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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

He's 2!

Let's take a break from the gardening to celebrate Carson.  He turned 2 yesterday.  We've been celebrating all week long.  We started with a swim at Bear Lake.
We made some Cake (then tried the icing on for size)
And of course, we blew out some candles.
We love you Carson.  Happy 2nd Birthday!


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Composed

Sometimes a day doesn't feel right from the start.  This happened to me on Monday.  I was running late, forgot my coffee, was feeling a little tense, and then, while driving 75 mph on I-80 on my way to work, my car started to shake, violently.  Then I had some trouble steering.  Once pulled off the road and after completing a little panic attack, I called for a tow to the mechanic and got a lift home.  Needless to say, I didn't make it to work (my apologies to any patients that were rescheduled.  I owe you a batch of cookies or some tomatoes).
My stress started to abate pretty quickly when I entered the house to a smiling Carson yelling "Mommy!"
So we did what you do when stuck at home waiting for the news from a mechanic.  We sat around in the backyard, did a little garden maintenance and put together the components of a composed salad.
Beets with fresh oregano and carrots with fresh thyme.
Roasted until tender, then beets peeled and seasoned with salt and pepper.  The carrots were just sliced.
On a plate with some lettuce, fresh tomatoes, cukes, and green beans.  This was drizzled with a quick balsamic vinaigrette and some crusty bread and goat cheese.  It was a perfect summer composed salad.
Oh, and my car, fine, it turned out that a dry cleaner's bag was wrapped all around my drive train and while this rendered my steering useless for a moment once removed my car (and myself) remained unscathed.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The goods

After cold, excessive rain, and late warming, things are picking up the pace in the garden.
The scarlet runners are enticing the bees
The cucumbers are spreading out on their trellis
The collard greens and chard are taking off even though they are being snacked on by the birds
The companion planting of basil and onions is working out nicely
It turns out that carrots and tomatillos are good neighbors too.
So far this month I've been harvesting carrots, dark greens, potatoes, cucumbers, and herbs on a regular basis.  Carson is conducting his own harvests also.
Next, we get ready for the winter garden...more on this to come.
-JG

Winter, finally (and seriously)

I planned to start this blog last spring as my garden flew into action, but then got into the actual work of gardening and abandoned the task. However, today its winter, really winter. I'm wearing long underwear and sitting under a blanket and I'm still cold.
Today is the shortest day of the year so from here on in it gets better. I look forward to longer days, that's for sure. But I'll also tuck in and enjoy winter's freeze and snow, it does mean skiing after all. Maybe more importantly is the snow pack - without snow there isn't water for the West.
The end of the year and the solstice are a good time to think back on the last 365. I have no reason to complain and feel really lucky about the last year and really hopeful about the year to come.