Princess Bourke apparently not impressed with my music abilities!

Everyone is a critic! Princess Bourke apparently doesn't think much of my piano playing skills - of course, she's definitely not alone in that! I better stick to my art!

Princess Bourke apparently not impressed with my music abilities!

Happy Holidays!

Here is a little animation I created for my family, wishing you a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND NEW YEAR! It was fun to illustrate our Leonberger dog, Chihuahua-Pomeranian-Papillion-One-of-a-Kinder dog, and our 2 Bourke's Parrots for the holidays! I think I'll do more of these, it's FUN!

Happy Holidays!

Up Close with a Fearless Bourke!

Our female Bourke is so fearless - and she loves technology!  Here she is exploring the video camera, deciding if it gets to stay in her dominion or not.  -And look at her beautiful coloring - like a sunset in bird form!

If you want to share this link directly on YouTube you can find it at: Close-Up video of a brave little Bourke!

Up Close with a Fearless Bourke!

New Bourke Parakeet Joins Family!

This is an amazing process, to add a new member - a new BIRD member - to our cozy family.  We wisely took a video of the first meeting of our original Bourke Parakeet and our new little fella.  It's fascinating to see how the original bird flies to the top of the new bird's cage and crouches there, peering at him very closely. 

If you want to share this on YouTube the direct link on YouTube is: Our Birdie Meets her Beau!

Having said that, our original bird protested at the thought of sharing her cage with a new roomate just yet.  Here she is, making quite sure we know which perches are HERS and NOT to be shared:

 
However, as long as our new bird stays in his own abode, all is peaceful and well.  Our Princess clearly wishes to be the solo tenant of her castle for awhile longer, but we can tell she is happy to have a neighbor!  Here is the cozy state of our new family of an adorable, clown-faced Chihuahua-Papillion-Pomeranian muttsicle, a sweatheart of a Leonberger dog who loves to chew on his toys on the couch, and our two side-by-side birds, all content to hang out together:


This is my bliss, all the happy animals together sharing quiet time while I work on the computer or on my art, with a view of the gardens - the only thing that makes it better is having my patient husband around too. 
 -And people always say my art looks so happy - THIS is why :)  I am so grateful for these moments!

Direct link to You Tube: Cozy Critters Sharing Quiet Time

New Bourke Parakeet Joins Family!

DISCOVERY: Best Tasting Tomato is NOT the Prettiest Shape or Color!

These photos say it all - the sudden bit of Summer in Fall was exactly what my tomatoes needed - and they are juicy and delicious!  You can really see the difference between the varieties I planted.  The chocolate cherry tomatoes are scrumptious, and rarely make it as far as the kitchen - I tend to eat them straight from the vine in the garden!  The least lovely tomato, the goldeny-red, roundish-most-boring-shaped ones, are actually the sweetest and my favorite to eat - I wonder if this is a metaphor for people too!  Can't judge a tomato by its cover!  I need to look at my notes to see which variety those yummie ones are, so that I plant more of them next year.

-And my most perfect tomato, artistically speaking, yet - large, plump; gorgeous color, intricate shape:

DISCOVERY: Best Tasting Tomato is NOT the Prettiest Shape or Color!

Taking a Survey!

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Taking a Survey!

New Harvest, New Recipes!

Today was a phenominal harvest, so beautiful, so bountiful, a gift!!!  One plump fig, one huge zuccini, lovely tomatoes of different varieties, one mystery melon, a juicy orange, basil - basil - and - more - basil, and....my first pomegranite!!!!  See below for a photo of today's harvest - doesn't this photo look like a still life?

-So, what recipes did I undertake with this diverse crop?  Well, here goes, and the order of preparation is important, because the remaining juice of one dish becomes the seasoning for another:

1.  Figgy Pear Perfection:  I took 3 very ripe pears from the fridge, and diced them, leaving the skin on.  I tossed these pears with a bit of brown sugar (doesn't brown sugar make everything yummie?), and a healthy dose of cinammon.  Then I diced in the figs, tossed and let it sit for a bit, then added the super juicy orange torn into tiny bits, without skin of course, and let it marinate.  Take the chunks of luscious fruit out of the bowl that it is marinating in, and transfer to fun serving ware - I like to use martini glasses or other fun stemware.  KEEP THE BOWL with the remaining fruit sauce on it - we will use the bowl with sauce to flavor the sweet potato dish below.  Here is the photo of the Figgy Pear Perfection as it marinates:

2.  Sweet Potato Puff:  Take one sweet potato, poke holes in it with a fork, and nuke it in the microwave for about 6 minutes on one side, and then 3 minutes on the other, til tender.  Scoop out the inside from the skin, and transfer the inside to thge bowl filled with the remaining sweet sauce from the Figgy Pear Perfection.  Adda little butter and heat, and WOW - this is amazingly good!  Here is the photo of the Sweet Potato Puff:

3.  Zuccini Tomato Basil Toss:  I nuked the huge zuccini from the garden, with holes poked into it, for a few minutes on each side, then chopped it up into huge fat chunks, about one inch each.  I tossed the zuccini chunks with several heirloom and other tomatoes from the garden, plus loads of fresh basil from the garden, torn by hand.  Added a healthy squeeze of lemon juice, saly, and fresh ground pepper, and then the secret ingredient - CURRY powder, to taste, and microwaved it all together - SCRUMPTIOUS!!!  Beautiful to look at too - Makes it easy to be a vegetarian!

New Harvest, New Recipes!

Heat Wave Good for Something!

The heat wave here blazed through the weekend.  A/C bill undoubtedly through the roof this month!  But the good news is - all that late summer sunshine kissed my green boulder-sized, rock hard heirloom tomatoes and made them blush juicy ripe!  Check out this amazing harvest!!! YOWZA! 

Who would've thought a few days of sunshine would transform the tangle of unripened tomatoes in my organic vegetable garden to a juicy heirloom tomato paradise? 

Look at the juicy ripe sliced open tomato - oh my GOSH - PERFECTION in tomato form!
Tonight's recipe is a yummy heirloom tomato summer salad with fresh basil (also harvested today), a little lemon juice, a little lime juice, a little home grown avocado, olive oil, salt, a wee bit of garlic grilled with homegrown shallots... oooh do I have to wait til dinner?  Mmmm, will be enjoying this long-awaited treat!

Heat Wave Good for Something!

Fun Leonberger Dog Video!

This is our goofball Leonberger - we LOVE him!  Imagine over one hundred pounds of happiness bouncing around!  You can see our other dog, a Chihuahua Pomeranian Papillion one-of-a-kinder rescue dog avoiding him, if you look closely.
Leonberger Dog Playing

Fun Leonberger Dog Video!

Why Can't Raccoons Love Zuccini more than Corn?

Horror of horrors - all those lovely ears of corn I was so anxiously waiting for - ears that had succombed to a gopher last year, have now been COMPLETELY ravaged by a raccoon!  The little brute (adorable but a heinous CORNivorous villain nonetheless) literally peeled off the outside of every ear and nibbled out each little kernel!  Truth is, I wouldn't have minded if at least I had had a ringside seat!

On the bright side (grumble), I do now have a set of four plastic corn holders for eating fresh corn out of the garden, should such a miraculous feat ever occur.  Next year I suppose.... I wonder if one can grow corn indoors?  -Or if it's too late in the season to replant corn this year still?

While the Raccoon Bandit stole every ear of corn, he neatly sidestepped every humongous zuccini begging for the raccoon to sample them.  In fact, it appears the raccoon stood on top of the zuccini to reach the highest ears of corn.  These zuccinis, approaching watermelon size, are overtaking my garden, and I do feel that at least I should be able to require the Raccoon Bandit to steal one zuccini for every ear of corn.   In the meantime, my husband has grown accustomed to zuccini bread, zuccini boats, zuccini omelettes, zuccini surprise, and tonight.....zuccini parmesan :)

Here is a photo of today's lovely harvest.  That citrus you see, that is so dwarfed by the zuccini it rests upon, is actually a grapefruit!

Also in the harvest, beside the world's largest zuccinis, are tomatoes, rosemary, basil, sugar snaps and strawberries.

I thought I would share how lovely an artichoke is when you don't pick it, and let it go to blossom instead - look at that amazing blue color:

-And I thought this photo was so fun - my 10 pound tiger hunting big game:

Many happy little beginnings in the garden too - peppers on the pepper plants, lots of heirloom tomatoes starting, possibly even a kiwi starting on  the kiwi plants!

