My vegetable garden

Today I finished planting the vegetable garden. Over the past month Karl and Caroline have helped me make my soil mix on a tarp and then dump it into the raised bed. I found I couldn't do it alone so always had to wait for someone to be available to help. Thanks to both of them for their help.

I can't harvest the lettuce fast enough. It's growing faster than we can eat it. I have some almost every day for lunch, and I use it to amend the store bought lettuce mix, but it's still way too much. It will become bitter soon with the hot, sunny weather.

The broccoli and cauliflower are looking good and strong. Can't wait for the yummy part to start growing. The inside leaves of the cabbage plants are starting to form the heads.

I planted some old green bean seeds about 2 weeks ago, but only one has germinated, so I may have to buy some new seeds and try again. The little celery plants are looking ok.

My zucchini, patty pans, and spaghetti squash plants have nice flowers on them. The cucumber plants are growing well but haven't yet reached for their pole-and-string trellis yet. I planted a couple of watermelon plants, too.

I have 5 Roma tomato plants and 1 Husky Red tomato. It's a dwarf plant and I'm curious about how big it will grow. It already has a golf-ball sized tomato.

I went a little pepper crazy this year. I have 2 cayenne pepper plants. Karl likes to dry these peppers and grind them up for cayenne powder, which he uses to spice up my not-so-spicy foods. There is 1 jalapeno plant, with a 1" long jalapeno growing on it already! I also planted 5 bell pepper plants-2 green, 1 each of red, yellow, orange. Most of the peppers have flowered and are starting to grow peppers.

The self-pollinating dwarf Braeburn apple tree was full of blossoms last week. I have no idea if it will produce fruit this year, but it was exciting to see all those blossoms. The yellow delicious finally came out of dormancy (I was beginning to worry about it) and is leafing out.

The red raspberries are starting to get a slight pinkish tinge to them and are still quite small. I enlarged the raspberry patch, but most of the transplants didn't survive, so I will have to do that again. Not a problem; there are plenty of suckers growing. We have a nice little strawberry crop that we are reluctantly sharing with a chipmunk.

The cherry trees are looking good; one had some blossoms. Karl planted the locust trees today while I was at work. Last summer we had a 120-or-so year old oak tree die, and the city came and cut it down. (Thank goodness it was on the city's right-of-way!) We plan to put a tulip poplar in its place. There's a volunteer in the front flower bed that we'll move over there.

I feel now like I have the yard the way I want it. I can't think of anything more that we need or want. Well, we did talk about planting a patch of whatever critters like to eat, with the hopes of keeping them away from the flowerbeds. One day last week I was in the bedroom and heard rustling and a chewing noise. I looked out the bedroom window and there was Walter the woodchuck happily chomping on some knee-high sunflower plants. I'd love to have some milkweed for the monarchs. And then there's the matter of moving the peony bushes...ok, so maybe I'm not done!

Vegetables and Fruits

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. Each spring I get overly enthusiastic about gardening and buy too much stuff for the time I have. Last year we dug out nearly 20 yew shrubs that were 30 years old (no small task but clever Karl created a great stump removal method!) and I went crazy buying perennials and small shrubs to replace the yews. Amended the heavy clay soil, and planted, planted, planted, then ended up shoving the rest of the plants in the ground until "next year" when I could properly plant them. (Seems to me I did this a couple of years ago, too, and still have salvia, ox-eye daisy and something else growing in the far end of the strawberry bed...not their permanent home, to be sure!) I get so frustrated with myself about doing this every year. I need to pace myself and take care of what I've got before buying/trading more plants. Maybe I should make a deal with myself, like, "I can not buy any more plants until I have moved the peony plants that are scattered about the yard." That would stop the spending for the rest of this growing season!

I've spent as much time as I can outside getting the garden ready. So far I've planted broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and lettuce. The garlic I planted last fall is coming up. The red raspberry patch is going crazy again this year, although I don't anticipate as good a crop this year as last. Last year the weather cooperated and killed all the Japanese beetle larvae so there were very few eating at my raspberry plants. The wild black raspberries are looking healthy, too, but need to be moved. We dug these out of our wooded area and moved them over by the strawberry patch (temporarily!) a couple of years ago, and they are still there and the plants in the wooded area are as big as ever, too. The strawberry plants are looking fantastic and I will have to cover them with bird netting in the next couple of weeks, as the berries are starting to form. And I have to plant the asparagus plants I bought, but don't have a plan of where to put them (maybe by the strawberries with everything else!)

