Garden of Eatin'

When I start craving a lunch like this...

I start here - in the garden!  This is the main "salad" raised bed, with a chicken wire hood to hold shade cloth a bit later in the season.  Keeping the lettuces shaded prevents early bolting and also produces more tender leaves. 

On the left is "Salad Bowl", a large, fast-growing loose-leaf with really juicy leaves.  In the middle is "Merlot", the most succulent burgundy lettuce I've ever put a tooth in.  Then comes "Baby Cos", small romaine heads. 

On the other end of the bed are some herbs tucked in with the lettuces and other greens.  Several curled parsely plants and "Fernleaf" dill add bright sparks of nutrition and flavor. I like to grow the herbs right with the greens that will become salads, because I can snip them all at the same time!  In another month, this bed will also be providing bright red peppery "Empress of India" nasturtium blossoms and sweet little purple/yellow violas to add to salad creations.  A mixed flower/herb/greens garden bed is a HAPPY bed!

 "Fernleaf", on the right, is a small growing dill, unlike the "Mammoth" dill in another part of the garden.  Mammoth is typically used for producing - yep, dill pickles!  It grows well with the cucumbers it will partner with in a few months.

A newer greeny to my salad bed is "Mizuma", a fine-leafed Japanese green.  It is so tender, a bit nutty and spicy but not as spicy as Rocquette.  Mizuma has become one of my favorite "grazing" plants, can't help eating a leaf or two every time I pass by.  Fortunately, its is VERY fast growing, adding new leaves so quickly I can't tell the next day where I pinched some off!

An update on the front patio herbs and salad pot.  The weather has been really nice for the greens, even if a bit daunting to the 'maters!  They are still hanging out under plastic covers on the south wall - patience required!

Salad Bowl, Merlot, and Baby Cos are at the stage where I can cut off individual leaves from the outside sworls - a half dozen or so of mixed leaves make a fine individual salad bowl!

Chives grow in several places around the garden beds, always handy for snipping.  For lunch I included some of the onion-y flavored chive flowers in the salad makin's.

Filling a bowl with a mixture of greens and herbs is an exercise in taste, scent, and artistic enjoyment.  I always seem to end up with more than I can eat in one sitting!  With a topping of sweet fresh shrimp meat and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice - this is a primo salad.

This is the season when I crave fresh succulent salads at least twice a day. Nutritious tonics of greens and herbs!  Sometimes even a breakfast salad sneaks in - with hardboiled eggs and crunchy home-made whole grain bread croutons!

No feathers

We have a wetland in our back yard. Just on the other side of the fence is the swamp we played in as kids, making plank walkways through the skunk cabbage and willows. Lots of fun critters to play with, like salamanders and frogs!

 One critter we did NOT play with was the raccoon. They can be nasty - ask our dog Spotty, who got in a royal fight one night and was severely bitten in a very private place. Owie. Poor Spot - he survived to fight another day.

Coons still prowl the area. With a creek just across the road, which runs into the bay a few blocks down, it's prime coonland, lots to eat. They are opportunistic feeders. And usually nocturnal.

Susposedly carnivores, we have discovered a vegetarian among the ranks. This fine fat fellow, in broad daylight, tells the story:

"You're jokin' me.  Are they SERIOUS?  CHICKEN WIRE??  To keep a coon out?  HA!"

"SEE??  A coon ladder, all nice and handy..."

"Hmm.  Millet, a little cracked corn,  sunnies...kinda slim pickin's....Snotty blue jays have been here."

"Oh ho - what have we here?  Whoa nelly, JACKPOT!"

"Let's see now - I think I can get my paw right in here..."

"Yep, look at that!  Just a few wiggles of my fingers, like shuckin' corn!"

"Mmm- mmm good!  I much prefer black sunflower seeds, and in this handy tube thingy I don't even have to sort and spit out the millet.  Yum-ee!"

"Wait.  Did you hear that?  What th...."

"Oh-oh.  Busted.  Maybe if I give them the evil eye they'll take the hint and leave me alone..."

Well, we didn't leave him alone.  I opened the window and informed him that he did NOT qualify to eat the bird seed - no feathers!  He kept eating, with one eye on us.  I finally had to get firm to shoo him off.  He went just as far as the end of the fence, about 8 feet, and waited a few minutes, then came right back, climbed up the fence  and started noshing again!!  Bold fellow!

With a bit more scolding, he left his perch, but again climbed up to check out if we were still watching.  He attemped the rail, but it was just a bit too narrow for his fat bum to balance and walk the skyway to the seeds.  You can see the disgust...

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving.  For now."

