Neglecting my other baby

It took me two months to blog about the garden. And now, another month to write an update. I have not done very much work in the garden lately, so luckily Will has been doing some upkeep. I think maybe this weekend we'll do some pruning and whatnot. And maybe I'll take pictures and write about it. But maybe I won't. So in the meantime, here's some pretty photos of the pretty things we've picked lately. Please accept my apologies.

Blueberries! Beans! Peas! Peppers!

The most blueberries I've picked in one go.

SO MANY BEANS! And peppers and peas.
And one tomato. I picked like 8 more tomatoes but haven't
taken a picture of them. Because I'm a bad plant mom.

I think I'm going to pickle these beans, but I need to buy dill. Probably should have done that on one of my daily grocery store runs lately. Ah, there's always tomorrow! I probably need some other stuff like garlic or something, too...if I can remember to do check before I go to the store. Pregnancy brain is real, y'all.

Anything going on in your gardens lately?

Garden. 2016.

In the midst of grief and pregnancy, we found time to plant this year's backyard vegetable garden. It's a little bit healing and a little bit exhausting, but overall, it's a nice tradition to carry on, and we're starting to reap the benefits of what we (literally) sowed already. 

I wasn't allowed to do much actual planting this year (pregnant women aren't supposed to dig in dirt, apparently, something to do with possible cat poop. which, definitely possible in our neighborhood), but I did get to project manage and photograph the day's events :)

Dina wields the mighty shovel

Aww babby got me a birthday cake!

Will plans marigolds. Good for bugs.

Team Seeds In Planter Box!

BLUEBERRY BUSH, YOU GUYS

Jack built a fire

Sonja gracefully mulches the garden.

Snow peas and tomatoes and basil and more!

Teeny turnip seedlings starting to sprout!

This year, we planted:

Turnips - Carrots - Beets - Marigolds - Basil - 5 Tomatoes - Padrons - Jalapenos - 2 other Peppers - Purple Beans - Green Beans - Baby Bok Choy - Rainbow Chard - Arugula - Blueberries

And, ta-da, a recent harvest!

Lemons, blueberries, snow peas, arugula, rainbow chard

Backyard Gardening 2015

Our garden has been sort of out of control awesome this year. I don't even know if it's more awesome than previous years, but I feel like every time I go out there, there's a bounty. And I photograph the bounty, because that's what I do, but then I don't take the time to upload and write about it. And the longer I wait, the more overwhelming the process of documenting and sharing our garden's progress seems.

But Summer is almost gone. While tomato season seems to just be hitting its stride (California's in a drought, you know, so we haven't been watering as much as in the past - plus we had a strange cool weather streak in early Summer), the beans are starting to waver, and the sugar snap peas are completely dead and gone. The lettuce is fading, but the squash is still hanging in there, and the chard is (maybe?) coming back for another round. The peppers are doing their pepper thing and we can hardly eat them fast enough. Carrots are popping out in groups of 4-6, which is just the right amount for a large salad, and we're about ready for a second harvest of small beets. The fennel is...well, I'm not sure if it'll ever be ready. Patience!

In lieu of a weekly garden update, I've been compiling all of our photos in to this lovely little photo album. It will continue to update as I add photos, but for now, enjoy this epic slideshow of garden goodness.

Presenting: Lazy Pickles

About a week ago, I shared with you my "recipe" for Lazy Pickles. And I know. You've been sitting here waiting anxiously to see if my pickles turned out ok. Well, friends, I'm here to let you know that they did. Photo-journalism-style (aka lazy-blogging-style).

Sunday, June 14. 5:30pm.
Raw as can be. Just jarred.
And yes, the dill is from my garden.
Everything else is from the store.

Thursday, June 18. 6:30pm.
Getting a little picklier.

Thursday, June 18. 10:30pm.
I punched down the kraut.
What does that mean? 

Literally, take off the lid. Stick your fist in the jar.
Smoosh (or "punch" gently) the kraut down. This
forces the liquid out of the cabbage, putting it
underwater and also making it softer? Either way,
it is a very important thing to do.
Because science.

At this point, we went away for the weekend. The spears/romanesco looked and smelled done, so we put them in the fridge to stop the fermentation process. The rest got to chill on the counter for two more days.

Monday, June 23. 6:30pm.
I think they're done. The kraut tastes like kraut.
The pickles are briny as hell!

Check out how cloudy that brine is!
Full of fermentation and good bacteria!

