Can't keep a secret...

...thanks, Chicken Mama, for outing me!  Yes, it's my birthday... so what?!  I'm now have feet firmly planted in the 40's, so what of it LOL?!

I've probably used this photo before, that's me at age 2.  I obviously need to ransack my mom's photo stash when I get home next time, I need more variety!

I got this card from my mom, she knows me so well :)

So what did I do today?  Nothing earth shattering, that's for sure.  I did some garden chores - I'll fill you in on that in a moment, but I did get to go to the library and coffeeshop all by myself, and that's a fantastic present in my book!  After that it was all downhill, I spent the afternoon cleaning my desk, files and rebalancing our 401K, no kidding LOL.  Hubby's working nights so I had to slog through making dinner for the kids, too.  I will however, treat myself to an early bedtime for the kids and starting a new book for me tonight!

Other news:  oh yes, count them... that's now THREE herding dogs, and still no sheep.  Ha, I'm petsitting a friend/neighbor's dog, although it's really not difficult at all since we love Neptune and he's a good boy :)  

I spent yesterday evening re-spraying tomatoes after a day of rain.  The Brandywines are still holding strong, but the Amish Paste are now a lost cause and were completely ripped out this morning.  

It's okay though, because I hear 41 is the new 31, I decided that beans are the new tomatoes, and planted some in the blighted bed :)  I'll be alright :(

I did get a harvest today, a little of this, a little of that...

Remainder of the almost-ripe Amish Paste, Red Zebras, Persian Pickling cucumbers that were hiding and got too big, and just a handful of beans.

I spent another 30 minutes or so just tidying things up, removing bird netting from maturing plants and re-tying peppers, since the temps are supposed to be near 100 the next 2 days, so I wanted to get this stuff done.

These are my Poblano peppers... aren't they freakishly tall?!

Green Tomato Pie

I did it!  A good old fashioned Green Tomato Pie, just like the one Ma Ingalls made, hopefully!    This has deep roots in the midwest where they would use it as a way to prepare all the green tomatoes still on the vine upon the first frost, although it has become a standard in the South too, evidenced by the fact that I used a recipe from Southern cooking diva, Paula Deen.  While I'm not a huge fan of hers, not because of dislike but rather that I don't watch cooking shows, I do know of her reputation of a home cookin' type gal.  You can find the recipe by clicking on her name above.  I found it to be really sweet, maybe a bit too syrupy sweet for my liking since I like my apple pie stacked thin and high and on the dry side, and I never cook my fillings beforehand.  I don't think there is a way to get around having a syrupy filling here however, due to the nature of tomatoes.... they're wet!

Started with...

Sliced for the pie...

The finished product:

It is purported to taste similar to an apple pie, so upon serving it, I told the kids it was a special kind of apple called a Pseudo Apple.  Hey, I'm not lying :)  It did smell and sort of taste like an apple pie, but what wouldn't being cooked with all that nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar LOL?

Here's the reaction, the kids do not know it's tomatoes - 

Would I make it again?  Yes, but only if I could get rid of it in one night, like a novelty item served to gardeners at a party!  This is one of those things that isn't bad at all, but it's a lot of work to not be a much beloved apple pie LOL.  Plus, as soon as the kids realize what it is, they won't eat it, and it will sit in the fridge all week.  So I highly recommend it for an "event" as a fun thing to serve and get oohs and ahhhs as to your garden cooking prowess, but don't make a whole pie just for yourself, it's not that good :)

I'm hoping to do pickled green tomatoes next.  I figure it will be nice practice so for the future I will immediately know what to do with green tomatoes!

This is just for fun... this is what happens when you tell your kids "no tv today, make your own fun"!

Finnegan-Monster

It was the perfect day for experimenting, rain all day and the temp even dropped from the mid 80's in late morning all the way down to 67 degrees by mid afternoon.  I just went out and surveyed a lot of wind damage, ugh - and temps are once again climbing tonight, we are supposed to be 98 by Wednesday :(

Father's Day Weekend Wrap - Up!

Our party last night went great, met some fantastic new people and enjoyed conversation about gardens and where our food comes from with people whose eyes don't glaze over - you know what I mean, don't you?!  :)

Lots of kids here last night, I lost count LOL but they all seemed to have a good time in spite of temps in the mid 90's still at 6 pm.

