Love and Patience!!!

If you have ever disagreed with the saying "dogs are good practice for children" you should try gardening. Most gardening fatalities, when caused by dogs and children can be avoided. After the initial rage subsides you see that it really is all your fault. Yelling and screaming will do nothing, except make you look like a bad pet owner/parent. I can assure you it will not keep them from going in, only a sturdy fence will deture both. They don't see beautiful flowers and tidy rows of veggies. They see fun and easy diggable dirt, something to put in their mouth, touch, explore and my favorite, beat with sticks/tails. You never know, there may be wild Bubba Bears (their favorite toy) and mystical creatures hiding amongst the lupines and peonies or in the rows of radishes and beets.

All which have been the fatalities of the week. I didn't close the garden gate, then the peonies and lupines bloomed. Henri romped through the garden, defecated on the peonies and tried to cover up the lupines. The fragrance we all love moved something deep inside Henri. Matthew said, "Henri must have misunderstood and thought we were saying pee-on-these." It is a very common mistake, I must admit. Brody however took to sampling my herbs, deciding that the flat leaf parsley was most desirable. Again, my fault and I must purchase some edging fence. My sister very kindly gave me enough for our herbs and Brody no longer grazes in them. My perennial beds are left vulnerable and remain a place for mischief.

A little pee never hurt anyone and I was able to salvage some peonies for the dining room table. The lupines will make it I think. Thank goodness I caught them this morning. Their roots were very moist and happy so I put them back in the ground with plenty of compost.

I had called Matthew about deciduous azaleas on sale this week at Nature Works when I saw the destruction. I must admit I had to get off the phone fast to save myself any embarrassment. Some tears were shed, but I did not yell!!! Henri, knowingly guilty went straight into his box and stayed there the rest of the morning. He took no chances on coming out.

Henri loves to dig: flower beds, newly planted grass seed, container plants even in the living room...
Brody is a true Lab and wants to eat everything: morning lilies, herbs, lemon grass...

I should have been better prepared this spring!!!

The garden!

Our house is in great need of repair; we have an awesome little 1800's farm house. I feel overwhelmed working on the inside, so I have taken to working on the yard. My first project of the spring was to take out 17'x17' portion of the front lawn and put in a vegetable garden. To my surprise I finished the day I started and all ready have my plants in the ground! My desire to have the vegetable garden stemmed from my friend Timothee giving me a pressure cooker last summer. I went canning crazy, I sent Matthew all over looking for produce. Peaches and strawberries from Scott's, tomatoes and peppers from Urban Oaks and various Farmer's Markets. The best thing is to find a place that will save you seconds. We got bushels of peaches at bargain basement prices, we had enough peach marmalade to last the winter and then some. So I'm hoping to get a lot out of our garden. I planted cucumbers, eggplants, summer squash, pole beans, bush beans, peas and countless tomatoes. Now the waiting begins, other then watering, composting and some weeding there isn't much to do.

Although the marmalade was very tasty the best thing I made was a mole sauce. It was far from traditional moles, but so delicious. I made chili all through the winter with the sauce as the base. The sauce ended up being very versatile and worked with turkey, beef, tempeh and beans. I used dark purple brandywine tomatoes and these yummy chocolate habaneros. I thought it was clever using both these varieties because they already had a chocolate hint to them. I didn't have classic Mexican chocolate so I used Green & Black organic cocoa powder and it sure did the trick!!! This was one of those recipes I just winged and I hope I can recreate it this year. I will be sure to take plenty of notes and write a recipe.

Now to the rest of the yard. I don't have picture of the vegetable patch yet, so my flowers will have to do for now!!