Stoneview

Chop chop

Yesterday morning the weather forecast was for hot and sticky by the end of the day but early on it was quite cool and comfortable. I'd already done some pruning over the weekend but I pulled out my shears and did a bit more. The tulip tree is now looking  a bit more tree-like and the honeysuckle has been tamed again. I also dead-headed the monstrous lavender bush on the side of the house. There really isn't anything in the photo for scale but this guy is about 4 feet across!

Later in the morning I finally quit procrastinating and finished up the robe for my niece. It need only a hem and edge stitching along the belt.

Daylily alley

We've got quite the selection of daylilies now thanks to the $5 surprise table at Seawright gardens as well as a few other judicious inexpensive purchases. In a few years the back will be awash with color all summer once these babies really get going.

No Sunday drivers here...

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity between baking and gardening. I started off the morning making blueberry pancakes then moved on to a double batch of sandwich bread followed closely by a batch of focaccia (apparently it's been a long time since I posted this recipe)..

Rosemary Garlic Focaccia

1 3/4 cups warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F.)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup garlic and rosemary infused olive oil
1 tablespoon salt, extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 475 F. Mix the water and sugar in a large non-reactive bowl and allow to stand ten minutes or until foamy. Add oil and three cups of the flour and blend with a wooden spoon. Add salt and as much of the remaining flour as needed to make a smooth soft dough, knead until smooth directly in the bowl. Cover bowl tightly with saran wrap and allow to stand for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size. Sprinkle two rimless cookie sheets generously with cornmeal. Punch the dough down and cut in half. On a floured surface press out each half, one  at a time into  an oval about 3/8 to 1/2-inch thick. Allow to rise 15 to 20 minutes. Dent the surface deeply all over with the tips of your fingers. Brush the surface generously with infused olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and kosher salt. Bake at 475 F for 12- 15 minutes or until dark golden brown.

To infuse the olive oil, bring 1 cup oil to a simmer. Add 4 crushed garlic cloves and several stems of rosemary. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes then turn off heat and let stand for an hour. Strain and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.  The strained rosemary can be used to top the bread.

  I also made a giant dent in my garden todo list with some help from Jason. I potted up some things for Daniel's dorm room, as per his request and then Jason dug iris, coreopsis and rudbeckia for me to pot up for the ride south as a care package for my sister's garden at her new house. I cleared out the peas since they are about done making space for the butternut squash to climb on the trellis and while I was putting the pea vines in the compost I spotted what looked sort of like an avocado tree sprouting there. I grabbed a pot and a trowel and soon unearthed  a determined (if a bit squiggly) mango tree. He does have pretty shiny leaves so if he survives the next few months he can become a houseplant.

Woosh

This week really flew by and I realized when I downloaded my pictures this morning that it's a bit of a jumble. I made falafel this week but I can't recall which day. I used the rest of the chickpeas from Tuesday's dinner and whizzed them up in the food processor with cilantro, onion, bread crumbs, cumin, salt and pepper, and oil then baked them off at 400 F for 30 minutes. They were good but a bit crumbly so I'll have to work on that again sometime. Meanwhile the garden is loving the regular rain and the daylilies continue to entertain. At Daniel's request I made a blueberry coffeecake which Jason and I embellished with blueberry syrup.

Potty

On Sunday Jason and I met my sister halfway between our house and hers to fetch my niece home for a week's visit. Yesterday Emma and I took Gwen for her vet visit, stocked up on crafty supplies at JoAnn Fabrics, and potted up some plants for both my sisters. Ages ago I got my aloe vera from middle sister Heather and sometime last year she'd asked for a new start. I'd potted up a slew of them to give away at the sock swap and then saved one for her. I've got a big list of plants I want to bring for youngest sister, Leslie, who's just got a new house with a garden in need of pretties. I thought it made sense to save the little aloe for her so we potted one of the big fellas for Heather and then set to work on the rest of the list for Leslie. I have here a few morning glories, some lamb's ear, plenty of mint and some lilies of the valley. Still on my list to dig are iris, rudbeckia and coriopsis and I've set aside the duplicate violet plantlet as well as. Emma and I also harvested some columbine seed heads while we were at it. That's a nice start on my garden todo list! Thanks Emma!

Propagate

In Grandma's greenhouse things grew almost as if by magic. Trimmings and prunings would fall to the floor and root lickety split. Of course, as Dad pointed out, there was a mister running twice a day and there was good soil underfoot so conditions were ideal in warm damp Alabama. When I bought the violet leaves at the violet show I was confident I could root them in my front window which has very bright light but not direct sun but I had no idea if the lavender would root for me or not. One by one the lavender cuttings have fallen by the wayside but there are still two of them with green leaves hanging on so perhaps those hardy fellas will grow. I plan to cut a few more to stick in the pot from a different variety to see if perhaps he'll be easier to root. I've been interested in such things since I was little. I remember Grandma and Grandpa introducing me to the typical kitchen propagation whereby you suspend a scrap of potato with an eye over a cup of water with toothpicks and I was immediately hooked. One summer the three of us decided to try it with pineapple and we were well pleased when that rooted. Ten years later they called to tell me it was fruiting and there were congratulations all 'round. I know they'd both be pleased that I still love gardening and use the things they taught me.

