Our first garden

 Joe built me a raised bed in the backyard of our new home last spring. This post is about 6 months late... but here's a summary of what we grew and ate from our own backyard through one of the driest growing seasons Hopkinsville ever had... My herbs: dill, Thai basil, globe basil and red basil, cilantro.

Eggplant-- I grew purple, white, and green varieties.

Cucumbers transplanted from the McQueens' garden.

"Pineapple Tomatoes" -- an heirloom variety that I got from an Amish seller at the Hopkinsville Farmers Market. Delicious flavor, but small with tough skin.

My personal triumph, even if they look weird: Sweet Potatoes! I dug these up in late October, not sure what I might find. We ate some of them roasted and added the rest to a big pot of chili. Pretty good, but a lot of work. Early in the season I ate some of the leaves in soup. In Taiwan, sweet potato leaves are a common "qing tsai".

Mine! All Mine!

Joe bought me this hummingbird feeder and it has been a great source of entertainment, hanging just outside our back window. There are three hummingbirds that spend all day chasing each other and making their high-pitched tweeets as they duke it out. One bird in particular seems to have laid claim to the feeder. He's more often perched on the wire that it's suspended from than eating from one of the plastic flowers. We've already gone through one batch of the store-bought solution. We made our own "nectar" using one part sugar to four parts boiling water. I feel better giving them something that doesn't have artificial coloring in it. This also eliminates the bright red poop everywhere. Did you know hummingbirds have tongues? I guess that should be obvious since other birds have them, but watch this video and you'll see what I mean.

Glimpse of the backyard

We saw this little guy lounging around on our fence the other day. Maybe he thinks he's a guard-squirrel.

I consider myself extremely lucky whenever I get a chance to step out on the back porch these days. Even a walk to the mailbox in mid-afternoon is lovely. I had no idea how full my days would be taking care of Stephen... and this with my mom still helping out!

Garden after rain

Still lots of cucumbers coming in my little row of the garden out back. I also have tons of tomatoes...but none are ripe yet.

Here's a nice picture of a cucumber, picked just after a rain and my swollen foot in the background. I wonder if cucumber slices work on puffy feet?

Food! Now!

I don't know if birds have temper tantrums when they're young. But if they do, this might be what it looks like.
Is it gonna fit?
I don't think it did. How sad.

In my garden

I was really shocked to find that I've actually grown some real, edible vegetables. Four large cucumbers have been hiding out under those big fuzzy floppy leaves, and I didn't even know it. When I spotted the first one, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I thought it was one of the neighbors cucumbers that somehow landed among my plants. But when I grabbed it, my plant moved with it. They have some of those pokey hairs, but once scrubbed with a coarse sponge, they're just like the grocery store cucs. Lots more on the way. Also picked my first lemon boy tomato...which is sort of a siamese twin. One side was yellow and there was a crack forming on the green side. Didn't want it to rot, so I picked it before it was fully ripe on both sides.

My patio tomatoes aren't doing too bad either, though I need to prop them up with some more doll rods.

Produce, at last

Grandaughter of the president of the Bradford Square farmers market, Kayla Moss, will eventually have her own table at the market.
These are my patio tomatoes, which I'm growing in a big pot on my back porch. I'm also growing golden tomatoes and cucumbers in the communal garden on the Sivley's property.
These are some potatoes that Mr. Ezell was selling at the market. I didn't buy them, but I thought they looked pretty. I've been writing weekly market updates for the paper. It's a fun excuse to go out there each week and see what's up.

open beak

Now if this doesn't make you want to be a mama...
It's our third spring in Hopkinsville, and our third family of bluebirds. Babies can only hold their big heads up on those spindly necks for so long. When I first open the box, all the heads pop up and the faintest wisp of a whistle comes out of the open beaks. Then, one by one, they give in to gravity and flop back into a restful heap.

Rescued from the birds

I know we're into autumn already, but my tomato plants have been late bloomers. These are actually my first 3 successful tomatoes. Ever. In the entire history of me gardening. Sad, isn't it?

