Our First Real Garden

Well, we tried with window boxes the first Spring we were married and living in a dark basement apartment.  I think we got two peas.

Hopefully this fall garden goes a little better, cuz we're jumping in all the way. We even built a little green house yesterday on a second patch closer to the house and I finally finished putting the compost tumbler together yesterday.  So now our first batch of future compost is cooking away.  I'm expecting bugs to get half of everything since it will be organic and my first time. And of course, the one vegetable I'm not as excited about is doing best: cabbage.

 
At least it's purple. And I don't hate cabbage, it just takes a week or two to get through one head of it. So cabbage recipes are welcome.  Hopefully we'll also get some leeks, broccoli, and

Colorful Carrots

Swiss Chard

Nero Kale

Next to the house I made a little green house since the teacher at a "Beginning Organic Gardening" class last week said it was simple. Pound 2 foot metal rods into the ground, bend pvc onto them and cover with thick, plastic painter's tarp.  I wimped out twice at home depot since everyone was telling me a different thing to do, but this weekend I finally braved up.  And hopefully the lettuce, onions, celery, kale, and chard have a happy warm place and their growing season will be extended.

Planted October 8th, we'll see what happens

I've learned a few things. Organic is more about nurturing the soil than the plant.  And adding instead of taking away.  So marigolds planted on the end of each row help attract pollinators and have a smell that pesky bugs don't like.  Smashed up egg shells to keep slugs away. Plant basil under tomatoes since it likes the shade. Plant legumes, peas, clover in the fall where heavy producers like tomatoes will be the next summer to naturally add nitrogen to soil.  And the only trick I've used so far, plant onions and garlic between the kale and lettuces, since their roots are high and are also stinky to bugs.  But that's only been going for a day, so we'll see how it works.

Cute little heirloom lettuces,
with purple onions between.

Annual Farm Day

Today we drove up to Layton for our CSA's member farm day, a chance to see what's going on, help plant, and pull up some vegetables that wintered over, in this case, Jerusalem artichokes or sun chokes- which look like ginger root, but starchy like a potato.  Only 3 couples showed up, but we still had fun.  I think Esme the most, judging by how dirty she got.  The kids were tough, loved the dirt and bugs, ate raw sun chokes and asparagus when they got hungry. 

I had good reason to get out the camera this time because I help the main blogger for the CSA in trade for a free small share.  Pretty good set up.  My first "job" since Eli was born.  Brian was gone most of the time, so I couldn't get too creative with the kids tugging on me or in my arms.

Chinese Broccoli waiting

Bees with honey water dripping in from buckets since they ate their store
and need energy to come out of dormancy.

Add caption

What we were after- sun chokes

Have I mentioned Esme's a daddy's girl?
It feels strange not being the preferred parent.

Home Canning

I can't imagine ever being bored as a stay-at-home mom. Even when the kids get bigger. Then I will do things like home-made bread and pasta. There's so much I want to learn and make. So my nice friend Wendy had us over last week to show me the ropes of home canning. I've been too scared up to now, worried I'd give us botulism or something. Jam/jelly seems to be the easiest, thank goodness. Processing (boiling), after the jars are filled isn't even necessary, like with fresh fruit.

Sadly I didn't get a picture of Wendy or the buckets of concord grapes she brought from her mom's garden, but here's the juice coming out of the steamer. Then it was cooked with sugar and pectin and went into hot jars. I halfed the sugar, despite warnings on the box, and it set up perfectly with a little extra boiling. I was happy to learn on something that didn't require the post-processing or a pressure cooker, needed for vegetables and such. I have scary visions of sealed jars exploding. Yikes. Baby steps.

Eli gasped when he saw Wendy's garden. It was cute. I've been trying to get him excited about growing vegetables.  I gasped when I saw how much basil, lemongrass, and heirloom tomatoes she sent us home with. We've been eating plenty of caprese, pesto, and even some Thai chicken soup.  Wendy also told me about a book by a woman that only ate what she grew or got from the local farmer's market for 1 year. Not sure if I could ever do that. It's a lot of work, self sufficiency. I knew that, but realized a little better that you can't be wimpy. While plucking grapes I squeeled a few times when I found earwigs making their way up my hand.

I'm hoping to do lots of homework on gardening so things will go as smoothly as possible when the time comes.  Natural pest control, where to plant what, what grows well here, best way to water, etc.  So I'm grateful for Wendy's advice.

So today I'm excited to have canned by myself for the first time.  Making my own batch of grape jelly. Each pop of the lids going down was a relief.  It worked! Now I definitely sound crazy to experienced canners and those with  no interest, which probably represents everyone.

I don't know what's come over me. I feel like a pregnant woman nesting or a squirrel preparing for the upcoming change in seasons. I am neither one of those, but seeing all the fruit and vegetables in season right now is making me want to buy extra and store for winter. Probably because I just read this book.

