I CRIED LIKE A BABY...

As some of you may remember, in March of 06' my dad passed away. My parents had been divorced since I was 5, and my mom had moved back to Michigan, her home state, and my dad stayed in Rhode Island, his home state. So every year, until I was 18, my sister and I spent the summer with my dad and his family out East. Until we were a bit older, we mostly stayed with my dad's folks, as it was easier than finding a sitter for just those few weeks in the summer. And we always had a pool. Not necessarily a big, beautiful, built-in pool, but one that was definitely big enough to swim in. Even after I was married, we would go out East to visit, and dad had a pool. As he neared retirement age, he had only one place in mind:
Paradise. (Florida!!)
He bought himself a sweet, little 2 bedroom, and the first thing he did? Put in an in-ground pool.
Now....cut to the present.
My sister passed away unexpectedly 4 years ago, so that left only Cyn as an heir.
Dad left me his house, his car, and his truck.
Brought the truck and the car back to MI.
Sold the house.
And paid off a lot of bills.
And this week:
put in a pool.
Of all the things I had to do with dad's money, this is the thing he would have wanted the most for me.
After the excavators came and went, and the pool installers came and went, and the water trucks came and went...
Cyn got in the pool.
And cried like a baby.
Ever so thankful for my dad and the blessing he has always been to me.

Farmboy, nephew Adam, and good friend Craig, putting the steps in.

The deck goes in this weekend, but for now we are walking the planks to get in!!!

FRENCH TARRAGON

French Tarragon
Herbe au Dragon
This sad looking specimen of French Tarragon is growing(?) in my herbe garden. I do NOT know why it just lays (lies???) on the ground like that.

Be careful to get the French Tarragon, not Spanish or Mexican. The Spanish is used for dessert dishes, while the French is used mostly for main dishes.

Chicken Salad with French Tarragon and Peas

This recipe came straight from Kalyn of kalynskitchen.blogspot.com.
Yes, I am a recipe thief. Actually, I have seen this recipe on a couple of different food blogs recently.
So who is stealing from who???
And, since you all KNOW this is NOT a food blog, I felt it was entirely appropriate to share this with you.
But, if you want the recipe, just click on Kalyn's blog name and it will take you directly to it!!!

PS Her finished salad looks far prrettier than mine. But you have to take into consideration that she does foodie photos daily, and I don't!!!

CAUSE THIS IS NOT A FOOD BLOG!!!!

THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO MARKET

Our dear friends, Ang and Matt, from homemakerang.blogspot.com, have been raising 8 little piggies since they were born in March. A few weeks ago we purchased a piggy from them, and the sweet little guy on the left, aptly named "Delicious", will be in our freezer, all cut and packaged, in less than a week. A local meat market does all the work, and the smoked stuff can be all nitrite-free upon request!!

PORK
THE "OTHER" WHITE MEAT

LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER

Inside the courtyard
Feverfew everywhere!

Also inside the courtyard
The Fairy rose is front, perennial Sweetpeas and Spiderwort behind the chair

Ooutside the courtyard, facing the driveway

NEW! Perennial garden near the hen house

Veggie garden, with tomatoes front and center!
Chicken coop is top, left.

Finally! A bit of rain last night! Does anyone else notice that the veggies and flowers just do NOT do as well when they are watered with the sprinkler?


DID YOU ALL KNOW MY DADDY IS A GARDENER???

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." "And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:11-12

"And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden...and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food..." Genesis 2:8-9

I take after my dad.
I hope someday people say I look and act just like Him.

INTERIOR DECORATING

Previously occupied by some itinerant sparrows, the Bluebirds have re-claimed their nest!
Here is mama Bluebird with some nice new "fabric" for their home. Daddy is just an on-looker...as well he should. Most men don't have a decorator bone in their body!

Taken this morning around 6:30 AM.

HAPPIER TIMES

Many of you have been wondering what has been going on here at FarmgirlCyn's "farmette".
I have been really out of commission the last few months due to my step-dads physical condition.
Here he is pictured with Cyn and Farmboy at a family wedding last summer.

Without going into too much detail (cause who likes "details"???) let me just say he does not have too much longer. He is in a hospice home and perhaps has a few hours, maybe a day or two.

I COVET YOUR PRAYERS.

WILTED GREENS

HEAT & GREENS = NOT MUCH GREENS!

I started this recipe out with a 1# bag of spinach leftover from LAST weeks CSA pickup. And here it is Tuesday already, and I was faced with yet ANOTHER 1# bag! PLUS 12 leaves of swiss chard. This is no ordinary swiss chard, either. This is MONSTA chard!!
So...this is what I did.
Took last weeks spinach, plus this weeks swiss chard.
Tore into larger than bite size pieces.
Took out my big, wok-style fry pan.
Put in: 1 Tbl olive oil
heat over med/high
add:
1 Tbl minced garlic
1 1/2 teas ginger paste
1 1/2 teas. dried hot pepper flakes
Threw in the swiss chard stems 1st, and stir fried for a minute or so, as they take a bit longer to get tender.
Added the remaining greens, a couple handfuls at a time, gently tossing them in the oil mixture.
Cooked for a couple of minutes, again tossing gently.
Serve with a sprinkle of fleur de sal and pepper, and a dash of balsamic vinegar.
Serves 1, perhaps 2.
I'm not kidding.
These greens shrink faster than...well never mind...you get the picture!