Time to eat! We had a few pickle spears as a pre-dinner snack last night, and they were sour, salty, dilly, briney deliciousness. I used English Cucumbers from Trader Joe's - I think if I'd used *actual* pickling cucumbers, they might not be as soft. But I really don't mind. They're totally delicious, and I kind of like the softness...reminds me of the super old pickles from the Jewish delis I grew up with. Next time, I might use even more dill, and maybe either a firmer cucumber, or just a slightly shorter fermentation period.

And there you have it. 8 days. 5 days for the spears. Super lazy. Super delicious. PICKLES.

Some resources if you want to read more about this fun world: pickling vs fermenting, a little about sour pickles, basically self-fermented foods like kraut and pickles are medicine.

Questions about my methodology? Pickling stories of your own to share? Did eating fermented food save your life? Let's chat in the comments below!

Lazy Pickling

I'm a lazy pickler. When I decided to try making my own pickles a year or so ago, I looked up the easiest possible ways, aside from "refrigerator pickles" which are a little too quick for my tastes - I like my pickles old and briney.

I found a recipe that described self-fermentation, which sounded like something I could get behind. And it's brilliant. 

Take an assortment of pickling spices, your items to be pickled, put in a jar, and cover with water. Leave 'em on the counter for about a week, and store in the fridge. They're not shelf stable, but that's ok with me. It's so quick and easy, and I don't need to make more than. Jar of two at a time (which fit easily in the fridge) anyway. 

I also learned how to make sauerkraut, which is so easy it's embarrassing. Shred cabbage. Put in bowl. Add salt. Mush around with fingers until it's soft and wet. Stuff into jars. Leave on counter for about a week, opening the jars to stuff the cabbage back under the water level every few days. Store in fridge when it tastes sauerkrauty enough to you.

I made a few jars today in honor of the copious amount of dill that's already grown in our garden. Summer has begun. 

L-R: plain kraut, caraway kraut, whole pickles (first time!), sliced pickles with romanesco. Day 1.

Thinning

On Memorial Day morning, we spent an hour or so thinning the new plants that recently sprouted. This is a pretty typical part of the process when you start from seeds...you plant more seeds than you will think will actually grow, and then a bunch pop up, and then you have to thin them out. Otherwise, the roots don't develop properly, and when you're growing things like radishes or carrots, the thing you're growing doesn't have space to grow to a decent size. SCIENCE! (ahem)

Here's an example of what I mean - the before photos are in the top row; the afters in the bottom. It's a little hard to see. I'm not a great photographer.

Will, thinning the radishes (left).
I thinned the fennel (right).

Will in the garden, thinning our beets.
The carrots (under his right hand) are not quite
ready to be thinned...they're a little too little.

And lest you think that those thinned out bits go to waste...they're totally edible, and totally delicious! We're going to have a radish, fennel and beet sprout (aka "microgreens" - they're not technically sprouts) salad with dinner tonight.

yum

Backyard Garden 2015

We always plant in May. Usually, May is when it starts getting warm. The days are longer, and Springtime in Berkeley is a glorious time of blooms and hope. My birthday is in May, and always falls on the same weekend as the Edible Schoolyard Plant Sale - two things that combine for a relaxing birthday weekend of planning and planting. This will be our 4th season.

I like writing about gardening. It's helpful for me to track progress; I like looking back at early photos and seeing how our little plant babies have grown. I like being able to share how our plants are doing with other gardeners (can I call myself a gardener?), and I like trying to find words to describe the magic and wonder of planting things in the ground that later become food. It's pretty special.

And so, a few weeks late, here's a little bit about what we've planted this year. Once again, we hit up a combination of the Edible Schoolyard and Berkeley Horticulture. And this year, we decided to experiment with mulch! It's been such a dry season, and California's in a pretty major drought, so I figured anything we could do to help our soil retain water would help. Plus, I hear that mulch is good for repelling pests like the snails who end up terrorizing our plants. We went with cocoa shell husk, because omg you guys it smells like chocolate. Also, it's pretty, and it wasn't expensive, and I'd never heard of it before. I like to just try things, ya know?

In this year's garden:

• Tomatoes (5 varieties; 6 plants)
• Beans (2 varieties; 12 plants)
• Sugar snap peas (6 plants)
• Lettuce (2 varieties; 3 plants)
• Dill (6 plants)
• Basil (6 plants)
• Peppers (5 varieties; 10 plants)
• Rainbow chard (6 plants)
• Squash (2 varieties; 2 plants)
• Beets, Carrots, Fennel and Radishes (from seed; # plants unknown)

Without further ado, the photos! 

