The Compost Pile

This is my first year for a compost pile. I started it about a month ago by putting branches on three sides to contain the pile in a small area under our deck where the grass does not grow very well because of the deep shade.

The first layers of the pile were parings from the kitchen (veggie scraps), pine needles, and leaves. I collect the parings from the kitchen in a large bucket just outside the door closest to the kitchen. In a month’s time, I had about half a bucket collected…so they went onto the pile this week along with the plants (peppers, tomatoes, zinnias, and marigolds) that were wilting after the first frost in pots on the deck, some shelf fungus that our neighbor’s ground crew dislodged from an old stump, and more leaves/pine needles.

I hope the pile will ‘cook’ all winter and the compost will be ready to augment the deck pots and garden next spring!

Sunrise on a Cold Morning

I am a morning person. Earlier this week the sun was coloring the clouds pink as I was coming down the stairs for breakfast. What a great ‘first scene’ for the day! The light coming through the narrow windows on the sides of the front door and the transom window over the door let some of that color into the entry hall.

Fortunately my camera was handy and I stepped out the front door to take the image of the trees silhouetted against the morning sky….and discovered the very chilly fall air.

Resolution for the next few months: observe sunrise more frequently. One of the compensations for the longer nights and shorter days of winter is the ease of savoring the sunrise. 

Raking Leaves

BeforeRaking leaves is work --- but one of the enduring and endearing chores for our fall yard. The yard crews that swarm our neighborhood tend to use noisy blowers but I prefer a rake. I like to hear the noises of the birds in the trees….the crackles in the forest of deer or squirrels. I started on the part of the yard that had the densest covering of leaves. The grass is already sparse in that area; the trees are shading the area more thoroughly every year. I raked them into a big pile and into the forest.After

I left the leaves on the ground between the maple and the forest; the dirt is already exposed in the area. Maybe the leaf mulch will slow the runoff during the rain and snow to come. Next year we’ll have to try heavier mulching and planting some shade loving plants….and attempt to keep the deer away from the area long enough for them to become well established.

I still have to rake the front yard. Raking the leaves always seems like such a huge task when I first start but it gets done….and then the yard will sleep until spring.

Backyard View - October 2014

I’m continuing the monthly post of morning images of the trees in our backyard that I started in September. There has been quite a lot of change in October but there are still quite a lot of leaves remaining. There was added drama this month because of a broken branch high in the tulip poplar that had remained awkwardly suspended rather than falling to the ground. About mid-October (image 3 in the slide show below) - it fell. I was surprised that I didn’t hear it fall.

The tulip poplar turns yellow and drops most of its leaves before the maple completes its color change. I’ve done a quick raking on some of the thickest parts of the leaf drop (and pine needles too) because I want the grass to survive. I’ve started taking the leaves into the forest rather than bagging them for pickup at the curb. I used the big branch that fell to make a corral to keep the pile from blowing back into the yard! There will be a few more rakings before the yard slides into its winter mode. 

CSA Week 21 - The Last of the Season

The only left over veggie I had in the crisper from week 20’s share was a bell pepper. That was a very good thing because the last week for the Gorman Produce Farm Community Supported Agriculture was quite a lot:

• 2 green bell peppers
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 3 garlic
• 2 baby lettuce
• 1 butternut squash
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 bunch chard
• 1 bunch watermelon radishes
• 4 snack peppers
• 1 bunch turnips

The turnips and watermelon radishes were about the same size. I’m going to cook the green tops too!

The garlic and peppers are pretty enough to be a centerpiece.

And the lettuce is a melding of gentle green curves.

I am going to miss the weekly trek to the CSA and the bounty of fresh veggies. It is going to take some focused attention when I go grocery shopping next week to buy a similar range of vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store; the CSA has broadened my palate. Now it is up to me to sustain the improved eating habits that have developed over this summer and fall.

Wheaton Arts (Millville NJ)

On our way back to Maryland from Newport, RI we stopped for the night in Millville NJ so that we could enjoy the Festival of Fine Craft the next morning at the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center on October 4th.

Hot glass pumpkins were demonstrated in the glass studio…and a large number of cooled glass pumpkins were on display in the pumpkin patch.

I enjoyed walking around the booths of artists. There were so many beautiful things! We spent about the same amount of time walking there the Museum of American Glass. There is a rough chronology to the museum. I like pressed glass -

Cool jars -

And bright rainbow colors.

But my favorite find in the museum was very personal: the amethyst  “tulip” pattern glass which was made in Millville in the 1940s by Dell Glass Co.

I was thrilled to find the origin of my blue tulip glass! I've had the glassware for over two years now and appreciate it's beauty with every meal during spring, summer and early fall (I switch to plain ruby glassware for Christmas!)

