Coming Attractions

 Purple Cauliflower

 Started Snap Peas.

Going away for a few days.

I'll be back.

Eden out.

ShroomOhRama

The mushroom gods are smiling.

Recent foraging in the woods finally yeilded a bag of chanterelles,

and we harvested our first batch of tree oysters from our mini mushroom farm.

Let the fungus fun begin!

Catch of the Day

Bugger Off!

Due to recent rains and unseasonably warm weather the aphids have been shacking up in the kale, picnicking in the cozy spots.
Spent the morning spraying with Safer Soap and removing the most infested leaves.
Seems they are subdued in plantings next to mustards.
Pests can't be eradicated, only controlled.
Its always something...

Fava Beans are up!

Kinder Garden

On days like today this gardener tends children,

subbing for a local Montessori preschool. I treasure moments with the little ones  

and my plants get a break from over mothering.

Festooned

AM:
Don't know why but woke up with the word "festooned"on my mind.
Looked it up.
Defined as: a garland of leaves or flowers suspended in a loop; same root word as Feast.
Put it away to ponder...

PM:
Maybe it had something to do with this salad
just picked for Chef Niki's luncheon tomorrow.
Maybe not....

Artisan Winter Salad

Peas in New Room are up!

Green Day

Chef came round for a walk about.She left bearing winter greens: Chard and Asian Mixes for Braising, Italian Parsley,
Purple Mizuna and Purple Mustard...hmmm... Purple is the New Green?

Niki is a gifted culinary artist, a joy to watch and taste her creations.
See what the artists at Montalvo are having for dinner on her blog:
www.mountainsinmyspoon.wordpress.com

Inspired by her chanterelle mushroom foraging I took a walk about myself.
Alas, they eluded me.
But I did share a poetic moment with this flower
...bloom in the dead of winter tween walls of concrete.

Survivor Skills

Mud Pie

ITS NATIONAL PIE DAY!

Ever one to be inspired by food celebration I concocted this bed in homage to pie.

Ingredients:

Mud-in abundance after 5 days of rain

Horse manure- a shit load

Elbow Grease

Turn with Flat Fork 

Garnish with bricks

The rain stopped. We survived the beat down but mudslides happen in mountain gardens.
Little Gems are up! Valentine lettuces up! Wosabi Arugula up!

And I Quote

"Gardening promotes enjoyment of food and drink by stimulating hunger and thirst."

                                                                          

Angelo Pellegrini, "The Food Lover's Garden"

A great read.

Another thing gardeners do on rainy days....

Just Ducky, What Gardeners Do On Rainy Days

At Last

Hunker down all you broccoli and cauliflowers and let it RAIN!!!!

Good day to make soup.

Lions in Winter

Waiting for Rain

Hoe Hoe Hoe

Tis the season to be scuffle hoeing.
Great upper body workout.
Cleared many paths between the beds ,then covered with landscape cloth and straw.
Keeps the weeds under control and looks tidy.

Hard freeze last night. The nasturtiums died.
Winter veg all good.
Harvested for Culinary Fellow, Niki.
Carrots, broccoli crowns, baby brassica mix

Catch of the Day

Promises, Promises

Ordered seeds, full of promise...
Cardoons
Jerusalem Artichokes

Started seeds, more promise...
Chives

Oh Rain Gods, please promise RAIN!

Owl Totems

No Ma, I didn't join the Owl Cult!

We put these Owl decoys on poles around the exterior of the house to scare away the woodpeckers.
Perched high, they say "Predator" to bird brains.
The shiny ribbons blowing in the wind further confuse the pests.
Otherwise they wreak havoc on our house, chipping away at the wood siding and lodging acorns in the holes, which are left to rot and attract rodents. Not pretty.
The pecking noise is enough to send one to the loony bin.
So far, as long as we move the "Scare Owls" around periodically, this method seems to be working in an environmentally friendly sort of way.
Meanwhile, legit Owls have been sighted.
Attracted by the fakes, they hover around looking for a good time, whooooing it up at night.
And the little peckers have moved on to the power poles.

ADVENTURES IN MUNDANIA / JANUARY LOG

A day of weedn' and feedn',
in the garden with Eden...

Saturday, January 7
Scotty Bed -weed, clean up chard, Asian greens and spinach, watch aphid activity in the broccoli.
Sam Bed - weed, clean up kale (4 varieties), and chard.
Prepared a row of 10 gallon pots in front of the New Room for favas.
Soaking own beans overnight in preparation for planting.
Thinned out the rest of the arugula in the green garlic bed, fertilized and watered the young shoots.
Fertilized (a mixture of horse manure and magic powders) and watered the tuscan and curly kale, mache, and spinach on the 2nd terrace.
Recovered the compost, the critters dug up some egg shells and old bread.
Planted spring bulbs: crocus, narcissus,daffodils,lily of the valley.
Planted more garlic next to the frisee. It was almost dark. Never tried planting garlic in January.
Harvest carrots.

Friday, January 13
Planted:

• Purple Cauliflower starts in the Gabe Bed. They were seed planted in pots last October and sitting dormant on the deck, talk about root cramped.
• Snow Peas in pots, Asian Ho Lohn Dow variety, hoping for purple flowers. Starting some outside and some inside. Its still January. Will plant out later.
• Wasabi Arugula in flats, a new variety, my signature crop after all.
• Little Gem lettuces in flats.
• Valentine (Red) Lettuce mix in flats.

