Harvest time!

Some of those beans are ready for harvest today. and my Anaheim finally had a single blossom burst open. The others should follow suit soon.

I made a blueberry crumble the other day. I was going to make a cobbler but I didn't feel like messing with pie pastry, so I just whipped up a crumble topping with a cup of flour, 6 tablespoons of butter, half a cup of brown sugar, and a few handfuls of granola and rolled oats. Tossed the thawed blueberries with some flour and more brown sugar and into the buttered baking dish they went, followed by the topping. I don't remember how long I had to bake it, I just checked it after a while and it was bubbling. Turned out to be quite delicious. I think I need to work on my pie pastry, so maybe tomorrow that's what I'll do since Saturday we'll be busy.

I'm off today, so we might go see Harry Potter sometime after Trev gets home from work. I think I'm going to make vegetable soup tonight, so I'll need to get a bag of my beef stock out of the freezer (I usually make this soup totally vegetarian by using vegetable stock, but there was none at the store. Only chicken and beef.) and should probably go throw together a loaf of bread and get it proofing. I don't think we have any block cheese, which is unfortunate because I always serve soup or stew with crusty bread and cheese for dipping. Blah, maybe we'll just have Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes with the green beans on the side, and I can whip up a bowl of salad. We'll see. :)

A garden update and the Moosecat

Before anything else I'd like to spare a word for my dearly departed kitty, who passed away a year ago yesterday from renal failure. Moose, you are and always will be missed. Hope there's always a patch of warm sunlight up there for you to roll in.

That said, I've got an update on the garden, and this time there are better pics. Those beans are even bigger now (I had no time to upload everything the day I took these and have been lazy since), as a matter of fact the biggest is already longer than my middle finger (which is my longest finger). Amazing how those things can develop in just one week. Bunch of ripe tomatoes on the vine too, and the basket strawberries have put out a runner. I'll probably go ahead and keep it to replace the one that died. Here are some pictures:

Zoo Pictures!

We don't know what's up with the sticker in the last pic, but we sure did laugh at it.

Well that was fast.

I just went outside to look at the plants, I try to go out once or twice a day and pick off aphids and see if any of them need water just yet. Also a good opportunity to see if any progress has been made as far as produce goes. Today is a productive day! My bean blossoms have already dropped, revealing a tiny half-inch bean pod within each. My dad said it'd only be maybe 2 or 3 weeks and I'd have me some 9 inch Kentucky Wonder beans to eat. Victory!

Speaking of eating. Right this very moment I have toast spread with butter and strawberry preserves on my plate. We went to the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison this past Saturday and I cannot begin to tell you how good the haul was. We came back with carrots, potatoes, some 6 year white cheddar, 16 ounce jars of strawberry and peach preserves, a quart of strawberries,2 sirloin steaks, and a 23 ounce jar of raw honey (ought to fuel my addiction for a while, eh?) plus some more that my dad took to my mom. The potatoes, half the carrots and strawberries, and the steaks are already gone and I'm hoping the strawberry preserves and honey lasts me until September, when my dad and I are planning another trip to stock back up and get a bunch of apples to can. It was really enjoyable having my dad up for a visit. He likes to do a lot of the stuff I like to do. We went to Half-Price Books on Sunday before Trevor got home and both of us found books to buy. I was especially happy to find a book detailing how to make delicious and intricately decorated pie crusts, not to mention a nice recipe binder. He found an old book on the Honeymooners and picked up a gardening book for my mom. He's back home now, having left yesterday morning.

Today is going to have to be a cleaning sort of day since we're having company tomorrow after we come home from the zoo. I have a sink full of dishes to do as well as several loads of laundry, and I also need to vacuum. I probably ought to get my butt up early tomorrow and bake some scones or something too, since putting these preserves on store-bought bread isn't as good and I'd almost consider it a waste considering how amazing the preserves are. The last batch of scones I baked (plain ones) didn't even last a day between me, my dad, Trevor, and the mounds of preserves and honey we smeared them with. We feasted like kings Sunday, let me tell you.

Well, chores are calling, so I'm out. :)

Bean blossoms!

My bean plants have a ton of little purple flowers popping up all over. Also, my anaheim has shot up a good 3 or 4 inches past the stake I tied it to and the chili plant is growing some fresh new leaves to replace all the wilty ones. It might make a comeback yet if it starts growing like the anaheim is. Still waiting on the flower buds on the anaheim to pop open. Tomatoes are doing well and the strawberries are looking good too, save for the little wilty runner. It died. :( I probably didn't let the roots go deep enough before I snipped it off the parent plant. Ah well, live and learn.

We're going to the Milwaukee Zoo on Wednesday. I'll post a trip report with pictures soon as we get back.