Sourdough has long seemed like an unobtainable goal for me on the bread front. It seemed like a lot of work from babysitting the starter, the long rises and the scoring of the dough, etc. Decided to try it and see if we could be successful. The starter for the first loaf came from a freeze dried culture for the starter. It worked great and produced a very active starter (some days it blew the […]
The busy summer continues here in the Pacific Northwest. As other parts of the US are winding down in the garden department we are just now going strong with harvesting. Things have been crazy here this summer with more varieties of plants to try but more pest pressure than we have had in years past. The leaf miner battle with the spinach, chard and beets has been a battle of wills for sure. Next year […]
The last month in the garden has been eventful with everything really starting to grow and put on fruit. Really excited about all of the different varieties of tomatoes and peppers we are growing. There will be some surprises since we have no idea what the volunteer tomatoes actually are and some look really exotic at this point. There have also been some failures since the leaf miners destroyed my spinach and swiss chard and […]
It is the time of year that I see changes daily in the garden. The newest development is the Cucamelons, the tiny baby ones are on there although you almost need a magnifying glass to see them. I think they are going to be about the size of a grape when fully mature. It should be interesting to see how they turn out. I harvested 2.5 pounds of Sugar Snap Peas this morning and processed […]
The garden changes everyday and I really start to notice the subtle changes that will lead to amazing things in the coming weeks. The baby tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, peppers, etc will very soon be items for devouring and preserving for winter. I am excited every morning to see what has happened overnight and then to check again at the end of the day to see how much everything has grown in a few short […]
We have run drip irrigation to all of our garden beds and mulched them all to try to get water to the right places and keep it from evaporating too quickly. However the summers get drier every year and we have to wonder if we should be doing something else to provide water for the garden. I found 2 books that I am reading to try to see if harvesting rainwater during the wet season […]
Lots of things are happening in the garden this time of year. It is a very exciting time with changes every day. The squash are starting to put on tiny babies that will be ready to eat in a matter of a couple of weeks or less. The first round of radishes has been harvested with more planted in their place. The sweet peas are filling up their space on the trellis with another section […]
Rhododendrons grow extremely well here in the Pacific Northwest. They come in several different colors and also grow wild in the forest everywhere around here. This one was here when we bought the property and it is such a beauty every year. An added bonus is that the bees love it, we really try to plant things that not only nourish us but the wildlife as well. Lovely to sit out in the garden and […]
Tonight’s Radish Harvest was awesome. I didn’t realize we had so many that were ready until I started looking around. I planted them too close together this time so I was afraid they would be too crowded even after thinning out a bit. These are a mix of Cherry Belle and a Chef’s blend that has a little bit of everything in it. They are really good and the dogs love them too, who knew. […]
First baby radishes from the garden yesterday! They are very tasty, can’t wait for all the ways we will use the crop this year! #Radishes #Gardening #PNW
