Jam

Today was a beautiful, busy day.....I guess it is supposed to start raining tomorrow.  That's okay....my house is a disaster so I could use some inside days.

These days when I'm not outside I'm making jam....

I am going to be selling them at the Farmer's Market tomorrow, so I am up late tonight making tags...

Swing by the ANB Hall tomorrow and buy a jar!

Purple People Eaters!

Well, the boat left town yesterday.....without me!

However will they get along without me?!?!  Just kidding...Ron and Alex are on board to help.

I am staying in town for awhile to keep the garden open and take care of Levi...not that he needs a babysitter...I just think it's my job to be here with him as much as possible.

The weather was fantastic today...and NO BUGS!!!  I love it when it's like that.  Business has been good...I am running out of vegetables to sell people, but somehow they always manage to fill a bag or two.

This morning I harvested a potato plant.  I have been dying to see what's in one of those tubs ever since I got back from vacation and today I could not stand the suspense any longer!

I've got to say that it was the funnest thing I've harvested in the garden to date!!!

WHAT!!!???? Are you kidding me?!?!?!  Look at all the potatoes that grew from one potato start!!!

They aren't huge, but they are SO beautiful!!

Purple!!

It's That Time Of Year

A couple of days ago Rich and Suzanne left town and turned the boat back over to us....so that means we need to go back to work!

The day started out sunny and beautiful and stayed that way for quite a while.  It made loading the pickup very enjoyable.  The good news is that everything is out of the house!!  YEAH!!!!  Then we went to the store to buy groceries.  4 cart loads later we headed out the door of the grocery store and discovered it was dark and raining....like it was October or something!  The bad news is that we had the pickup without a canopy and by the time we got the groceries down to the boat they got very wet!

We worked late into the evening to get everything put away and then....grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonalds.....the irony of it all!

It Was A Glorious Day!!

The weather was fabulous today....and everywhere I went everyone was exclaiming what a beautiful day it was!  We obviously don't get enough sunshine, because it caused quite a stir!

Of course after church and lunch I headed for the garden.  The project of the day was to transplant the peppermint.  It's been growing it in a out of the way place where it's not getting any attention or nutrition.  It hasn't been spreading  which is good, but on the other hand it is not producing very much.

A couple of months ago my Mom gave me some money to buy some whiskey barrels to use in my herb garden...the perfect spot for the peppermint! 

Everything is growing and blooming!!

Even kitty enjoyed the sun!!

The Harvest Continues

It's Saturday, so of course we went garage saling!  It was an okay day - I got some canning jars.  I am going to need them because I will be making alot of jam!

When it rains people do not come to pick raspberries, and I'm closed on Sundays, so....guess what I do on rainy days and Sundays?

The raspberries need to be picked every other day, or they rot and make a mess and are wasted.  This is how much I got today...and I found these eggs!  Buried! In the raspberry patch!  AHHHHHHHHH!

Back At The Pool?

First thing this morning I headed down the the boat to shampoo the carpet, then I headed back home taking the long route through the coffee shop...Then I vacuumed the house and then I opened the garden.  After work I headed to the pool for Levi's first swim meet of the season.  That's right....Levi has rejoined the high school swim team after a 2 year break.

 photo from 2010

 photo from 2010

 photo from 2010

I thought our days of sweating in the bleachers with our eyes burning from the chemicals in the pool were gone forever, but we are back at it!

There were a few customers in the garden today.  It rained off and on, nothing major.   The raspberry bushes are loaded...and here I thought it was going to be a total crop failure!  They are a month late, but yummy as ever.  I have put up 2 of these containers in the freezer so far and plan to pick again tomorrow.  Customers pick some but they miss most of them...the ones that are hard to reach or hiding under leaves.

Finally, I spent the evening in my favorite spot, reading the paper. 

 All in all it was a good day!

Basket Love

This morning I when I woke up it was raining outside.  I was a little bummed because the first thing I needed to do was put together a gift basket.  Fortunately, by the time I got outside the rain had quit!  That was nice!

The basket turned out beautiful....I love making them this time of year because there are so many colorful things that are ripe for the picking...

Here is a peek inside...

You can't tell from these photos but there is a teapot shaped like an English cottage nestled down in there holding the flower arrangement...won't that be a nice surprise?

Once the basket was done I headed into town to deliver it to the recipient at her place of work....her friend bought it for her for a birthday gift!  Wasn't that nice?

Happy birthday Cory!

Huckleberries

Today I picked huckleberries!

 And, I had a helper!

Okay, maybe not so much a helper as much as a companion...

Lucy can't see the berries anymore but she knows they are there...she just sniffs and sniffs until I think she is going to hyperventilate and pass out!  

There are not as many huckleberries on our bushes this year as usual.  Most of the bushes are completely bare and some of them have just a smattering of berries...

But every once in a while there is a bush that is just loaded...

That is the way they usually look!  I usually get about 2, 5 gallon bucket fulls each season, and this time I only got 3 gallons total.  I use a berry picker, which is the only way to go.

I like to mix huckleberries 1/2 and 1/2 with my raspberries when I make jam.  The flavors blend together so nicely and the jam just tastes like raspberry jam.  The huckleberries don't break down enough to please Levi, so I throw them in the blender a little.   He doesn't like to see whole berries on his toast!  Hmmm, that's silly.

Back To Work

The first couple of days after I got back were sunny and beautiful!  That was a nice treat. Now it is a little gloomy but business has been brisk and there are loads of weeds to pull so it's back to work!

The cabbage and carrots are ready....

The Clustered Bellflowers are blooming...

And the celery is big enough to start harvesting stalks.  I didn't think it was going to make it this year!  I just love how celery tastes when it's grown here with plenty of shell material in the dirt...it's so sweet and crunchy and bold...

Here are a few of the Sitka "Fellows" that have taken up residence here for the next few months while they study and work on their projects....

I have been feeling a little snowed under trying to get things whipped back into shape and catching up on paperwork, but it's good to be back.  Just please, do not come and look at my dirty house!!!

Bizarre Foods

This past weekend was the Farmer's Market and there were some special guests there....Andrew Zimmern and the camera crew from The Food Network's show Bizarre Foods!

Apparently seaweed, blackcod tips and beach asparagus are bizarre!  I also saw them down at the dock doing business with our local diver, so they must have dived for some bizarre food too.

Look at them hamming it up with my friend, Kiki!

Hilarious!!

The garden got slightly run down while I was gone, but it was worth it!  I've been busy pulling weeds and tidying up the pea patch, but I've also taken the time to harvest the garlic...it is WONDERFUL!!!

The cloves are humongous!!

This one has only two cloves....look at how big they are!  Seriously...that is huge!  And they are not elephant garlic either...they are true hardneck garlic!

I love their flavor at this green uncured stage...today I shredded 1/2 a clove and smeared it around my bowl and filled the bowl with a Caesar salad.  It was absolutely heavenly!  I am not selling very much of the garlic this year as I am trying to build up my stock but there are a few here for sale.