The Green of Spring

Spring seems so early this year. The last two years spring came along in late April and early May. This year it arrived at the beginning of this month. Leaves on the trees appeared seemingly overnight. Wildflowers and weeds are showing their beauty rapidly. So I thought that today I would share with you some of the varying greens in my yard.

Where do I start? I took this shot from my deck looking over the vegetable garden. I found the many green colors amazing, and the breaking of dawn really made their colors pop!

Amazing greens in my yard

Check out the vivid green on the oaks to the muted greens of the digger pines.

Oaks and pine

Looking to the end of the fruit orchard, I am amazed at the colors.

Looking off the deck

The island in the center of our driveway is chock full of weeds, mostly grasses, but the colors are amazing. The redbud tree just left of center, with its leaves just opening, seem to be floating in the air.

The island as the sun rises

The contrast of colors from the old to the new are amazing too. Here is a shot of our night blooming jasmine with last year’s leaves and the new growth that will bear those amazing aromatic flowers.

Old and new

Grasses that were not there the other day come up around the daffodils.

Newly sprouted grasses

And the lambs ears have a lovely blue green leave that in the winter is almost a pale white.

The blue green of lamb ears

We will end with a view of the park like setting that spring gives to us in our backyard.

Park like setting of our back yard

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the greens in my yard as much as I do each and every morning. Now go out and have a great Tuesday, and thanks for visiting today!

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The Beauty of Weeds

In a garden there is the rule of the 3 P’s. The first P is plant. The second is place, and the third is perception. A weed is a “plant,” that is in a “place,” where our “perception” tells us they should not be, particularly in our garden beds. But if you stop and take the time to really look at some of these unwanted plants you will find a world of beauty! Shall we take a look at some of the “weeds” in my backyard? Let’s go!

In no particular order…

Purple Striped Weedicus

A buttercup

A lovely pair

A dandelion

Another dandelion

Fairies in the garden

More fairies!

Lavender Weedicus

Light Blue Weedicus

Teeny, tiny blurry baby blues

White Weedicus

Yellow Weedicus

The largest weed is the dandelion. The rest are about 1/4 to 1/16th of the size of the dandelion! Amazing isn’t it, what you can find in the yard if you look close enough? What’s in your garden?

Have a great Saturday! And, thanks for stopping by!

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Changes…

Here we are and it is the last Monday of March 2013! Time sure does fly, and it goes quicker the older you get! It seems like it was just yesterday that I was doing a post on the emerging spring, and this morning I thought that I would show you a few of the changes from my garden!

Let’s start with the daffodils. Here they are having emerged from the ground donning their lovely flower buds.

Daffodil buds

And here are the resulting blooms.

Daffodils in bloom

Do you remember the forsythia from yesterday’s post? Well, here are the blossom buds from that plant.

Forsythia buds

And here are the blossoms.

Forsythia blossoms

My coppery looking rhododendron has compact buds…

Rhododendron bud

…and here is the lovely delicate flower!

Rhododendron blossom

Now for a dramatic change…here is the leaf bud of the liquid amber tree.

Liquid Amber leaf bud

Here is the leaf bud today.

Liquid Amber developing bud

Such a difference! I will be watching this one to see other changes that occur as this opens up!

Have a great Monday! Thank you for stopping by!

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Let’s Take a Walk, Shall We?

This weekend I spent quite a bit of time in my garden. I was cleaning up potted plants, my hanging baskets and did some relocation of plants. I planted walnuts, added a new tree and did some spring time clean up. All the while in my garden I was adoring the life around me that I am privileged to share. Now that I have cleaned up, I need to walk in the garden. Would you like to join me?

There is so much to see…hmmm…where do I start? How about we just wander, and I will throw in a note here and there? Sound good? Let’s get going.

Solar flares

Star struck

A visitor on the rosemary

Tomorrow’s plums

It always amazes me when I find life in the miniature world. Today was no exception. My only regret was that I did not have my macro lens with me!

Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the earwig

Another on the peach tree

The definition of anticipation is found in this next photo!

Almonds are forming

Cherry blossoms

Find the mosquito!

One last shot as we head back to the house…

Lovely forsythia

I hope that your day has been full of adventure! Thanks for stopping by!

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Daikon – One Huge Radish!

I love the flavor of radishes, and there is nothing better than one grown in the home vegetable garden! One that I have not tried to grow yet, but am thinking of doing this year is Daikon! This is a huge white radish that resembles a very large carrot only bigger! So let’s take a look at this lovely root vegetable, shall we?

Daikon – Photo from EdenBrothers.com

This lovely root originated in the Mediterranean, and history records it being brought to China and Japan during the Han Dynasty. The commonly used name, Daikon, means large root, and you can see from the photo above that it is indeed!