LEFTOVERS=SOUP

Sis-in-law Kelly brought leftover steamed veggies home from work on Saturday, and, knowing NO ONE was going to eat them "as is", I set about turning them into a delicious, veggie soup.
Since our daughter Giselle has moved in for the few weeks before her wedding, and since she is a vegetarian, I thought I would work this soup up as "vegetarian vegetable".
I took 2 quarts of vegetable stock and added perhaps 6 cups of assorted steamed veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Brought it to a simmer for maybe 5 minutes. (remember...the veggies were already steamed al dente) Pureed the whole bunch, (along with 5 cloves of roasted garlic I happened to have in the fridge,) with my immersion blender. At that point, I put it back on the stove and added about 1/2 cup couscous. Let sit 5 minutes, then pureed again.

Bland vegetable soup.

Enter the herbe garden!
What would I serve raw veggies with? Dill dip, of course!
So went out to the garden and snipped a bit of fresh dill and flat leaf parsley.
Poured myself a small bowl of soup. Shredded some Parmigiano Reggiano over the top, (which eliminates the need for additional salt) and tossed in the snippets of fresh herbes.
Served with a cold glass of Viogner brought back from Trader Joe's found in the burbs of Chicago.
I got one word for ya...

YUM.

CHICKEN SHOES

These, my friends, are what I lovingly refer to as my "chicken shoes". They sit by the front door, ready for a quick trip to the coop, garden, or car. They are laced and tied loose enough to slip on without having to bend over and fuss. Our Golden Retriever, Beau, who is, as his name implies, a retriever, loves to take one of my chicken shoes and walk around with it. He does not chew said shoe...just likes to have it in his mouth for a few minutes, then finds a spot to lay (lie???) down with shoe next to his face.
These, and my garden gloves, are an indispensible part of my spring/summer/autumn wardrobe.

What can't YOU go without this summer?

GOD BLESS THE CSA!

CSA: Community Supported Agriculture

Yesterday began the first of many Tuesdays to come where I travel just a few miles down the road to Trillium Haven Farm for my weekly organic fix.
My bounty this 1st week included: 2 heads lettuce (my choice of 4 varieties), 1 bunch bok choy, 1 bunch scallions, 1 # mixed baby greens (have you ever seen a whole pound of those babies?? It nearly filled a plastic grocery bag!), 1 # spinach, and as much sorrel as I could use. The sorrel is u-pick, so I just got perhaps 1/16 of a #. It is my new favorite herb/veggie, as of last summer when Anja, from Trillium, introduced me to it. Sharp and lemony, I use it in place of lettuce on a toasted, sliced tomato sandwich. Makes my mouth water just thinkin' about it!
The baby lettuce and the spinach are all triple washed, so I just had to come home, give it a few spins in my salad spinner (new, still in the box, at a tag sale last year for $4), and re-bag it. Anja says it should last a week like this. Problem: I think it will be gone long before a week is up!

"BOB " THE TOMATO & "LARRY " THE CUCUMBER?

I don't, as a rule, "name" my vegetables...I let the experts do that. For instance: "yellow pear tomato", "Supersweet 100's", "Cherokee Purple", "Jaune Flamme", "Globe Eggplant", "zucchini", etc.
This year, however, my chickens have played a dirty trick on me!
After meticulously planting my veggies and herbes, my hens tore through my beds and....no...they did NOT touch the new baby plantlings...instead, they ran willy-nilly through the garden, tearing the carefully placed I.D. tags from each plant and tearing, then tossing them around the yard. I am now left to discern, as each veggie begins to bear it's fruit, what on earth I planted!!!

A couple of weeks after planting, and my tomatoes seem to be taking on super-human proportions. Could it be that winters worth of chicken s**t I so carefully tossed on the snowy beds???

No mistaking what THIS is!!!

Herbe Garden
Lots of parsley, basil, sage, thyme, rosemary (yum) marjoram, dill and garlic chives.

It will be weeks before I will be seeing ripened veggies, but on Tuesday I get my first CSA pickup! Sure to be lots of baby greens, radishes, and perhaps somebaby carrots!
I'M PSYCHED (or psycho!!)

What's planted in YOUR gardens?

GARDEN 07' : A WORK IN PROGRESS

The center of the new flower beds, inspired by parisiennefarmgirl.

Different view, same bed.

Pancho, sitting amidst Lambs Ear.
(I found "Pancho" at a tag sale in the burbs of Chicago last year with Savvycityfarmer, and could not pass him up. My dad's nickname was Pancho, tho he was a full-blooded Frenchmen named Rene, but regardless, the cement version just had to come home with me!)

Courtyard in the front...Albie Darn strutting his stuff, just waiting till I let the hens out for his pleasure! He flies over and out by around 11 am, but they can't fly over the fence like he can, so they wait patiently till around 8pm, when I let them out for an hour to run around the yard. I have to wait till late in the evening as they thoroughly mess up the garden. I like to think of it as "damage control." I believe the hens think of it as a respite from the constant "demands" Albie puts on them!!!

An old Martin bird house, found at a tag sale a few years back. It sits to the left of the front porch steps. We just couldn't resist the "photo op", and tucked a red pair of shoes under it!
"Auntie Em!!! Auntie Em!!!

COMING SOON!!!

I planted a mini potager, with several varieties of tomatoes, etc, and lots of herbes!