TWO COOKS IN THE KITCHEN

You’d think that after 40 years of marriage we could agree on lawn care.  But there we were at the rental center arguing over which machine to use to repair our damaged lawn.  The lawn took quite a hit in last year’s heat wave, so we agreed that we needed to put some time into reseeding.  So as we stood there with teeth gnashing and raised voices, the poor clerk ran to the back for some help.  Help came in the form of a diminutive woman who knew her machines and knew how to use them.  She explained the purpose of the thatcher, the aerator and another machine that cuts grooves into the soil and then drops seed into the groove.  I suspected that she might also have been a marriage counselor!  So we drove home with the thatcher and spent the day thatching, raking, fertilizing and finally seeding.  The front and the back of the house are done, but the area along the driveway will have to wait for another day.  It is supposed to rain tonight and for three days thereafter, which is why we worked so hard to finish the job.  Some of the thatch that I raked up was mixed into the compost pile.  That should get it cooking!  So when all was said and done, we work pretty well together, in spite of 40 years of marriage!

SALAD FROM MEXICO?!!

Something weird just happened last night when we went out to dinner.  Actually, we were on our way home from the airport, having just gotten in from sunny, WARM Nassau (more on that later).  It was late and we decided to have dinner at the Macaroni Grill on Route 1 in New Jersey (the Garden State).  So, in an effort to eat healthy, I ordered a salad and was told that they didn’t have salad because there had been a cold front in Mexico.   Mexico???!!!  Does this sound weird to anybody? I mean, really, why do we have to buy our greens from another country?  Why doesn’t the Macaroni Grill buy its greens from local suppliers?  My hoophouses are filled with greens, and you know, if I can do it, so can the area farmers.   With fuel prices rising, wouldn’t it make sense to buy local produce?  Maybe it’s because the Macaroni Grill is a chain (which is why we usually don’t eat at chains) or maybe because the goods from Mexico are cheaper even when you factor in the rising fuel prices.  Could be all of the above.  Anyway, I had to eat pasta instead of a nice leafy salad.  A salad would have been better.


So, about our vacation in Nassau.  We honeymooned in Nassau 40 years ago, and decided to go back to the scene of the crime for our anniversary.  Of course, so much had changed since 1971, but the beautiful azure blue water was still as clear and brilliant as ever.   The blooming flowers fell over walls and climbed up to the housetops.  I didn’t see any agriculture but was told that indeed there are farms, which provide produce to the natives and the tourists.  We gambled a little on Paradise Island, hung out on the beach and tried not to get sunburned, ate lots of seafood, walked for miles trying to see the ‘real’ Nassau, swam with the dolphins and was happy not to be in Pennsylvania where they were getting ice and snow.  Actually, it was hard to come back to the colder weather, but when we got home I noticed that the daffodils were actually blooming and the irises in the fish pond were starting to grow, which is a sure sign of the approaching spring.  The forsythia is on the verge of blooming and I think that after we get through this cold week, spring will be here.  I hope so, otherwise, I might just head back to the Caribbean!   While we were away, my son John took care of my vegetables on the windowsill, making sure to water them and turn them toward the sun.  He did a good job and not only did they survive, but they thrived.  The tomato plants are quickly outgrowing their space, and hopefully will be transplanted into the hoophouse in a week or two, weather permitting.  I put the tomato and pepper plants into bigger pots and even sowed some impatience seeds and put them on the heat mat to germinate.  Everything that is inside is doing well, and I am pleased with the success of my new growing rack that Ron made for me.  It's a good design as it is very flexible.  The hoophouses are bursting with greens, some newly seeded and some wintered over.  We'll be eating salad from here on out - and NOT from Mexico!

GROWING TIMELINE AS OF MAR. 16, 2011

WINDOWSILL:  Cherry tomatoes (si 2/1), Roma tomatoes (si 2/1), Beefsteak tomatoes (si 2/1), Broccoli (si 2/1), Swiss Chard (si 2/6), Peppers (si 2/8), more tomatoes (si 2/14), spinach (si 2/14), Marigolds (si 3/1)

HOOPHOUSE:  Swiss Chard (wo hh), Chinese Cabbage (wo hh), Spinach (wo hh), Lettuce (wo hh), Mesclun (wo hh), Lettuce ds hh 2/6), Mesclun (ds hh 2/6), Lettuce (ds hh 2/17), Mesclun (ds hh 2/17), Broccoli (T hh 3/1), Swiss Chard (T hh 3/1), Peas (ds hh 3/16), Chinese Cabbage (H 3/16)

GARDEN:  garlic (wo), parsnips (H 3/1), peas (ds 3/16)

si = sown inside
ds = directly sown
wo = wintered over
hh = hoophouse
fc = fall crop
H = harvested
T = transplanted
B = bolted

MORE SNOW???

