Garden Update & CSA Crate Loot #10

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Good evening, lovelies!

How are you? Hope you’ve had a wonderful Saturday. I managed to get some things done around the home front but other than that the REAL highlight was going to the farmer’s market and picking up our CSA crate. The Farmer’s Market seems to be getting busier by the weekend. I was a little later than normal and missed out on the cilantro and squash blossoms. I was early to the CSA pickup though and scored extra plums and bell peppers! wOOt, wOOt! Seriously, can’t believe we’ve enjoyed 12 crate loads so far on this locavore journey of ours.

I only came home with swiss chard and strawberries from the Farmer’s Market because between the garden and CSA crate; we’re getting lot’s of great seasonal produce. Still love to support local farmer’s though!!

Check it out!

I’m always amazed by how quickly things grow ...

the watermelons are taking off…especially this one!

Baby cucumbers… whoohoo!

Cute lil itty bitty beans, curling… do you see them… ?? adorb!

Do you think fairies play inside these magical bean stalks??!! I do! 

Our family of baby pumpkins… the first family (we think) died from heat stroke! 

Sorry the lightening is off…but it was the only time of day I was able to get out with the cam (D-40) .

Green Bell Peppers… our bells are lovin’ us of this year…they dig there home (raised bed).

What’s up doc? sorry! can’t help myself!

The kale is doing better BUTl… I think the bugs have invaded it…

some kind of black bug…worm maybe?! I’m doing my best to keep them alive tho!

Damn pests.

baby jalapeno pepper… mmm, spice! Love me some spice!

My pepper pot is going to make it after all. yay!

Mmm!  Tomato’s …

Still nursing these guys too (our zucchini) is struggling this year. The plants will bear fruit but die off…

we’ve fertilized, watered and lovingly cared for them. There is a baby zuke in there 2 actually…

and the other plants have a couple also… *fingers crossed*

This week we harvested 2 strawberries, 4 jalapenos, 4 carrots & 2 heads of cabbage!

so much fun to garden with the tots! They love gettin’ dirty and diggen’ things up, that’s for sure.

Our rooster…. formerly Lois but now named Louie.. how appropriate!

Funny how things,  happen, huh?!

CSA CRATE CONTENTS:

* bell peppers

* carrots

* 2  kinds of plums red/green

* cantaloupe

* summer squash

* butterhead lettuce

* red leaf lettuce (lettuces not pictured…put em’ away before I snapped a shot!)

* garlic chives

* tomatoes

* potatoes

* onions

* green beans approx 2 1/2 lbs!

Roma and Beef steak tomatoes! juicy and sweet! did I hear someone say salsa?

Love packin’ away organic fruits, veggies and herbs in my wonder thunder produce bags.

Makes my heart leap…

btw, these bags are organic and  printed with safe water-based inks! YES!!!

I have lot’s of plans for this haul of produce… mainly to get it into my belly…

but you know what I mean, err, well, I hope, anyway! LOL!  Lot’s of menu ideas! hee, hee!!

Support your local farmer!  Join a CSA today or find a farmer’s market near you!

P.S.

you might have wondered why my site was acting wonky by displaying old posts on the main page…it won’t be doing that anymore, thanks to @dawniemom!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Urban Garden Update, Part 2 & CSA Crate Contents #9

Good evening, peeps!

Hope you enjoyed yesterday’s front yard urban garden update!

We have a lot of ideas and still have much more work to do.

It’s a slow going process but so worth every little bit of progress.

The backyard garden is doing alright this year. The heat really interferes with growth.

It’s tough but so much of a live and learn experience.  Gettin’ there.

Today, we did nothing but tend to the garden and housework… all day long! It was totally worth it because things are much neater and tidy.

The garden was fertilized, watered, weeded and we harvested basil, two serrano peppers & more peaches. Lot’s of yummy veggies & fruit coming our way shortly.

This post is full of pics and is lengthy, SO consider yourself  forewarned. LOL!

Our Basil is doing so well… parsley, cilantro, and 2 different kinds of thyme in this bed

& watermelon would be on the left …(not pictured)

Cukes trellised … so many blossoms…fingers are crossed!

Almond trees in the ground!

The area we live in was once known for it’s almond orchards…

some still exist but many have been plowed by new development

Backyard garden…  our pepper bed on the right… (chocolate, purple, green, jalapeno’s)

The calendula flowers are starting to die out… we reworked the bed today and planted more beets and dill!

Zucchini bed having some trouble… starting to come back and turn green again

WAS yellow and had spots (possibly mold) but looking a bit healthier these days.

Will get a flower then baby zuch’s die off…so, we shall see. A little bummed about the zucchini…

anyone know what might be the problem?

Dixie out free ranging or wreakin’ havoc…

she loves to eat our tomato flowers… Grr!

The eco tot and Baby C garden is in the very front of the pic… carrots and peppers so far…

all planted by Tristan, our 3 year old himself. He works this area and waters…

Baby C proved that he liked dunking his head in the muddy water after his brother watered.

It was pretty hilarious and I wish I would have had the camera for that shot.

Strawberries halted in production but have a a couple blossoms…

*click on photo’s to enlarge* 

Hot green chili peppers…serrano’s and jalapeno’s

These pepper plants nearly died while we were on vay k!

upon my return I discovered them to be a shriveled mess.

After a little water revival they perked up some..

Not entirely but it’s looking WAY healthier.

Tomatoes! We shaded them some because it’s hella hot

& they could use a little break from the heat.

They’re VERY happy about this.

Purple kale…

living on (just barely) after Henrietta & Dixie took the liberty of helping themselves!

