Harvest Monday..........3/7/2011

This past week I had a small harvest from the Cold Frames. The pak choi in the left cold frame was starting to bolt. I think it was from a couple of times when the temps got a little too high in there. The left cold frame gets the sun first and the temperature can get very high in just a few minutes. With that being said, I removed the cold frame lids for now. The over night temperatures are not supposed to get too cold. I may decide to put them back on at night for a week or two....we will see what the weather brings.

I harvested the three small bolting pak choi, some collard greens and a few small kale leaves to use for dinner on Saturday.

They weighed in at 8 oz.

I braised some short ribs and cook them in red wine for several hours. Then I added a couple of potatoes, carrots and finally the greens. It was absolutely delicious!!



Stop by Daphne's Dandelions our host of Harvest Monday to see what is going on in gardens around the globe!

Goldfinches

OK, this Robin may not know a large mutant Robin when I see it....but, I do know my Goldfinches!!

Due to the "City Squirrels" (a/k/a F#$!ng Squirrels), the only bird feeder we can have is a thistle feeder. The feeder is right outside the kitchen window where I sit. Most of the time, the same finches come and eat from this feeder. Even though I'm not real good with birds, I can tell each of them apart. At times during the day, this feeder is covered with finches.

The finches are starting to take on their summer color a bit. The yellow will get much brighter as the weather gets warmer.

Plots...........Phase I Complete!

Tuesday I spent a few more hours at the plots. It was a really nice day and the temperature outside reached 50 F! I am happy to say that the plots are completely cleared and the beds are marked off! We may have to make some minor adjustments on the beds, but the general layout is in place.

While I was working I  met a new gardener that stopped by to see his plot. His plot is two down from ours. He is a very nice older retired chemist who will definitely be a good niehgbor. I also met a very nice retired couple who live nearby and occasionally take their daily walk through the community gardens. They gave me the scoop on some of the gardeners and the former lack of management at the gardens. With new management in place, hopefully the neglected plots will be taken care of.

Here they are completely cleared and marked off!

It's hard to see from this picture, but there is a lot of good 3' fencing and lots of tomato cages that were left at the plots.

The berry area is under control and all of the excess bushes and roots have been removed!

There is an old cold frame in the back next to where I'm going to set-up the compost area and lots and lots of 3' fenceing and posts! As you can see, I put all of the good flower pots back there too.

Phase II will hopefully start on Friday. I'm going to start installing the bunny fencing and install a section of fence that is missing at the back of the plots.

There's some Growing on in the Basement!

It looks like the germinating season is moving along! Right now I have many seedlings at various stages growing in the basement. This is just the beginning and the shuffling has already begun! I have not had too many problems so far. The leeks and celery seem to be taking for ever, but that is normal. I had originally sown both with some older seed in hopes that the seed would still be good. Well, I re-seeded both with some new seed and threw out the old.

This is the first time that I have started some spinach inside and the results have been so so. A few of the early tomatoes have formed their true leaves and my "Little Garden Helper's sunflowers are already out of control! All of the herbs including the Rosemary are doing very well.

And so it begins!!

Stylish Blogger Award....don't worry I'm changing the rules

Since both Tami at 500 Dollar Tomato and Granny at Annie's Kitchen Garden were both so kind to award me with "The Stylish Blogger Award".....I thought that I had to participate and post some unknown facts about myself. No need to worry, I am changing the rules and will not torture anyone else with this award unless they really want it.

I have to say ladies, I don't know how stylish I am right now....I just came from working at the plots. So here we go with some unknown facts about me.

1. I love children and always wanted to have four. However, I was married to a person who did not like children and I had only two. After my divorce, I figured that I would have more children even though I was older. Well, that never came to pass. "The Italian" my true love, did not come in to my life until I was really too old to have anymore. Who wants to have children at 50???

2. Starting at the age of three, I studied tap dance, ballet & acrobatics. I have to say that I'm a pretty good tap dancer. To this day I can still do a split, back bend and many other acrobatics and occasionally entertain my father in-law at family picnics by standing on my head for long periods of time. I do however, have to warm up before I do these things now!!


3. I'm a blonde...well I used to be a natural blonde until I got older. Now some of my dear friends and family just refer to me as a blonde. For instance, I am an expert skier and can ski a black double diamond with the grace of a swan (that's what THEY say anyway).....but, I cannot stand on my skis at times.....I will just fall over for no reason at all! I am clueless when it comes to men hitting on me. I always think that they are just being nice! You get the picture...don't you??


4. I can't spell. I can engineer a bridge but can't spell it. I think that your brain can only handle so much and I have a math & science brain :) That's my excuse anyway.


5. I started college at the age of 39 and obtained a degree in Architecture with honors. I never did my 3 year internship after graduating to become licensed and went straight in to Construction Management. That's a real challenge for a 5' tall women....it's a real man kind of job!!


6. I never really hung out with many girls while growing up. I liked hanging out with the guys much better and still do.


7. They say that I can be very curt....I don't know what everyone is talking about...I just say it as it is, to the point and not much fluff!!! Why drag everything out???