New York, New York

Today felt like the first day of summer, hot, lazy and filled with family. It is nice to be home, but little parts of New York keep drifting through my mind. One of which was the burger and onion rings from SoHo Park Grill. Here are some pictures from my adventures with best cuz Catherine and my best almost sister Jen.

sunshine on a cloudy day

It has been cold here for May. It snowed for two days last week cold. Today is the official last frost day but I think that I will wait to put out my little starts until June.

All the same I have been spending as much time outside as the rain/sleet/snow will allow. As the sun peeked out if the clouds for the first time in a few days I pulled all of my plants out to get some fresh air. They are getting so much bigger and actually starting to look like plants!

I have a new addition, a Meyer Lemon tree!

The basil is looking better and better, I've started dreaming of ways to use it:

Purple green beans (in toilet paper roles):

Cucs sunning themselves in the window:

Tomatoes!

Bug, my helper, who really should be a dog, spent the time investigating and chasing bugs.

After a morning of work I made a simple lunch of chard, toast and a poached egg.

To date, this was the best free day spent in the garden this spring.

Garden Update

Have you ever heard of square foot gardening? Well the family that hired me to build them a garden wanted to try it out. Supposedly it is a method that has a high yield from a small space. This is what it looks like:

Here is the herb/lettuce/pea bed:

This is the rad pea trellis I built out of bamboo and hemp:

I’m experimenting with this method in the raised bed that I squeezed between the driveway and the neighbors fence. My peas are doing well, and my lettuce and spinach are sending up shoots.

To go along with my rediscovered love of gardening and fresh food I have been slowly adding books to my collection. Here are my newest additions: In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters, A Slice of Organic Life by Sheherazade Goldsmith, Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail, The Family Kitchen Garden by Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner, and Annette Wendland, and Edible Schoolyard by Alice Waters.

Soup time

This has been one of the coldest springs that I can remember. There is a snow warning for today. Don't get me wrong, we need all the moisture that we can get, I could just do without the snow. My strawberry plants are blooming and have little green fruits, the cherry tree is in full bloom, the raspberries are about to bloom, the lilacs however love the cold weather. All this and it is supposed to snow. I guess I will have to wait longer then the May 15th freeze date to put my plants out.

One of my favorite springtime comfort food is potato leek soup. I like to eat it hot with croutons and a tossed spring green salad on the side. Here is my Vegan version.

Potato Leek Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 large leek, quartered lengthwise, washed and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 quart vegetable broth
1 cup water
4 fists sized red potatoes, cubed
1 bay leaf
1 cup rice milk (you can use low fat milk instead)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and onion. Cook and stir until the vegetables are softened but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, water, potatoes and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Add the rice milk and remove from heat.