Lots of Stuff
What is this weather? It's POURING RAIN and I've had to turn on the overhead light, even with my curtains all the way open. Of course this happens the day after I give my garden a thorough watering.
On the garden front: tomatoes going CRAZY. They're growing like mad - the most verdant, green growth I've ever had with tomatoes. I must remember the trick with the Down to Earth brand Bio-Fish in the holes when transplanting seedlings, they seem to have responded well to that. Nearly all the varieties have started flowering (though they're not far enough in that the rain is a disaster, than goodness) and the Sungold has even set itty-bitty minuscule green fruit. I am so excited. Mmmm, tomato egg-drop soup...
I finally got the cucumbers trellised, and they appear to have got the message, and are now twining up their strings. The Yamato sanjaku and the dragon's egg have started flowering.
Despite my initial misgivings after half the seeds failed to sprout, the Spanish musica greenbeans are back in my good books. They produce flat, tasty beans that stay tender even when they're eight inches long. So far I've managed to get several harvests of about two servings each. Note to self for next year: plant twice as many Spanish musica, so you can have extra to set aside. The Kentucky whatever (wonder?) are not doing so well. Two vines spontaneously died (I suspect snails in the first case) and two have been eaten by the nasturtiums (whoops.) The rest are growing and flowering pretty well, and just beginning to produce beans.
I'm not terribly happy with the Kyoto kujo negi (green onions.) They're both smaller and less vigorous than the variety I grew last year, Evergreen white nebuka. Definitely going back to the Evergreen next year.
The melons have been transplanted and fertilized, so I'm hoping they'll survive. Currently the New Melon is staying stubbornly tiny, and not doing much of anything at all. The Ichiba kouji is doing better - it's just starting to put out new growth. I think it's about ready to go crazy.
The usui (pea shoots) are fun, but if I grow them again I need to plant way more, and get them in the ground earlier. I wonder if I can grow peas out front, against the house, where they would get lots of sun in the early spring.
The peppers are growing, slowly. I don't think they're doing as well as they did last year. Possibly starting my own peppers is not the best idea. They just don't seem to be thriving in the same way that starts from Harmony Farm do. Perhaps it's time for me to get serious about starting seeds right, with the right medium to encourage root growth and grow lights and everything. Hmm.
There was a big family barbecue-get-together-thinga few weekends ago, which was fun. We got to meet Buster the Corgi, one of the new canine additions to the family. He was very cute (enormous ears! enormous tongue! tiny, stubby little legs!) and quite well behaved. Also got to meet one of my mother's cousins. She looks so much like one of my aunts I got very confused when she first arrived. Anyway, tasty food, nice people, Boggle-charades - a very nice time was had. And I need to type up the gluten-free, lactose-free cake I made, because it was a huge hit.
After the family get-together, we escaped back home, so we could spend a thoroughly lovely, lazy anniversary at our house. After waffling between ideas, we decided to stay in for dinner, so we splurged on very nice steaks, and puttered around the kitchen together, making steaks (delicious,) mashed potatoes with garlic chives and sour cream (tasty,) green beans (from my garden!) and tarts with whipped cream. I couldn't decide between peaches and plums at the grocery store, so we ended up with two tarts, one of each. Plum tart with frangipane and roasted peach tart with frangipane. The peaches were actually pretty mediocre peaches, but roasting them made them sweet and delicious. Now I want to try a roasted peach tart with good peaches. Mmm.
In very exciting news, we're finally getting a puppy! :D We talked to a breeder in Santa Rosa back in January, and got on her list. One of her dogs just had a litter - of seven puppies, no less! - and so she emailed us. I have now sent off the deposit, so in August we get a FUZZY LITTLE BALL OF ADORABLE (and destruction.) The timing is kind of bad, what with weddings and PAX, but my family has volunteered to pet sit if we need it, and it should all work out.
Entry originally posted at annoyedwabbit on Dreamwidth.org
On the garden front: tomatoes going CRAZY. They're growing like mad - the most verdant, green growth I've ever had with tomatoes. I must remember the trick with the Down to Earth brand Bio-Fish in the holes when transplanting seedlings, they seem to have responded well to that. Nearly all the varieties have started flowering (though they're not far enough in that the rain is a disaster, than goodness) and the Sungold has even set itty-bitty minuscule green fruit. I am so excited. Mmmm, tomato egg-drop soup...
I finally got the cucumbers trellised, and they appear to have got the message, and are now twining up their strings. The Yamato sanjaku and the dragon's egg have started flowering.
Despite my initial misgivings after half the seeds failed to sprout, the Spanish musica greenbeans are back in my good books. They produce flat, tasty beans that stay tender even when they're eight inches long. So far I've managed to get several harvests of about two servings each. Note to self for next year: plant twice as many Spanish musica, so you can have extra to set aside. The Kentucky whatever (wonder?) are not doing so well. Two vines spontaneously died (I suspect snails in the first case) and two have been eaten by the nasturtiums (whoops.) The rest are growing and flowering pretty well, and just beginning to produce beans.
I'm not terribly happy with the Kyoto kujo negi (green onions.) They're both smaller and less vigorous than the variety I grew last year, Evergreen white nebuka. Definitely going back to the Evergreen next year.
The melons have been transplanted and fertilized, so I'm hoping they'll survive. Currently the New Melon is staying stubbornly tiny, and not doing much of anything at all. The Ichiba kouji is doing better - it's just starting to put out new growth. I think it's about ready to go crazy.
The usui (pea shoots) are fun, but if I grow them again I need to plant way more, and get them in the ground earlier. I wonder if I can grow peas out front, against the house, where they would get lots of sun in the early spring.
The peppers are growing, slowly. I don't think they're doing as well as they did last year. Possibly starting my own peppers is not the best idea. They just don't seem to be thriving in the same way that starts from Harmony Farm do. Perhaps it's time for me to get serious about starting seeds right, with the right medium to encourage root growth and grow lights and everything. Hmm.
There was a big family barbecue-get-together-thinga few weekends ago, which was fun. We got to meet Buster the Corgi, one of the new canine additions to the family. He was very cute (enormous ears! enormous tongue! tiny, stubby little legs!) and quite well behaved. Also got to meet one of my mother's cousins. She looks so much like one of my aunts I got very confused when she first arrived. Anyway, tasty food, nice people, Boggle-charades - a very nice time was had. And I need to type up the gluten-free, lactose-free cake I made, because it was a huge hit.
After the family get-together, we escaped back home, so we could spend a thoroughly lovely, lazy anniversary at our house. After waffling between ideas, we decided to stay in for dinner, so we splurged on very nice steaks, and puttered around the kitchen together, making steaks (delicious,) mashed potatoes with garlic chives and sour cream (tasty,) green beans (from my garden!) and tarts with whipped cream. I couldn't decide between peaches and plums at the grocery store, so we ended up with two tarts, one of each. Plum tart with frangipane and roasted peach tart with frangipane. The peaches were actually pretty mediocre peaches, but roasting them made them sweet and delicious. Now I want to try a roasted peach tart with good peaches. Mmm.
In very exciting news, we're finally getting a puppy! :D We talked to a breeder in Santa Rosa back in January, and got on her list. One of her dogs just had a litter - of seven puppies, no less! - and so she emailed us. I have now sent off the deposit, so in August we get a FUZZY LITTLE BALL OF ADORABLE (and destruction.) The timing is kind of bad, what with weddings and PAX, but my family has volunteered to pet sit if we need it, and it should all work out.
Entry originally posted at annoyedwabbit on Dreamwidth.org