I've heard several times that the most important way to reduce your impact on the environment is to eat what's local and in season. It's more crucial than the kind of car you drive or the light bulbs in your lamps. It's also the healthiest option. Freezing keeps more of the vitamins than canning. Add in the fact that I have never canned anything and you get this:

Our new freezer. Brian was very proud of himself for finding it 75% off. Eli was so excited about finding it this morning that he started filling it right away. Then we went to a Rojas Farm about a mile away. The fabulousness we get from the CSA is not quite enough for us now, so I needed to get extra to freeze. It's not necessarily organic, but they only spray the corn with pesticides, so I went a little crazy.

Most of the pears were a little dinged up (unlike these ones on top), so I asked for a discount and and the lady just gave them to me. She even held Esme while I shopped. She said we could go out and take cucumbers too, since they decided not to pick them. Maybe next time. We'll go back when they get more peaches, another Brian request.

Apricots Are For Cooking

So my friend Missy, who braved Wyoming with us, mentioned neighbors yards filling with fallen apricots. I practically invited myself to her neighborhood to pick some and she braved the mid-day heat and even watched Esme. Apricot jam and tarts are my favorite. But here's the thing, a raw apricot... I've only eaten one (from Trader Joe's back in June) that I didn't mind choking down. They're so dry. Something about cooking them makes them suddenly juicy and tart. I love it.

Too daunted to go through the process of making jam, I ended up turning the giant bowl full, now holding only a few stragglers, into a pie with a crumbly, cinnamon topping, clafoutis , pancakes, topping for pancakes, and a tart. Then I went to get our share from the farm a couple days ago and there was a giant bag of apricots! So don't worry if we look a little orange the next time you see us.

Zoe's Garden

Saturday was member day at the CSA we joined. I was excited to see for myself and show Eli where our fruits and veggies would be coming from soon. We met the main man for a tour, tomato planting, and a lunch we had to miss, but I'm sure it was fabulous.

Eli insists on taking his bike everywhere, although we all regretted this one. The mud distressed my little neat freak.

We learned a lot about the farm. Right away he told us about difficulties with a group called Utah Open Land, whose main (noble) priority is protecting land from development, is forcing them to make changes to the farm that would make it more attractive from a distance, but hard to work, like moving their work station to the edge instead of the center, tilling up the paths needed to move machinery and supplies after each use, filling in watering holes for irrigation, and getting rid of the animals. How outrageous! As if this small organic, sustainable farm is trying to do something detrimental to the land. I was sad Eli didn't get to see farm animals. They are hoping to make it an educational place where everyone can come learn about farms as well as tips for growing their own gardens, which will be so helpful once we get a yard. They even go out into the community to teach, like at Wheeler Farms this Saturday. Several groups from nearby universities studying agriculture and nutrition have already come.

The man, David, started organic farming after getting very sick spraying pesticides for his landscaping business, which is still his main source of income. Imagine that, farming on the side! And he doesn't do it the easy way. They specialize in variety, 600 to be exact, which makes it very costly to certify as organic, so starting that has been slow-going. Ten kinds of eggplant, 20 kinds of apples (including one that is pink inside, behind him in the picture), over a hundred types of heirloom tomatoes, and so many more types I can't remember. I didn't know this kind of thing was possible in Utah. I thought we lived in a barren desert only capable of supporting a few basic crops. But he's growing exotic varieties from Asia, Italy and Greece.

And he wasn't kidding about it being a "member planting" day. I thought it was going to be more ceremonious, plant a couple of tomato plants and be done. But he put people to work, and we had to be quick with those tomato plants, which started wilting almost as soon as they were in the sun. Bri did a row of Caspian Pinks before stopping to hold Esme so I could take Eli to get a snack (purple asparagus right out of the ground) to stop his whining.

It ended up being quite an adventure. Bri came with Esme to see what was taking so long when we decided to go get some garlic to take home. Coming back the bees (for pollinating and honey) decided to leave their nice hives and swarm on a tractor near the dirt road we needed to take to leave. It was scary. Even though I stood back a ways with the kids I looked above my head and it was like a highway of bees coming in to land.

Bri made it through the scratchy, lumpy asparagus field to the car so he could drive us through the swarming bees. Farm life is treacherous... and tiring. The few other families that also came were still planting tomatoes, a couple hours later. Definitely earned their lunch.

It turns out we can go visit whenever we want and even pick the extra fruit. Luckily for Brian this includes the many varieties of delicate raspberries that fall if it gets too windy. We were both excited to see a couple kinds of artichokes and many varieties of dark greens starting to grow, favorites in this house. And Eli had fun searching for stalks of asparagus poking up from the ground. Can't wait for our first box in a few weeks. We'll keep an eye out for a tomato Bri planted, as if we could keep 100 different kinds straight.

Support A Local Farm

I can't contain my excitement. I'm even breaking my unwritten rule of posting a photo I didn't take myself.

I'd been meaning to look into buying a share in a local farm but couldn't postpone anymore after watching Foodinc. on instant watch Netflix last night. So for $50/week we'll get a huge variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs at the peak of freshness from June to October. The farm, which uses no pesticides and only organic compost to fertilize, is an hour away, but has several drop-off locations in Salt Lake Valley, including our town. Even Brian is excited, especially since they offer meat and you can get flats of extra berries.