CSA Week 20

Sigh….Next week will be the last week for our CSA. I’ll miss the creative meal planning to use up the weekly share; I’ve enjoyed it. I’ll have to shift the way I shop in my grocery’s produce section to achieve a similar result. In past years, it has been too easy to slip into the purchase of the same fresh veggies week after week.

We managed to eat the entire week 19 share so I had both crispers clear for the week 20 produce. That has worked out well. The pac choi is huge! I traded the hot peppers for arugula (someone getting a full share had put it on the trade table) but otherwise cheered for the variety and quantity of peppers: green bell peppers, sweet pepper mix and colorful bell peppers. There were the slender Japanese eggplants in the mix; they are my favorite for stir fries.  I used one in the stir fry last night along with stems and leaves from one of the kohlrabi, some arugula, and some pac choi.  I am trying to decide if I want to use the broccoli in soup or salad!

I have a few things that will last for quite a while from the CSA: garlic, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. I’ve added the sweet potatoes from the CSA to the ones I harvested from by deck garden. The pile is in the glass bird bath that I recently brought indoors for the season.

CSA Week 19

Wow - I ate a lot of veggies in the past week. All that was left of the week 18 share was a few leaves of kale which I used in a stir fry with onions, mushrooms, edamame and carrots last night. I used the last of some roasted garlic hummus to make the ‘sauce.’

This week 19 of the CSA there are a lot of greens again. I’m celebrating and have meals in mind to use it all up before week 20!

Half the dinosaur kale and collards will become ‘chips’ (I project for tomorrow afternoon) and the rest will be used in stir fry.

Romaine lettuce, tender beet leaves, mizzuna and cauliflower are for salad.

Beets will become fruit beety (another project for tomorrow afternoon).

The larger beet leaves and tougher stems will be used in stir fry.

We’re cooking a big pot of chili this week and those green stir fries (kale, arugula, collard) will make a good ‘bed’ for it when I want a light meal.

Clothes for Cooler Days

Yesterday was a cool, rainy day…perfect for putting away summer clothes and bringing out the layers that work for the range of temperatures during fall days.

Last spring I decided to re-purpose some suitcases that I rarely used to store out-of-season clothes. I started with the unpacking of the heavier pants/jeans and sweaters that were in the suitcase. I packed it up again with skirts, T-shirt dresses and capris. I found 2 old totes (one still had an address tag from over 20 years indicating that it had been stored away for a long time!) for shorts and summer tops.

I did not find many items to give-away.

Most of my warm weather items are things I actually wear even if there are too many of them. It will take me many years to wear out the all the shorts I’ve accumulated!

There could be some things in my closet that are too big now that I have stabilized at a lower weight and am confident I have to willpower to stay there.

I also have jackets from the last years of my career that I like too well to give away…but I don’t wear them very much these days. Some have been in dry cleaner bags for over a year. I’m considering dressing ‘business casual’ rather than ‘casual’ on any day I leave the house to create an opportunity to enjoy the jackets again this winter. I did wear two of them on my vacation to Rhode Island and now I want to wear the others too!

CSA Week 18

When the CSA shares first started back in June, I always tried to have both crispers pretty empty when I picked up the weekly share. It didn’t work this week because I was away for too much of the week. I had Romaine lettuce, green beans, hot peppers, and escarole left (having made kale chips to get the kale out of the refrigerator earlier in the day!). All that fresh produce filled almost an entire crisper.

Unfortunately - all the items for week 18 are in the refrigerator now along with what is left from week 17. The crispers are overflowing with the added:

• Red leafed lettuce (upper right)
• Red Russian kale (lower left)
• Rainbow chard (yellow and pink stems at the top)
• Broccoli (upper left)
• Arugula (lower right)
• Scallions (the green tips peeking out to the left of the broccoli)
• Eggplant (purple and white with an elfish looking cap)

I managed to eat the last of the green beans, a hot pepper, two chard leaves, and some arugula in a stir fry for dinner which helped the crowding a little. Then again - the crowding is really bounty worth celebrating...good eating in the days ahead.

Sweet Potato Crop 2014

I clipped the leaves from my sweet potato plant was grew in a trough on my deck all summer over a week ago … enjoying that bounty in salads. Now I have harvested the sweet potatoes themselves. There are 5 good size sweet potatoes and two smaller ones. I cut up the enlarged roots (about the diameter of my little finger but orange inside) for a stir fry before I remembered to take a picture!

I planted a sweet potato that sprouted last October and enjoyed it as a house plant during the winter.

It went out on the deck as soon as the weather was warm and I added a bell pepper and zinnias to the pot. But the sweet potato vine was the dominate plant. I’ve already got the ends of the vines rooting in my kitchen and I’m preparing to plant them as houseplants. Now that I know the leaves are edible, I might trim the plants for fresh salad ingredients this winter - long after this crop of sweet potatoes has been consumed.

