Day 3 - Creativity in the Garden

Today we spent time outside working in our gardens. Really, what's more creative than that?

Here's my gardener. Isn't he hunky? 

Also, I sent him to Lowe's for mulch and he came back with the mulch AND this Wine & Rose Wiegela. How awesome is that?

  

This is the same garden from two different views. The front of this one was very full and making me really happy. The back was looking a little empty so we added two different ornamental grasses (moved from the backyard) and some of "Grandma" Betty's daisies (also from the backyard).

Here's the back garden. I honestly can't remember how many years it's been since we started it but it has plants from at least three friends yards and that's just awesome. It makes me think of them every time I look at it. 

This is just a little area we've carved out in a corner. Again, I don't really remember putting those daisies there with the ornamental grass. We call them "junkyard" daisies because they can and do pretty much spread themselves and thrive anywhere.

This is along a fence in our back yard. My favorite is the lilacs that are already way past flowering for this year. But I also really love the Rose of Sharon that also can from a friend.

This area has become the herb garden. They all do very well here. We have chives, tarragon, basil, lemon balm, lavender. Cilantro is elsewhere in the yard. 

Finally, here's a quick look at the front walk. We moved these two hosta plants from the back yard to the front. Precious few plants have thrived in this area because of the amount of roots in the soil and the fact that this is a highly shaded area (our house faces north). Here's hoping the hostas do well. 

Reboot Day 2 - Bread! Give me bread!

Ok, so bread is not the thing that I've been craving the most today, but I have been wanting it. And not just any bread. I'm talking warm, sweet, buttery bread. Yeah.

I also wanted a banana at breakfast time. I usually just grab one because they're quick and easy. I started to grab one and had to stop myself. It also made me think about how very much of my eating behavior is simply mindless. A banana may not seem like a big deal but then what happens when you eat mindlessly all day long? A few M&M's aren't so bad. But, as I've said before, they gang up on you!

My friend Kalai wrote an article about all of the times she had to say "just this one time, I'm not going to have it." I think it's a great article about how many times we have to say "no" to our own wants over the course of a week. Don't let yourself be fooled. This stuff is hard to do!

To start out today I had apple juice. These five apples became 20 ounces of juice. 

(Update: Aaaaaaand sometimes, you hit the "publish post" button before you mean to. Sorry about that folks. I intended to finish this post and share it later. Since I've already posted this much, I'll leave it for now and just add to it later in the day.) 

Update 9:06 pm

Hi. I'm back to finish the post I started earlier. Turns out, it really wasn't a bad thing I did that because I don't really have much to share right now. I feel a little like I'm wilting.

I have a small (tolerable) headache, my energy is low but I don't feel tired, and I'm really wanting something to eat. Almost anything. I also know that if I eat something now, I won't want to stop. Now is not the time to give in.

I know I can do this. I really, really want to do this. I will do this. Maybe tomorrow morning will be easier. G'night.

Reboot Day 1 - The one where I learn what kale is

Last night I wasn't sleeping and I found another food documentary on Netflix. And why not, really? It is our national obsession. One of them, anyway.

I'll cut to the chase and tell you that today is officially Day 1 of my 10-Day juice fast. Oh boy. That freaks me out just typing that. Thinking about my schedule this week is a little concerning as well. How am I going to do this? Bring juice with me seems to be the only option. Not sure how that's going to work out. More on that later, I guess.

In the film, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, the juice they mention many times is the "mean green." I made some today and thought it might be helpful to share with you how that went.

The original recipe for the "mean green" juice can be found on the Facebook page FAQ for the movie. The only change I made to this first one was that I left out the ginger. I've had juices with it before and don't really enjoy the aggressive spicy-ness of the ginger.

I also got to learn what kale looks like. To my knowledge I've never eaten it before and certainly have never before purchased it at the grocery store.

So this plate of fruits and veggies

Became 24 ounces of beautiful green juice. I poured some before I remembered to take the photo. I love this measuring cup because it fits underneath the chute for the juice on my machine and it has the ounce measurements. Very helpful for me today.

I started out drinking this cup of juice (Go Bears!)

And saved this in the fridge for later. Yes, that is a re-used Snapple bottle.

So. What do I think? I think that juicing is an acquired taste. If you don't like vegetables and haven't eaten any that aren't fried in quite some time, you're going to have a hard time getting used to the flavors. I actually like the "mean green" juice. 

For me, I enjoy the juices the most when I drink them through straws because I don't like that white film that develops on the top of the juice. It's a texture thing. I just don't like it.

So yeah. I'm going for it. Ten days. Who's in? Maybe try a three day fast if ten days sounds like too much to you. Or even try one of the Reboot Programs to get yourself started before trying a total juice fast.

I do know this much. This is going to be difficult. It's 4:04 pm on Day 1 and I'm hungry. Even though I'm just about finished with my Bears cup full of juice. Days 3 and 4 are gonna be ugly folks. 