Not really.  Well, not here in Eastern PA.  But I spent the week up at my daughter’s house in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts and there was 1 ½’ of snow there.  Ugh!  Enough already!  It is cold, snowy and muddy there and it was hard not to long for the early spring days back at home.  When I drove down our driveway I noticed that the daffodils were up and budding and the forsythia had small yellow buds up and down its branches.   The hoophouses are full of greens and we are
once again eating delicious salads from the garden.  Last night I made a lettuce, mesclun and
spinach salad that had that intense flavor that only comes from the winter-overed greens.   The Swiss chard and broccoli that I transplanted into the hoophouse doesn’t seem to be doing well and I may just direct seed into the garden.  I should have done that to begin with, having learned that lesson from the year before.  The lettuce that I sowed on February 17 is now blanketing the soil in
the hoophouse.  These new greens will take us into the summer.  My tomato plants (si 2/1)  that are on the window sill are about 1’ tall and doing well.  Only thing is, they are almost touching the grow light bulb and I need to reconfigure something to give them a little more head room.  I have trays of all kinds of tomato plants – some for me and the rest to friend’s gardens.  Any time they come to visit, they check out the tomato plant’s progress.  Seems like everybody is getting anxious to plant!    

GROWING TIMELINE AS OF MAR 5, 2011

WINDOWSILL:  Cherry tomatoes (si 2/1), Roma tomatoes (si 2/1), Beefsteak tomatoes (si 2/1), Broccoli (si 2/1), Swiss Chard (si 2/6), Peppers (si 2/8), more tomatoes (si 2/14), spinach (si 2/14), Marigolds (si 3/1)

HOOPHOUSE:  Swiss Chard (wo hh), Chinese Cabbage (wo hh), Spinach (wo hh), Lettuce (wo hh), Mesclun (wo hh), Lettuce ds hh 2/6), Mesclun (ds hh 2/6), Lettuce (ds hh 2/17), Mesclun (ds hh 2/17), Broccoli (T hh 3/1), Swiss Chard (T hh 3/1)

GARDEN:  garlic (wo), parsnips (H 3/1)

si = sown inside
ds = directly sown
wo = wintered over
hh = hoophouse
fc = fall crop
H = harvested
T = transplanted

WILD RED RASPBERRY WINE

Early last summer, the wild red raspberries were ripe, waiting for the birds, I guess. But since my son John makes his own wine, I picked 8 lbs. of those little tart fruits, braving stickers, ticks and the heat. I was the picker, and John was the vintner. So after many months of fermenting and transfering from bottle to bottle, the clear red wine is ready for our first taste, which will be on Easter (also happens to be my birthday). The kids will all be home and we will cap off a great dinner with a wine tasting party. I made labels using our childhood nicknames. While transferring the liquid to the last bottle, we did a preliminary tasting and all agreed that it was a very 'fine wine.' So now when I am passing by the wild raspberry bushes at the edge of the woods I think of them as an unexpected bonus rather than a blight, and look forward to our second annual harvest this summer.

LATE PARSNIPS -- OR ARE THEY EARLY?

Spent the afternoon outside picking up branches brought down by the wind storm that we had the other day. Not only did I have a few wheel barrels full of sticks, but three huge poplars blew down too. They fell very loudly as the roots pulled up and the trees crashed down. Thankfully they were back in the woods and not a danger to anyone or anything. We'll have tons of firewood to cut and stack next fall. I also turned two more beds, trying to kill off the winter rye. I found some more parsnips that wintered over and will be great for a soup or stew. I shoveled in leaves and compost so that the beds are ready for planting in a few weeks. The garden is looking good and seems to be responding to the longer days and warmer sun. At last! The lettuce that was just seeded in the hoophouse is popping up and blanketing the soil. I transplanted some of the broccoli and Swiss chard seedlings that were started in the house. They had a good root system and should do well under cover. The hybrid tomato seeds that I was given are coming up but seem very spindly, so I sowed more cherry tomatoes, since that is the kind of tomato everybody wants. I also sowed marigold seeds to be planted im the vegetable garden and for some color up by the mail boxes. I noticed today that the compost bin is starting to cook, which is perfect since I've already started to shovel some into the garden. I might be jumping the gun with transplanting the Swiss chard snd broccoli into the hoophouse, but really, it all depends on the weather and the continuing trend of 40+ degree days. Today when I unzipped the hoophouse, it was actually 92 degrees in there! The soil is still in the 60s and perfect for cold weather crops, I never worry about the night time temps, mainly because I'm not about to go out there with a flashlight in the middle of the night. I guess I could buy one of those thermometers that give you the highest and lowest readings, but really, I'm OC enough about all of this!