recovery

I am exhausted but well fed. Today I was able to get down to my garden and work for the first time in a while. With all the rain my garden has been hard to get to. I went down, weeded my perimeter, strung up the snap peas (they seem to have ignored the framework I made for them so I had to 'guide' them with the help of twine), evaluated all the work I will have to do over the next few days, and then collected some lettuce, mesclun and snap peas.

I forgot to take my camera with me to the garden, but I doubt I would have taken many pictures -- the place is a mess. You'll get photos, dear reader, once I've tidied up a bit!

Tonight I cooked up the first batch of snap peas. I also roasted a couple of chicken thighs.

The chicken was seasoned with bay leaves, chopped garlic, paprika and kosher salt. The Snap peas were lightly stir fried in almond oil with chopped garlic, kosher salt and a tiny dash of black pepper. Was it yummers? You bet it was! I am surprised at how sweet the snap peas are -- they're almost too sweet!

Well as I said, I am exhausted. I'm going to take a walk and then it's bed time!

Biblical moisture

So it has been raining.

and raining...

And Raining.

Here is a quote from a Rueters article published on the 22nd:

With 15 days of rain in the first 21 days of June, New York City is on track for an all-time record in days and amount, Planalytics said. June is also set to be one of the city's coolest in 50 years, Planalytics added.

We don't live in the city but we certainly got rain here! The gardens flooded. Luckily the flood didn't come from the river this time as it usually does. This is all ground water. The earth isn't able to absorb all of this rain fast enough and there hasn't been enough hot sun to evaporate what isn't absorbed. Many people at the community gardens have lost the fruits of their labour.

So far I am lucky. My raised beds have saved the day! My plants aren't exactly happy (except the lettuce) but they are surviving well enough. Here are some pictures from yesterday:

a couple of days ago all of the trenches were full of water now they are just very wet

my cilantro is really taking off now, hopefully my basil and oregano will follow suit

you see the the little pepper? well, I'M excited...

I would like to thank my friend Franklin for the lovely photos above. I didn't have my camera but luckily he was around to be a hero. Franklin has wonderful blog named Have mat, will travel. Check it out!

the great sense of passing through

So the garden I have is part of a community garden initiative. The full plot is 20' by 30' in size. I use half of a plot and my friend, Jill, uses the other half. On the 11th I got a call from Jill. She is considering moving from town (and the state of NY), can't afford to live here, and has no time to take care of her garden. So I guess it is my inheritance now. Her side needs a little work but I am happy for all the extra space.

This is an early map of the garden I made before I started to break ground. You can see Jill's section above.

Jill told me that she feels like she can't make it in this town. Like she has to move on to somewhere else. Like she's been dealt bad cards. I hope that she finds what she is looking for. That she gets a hand-hold on her life. That she starts to feel empowered -- like the author of her own life and not a character in a script written by the fates.

I will definitely miss her and my heart goes out to her.

After she called me a song came to my mind, and now I think of it whenever I think of her. The song is called "Northern Skies" and it is the last track on Paolo Nuniti's first album, "These Streets". I have included it below -- a dedication to Jill.

Broccoli Raab!

I found out last week that broccoli raab goes to seed very rapidly and knew that I urgently needed to harvest what I had. I went to the garden and sure enough there were tiny flowers starting to form all over my rapini! I took most of the florets with a decent amount of shoots and some leaves (for the spicy flavor they have) while tipsy on mead at 12:30 Saturday afternoon.

Yesterday (Tuesday the second) I finally cooked these puppies up. I cooked them on low heat in peanut oil with shallots, garlic, and a little kosher salt while two small steaks were being broiled in the oven. It was my first time cooking rapini and only my second time eating it. My belief that it is one of the most delicious vegetables was confirmed.
Here are some pictures!


a little salad on the side, with some lettuce from Steve's garden, mesclun from my own, garden crest from my neighbor, and carrots.


yummers!

Garden Photos: May 27th

My plants are really shooting up now! All of the seeds I planted have shown themselves (although the herbs in the middle bed are barely visible). Last week I got seedlings from a local farm. I bought a variety of peppers which got planted amongst the onions, and I bought sweet tomatoes which I planted in the broccoli raab bed, and regular tomatoes which I put with the collards. I will probably have to thin the collards out some once they start to get bigger to further accommodate the tomato plants.




pepper plants in the foreground, broccoli raab is in the background on the left, and lettuce and mesclun on the right.


broccoli raab getting bigger.


i will be gathering mesclun soon!


snap peas will need something to climb in a week or so.


collards are finally coming up!


close up of the broccoli raab. tiny holes from flying insects. i'll get those buggers soon!


tomato bloom in the foreground, and snap peas behind it.


little shoots of onion.

Garden Photos: May 13th

At this point all of the work is complete. All of the paths are covered with cardboard and wood chips. All seeds are planted (collard greens had to be replanted) and things are really starting to grow!


a view from the front.



a view from the rear.


mesclun and lettuce coming along...


the beginnings of broccoli raab.


snap peas.

Garden Photos: May 7th

These first photos were taken after most of the setup was already complete. I had already turned and tilled the soil, created the beds, mixed manure into the top soil, planted my seeds, and laid cardboard and wood chips on some of my paths.


front view.


my five beds.


lettuce and mesclun are coming up!


snap peas.


snap peas, close up.