I have no doubts, he'll be back. 

Memorial Day 2012

My dad, his parents, two of mom's sisters, and many many friends and acquaintances are buried at Sunset Heights just a few miles from Tillamook.

 A very long family tradition of honoring the graves with flowers brings peace of heart and mind. As we gather flowers from the beautiful selection around mom's house and from neighboring yards, we find a special joy in sharing stories and memories.

At the cemetary, there is always a job of cleaning and tidying around the headstones - truely a labor of love.

At the IOOF Cemetary near Idaville, I leave a small token of memories with Dennis' favorite color - orange.

No matter where or when they served our country, it is always an honor to see that our loved ones are recognized for their valor and love of country.

Little Gardens

I just can't imagine living without dirt under my fingernails. Not all the time - one must be sanitary, afterall. At least for licking stuff off fingers. But an avid gardener never minds a little dirt. Fertilizes the soul.

We have the main garden area in the backyard - 5 raised beds, and the "open" garden area. We are trying to cut back this year, too much to take care of at times. So only 3 raised beds are planted, only one row of peas in the main garden, and a very short row of string beans.

I also have a tiny patio garden...

For Christmas, our gift from savvy Megan and Andy was a hand-made (by talented Andy!) garden trug, to haul the loot from garden to kitchen. Until the produce starts producing, the handsome trug has a place of honor on the front patio. I tucked several pots of favorite herbs (Fernleaf Dill, peppermint, garlic chives) into the trug.  They can be handily removed when I want to use the trug for it's original purpose, and easily reinserted.  It looks very nice, yes? Good job, Andy!

I love having herbs and edible flowers at my fingertips, just steps out the door.  So pots are the answer for doorstep gardening.  These "little" gardens may be several plants to a pot, or just individual pots of specific plants.  Some don't play well with others...

Springers are in!

The Coast Guard keeps a close eye on the boats passing over the bar at Bar View jetty. It can be rough, many boats and lives have been lost right there. This time of year, it's the flotilla of fishermen, mostly in small boats suitable for the bay but not deep water, that has their attention. A favorite pastime of ours - parking near the end of the jetty and watching the action!

As the spring chinook, fondly known as "springers", pass through the bar and head up the bay, they have to survive a gauntlet of avid fishermen. It's a wonder any baby salmon are ever created up rivers. Springers are THE BEST of the salmon family - fat from the winter feeding at sea, deep colored flesh, moist and flavor-filled.

Chris brought us an exquisite fillet of his first springer of the season - treasure from the sea!  We felt very priveleged - and spoiled!!  Mom likes her salmon fried.  I like mine steamed.  We ate our way through to the last precious piece of that half a salmon.



This is how I steam my fish.  Any fish.  While the water in the bottom pot comes to a boil, I spray the steamer basket with oil, then put the pieces of fish in, skin side down if the skin is still on, like these.

 Then whatever seasoning I'm impressed to use.  This time it was thyme, with a good dash of Kirtland Organic Seasoning which is a mixture including onion, dill, a little heat from peppers, and other goodies.

Five minutes later, hot out of the steamer, a sprinkle of pink Himalayan salt...oh my.  I could founder myself on this incredible sea-fresh taste.

I also treated myself to chilled steamed salmon atop a big handful of salad greens, with some cucumber and a squeeze of orange juice.  Some salt and pepper, snips of fresh dill....  the seasoning on the steamed salmon this time was a seafood blend which included tarragon and dill - very nice!

Fresh springer - food of the gods~

Random pieces of my life...

Haven't been out much lately, waiting the past six weeks for this foot to heal enough to toss the crutches - which I did, this week!  Yippee!  Almost back in shoes again...  Anyway, here are some odds and ends to amuse, entertain, and horrify.  I'll put that one last, in consideration of the squeamish...

This little guy is about the size of a quarter - he resides on the top of my "Ikea knock-off" storage shelving.  Pewter.  So cute!  He loves my rock collection.



Becky makes this incredible quinoa salad, filled with all kinds of goodies - red quinoa, fresh pinapple, almonds, edamame, cucumber, cilantro, green onions, yellow and red bell peppers - lucious complex flavors - YUM!  She made a huge bowlful which lasted me almost a week.  Mom didn't care for it, thank goodness.