First things first, we had to turn the soil. Which we did a lot.
And by "we" I mean mostly Will and our friend CC.
We have a planter box this year (thanks, landlord) due to the
dubious nature of planting things underground in that spot,
next to a tree that may or may not be poisonous.
Date: May 2, 2015

Soil turned. Compost added. Planter box filled.
Look how beautiful that soil looks!
Date: May 9, 2015

The plants are in the ground!
I repeat: the plants are in the ground!
Date: May 10, 2015

And then, the cocoa shell mulch! The planter box and that
patch in the front don't have mulch because that's where we
planted our seeds. Waiting until they become seedlings to
mulch 'em, because we want them to be able to break through!
Date: May 10, 2015 (my birthday!)

A week later - progress! Some of our seeds have started
sprouting, and things are looking pretty stable.
Date: May 16, 2015

About two weeks post-planting, we're getting some serious
sprout action from both the ground and the planter box.
Everything else has started shooting up, with the exception of
our poor delicata squash (top right; next to the yellow spiral).
It seems to have completely rotted out -- I'm not sure if it was
a bad plant to begin with, or if the soil and the mulch and the
watering were all just too much for it. Nothing else is rotten,
though there are a few patches of mulch that looked to be
a little moldy. We've turned off the sprinklers for now; it's
not very warm out anyway, and we might as well save water
and let things dry out a bit.
Date: May 22, 2015

And there you have it. The backyard garden, circa 2015! We did some thinning today, because as you can see, the sprouts were coming in a little thick. More on that to come. Happy gardening! What are you planting this year?

A Break

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in over a month. Or maybe you didn't, in which case, never mind, nothing happened, nothing to see here.

"Things have been busy" is always an excuse, and never a particularly good one, when it comes to holding myself accountable, I know. But you see, this last month was *especially* busy. I spent the last year and a half planning a hugely massive wedding (not mine, that was nearly three years ago), which took place about a week ago. We had a wonderful houseguest. I got promoted at work. And like I said, the wedding was a week ago. So the last month was a whirlwind of everything coming to a head all at once, and between that and my day job, and my side business, and, well, life...the blog took a little hiatus.

But I'm back, and I have a bunch of photos on my phone just waiting to be shared. Photos of harvests and house projects and pickles and weddings and #YoCP progress. Plus, it's just about that time of year for turning the front lawn into a haunted cemetery, and I've been clearing room inside in preparation for holiday decorating. The weather's turning colder (sort of; this is California, after all) and I'm feeling very nest-y and ready for holiday crafting. Now that I have time to document and share (not to mention time to actually enjoy the bits of spare time in my evenings), I'm excited to take on new things and share them here again.

In the meantime, please accept this slightly blurry, mid-September harvest photo, featuring three very gnarly white carrots. It was a very busy blog break, but I'm glad to be back in action. Talk to you soon :)

Three Weeks of Harvests

I don't have much to say about this garden update, but I felt like sharing some photos.

Two weeks ago:

Teensy thinned carrots, radishes, padrons, lemon cucumbers,
jalapenos, tomatoes, and lots and lots of beans.
(beans being pickled in the jar in the back)

I felt like taking a pretty, artsy-like shot.

One week ago:

Tomatoes, padrons, and a lemon cucumber.
The padrons are currently being pickled with the jalapenos
from the week before. They smell awesome.

Today:

Padrons, tomatoes, lemon cucumber, radishes, a funky
little carrot, and assorted beans.

The harvest doesn't vary much from week to week, but it's amazing to me how much we're picking - the sheer volume is the main reason I feel the need to document every time we harvest. Compared to our city-dwelling friends, we're not exactly doing "small space gardening" with our luxurious ~50 square feet, but compared to our home-owning-friends, we're squeezing a lot into a small space. It's crazy how much comes out of our little corner of the yard! 

How's your garden? Do you garden in the yard? On a balcony or fire escape? On your kitchen counter? Share photos and story in the comments!

Thinning

A few weeks ago, it was time for a little carrot thinning in the garden. This is our first time growing carrots, and the concept that you have to thin them out (and more than once!) was new to me. We thinned them at the beginning, but as they've grown, we've had to continue thinning to make room for the remaining ones to grow. Turns out, carrots need room to grow underground and if they're not thinned, they don't grow.

Before thinning: it's just a big bushy carrot top forest!

I forgot to take a picture afterwards, but it didn't actually look that different, despite removing nearly half the carrot tops. And since we were in the garden, we decided to do a little more harvesting.

Parsley, basil, assorted tomatoes, radishes,
padrons, assorted beans, and lemon cucumbers

Rainbow chard and red russian kale

Radishes and carrot tops

We tried to use the carrot tops for a pesto, but it turns out that they're a bit too fibrous...it was a straight-to-the-compost-pile concoction. Luckily, we'd made parsley and basil pesto first, and already had way more than we needed for our pesto pasta dinner. And some of the carrot tops had little teeny carrots attached - sometimes when you thin carrots, what comes out of the ground isn't really edible. But this stage of thinning produced some adorably tiny little guys!