Some of the "grown-ups", I'm in the blue ball cap and the gal I'm talking to in the black shirt is the much loved Gina of the  "Miss Gina let us gather the eggs, mom!" fame :)

not children, but not really "grown-ups" yet, either... LOL

More kids... it seemed we were growing them on vines last night!

Is this the best hostess gift ever?  Two guesses where the zinnias & eggs came from  :)

Thanks, Gina!

On to today - I did not get around to dealing with all the green tomatoes, but I had enough ripe Amish Paste to make a quart of sauce.  I also harvested some marjoram, oregano and basil to go in there with the last of last year's garlic.  Not much, but it will get used this week so at least I didn't have to fire up the canner just yet.  I will definitely be getting to the green tomatoes tomorrow.

Other than sauce making and bread baking early, it was Father's Day, and Daddy wanted to go swimming so that's what we did.  We didn't go to the beach but instead the pool on base, knowing it would be much less crowded today as well as a bit cooler, since their whole pool deck is full of big umbrellas.

Even though it was 91 out today, it stayed pretty gray and windy which made it tolerable.  We got our swimming done just as they were talking of closing the pool before the t-storms moved in.

The beans are finally coming in!  Hubby got a nice Father's Day meal with his favorites, steak, stuffed potatoes, beans and bread.  Maybe not the most imaginative thing, but definitely comfort food.

My dad was off flying to CT this weekend having a reunion with old submarine buddies so I'm sure he had a great Father's Day weekend even though he's in the air right now and I can't call him - Happy Father's Day, Dad!

This video is for my mom - she doesn't care for swimming at all, although she is very happy I'm sure that all of her offspring do swim LOL - but Loch went off the diving board today and wanted to "freak out grandma", so here ya go, mom - that's 12 feet of water your 8 year old grandson is jumping into :)

And Happy Father's Day to all of you, hope you were able to spend it with a special Dad, enjoy being that special Dad or talking about memories of a special dad with your family!

Green Tomatoes, anyone?

We have plenty!

Last night we were ruthless in cleaning out all branches that had any signs whatsoever of blight.  We ended up pulling 2 more Amish Paste and 2 Red Zebra plants.  I did the "pointing" and hubby did the trimming and pulling so I could remain "uninfected".  I then sprayed them liberally to the point of runoff starting with the Brandywine bed which still looks fantastic, although we found a couple of branches that looked ill at the very bottom.  Hopefully we caught those early enough.  We ended the spraying with the Amish Paste bed, which was the worst by a long shot.

I also found what may be blight spreading to the bed of pepperoncini.  Luckily my pepper beds are all over the garden, not just in one place.  This one got sprayed too.

Lesson learned:  go for the big bottle of concentrate right off the bat.  I first bought the ready to use bottle for $11.99 and ran out before even treating half the bed.  I went back, bought the $25 bottle of concentrate and a mini tank sprayer and after treating all the beds the way they are supposed to be done, to the point of saturation and runoff, I still have over 3/4 of a bottle left!

The good news is, we planted some new tomatoes in place of the old (there was nowhere else to put them and they were only $1 apiece), and will spray them preventatively.  This will also serve to let me know if it will work to plant tomatoes next year if I spray ahead of time.  Rotation is not a viable option in a backyard environment, as this stuff spreads all over anyways, as shown by this year's stuff.  They were planted in 4 different locations and still showed symptoms.

More good news below, the Hillbilly heirlooms planted in-ground are still looking good.

The Brandywine bed looks really good, amazing since it's literally 2 feet away from the affected Red Zebra bed.

So now what to do with all the green tomatoes that got pulled?  Lots of good ideas out there for salsas, chutneys and sauces, but I'm intrigued by these too!

Pickled Green Tomatoes

Green Tomato Pizza!

Tomorrow will be my day to create something, but I have a feeling it will be this...

Good old fashioned Green Tomato Pie, just like the one Caroline Ingalls baked for Charles one year when the crops were failing but they had an abundance of green tomatoes.  Y'all know I'm a sucker for anything Ma Ingalls, the woman is my superheroine!

Tonight I'm hosting a Garden Round-Robin here.  Our garden group tries to get together for a social event in a different members' garden once a month for ideas, snooping around other peoples' gardens and good food, drinks and conversation.  It's 96 degrees here now and I expect it will be much the same at 5 when the party starts, but the humidity is only 50% which makes it tolerable.  Usually humidity here is way higher, with the dewpoint near 70.  I wouldn't want to work in it, LOL... but a party should be okay!

I hope to have an update and a green tomato recipe for you soon!  

No more classes, no more books...