This root is frequently pickled and often used in soups. Me, I just love it raw in a salad! Imagine the mild peppery flavor added to a cole slaw! Not only is the root edible but so are the greens.

But what is most amazing about this lovely white root, is the benefits to the human body! This vegetable is full of anti-oxidants, and helps the liver process toxins. It is high in vitamin B and C, which can act as an anti-inflammatory. Amazing, huh? It is also a natural diuretic, and it can help with weight loss.

For the garden, this vegetable is very hardy and can take the cold in the winter climate, allowing it to be grown all year round. Some varieties of this vegetable can reach a length of two feet! This root, from seed to harvest, will be ready to consume in 45-60 days. It does just fine in a mix of shade and sun. Once harvested the roots can last for weeks!

What do you do with Daikon? I would love to know! Thanks for stopping by today and have a great Sunday!

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What I Do With Green Tomatoes…

As promised last week, I am finally going to divulge what it is that I do with green tomatoes! At the end of the growing season, when the rain starts to come in, whatever is left on the tomato plants, once hit with rain, will split and rot. Instead of wasting these little gems, I pull them all and clean them up.

Green tomatoes fresh from the garden

Once dry, I let them sit for the week in a brown paper bag. Then it is pickling day! I’ll bet you thought I would be making fried green tomatoes! I love pickled tomatoes! And green tomatoes are the best pickled! If you decide to try this, then let me tell you this takes a while, but the results are well worth it!  I use a dill pickling mix as I like the flavor the best.

I use pint jars. And I use the Ball brand Kosher Dill Pickle Mix. So are you ready to head into the kitchen? I am!

We are going to go in phases for this post, so bear with me! The first thing to do is sterilize the jars. The Ball Jars that I buy include the jar, the jar ring, and the lid. Place the jars and the rings in an empty dishwasher. Set the dishwasher on the rinse cycle. The water and the heat from drying are enough to sterilize your jars without having to boil them all in water. Set the lids aside as there is another process for that. The jars are sold by the dozen, and I do the dozen even though I might not use them all.

Sterilize the jars and rings

While the dishwasher is sterilizing your jars, cut up the tomatoes. Cut the stem end off and the flower end off. If you do not you can unknowingly add bacteria to your pickles. This is the same as you would do if you were pickling cucumbers, which I did look for but could not find. Here are what the tomatoes look like once they are all cut up.

Cut up those green tomatoes

I cut the larger tomatoes into eighths, and the smaller in half. The really tiny tomatoes I leave whole.  Aren’t they pretty?

Then get your pickling juice ready. I follow the directions on the pickling mix I buy. Today for 8 pint jars I used the following:

6 cups of water
3 cups of vinegar
3/4 cup of pickling spices

Now you have a bunch of things to do at this point. First, set the heat to bring the pickling juice to a boil. Start water in a saucepan to boil to sterilize the lids. And fill up your processing pot with water that should cover the jars once the jars are added. Set this to boil.

Next, fill your jars. I add 3 shakes of chili flakes, 3 cloves of garlic for each jar, and 3 sprigs of fresh washed dill. Then pack in the tomatoes as tightly as you can. When the pickling mix boils, turn the heat off and add it to the top of the jar leaving a 1/4″ space. Wipe the jars clean making sure to also get the grooves and top of the jar. You want a tight seal so your food does not spoil.

By now, the water with the lids should be boiling. Turn this off. There is this unique device with a magnet on the end that allows you to pull these out of the pot without burning your hand. Pull one out, set it on the jar, then place the ring on and tighten.

Jars are ready for processing

By the time all the jars are filled, lids on and sealed, the water in your processing pot should be boiling. Add one jar at a time to the rack that comes with this unit. One jar per space. The water should cover the jars.

Jars are processing

Boil for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and using the special tongs for this type of process, remove the jars and set to cool.

Jars are cooling

As the jars cool, listen for the seal to take effect. You will hear a popping sound, and you will see that the lid has sunk in. This can happen anywhere from a half hour to a couple of hours.  Let the jars cool completely before handling.  Any lids that have not popped, place in the refrigerator. They will be ready to eat in about two weeks.

The sealed jars can be used after sitting for about 3 weeks and you can store these for up to a year. I usually refrigerate them a day before using them! They make an unexpected and delightful appetizer for the holidays, or a gift for those holiday baskets.  If you do not eat them all before the summer, they are a perfect compliment to your summer BBQ!

Now, go out and have a great Monday!