There are many other CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms in the area that are even cheaper, like this one and this one, but they have less variety, ideal for those not enthused by things like:

Broccoli Raab

Endive
Yellow Snow Peas
Green Snow Peas
Bok Choy Sum
Beet Greens

But we are. Plus, no more racing through the grocery store with two kids before one of them starts crying, I just pick up my box and leave. More importantly we're supporting sustainable, small farms. I'd rather give money to them than a giant corporation any day.

For the rest of our food I'm looking in to a grocery coop for discounted pantry items.

It's not so bad being without yard I've suddenly decided. We'll have all kind of produce, many items we haven't even heard of and 60% of which come from heirloom seeds for much cheaper than the farmer's market. There is even a blog with new recipes for each week's veggies. Can't wait for June. We'll have to have you all over for dinner, one family at a time.

Grandma's House

40 years ago it was quite a jump in price for my grandparents to move from Bakersfield to Grandpa's home town of Santa Barbara, but they made the sacrifice and many generations have benefited. It makes it pretty easy to make the long journey when you're going to where the temperature never goes below 40 or above 75 and the beach is a couple of minutes away. People care about their community and it must have the highest concentration of Prius' anywhere. I could go on, but, to convince you quickly,I figure if its Oprah's favorite place, it has to be good.

Aside from the town itself, I love my grandma's house. It scared Brian on our house-hunt last year to learn that I prefer old houses that tend to come with character and maintenance. Grandma's still has the original windows with little door knobs that swing the window out. Her hardwood floors even have the little wooden pegs for nails in each slat. My favorite indoor feature is for sure the stove. I can only dream of having a Western Holly like hers. Classic. It has a griddle in the middle, perfect for toast and quesadillas. And Brian says my only reason for wanting a gas range is to warm up tortillas right on the burner. Good enough reason, I say.

Outside, my grandma's garden is obviously the best. With mild temperatures, lots of trees don't even lose their leaves in the winter. Flowers keep blooming. The summer I lived with her I soaked up all I could about plants and went with to her gardening club, touring impressive gardens in the area. No matter the season when my mom would take us on the 6 hour journey down to grandma's there was some fruit ready to eat from her trees. Grapefruit, pomegranate, guava, orange, apple, avocado, which I was sad to learn has been replaced by persimmon. Here are some highlights, in the middle of winter, mind you:

Succulents are my favorite and she has many of those. Someday, I will have a garden filled with the ones that can survive around here. If I can find a time when the weather is just right, maybe she'll come out and visit. That perfect climate makes Santa Barbara residents quite wimpy, I've learned.

I had to connive to get this picture of grandma smiling, she had to think I was just taking a picture of the boys who are now photoshopped out. Hope she doesn't kill me.

Succulents

I adore them. I think I always have. There's just something about the geometric designs of those juicy leaves. I'm somewhat sentimental about plants that remind me of California, and especially my grandma's garden. I think its good to decorate your home with things that say something about what makes you you, and so, there are some potted succulents to greet us at our door. Succulents are pretty much the only plant that will survive in Utah without a greenhouse. When snow comes I'll just perch them on our window sill. I love their simplicity, aesthetically and in their care. Just give them a spot in the sun in sandy soil and water them when you remember (hopefully that's not too often). You can propagate them easily with a fallen branch or the cutting of a leaf. They make elegant gifts or even a fast-growing ground-cover in your garden. Today, in my new blog-perusing-habit I found another reason to admire this large genus of plants, they're eco-friendly. For types you probably can't find anywhere else in Utah, go to this amazing garden store, Cactus and Tropicals. (I'm afraid to say the picturesque gathering to the right is not mine.)

Our Vegetable Loot

Our friends Anna and Joe are on a family vacation for 10 days in Michigan and so they told us to go harvest some vegetables from their garden. I couldn't believe my eyes when we got there, it was like the garden of Eden. Last I saw it there were small chili and tomato plants with some small sprouting squash plants. Now the squash vines were spreading far with spiny leaves bigger than the basketball-sized pumpkins. It was really amazing. I can see how people get into gardening, although, I must remember all of their hard work with planting, fertilizing, watering, and composting (did I mention weeding?).
Brian's raspberry dreams were dashed as they were already gone, but we collected lots of peppers, a few zucchini, and green beans.
Back home, our little window box of herbs is as big of a garden as we will be having for a couple of years. I try and use some whenever I can. We put the perennial types (sage, chives, and thyme) in one box and the annuals (basil and dill) in another. The basil has been our favorite for adding to spaghetti sauce, home-made pizza, caprese, and making cheap pesto.
Brian definitely has gardening in his blood. It all goes back to the garden his family had in Star Valley, Wyoming when he was a toddler. Apparently he wouldn't eat a meal if he had a couple of bites of a snack, so when the no-snacking rule was enforced, he would be okay with it and just run out to the garden and eat fresh peas. Our first summer married we were in a basement apartment and tried feebly to have a little container garden on our below-ground deck. I think we got 5 pea pods. This is part of why we were so amazed with Anna and Joe's garden.