Gone Feral In Idaho

Yes, the big day has arrived. This is the first tomato of 2011. I hope many more will grace my kitchen windowsill.  I won't sit long, but I need to show the rest of the tiny harvest. We keep getting more yellow wonder alpine strawberries and the ground cherries are ripening. This was the fate of the first black krim of the year.  Stack them any way you want and add just a couple drops of the truffle oil. Summer has finally arrived. We also hauled in about 25 lbs of peas. Some will be shelled and others will be cooked in a pan with oil and salt to sear them and eat like edamame. I found that the shells soften up nicely, I just pull off the string and poop the whole thing in my mouth. Very tasty. On the Halloween front, I scored some 1x2's from my friend Sue. They'll be great cemetery fence materials. 

The first black krim's are turning red/black. Oh, and there are so many more growing in the plants.

This little gem is a yellow wonder alpine strawberry. They are creamy white with yellowish-green seeds and creamy flesh. No wonder you can't sell these at the market. They are so soft, they melt in your mouth. I bet they would turn brown quickly with bruising. I've read that they have a bit of a pineapple taste, but this one was deliciously tart with a creamy mild aftertaste. It is definitely a strawberry and was worth all the fuss of growing them from seed. It looks like we'll have just enough to snack on all summer unless they don't like the high heat.  Here's one that is almost ripe. The Sea Breeze strawberries are going nuts! I wonder if it is because we grew borage next to them last year and there are a bunch of borage volunteers growing up with them this season. Apparently the birds don't notice the yellow wonder alpines, and I can see why; they fruits grow on perfectly down-turned stems that aren't visible from above.  I helped Kyle build a strawberr...

I harvested rhubarb for the first time and am in the process of baking my first pie ever. Since I used vegetable shortening, I think it would even qualify as vegan. Hopefully it comes out of the oven OK and tastes good. The first black krim is looking great. Kyle helped me put in the tree branches that the christmas lima beans will climb. I also planted dragon's tongue bush beans. I'll plant more herbs in this bed as well.  One of the brandywine tomatoes has produced flowers. The stock tank area got some new plants and fish. Here's a fuzzy photo of the dwarf lily pad sending up three flowers, we only had one last year. Garden Huckleberry doing it's thing. At least the peas like the cool extended spring.  I decided to add an egg wash, but should have added some water to the egg yolk. As you can see, it tasted pretty darn good. I used this recipe for the filling, and this one for the pie crust. I'd never made either before and it turned out great. The ...

A loosing battle with severe environmental allergies has sapped my get up and go, including my blogging. Luckily I have been taking photos, so I'll try to drag my but to do a garden update post. beware: rabid dog the quinalt strawberries are doing really well in their third year brandywine transplanted with homemade wall of waters tomatillo, looking great the pondtainer got some new plants, I will add some native plants as soon as I figure out what to plant gratuitous pic of the dog and corkscrew rush ground cherry random tomato bloom last, but not least, the first tomato of the year is a black krim.

About two weeks ago I planted the two Black Krim tomatoes I started on January the 31st. They are doing fine and have new blooms on them. A week ago I put as many plants in the greenhouse as I could fit and they are doing greater than could be expected. I plan to build a hoop house next year and put all the plants out early as there is nothing better than real sunlight even if it is intermittent.   Although it isn't in the best focus. I had to share a photo of the ground cherry in bloom. The plants that I kept inside were only half the size with no blooms.  Eggplant taking in some rays. This is the tomatillo that I accidentally snapped in half putting it out for sun last week. I stuck the upper stalk in the soil and tied it to the chopstick stake figuring it would die. The damn thing is sprouting new leaves. It is really leggy and not pretty to look at, but I'll keep it going and make it thrive.   The spring peas are up and sending out tendrils. We'll h...

I bought a Nook Color and have been trying to hack it , resulting in a lot of lost time. We have been moving along on the gardens and the peas, radishes, lettuce, green onions, beets, and kale are coming up.  Things have gotten a bit out of control indoors with all the starts. This is light rig #2 with the "big plants" Last weekend I decided to bite the bullet and put two already flowering Black Krims out in the greenhouse fortified with homemade 2 liter bottle wall of waters, or solar insulators.  When I got home tonight it was 46 degrees outside and 60 in the greenhouse. It will drop to 31 tonight. I hope it will stay over 45 in there.   We pulled off the greenhouse to plant these monsters. I cut off the lower branches and planted them as deep as possible. Here they are all tucked away, the whole thing is closed up now to keep warm. And now, for something completely different: Here is the crazy-ass duck Kyle and I spotted "surfing" at the Barber Park dam. Thi...