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Category Archives: garden
Potato Time
We have some sort of Amityville Horror going on out in the shop. A couple of days ago I saw a few big hairy flies in there. The next day there were a ton of big hairy flies. I swatted and swatted.
The next day there were a ton of big hairy flies. More swatting.
A few hours later there were a ton of big hairy flies. At least they aren’t attacking big hairy flies.
I did some research and I’m going to guess it’s the result of having a warmer than normal summer and not a haunting. The pest control website noted that it is *extremely difficult* to deal with this on your own.
I think I can handle it.
I mentioned that early in the year I took all my wilted potato bits and buried them around the yard and I now have my very own potato farm.
One of my most successful recipes is this potato salad recipe although now that I look at it I realize I don’t follow it other than to add vinegar to the potato cooking water. I’m not sure what potato salad recipe I use. Maybe I look at this and then just do what I want. People at potlucks love it.
Serious Eats Classic Potato Salad Recipe
I still had a ton of potatoes so I searched for more recipes and this was a big hit plus it got rid of the rest of a giant head of cabbage we had. Bob said it was the best potato cabbage casserole he ever had.
Serious Eats Polish Cabbage Potato Bacon Casserole
I still had tons of potatoes so I thought I’d try another recipe. But then when I went to make it I realized I didn’t have as many potatoes as I thought so I ran outside to dig up another plant. I thought I was being punked. Every time I touched the dirt another potato would pop out. I think I harvested another 3 pounds.
So potato cooking continues. This recipe was a tad fussy for me. Next time I would come up with some short cuts. But we liked the result and it made a ton.
Mexican Potato, Kale and Chicken Casserole
Summer Weekend
Still not in the mood to sit here and do the Montreal update. Also, photos still out of control. I must stop taking them.
I always expect to lose the dinner plate dahlias over winter because I hate digging them up and they seem a bit more delicate than some of the others I have out there. I was so happy to see these blooming out there.
This is the neighbor cat following me around while I took pictures of dahlias.
This is a different pink one and just for fun, no Photoshop tweaking except for cropping.
FIFA World Cup Games 24 and 25
First of all, I found this out in the backyard when I got home from my trip. Looks like more are not far behind. So pretty!
Here’s another shot of the “before” garden.
And this is what it looked like when I got home. I was out there this afternoon, cleaning up. I put the big tomato in a cage and picked beets and tons of berries. There is still so much work to do out there, it’s hard not to get overwhelmed.
On to soccer. I missed Italy v. Costa Rica live because I slept in and then went to the grocery store. I had a book waiting for me at the library and the library opens at 10 on Friday instead of 9. I didn’t want to have to make another trip so I killed time in the car. Then when I did self-checkout I got an error warning that said: Your privilege has expired.
It sounded ominous but the librarian just confirmed my current information and sent me on my way.
I decided to watch Switzerland v. France instead and that went from exciting to pitiful pretty quick. I never enjoy watching a team meltdown.
At the half I gave up and turned on the Italy v. Costa Rica game. This is the first time I’ve seen Costa Rica and I was impressed. I saw someone else had it in their twitter feed: let’s get all their defenders on the Timbers. I was sad for Italy and my beautiful Buffon. I thought Donovan Rickets was the only goalkeeper who looks amazing in orange. I was wrong.
I decided to skip Honduras and Ecuador. I was getting antsy to do something besides sit on the couch. I love my lazy time but I love doing stuff on my list, too. Tomorrow is a big day because Argentina and Germany are both playing, although not each other.
Posted in doing it wrong, garden
Tagged soccer, World Cup
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Quick Garden Update
When I go to plant seeds I usually put them in a little dish to spread out in the garden.
I knocked over the dish onto the gravel by the door. Here are the beets trying to do what they do best.
These aren’t beets. Just a few shots of the roses. They are very neglected so I’m thrilled that they do anything.
Garden Situation
Bob bought some stuff to put on the lawn to make it healthier and help with the weeds.
Wow. We call it Godzilla grass. It grows very fast, very green and very thick. He could mow it three times a week if he was so inclined. He is considering that maybe we don’t want a lawn that grows like this.
But I think the weather has helped. Lots of rain followed by lots of sun followed by lots of rain followed by lots of sun. The grass has no choice.
Future apples. The apple tree is a partner in the Godzilla theme if Godzilla meant a huge quantity rather than one huge fire-breathing out-of-control thing.
Berries are also looking very promising. The berry patch is a mess however so I need to get out there and do some work. I’ve also got sunflower volunteers everywhere and I really need to yank yank. I love them but they tend to takeover.
This is the Garden Before Shot
I accidentally typo’d the title as This is the Garden Before Shit. hehe. That could mean anything. Maybe I would bring in manure this weekend.
Except I’m not. I already threw a bunch of seeds out there in my free-styling gardening way. I don’t even have a plan this year. Just the usual: beets, turnips, greens. Tomatoes will come later. I saved some tomato seeds from last year. I should have taken a photo. They were smeared on a piece of paper towel so it looked like trash. I planted a bunch in pots on the windowsill.
I think I’ll plant a zucchini this year. I’ll see if anything else sounds exciting.
I should have made some arrows. That middle section is all new. On the left there was more of that white flowery plant heavily infested with some sort of annoying invasive grass. There was no way to get rid of the grass without digging out white flowery plant. I thought about planting a rosemary there but not sure I want a bushy thing in that location. On the right was another herb, thyme? It got all woody and pitiful looking and spread out everywhere so I whacked it back. Maybe I would like rosemary there.
Remember the dahlia bulb dividing project? I gave some away. I let some shrivel into death on the shop floor. I planted a bunch everywhere. I’ve never had success out front but there’s a major sprout going right now. It’s located in heavy snail territory so we’ll see how we do. But I’m hopeful.
Flower Photos
I cannot stop taking pictures of flowers. I had almost 300 in the “Spring Flowers” folder I made. I’m sure there are more in the camera. I keep telling myself to knock it off but then I look outside and they are so pretty. I deleted it down to 104. I hope I never miss any of the ones I got rid of.
Posted in doing it wrong, garden
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Rototiller Magic
This is my first time planting a cover crop. I planted clover and peas. It didn’t seem like a lot of seeds so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The clover ended up being much more robust than I expected.
I have barely had time to open Photoshop the past 6 weeks or so. I’ve been trying to give myself little assignments so I can remember how to do things. I had a screenshot from my tax preparation and it took about 15 minutes to figure out how to highlight one area for my future reference. Super useful. (Oof.)
Right after I planted the seeds there were cats and squirrels running around so there were patches where nothing grew. Colleague also planted a cover crop and the birds ate everything. He only got weeds.
But! He rented a rototiller and came over and did the garden in exchange for dahlia bulbs, chocolate chip cookies and half the rental fee. It usually takes me a half day and ruining my back to turn over the garden. This year it took 15 minutes.
I haven’t planted anything yet. Next weekend I’ll throw some greens and whatever other seeds I have sitting around out there. Don’t look to me for pro-tips. I am a lazy gardener
Posted in garden
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And Already the Time Changes this Weekend
I saw lots of daffodils around the neighborhood but this is as close as I’ve got. In a couple of days, watch out.
Posted in doing it wrong, garden
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These Are The Dahlias You’re Looking For
I think I picked the wrong photos yesterday and these are the ones I divided. I’m sure I’ll mix them up before this is all over so really they’ll be surprise bulbs.
Remember last year when I wrote about loving the last place team?
Tonight I am going to my first western conference championship. We’ve got a little hole to dig ourselves out of, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility. I will be cheering my face off, and also wearing a lot of layers.
