Garden Sun Notes

First week in July
6:00 front veggie garden in shade
6:45 south half of front veggie garden in sun
7:15 all of front veggie garden in sun;
     --nb: stake shade is 2.5x its height, adding a 3-ft eastern hedge would shadow all the garden!!
7:15 all of back garden in shade
7:45 southern half of back garden (lawn side) is in sun
8:30 back garden in full sun except for tomato plant closest to gate.
9:05 still: back garden in full sun except for tomato plant closest to gate.
10:00 all the back veggie garden in sun, including tomato plant closest to fence.

1 pm full sun everwhere
2:40 front yard: the lilac is making a shadow into the front garden, but the roofline shadow hasn't reached it yet.
2:40 back yard: back 2/3 of veggie garden in shade; front half of garden along fenceline are getting sun; grassline along "triangle" has sun for those plants.  Tomato addition along fence to gate in full sun.
3:30 roofline shadow at border of front garden.
3:30 backyard tomato area along fence in full sun;
        some dappled sun on corner of main backard garden

What to make when you're feeling sick

Vermont spring comes late but then unrolls four times as fast as anywhere else, like we're watching capture-motion photography.  I didn't have the usual allergies and thought maybe the mild winter had kept the pollens down.  Then, a few days after school got out, the allergies hit hard probably followed closely by an opportunistic cold.

I was really shocked this year--I was weak, tired, achy.  My throat was pain.  It's a tribute to my privilege of health that I'm so unfamiliar with feeling physically unwell.  Also, it was just bad.

We ordered pizza twice.

Fortunately (?) my daughter succumbed before me, and I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup for her.  The next day when I was sick, the leftovers tasted like heaven.  I had no idea.  We had Ritz crackers in the house, which was very good.

Ramen: kid made ramen for lunch a couple times.  So I'm glad I had that on hand for her.

I lost all interest in eating salads.

When I started to feel better, I made rice in the cooker and baked a turkey breast that I had defrosted the day before.

When I was well enough to go to the store, I bought deli salsa (uncooked; my favorite) and it tasted AMAZING after days without vegetables.

Also relatively easy: pumpkin pie using canned ingredients and a store-bought graham cracker crust.

NYT Berry Buckle, made two with doubled recipe.  The hot cooked berries are heaven.

Pioneer Asian Noodle Salad

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/asian-noodle-salad.html

video uses rice vinegar

V8 Gazpacho

This one needs a food processor.  Mine is broken, so I'm going to try it in the Blendtec, though it will no longer be chunky.

Into the food processor:
2 cloves garlic
4 tsp parsley
2 tsp chives
2 stalks celery (cut into chunks)
1 red bell pepper (seeded and cut)
1 cucumber (peel, seed, chunked)
2 tomatoes (peeled and seeded)

pulse after each addition, or if you're me, just do it all at the end. Don't let it get too fine.

Transfer to a large bowl and add:
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire
1/4 tsp sriracha, which I prefer to tabasco
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB lemon juice
4 cups vegetabel juice (V-8)

Serve. Gazpacho is a dish best served cold, or at room temp. 

Yeah, I know it's a soup that's half V-8, but I love it, though I don't love V-8.

Keep track of the Garden

April
the violets flower
the daylily greens grow
task: order compost to be delivered second week of May

May
the violets continue to flower until midMay
the irises begin to flower the last week of May
the daylily continues to green
the lilac is in full bloom
30 May, the bush next to the shed finishes its white blooms.
the lilacs blossoms are turning brown.
task: weed the front and side yard
task: weed the woodland garden (along backyard fence to F&J property)

June
task: once the lilac stops blooming, trim it back

Late Summer/Fall
task: divide Irises

May

Roasted Cauliflower (with what? Can't remember)

Lasagna of roasted eggplant, zucchini, and kale.  Should have chopped the vegetables into small pieces or even pureed them.

Taco salad: hamburger version and bean version.  One person was sad I put cucumber in it.

fajitas of sliced beef or beans with onion/bell pepper.  Guacamole was ignored.

Vegetable hot and sour soup with tofu: Budget Bytes

Slow Cook Pork Loin

Leftover Pork Loin-red cabbage sandwiches

Bulgogi, mapu tofu, rice, stir-fried frozen asian vegetable mix

Shrimp fajitas: tortilla, rice, onion/bell pepper, shrimp sauteed with chili and salt.

Side dish:
Budgetbytes thai cucumber salad
Didn't have the green onions, so I left onion out.
Didn't have peanuts, so I put in some natural peanut butter

Cauliflower Soup and Spinach Salad.
Pioneer Woman's Spinach Warm Bacon Salad with sauteed mushrooms and red onion
Martha Stewart's Spinach, Mushroom and Red Onion Salad (vegetarian)
Cauliflower Soup: Put 4 cups leftover roasted cauliflower in Blendtec with two cups of water and heaping scoop of Better than Bouillon.  Came out so creamy, I'm never going to use the immersion blender on soup again!

Pioneer Woman: Quick and Easy Apple Tart uses packaged pastry dough

rototiller rental

http://www.essexequipment.com/custompage.asp?pg=walkbehindequipment