All the rain we've had lately has really helped these plants grow! You can water with the city water, but the plants really thrive with the rain. One of my 'someday' goals is to have a rain barrel.

For Mother's Day & my birthday Karl bought me a nice compost bin. Since we moved here we've been carrying our kitchen scraps to the brush pile but it doesn't get hot enough to make good compost. Last year I dug deep and got some nice looking compost, spread it on my vegetable garden and ended up with a nice assortment of weeds. Oops. Here's my new composter:

http://www.compostbins.com/compost-bins/compost-tumblers/rotocomposter12cubicfeetcompostbin.cfm?source=gbase&gbid=Roto_Composter_12_Cubic_Feet_Compost_Tumbler

I still need to make my soil mix and get the rest of the expanded-this-year garden planted. I make my own soil--1/3 peat, 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite. Makes a wonderful, light soil that the plants do great in. I do raised bed gardening so no tilling necessary. Karl made me a rabbit-proof fence to go around the garden bed. Worked great against the rabbits, but Walter the Whistlepig did a fine job of eating through the fence last fall. And of course, I've already purchased the tomato plants, cucumbers, squash, peppers to put in the garden---the garden that's not ready.

I spent much of Thursday planting apple trees. I bought bare-root trees via mail from a recommended nursery. I bought 3 trees-- Arkansas Black, Yellow Delicious, and Braeburn. They're 3 - 4 feet tall and seem excited to be back in the ground, as they're starting to leaf out already. They'll be small (8 - 10 ft) trees. I also bought a couple of self-pollinating cherry trees--one sweet cherry and one pie cherry tree. Haven't planted them yet but maybe this weekend.

Also, I have started receiving bi-weekly deliveries from farmfreshdelivery.com I received my second delivery on Wednesday. This week I received potatoes, carrots, a large onion, a large bunch of broccoli, 13 apples, a couple of grapefruit, a lemon, half-dozen oranges, wax beans, asparagus, snap peas and spring mix lettuce. Here's why I like this service:

1. It's nice quality, mostly organic produce. In the past I haven't always bought organic, but would like to eat more organic food.

2. The food will be locally grown later in the season. Right now most of the food is from far way, some even from Mexico (not too crazy about that) but I really want to support local farmers in-season. I like the idea that my apples (not the ones in this week's box, but those that will come later) traveled only 10 miles to get to me rather than 2000 miles. (With any luck, in a couple of years my apples will travel only 20 feet!) In this order I got a pound of locally grown asparagus! YAY!

3. It will encourage me to try new recipes as I get veggies I wouldn't normally buy. I have no objections to wax beans, but honestly have never bought them. So now I have a pound or so of them and have already researched recipes.

4. It's flexible. A few days before my delivery I get an email telling me what will be in my box. I then can customize the order, removing items my family doesn't like and substituting what they do.

5. They also offer local meats, baked goods, jams, jellies, dairy items, and pretty much anything you'd like. One of my goals is to eat less meat and make the meat I do eat come from local sources.

6. In this week's box I got some tulips (for Mother's Day, perhaps?)

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers!

Yummy, easy, fast asparagus recipe

I made this asparagus side dish last night for dinner and it was really good! The three of us ate a pound of asparagus!

Ingredients:
1 pound of asparagus
olive oil
1 teaspoon or so of Cajun seasoning

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and trim asparagus and pat dry. Put asparagus in a shallow dish with a little bit of olive oil and lightly coat each spear. Lay spears in one layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cajun seasoning. Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until tender.

Germany trip photos

All my Germany photos are now on my Flickr account. Have a look!

Monday--last day in Germany

We spent most of Monday getting packed for the return trip. In the late morning we drove to Homburg, (not Hamburg) Germany to visit the Schlossberghoehle Caves. These caves are the largest in Europe. They are man-made caves, dug in the 11th - 17th centuries, then forgotten. The soft, crumbly sandstone was used as an abrasive for cleaning, for making glass and in mortar. The caves were rediscovered in 1930 by some school children. There are about 12 levels of caves there. During World War 2, Homburg was heavily bombed because of the industry there. The caves were used as an air-raid shelter. The winter of 1944 (I think) was very cold and there was nothing left to burn as fuel. Some families moved into the caves for 6 weeks. The cave is a constant 50 degrees F, which was much warmer than the winter's outside temperature. Russian POWs were kept there during air raids, too, but in the top level of the caves.

