Sunday, March 23, 2014

A quiet Sunday morning...

 There is magic afoot.   Always this time of year, even though we yo yo in and out of chilly and warm weathers. In a matter [of what seemed like] hours, green started showing up in the grass, tiny bits of green here and there.  At the same time, trees in the backyard started budding and there are already little casings and seeds falling to the ground. As you can see in the picture, the surprise lilies are popping up too.  Spring...finally.  2 days ago, it was 76 and I sat in the back in my favorite old metal lawn chair with my shoes off and my feet on the dirt.  Yesterday I went to our annual Spring Equinox celebration and it was too cold to plant the peas. lol  We all were bundled up and trekked over to the community gardens and went into the greenhouse to see the seedlings and listen to a young man talk to us about permaculture and sustainability. A young hippie looking guy. lol I talked with him a bit about hugelkulture and  made sure he had our phone number and later in the spring we will have him out for supper. Oh..I am so sly in my old age !  lol


  I am still fretting and fussing about the honeysuckle and my better half says not to worry, "...you can't kill that stuff".  But I've never seen it all look so brown. Todays high is forecast to be only 41, but at least it's sunny out there.  Tomorrow will be 50, back to 35 on Tuesday, and then it looks like a warming trend from there on out.


  People asking asking--if I have my garden in yet. A resounding NO as usual. I just do not ever plant (except maybe potatoes and usually not even them) until mid to late April.  It's just not worth the risk of losing them to frost (or flood, lol), which is entirely possible here until mid-May.  We have such a great long growing season here that there is no reason to rush it.  Besides, the gardening/canning/preserving season goes on plenty long enough for me. lol

  I have been doing some fun-ish stuff since my cast came off and I have a little more freedom. I bought about 8 pounds of strawberries the other day for 99 cents a pound and  made strawberry shortcake with about a pound and a half of them.
Lovely, isn't it ?  I used Mary's scones recipe, sweetened it up a bit more, patted it out a bit thicker and then sugared the tops before baking. O.M.G.  It was so good.
 Then the rest of them got the stems taken off, washed well and then individually quick frozen on a large cookie sheet. This morning I took them out of the freezer and put them into zip lock bags. All ready for smoothies or dessert or whatever.

  Earlier in the week I decided to try a recipe I found for fermented carrots. Along the line of the kimchi, but only carrots, garlic, a little red pepper and rosemary.  Aldi's had organic baby carrots on sale and that was perfect because I didn't have to much chopping. (Yes--my right hand is still pretty weak and sore).  They LOOK beautiful, I just can't wait to taste them They are on Day 4 (I think) of the fermenting process.

 Other than that, it's been a cycle of chiropractor, orthopedics and trying to get my house cleaned up. 



 I am feeling pretty anxious for the season to change and hoping some of this arthritis pain will go away when it warms up.  I'm tired of not feeling good, and hurting all the time. Way tired. This has been a rough winter. 

  These are the visions I have in my head:



Sigh....soon enough....soon enough...





Namaste.

12 comments:

Mama Pea said...

You wouldn't like the view out our windows, my friend. 8° yesterday morning and 2° this morning. A bit of a wind blowing, too. But sunshine so 'tis not all bad. Still a three-foot snow cover though.

I have three jars of fermented goodies going on my counter but nothing that looks as pretty as your carrots. The beets are kinda colorful, but the garlic sauerkraut (there will be no vampires within 500 miles!) and the "Japanese" sauerkraut (made with soy sauce and onions) aren't so purdy.

Akannie said...

Mama --I am so tired of winter,I can't tell you. lol My husband makes noises about moving to northern Wisconsin and then I think of you. No way, no how. lol

I was just looking at a recipe for a fermented greens recipe using rice--a Japanese dish--I thought I might try. It uses strongly flavored greens like Kale or chard. And you set the rice out overnight to let it sour a little. Hmmm...I'd like to see the recipe for the garlic sauerkraut.

Celia said...

Hope your honeysuckle is well. It used to grow over my grandma's porch and the smell while strong was heavenly. Never smell it without thinking of her.

Akannie said...

Thanks Celia...it's so grand, and in summer you can smell it wafting across the front yard from the door.

I have that kind of memory with sassafras...every time I smell it, I think of my grandmother. She always dug the roots in spring and made a "tonic"

Anonymous said...

I know nothing of your soil conditions but when something turns yellow in my yard I give it a sprinkle or two of Ironite! I follow up with some straight nitrogen 21-0-0- a week or so later. I planted grape vines today and got to much sun! ha ha ha hang in there. glad your wrist is getting better!

Akannie said...

Sir rat !! So good to see you. Really--you can grow grapes where you are ? wowsa...

The honeysuckle isn't because of soil conditions. It was because of the worst freaking winter in decades, with double digit below zero temperatures for days and days.

I don't even know what Ironite is ! I'm glad the wrist is getting better too, even if it is slow...hate being a weakling like this. lol

Mama Pea said...

Hey, Annie - If you will send me either your mailing address or e-mail address I'll be sure to get that recipe for the (fermented) sauerkraut to you. Be glad to do it.

Akannie said...

Sent you my email. Thanks mama Pea !!!! Those carrots are awesome too...

Anonymous said...

This post almost made me cry with the GREEN of it. It's snowing here. Again. Not a lot, but enough to let you know you're Canadian and aren't going to really feel dirt until May.
Strawberry shortcake sounds sooooo good right now!

Akannie said...

It's not that green here yet, but it's starting. lol I was just wishfully thinking about the days to come.

Strawberries always make me think of summer...

thewiildmagnola said...

good visions Annie.

Akannie said...

Very good visions, Sandra...I'm so ready. :)