...you know the rest of the rhyme, but doesn't apply here!

These are the women that are responsible for raising my kids for the majority of their days.  I appreciate them more than they will ever know.  I could go on and on about the impact they have had on my kids, but I'm sure you all know from your own experiences with your childrens' teachers.  

Mrs. D - I don't know how she does it, her entire class is comprised of kids just like Loch, never ending questions and a desire to learn that is never quenched, but she does it very well, and with a always with a smile, but I bet she rolls her eyes a lot on the inside :)

We have some "big news" that I kept putting off sharing, but I can't keep it to myself any longer - Loch was selected to attend the Math & Science Academy for the Gifted starting in the fall.  We knew he was a little smarty-pants but what do we know, we're his parents - of course we think that!  He was identified as gifted through district testing back in 1st grade, and attended the in-school gifted class in 2nd grade, but Mrs. D urged us to apply for one of the few spots available in the Math and Science Academy.  With only 20 slots open and hundreds of kids district wide applying, I was cautiously optimistic, but we got the letter of acceptance over a month ago.  He is already registered and ready to rock!  The school isn't that much further away luckily, and they provide transportation to the students throughout the city so I don't have to worry about that either.  I'm so incredibly excited for him - of course about the academics, but even more so about the social aspect of being around other kids that are much like him.  I expect the bully/nerd thing he has been experiencing will ease up a bit for him.  I'm so proud of Loch and so fortunate to have had Mrs. D urge us to apply and make sure Loch has been challenged and socially accepted within his classroom the past year, she's just awesome! :)

Mrs. P - the quintessential kindergarten teacher.  Always smiling, greets each child with a hug or handshake, their preference LOL, each and every day.  She's expecting her very first child of her own and I'm so excited for her.  Finn was very sad to move on today and made me promise we'd go back to her class next year to visit so he can bring her a basket of garden goodies.  

Proud Daddy - he missed Loch's events at school due to the past 2 deployments, but he was able to make it this time.

Finn's classroom.  We are in the biggest elementary school in the district with 10 kindergarden classes alone, yet there are only 12 kids per class so I have been ecstatic about the quality time with the teacher he receives while he's learning.

Last but certainly not least - Ms. Angela!  How the heck she does it with this smile on her face every day I'll never know.  Bus full of screaming little kids, no A/C, 98 degree temps, always on time, yet she always looks as happy as this. Finn and Loch gave her a little patio tomato plant today to show our appreciation for all she does.

I feel fortunate to be so happy with our experiences with public school, in a city with a population of half a million people even!  Not everyone is this lucky, and it is so important we  change this, but I won't get started on the politics of education, it's just preaching to the choir.  :)

Mrs. D, Mrs. P, Ms. Angela - thanks ladies, you rock!

OK, I'm BACK!

Debit card, check!  Big Girl panties, check!  Ch-Chnk - hear the shotgun being cocked? 

 Game ON!

By 7:30 am I was on my way to my favorite little nursery, favorite because they give a discount to Master Gardeners and carry lots of organic weapons and seedlings.  Sadly, it was not to be, the seedlings all looked like they had blight, LOL I told you I'm seeing it everywhere now!

Peel outta there, going to check the big bad box store... nothing interesting there in the way of tomatoes, but I did get these...

2 flats of petunias and marigolds for $1.75 per flat!  Why?  I guess because they didn't have any flowers on them and needed to be deadheaded, haha, they're mine now!

Next stop, the local Disneyland of nurseries...

Repeat after me:  stay focused!

Focus....

oh look, Sweet Potatoes - FOCUS!

Don't look into the light!

What the heck is THIS?  For real?  $299.00?????  More power to them, I guess.

Finally, I've arrived.

No more screwing around with $12 ready to spray bottles that won't even treat one bed, I spent $25 for the concentrate and $7 for the spray bottle.  I'll be dousing the Brandywines liberally to try and save them, since they showed no signs of blight until late last night.

I also cleaned them out of the last Juliet tomatoes.  I hear they are one of the most Early Blight resistant 'maters out there, if there is such a thing.  Unfortunately it thunderstormed last night and this morning and is expected to be in the 90's, the worst thing for spreading blight, but I'll be out there this evening after dinner with bells on!  I'm not going down without a fight.... "$64 Dollar Tomato", anyone?  LOL I might need to re-read that book, I believe I may have upped that by a few dollars :)

The writing is on the wall...

