The Colors of Now

November 10, 2011. I made a fresh green salad from the garden.

Despite the several frosty mornings we have had, our greens are still thriving out in the open air. I was told that these greens are cold-loving, but I didn't realize that they would this sturdy. Not a single frost bite on these delicate leaves!



We have Tat soi, Tatsuma, spinach, arugula, and some baby lettuces in the garden. I had a grandiose idea of creating a low tunnel so that we could grow them deep into the winter this year... but there they are, still exposed to the real world of unpredictable temperatures of central Ohio.



We are really heading into the cold season now (I think), and soon these hardy plants will give up the fight, too.



It's been lovely to have the vibrant greens with the warm autumn hues, to rely on our own garden for the salads and toppings on soups and chilis.



But perhaps more importantly, they have been good for the soul, inside and out.

Scarlet Runner Beans

Is it wrong to grow something edible just because they are beautiful, and not because they are edible? These beans are the offspring of the same kind of beans we gathered off a vine, in a sunny garden, behind a dingy little hotel in Oamaru, New Zealand. The night before, we had just made acquaintances with the little blue penguins – some of the cutest creatures we have ever seen.

We brought those beans back with us, and our little gardener kept them in a safe place until we had our own garden. We started growing them in the spring once the ground was no longer frozen. We then carefully and patiently took care of the young bean plants, transplanting them into a sunny spot by the fence. They started to grow, and blossomed, but no beans were to be found for weeks and weeks. Until recently, when the temperature dropped down below 80˚F. Little did we know, these scarlet beauties don't do well in high heat (no wonder they thrived in New Zealand), and will only start to pod in the right temperature zone.

Have we eaten them? No. But we are hoping to keep the seeds for next year's harvest to simply enjoy its beauty and re-live our days from down-under.

Pickled Peppers

We have one serrano pepper plant, that has given us countless fruits (hundreds by now), and it is still going strong.



What to do with all these peppers? After making salsa, and including them in some dishes (they are really rather spicy raw!), given some to neighbors, we decided to preserve and pickle them. The thought of pickled peppers led us all to start reciting the nursery rhyme: Peter Piper picked and peck of pickled peppers... The verse and whatever was supposed to come after that, did help us get excited about pickling, and the peppers. It made us want to taste our own pickled peppers, eventually!



Michael Ruhlman has an easy pickled pepper recipe that we followed (minus one or two ingredients that we didn't have at hand).



It took all of 10 minutes to go through the process from start to finish... Almost not exciting enough to blog about.



Perhaps the end result will be worth a revisit to these pickled peppers. At the moment they are happily sitting in the refrigerator all snuggled and cold. Now we need to think about what to do with all the fruits still left, and growing, on that one serrano pepper plant! Any ideas?

Our Sunflower

They are finally blooming, our own sunflowers, planted from seeds. We must have planted two or three packets-full of sunflowers, but only three made it (we suspect all the happy squirrels around here are the culprits). Survival of fittest at work!

Chick and Garden Update: July 7

I am cheating. This is not exactly the most current garden update. We just got back from being away for a few days...and honestly, this garden is about twice the size that you see here!



The ladies, too, they are quite a bit more mature looking, and much more used to their coop! We are patiently waiting for them to lay their first eggs...knowing full well that it won't be until the fall...the fall!



Stay tuned for a real update...after some weeding and watering and animal-loving after a bit of time away.

Chicks and garden update

As I take a little break from writing (not a blog post...this is my procrastination!), I wanted to give you a little update on the chicks.



Clearly I was over ambitious about having a blog devoted to the chicks and the bunny (who was I kidding?). I could keep it up, but the house may never be clean, the laundry unfolded, the dishes unwashed. So, my friends, what I should do it keep it all in one place, right? I should have known better.



At any rate, the chicks have graduated from their warm indoor pad. They are now in the coop (with an extension area -- photos to come) right next to the bunny. All is well thus far. We even have an official permit to proof that we are legal owners of chickens in this little town of Bexley!

Oh, yes, and the garden is thriving. It's a forest of 40+ tomato plants, herbs, and pumpkins with several other edibles in between!

A visit to Bill's garden

Bill and I met over a swallowtail caterpillar on a dill plant. Hunched down, trying to get a good picture of it as usual, I saw two extra feet that were not mine next to me.



We started a conversation about the caterpillar that became discussions about gardens, communities, schools, and backyards. We clearly shared a passion, and it was just easy to hang with Bill.



Little did I know that Bill is a pretty important figure here in the community. I didn't go one week after meeting Bill before hearing his name mentioned here, there, and everywhere. His official title is Growing to Green Program Coordinator at Franklin Park Conservatory. In real life, however, Bill is the superman of community gardens. In fact, during our first conversation, I am pretty sure he said in a very peaceful, determined kind of way, that he firmly believes that "community gardens will make the world into a better place."



Time passed, and Bill and I stayed in touch in the busy people kind of way. Until one day, I found him picking ripe strawberries at the same garden where we met. "I was just thinking of you yesterday," he said. "I need you to come take photos of my garden sometime." Again, he said it in that peaceful, determined kind of way. Really, I asked - are you serious?



Of course he was serious. Bill is one of those genuine souls. I would get to see the garden of one of Columbus' heroes? I accepted without delay.



Not too many days passed, and I found myself in Bill's garden. He and his wife Jodi (who turned out to be, not surprisingly, the super-woman of gardening as well) welcomed me into their lovely, green, productive garden. I had a limited time to spend, but it never felt rushed. They gave me a tour of the different parts of their garden, the path to a small river running through their property, a small memorial garden for Jodi' father, a barn full of kittens cute as a button.



I left feeling full of gratitude. Someone told me when I first got to Ohio, a foreign land to me, that it's not really the place that will make you feel at home, it's the people. Clearly, I have found some of them already, in a bountiful peaceful garden just outside of a big city, no less.

Thank you Bill, and Jodi. I look forward to spending more time with you, amidst the beauty that you have created.

Fall Planting

This will be our first time planting our own garlic, in a real garden! It will be a long wait... If we are lucky, we will see something popping up in April. I think it will be worth it!