Vacation

We've been on holiday. We drove to Arizona to meet our son in Tucson (he was on tour with the San Francisco Boys Chorus), then drove north to camp in the Grand Canyon, with a side trip to Zion National Park in Utah. Most of our trip ended up being in the car, which was a shame, but we did manage to hike a little, listen to some ranger talks, and observe quite a bit of Southwestern scenery.

The Grand Canyon is, well, grand. The sheer size of it is mind-boggling. We spent a day taking the free shuttle to every corner of the South Rim, and hiked about a mile into the canyon. The elevation change was significant enough that we didn't go any further than that. We enjoyed a talk about trees, which was given under the stars, using power point. Nature and Technology converging! We learned a lot about the geology and the ecology of the place. Elk both visited our camp in the early morning, and called to each other around it. The whole experience was spectacular.

Then we drove east and enjoyed views of the Little Colorado River, before heading west on the North Rim. The South Rim was all Juniper, Pinon, and Ponderosa Pine. The North Rim was all meadows with abundant wildflowers, most of which we see in early spring here in California. Monsoon season is upon the Canyon, and you can see the beautiful results on the North Rim.

From there we drove into Utah and on into Zion. I have no words to describe the scenery in this park. It was the most tremendous thing I've ever seen. I really wanted to stay in Zion longer, but we only had enough time to take the shuttle up the canyon and take a short hike to a spring which was weeping through rock. We also dipped our toes into the Virgin River.

We drove through Las Vegas on the way home, and showed the kids the Strip. That was enough of that town! Then we drove through the Mojave desert, where it was 114 degrees. We enjoyed driving through all kinds of different plant communities, but I must admit it was nice to finally make it into the Central Valley, where it's dry, but full of huge farms. As we drove through the windmill farms in the Altamont Pass, we all breathed a sigh - Mt. Diablo was in sight, and we could 'smell the barn' - we were eager to be home.

We returned to a dry but bountiful garden. First we watered, then picked pole beans - the variety is Rattlesnake. They were delicious roasted with oil and salt.

After dinner, I inspected more of the garden. I think it's time to make pickles. And salsa.

Thank goodness my mom, and a few neighbors, were able to harvest some produce while I was gone. There are so many tomatoes to pick tomorrow. There is deer poop everywhere, and numerous gopher (or mole) tunnels. The apple tree is full of fruit.

We were hoping for cooler temperatures at home, but it was 104 here today. The bees respond by drinking mint juleps on their porch.

It's good to be home.

Interesting Finds

I took Joe the dog up in the foothills of Mt Diablo yesterday, to a short trail we've often been on. This trail ends at a lovely view, with two valley oak trees standing guard. We probably hadn't been there in a year.

As I approached the trees, I noticed something different.

Someone had put a swing in one of the oaks, for the express pleasure of a hiker coming upon it unexpectedly.

As I got closer, I realized the swing seat was painted.

I love this scripture, and looking out at the expansive view, it was easy to picture a love that big.

As I was swinging, I realized that the roots of the trees were slightly exposed, making it a perfect place for a cache of some kind, or letterbox. So I explored the roots of the first tree; nothing. Then I went to the roots of the second tree and saw a flash. I knelt down. Firmly stuck into the ground was a silver arching wire, with a capital letter 'B' charm, and a butterfly. Behind it, underneath the tree, was a card.

I read the card. Out of respect for the people who put it there, I did not take a picture of the contents, but there were two short notes inside, one signed "Love, Mom" and one signed "Love, Dad" - and those notes were to a baby - either stillborn or miscarried. The notes were incredibly personal and they affected me very much. I left that place feeling full of emotion, both for the wonderful surprise of a swing and a scripture, and the tenderness of the memorial. You never know what you're going to find hiking.

I stopped on the way home to buy a few bee plants for the garden, salvia and cosmos. As I was planting them in the yard, I picked up a piece of trash. Turns out it wasn't trash, it was a long orange mushroom. I damaged it while picking it, but here's a picture nonetheless. I think it's way cool. I need to take a local mushroom class, so I can name all the pretty and strange fungi I find in my yard.

A few weeks ago, I found a recipe for chocolate pudding on one of my favorite cooking websites, The Kitchn. I liked that it used two kinds of chocolate, both powdered and bar, and it is truly delicious. I use unsweetened chocolate instead of bittersweet, and the pudding has a deep and rich chocolate flavor, with very little sugar. I made it again today for Tom's birthday dinner, tomorrow night. It's hard to wait that long to eat it.

Lately I've discovered that chocolate is a very serious trigger for my migraines, which I thought I had under control. So I don't eat it very often. I will, however, eat this. It's a birthday, after all.

Harvesting

I am now harvesting almost every morning. The greens are starting to bolt, so I am pulling out a bunch every day. I've decided that Red Russian Kale is my favorite green - it's so leafy and pretty and quite tender when eaten young. It resists water so it doesn't get soggy, and also seems to resist dirt. I'll be planting quite a lot of this come late fall.