I had to pick the green one because yesterday I noticed that my prettiest tomato (not pictured) had a beak hole in the top of it and a smattering of wild grass seeds near the puncture, which oozed juice down the side of my precious fruit.

There's close to 20 green tomatoes out there... small and hard, not much bigger than cherry tomatoes. Any gardeners out there? Should I pluck them or let them grow? Will the frost or critters get them first? I do like fried green tomatoes...

In other news, things are going to get a little bit more moody around here because (A) I'm going on a temporary wheat-free diet to help with my chronic sinus problems. I did this for several months when we lived in Taiwan. Oddly, it really helped with my sinuses. I don't have any trouble digesting wheat, in fact, it's one of the easiest things on my stomach. So you might be seeing some wheat-free pancake and quickbread recipes in the near future.
(B) Starting a week from Monday, I'm no longer going to be a copy editor/designer. I accepted a job as features editor... which may mean I'll be insanely busy, but I think the job will fuel some new ideas about food as I get out in the community more.

Bringing outside in

These were the last of the gangly blooms from my zinnias. Tiny sprouts that are the second generation are beginning to bud.

My corriander is also coming back... not sure if I'll ever get to eat any. I hope winter doesn't arrive too abruptly.

Tomato terror

I think this has something to do with my tomatoes rotting before they ripen :-(

This guy reminds me of the hooka-smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.

And with all those "eyes" it reminds me of the top leaf tea commercial.

Patio menagerie

This little orange moth and I are becoming fast friends. I've seen him several days in row on my zinnias. Today when I stepped outside to water my plants, the moth came flying at me in his zig-zagging way before landing abruptly on the edge of my white tank. I looked down at him; he was facing me. His long black proboscis uncoiled and prodded my shirt. Realizing it wasn't a flower, he flitted away.

Back to the task at hand: Watering my potted plants. The Kentucky sun was intense, so I thought I'd use my little watering blue can with the focused spout--to avoid covering the leaves in magnifying glass water drops. I filled it up at the spigot, then tried to pour into the zinnia pot. Water sloshed out from the top, but not the tip.

This has happened to me before. Last time the spout was clogged by a big yucky bug carcass, which I had to extricate with long twig. I started to carry the can over to the grass to dump out the water and begin my task, when I noticed water was coming out of the spout again. Back to watering I went. The heat was causing my glasses to slip down my nose. Just as I adjusted them I felt the presence... eyes of a pale grayish green being were peering up at me from the edge of the watering can. I quickly put it down and backed up ... (yes, I'm a 'fraidy-cat!) But once I realized the fear was mutual I decided to get up close and personal.


After a torturing the frightened amphibian with a photo shoot, I returned the can to the porch and let him hop back into his oasis from the heat wave. Good thing I have two watering cans.




This shot captures a feeling I can relate to... staring into the abyss, hoping for shelter, but unsure of what lurks in the future. Ha ha!

Last I left him, he had crawled back into the base of the spout. Only his tiny frog hieny was sticking out.

Miracle

Though the flowers on my other plant were razored right off by some bug with a predilection for tender tomato stems, I discovered I have (at least) ONE TOMATO! Yipppeee!

vegetable or metalwork?

Yesterday morning, after spying on the blues, I noticed how photogenic some of Mr. Morris' vegetables were. I love the cabbages especially. And here's a nice head of brussels sprouts. And the corn leaves have finally gone wavy after our recent shower-- they were previously stiff and pointy from the drought.

Tiny hopper

I was visiting my mum (or aster?) in the backyard at lunch and found this shy little bug basking in the sun.


I tormented him for a brief while, sticking my lens right in his frightened little face. Initially, he kept switching sides on the leaf. Where ever I would go, he'd move to the opposite side. He finally jumped after I took this last shot.

Our backyard just got bluer

On Friday I notices some of the bluberries, which have been green for a month, began to blush. Today I snapped this shot... visions of bluberry muffins dancing on my tongue. Yes. My taste buds have an imagination.
As if one miracle wasn't enough, we've finally got our long-awaited, much sought-after, often anticipated pair of bluebirds at the nest box. Here's the female in action. Sorry my hand was so shaky.

