December 26, 2010

my community plot on Christmas Eve

Skippy and I walked around the Belmont Community Gardens yesterday. My plot is snow covered. Lots of little critter prints in the snow. The big redtail hawk watched overhead from the tall elm. Nearly dark at 3 pm. We are watching the forecasts for a big storm bringing a foot of snow tomorrow.

December 25, 2010

Christmas Eve aerial view of my side yard vegetable garden

We shook the snow off the tarp covering the cold frame in the morning. Once the sun hit it warmed up to 45*F, so I opened the doors and let it get some fresh air. I brought a few gallons of water out while it was open. Not much left inside, but I will pick a salad bowl full tomorrow (Christmas Day) and then let the rest wait ’til the spring starts it growing again.

December 25, 2010

a baby Meyer’s lemon

My Meyers lemon tree has been dropping unripe lemons now and then since I brought it inside. It drops the smallest ones and the big ones keep growing. About 10 big lemons are still on the tree, all green still. The baby lemon that fell yesterday was big enough to slice. It looks like a lime, but a Meyer’s lemon smell. Not much juice, but excellent in a martini! Here is a beautiful Meyers lemon tree at A Growing Tradition. Covered with big lemons! Skippy posed in front of my…

December 24, 2010

a little bit of snow

A little bit more snow on the garden. The gnome is working hard. Its sunny today, so I will go out soon, shake the snow off the cold frame cover and pull it back. I’m going to harvest the Christmas lettuce, too.

December 23, 2010

cold frame ready for snow

We may get a couple inches of snow tonight, so we pulled the tarp down over the cold frame. The greens are still fine inside. I’m hoping for a Christmas Day harvest of fresh green salad. I harvested a bag of greens the other day when a friend came by. I gave her a Christmas gift of fresh greens and a few squashes and garlic from my garden.

December 15, 2010

fried potatoes

I can’t do much gardening now, but I’m cooking and eating my produce. Today’s recipe is fried potatoes. I found, then lost, a recipe online that worked great. Standard potatoes: russets, blues, etc. Sweet potatoes Canola oil 1- Scrub and cut standard potatoes (whites, yellows and/or blues, leave skin on). Rinse in cold water, then soak 5 or more minutes in cold water. 2- Heat oil to 210-230*F. 3- Dry soaked potatoes on towel, then fry about 10 minutes in preheated oil. Remove to paper towel and let cool. 4-…

December 13, 2010

winter reds and greens

The greens are still growing in my cold frame. I think the lowest temperature they have seen in the frame is about 28*F. This was on a very cold night that went into the teens outside the frame. The remote thermometer monitors below show the cold frame temperature on the big display and the outside temperature on the smaller one. I was worried to see the plants all wilted down, but they perked up as the temperatures came up. I had to bring a bucket of water out to water…

December 13, 2010

amaryllis in bloom

The first of my 5 amaryllis bulbs is in full bloom now. A very nice one.

December 10, 2010

seed catalogs!

Seed catalogs have started arriving in the mail. They seem to come earlier every year. Christmas seems to come earlier every year too. Maybe I’m just getting further behind.

December 4, 2010

bare branches

All the leaves are down. If you find the right angle, there is still some beauty to the branches.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost