CSA weeks 9 and 10

Well, I didn't quite manage to keep on track, but at least I took photos. Here are weeks 9 and 10 of my CSA share. So many veggies! 

Week9

Week 10

I've made stir fries, pesto (basil as well as leek), pizza, martinis, salads, and any number of other things to use up the bounty. I've also shared with my Dad, my sister, and my niece. Definitely doing a half share next year! I've still got some onions left over as well a bit of kale. Pretty much everything else has been eaten though. Tomorrow is pickup day and I'm hoping for enough cucumbers to make dill pickles.

CSA share week 8

I realize that I didn't post anything for weeks 1 through 7, but that's because I just thought to do this. So I'll play a bit of catch up here and try to stay on task for the rest of the CSA season.

The CSA I'm a member of (Tangleroot Farm - awesome!) does distribution every Tuesday. I'm getting a full share this year and I confess it's a bit much for just the two of us. Actually, the amounts are wonderful and I've really cut down on the amount of meat in our diet. But we find ourselves seriously craving greasy burgers some nights. Getting all our veggies at once has had a positive impact on my meal planning too - I pick up the share Tuesday, sit down that night to figure out the week's menu, and then hit the grocery Wednesday to pick up any things I lack in either the pantry or the freezer. So far it's working pretty well and our grocery bill is significantly lower (one week I only bought milk and eggs).

I was going to try to list each week's share up to week 8, but frankly can't remember specifics - so here are the highlights: garlic scapes, green garlic, scallions, lots of salad greens (mix and head lettuce), white turnips, carrots, beans, kale, collards, braising greens, leeks, beets, herbs, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff.

Here is what we got Week 8 (I'll take a photo next time): Head lettuce, leeks, carrots, beans, bok choy, garlic, tomatoes, green and yellow zucchini-type things, sprouts, and cucumbers. The tomatoes were a big, red heirloom variety (ugly, but oh so yummy) and wapsipinicon (yellow, very sweet).

And here is this week's menu:
Leek pesto with beans (the basil was from last week's share)
Cucumber and hummus wraps
Pizza - one with pesto, tomato, and mozzarella; another with garlic, onion, kale, collards, tomato, and mozzarella
Stir fry with sesame noodles (this used most of the veggie variety)
Leek tart
Cucumber, tomato, mozzarella, and pesto wraps
Nachos with kale, pinto beans, cheese, and other nacho-related toppings

Those are the planned meals but the rest of the evening meals will fill in with leftovers or surprise dishes based on whatever I feel like cooking that night. Photos will be posted in future!

In the meantime, my garden is barely producing anything. Okay, we've got a lot of yellow beans and green tomatoes (beans are ripe, tomatoes definitely not). My zucchini seems to have some weird disease and my cucumbers are flaunting tons of flowers but no actual cukes. Neither of the winter squash varieties have produced anything beyond flowers either. Oh well, there is still time.

Another closet update

The upstairs closet is nearly finished. It was time to select drawer hardware - and Chris thought it would be nifty to use tree branches as pulls. He wandered around the property and found interesting shaped branches then used his spoke shave to peel the bark and gently shape them.

Peeling bark

It was fun picking the branches. He wanted ones that had an interesting shape, good strength, nice grain, and length sufficient to shape and fit into the holders that he made.

Removing a branch nub

Since we recently logged part of the property he had plenty of raw material that he could use. Cooper, of course, went with him to help.

Random Cooper picture

Once they were all shaped I brought them to the Bridge to be finished. That's a great space for this since it's still unfinished itself - no worries about dripping stain. Chris improvised a staining stand by drilling appropriate holes in a piece of scrap lumber. Made it really easy to apply the stain and they could dry without getting splotchy.

All the branches in a row

Once they're fully dry we'll custom fit them to each drawer. And then it's time to fill the closet! Let's hear it for finally seeing my wardrobe again!

Shelves for the utility room

This may not be overly exciting for anyone else, but boy, are we pleased with our latest improvement to household organization. The utility room is also our laundry room and we have a lot packed into the space: washer/dryer, propane hot water tank, well water expansion tank, solar hot water tank, radiant floor tubes, cat supplies including litter box, dog food, paint supplies, and laundry supplies. 

We had one set of plastic shelves that provided lots of storage (2 feet deep by 3 feet wide and six shelves high), but had no working space. As a result we ended up piling stuff on the floor until we couldn't open the darn door. Frustrating given that we needed to get in there to feed the cat every day.

So we took the time to improve the situation and put up wall shelves. Winter boots are stored up high where there is lots of warm air so they don't mildew. A deep shelf provides an off-the-floor spot for the kitty litter (and leaves the radiant floor tubes accessible underneath).

Deep shelf for litter box and wall shelves for storage

A base cabinet was built next to the washer/dryer and will have a counter top as soon as the paint dries. More wall shelves utilize space up to the ceiling.

Lovely storage up high requires a ladder

I labeled our paint cans with the color and location where used. I used to label the tops of the cans but that required me to pull them all down to tell what the heck they were - this makes much more sense and I can't believe I didn't do it previously.

Chris thought a little reminder of the shelf's purpose was needed. He's such a sweetheart.

Kitty area

It's such a simple thing - but now the laundry basket sits on the counter top, not on the floor. It's easier to put things away because we can see where they go and the door doesn't get jammed up against debris. Small improvement, big impact.

Oh! Those wonderful strawberries!

Chris and I went strawberry picking today at a local you-pick farm. Rows of strawberries as far as the eye could see. We got there early and, as it was a Tuesday morning, had very little picking competition. The farm was not a "destination" you-pick like many apple orchards have become so there weren't any play grounds or wagon rides or malarkey like that. Instead there was a nice young woman at the weighing station who directed us to the "good rows". It only took us 15 minutes to pick six quarts of berries - that's how wonderfully abundant and ripe they were.

