MY GARDEN SO FAR ....

I know ... every year I show you photos of my artichokes. These plants are so amazing. I started with little two plants from my friend Jean. One didn't make it. The last couple years I had two plants ... and this year there are three! Here are photos just before I cut off the two largest artichokes.

I planted ten tomato plants a month ago (my reasoning is "something always happens ..."), as well as zucchini and cucumber plants. I have a few green tomatoes on almost every plant, so things are looking promising for BLTs and sharing tomatoes with friends.

A Look Outside ....

Today is the second day painters are here working on the outside of my house. Both my dogs are pretty nervous about the noise and strange people, as usually this neighborhood is calm and quiet. My new dog Charlie is especially scared ... Oh, I realize you have not met Charlie yet! That's another post in a few days .... Anyway, I'm trying to stay inside and catch up on projects so the dogs feel more secure. Charlie and Sarah are right next to me as I type this.

Each year I treat myself to my home-grown artichokes. And each year I take photos of my plants to share with you. Are you thinking, "Oh, no, not those artichoke plants again!!" They started out as a couple little plants from my friend's garden. I didn't realize they got so tall, taller then me. And new plants develop each year! Probably next week I'll have to secure the plants to the fence with bungy cords to keep them from falling over.

The first photo shows one already in bloom. Will have to cook a few today.






On the other side of the fence is a kumquat bush. Pop a kumquat into your mouth for a sweet-sour experience!


Here's another shot of the kumquats, but do you see what I see to the left of center .... blackberries. Couldn't believe how far those plants have spread!


Here's the end of my rhubarb patch and a pretty big rosemary plant. I don't use a lot of rosemary, but do like marinating chicken breast pieces in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and chopped rosemary. Then grilling these pieces on the BBQ. So good! And you can guess what we do with rhubarb ... make crisps, sauces, pies, jams. Really great when combined with strawberries.

Artichokes 2012!

I bought a wheelbarrow full of tomato and zucchini plants, as well as herbs, earlier this week. And they all enjoyed two days of rain -- at least I know I did! Thanks to my wonderful daughter, she pulled out weeds and dug in fertilizer last week, so the soil was sooo ready for planting. I got all of the tomato plants in (10!) and most of the zucchini. I'm so looking forward to making Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini bread in a couple months! See the recipe earlier in this blog if you haven't tried it. Am also working on a another area that will make a great garden strip with full sun until mid afternoon. So much work, so many rocks in our area. I strolled around the yard late yesterday, just before the sun went down, and was so shocked to see my new crop of artichokes! Wow, they grew quickly. One is ready to be picked this weekend. I rushed inside to get my camera so I could capture the sunlight on top of the artichoke plant. Unfortunately I saw I had my micro lens, but knew I would lose the shot if I went back inside to change it. Here are a couple photos.

This is the one I'm going to pick today!

Then I noticed bees at work doing their jobs around my boysenberry bushes! Can't wait to taste those luscious berries.

Artichokes

A few years ago, my friend Jean had a dozen or so small artichoke plants growing near her driveway and she asked if I'd like a few. We dug up a couple and I planted them as soon as I got home. Sure enough, they started to grow, develop small buds that grew to full-sized artichokes! It was fun to watch, and the plants were beautiful .... and big. But what to do with the artichokes? I probably had eaten two in my life time. They were cooked in boiling water for about 45 minutes. Then you started taking off the leaves and dipping the meaty ends in melted butter or mayonnaise. It was a lot of work. Finally you got down to the heart and had to cut the "choke" off and throw it away. I have to say, the heart is a wonderful treat and worth the wait!

Each plant this year had at least 12 artichokes. Quite a crop.

Somewhere I have a photo of the beautiful bloom that appears when an artichoke that has not been picked has "gone to seed", but I cannot find it right now. It's a light purple, lilac color. Here's what a dried up artichoke looks like. It has its own beauty, I guess.

The plants eventually dry up each year and you have to cut them at ground level. My job now is to get out the extension cord and my Sawzall and cut the two plants. I tried a handsaw, but that's just too much work. I was most surprised today to see the new growth already starting in the photo below! These plants aim to please. They spread.