The Cold Is Still Here And So Is the Brocolli

This week the cold has come again (cold for this area anyways), but it hasn't beat the brocolli. The florets just keep growing. I've never seen brocolli grow before. I've always seen it cut and ready to buy at the grocery store. I had no idea they could be such tall plants. I can't wait to taste. My youngest daughter is the most excited about the brocolli florets. She came in screaming in excitement about it the other day.


 
The lettuce is growing slowly but well alongside the brocolli too. I forget what type of lettuces we planted but we have about 3 different kinds and the cilantro, rosemary and parsley look amazing.  These are such green plants in such a dreary time of year. I only wish we had them in in raised beds instead of my flat garden in the front yard.

Did I tell you I have lillie's ( I think they're lillies) too. They came with the house and I had no idea, but one day I saw these pretty bright green grass leaves growing in the corner of the garden by the front porch where the shade hits. A few days or weeks later ( I can't recall how much time passed) in the center of these long leaves there is a long stem. Some time later beautiful white flowers bloom from that stem. It was beautiful.

Last  year I finally figured out what the little nubs on the plant were. So I broke some off and planted them in a pot. Now I have about 5 growing (more than double the first few years) on their own in the ground and two more in a pot. I can't wait until they bloom.  

The rest of the garden looks like crap because of the freeze, but I can tell, despite their appearance that some of these plants have a good chance of a come back. There will be plenty of pictures to post then.









Pictures by G.C-H 2010

broccoli floret

There is a broccoli floret in the garden! It is tiny, but it is lovely.

The Hard Freeze

The broccoli survived the hard freeze surprisingly well. However it's under attack by beautiful tiny green caterpillars. Other then hand picking them off we haven't done much more to help them fight the fight. The parsley, rosemary and cilantro and about 1/3 of the flowering plants survived the hard freeze. 1/3 of them look melted, but I'm sure what is under ground is just fine. The other 1/3..... I don't have much hope for these plants. Truth be told I didn't cover the plants this time. According to the plant exchange group I'm a part of even if I had covered the plants, many would have still not survived. I guess you never know.


The garden in the backyard is covered in a few layers of leaves from my neighbors' yards. There is one small area were the mint is still spreading. I plan to let it spread as much as possible. Eventually I plan to use it in homemade remedies and teas. The rest of garden will have beds built, if we can ever gather enough cinder block. Right now we are looking for large pots to plant potatoes. I say cut a soap barrell in half. I'm not sure my husband likes the idea. I'll let you know if I convince him.

My Vegeterian Meal For My Daughter

I made shiitake spaghetti with arugula salad on the side yesterday. The only animal product was the cheese in the salad and maybe the pasta if it was made with eggs. The spaghetti was yum and the salad would have been had I used a different lettuce. I just can't get use to the arugula texture.


In the recipe the salad had: pecans, avocado, crumbled Mexican cheese, Parmesan cheese, tomato, green onions, arugula, and ginger sesame vinaigrette. The spaghetti had: sautéed shiitake mushrooms with a few green onions, tomatoes, rosemary and parsley. It was all simmered in organic spaghetti sauce. Then it was all poured onto cooked spaghetti noodles. Yum!

Food In 2010

My life hasn't been as organic as I've hoped, especially the last two month of 2009. And the first few days of 2010 haven't started off so well either. To be honest I think I'm a bit depressed or my body is reacting to all the junk I've eaten. Maybe its the dark cold weather. Maybe its the guilt that I haven't fed my children the healthiest meals either. Maybe its our money troubles. Maybe..... maybe its a lot of things. I keep telling myself I'm going to start exercising again, but I haven't. I think a little exercise would do me a lot of good. Just a little over two years ago I could run 6 miles on the treadmill. I could run a few on the trails (the trails are tough on my knees) too. Then I got pregnant. Then I had my baby. Then My husband came back from Iraq for good and now everything is back to normal, and though I began the year physically fit and filled with energy and happiness despite life's problem, the end of the year and the beginning of this year are not so cheerful for me, though I have everything to be grateful for. Like I said it's probably the weather and I just need to force myself to begin. I need to force myself to eat better again today, no more holiday junk food. I knew it was bad that we had it, but it comes in gifts, in stocking stuffers, from schools, for homemade baked goods and before I knew it I was just saying only a little bit to myself and my children. There's no harm in a little bit and there wasn't except a little bit became a lot, because I have a problem with food...when I'm down I eat it for comfort. The worse I eat the worse I feel. The worse I feel the less I care what I eat and if it's organic, or local or even healthy a slight bit goes out the window. I know this too, but I do nothing. Nothing at all until I'm tired of feeling tired and down. I think I'm at that point now. I hope I am. I feel like I am and yesterday I began to take those tiny steps to get back on track. The junk food is almost all gone and I don't plan on buying any either. We go shopping on Tuesday...

The Freeze Has Passed and I am Weeks Overdue

The tomatoes, the broccoli and the cilantro survived the freeze. My husband and I made sure to cover them the afternoon before the freeze hit. The rest of the plants we let fend for themselves because we ran out of stakes and blankets. A couple of weeks later and they are still thriving. Of the plants that we did not cover: the basil shriveled up and died but the parsley right next to it did very well and looks healthier than it has ever looked. The sage survived too. I find it odd that in December we still have eatable plants.

Not much else is going on in the garden I'm afraid. I covered the ground with the leaves from our front yard tree. The cucumber plant is no more and we are now looking for free cinder blocks to build raised bed for our garden in January. We don't have much time left. Which reminds me, I need to call the garden centers tomorrow.