At 3 in the afternoon, Jana's uncle, aunt, and 4 year old cousin came over. We ate cake (there were 5 cakes for 10 people!) and then played lawn games like badminton and frisbee. At 6:00 we said goodbye to Jana and her family, and drove to Frankfurt. We returned our rental car at the airport, ate dinner at the airport, then took the train into central Frankfurt to our hotel.

On Tuesday morning we took the train back to the airport and flew through Philadelphia on our way back to Indianapolis. Our plane was over an hour late leaving Frankfurt because a scratch on the door had to be documented. We had a long layover in Philadelphia so it wasn't a problem for us. Our plane to Indianapolis was supposed to leave at 6:50 then rescheduled for 7:35, 8-something, then a little after 9. I'm not sure what time we actually left, but I remember looking at my watch at 9:23 and I was sitting in the airplane at the gate. We arrived in Indianapolis at 11:00 p.m. By the time we got our luggage, took the shuttle to the car, and drove home it was nearly 1:00 a.m.--a 23 1/2 hour journey for us!

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday we ate breakfast around 9:30, then had a "nest hunt" in the backyard. Actually it was an Easter basket hunt, but Jana's mother called it a nest hunt. When she asked me about it earlier, I thought we would be hunting for Easter grass nests, so I told her that "nest hunt" was a good term to use, not realizing that we would be searching for baskets. So anyway, we went out in the back yard and Caroline, Jana, and Jana's sister each had a nice Easter basket and the adults each had a small candy gift to find. It was fun!

We then traveled to a place near Mettlach, Germany where the Saar River makes an interesting bend. It's called the Saarschleife, and is the most famous spot in Saarland. It was a hazy day, but I imagine it would be quite beautiful if the sky were clear. We then continued on to Chateau de Malbrouck, a castle near Manderen, France. Twenty years ago the castle lay in ruins. A massive restoration project was begun in 1988, painstakingly meshing the new with the old. It took ten years, but the castle was beautifully restored. (I think I have the dates right.) They were having an interesting exhibition on Napoleon and I learned a lot.

After our afternoon at the castle we stopped at a manmade lake/recreation area near Losheim, Germany for a quick look. Of course we had to eat cake, as it was 4:00 p.m. The lake was nice, but the Bostalsee we visited the previous day was nicer. We got back to the house around 5:30 and relaxed a bit before our dinner of leftover potato soup, scrambled eggs, beets, and leftover meat from the cookout. A few games of rummy were played before bedtime.

I added more photos to my Flickr site. Click here!

Saturday in Saarland

When I took German in Junior High School, my teacher told us that Saarland was very industrial and dirty. Well, that may have been the case 35 years ago, but now it is BEAUTIFUL!! Saarland is the smallest German state and borders France and Luxembourg. While there is industry in the southern part of Saarland, most of the coal mines and steel factories have closed. We did drive by a Ford factory today, and I read in the paper today that they plan to work a regular work schedule for the rest of the year.

We are staying in northeastern Saarland. It is somewhat hilly here and very agricultural. I've seen lots of cows, some sheep, rapeseed, and what I think are potato plants (which would make sense, as potatoes are VERY popular here). There are also nice wooded areas and recreation areas.

Today we visited Bostalsee. It is a man-made lake with many recreational opportunities. There was a sightseeing boat, sailboarding, motorboating and paddle boats. We took a couple of paddle boats out on the lake for an hour. Then we went to the playground so Caroline and Jana could act like little children :-) Next we rented bicycles and rode around the lake. We stopped at an art gallery/museum to look around.

After returning the bikes, we got in the cars and drove to a little town to have the compulsory afternoon snack. Today I had Apfelschoerle (sparkling apple juice) and strawberry cake. Next we drove to Marpingen and visited the place where, in 1876, the Virgin Mary appeared to 3 young girls. There is a shrine and a small chapel there. Then we hiked up a hill, looking at the Stations of the Cross until we got to a well of Holy Water and an open-air chapel--very pretty.

We came back to the house for a barbeque. There were several different kinds of sausages, a few kebabs, and some grilled pork. We had frozen french fries, tossed salad, Caprese salad and bread. Not much different than an American barbeque, and very tasty! I tried an interesting beer--Schoefferhofer Grapefruit. I was a little skeptical, but it was very good!


After dinner Jana, Lena and Caroline dyed and decorated Easter eggs.