Longwood Gardens – October 2021

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We took a day trip to Longwood Gardens in mid-October. The website was encouraging ticket purchase before coming and cautioning that it is no longer possible to leave/return as we had usually done for lunch; the gardens also open an hour later than pre-pandemic. We arrived a few minutes before our ticket time and the garden opening at 10. There were others that had the same strategy…a line formed. I took a few macro pictures of the plants near our place in line while we waited. It was a little disconcerting that only about half the people put on masks inside the visitor center and there were several busloads of children that arrived - enlarging the crowd in the building. We exited to the gardens as quickly as we could and headed to the conservatory.

We chose to wear a mask in the conservatory too – as did about half the people in the building. There is construction closing the west end but still plenty of mums, tropical plants, children’s garden, and cactus to see in the part that is open. Even the hallway of bathrooms in the conservatory was very lush with green walls. Enjoy the slide show of zoomed pictures from the conservatory!

I’ll post about the water lilies and fiddleheads and macro photographs later. There were a few pictures I took as we walked about through the forest and meadow and then enjoying the display of fall squash and gourds…but I spent most of my time experimenting with macro photography with my phone.

We spent about 3.5 hours in the gardens…then were tired and hungry enough to call it a day. We stopped at a fast-food drive thru…then parked and ate…before continuing home.

Enjoying Home

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There is so much to enjoy about just being home. Even yard work is appealing! On the third day back – I was out early with the goal of cleaning out the front flower beds. I didn’t have enough energy to set the goal to completing the job…instead strived for two wheelbarrow loads back to the forest/brush pile. It was not too difficult and my long sleeves/gauntlet gloves protected my hands from poison ivy (there might have been one plant) and blackberry thorns.

I took short breaks to photograph tiny mushrooms, blooming clover (the clover we planted last fall in the problem areas of our yard is growing well), cicadas at every turn, and tiny blooms on our bushes.

I already have plans for another round in the front yard and then will begin work on the chaos garden (which is completely wild this year).

My husband and I have enjoyed some short ‘field trips’ to Brookside Gardens and to view the recent partial solar eclipse. One field trip per week is probably about right for us – even though we are still spending most of our time at home. We are choosing venues where there are outdoors…usually in the morning (sometimes very early)…where there are unlikely to be crowds. There are a lot of places we’ve enjoyed in the past that we haven’t been to for over a year!

Since I knew I would be going to Texas several times this summer, I opted to not sign up for the CSA this year; I’m going to the Farmers Market instead which happens ever Sunday. It’s worked well so far. I got spinach, broccoli and snap peas the first week…spinach, squash, and artisan bread with pecans and golden raisins the second week (the spinach is for green smoothies). I’m still a little overwhelmed with veggies since my husband doesn’t eat them…but I know how to freeze any that I have left over!

Last Sunday when I was pulling into the driveway after my trek to the Farmers Market, I noticed a lot of cicadas on the day lily leaves growing around our oak tree. Do you see three in the picture below? The temperature might have still been a little cool for them to be flying around. One of the things I like about our yard is how much wildlife we have around!

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I picked up some cicada carcasses from the driveway and did a little macro photography after I put away the produce.

I also brought in some stalks of day lily buds; it’s the same every year at this time – cutting the buds as soon as they are big enough to open in water…before the deer eat them!

I enjoy just about everything about being home…rejuvenating myself for my next foray away in mid-July.

Squash Bake

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It was not a day for outdoor activities – cool, gray, and damp – so I decided to cook as many squash as would fit in the oven while my husband cooked new potatoes to have with his steak. Two acorn squash and two small pumpkins fit on the old aluminum griddle that I hoped would catch any little leaks as they cooked.

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I always cook winter squash whole….it makes cutting and taking out the seeds easy…and then I process the pulp. My big meal splurge of the day was eating one of the acorn squashes with my half of the steak. I took a picture of the squash before I cut it. It seems like the skins get a little darker as they cook. I added a little butter and cinnamon…a drizzle of honey…to the mashed squash. Yummy!

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We turned the oven off when my husband took his potatoes out and let the other 3 squashes continue cooking in the residual heat. Later in the afternoon, I processed them (took out the seeds, pureed the part I’ll use for custards and muffins and smoothies…those are just the top three ways I like to use winter squash. Some will probably go into the freezer….as soon as I can find a place. The refrigerator is beginning to look not as crowded as it did after the CSA share of the season (last week).

And I still have 2 spaghetti squashes left to cook. They’ll last in the refrigerator for at least another week.

CSA Bounty – August 2020

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We are certainly in the thick of summer bounty from our Community Supported Agriculture. This past week there were three kinds of tomatoes (cherry, heirloom, slicers) and two kinds of peppers (bell and hot…and there were 3 different kinds of hot ones to choose from).  I liked the choices for onions and cabbage too – I always get the more colorful ones. There is just enough leafy green for a salad or two. The zucchini squashes are still coming…and the carrots are large and wonderful. I got some huge beets as my choice from the ‘extra’ crates. I was glad that the bins of watermelons were near the parking since they were 30-35 pounds!

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I got some snippets of basil from the cutting garden

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Along with some flowers. One of the vases I am using for flowers this week is a glass bottle from store-bought kombucha. The label peeled off easily enough and it is a great size for 1-3 flowers. I’m going to save the bottles from now on…line them up on windowsills or group then together on a table…filled with flowers.

Company Coming

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The prospect of overnight visitors is always a good forcing function to get the house is better shape. I vacuum regularly but the parts of our house that we don’t use frequently (like the guest bedroom and bathroom) are not dusted and cleaned as often as the rest of the house.

And we tend to accumulate things on the surface areas in the kitchen – breakfast area – den. We have a lot more space than we need, and I’m always surprised at how long items remain in place once they are put down. So now I am feeling good about getting spaces cleared off and the house changed from summer to fall/winter. I brought in the glass birdbath bowl, cleaned it thoroughly, and filled it with the CSA bounty of winter squash – a great center piece for the kitchen island.

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End of the CSA Season

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The end of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) season was this week. I’ll miss the weekly share – bursting with freshness and flavor.

There are some things that will keep and be used over the next few months  - white potatoes that I’ve stored in paper bags, sweet potatoes that are simply spread on a tray in my darkened dining room, and winter squash that I’ll eat up before the potatoes.

I have tomatoes, diced hot peppers and leafy greens for soups in the freezer. I’m planning to eat up all the other fall offerings over the next few weeks. They are fresh enough to last that long in the refrigerator: carrots, beets, turnips, cabbages, peppers, scallions, cilantro, arugula, lettuce, spinach, and broccoli in salads and stir fries. The eating will be so good…