake of thinking the leaves were weeds, and I cut them back. Probably why so few have bloomed again, although our heavy clay soil could have something to do with it too.

Right now I have them mixed in with a bed of tulips, per a suggestion from the bulb catalog, and they pretty much just get hidden. They're just too tiny to compete.

I think, if we stay here, I'll dig them up and put them in a tiny clump by a corner of the fence. And if we live somewhere else, maybe I'll dig them up and put them in a tiny clump by a corner of the fence somewhere else.

Branching Out

2006-03-25T21:22:00.000-06:00

My nice little tree branches have bloomed beautifully. Their counterparts outside are also starting to open up--not having been killed by our almost non-existent snow--but they aren't as far along as these.

I really need a leaf to be able to figure out what kind of tree it is, but just from the blossoms I'm guessing it might be some kind of cherry or crabapple tree?

Are You Packin'?

2006-03-24T18:51:00.000-06:00

I really haven't intended to be such a political blogger lately. I've started a new job where people tend to pay attention, ergo more things are on my radar, and it's hard not to write about them.

For example, yesterday the Kansas Legislature decided we need to be able to carry concealed weapons.

I don't necessarily understand the need. As Nice Carpool Gals and I were discussing on the way home--drunk people + concealed guns = bad idea.

And I'm not sure how much it really increases safety, either. I'm not a quick-draw-mcgraw, but I am reasonably proficient with a gun. Even so, I'm not sure that--if an attacker was close enough that I'd feel justified in shooting him--I'd be able to get my gun in hand and get the safety off before the attacker took it and used it against me.

But aside from all of that, what really compelled me to write was this statement by one of the bill's sponsors, Senetor Phil Journey:

“Many criminals are rational human beings, and when they realize there is a good chance that they could get shot committing a violent crime, they’ll probably decide to do something else.”

Many criminals are rational human beings?!? What utopian planet does this guy live on?

I'll concede that some criminals are rational human beings, but many, if not most, are strung out on drugs, have horrible impulse control, and just generally don't think things through.

If you want to make the argument that this allows law-abiding people to fight back, that's fine, but don't pretend that criminals go through a calculated, rational risk analysis before they commit crimes. That's just nonsense.

(But hey, every cloud has a silver lining, maybe this is just the excuse I need to get this gorgeous girl. Don't worry Nice Carpool Gals, I promise I won't try to bring her to work!)

She Has Us Pegged....

2006-03-23T12:53:00.000-06:00

I was reading an article* in the Kansas City Star the other day wherein the author described Lawrence as "the hippie, dippy, liberal lightning rod on the prairie." What a nice way with words!

(*The article was a review of Local Burger, an old-style burger joint that focuses on using organic and locally grown product. What did I think of Local Burger? Find out here.)

Food Blogging--Bisgusting Cheese

2006-03-22T21:08:00.000-06:00

When Younger Brother was very young and ate something he didn't like, he would loudly exclaim, "That's Bisgusting!"

I was reminded of both the expression and the look on his face whenever he said it, when I tried these cheeses last night.

As a caveat, prior to last night I believed that I was a lover of all cheese. Cheese was my first word. Seriously. But these particular cheeses were not good, even by my liberal cheese-lovin' standards. Starting at the bottom left and going clockwise....

Morbier chese is a raw cow's milk cheese. It was actually the best of the three--kind of like marbled cheese. Nothing exciting, but nothing great either.

Next was the Drunken Goat cheese. This is a Spanish cheese and the rind is cured with red wine. Red wine=good, right? Not so much, unfortunately.

Then we have the winner of this bisgusting cheese plate, the Goat Brie. Once again, some thought went into this. I like cow's brie. I can't often tell the difference between cow's milk and goat's milk. Therefore goat's brie should be good, yes?

Nope.

Have you ever smelled a really stinky goat? Not a really stinky nanny (girl) goat, but a really nasty, evil billy (boy) goat? Well I have, and this cheese tasted like that goat smelled. It was really, honest-and-truly BISGUSTING!

Just a Dust

2006-03-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning to just a tiny bit of snow. I was really hoping we would get enough to be able to stay home, but there wasn't that much. Just enough to give the ground a nice coating and make it difficult to get out of my warm, cozy, dog-filled bed.