As kids growing up in Bay City, we rode bikes all over town.  Our HILLY town.  At that time, the main highway was only two blocks away, winding up the hill on through the hilly forest like a snake, to Garibaldi.  I hated that road the first years of high school - we were the first ones to be picked up by the bus, had to sit in the BACK - and I was always carsick.  I think that would be grounds for abuse, these days.
  At any rate, eventually the powers that be made a new, straight almost level, highway section that essentially bypassed our town (not a bad thing, in my humble opinion...), so the old road was seldom used.  Except by local hooligans like the Griffin gang, on their bikes!  Beautiful, fun, and almost private biking. 
 So the last week I had to be pretty much still off the foot, Becky changed shifts with Carrie, bringing her bike.  She didn't have any problem at all getting Chris to take a bike ride on the old road!  They both came back rubber-legged!!  Chris' first bike outing since his knee surgery, poor guy.  That little sister of his was ALWAYS getting the brothers into trouble - according to them.  Ahem.  'Nuff said.

I couldn't believe these tulips that blossomed out of a rescued  clay pot - had no idea there was something in that dirt!  And they managed perfect timing, to show off the blossoming stages...



Speaking of flowers - the poppies are outdoing themselves this year.  Love the fuzzy buds!

THIS is something you have try!  Not slapping your mama - that could be dangerous.  Almost as dangerous as the contents of this carton...

I had a sample at the Food Basket Market in Garibaldi, of this Cajun warmth sprinkled on sweet apple slices.  AWE-SOME.  Of course I got a carton, came home and sliced my apple with great anticipation.  Just so you know - sprinkle it lightly.  I mean LIGHTLY.  As in barely can see it. Definately NOT this much. That Cajun warmth?  I lied.  It's Cajun HEAT!  Zowee!  But the flavor is incredible when you get it right - right after your taste buds grow back...
.

 Back to flowers.  Flowers are safer.  I love this shot of looking directly down on a rose - pretty cool design, there!

The rose was in this bouquet.  Which is the crown of the Mother's Day floral shop currently residing on our dining room table.  Makes Mom and me feel pretty plush, all that gorgeousness and smelliness surrounding us as we have a meal or trounce each other playing cribbage.  hmmm.  That should be "floral aroma" maybe.  Or "heady honeysuckle scented air".  Not smelliness.  Totally different connotation.

The best thing about this foot surgery - my glorious surprise!  Carrie walked into my bedroom 5 days after I was confined to elevated-footness, totally unexpected!  But oh how wonderful!!!  It's been a long time since she and I had extended time together - you know, kids, hubby, living FAR away...all that stuff interferring with mom/daughter rebonding.  Shortly before she left (after 3 weeks of being my personal sherpa, cook, driver, shoulder-to-cry-on, cribbage partner) we managed a trip to Bar View, where she got to walk the beach and I got to CAREULLY (honest) hobble 10 feet to the edge of the parking area to get a picture of her recreating childhood memories on the beach. Sigh.  Beatiful day, beautiful time, beautiful girl.  Love you, kid!

On another day, different drive, Carrie took this photo out the car window (we were stopped - yes, in the middle of the highway) just as we got to Ocean Side.  Doesn't it just say, "Come visit the breathtaking Oregon coast"??

Random wouldn't be complete without THIS.  Be careful opening drawers around here.  You have to be fast - because within 5 seconds she finds you, claims the drawer, and you're stuck.  If you give up and wander off, she'll soon leave and since you of course forgot that the drawer was hanging open, you can then crack your knee into it as you come back to finish whatever it was that she distracted you from in the first place.  Little wretch.

(I have no idea why some of these are photos are centered and others sliding to the side.  Or why this text is stuck on "centered" now.  Can't get it to move.)

OK, here's the scary one.  Dressing change.  See that little green ball?  It's on the end of what is called "K-wire" - about the diameter of coathanger wire.  IN MY TOE.  Actually, about 5" long, THROUGH the toe.  And beyond.  Dr. D commented,

 "Just like a shish-ka-bob."  Thanks for that visual, doc. 

That wire is why I was down so long.  Directions from Dr. D:  You DO NOT BUMP that. And keep the foot elevated as MUCH AS POSSIBLE.  No walking except to bathroom.  Yessir.  Terrified me.  With good reason.

(Oo-oo!  I think I found the right button!  Playing with this thing is more scarey than my foot.  Still not getting it all where I want it, but give me time, folks. Moved the photo - still arguing with the text...HELP!  Gotta call Becky...)

OK, I give.  Last shot - looks a LOT better, yes?  Silly me, totally forgot to take a pic of the bunion, etc. BEFORE surgery.  So you'll just have to take my word - it is definately better.  Oh - you thought I was referring to the incision - well, it looks better, too.  Yep, just one more zipper on my growing list of maintainance items.  Like mom says - Getting old ain't for sissies.  Not when you have to do things like this, just to be able to walk!

Well, th-th-th-that's all, folks.