Washing greens is a pain. I don't mind a little dirt in my produce - in fact, small amounts of dirt have extremely beneficial bacteria, and it's probably important that we eat a little. I've been reading so much about gut health and how folks used to always have a garden in their backyards, and hence always ate a little dirt; but now, so few folks do, our gut health is really declining. So - I don't mind dirt. Especially when I know it's good organic compost. But I really don't want to eat a spider or a cucumber beetle inadvertently, and I found both on my greens this morning.

I usually fill the sink with water, put the greens in to soak, and then wash each leaf, afterwards putting it in the salad spinner.

I spin the greens, but that doesn't really get them dry, so I lay them out on a double thickness of paper towels and let them air dry for an hour or so. Then I roll them up in the damp paper towels and put them in the crisper.

I eat them every morning in my scramble. This was an Asian Braising Mix from Renee's Garden, which was good, but I think I will go for just plain kale, spinach, and chard from now on.

The collards are quite good when picked young and added to anything, and they can take the heat, so that's a good summer alternative.

The pole beans are starting to fruit, and I find suspicious piles of deer poop all over the yard near that bed, each morning. The deer left me a few. They are a purple and green variety from Renee, they are quite tasty.

Cherry tomatoes are prolific every day, I've only picked one slicer and one paste tomato, but those'll be ready soon. The peach tree is nearing the end of its season. The apples are starting to look really good. They are bigger this year than they've ever been - I think it's because I gave them a special fruit amendment in February, and cut back the flannel bush to give them more sunlight. They're beautiful - pictures soon.

All potatoes are looking good, cucumbers growing like mad, tomatillos getting big, watermelons slowly growing, winter squashes sprouting, and pumpkins forming fruit. All is well in the garden.

July = Camp

Summer is traditionally a very busy time for us. Both kids go away for a week to a special camp in Oroville called Okizu; Adam always has a week in Healdsburg for the San Francisco Boys Chorus, plus some sort of tour (this year to Arizona), plus a week of Boy Scout camp; Kate has had theater camp for several weeks which culminates in an early July performance; Kate and I have Girl Scout Camp, which is a huge feat of volunteering for all the adults involved; and then if we have any family trips, they happen around this time. Then there are a couple of day camps thrown in for good measure and some family camping. I've been putting some miles on the car.

So there hasn't been much time to sit down and write, and honestly not much time to get out in the garden.

Last night we heard a strange noise around 10 o'clock, and went out to investigate, thinking someone's car was getting broken into. But it was a branch from our Catalpa tree, tearing off and falling into the basil, peppers, and tomatillos. Argh. Tom and I went out with flashlights and got the thing off the plants. Now I need to get a tree guy out here, and see if the tree is still viable. Luckily no one was standing underneath it when it calved its branch.

All the veg has recovered except for one basil plant which was just ready to pick for pesto. Oh well.

The beans are looking great, I think I chose a kind of heritage bean called "Rattlesnake" from Renee's Garden. The beans are a mixed green and purple, they're really pretty plants.

We ate our first green pepper, and are harvesting tomatoes daily. The greens are starting to bolt in our hot weather, as has the cilantro, which I'm letting flower because it attracts good insects. I'm also letting the dill flower. I need to harvest the rest of the greens tomorrow, and then leave that bed to the corn. The pumpkins are looking good, and starting to take over the yard.

I haven't been in the hive lately, but the bees seem to be doing all right. They are constantly on the Gaillardia, I'm so glad I bought them and wish I had bought 10 more. They are super cheerful plants.

I was hoping the bees could get nectar from them, but it looks like they are collecting bright orange pollen.

Speaking of nectar, I have lots of hummingbirds, but today I saw one feeding from a sunflower. Who knew they would do that? I didn't.

On my forays to camp, dropping kids off, I've gone through beautiful agricultural areas. In Healdsburg, the grape vine was king. Wineries everywhere, and it all just looks so quintessentially  California. Today, I took Kate up to Oroville and went through nut and fruit tree orchards. For lunch, I bought a bag of cherries from one of about a hundred roadside stands.

 It was fun to spit pits out the window while I was driving.

More Planting

I decided the bush beans had to go. They had produced about 6 beans, which were delicious, but that ain't very many, and the plants themselves just weren't growing any bigger. As our pole beans are going great guns, it was no great sacrifice to snip those bush beans off and put 'em in the compost. In their place, I planted Butternut and Acorn squash. We have a long growing season here in Northern CA, so I expect hot weather through the beginning of October, and warm weather until Thanksgiving. Therefore we have plenty of time for a winter squash crop.

Here's an overview of how the veg garden is looking.

You can see the tomatoes at the back are quite large, and producing well. Those little plants at the forefront are watermelons. They keep growing, incrementally, so I keep hoping.

I also planted some more flowers - bee plants, mostly. I went to the local nursery and stood in the drought-tolerant section for a half an hour and watched where the bees went. Then I bought those flowers. I came home with Rudbeckia, Gaillardia, Aster, and Germander varieties. The Salvia, Sunflowers, and Penstemons are already blooming well.

I'm hoping that some of those flowers will help my bees make it through Fall.

Many mornings, I take the kids to the pool with friends, and while they are swimming, I peel and slice peaches. I peel peaches every minute I have, and put them in the freezer. I don't mind, because I'm currently completely addicted to my peach smoothie every lunch. When we were away over the weekend, what did I dream about coming home to? My children? No. A frozen peach smoothie.