CSA week 1 4/15/10

Picked up our first CSA crate. I was pretty excited to see what was in it since we've never done this before. Another woman was picking up her crate also, so we chatted for a minute. The main thing that struck me was how dirty it all was. I didn't expect it to be all cleaned up like from Save Mart, but I guess I expected it to be washed off a bit more. I headed straight home with it since the day was warm and I didn't want it to wilt in the car all day.



This week got 3 kinds of lettuce, a bag of spinach (DH will love that), a few carrots, parsnips and radishes, two artichokes, 2 spring garlic, and some fresh thyme. I'm sort of embarrassed to admit that I've never bought fresh herbs before, so using the thyme will be a new experience.

The next night we steamed one of the chokes and roasted the parsnips and carrots with some potatoes. I love roasted veggies and the parsnips were quite sweet, but the carrots seemed no better or worse than the ones from the grocery.

It's been over a week and we haven't done much with the lettuce. I guess I'll take a head to work to give away and pile a bunch on our sandwiches. Just not interested in salads at the moment. Actually ever since I read that lettuce is on the no-no diverticulitis list, it hasn't sounded good to me.

So I'd score this first CSA crate as a 6 out of 10. They skipped this past week cause it's been so wet, so the next one will be the 29th.

waiting out winter

It's raining. Again. Seems like it's done nothing but for months now but Mr YDW said that someone told him the past two years were drought years and that normally, it rains even MORE than it did this winter. Oy. Last year at this time, I had tomatoes in pots and they were budding like crazy. This year, they're huddled under the patio overhang trying to stay warm.

A pot of yellow squash on the left, a little box with 6 tomato plants in it, three of them new to me this year, a potted up tomato (can't for the life of me remember which type), and a pot of snap peas.

I love the tendrils on the pea plants.

The pot in front of the squash has misc flowers coming up, tiny green sprouts that I hope will turn into a color pot for the table.

And, lastly, the garden spot.

What with the incredibly energetic digging dog, we're going to run a 6' wire fence from the wooden fence to an out of sight post next to the house. I'll keep all the pots behind there, and hopefully end up with fresh tomatoes, squash, beets, beans, etc - if this freaking winter EVER ENDS!!!!

Easter Sunday 2010

Pretty much just a welcome day off. A lazy morning with good coffee. A late lunch at a favorite restaurant. Maybe some work in the garden, or what will be the garden soon, after fencing, digging, planting. Maybe some crocheting, maybe a good movie on the tube with Mr YDW.

The only two items currently on display that have any connection with Easter are this bunny holding an egg. I guess he's a planter, but I just have him on a shelf. One dollar oin the close-out bin at the florist downtown.


And this rooster. He's from the Dollar Store and look how dusty that shelf is. One of the perils (or benefits, depending on my mood) of being short is that you can't see how dusty items above your line of sight are.


Both those items are on this little shelf that hangs in the family room and receives the most seasonal attention, mostly because I see it all the time. Old mugs on top, one with loose change, one with pens.


The photo taped to the mirror is this one - a pic I snapped at least 20 years ago at a stop light when a girl in a VW pulled up next to me with this HUGE dog in the back seat. I LOVE this picture. The big happy dog, the girl smiling back at him. I often make up mental stories of their lives.

hail?!? srsly???

It hailed at work this afternoon. We all stood there, staring at it, wondering what in the hell was going to fall from the sky next. Kangaroos? Meatballs?

What a weird, wet winter.

book review - A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

A Thousand Acres was an interesting read for me. It started off as a benign small-town tale, but soon darker threads began to show in the fabric of the story, and by the end, I felt a little stunned. The story is told in such a low-key manner that you hardly realize how deep and dark it's become until it's all over.

The main character is a farm wife caught between the various stronger personalities of her husband, sister, father, and various other characters. Among other factors, revelations from her past have a profound effect on her, causing the entire house of cards that is her life to come tumbling down.

There is not a single man in the book who is portrayed in a positive manner, but since this is my first Smiley book, I can't say if that's a common theme with her. It didn't bother me, but it did make me look twice at the men in my life, wondering at their possible thoughts and motives.

Others reviewers have called this a depressing book, and I guess it is, but it made me think, and I like that in a book. And I like her writing style. There were many phrases and sentences that had me sitting there, staring out the window, thinking about the subtle ways she uses words. A good book, worth 4.5 out of 5 stars.

the winter of mittens

I joined NaKniMitMo (National Knit Mittens Month) on Ravely and managed to knit three pair of mittens. All three got some use after being knit, but these are my favorites. I loved the yarn (De Vi Autumno) when my friend Julie and I saw it at Atelier Yarns in San Francisco, so I bought 4 skeins and used one and a half on these mittens. They are so soft and warm. I'll probably make a scarf from the rest of the yarn, but want it to be something special and I haven't found a pattern that really grabs me.

The second pair were made from SWS Stripes and I love the colors in these. I didn't have enough of the green to do the second glove the same way, so I simply switched the color positions. They go with all my jackets and I definitely need a scarf to match. Can you tell the pink thumb is a bit longer than its mate? Well, it is. I have yet to make a pair of mittens that are exactly the same left to right, so I bought a book on how to knit two socks on two circs, only I'm gonna use it for mittens.

The third pair is a gigantic set of bright red mittens that I didn't take a pic of yet. I had delusions of knitting a red hat and mittens to walk the dog in, since she wears a red harness, but the mittens are huge. So much for paying attn to gauge lol. I'll donate them to my cousin's husband who works outside a lot and will love them.

enough already

I've had it with the rain. I know we're still below ideal snow levels in the mountains or whatever the heck, but it just seems never-ending this year. My early bulbs came up in January and are blooming but they're defeated by the pounding they take every day.

On the other hand, it makes for lovely photos. Water dripping off things is one of my favorite photo subjects.



I wish I had a few big spiders living in my yard so I could shoot their webs after a heavy dew. Web photos are often spectacular.

The field next to where I work is full of weeds and grasses that make for great pictures, and it's all growing like crazy this time of year.


Garden-wise, normally I'd have put out tomatoes by now, but the garden area is a disaster and is going to require a weekend's worth of work before I can do anything. This may be the year I build raised beds...