kindergardens - week 17 {onions, watermelon and irene. oh my!}

I am a slacker.  I had a week and a half to do my KinderGARDEN homework, and it never happened.  I was supposed to take pics of the garden at sunrise or sunset.  But I was either asleep, or busy, or it was cloudy, or dark, or rainy, or hurricane-y.

Most of our gardening this week involved either preparing for Hurricane Irene or surveying the damage afterward.  You can read more about our experience with Irene here, but in summary, the only real casualty we had around here was the sunflowers.

Kiddo took the flattening of his flower maze in stride.  It had become a nearly impenetrable jungle, so he hadn't been using it much, anyway.  I am mourning the loss of the sunflowers, but thankful that nothing else was damaged and that we were able to enjoy them as long as we did.

Before Irene blew in, we decided we'd better clear out the garden "just in case."  We picked the tomatoes and peppers, and the onions FINALLY got pulled out and carted up to the house.

I've got some work cut out for me.  If anyone needs a good cry, you are more than welcome to come over this week and help me chop them up!  :)

(P.S.  Check out that corner bed.  We started with two nearly invisible rows of spindly little plants back in June, with nary a berry in sight.  I'm drooling in anticipation of all those strawberries next year!)

Kiddo took a break to hide away in his morning glory house while I checked on the rest of the garden and Hubby tried to keep the weeds at bay with the mower.

(Photographer's note:  no, our leaves don't really look that good.  The bugs have been busy, but the holes in the leaves were so distracting, I photoshopped most of them out.  The few that I did leave are still driving me crazy - they just might get cloned out, too!)

The most exciting news in our garden this week was...

wait for it...

WATERMELON!!

Hot diggity dog, I can pick a ripe watermelon after all. 

Kiddo and I had fun picnicking in the back yard, dripping watermelon juice everywhere and seeing how far Mommy could spit watermelon seeds (not very far - it was quite pathetic, actually). 

Our garden is definitely winding down, and we are starting to see signs of fall - I canned the last batch of tomatoes a few days ago, and the peppers and other veggies are getting fewer and smaller while the pumpkins are growing at breakneck speed and turning orange.  The air has a cooler, crisper feel to it, and Kiddo started school this week.  Fall is probably my favorite season, but I'm dragging my heels this year, trying to savor the last bits of summer.  One of those bits will be that last watermelon that is still out there in the garden, just waiting to be picked. 

the end of the flower maze

hurricane + sunflowers = not good.

Bye bye flower maze.  But at least our garden doesn't look like this: 

 (source:  friend of a friend's public photo album on Facebook...)

Other than a couple of inches of water in our basement that were easily pumped out, we weathered the storm pretty well.  Now to undo all the preparations we made - extra ice out of the freezer, blankets and pillows back in the closet, drain the water out of the bathtub, etc. etc.  MUCH better than cleaning up wet carpet and clearing downed trees.

According to our unofficial rain gauge (bucket + ruler), we got nearly 8 inches of rain.

While waiting out the storm, we've been having family Lego Rockband sessions, crafting, organizing cupboards and drawers, and redecorating:

(paint + dishsoap.  Details/instructions are here.  Next time, I will remember that an old worn-out sheet is not a thick enough drop cloth.  Oops.)

This afternoon we got sufficiently stir-crazy that we defied the weatherman's warnings and took a quick walk around the block.  Kiddo brought our trusty Garfield ruler to take some measurements.

Sometimes Daddy had to help.

It was windy (go figure), and we pretty much had the roads to ourselves. 

(no, we didn't go down that way...looks a little intimidating with all those trees!)

(the wind is blowing my hood, Mommy!)

When we had made our circuit of the block and compared notes with the few neighbors that were out, we stopped in next door to check on the kittens before heading home to escape the wind.  Kiddo found two new kittens in the barn, just a few hours old.  The neighbor will be dismayed thrilled to have two more cats to feed.

On the way back to the house, we checked the garden one last time.

Note to self:  drizzly rain + humidity + 60 mph wind gusts + naturally curly hair + no shower (because the tub was full of water) + 4 hours of sleep (I was babysitting the basement) = SCARY.

But we have Indian corn!

because you haven't seen enough kitten pictures yet

 "I'm surrounded by kitties, Mommy!"

They are still wobbly and awkward on their feet.  We giggle as we watch them trip over things like sidewalk cracks, their own feet, and sometimes nothing at all.

This is "Teddy" (I was voting for "Ollie," but since I don't want to take him home, my vote didn't count):

Teddy is a polydactyl - he has 6 toes on his front feet.  His sister, Callie, does too.  They make me think of that commercial...

Don't you want to take him home with you now?

kindergardens - week 16 {random updates & a bouquet}

The garden is pretty much going on its own these days...we've had quite a bit of rain this week, so we haven't been out there much, but here's a quick long-winded update:

We continue to flounder in a flood of tomatoes (I picked two more buckets the other day and am trying to pretend that they're not sitting right outside the back door, waiting for me to do something with them).

I am fighting for a dozen baby cantaloupes against the never-ending tide of cucumber beetles,

and I've been checking our two remaining watermelons frequently, trying to figure out when they're ready to be picked.