Or maybe it was just the dogs that made it hard to get out of bed. Sweet Husband is gone this week so I was literally pinned under the covers with one pup on each side--not a bad place to be on a snowy (March?) morning.

The First Day of Spring?

2006-03-20T12:12:00.000-06:00

Spring officially begins sometime 'round 12:30 today. Evidently someone didn't get the memo, because we're in the process of getting a winter snow storm. The weather people are predicting between three and six inches of snow in Lawrence over the course of the day and tonight.

Last week a tornado, and this week a snowstorm--gotta love this Kansas weather!

Saved?

2006-03-19T20:34:00.000-06:00

It's supposed to snow so I didn't feel too bad cutting these blooming branches off of a tree near our house and bringing them in to bloom inside.
I'm working on ID'ing the tree they came from, but I'm not sure what kind it is yet.

"Voices in the Dark"

2006-03-18T18:09:00.000-06:00

I totally dig my town.

The Topeka St. Patrick's Day Parade

2006-03-17T17:32:00.000-06:00

Ok, so St. Patrick's Day wasn't quite as much fun as last year, but a few co-workers and I did at least slip out for lunch to watch the parade in Topeka.

Of course, bagpippers lead the way.

This giant duck was publicity for some kind of charity, but I'm not sure what.

And they had bands on semi-trucks! In my day we marched two miles in polyester uniforms, sweating bullets even when it was freezing out....

But overall, it was a good excuse to be silly for an hour, and, hey, who doesn't need that?

(Want to see more pictures? Check them out here.)

When To Just Give Up....

2006-03-16T13:15:00.000-06:00

Check out this, which was on the front page of MSN today. It's an article about how once again our amazing *sarcasm* State Board of Education has done something ridiculous and made kids have to get permission slips to take sex-ed.

It's getting embarrassing to say that I'm from Kansas. Sometimes I hate my state. Sometimes I think it would be easier just give up and move.

But then I get all angry and raucous and think, "Damnit, this is my state too!" (And besides I'm not taking the bar again somewhere else.)

Or maybe it's just the idiots that people from my state elect to the State Board of Education. Where do they find these people?

Just to get my feelings on the record so that I don't get lumped in--Teenagers are going to have premarital sex. Teenagers have been having premarital sex since medieval times. It's stupid, Stupid, STUPID in SO many ways not to EDUCATE them about how to protect themselves from pregnancy and disease.

End of rant, back to your regularly scheduled day....

Encouraged Bulbs Were Unencouraging

2006-03-15T20:37:00.000-06:00

The "encouraged" bulbs that I gave up fridge and shelf space for were...well, frankly, it didn't go so well. I'm not sure if I didn't chill them adequately, or if it was the mold? Or maybe we had fruit in the fridge that retarded the blooms?

There were a few sorta-kinda successes.

The Amarylis was gorgeous, but a little unwieldly. I think next year I need to study up on how to keep it from getting so leggy. I need to aim for nice short, stout little stalks.

The Paperwhites were also nice, but next year I need to either plant in a bigger container or less bulbs.

Unfortunately almost everything else was pretty disappointing.

The "Tete-a-Tete" Daffodils looked like they might do ok, when the first one bloomed. By the time more started to bloom though, the first were terribly raggedy. I kept hoping for a pretty little pot full, but they were so staggered that it just never worked out.

The "Greigii Diantha" tulips also began well. The leave variegation was really pretty at first, but then they got brown at the tips. (I watered them, I swear!) They're still sitting in my windowsill with no sign of a flower any time soon.

The "Woodstock" Hyacinths almost bloomed. And they were pretty in their forcing glasses if nothing else. The chilled ones did a little better than the unchilled (which pretty much looked dead as they were blooming) but just a very little.

The worst disappointment was the Lavendar Muscari. Each little corn put up a single green shoot, that promptly began to turn brown and die.

I'd like to say I'll try again next year--and I suppose I might on a smaller scale--but really that was a lot of work for what I got out of it. And from a cost standpoint it's just as cheap (if not cheaper) to buy professionally "encouraged" bulbs.

BUT as soon as we're properly situated somewhere I want to plant a whole plot of the "Greigii Diantha" tulips--the leaves were too pretty...while they lasted.