Salad featuring the tiniest carrots known to man, as well as
radishes, lemon cucumbers, tomatoes and chard from our
garden. And yes, that's a glass of Westvleteren 12.

More garden updates to come!

In My Garden

Our little garden is starting to produce produce, and it's pretty exciting!

From left: sugar snap peas, producer beans, romano beans,
pole beans, and some sort of czech tomatoes.

We're also growing radishes, more tomatoes, jalapeños, "king of the north" peppers, padron peppers, basil, dill, parsley (oh so much parsley), carrots, parsnips, red russian kale, and rainbow chard. And our lemon tree is looking good too.  

Our little corner of vegetable heaven.

Check out those pole beans! 

I love how the tomatoes start to ripen top-down. 

I can't take credit for the lemons, but they're going nuts! 

Poppies and our bushy lemon tree, and a straight-on view of
the path to the garden. Roses on the left that I can't take
credit for either.

I think that in another week or so, we're going to be drowning in beans and tomatoes and peppers and radishes! Someday, carrots and parsnips. We're already growing more parsley than we can eat or turn into pesto. It's choking the dill, so I think we may need to just start harvesting and giving it away! I don't know why parsley goes so crazy in our yard, but man.

I mean, look at that parsley.
You can hardly notice the radish greens or the bushy kale :)

...are you growing anything this year?

How Berkeley? So Very.

This weekend, I finally had one of those stereotypical Berkeley experiences. I can't believe it took me 8 years of living in this city to get around to it. Yes, folks, I walked to Berkeley Bowl and did my grocery shopping with a backpacking pack. For years, I've shopped there and had a hearty "oh, Berkeley" chuckle to myself watching people stroll up with their oversized packs, happily loading them up at the checkout, in their own endorphin-induced contentment. I never thought I would be one of them, but we've entered a new season of life, guys.

Anyway, my friend Sonja is one of those friends who brings out the best in you. When we're together, we always seem to have great ideas and end up eating well and getting housework done; she's a good influence on me. Basically, we're perfect sister wives. And our menfolk love each other, so all is well in the world when we're living in the same city. Which we currently are. So, Sonja's in town, which means that we get to get together randomly, like on Sunday, when I texted her asking if she wanted to help me purge my shoes (part of July's YoCP). Not long after, she was on my doorstep and we were crafting a plan for the day. Our grocery shopping trip involved 3.3 miles of walking (and I carried 20lbs for the second half!), great preparation for the 3-day backpacking trip Will and I are taking this weekend. We weeded the garden, did laundry, purged the shoes, dealt with some fruit flies, and did a little stretching. 

When Will came home from the driving range, the three of us went back to the garden to thin the carrots and do some more weeding...and we ended up picking radishes, sugar snap peas, and mint for our dinner, along with the tops of the carrots we thinned (which we later turned into pesto, along with the radish greens). The garden is looking pretty damn good after two months! We'll be picking tomatoes soon, and cucumbers and beans are growing well too. Hell yeah. Oh yeah, we planted a garden for my 30th ("dirty thirty" garden party). It's going well.

Anyway, we needed to make some dinner before Will's hockey game - it needed bread, and meat, and we wanted to use all the veggies we'd picked (along with some we'd bought at Berkeley Bowl). From the braintrust that is Kim and Sonja in the Kitchen, we came up with the following:

Mexican-Inspired Bread Nachos

Start with one sourdough baguette from La Farine.
Or any baguette. Or probably any similar bread.
Tear it up and put it in the bottom of a baking dish. 

Top with leftover meat (in this case, shredded Barbacoa beef
from Thursday's lunch at work).

Top with cheese (we used sharp white cheddar and pepper
jack), pickled jalapenos and salsa. Would've used more
salsa and jalapenos but I ran out.

Top with more cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes at 350F. When the
cheese is melty, switch to the broiler and broil until golden
brown and crisped up, another 5-10 min or so.

Marvel at the ooey gooey deliciousness you created.

Serve with a crispy, crunch salad full of veggies to make
yourself believe you're eating something healthy.
Have seconds.

This recipe is basically a variation of the Rachel Ray "lazy lasagna" model: bread + sauce + meat + cheese. It's a great way to get mileage out of stale bread, but I like it with fresh bread too...it just gets extra squishy. It's super forgiving, and very adaptable - I bet it would be great with veggies and a cream sauce, or with a pesto and some chicken, or with bacon and egg as a breakfast casserole...there are lots of options here, people. Have you ever made this type of bread hot dish meal? Have any good combination recommendations?