(The white scars are from me scratching the rind to see what color it is underneath)

I went online and Googled "when to pick watermelon," found a checklist, went through it and crossed off several signs of watermelon readiness, and ran out to the garden ready to eat the juicy red goodness.  I grabbed a big knife and chopped one in half while Kiddo and I drooled in anticipation, only to be disappointed when the watermelon halves fell apart and the entire inside was white!  Not even close to being ripe.  I almost cried.  And tore up my Google list.  Such a beautiful watermelon, totally wasted.  I'm being much more protective of the two that remain.

The onions squat in the ground, waiting for us to come and pluck them from the dirt and rain.

The hyacinth bean vines are growing out of control (over the arch, up the sunflowers, across the fence, down the path...),

 as is the yam sweet potato vine.

The potatoes are dying and will soon be ready to be dug up and transported to the basement, and Kiddo's maze has grown to jungle status. 

Out on the compost pile, hidden in the mile-high weeds,

our volunteer pumpkin vine has been producing these,

and on the other side of the pile, we found a couple of vines with these.

The jewels of the garden, however, have been Kiddo's flowers.

He had a great time picking the best for a bouquet the other day.  I just told him to make sure the stems were "about this long," and he did the rest!

Sweetest bouquet ever.

He's a keeper!

(And so are his flowers).

Linking up:
KinderGARDENS week 16 at The Inadvertent Farmer.  

the beach {2011}

We went to the beach on Saturday.

We were the only people there!

Not really.

Kiddo had a lot of fun digging ditches and tunnels and "waterfalls" in the sand. 

He waited and waited for the tide to come in and fill them up.  Unfortunately, we built them at the edge of the tide line and planned on going home long before high tide was due.  Oops.

When we realized this, we relocated our excavation site closer to the water (previous site - with obligatory sand castle - is in the background over Hubby's shoulder).

We did at least get to see the water lap the edges of this one before we packed up and headed home.

Speaking of water...

Kiddo took a while to get comfortable enough to stand still without running from every wave.

But eventually he was able to face them and had a great time wave jumping (while holding on - tightly - to Mommy and/or Daddy).

(whoops)

It was a wonderful day.  We came home tired, happy and sandy.  Hubby and I both missed random spots with the sunscreen, so we both have odd sunburns.  Kiddo, thankfully, was completely devoid of tender red skin.  At least we got him good with the Coppertone.

By the way, when did this boy grow up? 

                                 (last year)                                                                    (this year)

I'm sure he was that small just last week...

kindergardens - week 15 {salsa week}

This week was salsa week (someone asked for the recipe...you can find it at the end of this post).  It was a bit of a marathon...four days working on one (huge) pot of salsa.  Most of the time it just simmered on the stove, which only required that I stop by every once in a while and give it a stir.  The chopping, however, was much more involved and took me several hours (I'm a slow chopper).  I had several projects up my sleeve to keep Kiddo occupied while I worked at the cutting board.  So while I chopped this...

He was doing this:

(supplies:  watered down paint, coffee filters, salad spinner.  We got the idea from here.)

(happy coincidence - this is the bowl after he was done and we had lifted out the basket)

And while I was chopping these...

He was playing here:

 (supplies:  rainy day packing peanuts, matchbox cars, buildings made from Pop Tart boxes, construction paper and scraps of cardboard)

"Catzilla" wanted to play, too.

I did eventually get the chopping done, threw everything into a large stock pot, and then put it on the oven to simmer.  For three days.  Oy.  It did finally cook down, and I have an aching back and a mess of a kitchen 30 jars of salsa lined up on the shelves in the basement.

A few lessons I've learned this week:

1.  The job would get done a whole lot faster if I wouldn't stop several times to take pictures of spinning paint and packing peanuts.  But it was worth it.

2.  I am never making a quadruple batch of salsa again.  Ever.  Or, at least, not with our current recipe.  It takes a looooong time to cook down over 12 quarts of tomatoes.

3.  Speaking of recipes, I'm seriously considering switching to a new one next year.  I love our recipe, but a friend of mine has a recipe she and her family love just as much, and it only has to cook 15 minutes, as opposed to hours.  Big difference.  Big.  Huge!  (name that movie).

Here is her recipe, in case you'd like to give it a try:

KRISANNE'S SALSA RECIPE
14 cups chopped tomatoes
3 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped jalapeno (or more if you like more spice)
1 cup sweet green pepper
1 cup yellow pepper
3 T salt
1 T chili powder
1T garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
16 oz can of tomato paste

put on stove and cook for 15 minutes at boiling, then add a blended mixutre of 5 T cornstarch and 1/2 cup vinegar (I just whip it together with a fork before I pour it in the salsa). Let it thicken a bit (usually just takes a couple of minutes). Then put in jars with lids and place in canner for 20 minutes at boiling.

4.  You cannot rush salsa.  A couple of times, I tried to speed things up a bit by turning up the heat on the stove from "low" to medium."  Not too long afterward, I noticed the now-familiar smell of scorching tomatoes.  Oops.

5.  Screw the rings on the jars a little more than just "finger tight."  I have over 2 quarts of salsa in the fridge because multiple jars didn't seal right.  The best explanation we can come up with is that I didn't screw the rings on tight enough.  Oops again.

Still, it's done now, and I will really appreciate all the time and effort when I pull a jar off the shelf in February.  Now I just have to drum up the motivation to go out to the garden and pick more tomatoes...and then figure out what to do with them all!

P.S.  We used some of our tomatoes in a new recipe the other day...so good!

Linking up to week 15 of KinderGARDENS.