Heeling in

The stonecrop out front next to the steps is always a favorite with it's brilliant pink blooms. Apparently this grasshopper (cricket?) likes it too. Nasturtiums have been a favorite of mine since I was very little and I nearly always plant them in the garden. This year I have them in pots with my herbs where they seem quite happy. The Skyp socks are coming along slowly and I've just rounded the heel on sock #1.

Daylilies on parade

  The daylilies are really outdoing themselves this year. It's a constant parade of one surprise after another and they're all lovely. It's nice to finally have some color in the backyard and in a few years they'll really fill out and be quite nice. The mystery daylilies out front must be late season bloomers since they don't even have buds on them yet. There are still weeks worth of blooms left to enjoy in the backyard and the hostas will join the action any day now.

March of the daylilies

This year it's especially exciting to see the daylilies bloom since I've got so many new interesting ones after discovering Seawright just down the road from us. Last year I picked up several $5 "surprise" daylilies so this year we get to find out what we've got. The first few news guys have shown their faces but we have several more to discover this summer. They are all beauties so far!

All wound up

My first skein of the Corriedale yarn is dry and twisted up into a soft little skein. I'm continuing to spin at a fairly slow pace. I took advantage of the break in the rain to pick some peas yesterday for a nice garnish on the dinner salad. They are predicting a mosquito explosion after such a rainy June and I believe it. I got at least three bits just in the few minutes it took to pick a handful of peas. Light up those citronella torches folks!

Happy Independence Day!

We are all thrilled to see the sun in New England again! Just in time for a little snap crackle and pop tonight. New this week in the garden are my ever faithful black hollyhocks and gorgeous blue delphiniums. It won't be long before the black-eyed Susans start their show.

While the sun shines

I know the rest of the country is baking but it's still mostly cool and rainy here. Yesterday the sun came out for most of the day so I picked greens for dinner. The neighbor cats are really loving the catnip and definitely spend more time lounging in the back yard. Fluffy, who lives across the street, found a cool spot of shade from which to observe the activity. We delayed our errands and took care of yard work in the morning since thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon. Other parts of the state got pounded but we were lucky enough to have sun all day. In the afternoon I cut another stack of lavender and made some more lavender wands. I'm saving the leaves to make sachets to tuck into my yarn shelves to discourage nasty critters from taking up residence.

Blogger to the rescue

QuilterSal wrote to me with some great tips for hand quilting so things are improving already. After her helpful tips I stopped at the store and picked up some betweens (shorter needles for hand quilting) and a new thimble to try. I'm about 3/4 of the way around with my first row of quilting. A bit of research informed me that this should be a "stitch in the ditch" row so I've moved it a shade closer to the applique, after this the rows will be space about 3/8-inch apart. Thanks for the tips Sally!

We did brave the rain on Tuesday to make it to the grand opening of the farmers market this season. We had some lovely halibut on Tuesday, some fresh spinach and goat cheese ravioli on Wednesday and last night we had beets and broccoli with our baked potatoes. I roasted off some garlic along with the potatoes for the most amazing baked potato ever. Why didn't I think of that sooner? While the potatoes baked I pinched off a little catnip for the girls who were blissed out, except for Gabby who we swear thinks she's a dog. She wasn't interested in the catnip at all.

A sprinkle a day...

makes for a happy garden. Things are growing like crazy with the mild damp weather. The sweet peas are just about to burst into bloom and the daylilies are doing very nicely. We'll have English peas ready to eat by the weekend though they've covered over the green beans so we may not get any of those. The first few morning glories are peeking out but I never can seem to get a good photograph of such saturated color. We're told the sun will come out tomorrow and I'm sure the garden will be happy with that too!

It's all in a day

Yesterday we headed into Boston for an afternoon Red Sox game but the MFA was having another open house so we planned to visit there in the morning. As has become usual for us we walked from the MFA through the fens to Fenway and visited the rose garden as we passed by. The cool rainy spring has made this the loveliest visit to the rose garden yet. Of course, the cool rainy weather also made for a very chilly damp ball game which we did not manage to finish. The chill in the air really made my jaw ache so we left int he middle of the 7th inning and beat a hasty retreat home via the liquor store and Whole Foods. We had a really fantastic seafood dinner complete with clams and scallops braised in white wine with garlic, shallots and tomatoes. I think that will be visiting our table more often! You can find a full set of photos over on Flickr here.