This afternoon I made up a large batch of freezer strawberry jam, reserved a pint for homemade strawberry ice cream, and froze two batches of sugared strawberries for use in future shortcakes (a new preservation technique for me as I usually only make shortcake with fresh berries). Oh, and I ate way more berries out-of-hand than I probably should have.

I doubt the season will last much longer as it's quickly getting hot around here - up to 86 today with lots of sun. A thunderstorm tonight has cooled things off nicely. And the garden appreciated the rain.

Garden update

I planted a very small garden this year. I'm trying out different configurations / locations before putting in a more permanent raised bed system next year.

The small landscape timber bed has nasturtium, basil, lettuce, cherry tomato, and lemon thyme. It gets great morning sun and good early afternoon sun before the house creates a shadow in early evening. We put in pond soil to start the bed. The nasturtiums are kind of puny, but that seems to be the case of all my nasturtiums this year, so I don't think it's location related. The lettuce never really came in. The basil is great. So much so that I transplanted some plants from another location to perk them up. The cherry tomato is doing wonderfully (lots of blossom clusters and fruit has set), as is the lemon thyme (which tastes great by the way). I also have two yellow wax bean plants in this bed and they are flowering and look very healthy.

Overview - fire pit is further away than it seems.

Sad nasturtiums, great lemon thyme, happy bean plant

Another bean, itty-bitty lettuce, and the transplanted basil

Original dark green basil, cherry tomato, and BBQ rosemary

At either end of that bed I have a few small planter boxes with herbs, some from seedling, some from seed. The basil in these beds isn't doing that well and I think it's a soil issue since they get the same sun as the landscape timber bed. Garlic chives and oregano are doing well (from seedlings) and the parsley, cilantro, and basil seeds have germinated and are slowly forming plants.

This basil just isn't doing as well

Pulled out the basil, transplanted cilantro, germinated seeds (basil, parsley, cilantro)

The flower beds in back are struggling. It's sandy soil and I did very little to amend it. Need to put some time and effort into actually forming beds rather than just sticking starts in the ground.

Just sad...

The 7 x 3 raised bed has pond soil in it and is doing well. Six Big Beef tomato plants (from seedlings) are full of blossoms and some fruit has formed. The herbs (basil, garlic chive, and oregano) are also growing well. It gets morning shade and great afternoon sun. I think the plants might prefer more sun though so will move the bed further west to get it out of the shadows. I definitely need to add compost to this bed in the fall to enrich it for next year.

Both beds doing well

Lots of blossoms and some fruit on the Big Beef

The squash bed is also pond soil. Cucumbers are looking good. Zucchini plants actually have flowers already. Acorn and butternut squash plants are healthy but no blooms yet. The yellow wax beans are kind of slow. Since they were planted at the same time as the ones in the landscape timber bed, there is obviously some issue with this bed. Not sure if it's soil properties (shouldn't be - they have the same soil) or the fact that this bed gets little morning sun. Again, moving it further west will help.

My first zucchini blossom!

Many more forming

Beans are blossoming, but don't look that good

The pea bed gets little or no morning sun and great afternoon/evening sun. The bed is cooler than the others and they seem to like it. I planted the pea seeds very late so not sure if I'll get a crop before the summer heat makes them bolt. I'll try again for a fall crop.

I may end up just eating the shoots

At this point I'm thinking of putting three landscape timber beds parallel to the house's east wall in approximately the same location as the current LTB (maybe just a bit further to the south though to catch more afternoon sun). A squash bed to the south of those beds would get early and late sun and have plenty of room to run.  Field stones for the patio. A sand area for the fire pit. Flower beds around the perimeter of the stone patio to provide a visual break before the woods.

I imagine I'll change my mind multiple times before next summer, but this is the plan for now.

And now it's June!

Time really flies past you when you're working on a variety of projects. The upstairs closet is still coming along. We're almost ready to start staining and painting the sections that are done so far. I'll do that while Chris works on the remaining segments.

We've actually got both sections done now.

Most of the firewood is stacked and we're waiting on the log splitter to finish up for the year. What a relief to have that taken care of so it can finish drying over the summer.

The lumber logs are stacked (somewhat) neatly and we're now waiting on the portable sawmill to arrive so we can get them cut. All beautiful hardwoods that are destined for interior trim, a dining room table, and kitchen cabinetry.

We graded the east yard and I've set up some garden space. Nothing too crazy as I'm participating in a CSA this year. Basic stuff like tomatoes, cukes, squash, and lots of herbs. The layout isn't quite right yet but I've figured out the correct bed placement for permanent installation next year. That also means we can start laying the stone next year.

Pea trellis, tomato raised bed, squash bed

Speaking of the CSA, our first share had arugula and green garlic in it, which combined with basil, rosemary, and oregano from my herb garden to make this white pizza. Fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and wonderful olive oil finished it nicely.

Really good pizza

The pine lumber needed for finishing the siding has been stickered and stacked. I've been painting battens when time and weather allows and we're slowly getting them installed on the bottom level of the house. The upper level will have to wait until the lumber fully dries, probably early August.

And I picked a stain color for the interior window trim. Took way longer than it should have and I finally decided to just go with a light neutral color (basically, a light maple shade).

Dad is doing an addition which means he had yard that was going to be dug up. This also meant he had sod! So we took over the tractor, dug up a bunch of the yard, and planted it in front of our porch.

The fruit trees in their temporary home

By the time we were done, it reached out past the fruit trees.

Cooper thinks grass is awesome

Speaking of Cooper, she and the cat are officially getting along well. We even all go on walks in the woods together.

Ahhh

Lots getting done and still lots to do. Thankfully it's only June!