Spring Harvest

Isn't it pretty?

Our broccoli has produced wonderfully this spring, with each of 8 plants forming a nice-size head. I harvested it all on Sunday, planning to make an all-local broccoli quiche.

You know what they say about "the best laid plans..."

Actually, I just realized I don't know the entirety of that quote, which I think is from "Of Mice and Men."

I never read "Of Mice and Men," nor have I watched the movie.

I suppose if one is going to quote from a major work of fiction, one should have actual first-hand knowledge of said work.

I'll just have to assume that anyone reading this is better versed than I in Steinbeck.

Is it Steinbeck?

Geez.

Now I have to look it up, get the book, watch the movie... is it any wonder I never get anything done around the house?

Anyhoo, despite my plans for quiche, the broccoli was so tempting we ate it all.

There's nothing like fresh-from-the-garden broccoli.

When I was a kid, I hated broccoli. My mom made the overcooked frozen version and I remember cringing at those slimy, limp spears and that awful almost rotten smell.

Yuck.

It wasn't until I was a teenager that I knew broccoli could be eaten raw. I'd never seen raw broccoli before, nor raw cauliflower, when we went to my cousin's house in New Jersey for dinner. She had a vegetable tray that included these exotic - to me - veggies.

I don't remember making the decison to try them, but I'm so glad I did.

The garden has been steadily producing radishes, more lettuce than we can eat, spring onions, and strawberries. Oh, the strawberries! We've been getting about a quart a day, minus the several dozen the squirrels eat each morning.
I'm still waiting for the cauliflower to produce, though one plant has a teeny-tiny head forming. The cabbage is big and leafy, but no sign of heads yet. I've never grown cabbage before, so am not sure what to expect.
I hope to make my own sauerkraut this year and have my eye on a pickling crock. Maybe the budget can buy it next month.

How does your garden grow?

Wildlife

This little fellow was found near our peony Sunday and was quickly named "Toadbert." After many photos and lots of "look how cute his face is, Mom!" he was released outside the fence, as Ivy, our 9-month-old St. Bernard, also thought he looked adorable - and kind of yummy.

It just so happens that we have a lot of wildlife in our yard, dead and alive.

Let me explain.

Earlier this spring Ivy found a bird.

It was dead.

She played with it, raced with it, tossed it and wanted to call it her very own.

Fortunately dh Michael was home to "rescue" the body and give it an appropriate resting place, a la garbage.

We also have a lot of of live birds in our yard, foraging for worms in the garden, hopping in the grass, nesting in the large bush by the porch, and singing -oh, the singing - that starts just before dawn every morning.

They are very happy birds.

We know there are raccoons nearby, occasionally we see one investigating the neighbor's trash can, the lid of which is never closed. We first met the neighborhood raccoons shortly after we moved in 3 years ago. One of the kids left the van door open and it stayed open until past dark, when said errant child was sent out to remedy the situation and close that door.

No harm done.

We thought.

This was early August, and early August in Iowa is hot and humid.

Really, really hot.

And especially humid.

Two days later when we were headed out on an errand, my son came roaring into the house, "There's something in the van!"

I wont' go into the gory details, but apparently a young raccoon, in an effort to welcome us to the neighborhood, jumped in the open door of the van, which we then shut. The poor thing was trapped in there for nearly 36 hours in the heat. It pooped and peed throughout the vehicle, ripped and chewed through cables, upholstery and rugs. The poor guy even chewed off the weather stripping around the windows in his desperate attempt to escape.

I still can't believe he survived.

It was sort of a first for the car cleaning industry here in Des Moines, too. No one had ever, ever heard of that happening before.

It had to be me.

That little introduction cost $900, though if I remember correctly, insurance covered most of it.

Oh, the wildlife abounds. Feral cats roam throughout our yard, the occasional stray dog squeezes under the fence to gawk at our chickens, and the squirrels taste-test our strawberries and other garden goodies to insure they're edible.

Somewhere in the yard lives a family of bunnies. Fortunately, our yard is full of clover, dandelions and a variety of other greens, so they only borrow a little of our lettuce.

We have lady bugs, preying mantids, and walking sticks. Oh, and I nearly forgot the wasps who live in a hole near a tree stump and like to visit us in the house whenever they can squeeze through the gaps in our century-old screens.

And just last Sunday, Ivy sneaked through the gate into our garden and headed straight for the weedy flower bed up against the house. I dashed in to corral her just as she grabbed for her prize - a dead animal!

In the weeds!

It was a short-lived, but joyous occasion for her.

I screamed - a dead animal! - as I heaved at her collar with all my might.

Fortunately, she dropped the "prize," I smiled politely at the neighbors watching from their porch, and called for Michael.

Sadly, we don't know who it was that came into our yard to die. Michael didn't bother to check. Nature had been working on it for quite a while, so discerning its species would have taken a darn close inspection, though I did notice it had fur.

So, while me may reside in the heart Des Moines, many blocks past where most people feel "safe," at least the wildlife still comes to visit.

Though I do wish they'd stop dying in my yard.