Your house is not on fire

Yesterday I spotted some red critters on the honeysuckle and wondered if I had some new pest I needed to get rid of. On closer inspection I thought I might be seeing various stages of the ladybug life cycle and in fact that does seem to be the case. I'm quite happy to have them hatching in my yard as they have a great appetite for other less desirable garden critters.

Despite the drizzle I had to get some peony pictures as well. They are at peak bloom and the largest one is the size of a salad plate!

Practice makes perfect

 

I've done another batch of lavender wands and I think these look a bit nicer than the first batch. A little practice never hurts. Today is the last clear day for awhile so I'd better cut a big heap and get busy!

A few folks sounded wistful about getting some lavender into their own gardens. It's becoming sort of a habit to divide the aloe and gift the little plantlets at sock swap gatherings but folks only need so many aloe plants. A quick Google revealed the fact that lavender is a plant which can be propagated via cuttings. The toughest part was to find non-blooming side shoots to cut but then it was only a matter of minutes to dip them in rooting hormone and pop them into the pot. I've never tried this with lavender before so it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

Lavender for luck

Yesterday I put together a few lavender wands as well as a little tutorial. Each year it's a race to see how many I can get done before the flowers open. The rain is suppose to clear out today leaving it sunny until the weekend so hopefully I can do several more while the plants are dry. These are great tucked into your dresser drawers or your yarn/fiber stash.

You're turning violet, Violet!

The last few leaves have cooperated nicely and begun to sprout plantlets. The little tutorial says if I leave them be until the fall I may have violets to share so they'll stay in these little pots through the summer. The largest plantlets already appear to have more than one section. Anyone want a violet in the fall? I do have their names written on the sides of the pots so it's possible we can find pictures of what they will look like for those who care.

The rest of the garden is loving all this rain but it was nice to see the sun out all day yesterday and it gave me a chance for some photos. The pink double peony is just about to pop. The poor thing had to fight its way through the rhododendron branches this year so I think I may need to move it in the fall. The lavender is heavily in bud which means it's time for lavender wands. I managed to cut a bit last night while it was still dry so I can try a few today. Strawberries never did well for me in the strawberry pot bu the hens and chicks do very well indeed. It blooms for me every year.

I also tried another recipe from the Mesa Grill cookbook. I currently have 3 or 4 from the library and this one has been a big hit. These are grilled asparagus quesadillas with goat cheese and cojack topped with tomato jam and serrano cilantro yogurt. I changed a few things of course- the recipe calls for even more cheese in the quesadillas but these are cheesy enough without it for me. I used fresh tomatoes for my jam instead of canned. I added chopped fresh serrano peppers to the yogurt and I mixed my ground ancho into the yogurt because I pan fried my quesadillas (forgot to preheat the oven). That tomato jam is just amazingly good!

Growing growing growing

It's been raining off and on which might bother some folks but the garden really loves it. The peas are going crazy at the back and have burst into bloom. We may be harvesting the first arugula by the weekend if I'm lucky and the rest of the plants are really doing well. I spotted a bloom on one of the tomato plants.

in the front garden

The iris are really loaded with buds this year and this week they've begun to open. It's been quite cool and rainy so I'm hopeful they'll last until late next week when graduation company beings to arrive.

Garden in the Woods remix

Yesterday we visited Garden in the Woods were we found rhododendrons, lady slippers and all sorts of other lovely things blooming. It was a lovely day for it, cooler with a mix of sun and clouds that made it quite comfortable walking about the grounds. A full set of flower photos here.

Moving Mulch

For some weeks now there's been a pile of mulch in our driveway. Jason spread a good bit when it was first delivered and then the rest sat and sat and sat. Graduation is fast approaching which means we really need our driveway back so yesterday I attacked that pile and reduced it greatly. I also deadheaded the lilac and many of the bulbs that are done blooming. The garden is looking much tidier and the last bit of mulch should get distributed today so that the driveway is again free for cars. The rhododendron is loaded with buds and is just beginning to open, perfect timing for round two of visitors due in this afternoon. I was also pleased to see the Lady's Mantle full of buds and looking very healthy.

I've been workin' in the garrrrdennnn...

I"ve not been very successful with tomatoes in our vegetable garden either because we're on vacation when it's hot and dry and needs watering most or because the squirrels steal my tomatoes while they are still tiny and green. We should be home until mid-August this year so I'm giving it one last try. While we were out running errands yesterday I picked up one beefsteak, one roma and one cherry tomato plant. I also set in some marigolds and planted zinnia and nasturtium seed along the perimeter of the garden.

Sprouts!

I was really excited to discover that two of my violet leaves have already got sprouts on them! I wasn't expecting to see anything until midsummer. I can see 6 or 8 little bumps on each one.  I may have violets to share next fall!