Cherry Business

Through the course of all this cherry business, my cute husband passed through the kitchen and asked me, "Is it worth it?". With my hands hurting from the cherry pitting business, my feet and back aching from all the standing, I almost wanted to say no.

But really, it hasn't been so bad. I've developed a strategy. Not sure if it is a good one, but it has helped me make it through the mountains of cherries. First I dumped all the cherries to soak in the sink and get rinsed off. From there I just have to take out handfuls at a time to work with.

Then comes the pitting work. I tell you, a cherry pitter makes the job sooo much easier!

Then the cherries get divided into the blender in the correct portions for jam and fruit leathers and put in ziplock baggies for the freezer with notes on how much sugar, pectin and whatever I need to know as far as the recipe goes to finish them off later.

Some go whole {but pitless of course} into ziplock baggies for the freezer for either smoothies later on, or to pull out and dehydrate at a later time.

So pretty much, I haven't canned any of them yet. I've just been preparing them. But freezing them this way has put a lot less stress on me to try and make it through them before they go bad.

And now that they're all prepped and waiting for me whenever I'm ready, I feel like baking some bread. Go figure!

Of Course I Can!

I may be up to my eyeballs in cherries right now, but I can do this!

I think I can,

I think I can,

I think I can . . . .

"Mother Nature never tolerates bare ground.
If you don't plant something, she will!
And what she plants are weeds!"

~~Duane Hatch~~

Random Thoughts

Homegrown goodness from Grandma's yard

So I've been thinking a lot lately about this whole eating in season thing. It's definitely a different way of eating than just running off to the store whenever you want, to get whatever you need, no matter if its the right season or not.

I mean it requires a lot of effort, to monitor whats growing, needs to be harvested {or preserved} and a lot of creativity sometimes to figure out what to make out of it. It's like free-form cooking, or cooking without recipes!

And I always seem to have little bits leftover that are adding up in the fridge waiting to be eaten or dealt with because it seems there is always more coming right behind it.

So I think we either eat less than I thought, or are blessed with way more abundance than I ever realized. I'm going to go with the last thought. I think we're blessed.

I'm Honored...

Verde at Justice Desserts was so kind to award me with the prestigious Arte y Pico award.

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So here's the deal:

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1. Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
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So while I agree this is a bit silly, I would like to sincerely nominate:

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Michael at Wisdom From The 42nd Page -- because I love to read about all the interesting books he posts

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Jen at In The Image -- because she is one of my best friends from high school and I love that we're back in touch through this whole blogging business again! I love you girl!

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And my following neighbors because not only do they make living around here fun, but it is exciting for me to find them online: Nancy at Welcome to Pooh's Corner, Maren at AKA Maureena, and Rachel at Brent and Rachel's Family.

Espalier Update

They're growing!

I was a little worried when they first arrived that they might go into shock after the shipping and transplantation. Now I'm worried about learning how to prune them. I don't want to do it wrong and kill them or something! I'm sure once I learn the proper technique it will be ok though.

A Victory Garden At Its Best!

This project by Slow Food Nation at San Francisco's City Hall Building is brilliant! The food grown there will be donated to those with limited access to healthy, organic produce through a partnership with local food banks and meal programs.

I think it is a great, practical model for any city to follow.

Dollar Store Pots

Found these cute little pots at the dollar store for a dollar each {imagine that!}. They came in a variety of bright and happy colors and would easily lend themselves to something like those inspirational pots I posted about a while ago.

If you don't want to hang them over a fence, then simply take that part off and screw them into your wall with the appropriate fastener for your wall type.

I plan on planting mine with a few herbs, but you could also plant some edible flowers.

Then label them right on the pot with some of that cute vinyl lettering you can get these days. Or heck, if you have pretty handwriting, take a permanent marker to them!

Have fun with them and if you do this project, please send me a picture and I will post it right here!

Independence Days Update

• Plant Something: nothing this week
  
• Harvest Something: the green onions are going crazy! Tomatoes look like they're about to burst into production as well as the zucchini!
  
• Preserve Something: nothing this week
  
• Prep Something: got some new pots to plant some herbs, and some wire fencing to create tomato cages of sorts
  
• Cook Something: was gone most of the week so I didn't really do much of this
  
• Manage Your Reserves: working on cleaning out my cold storage room so that I can organize my food storage better
  
• Work on Local Food Systems: I didn't work on this very much either since I was gone
  

Edible Water Garden Idea

{image via Gardening in Containers by Ortho Books,
page 19 of 1984 edition}

This looks like it could be a fun project to enhance your garden with a beautiful {and edible} water feature. Here are a few of the basics mentioned in the book:

A 25-gallon container will yield approximately the following crops:

Lotus~~plant in April, it will produce 5-6 edible roots when harvested during October or November of the second year during its dormant season. Roots of lotus can be french fried like potatoes.

Chinese water chestnuts~~ plant 30-40 of these will grow numerous sedgelike, hollow stems to 2 feet or more from bulbs in the first year. Then when dormant you can harvest about a hundered chestnuts. Save a few to plant the next year.

Violet-stemmed taro~~ Only the tubers are edible. Plant in April 5-6 of these. They grow 5-7 inch leaves on violet stems about 2 feet high that go dormant about six months later. Harvest during dormancy and you can get enough for about two dishes of poi.

Watercress~~practically an instant crop. Pinch off leaves and tips but leave enough stems, roots and leaves that they will continue to grow rapidly.

The book suggests an ecosystem for this type of container garden that keeps everything in harmony. It includes:

1. Oxygenating plants~~to replenish the oxygen. Choose from various species of Elodea (sometimes called Anacharis) which are best for most containers.

2. Water lilies~~the pads provide surface coverage that prevents loss of oxygen and helps keep the water cool.

3. Snails~~they eat algae, fish waste and decaying matter to discourage algae growth

4. Fish~~they eat pests such as aphids, flies, mosquito larvae and other insects. But don't overfeed with commercial fish food as it will change the water balance too much.

[Picture insert] For each square yard of surface area your water garden should contain:

Oxygenating plants: 2 bunches of 6 stems each
Water lily: 1 medium to large plant
Snails: 12 ramshorn or trapdoor water snails
Fish: 2 fish, each 4-5 inches long

And as always, please be careful with children and pets around water.