Sunflower Harvest with Goldfinch

Hot Wet Garden Pics

It's almost 80 and on its way to 90 in Chicago today, just following the single heaviest recorded rainfall since 1871. My tomato plants have taken a beating for the last month and aren't looking so lovely, but that doesn't mean there aren't wonderful things happening elsewhere in the yard:

This spotty, mutant robin has been hanging around for a few weeks now. He's not particularly afraid of me or the cats.



SUNFLOWERS!!!

Six kinds, all mixed together, in a 4' square.

Cicada, just chilling, on one of the tallest sunflower stalks.

Eggplant, Applegreen. Almost ready for pickin'

Basil: Sweet Italian Large Leaf, Superbo, Thai

Geum Triflorum - Prairie Smoke

Our yard bun Angus.

I am mildly obsessed with my Prairie Smoke, recently acquired. It whips its hair back and forth.

Garden Update: Blushing Beauties

Garden Update 1

Tomatillo

Roma Tomatoes, two clusters

A pretty pair of peppers

Food Blogging Ahead

Ordering a new digital camera today so I can share pics of the garden and stuff I make from the garden. We found our first two wee little tomatillos on the vine this morning, and we've got little green tomatoes and peppers all over. Having a garden is pretty much the best thing evar, excepting the side effect of Tom's sunburnt neck, which hurts like the dickens.

I wish I'd had a camera to take some shots of the frozen yogurt pops I just made:

Berry Fig Frozen Yogurt Pops

I used these molds because they're BPA free and totally sweet. I'm pretty sure I'm going to pick up another set in a groovy shape like these or these. Fzcking rocket ships, why are they so awesome? So proportions are meant for six 1/2 cup molds.

2 Cups of Greek Style Yogurt
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract (to taste)
1/2 Cup berries--I used blueberries and black raspberries
1/2 Cup fresh figs, torn into pieces
2 Tablespoons Honey, or more to taste

Stir everything together until well mixed, trying to leave fruit chunks and berries intact if possible. Does it taste delicious? Pack the mix into your freezer molds and chill until set.

V is for Victory

The 2010 Victory Garden is poking along. Starting tomatoes and peppers from seed was pretty discouraging overall--most of my peppers survived the transplant and are now rocking out in their permanent locations, but all but three of my tomato plants bit the dust either on day one of hardening (scorched and wilted from sun overexposure), or the last night I left them outside, with the intention of planting them the following morning. A whole tray was flipped in the middle of the night by fuzzy vandals and all my heirloom purples were crushed.

So I've bought replacements from a couple of local gardening centers and gotten everything in the ground I intend to grow for this year. The line up:

Peppers:

3 Sweet Red Planet Peppers (started from seed)
2 Mariachi Hot Peppers (started from seed)

Tomatoes:

1 Opalka Tomato (started from seed and scrawny as hell right now)
1 Yellow Pear Tomato
1 Green Zebra Tomato
2 Cherry Tomato
2 Additional Roma-style Tomato (I'm canning or freezing this year, I swear)

Tomatillos:

3 Purple Tomatillo Plants

Wild Raspberries: Found 'em growing amongst the clump of peonies at the back corner of the yard and transplanted to a pot until I figure out where I want them to live permanently.

HERBS:

Rosemary
Thyme
Cilantro Delfino
Flat Leaf Parsley
Sweet Basil
Lemon Balm
Catnip
Chives
Oregano
Stevia
Mint

It's a pretty good start, I think, and mostly easy plants to deal with, considering this is our first year really giving this whole thing a go. I've got all kinds of ideas for next year--melons, squash and eggplant, along with a perennial bed of rhubarb, asparagus and Jerusalem Artichoke, assuming we figure out how to control the established weed systems--I'm contending with oriental poppies, milkweed, and morning glory infestations among the usual dandelions and such.