Fourth Mint Harvest of the Summer (2014)

The weather is getting decidedly cool here in Maryland so I have made the last mint harvest of the year. The weather and the additional plantings have made for a very good harvest this year. Almost every pot on the deck has some mint in it; I pushed stems from the early harvest into pots and they are overflowing just about everywhere they were planted. The pot that I planted last year has stems growing round the inside rim of the pot (I discovered this when I made my final harvest)! The front flowerbed has grown vigorously as well. It would have been even better had I watered it more consistently between rains.

Most of the mint I am drying and then combining with black tea to make a ‘blend’ for winter.

I have re-purposed a soup tureen to hold the blend; it looks great on the cabinet next to the ‘tea’ maker. One eighth cup tea in the basket of the tea maker makes a ‘just right’ carafe of tea to drink either hot or cold.

I am also putting some mint leaves in the smoothie maker with water and then freezing the resulting slush in ice cube trays for use in smoothies or soups during the winter. It’s a bit more work and requires freezer space but I like the flavor of fresh mint!

CSA Week 17

The CSA week 16 produce was packed in ice chests and taken with us on a trek to Newport RI where we have been tourists this week. We knew we would have a kitchen so planned meals around the veggies. We ate well!

TheCSA  week 17 share may be the last of the tomatoes….but we have cauliflower! The collection of veggies each week always prompts meal ideas. My challenge this week might be how to use all the poblano and padron peppers!

Coursera Experience - October 2014

Several courses ended in September (Social Psychology and The Camera Never Lies). I still have some items in the ‘to read’ pile/list from the Social Psychology course. More importantly - I find myself looking at media - particularly visual media - very differently; both courses increased my awareness of overt and subtle changes that happen with our exposure to real and virtual experiences. Are we ever fully conscious of all the ways we are being changed? 

Beauty, Form & Function is just about finished. I watched all the videos about enjoyed most learning about symmetry in tiles and crystals…and the bonus video about how nano-manufacturing is done.

The first weeks of Modern & Contemporary American Poetry have introduced me to the thorough reading of poems. The videos are panel discussions of each line in selected poems. My initial reaction to modern poems (too intentionally lacking context to the point of being evasive and not readily understandable….always a puzzle) has not budged but I am gaining a better understanding of the poems included in the discussion.

There are 4 courses starting in October….it’s going to be a busy month for me with these and the peak in fall volunteer naturalist activities and some travel.

I like the variety of topics in these new courses: education, health (childbirth), resources (water), science/philosophy. The global perspective should be well reflected because of the topics themselves and the institutions offering the courses. This will be my first course from the National Geographic Society. The previous courses I took from the other organizations were all excellent. 

Going Vegetarian

More and more of my meals are plant based these days. I think of myself as along a path toward becoming a vegetarian. There have already been several steps along the way. Over the past few years, I’ve eliminated some things completely.

• Dairy. I discovered that I felt better when I didn’t drink milk…then gradually eliminated cheese and, last of all, yogurt when they seemed to bother me. I now read the labels on salad dressings that might contain dairy products. I do still have butter occasionally (l love the flavor on baked sweet potatoes and butternut squash) and it does not seem to bother me, probably because it is mostly fat rather than lactose. It was very easy to switch to Almond Milk as my primary source for calcium.
• Pork. Ham, pork chops, and bacon - I opted to stop eating pork because of the high salt content (ham and bacon) and the commercial farm production methods for hogs. Occasionally I want the flavor of bacon with a salad….and satisfy it with the soy based ‘bacon bits.’
• Turkey. I didn’t eat it frequently anyway. Now I don’t eat it at all.

Some things I have just cut back on.

• Beef. We are eating organic beef…and eating less of it than we did a few years ago. Eventually we’ll probably cut back more to reduce our overall carbon footprint.
• Chicken. We are eating organic chicken. Like with beef we eat less. The meat component of our meals is not the ‘main dish.’
• Eggs. My husband and I eat about a dozen eggs a month. I use them in my occasional baking (yummy butternut squash custard, for example), hard boiled eggs for salads, and scrambled eggs for breakfast.

So - since what are my favorite sources of protein these days?

• Chickenless-nuggets. My grocery story has a great version of these that does not have too much breading. I like them cooked and cut up to top a salad….or to include in a stir fry.
• Veggie crumbles. These do best in recipes that are highly seasoned otherwise like a stir fry with lots of veggies and flavorful sauce.
• Dry roasted soybeans. They fit into meal preparation the same as peanuts do!
• Beans + grain.
• Quinoa.
• Mushrooms are one of my favorite stir fry ingredients.

