Planting Sweetcorn And Zinnias. Sweetcorn Update. 6.4.22

 Today I cleared two of the last three seed bed areas.    Not ideal weather, drizzle and rain.  But it's now or never.  I worked from the sides, turning over the soil, smoothed with garden rake, and planted seeds.

The first batch of sweetcorn is growing.  That was Orchard Baby.  Something is pulling up some of the corn plants, despite fencing.  My guess is birds.

Tomorrow I'll put a net over the seedlings.  I didn't think of that until now.

Edit:  The adage for planting grains and beans, is "Four seeds in a row, one for the rook, one for the crow, one will wither and one will grow."  A rook is a bird similar to a crow.  I've also seen "Four seeds in a row, one for the mouse, one for the crow, one will wither and one will grow. I decided to go out and put down a net after all.  Who knows, tomorrow the plants may all be gone, and whose fault would that be if I don't protect them?  Mine!

Flowers. 6.4.22

 Mock Orange.

Roses

Itoh Peony

Tomato Update. 6.4.22

 The dwarf tomatoes are looking pretty good.  I need to redo paper mulch, which is deteriorating due to the rains.  Maybe cardboard would be better.

Sauce tomatoes.  They are a bit behind the dwarf tomatoes, because I started them later.  The green on the right is cilantro.  The green on the left is carrots.

This is Dwarf Johnson Cherry in the grow-bag planter.  Planted later and different soil.  I gave it some Tomato fertilizer and I think it is starting to perk up.  The basil couldn't handle the chilly weather.

No, I Won't Get Out Of Bed. Go Away! 6.4.22

 No, I won't get up!

Nope.  Not gonna happen.  Go. Away!

q

Make your own coffee!  That's not what dogs do!

Bearded Irises. 5.31.22

 They are in my "garden of shame" (LOL), so called because of weeds.

I will get those weeds out of there.  I really will.

Raspberries In Bloom. 5.31.22

 Unknown variety of thornless raspberry.  They are blooming like crazy.

I'm happy to see some pollinating honeybees.

Lattarula and Desert King Fig Notes. And More. 5.31.22

 Here are the figs now on the Lattarula fig tree.

Here is Desert King.

Brunswick has a few.  Most of the developing figs fell off, usual for that variety.  It looks like Sicilian White will have a few summer figs too.

Here is the Hardy Chicago that I bought and planted during the winter. It survived.  I should pull weeds, and fertilize it.

Squash Bed Now Fenced and Drip Irrigation Installed. 5.31.22

 Not much to look at, but with the drip irrigation my water hauling labor in the hot sun has been cut in half.  Deer usually don't try to cross this fencing.  For the squashes, I used 1 gal/hr emitters.  Last year I gave each squash plant about a gallon per day during hot dry weather, so it's easy to calculate they will need one hour of drip irrigation per day.

I had to install a new T-junction and shut-off valve.   The old ones were cracked and leaky. The rest was easier.

Magpie Ducks Growing Up. 5.31.22

 Here they are with their Indian Runner Duck friend.  She was lonely before they came along - her companions were murdered by a vicious serial killer.   My guess, raccoon or possum.  Or maybe a feral cat. Now they have a fortress for safety.  The duck sisters all seem to be female, but no eggs for another few months.

Brutally Pruned Hardy Chicago Fig Tree is Growing Again. 2.30.22

 This is the tree that I attacked with a pruning saw in March (I think).  Now every node has a healthy looking shoot.

Will it bear fruit this year?  Maybe.  This tree bears on new growth, in August or September.  It's possible.

More Work in Potatoville. 5.30.22

 Today I finished filling in all of the potato trenches.  Now the potato gnome can hide spuds among their roots.

When they are a little bigger, I'll hill up the plants will soil from between the rows.  Meanwhile, they are  nice and healthy and tidy.

Mushrooms. 5.30.22

 Mushrooms are growing all over the place.

What's Blooming? 5.30.22

 A nice red poppy.

A nice yellow peony.  This one came with the old house.  Nice fragrance.

What's Blooming?. 5.27.22

 Horse Chestnut.

Red Peony

Irises

Pawpaws Are Blooming. 5.27.22

 The Pawpaw trees are blooming.  I started hand pollinating them today.

Hilling Up Potatoes. 5.27.22

 Most of the potato trenches are filled in and the earliest ones, planted in Feb, are hilled up a bit.  I have 1 1/2 rows remaining to fill in, the late varieties.

The container potatoes are looking nice too.  The ones in the new planter box are now filled to the top.

The potatoes I planted in the bags are also growing.  I may run out of soil to fill these up.  Maybe arborist  mulch will work.

This might be "The Year Of The Potato" LOL

Fig Update. 5.27.22

 Some of the fig trees look promising for early summer crops.

Desert King.

Lattarula.

White Sicilian.

If all goes well, these could give a June crop. These are reliable varieties for me.   I bought yellow jacket bait for when they ripen and yellow jackets try to destroy them all.

Lentil Loaf. 2.25.22

 I've been trying to find a good recipe for Lentil Loaf.  It's a vegetarian comfort food version of meat loaf. My mom made meat loaf, a comforting memory, but I haven't had meat for forty years.  I used to make a recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine, I think about 1995.  However, it was too complicated, called for a binder/filler ingredient I can't find easily (I forget - maybe kashi?) and crumbled too easily.

So, I looked at other recipes and combined parts into this one and left out some things I don't think were useful.

This actually turned out pretty good.  I think it was a big improvement as far as texture or consistency, over the original.  It needs some refining but so far, so good.  Here is the current recipe, I guess a "work i  progress".

Two cups rinsed brown lentils.  - bring to a boil in six cups of water, boil 40 min.  Lentils soak up all of the water and will be tender.  Let them cool off about 30 min so the eggs wont scramble when added.

Combine -

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup oats (I used old fashioned but instant oats might have been better)

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dehydrated chopped garlic (I made this a while back)

2 teaspoons dehydrated tomato powder (I made this a while back)

2 tablespoons tomato sauce

about 1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.

Sautè

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped carrot

Now combine the lentils, the dry mixture, two eggs (well stirred), the sautéed vegetables.  I tried using the mixer, the blades gummed up too much so I used the dough hooks.  I left it a bit chunky but a lot of the lentils were mashed.

Line 8 inch bread pan with parchment paper.   Transfer the loaf to the bread pan (there was too much.  I baked the rest is a small glass dish).

Bake 40 min.  Take out of oven.  Coat the top with catsup.  Bake another 15 min.  Remove from over.  Let cool before removing parchment paper.

When hot, this was a little crumbly.  Fully cooled, this loaf cut almost like a real meat loaf.  A bit more firm.   I thought this was great on sandwiches with mayo, mustard, relish.

Next time, I may increase the sesame oil (for umami), and the garlic.  I think instant oats would bind better than traditional oats, although the texture was already quite good.  A little olive oil might make it more juicy but will that make it more crumbly?  Also, maybe red lentils might give a better color but I don't know if that would change the texture.