Spring Storm

2006-03-12T22:16:00.000-06:00

We woke up Sunday morning to a creepy green sky and tornado sirens. Once the excitement was over, we found out that it probably wasn't actually a tornado--just some nasty wind. Overall we came through great. We were without power from about 8:30 on Sunday morning to about 3 a.m. Monday, but other than that no damage. Unfortunately other people weren't so lucky....

The view outside our back door.

Down the alley from our house the power lines were down.

Down the street to the East.

Down the street to the West towards Mass St.

Down the street to the south.

Our next door neighbors yard.

Down the street a tree fell on top of a car and through part of a porch roof.

After sitting around for a few hours without power, we ventured out to scrounge up some breakfast. Afterwards we drove around a little bit to check out the damage downtown.

This was one of several stop signs that was blown over.

The Replay, a bar downtown had all it's windows broken out.

Later when we drove by again they were patching things up.

A tree in east Lawrence.

Except for the broken trees, it looked like roofs were damaged the most.

Broken windows at Wa, a sushi restaurant downtown.

Plywood covering the windows at Wa.

Several of the awnings over shops on Mass St. were broken, but this was the most dramatic.

The awning in front of Vermont Street BBQ, on Mass St.

On 23rd Street many of large signs were broken.

Taco Johns sign

Gas station sign

Sweet Husband read a news article today that said there was an estimated 6 million dollars worth of damage on campus. We walked around a little bit. There were lots of broken windows, broken roofing tiles, and fallen trees.

Bleachers at the soccer field.

Another shot of the bleachers--younger brother who lives in the dorm near here said one bleacher landed on a car.

Broken tiles on top of Snow Hall.

Broken doors at Budig Hall.

Broken Windows at Budig Hall.

More broken windows at Budig.

This is the roof of Murphy Hall--this looked like about the worst damage on campus that we could see.

There were bits of newspaper from the newspaper racks all over.

All the fallen trees broke my heart!

Tree uprooted near Strong Hall.

A close up of the tree's roots.

A fallen tree on Jayhawk Boulevard.

The chapel roof on campus looked really sad.

More fallen trees.

East Lawrence, where we live, had a ton of big trees that fell, but only a few really looked like they damaged houses.

A tree fallen on an RV in someone's front yard.

This huge tree was completely uprooted.

Power was really spotty all over Lawrence all day. Power lines were broken like this all over.

This was the only tree we saw that looked like it seriously damaged someone's house.

A broken tree.

Overall, from the reports I've heard at least, no one in Lawrence was seriously injured. Today crews were cleaning up on campus and picking up limbs from people's yards, and things were beginning to get back to normal.

Nothing like a little reminder that it's tornado season already!

The First Crocus

2006-03-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

I wasn't sure if my bulbs were going to come back this year after my massacre late last Spring. But I've got tons of leaves popping up, and today I stepped out to find this pretty little white Crocus.

Food Blogging--Artisanal Chocolate

2006-03-09T10:43:00.000-06:00

I brought these home as a treat for Sweet Husband the other day.

They're Christoper Elbow Artisanal Chocolates, and yes, they do taste as good as they look. And the flavors are very original--the center one was a Rosemary Caramel. Sounds weird, but my goodness it was good!

A Calculation to Remember

2006-03-08T22:40:00.000-06:00

Forced Daffodils
COST
Bulbs....$4
Potting Soil....oh, let's say $.50
Time, energy, and fridge space....let's not even talk about it!

BLOOMS....not all that spectacular

Fresh-Cut Daffodils From Grocery Store
COST
Price....12 for $3
Time and energy....about 10 seconds to put water in vase, re-cut flowers, plop flowers in vase

BLOOMS....Gorgeous

Clearly this is something to think about next year.

Blooming and Bloomed

2006-02-22T22:36:00.000-06:00

We were just walking out the door Monday night to head to Topeka for the bar exam Tuesday morning, when I noticed that my little Tete-a-Tete daffodils were just beginning to bloom. I took it as a good sign.

When I got home today, they were in nice full bloom.

It's funny, we haven't really had enough winter for me to have Spring Fever yet. And we're planning on trying to move this summer, so there's no outside garden for me to plan and anticipate planting.

But the daffodils have reminded me that while I've been holed up with my books, the year has been trudging on--it's almost Spring!