At the rate I am going - I’ll probably be totally vegetarian within 5 years or less!

Backyard View - September 2014

I am starting a backyard photography project for this fall: taking a picture of our backyard trees about once a week. September was my time to decide on the logistics. The camera positions are marked on the deck railing with duct tape and red marker. I decided to take two orientations and then pick a favorite for each month. So far the red marker seems to be holding up better than the tape. The duct tape seems to stick but then curls up on mornings when there is a thick dew.

The first day I took the picture at mid-morning. Too much light…and a tweak to the plan: take the picture as soon as possible after sunrise or make sure the day is cloudy.

For September - I like the portrait orientation so they are the images I selected for this first slide show. As the leaves change on the maple and tulip poplars there should be quite a change seen in the October series. It’s also clear than lighting makes quite a difference even when there is no direct sunlight.

CSA Week 16

I finished everything from the week 15 CSA share….and harvested my own sweet potato leaves for good measure. They make nice green bouquets in multiple vases of water in my kitchen.

Then the week 16 share included sweet potato leaves as well. I’ll eat them first because they are more wilted looking.  They are with a lot of other greens: chard, lettuce, Portuguese kale, and Pac Choi.

The peppers, 2 types of eggplant and the butternut squash are the non-greens for the week! Hurray for fresh veggies!

The Deck Garden - September 2014

I walked around the deck before beginning the harvesting. There are signs of fall. Some of the leaves are not quite so green. Both the sweet potato and carrots have some yellow leaves are parts of leaves. The sweet potato has done very well in the trough container; the soil is heaving and the sides are bulging….a sign that the part of the plant under the soil is as robust as the vines above. There is a pepper that came up from immature compost in the trough too!

The tomatoes are leaning on garden ornaments and stakes. Pretty soon - the weather will get too cool and I’ll pick them all to (hopefully ripen inside). The carrots and beans will come in too. I am re-potting one of the small aloes to bring inside. The big one will be sacrificed since I don’t have enough indoor space to dedicate to it.

I’ve enjoyed the deck garden this summer. Green has been the dominate color although the zinnias, marigolds and morning glories offered some variety. It surprised me how much textures and shapes caught my attention even from the kitchen window. I am already planning the new things I’ll try next summer!

Edibles

This summer I’ve been surprised by parts of veggies that I had not realized were edible previously ---- and I’m sure that are probably more surprises to come. Here’s the list to date.

Garlic scapes. These were in one of the early CSA shares. They are cut from the top of the plant in the spring so that the garlic bulbs will form better. There is a small window when they are available but are a short term seasonal treat.  Their general curling form appeals to me too!

Sweet potato leaves and stems. It had never occurred to me that the sweet potato leaves were edible when I made my small harvest in the past. They are good in salads and stir fries (and probably soups too). I even chop up the stems. At first I thought the stems would be too tough for salads but they are no tougher that fresh green beans. Again - the CSA share was my first exposure to the ‘new food.’

Carrot tops. Most of the carrots I buy are already sliced or peeled…their tops long gone. This year I have a few carrots in my own deck garden and the CSA share has provided carrots with their green tops. I had no idea that the fresh tops tasted like parsley (probably with similar nutrition)….until I went to a lecture on food preservation. Now I manage to use some of the tops fresh in salads and then put the rest in the smoothie maker with water to create slurry to freeze in an ice cube tray; they’ll add a fresh green to soups this winter!

Now I’m wondering what else I am putting in the compost pile that should really be part of dinner instead….

CSA Week 15

Week 15 of the Gorman Produce Farm CSA - it’s another week of great food!

There is a little bow wave of garlic, potatoes, and winter squash from previous weeks - but those foods keep for weeks and months. I did make a fabulous custard with leftover baked butternut squash this past week; mixed up in the smoothie maker with just a little honey, baked into a light consistency custard, and then drizzled with maple syrup just before being eaten. Yum! I’ve also enjoyed the small purple potatoes in stir fries (only 2 at a time to not get too overwhelmed with calories. We made a bit batch of spaghetti sauce to have made good use of some frozen tomato sauce I’d cooked when I was overwhelmed with tomatoes a few weeks ago.

The big surprise to me this week is that sweet potato leaves are edible!  Evidently they can be used raw or cooked.  I’ve going to try them both ways and, if I like them, go ahead and cut the leaves from the sweet potato on my deck to enjoy; supposedly it is a good thing to do a few weeks before the sweet potato harvest.

I traded the poblano pepper for an additional bundle of Dinosaur Kale since I enjoy kale chips so much.

Notice that I got all yellow tomatoes too!  They’ll look beautiful with the red leafed lettuce.

Note that I’m using my own bags rather than bringing any plastic produce bags into the house. It feels good to avoid items that will become trash (or recycle if they stay clean).