Are you willing to try with me? Misery loves company, right? If you don't want to do the fast yourself then maybe tell me why I'm crazy for trying. Maybe that will get me riled up enough to continue on when I want to quit. 

What do you think?

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Organic or Local?

So. What's your priority when purchasing food?

Is it more important to you that your food be local or that it be organic?

The Blueberry Ranch is the only farm I'm aware of that is both organic AND local to my home.

The Purple Porch Co-op apparently also works with some other local and organic farms. I'm gonna have to check them out this week.

I'm telling you, when I'm walking through the grocery store and the labels show potatoes from Idaho and strawberries from California and other items from areas in South America it doesn't make much sense to me. And it's ridiculously overwhelming. If there's one thing I cannot abide, it's being overwhelmed, especially at the grocery store.

Last night I watched another food documentary, The Future of Food. What it tells me is that as humans, and speficially Americans, we've made some really bad choices. We're on a path I honestly don't believe we can get off of.

We genetically modify food and then we wonder why it makes us sick.

We allow multinational corporations to patent living organisms. This is truly insane. There's utterly no way to control how these organisms will change over time and where they will travel. They continually turn up in farmer's fields where they were not invited. They've even made their way to Mexico where they are not wanted. The Mexican government as well as the majority of Mexican farmers want nothing to do with genetically modified foods.

We've given up a huge part of our heritage.

We've given up entire sets of knowledge that can only be recovered at great cost. Farming as it happens now bears little resemblance to what it was a century ago.

I think we've gone too far. I hope we can come back. And before it's too late.

A little dramatic? I wish. And so, back to the original question. What's more important to you when you are purchasing food? Local or organic?

How does your garden grow?

My garden may not be the most beautiful.

It is definitely not the biggest.

It surely does not have the least weeds.

My garden is not the most well designed.

But - my garden is for sure the most Jennifer-est of them all.

That suits me just fine.

Garden Harvest 2009

I'm through harvesting for this year. Kind of sad but true. There are still a few things in the garden left to be harvested, some potatoes, a few tomatoes here and there. But, I'm done doing the tracking and photo thing. I used to say that my gardening season was Mother's Day until Labor Day. My garden/landscaping season has grown to extend way beyond those boundaries in recent years. However, if I just feel that I'm not into something anymore, I will give myself permission to let it go for the season.

So, Veggie Garden, I have loved you. You were the best. We'll see you next year. I'm going to remove the widget from the sidebar and just have the harvest history in this post. So until next time, adieu.

05/27 - cut columbines and chives

05/28 - http://twitpic.com/642f4
06/18 - cut impatiens for vase
06/20 - one scallion onion
06/29 - three onions

07/xx - lots & lots & lots & lots of beans/green & purple

07/21 - 6 potatoes

3 onions

2 carrots

07/27 - 1 tomato

3 onions

07/30 - 2 carrots

lots of purple beans

lots of tomatoes (kids ate half while in garden)

08/09 - http://twitpic.com/dao3s

08/12 - http://twitpic.com/dqmqv

08/17 - http://twitpic.com/ea8hi

08/19 - this plus a pint of cherry tomatoes we ate in garden!

Planning

Friday - Amish Acres Art Fair

Saturday - Family picnic with friends from high school

J'man has friend's birthday party

Sunday - Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago!

Hm. All of a sudden I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. But this is what summer is. At least, this summer, and for us. We have been on the go since July 2nd, it seems, when we left for South Dakota. Soon the schedule will settle into a routine again, the air will turn crisp, and we'll all begin to wonder aloud when the first snow flakes will fly. Actually, our neighbor already predicted September for that little bit of fun. Isn't she great? Until then, I'll continue harvesting yummy purple and green beans, tomatoes we've finally convinced to turn red, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, cauliflower.

Chives

From my garden today. They smell yummy.

What's in the Garden Today

This is a photo of our backyard before we moved in. A little later today I'm going to take a photo from the same spot and we can compare. Jon has the camera and is not home or I would do it now.
This will be a fun comparison.

So far we have growing in our garden this year:

potatoes
tomatoes
cauliflower
cucumbers
cabbage
purple pod beans
"ideal market" beans
cilantro
chives
basil
lavender
carrots
onions
nasturtiums

Ok, so this photo doesn't look that impressive because it's far away. But, we have added, the clubhouse, the lilly garden at the back of the house, the Square Foot Garden in the alcove created by the sunroom and the back of the house, the firepit, and another garden to the left along the fence (not pictured), and another garden behind me (picture below).
















photo of garden at back fence. this is one of my favorite gardens. it feels like a park with lots of green and it's very full after just a few years. it's time to thin some of the hostas, even.














close-up of lilly garden at back of house.

Chicago Botanic Garden

Yesterday we took a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden. It was a bee-yoo-ti-ful day. We took the tram tour around the outside edge of the Garden, we were the only ones on the tour. Can you even believe the Mum Towers? They were made by drilling holes in PVC pipe, filling it with growing medium, covering it with moss, planting mums in July, and voila. Here they are in October. I am positive I need more mums in my yard after visiting this Garden.