Saturday, January 28
Spent the morning spraying kale with Safer Soap and removing the most infested leaves.
Start snap peas

Gettin' Lucky

Friday the 13th, an auspicious date. Lucky for me.
Not so lucky for the gopher caught pillaging my chicory patch. R.I.P.
Perseverance furthers....

On a less philosophical note,
Planted:

• Purple Cauliflower starts in the Gabe Bed. They were seed planted in pots last October and sitting dormant on the deck, talk about root cramped.
• Snow Peas in pots, Asian Ho Lohn Dow variety, hoping for purple flowers. Starting some outside and some inside. Its still January. Will plant out later.
• Wasabi Arugula in flats, a new variety, my signature crop after all.
• Little Gem lettuces in flats.
• Valentine (Red) Lettuce mix in flats.

Set up a starting bench in the the New Garden Room.
Yay! Out of our bedroom!

Marie Antoinette Salad

My friend and food collaborator, Jon, is catering a Marie Antoinette themed baby shower.
Not sure what that means, they'll probably eat cake, but Jon loves my greens and ordered a special salad for the occasion.
Oui, Oui, Oui, all the way home....

What a Long Strange Trip Its Been

Wish it would rain.
Having lived in the Northwest for so many years it seems strange to say that.

Potluck farm dinner last night with my amazing neighbors at Love Apple Farm.
Hmmm, from The Love Family Ranch to The Love Apple Farm....

Curiouser and curiouser.

Hail to Thee Oh Kale!

Good Stuff !!!

Harvest for Chef today.

 Arugula, Winter Salad Mix, Tuscan Kale, Parsley, French Sorrel, Carrots, Butternut Squash.

The Artists will not be starving.

Surprise Surprise Surprise! *

Lots of surprises discovered while cleaning out the Long Bed.
Things planted last fall and forgotten.
Love getting older.
Making way for more winter lettuces from the endive mix in starting Bed #5. Its packed.
Thinned and replanted red lettuces from top level.
Dreaming of Valentine Salad.. .

*Remembering Gomer Pyle

Vigilance

Mornings here at Voss Gardens begin with perusing the garden.
Making the rounds, like a doctor visiting patients.
Sipping coffee and reminding myself to be thankful. Enjoy the beauty before making the" to do" list.
Mostly I inspect for critter activity in the night.
Once you create a piece of heaven pie, everyone wants a slice.
Sure enough, gophers feasting on chicory roots, moles messing up the lawn.
Dang varmints! Must be vigilant!
Cleaned and oiled the traps. Set them. Sorry, you messed with the wrong gal.
Planted out fava beans in 10 gallon pots. Some had sprouted just soaking overnight.
Started lots, not sure how many will propagate. Can always transplant out of pots later.
Cleaned Long Bed to make room for more winter lettuces.
Paging through the new Johnny's Seed Catalog, so many choices.
Like a kid in a candy store...

Little This Little That

Thinking peas and fava beans. Nitrogen fixers.
Cleaned up front Gabe Bed for pea planting.
(Beds are named after the people who helped me make them.)
Need to get pea seeds, thinking low growing variety that won't block the sun from what's growing behind them and/or taller varieties in cages at each end.
Visualizing lush tendrils on plates with purple pea blossoms that look like mini orchids.
Scotty Bed -weed, clean up chard, Asian greens and spinach, watch aphid activity in the broccoli.
Sam Bed - weed, clean up kale (4 varieties), and chard.
Prepared  a row of 10 gallon pots in front of the New Room for favas.
Soaking own beans overnight in preparation for planting.
Harvested first broccoli. Its whats for dinner with the stew.
Glad to have terraced areas where I can stand up to weed, easy on the knees.
Garden Ergonomics for aging Back to the Landers.
Big day for ideas, they come so easily sometimes....

Bulbalicious

Thinned out the rest of the arugula in the green garlic bed, fertilized and watered the young shoots.
Also fertilized (a mixture of horse manure and magic powders) and watered the tuscan and curly kale, mache, and spinach on the 2nd terrace.
Recovered the compost, the critters dug up some egg shells and old bread.
Planted spring bulbs: crocus, narcissus,daffodils,lily of the valley.
You can never have too many flowers. Flowers feed the soul.
Planted more garlic next to the frisee. It was almost dark. Never tried planting garlic in January.
Usually plant during full moon in October. Its almost full moon now. See what happens.
You can never have too much garlic.

Harvested carrots for stew from New Years Eve prime rib leftovers. Been cooking stock for 2 days.

New Ways

A food collaborator inspired me to revive this blog.
From henceforth it will be in diary form to document the doings of my mountain garden.
Life requires more time musing out in the field than indoors futzing with technology.
A diary will help me keep records usually scribbled on a calendar or random sticky notes.
Perhaps it will educate and entertain others

Despite these glorious sunny days, we need rain. I had to water today. Lots of clean up.
Taking down booby traps rigged for hungry deer last fall, spiffing up Mother Mary's shrine.
Started thinning arugula out of the green garlic bed. Ate it for lunch. The garlic is just poking up.
Thinned out some winter lettuces to make a bed of transplanted frisee, amended well.
Prepared more garlic for planting, just to see what happens.