Where We've Been

This blog has been seriously neglected for the past few months. It's not something I really intended to let lapse, other projects just took precedence for a while. Rebuilding the backyard and getting the garden set up again after everything was excavated to replace a sewer line consumed all of our weekends through March and much of April, but things are finally up and running. A detailed post on our new and improved plot will be forthcoming. I promise.

The other endeavor I've been devoting more attention to is my photography. I participated in a fantastic photography workshop in March, and spent nearly every spare moment in April to setting up shop. As of May 1, East End Portrait Photography is officially open for business! The blog launched yesterday, and I'm hoping to have a website up soon. (One thing at a time . . .) A second job, that's exactly what I needed, right?

And because life wouldn't be complete if I didn't find yet another project to focus my few free moments on, I have plans to redesign (and move) this blog as well. In the process of setting up the business blog, I found myself enamored with everything I could do with Wordpress, so I've made up my mind to move Postcards from the East End to a new site, with a new look. Just as soon as I get through about 16 other things on my to-do list. In the meantime, things may continue to be a little slow around here, but hang in there with me. I'll be back, and better than ever about keeping you posted on all that we're up to.

Perpetual Harvest

I'd never successfully cultivated any form of plant life until this year. Houseplants weren't an option since they would have fallen prey to pets. Plants I attempted to keep at my office inevitably withered from lack of water because I am used to the living things I care for reminding me of their need for sustenance (none of my animals have never been shy about that). But I really wanted this garden to work, and with a little luck - and Eric's greener thumbs - it has!

We've pulled fresh produce from our own backyard all summer long. The first cuttings of spinach mid-May were followed by garden peas and the never-ending supply of summer squash. One of my favorite meals this season was a Barley Risotto with Summer Vegetables, which I was able to put together with almost all home-grown ingredients from our early harvest. (Violet loved this dish too!)

And that was just the beginning. About month ago, we dug up about 40 pounds of potatoes, and plucked a plethora of baby carrots along with them. Today the squash is still coming, the corn is ripe, and the tomato plants (heirloom, roma and grape) are producing almost more than we can keep up with. We're about to begin picking a lot of peppers as well: there's fruit appearing on almost all 10 of our sweet pepper plants, in addition to our 15 or so varieties of hot peppers that are putting out even more.

A couple of weeks ago, we retilled several beds whose crops had exhausted themselves and replanted with some that can withstand the increasing chill in the autumn air: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and more peas, carrots, spinach and salad greens. We're looking forward to continuing to pull more good food from the garden for at least another couple of months. I've also set my sights on preserving what we can't consume immediately - Julie from Chez Artz piqued my interest in canning some staples like tomatoes. That may be a bit ambitious for me, admitted amateur gardener, but I'd like to give it a try!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

See for yourself! This is currently the most prolific section of our garden. The corn is crazy tall, and heirloom and grape tomatoes (to the right of the corn) are exploding, though still green. But the summer squash (in front, from left to right: scallop squash, yellow squash, zucchini and lemon cucumbers) is already ripe, and we're inundated with it.

Zucchini is featured frequently at our house right now, with the most recent rendition Stuffed Zucchini with Potatoes and Peas. Also on the menu this week: zucchini, black bean and corn enchiladas and zucchini-based faux crab cakes (I'm told Old Bay seasoning makes these vegetarian cakes taste just like the real thing . . . we'll see).

The peas were somewhat short lived. We picked a bowlful about a month ago, and then the plants promptly died. Beans were equally disappointing this year; though the plants we have continue to thrive, only a few ever came up - despite three rounds of planting from different seed packets.

Our formerly lush potato plants have also begun to shrivel up and die, which I understand is an indication that the potatoes themselves are ready to harvest. We'll dig one up this weekend and see. I did pull up an onion last weekend, and they still have some growing to do. Carrots and celery will be ready soon, and peppers are just coming on. We're big pepper people, we like 'em both hot and sweet, so we're looking forward to that crop.

And for dessert . . . last night I tasted our first homegrown blackberry. Yum!

Our Own Private Produce Section (Or, We Try Our Hand(s) at Organic Gardening)

Having determined that we wanted to feed Violet organic food as much as possible, we were presented with the question of the best place to obtain it. We're fortunate in that we have several options where we live, including the local Co-op and the Saturday Farmer's Market, as well as the standard grocery store. But, we thought, why not grow as much of it ourselves as we can, and just shop to fill in the gaps? Maybe because with an infant and trying to get a new business off the ground, we didn't need to take on one more project. But we did it anyway.

The garden was something of an impulse this year, so at the end of March when we began working on it, we were scrambling. To start things off, we pulled up the sod in the strip in front of and on the east side of the garage, and tilled the ground there. Eric built 4 garden boxes to fit the space: two 2 x 8 boxes, one 4 x 12, and a 3 x 3 x 3 x 8 trapezoid to fill the half circle already curbed in front. We also purchased and assembled a fifth box that came with a frame to support a greenhouse cover or shade cover.

We filled each of the beds with composted soil we had delivered, and Eric rigged up an intricate irrigation system of drip hoses that allows us to water each bed individually. Although April in Boise is too cold to plant most crops, the greenhouse bed gave us the opportunity to get a few things going. We planted some salad basics there (spinach, lettuce, mixed greens, and carrots) as well as cilantro, and tomato and pepper seeds we planned to move once they were started.

That done, we moved on the the section of the yard along the back fence, which happened to be occupied by a beautiful (cough, cough) water feature that never served any purpose other than to cultivate a rich bed of algae each summer. Tearing that out was quite a task - I even got to swing a sledgehammer for the first time. Once we cleared the space, Eric built another 5 beds: four 2 x 12 beds and one 1 x 5 for herbs.

Planting took place throughout this process, as some crops (like spinach, lettuce and other greens) could withstand colder temperatures. Even Violet participated, and everything was in by mid-May: peas, beans, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, arugula, mixed greens, tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers (hot and sweet, and lots of them), yellow squash, zucchini, scallop squash, cucumber, butternut squash, sweetmeat squash, black futsu squash, Melonette Jaspee De Vendee squash, corn, raspberries, blackberries, marionberries and tayberries.

It looked like things were really taking off, particularly in the greenhouse bed, until we saw upon closer inspection last weekend that much of what was thriving was weeds. They were rampant in two of the beds, but the others appear to have been spared any significant infestation. We logged some hours last weekend weeding, and are hoping we have things under control now. Pests aren't a huge problem yet, but we're actively researching organic methods of pest control to prepare ourselves for what's probably coming. (Ladybugs are one option I think sounds like fun!) It does take more effort to grow food organically, but the benefits make it absolutely worth it.

As of this past weekend, the peas, potatoes and onions are thriving, carrots and celery appear to be progressing, and corn and squash are starting to pop up. Tomatoes have been transplanted, and the bare spots in the two weed-ravaged beds replanted with quicker-growing greens. About a week ago, we were able to cut our first homegrown salads! As for the rest of the crops, we'll have to wait a while. And weed . . .