And so it begins....

My tomatoes have started turning red this week. It looks like we'll have a ton. What would you do with a ton of tomatoes?

When Life Gives You Pits....

...buy a cherry pitter. $14.99 at Fred Meyer. Works pretty much just like a hole punch. Easy as pie. Cherry pie.

Our cherry trees are providing a bumper crop this year. I need to let my neighbor know that the rest of the cherries on the trees are fair game. In the meantime, I'm thinking our 4th of July dessert will prominently feature cherries.

Cherry Baby

Steve and I came home to our cherry trees full of ripe cherries. What to do with them? I found a recipe online for fresh cherry turnovers. They were okay...a bit more labor intensive than I really like, but Steve gave them a big thumbs up. Of course, any excuse to have ice cream results in a thumbs up for Steve.

The Thinning of the Kale

I finally went out and thinned the kale yesterday. I pulled up lots of plants - but before tossing them in the yard waste can I cut their leaves off.

Thanks to Pat for the suggestion of just rinsing, cutting them up and freezing them. That's my kind of preserving. It only has one more step than what I do with my blueberries. I can handle that.

In honor of the harvested kale I believe I will make some Zuppa Toscana.

Leafy Greens, Anyone?

Now that we've had a week or so of hot weather, the garden seems to be burgeoning left and right. I desperately need to get out there and thin the spinach, kale, onions and carrots. I am pretty sure that we planted way too many pumpkins - but I'll let them grow. Not only is it a vegetable that Danny will actually eat, but also a useful fall decoration.

Question: Has anyone out there ever frozen kale? If so, how? I think I will have a bumper crop.

Report from the Bunker

Day 28

No "scurvy knaves" here.

We may not have much produce in the bunker yet...but we have a start. This morning I pulled up some radishes, snipped off some baby spinach leaves, pinched off some chives and then there's the parsley for garnish. Not too bad for someone with a "black thumb".

Only 4 days to go...including today.

Garden update

Hopefully the frost we had yesterday wasn't too bad - it doesn't look like anything died today...in the garden. The spinach and kale that I planted from seed are coming up just fine - I need to thin them out a bit.

I thinned my radishes a little today - they are starting to look like radishes...and taste like them too. I am not overly fond of radishes myself - if I eat one I better really be in the mood for it, cause I'll be tasting it the rest of the day. Right now I'm kinda looking forward to that - it's funny what a lack of fresh produce will do to a person.

Gardening Wannabes

We (I'm using the "royal we") put "dirt" in our first planter today. First, Steve leveled the dirt that was already in it. Then he had Danny spread a layer of newspapers to help keep down weeds.

Next, it was time to make the planting mix. Peat moss, compost(s), vermiculite and perlite were mixed together in a secret combination. Well, I guess it's not too secret - Steve would be happy to share it...

To mix all that stuff, Steve dumped it on a large tarp and then he and the boys turned it. After turning it and mixing, it was then time to dump it in the planting bed.

Now we just have to figure out what all to plant...I feel some impulse shopping coming on. Any suggestions?

Calling All Gardners (or wannabes)

I do not have a green thumb, but I'd like to give it a go this year. This is one area on the side of the house that gets morning sun, what should I attempt to plant here? The kids have already started harvesting the weeds as you can see.
Michael is on board with tearing out some rosebushes and putting in some railroad ties to square off an area for a garden. So, do we make it one railroad height or two? It's right next to the walkway, will that be awkward? How deep does the dirt need to be? This will have full afternoon sun.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

Round Foot Gardening

The day after tomorrow our family is going to start our "hunker in the bunker".


I planted some of my deck planters this morning. Just in case we need some extra oxygen in the bunker. Considering the fact that I have a "black thumb", if we actually get anything BUT oxygen (such as vegetables) it will be nothing short of a miracle. I planted one tomato plant, one green pepper, two peas, chives, parsley, and several flowers(that way it won't be SO depressing if the veggies don't grow). I also planted seeds for radishes and spinach.

I don't think we'll be harvesting any vegetables during May - a few herbs maybe - it will be unlikely that we'll get anything else. I will try and take very good care of my little deck garden. Whenever I am wishing for fresh produce, I'll go out and water....

...I hope they don't drown.