We've been busy this summer and the yard has suffered. It has been so very hot and dry with not enough rain, and, despite our attention with the hose, the yard has suffered. I was poorly for a few weeks, and the yard suffered. There are brown spots in the lawn, way too many weeds, flower beds that look neglected, and a pile of dirt in the back that we don't know what to do with. (Sad trombone.)
In sunnier news, the square-foot garden is another story. It has continued to flourish and we are, once again, awash in produce.
I can't give away yellow squash fast enough. Saturday was devoted to dispatching 8 pounds of squash, and now the freezer is full of meals for fall. YET there are FOUR squash sitting on the counter at this very moment! (There were five, but I ate one for breakfast.) I can't keep up with it!
Kale, collard greens, chard...we have all of the greens we want. I've taken to making potlikker soup, a recipe I found in Greens, a fantastic cookbook published by UNC Press. The soup uses 3 pounds of greens at a time and I've made it three times. It's delicious. I love collards, something I didn't know until earlier this year.
Tomatoes! Good heavens, we have tomatoes. The two cherry tomato plants are nearly spent, but we have certainly enjoyed taking handfuls of tomatoes to work in our lunch bags the past month. A basket of heirloom tomatoes sits on the counter right now. Mr. H. was away last week for work, I had at least one tomato sandwich every day when he was gone, using about 7 tomatoes. There are 4 gallon-size plastic bags full of tomato wedges in the freezer. I'm going to make some kind of tomato pie this week, which will use up 6 or so. Even Lucy has enjoyed the occasional tomato treat now and then, though since she doesn't have freedom to roam in the backyard here as she did at the other house (no fence in Shorewood), she doesn't slurp them directly from the plants anymore.
Fresh herbs. Yes, yes, yes. I love fresh herbs and almost never think it's a good idea to hand over $3 at the market for those little plastic clamshells in the winter months. I made David Lebovitz's basil vinaigrette yesterday using 2 cups of basil. Delicious! (Even on yellow squash for breakfast...)
Not to harp on the negative, but the front yard looks terrible. A few of the plants we so carefully selected and planted last year have not made it. The aster has become a giant monster and will have to be moved as it's crowding out the sedum angelina and, very nearly, the hydrangea. The yellow alyssum died because of the no rain situation and despite watering. I have grown to hate the gangly purple coneflowers, which fade in the sun to an unappealing color. The cotton candy stachys has...deflated somehow. I don't know what happened. I think it should have been divided, but that didn't seem like the thing to do in its second year, so...I'm not sure. There are more weeds than there should be, and I just can't be bothered to care about any of that right now. I told Mr. H. yesterday that I felt like ripping all of it out and planting sedum and grasses for an easy-care yard and inviting the pesticide man to spray for weeds (something we have never done) and was only half kidding. We'll see what happens.
In sunnier news, the square-foot garden is another story. It has continued to flourish and we are, once again, awash in produce.
I can't give away yellow squash fast enough. Saturday was devoted to dispatching 8 pounds of squash, and now the freezer is full of meals for fall. YET there are FOUR squash sitting on the counter at this very moment! (There were five, but I ate one for breakfast.) I can't keep up with it!
Kale, collard greens, chard...we have all of the greens we want. I've taken to making potlikker soup, a recipe I found in Greens, a fantastic cookbook published by UNC Press. The soup uses 3 pounds of greens at a time and I've made it three times. It's delicious. I love collards, something I didn't know until earlier this year.
Tomatoes! Good heavens, we have tomatoes. The two cherry tomato plants are nearly spent, but we have certainly enjoyed taking handfuls of tomatoes to work in our lunch bags the past month. A basket of heirloom tomatoes sits on the counter right now. Mr. H. was away last week for work, I had at least one tomato sandwich every day when he was gone, using about 7 tomatoes. There are 4 gallon-size plastic bags full of tomato wedges in the freezer. I'm going to make some kind of tomato pie this week, which will use up 6 or so. Even Lucy has enjoyed the occasional tomato treat now and then, though since she doesn't have freedom to roam in the backyard here as she did at the other house (no fence in Shorewood), she doesn't slurp them directly from the plants anymore.
Fresh herbs. Yes, yes, yes. I love fresh herbs and almost never think it's a good idea to hand over $3 at the market for those little plastic clamshells in the winter months. I made David Lebovitz's basil vinaigrette yesterday using 2 cups of basil. Delicious! (Even on yellow squash for breakfast...)
Not to harp on the negative, but the front yard looks terrible. A few of the plants we so carefully selected and planted last year have not made it. The aster has become a giant monster and will have to be moved as it's crowding out the sedum angelina and, very nearly, the hydrangea. The yellow alyssum died because of the no rain situation and despite watering. I have grown to hate the gangly purple coneflowers, which fade in the sun to an unappealing color. The cotton candy stachys has...deflated somehow. I don't know what happened. I think it should have been divided, but that didn't seem like the thing to do in its second year, so...I'm not sure. There are more weeds than there should be, and I just can't be bothered to care about any of that right now. I told Mr. H. yesterday that I felt like ripping all of it out and planting sedum and grasses for an easy-care yard and inviting the pesticide man to spray for weeds (something we have never done) and was only half kidding. We'll see what happens.
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