Asparagus, in it’s first year… the stalks fern out… pretty, huh?!

They’re some baby gus’s in the box but the first year they get to kick it.

Our 2 peach trees sit beside this box… only 1 is producing fruit this year.

I’m still leaving out our cabbage bed, carrots, grapes, apricot, cherry and nectarine tree…

phew… it’s overwhelming! LOL!

Our first Orange Jubilee Tomato and the chicks pecked at it!

sheesh!

Now onto the CSA loot… all organic & farm fresh… support your local farmer!!!

“personal” watermelon (scored 2 extra for being early at the pickup)

& a cantaloupe from the farmer’s market.

Peaches& Saturn Peaches– round (on bottom)

red potatoes galore.

Sunny, sun… sunflowers! They brighten my soul.

Olliaberries & cilantro are from the farmer’s market…

purple basil, corn (gave 4 ears to parents)

paddy squash (3), summer squash (3) all included in CSA crate.

I like to reuse the butcher paper from the CSA box and wrap up herbs in it.

Once herbs are wrapped, I allow a tiny bit of water to run through so dampen the paper…

this helps the herbs “keep”.

Kale from the farmer’s market. I promise it’s not moldy… LOL!

Oops! PLASTIC…. next wk. I need to remember to leave the green baskets behind &

remember my cloth bags because this week I forgot them… doh! The consequences:

2 plastic bags and the green baskets. YUCK!

Red onions…  which I plan to use in salsa

Oh! which reminds me… I completely forgot to edit the jalapeno and tomato pic…

visualize 4 tomatoes, a package of cherry tom’s & a handful of peppers ( jalapeno & serrano), will ya?

All tucked inside our CSA crate!

Looking forward to using up our bounty of veggies & fruits (from the garden and our crate).

Having fresh organic produce on hand makes me giddy!

Are you involved in a CSA share?

How does your garden grow?

Hope you had a great weekend!

CSA Loot & Farmer’s Market Goods!

Hola!

How is everyone, today? Hope you’re doing well. Just finished a green juice here and ready to get into action (prepping ahead for tomorrow). Going to head out to the garden and do a little happy dance and thank the stars for all the green wonder and delight.  Love summer.

Love to support LOCAL farmers.

woo-hoo!

CSA CRATE LOOOT:

Swiss Chard & Dino Kale

Carrots, Beets, Stone Fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums), Bell Peppers, Tomatoes

Zukes, Cucumbers, Summer Squash

marjoram

Refused plastic and brought my new produce bags!

Strawberries & Spinach …

Love to marry the two and eat it right up … farmer’s market fresh!

More summer squash and  a handful of apricots!

I meant to pick up lavendar but completely forget – wah!!

& the organic farmer I normally get my kale from was not there!

Farmers Market + CSA Crate = one happy mama.

Not having to step foot into a grocery store makes this experience pretty damn liberating.

AND one that note, I’m off to make to make a flag cake - gluten free/healthier version…and it’s my first attempt…

wish me luck!

Can’t wait to celebrate the 4th of July!

Late {Meatless Monday} Not Tuna Wraps & Farmer’s Market Goods!

Hola peeps!

Happy Tuesday to you. Hope you had a great weekend.
We actually had the opportunity of visiting an organic farm 40 minutes north of us in a town called Tehachapi. We were able to score some really fresh Cal Organic produce and a pound of grassfed ground meat. I’ve been doing a lot of research on farms in our area and as well as CSA’s. I like to know what’s available to us with 100 miles. The more I look around and we visit these places the more connected we feel to eating locally and seasonally. The really cool benefit is being able to talk to the person who grows your food and get ideas on how to cook it, store it etc. It’s been a great experience for us and I think having the boys along to see where their food comes is good too.

On Sunday the hub took us down to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market (our CSA signup will not begin until March). We’ve heard such great things about it we decided we needed to check it out for ourselves. We figured it would be easier to take our Kelty for the eco tot and the Ergo for Baby C since their isn’t much walking space along the booths. It turned out to be a great trip and we came home with some fresh farmer’s market produce.  I was looking for homemade kombacha but found none. We did come across a booth that sold earthworms and other types of “good” worms for your garden. We chatted with the guy for a bit and he told us what type of worms we needed to combat our grub worms. So, when we’re ready to turn over the garden soil I think we’ll get some “good” worms.

Here’s my {Meatless Monday} feature:

I made a raw tuna salad last Monday and it was yummy!

The hubster totally thought this pate tasted like tuna… it’s a great “fool” recipe.

We had it with crudites and also tried the not so tuna salad pate with nori rolls.

It was a little messy because we dampened the rolls a little much (oopsie) but overall it was good and very filling.

We added in extra avocado and some of our homemade pickles! yummers.

cell phone pic- sorry, nikon battery died!

What meatless meals have you made in the kitchen lately?

{Meatless Monday} Fantastic Falafel Recipe & more…

Hello dear readers!

Hope you had a great weekend. Mine was somewhat uneventful but I did manage to get some things done around the home. It seems like I’ve been decluttering a lot lately. Getting out what doesn’t fit in to my lifestyle or even my well being! I live in a small home so I declutter often.

In a sense I’ve also decluttered my eating habits. For 2010, as mentioned previously I plan to eat more raw foods and lean towards a vegan diet. I’m not going to set myself up for failure and plan to be quite flexible. I was a veggie for many years but had no idea what I know now. I definitely wasn’t getting the proper nutrition my body deserved nor was I getting the right amount of protein. Yikes!

Read more

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