Senses

This afternoon I walked into my backyard and the smell of sweet, ripe peaches hung in the air and seemed to surround me.

And a whole lot were hanging out on the ground too. Welcome Fall.

I'm not sure how many of these peaches will find their way down to my food storage room this year.

Feel free to come over and share the harvest!

Just in Time

Guess what bloomed just in time for little Berkeley Rose's arrival?

I love thinking that every summer my first roses will arrive just as her birthday does. Some people think the rose is a common, cliche flower. I love them. I treasure my 14 rose bushes. They seem to be the only green thing I can get to flourish.

I painstakingly prune them all summer, with scratches galore as proof. But all summer long my house smells of fresh roses. I can't wait to bring a vase full of them to the hospital with me.

Backyard Predator

One big reason we love our backyard snakes.

Snakes in the Bush

We love them. A little family has moved into our lavendar bushes. Nothing for pest control like a few little garden snakes.

Last year our snakes were MIA. The neighborhood boys took a liking to slaughtering all the snakes they could find. They have been directly instructed to let these little ones be.

When we moved into our home over 5 years ago, we found our house came with quite a bit of stories. Most infamous were the snake stories. The original owner of our house was a Botany professor and the local university. He believed in natural pest control. Under that philosophy he introduced quite a population of snakes into his yard, and consequently the neighborhood.

I don't think any of the ladies on the street were very thrilled. The second owners who "flipped the house" purchasing it at auction literally took a bulldozer to the yard. I guess it was quite the wooded Shangri La. Thankfully they left most of the trees in the backyard for us to enjoy, and a few snakes.

Wheatgrass Solution

This is my decorative attempt at wheatgrass. Since I have no utility room and zero room in my kitchen I decided to try my luck with a little shelf in the front room. It actually look okay and my wheatgrass seems to like the climate. I put the place mats, and plastic down to protect the wood.

The effort is a success so far. I am also growing less at one time, than I tried to do before. It helps too, because I have no green thumb. It is all I can do to attempt to keep one tray alive, let alone 3-4 moldfree!

Small Gratitudes

I am so grateful I didn't have to prune my fruit trees. The first 2 years, I did it myself. It took hours! Thankfully, their is a neighborhood pruner, who works our street every year.

Finally I figured that out. I love having trees, but my time was worth paying someone else to prune them!

A Tendency Towards Overboard

200 lbs of Onions

200 lbs of Potatoes

150 lbs of Tomatoes

It didn't seem like it was all that much when I was placing my order...4 bags of onion, 4 bags of potatoes...but the minivan could barely accelerate with this booty!

Any guesses on how I will spend my weekend? I haven't been able to get my 1/5th of an acre to produce much food this year...in fact I think it is my pesky chickens. They are highly suspicious with the inordinate amount of time spent roaming in my beds.

In lieu of home production I ordered this food from a family in Alpine who runs a home business called Alpine Food Storage. They have some great deals if you are looking to buy in bulk on grains, natural sweeteners, nuts, oils, etc. Of course, you can buy 50 lbs of potatoes instead of 200...hmmm...I definitely have a tendency towards going overboard on things (or I like to think of it as intensity), especially food.

I plan to keep the potatoes and onions in boxes in my basement with sawdust. I've been told they will last up to a year. I still really don't think we will eat this much. But how do you measure something like this? I am not good at measuring. I would rather fare on the side of too much than too little.

Fresh Herbed Pizza Sauce

I am basking in the continual, daily harvest of fresh herbs from my Aerogarden. I love it! Yesterday I made homemade pizza sauce with fresh basil and oregano. It was fantastic.

Homemade Fresh Herbed Pizza Sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 T fresh basil
1 T fresh oregano

Saute garlic in olive oil until tender, not brown. Add tomatoes and paste. Add torn fresh herbs. Simmer for 5 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender.

I put this sauce on a yummy whole grain, wheat germ crust. We topped it with mozzarella, cheddar, and Parmesan cheeses (of course in keeping with our vegetarian themed year).

I also added fresh dill to our tuna sandwiches for lunch. Last night I snuggled in with a fresh mint herbal tea. (Still living with no microwave, btw. Herbal tea has to replace my warm rice bag.)

Aerogarden Update: 4 Weeks

Week 4 and my Aerogarden is thriving! All this after being gone for an entire week. It waters itself. I actually used my first little harvest today. I took a few sprigs of dill (in the back left hand corner, next to the basil) and added it to our tuna. Delicate and fragrant, it was the perfect addition. I can't wait to make my Garlic Tomato Basil Sauce this week!

Aerogarden Update: 2 Weeks

My little plants are growing! It is so fun to watch them each day. I was very disappointed because 2 recipes I made today needed fresh herbs...but they are still too miniature to cut. I needed sage and mint. Sage for a Butternut Squash Bisque recipe and the mint as a garnish for some Lemon Custard Cream Puffs. I will post the recipes soon. I served these at a baby shower and they were a hit.

A few more weeks and I think I my little garden will be ready for its first harvest. I have my artificial plants in the background as cheerleaders for my little guys.