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End of the Summer Season in the Garden

Even though the summer season has passed, there are still green plants growing in the vegetable garden. Yesterday was a day spent of getting rid of the dried corn stalks, and pulling up plants that will no longer produce. There was a lot of weeding too as I was putting in cauliflower and brussel sprouts. The broccoli just needed to be trimmed back. And, there were so many green tomatoes that I picked a huge bag, mostly green but not all! Here is what I brought in…

Green tomatoes

And, more green tomatoes

The larger green tomatoes

The entire tomato bounty

So, what does someone do with all these tomatoes, you ask?

Well the larger of the tomatoes will be ripened on the counter with an apple to aid the process. To see what happens with the rest of these tomatoes, well, you will just have to stay tuned!  I will be featuring a post using these green tomatoes this coming weekend!

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Fall in My Back Yard

This year has been hotter than any other since we moved here. And the change over to fall seemed like someone flicking on a light switch. The plant life showed no signs of fall until the lights came on. It is the colder night time temperatures that have caused the plants to go into an instant display of colors, one that seemed to happen over night. I wanted to share some of the photos that I took in my backyard…So let’s head on outside!

Let’s start out behind the wood shed and take a look at the Virginia Creepers. This is similar to Boston Ivy.

Amazing red of the Virginia Creeper!

I look at these beautiful plants from my kitchen window! Lovely, isn’t it? Next, how about a look at the Mimosas. Last year at this time the seed pods were still green.

The Lovely Leaf and Seed Pod of the Mimosa Tree

The Smoke Bush is a bit slow in changing colors, however, in the following photo you can tell how glorious this plant will look!

The colors come up in the Smoke Bush

Now the Red Buds in the front of our house are still fully green, and this is because they have the coverage of the pines over them. But the one in the back is out in the open and is glorious! I love the heart shaped leaves!

The heart is found in the Red Bud

Let’s head on over now to the fruit orchard. Here is a photo of some of the trees in the orchard.

A view of the fruit orchard

Now let’s go look at some of these lovelies a bit closer, shall we?

Lovely plum

We have a five in one plum tree and this one branch has these colorful leaves while the rest is still a bit green, starting to change to yellow. The nectarine? Beautiful! Lovely flowers in the spring, lovely colors in the fall!

The color of the nectarine leaf looks like the color inside the fruit!

OK, now I have sneaked you into the car and here are two photos of the foothills near my house!

Down the street

Another view around the corner

I hope that you enjoyed the tour! Now go out and have a great Monday!

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Brussel Sprouts – Love ‘em, Hate ‘em

The season for brussel sprouts is coming up and I cannot wait! I love these little gems! My husband, on the other hand, cannot stand them. I think the reason might be linked to this lovely vegetable being served to him as a child overcooked! Let’s take a look at this lovely vegetable!

Brussel Sprouts – Photo by Eric Hunt

Brussel sprouts belong to the cabbage family. They are a cool weather vegetable having their greatest production at temperatures between 59-64 degrees. (Guess what I will be planting soon now that temperatures here have dropped!) It takes 90-180 days after planting to start harvesting. The sprouts grow against a stalk that is covered with leaves. You have to look right above where the leaf joins to the stalk to see the little sprouts.

Brussel Sprouts -Photo from MySeedGarden.blogspot.com

Each stalk will produce between 2 – 3 pounds of sprouts.

Nutritionally, Brussel Sprouts are loaded with vitamin C containing 102% of the recommended daily allowance for an adult. It is believed that this vegetable has anticancer properties which block the growth of cancer cells. The best way to cook these is by steaming, roasting or in a stir-fry. Boiling will greatly reduce the nutritional benefits of this vegetable.

How do I like to prepare this vegetable? Well, I steam them. After washing the vegetable, I trim off a couple of the outer leaves. To help them cook evenly, on the stem end, I cut a “+” to the bottom. I toss them in the steamer basket and get them cooking until they turn a lovely green color and I test them by piercing with a fork. I then remove them from the steamer and add a bit of butter to coat them, and serve! Rather than having cabbage with my corned beef, this is the vegetable that I serve!

How do you prepare Brussel Sprouts? Care to share a recipe? I would love to hear from you!

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Today’s Harvest

This morning I ventured out to the garden to check things out. It has been about two weeks since I have been down there and I knew I had vegetables to pick. So I went off with my basket, and I wanted to share with you today’s harvest. This might be the last that I get out of the garden. Our temperatures have been hot, with this past week being in the 90′s and today we have a major cool down with the morning temperature being 47. Quite a change! So, here is what I found…

Huge zucchini picked fresh today!

Can you believe the size? These were not there two weeks ago! Another shot to give you a bit of perspective…

Huge zucchini!

Each of these weighs in at approximately 5 pounds! Here is the rest of what I picked.

The rest of today’s pickings

Now that I have a number of different ingredients, I will have to come up with a recipe on what to do with all these lovely fresh vegetables! Do you have any suggestions? I would love to hear them!

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