Planted and Hilled

 Kickboxing was cancelled last night, so I walked/ran for 20 minutes and then attempted to lift weights while four very rude, immature, "14" year olds sat on the weight benches and slammed weights around. Needless to say, I didn't get a full workout in, and when I got home I went for a walk down to the field. Dad and Daniel were subsoiling the field we soil tested.

On the way down the hill to the field, there were more wild flowers blooming:

 They were nearly finished by the time I walked down, so I hitched a ride on the tractor fender. Then we planted four rows of potatoes.

Planted

One row is 3/4 Yukon Gold and 1/4 Superior.
One row is Kennebec.
Two rows are Cobbler.

... and hilled

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What's blooming

Irises

Sage

Strawberries

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Garden Report 4.4.12

 The blueberries are taking off! Check out the leaves!

 You know it's time to plant the asparagus when it starts sprouting in the bag...

Goldcot Apricot

 The apricot and pear trees are showing some green, but not the peaches yet.

Apricot close-up

Bartlett Pear

 I planted the asparagus yesterday. On the east side of the bed is last year's asparagus. I'm assuming Mom planted 10 crowns, and they all came up this year. I planted another 10 crowns on the west side of the bed.

In addition, I also planted:
2 rhubarb roots, where the old blackberries were, at least until the other raised bed is ready for them
Imperator Carrots
Purple Plum Radish
German Giant Radish
Red Ace Beet
Green Ice Lettuce
Hollow Crown Parsnips (old seed)
Rocky Top lettuce mix (old seed)
European Mesclun Salad (old seed)

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Lamb

Sunday for dinner, we had lamb two ways: on the grill and baked.

To give dinner a Greek theme, I made baklava and tzatziki.

The recipe I use for baklava can be found here. I use almonds.

For the tzatziki, this was my recipe this time:

2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cucumber, halved, seeded and finely diced
1 to 1-1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt - my favorite from when I lived in Greece is Fage
dill to taste, probably about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp


Mix the above together, tasting after adding dill.

There was a lot of lamb leftover. Grandma pressure cooked it on Monday to remove the bones and fat.

Then I made a curry.

1 sweet potato, cut into 1/2" chunks
2 large carrots, cut into 1/4" slices
1 cup of rice cooked with 2-1/2 cups water (I used Bob's Red Mill wild & brown rice mix)
about 12 oz lamb, shredded
1-2 Tbsp sweet curry powder (I use one from Penzey's Spices), to taste

In a large saucepan, cook the potato, rice and carrots until most of the liquid is absorbed. Then stir in the lamb and curry powder. You may need to add in more water if the rice isn't quite done. Cook until the lamb is warmed through.

Oh yeah...

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(Wild)Flowers and Life

Wild flowers are in full bloom

and Wildlife is out exploring

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Music Monday: Neil Young "My My Hey Hey"

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Garden Update 4.1.12

The little red wagon from my childhood proves pretty handy during planting season. See it here, loaded down with blueberry planting supplies, seeds, asparagus and rhubarb.

Friday, Dad and I planted 6 blueberry plants, in the method recommended by the local nursery, Sunny Hill. First, we mixed in peat moss into the soil, to help it retain more moisture. Then we planted each blueberry and watered them in with the fertilizer in the white container. Then we sprinkled the stuff in the yellow bag, which will make the soil more acidic. It's the same soil additive that makes hydrangeas blue.

From west to east, the blueberry varieties are: Duke, Jersey, Bluecrop, two of each plant.

I weeded the asparagus bed but didn't have time to plant the new asparagus.

But we did get in four rows of peas, two rows each of Eclipse and Early Frosty. We put in old carrot seed (Red Core Chantenay and Tonda di Parigi) in the old blackberry area. And kale and bordeaux spinach in another section of old blackberries.

Grandma has cabbage started in the window.

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