Up to my neck

Yes, it's that time of year again when all things fresh and fruity, leafy and green, beautiful and bountiful parade before my eyes. One would think there would be comfort found in the bushesl of corn and green beans yet to come, the jams to make, the fruit to freeze...
And there is.
Sort of.
But first I have to fight the fear.
No, it's not a fear of fruit.
Not even of broccoli.
No, I believe my fear comes from some genetic glich, a holdover from my prehistoric past.
You see, every year, about the time the strawberries are due to ripen, I start to worry.
What if I miss them?
What if I don't buy enough?
I've been dogging the produce people at the farmer's market, each week asking the same, "When will you have strawberries? Will you have a large crop?"
I can't begin to express the relief I felt yesterday when on my morning romp through Craigslist I came upon those magic words "pre-picked strawberries are ready now!"
I called immediately, placing an order to be picked up later that morning.
Whew! I hadn't missed it!
I'll take four flats.
No, um, make that five!
I joyously called a friend, offering to pick up a flat for her as well - I like to share the wealth - and went to gather my bounty.
Each flat holds about 8 quarts, I believe, a good deal at $28 a flat for fresh, just-picked, luscious and local berries.
I psyched myself up for a massive strawberry cleaning mission, turned over dog care to the girls, and dug in. I finished the first flat in about 25 minutes, the second in 35.
When my youngest saw me lying on the floor, stretching my aching back between flat number 2 and flat number 3, she asked, "Why did you buy so many strawberries if it's so much work?"
I jokingly replied, "So we don't starve this winter."
At least, I think I was joking.
Her eye-roll indicated a lack of fear on her part, so at least I'm not scaring my young.

With a short break for a piece of cheese and a diet coke, I finally finished the ordeal work in about 3 hours. The girls split the strawberry tops amongs the chickens, the worms and the compost pile; I thought about giving them all to the chickens, but was a little too worried about diarrhea.

Do chickens even get diarrhea?

Before lying down to ease my stressed back muscles, I popped a quick little cake into the oven for a dessert of strawberry shortcake.

Michael, thank god, smooshed, bagged, and froze all the berries for me, ending up with 28 quarts. Lest you think I can rest easy, however, I'm planning on another flat or two for fresh eating, pies and of course, jam.

Oh, and we still have these in our garden:

Sarah picked this delightful dish-full yesterday afternoon.

Stawberries, anyone?

Who needs restaurants?

With food like this at home, I certainly don't.

This past year, Michael has taken on the task of making Saturday breakfasts.

And boy, does he do it with style!

Above was last weekend's breakfast: a spinach-egg frittata, with chevre and garden fresh strawberries. He used spinach straight from our garden, our own eggs and strawberries from our own patch.

I can't wait to see what he cooks this weekend!

BLTs and a teaser

Last weekend bore witness to two significant events.

We had our first BLTs of the season, complete with homemade bread, lettuce from our garden, local greenhouse tomatoes, and local bacon. "Yum" doesn't even begin to describe it.

The second event was the harvesting of our first ripe tomato. Actually, it had fallen off the plant and needed another week to ripen to perfection. Oh, and it wasn't blurry in real life, either.

This morning Michael, the girls, and I divided the little gem into four equal pieces. While local greenhouse tomatoes are much better than those picked green and shipped in from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away, nothing compares to the tangy flavor of vine ripened.

We can't wait...

Daisy, Daisy

Looks like Sarah found a little genetic abnormality lurking in our seemingly innocent flower patch...

From what I could find online, this doesn't happen very often - and there were several flowers on multiple clumps of daisies that either grew together, as the flower above, or developed flower faces back to back on the same stem, as in the first photo.

Sort of makes you wonder what's been going on out there...

One Local Summer - Week 1

This is my second year participating in one local summer. At first I thought I would forego the "obligation" of the photos, the blog post, etc. Then I went to the farmer's market and saw all that wonderful, fresh produce and knew I'd be making several local meals each week anyway, might as well share, right?

This week's meal was locally raised baked chicken breast. I dipped the breasts in beaten egg (from our own backyard flock), then dredged them in a mixture of breadcrumbs (from homemade bread), local goat Parmesan, salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano. Oh my, were they ever good! And the aroma while they baked was out of this world.

A fitting accompaniment was Asparagi alla Parmagiana, made with asparagus from one of the many local farmer's markets. First, I steam the asparagus until just tender, about five minutes, then refresh under cold water to stop the cooking. Place the asparagus spears in a large baking dish, dot with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese - both local, of course, if you can. Sprinkle with salt and a fair amount of pepper and bake at 450 degrees until the cheese and butter form a browned crust.

Still, there would be a hole in the plate; I needed to make something else to accompany the meal. A whole grain would be nice, but what? There aren't many grains grown locally here in Iowa. Since there was a lot of Parmesan in this meal, it seemed only fitting to turn to a favorite cookbook The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook for inspiration, and wa la! Broiled polenta, sprinkled with pepper and oregano, rounded out the meal.

Then dessert - oooh, dessert!

I always leave room for dessert, but this one was not only luscious, but healthy, ripe and red.

Fresh picked strawberries from our strawberry patch.

There is nothing like the taste of a homegrown berry, still warm from the sunshine, popped straight into your mouth.

These were served sliced, with or without sugar, according to taste.

The freshness, tastiness, and satisfaction of an early summer meal.

There's nothing quite like it.