Microcosm

I already knew several reasons my cilantro wasn't doing well... For one, I grew it from seed in my house and it got very gangly from lack of light. Then I transferred it outside and it had a bit of culture shock with a week of full sun which turned into a week of no sun and nighttime frosts. Half its little leaves were face-down in the dirt and the rest had to learn to be strong and stretch toward the sun.

But if those weren't enough obstacles, this morning I discovered several other reasons my cilantro isn't doing well. Can you spot the three critters in this photo?
And if you're as crazy as me... you can watch my inchworm video:

I like the part where the ant knocks him off his course.

berry update

Having my blueberry bush and strawberry stow-aways stay in our living room for a week during the cold snap seems to have paid off. I think... but dare not be certain... I might actually have some blueberries this year.

Right now they're still in the greenberry stage. But I intend to do whatever it takes to get them on to the delicious blue phase of their brief lives. Even if that means picking off and squishing aphids by hand. (Four down so far.) Or keeping track of them each day to make sure no greedy bug or bird has stolen a premature prize.

Now, what should I make with my roughly 87 blueberries whenever they come to fruition? Pancakes? Trifle? Muffins? 5 bowls of cereal?

Another garden discovery

The blueberry buds are opening-- Now I just need some pollinators. And like the oregano and the thyme, look what else decided to come back from the dead! It's the mint that survived the 8 hour car ride back from Cleveland last summer. We'll be having some nice vanilla mint tea in no time :-)

I finally got to make some pad thai this afternoon. I used the mi fun noodles instead of the thicker version and I used more sweet onion than usual. Also, I chopped some romaine to sub for the bean sprouts. I think it turned out pretty good except that the noodles congealed into one giant mass before I got the leftovers into the refrigerator.

My recipe for Pad Thai (adapted from the Viking Cooking School)
Soak for an hour in warm water: 1 package (about 10-12 oz) rice stick noodles, Mi fun take less time to soak, but make the dish less authentic... and may lead to the aforementioned congealing problem.
Heat on low:
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup tamarind juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar
Pan fry:
1 block of extra firm tofu, cut into cubes, in 2 Tbs canola oil
Set it aside after it's browned on all sides
Meanwhile, chop:
2 chicken breast halves into big bite-sized pieces
4 or 5 cloves garlic and half a large yellow onion, coarsely
1 heart of romaine. (start from the base and cut rings about 1/2-inch thick)
1/3 cup preserved raddish (optional)
Stirfry: the onion, garlic, veggies and chicken in 3 Tbs oil with crushed red pepper flakes and paprika to taste (I like it hot) Once it smells good, add the sauce mixture.
When the chicken is cooked through, add the softened noodles and cook until the sample you scoop into your mouth with chopsticks has the desired tenderness. Stir in the tofu and small bunch of chopped green onions and transfer the pad thai to a serving dish.
Garnish: Chopped peanuts, more green onion, and fresh lime wedges

Nestiquette

I mentioned a few posts ago that we had some chickadees move into the bluebird box. They make a very green nest with moss and soft grasses.



This morning as I was getting ready I heard the soft, but indisputable churdling of a bluebird. Their call doesn't carry, so I knew he must be close. When I parted the mini blinds, this is what I saw.

I wasn't the only one who noticed. The male chickadee was squeeking and nattering up a storm... but from a safe distance on top of the herbie curbie (that's hopkinsville-speak for garbage can).

I left for work assuming that the blues would win this birdhouse battle, as the bigger bird. When we came home for lunch, we didn't see the bluebirds... so Joe decided to remove the chickadee nest. I'm rather torn, and spent much of the afternoon feeling bad about the poor defenseless chickadees. I'm trying to remember that the box is designed for bluebirds, and that they are the more endangered bird. But the chickadees made such pitiful noises when they returned to the empty box. I believe they've started to rebuild. No sign of the blues. Any thoughts?