How easily it all can turn.  I had some stunning seedlings this year, some of the best ever, actually.  I really felt this was going to be the best year ever for tomatoes.  I had more growth than I'd ever seen, strong stems, was religious about trimming them and supporting them, and I'd never seen so much fruit set before.  

Today I actually cried.  At first I just picked up my shears (always disinfected nowadays) and started trimming off the blight exactly where I stopped yesterday, and the day before.  The spray is having no effect, and it's spreading.  As I watched the leaves pile up in the trash I just sat down on the raised bed and cried.  I've never cried over the garden before, I feel like a crazy lady!  

Of course the truth is I could go to the Farmer's Market to buy tomatoes, but my job is to grow food for my family.  I pride myself on my ability to grow, preserve and serve as much of my hard work as possible and even though I know it happens to everyone sooner or later, I feel like a failure!  There's no way I could ever afford to buy farmer's market tomatoes for canning (can you imagine purchasing a few hundred pounds?!) and I really wouldn't even want to, even those sit around for awhile and aren't as fresh as mine, and damnit, it's just not the same!  So what do I do, give up for the year?

Here's the update:

The entire Amish Paste bed looks as if it will be ripped out this weekend.  Definitely 2 of the 3 Red Zebra will have to go.  I found 2 branches on the bottom of a Hillbilly plant, and even found signs on the Brandywines tonight that weren't there at 2 pm today.

Above, 4 total Amish Paste have now been removed.  Below, just hoping some of these will ripen before I yank the rest of the bed.  There are loads of fruit on these, but every hour it seems there are more branches yellow and dead.

The Brandywines look amazing in the below photo taken today about 1 pm, but this evening I pulled 2 lower branches on the back side and sprayed the remaining drops of copper fungicide I had.  I will probably go out and buy some more to try and save these, the Amish Paste were too far gone by the time I sprayed them.  I can't really afford to do this, though, at what point do I call "time"?!

I've been kind of a zombie all afternoon and evening, my poor kids know something is up - I'm short tempered and on the verge of tears every time I look out the back door.  How crazy is that?  To be crying over some tomato plants?  I even tried to look at the bright side, it obviously means that this type of life and eating is the norm here, the food I grow is the only source of vegetables, I haven't been to the produce section of a grocery store for veggies in over 2 years except onions and potatoes.  I think this is why I'm affected so badly, I pride myself on having good things stashed away for winter and it looks like I may have nothing to show for my efforts this year.  I've also noticed 2 leaves on my pepper plants that look the same tonight.  But at what point am I just seeing blight everywhere I look, no matter if it's real or not LOL?

Should I attempt to grow more seedlings from a resistant variety?  Should I buy resistant "big box" varieties of unknown origin (yikes)?  Do I give up on tomatoes this year?  I will definitely have to grow resistant hybrids for the next couple of years probably until it's out of the soil, unless we get some consistent 20 degree weather this winter, that's unlikely.  At least I have time before next year to find resistant varieties that come from a responsible source.  

Since I felt particularly unlucky today, hubby and Finn planted my gourd and zucchini seedlings for me :)

Finn hugged me and told me he was sad for my tomatoes too, and that he named his plant, it's an Ornamental Gourd he called "Mental Gourds" and the zucchini is "Pythorius Redonculus"... which means absolutely nothing but is so cute I had to laugh.

As a sidenote:  Sometimes I feel like the family doesn't notice or appreciate all the hard work that goes into what arrives on their plates and fills the cupboards and freezer.  I often feel like tapping the mike..."hey, is this thing on??"  Then Loch came home with a letter he had written that his teacher had sent home today, this darn near made me a sobbing mess, but it's why I do what I do, and wow... the kid notices!

  

Thanks in advance for your kind words, I know they are headed my way and that's the reason I had to vent this evening!  I never feel in competition with any of my blogger family and feel utterly comfortable in sharing my failures, I know we all have them sooner than later, but it sure does seem many of us are having more than our share in 2011.  Honestly, when I was trimming blight I thought of how fun it would be for everyone to bring their blight, bugs, downed trees and drowned seedlings to a group bonfire, we could all pass a bottle while throwing our stuff to the fire and having a little chit chat with Mother Nature!

p.s.  don't worry, I'm sure the big girl panties will show up soon and I will put them on and brush myself off and come up with a plan!  :)

Here's another kicker:  I'm hosting a garden party Saturday night for a local group of gardeners, looks like they'll be able to get a better visual of disease symptoms than they can get from textbook photos!