Mmmmmmm

Harvest time in the orchard brings the tough decisions:

...jam or pie...??

Ding ding we have this year's winner!

~organic white peach handmade buttery crust goodness~

oh, interweb, when will you be available in scratch-and-sniff??

Sundials

Last Friday night at our house began as a quiet evening, with Dan finishing up a late-afternoon project.  I took the pup for a walk and when I returned, my honey was just finishing up in the shower and he arrived in the living room wearing his grey corduroy pants and a decent long-sleeved shirt.  I, of course, thought this meant we were leaving the house.  

With no dinner-making ideas in mind, it may have just been my stomach doing the thinking.  So I coyly suggest how about some soup and grilled cheese.  (It had started to rain - I went the comfort food route.)  But to my surprise, he didn't take the bait (or, he took the bait?).  Whatever.  He said that sounded great.  No burrito run, I gather?  For an encore, we figured it's about time our garden/landscaping plans got some attention.

We sat squished in the living room chair.  Luna just sat there looking like it was MY fault that it was raining.  So we started working on a to-scale-but-neither-or-us-is-measuring-it drawing.  At least this time we're starting with actual real boundaries and angles, relative to the house exterior.  From there the questions came in rapid succession. Can you put the fruit trees there or will they cast shadows on the raised beds?  Where should the compost bin be for adequate sun exposure? Where does the sun set in the summer? If you're in Alaska, what pattern does the sun follow in the sky?  Which one is closest, the tropic of Cancer or Capricorn?  What is the angle of the Earth's axis tilt (excluding the 4 centimeter change after the earthquake in Japan 2 weeks ago)?  Is "due east" in Santa Barbara the same as "due East" in Uganda?  Or New Zealand?  

But really, we only knew the answer to one.  Well, I knew it, but Dan wasn't convinced. (23 degrees).  And we didn't have a globe in front of us.  And we were actually wedged in the chair together.  So, rather than go open the Encyclopedia Britannica (are you kidding me, we aren't in the stone-age: we have it on CD-ROM), we spent about 90 minutes drawing and thinking and trying to figure them out.  

Obviously, pencil and paper is the most practical.  This is what we concluded:

Glad I could clear that up for ya.  Both sun position and our geekiness.  yeah.

For your produce-reference pleasure...

Enjoy this seasonal map of yummies by month and state!

from the good folks at epicurious.com

Complete with links to recipes and descriptions of each item.  It may not be a full list for those of us lucky enough to live where everything grows almost all the time, but it sure will help us eat our way through seasons/farm shares/deals-of-the-week.  =)

P.S. Doesn't a grapefruit/avocado salad sound fantastic on a day like today??

picking or blooming

I'm confused.  or maybe our Fuji apple tree is.  Isn't the fall for apple picking?  I don't know if anyone reads this, but if you know why our tree is blooming right now, fill me in!!

Bounteous

I am giddy with excitement when I get to bring edible items into the house from the backyard.  I love the basket, the garden shears, the herb smells that linger on my hands all evening, the unloading and planning of what to make with them.

Today the plums practically fell off the tree if I looked at them cross-eyed, so I brought a FEW in.  Pesto tomorrow night!!  and Cilantro diced and stashed in the freezer.

Raise 'em up!

Woo Hoo for raised beds!!!

Thanks to my handy husband and dad for their toil on Memorial Day weekend.

Check out our happy plants!!!

K is for Kale

Never bought it, never cooked it, and don't think I've ever eaten Kale, but I'm up for trying it if I've got a convincing recipe.  I now know what I'd like for my birthday.  This book presents recipes in an alphabetic fashion, so if you're looking for something to make with that lingering bunch of asparagus, start at the beginning.  My kale woes may be nearing an end...

Everyday Cooking with Organic Produce by Cathy Thomas

The whole article on npr (or was it just the photo?) reminded me of Maddie and her recent escapades as a Japanese cooking show host.

The Orchard

We have 7 fruit trees in our backyard -- two of which we don't know the variety yet.  O, the suspense!  I love to refer to that space as The Orchard because it really feels like it's so far away.  I imagine myself saying things like, "Honey, I'll be out in the orchard," or "These are orchard-fresh apricots."  Maybe I should start calling my crocs "orchard shoes" to give them an air of sophistication.

One of my favorite leftovers we found when we moved in was this lovely chair.  Rarely do I feel so simultaneously luxurious and dowdy.

Places I recall having these chairs all bring back fond memories:  Forest Home main camp pool (think CCAs and the summer I spent as the waterfront manager), the pool at my grandparents' condo in San Dimas (my grandma Mimi loved to lie in the sun and was a big fan of taking us to the pool - I loved opening the gate using the key on a long piece of orange yarn), and Palm Springs (where I had a fabulous bachelorette weekend with some of my best girlfriends).

So on Sunday, while planning (read: avoiding) how to tackle my to-do list, I slathered on the SPF and read half of a good-enough-for-the-beach book.  I could just about drink the scent of those orange blossoms.