Last summer I tore out the heavy shrub and volunteer lilies from the planter in front of the house, but hadn't known exactly what I wanted to replace them with. I knew I wanted improved sight lines when backing out of the garage, so I was leaning towards a center tree with some low ground cover. Trouble with ground cover is that it's usually so boring - a mound of monolithic ivy being my particular peeve. I also knew I'd often be remiss on watering, as I spend far more time in the backyard area, and that the temperatures at that south facing planter could get brutal. All of these factors pointed me towards succulents, and I opted for a mix of sedum, to get the extra benefit of being a test bed for potential Green Roof materials.
Planted in the early spring, just before a stretch of unseasonably cold and wet weather hit the Bay Area, the sedum was slow to spread. I mused, fussed and fidgeted - added sand into the soil, respacing and reorganizing the species. Finally, warmer weather rolled in, and the sedum finally 'took'. Now, the mix of blue-green interspersed with tinges of pink-edge are filling into a beautiful quilt about 4" tall, and teasing me with myriad blooms set to flower, any day!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sedum success!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Seriously
Transplanted 2 sweet red peppers, 6 purple broccoli, and 18 Italian fennel seedlings.
I'm going to need more fennel.
I'm going to need more fennel.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Hedgehog Potatoes - the preamble
Heading to Julie's for a backyard BBQ tomorrow - so excited!!!
I've prepped a new dish: Hedgehog Potatoes
Take yellow potatoes (wax-type work better than russets for this dish)
Slice them 1/4" widthwise: not quite through - place on a large spoon to stop the knife strokes
Slip in slivered garlic between the slices
Mix a marinade of Harissa and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Baste with loving goodness!
Roast in oven - 350ish for 30ish (validation on this after the BBQ)
Viola! Scrumptiousness!
Small garden, Big yield
1. Small garden, big yield!, 2. Broccoli Rabe
The backyard veggie plot is small. Quite. But it produces juuuuuuuuuust fiiiiiine!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
tassajara tales
R E L A X - I'm not giving up meat. I am, however, trying out several vegetarian recipes from the Tassajara Cookbook in preparation for the week long visit of my grew-up-vegetarian mother, who now eats meat, but not much.
This is the Sesame Marinade for firm tofu that I'm testing. The only bit from my garden is the scallions, but that's enough to qualify it for the blog, right? Right. This is MY universe, people! [wink]
Anyway, these tofu triangles will marinade overnight, then I'll bake them and pack them for a road trip north to Sebastepol, where we're picking up 2 boxes of bees for the backyard hives.*
*Last years hive collapsed, reasons unknown. The new batch of bees is 'survivor stock' so we'll see how this season goes. Let's hope for lots of honey!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
ceanotheus cache
Sunday, April 3, 2011
CGplot - way before and before
Yeah, I'm way behind on updates. Here's the skinny:
I got the opportunity to switch plots in the community garden. Previous members decided to exit, and being the newest member, I got first right of refusal of their abandoned plot. Which is in a much sunnier position than my plot was, so I jumped on it. They'd been inactive gardeners for a while, so the plot was pretty much an Oaxalis swimming pool, but I cleared it and revitalized it with backbreaking tilling and mixing in of new compost.
Well worth it.
I got the opportunity to switch plots in the community garden. Previous members decided to exit, and being the newest member, I got first right of refusal of their abandoned plot. Which is in a much sunnier position than my plot was, so I jumped on it. They'd been inactive gardeners for a while, so the plot was pretty much an Oaxalis swimming pool, but I cleared it and revitalized it with backbreaking tilling and mixing in of new compost.
Well worth it.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Julie at the Museum
1. Julie explaining where prehistoric fertilizer came from.
2. Julie explaining where Angel Fish go to when they die.
2. Julie explaining where Angel Fish go to when they die.
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