Possible bud on the kiwi plant (above)

The promise of tantalizing heirloom tomatoes, below (Raccoon Bandit, Stay Away!):

Grapes on the grapevine (above) and The Basil Forest (fantastic basil plants from Seeds of Italy, below):

These mystery plants continue to produce the most wonderful fruits.  If I pick them before they turn a soft shade of peachy cream, they are the BEST cucumbers ever.  If I let them go all the way to that peachy cream color on the outside, they are amazingly juicy sweet fruits.  I have no idea what they are, but they are GREAT.  The Raccoon Bandit loves them too (such a testimonial, he has good taste!):

-And a little photographic update on the lovely apples on the apple tree:

Why Can't Raccoons Love Zuccini more than Corn?

Did All This Really Start from Tiny Seeds?

I can't believe how these tiny little sprouts have grown.  Did I really plant them from seed only a few months ago (see the March blog post!  They were only baby sprouts then!)?  It seems like the heirloom tomatoes are growing a foot a day!  The yellow blossoms promise wonderful tomatoes to arrive soon - can't wait!  -And already zuccinis are almost ripe!

The biggest news (literally and figuratively) must be the zuccini plants - in fact, I could have entitled this "Zuccini Plants Take Over the Garden - HELP!"  Look at the size of those monstrous leaves!  You have to look closely, but there is actually corn and heirloom tomatoes, as well as sugar snap peas, sharing the box with the zuccinis. 

Some of the things that I think are zuccinis, in the corner of the boxes shown above, might actually be watermelons - time will tell! I had planted yellow and red seedless watermelons there, but I'm thinking from the look of the leaves that some mischievous blue jay had its fun.  I admit I am hoping they are watermelons...

All these little peppers and basils shown below were transplants from the zuccini box - each was hidden by the massive zuccini plant leaves!  Seeing their peaked condition, yesterday I transplanted these sun-starved sproutlings to where the spinach would have been, had the spinach ... been!  The spinach didn't make it in part because the celery forest blocked all the light. 

I finally removed the celery forest (shown in the May blog), feeling rather guilty, as I hate hurting living things, but the celery had become woody and fairly inedible.  I hope the discarded celery is a delight for the birds and any bunnies in the yard.  Now, as you can see below, the box has much more light and room.

We had a patio brunch here at the house, and I purchased two ordinary tomato plants at the local grocery store as table decorations, then transplanted these small tomato plants to the vegetable garden where the celery forest once stood.  It didn't take long for the garden critters to find these tomatoes - it is my hope that these tomatoes can be the "decoy" tomatoes for the critters to munch on, since they are low growing, so that the critters leave the heirlooms alone!

Here is a picture of the two kiwi plants - I was told these need to be planted in pairs, one male and one female.  The foilage grows in beautiful artistic tendrils of greens with reddish accents.  This is their second year, so perhaps fruits this season?

We harvested two artichokes this year - one we ate and one we gave away.  This third one I will let go to flower - they flower beautifully!

This verdant apricot tree is full of apricots, which would be lovely if only I was 10 feet tall to pick them!   If only it were as easy to pick them as it is to zoom a camera lens!  More deocy food for the lucky birds!  -AND did I mention, we do have true Western Bluebirds in the yard now!  That's worth ALL the fruit and veggies!

-And below is one of my favorite ornamental plantings, named a "Silver Cloud" tree - the leaves, which are almost heart shaped, like the leaves in my paintings, change from green to WHITE to red, and then the tree goes bare for winter.  When all white, it will look like a fairy tale.

Did All This Really Start from Tiny Seeds?

Crop Report! May 2010

I can't imagine anything more fun than seeing these lovely "crops" come in! WOW!  I just took some photos to show off - my goodness!  Everything is so happy!  I was a bit worried that our unusually blustery rain late in the year would take its toll, and some things have suffered (some of the tomato plants in particular), but those that remain are HARDY!!!!

Below is a close-up of some of today's harvest of strawberries, sugar snaps and one enormous blueberry - look at the size of that BLUEBERRY!!!! Ooooooooooh!

Here are some baby apples on our young apple tree - planted as a bare root - very inexpensive from Home Depot.  What makes it interesting is that MANY varieties of apples are grafted on this one tree.  YUM!

-And here is year 2 of our artichoke plant, purchased small from Green Thumb Nursery in Ventura, CA - we already harvested one of the artichokes this season (quite good!) and soon these two will also be harvested - last year this plant yielded two.  I'm wondering if if this plant will contibue for a third year and how common that is...

This is a zuccini plant - which I planted from seed using the Park Seed Biodome and true Italian seeds from Seeds of Italy.  The plant is ginormous - I didn't leave enough space between it and its many neighbors, so it is beginning to crowd out the corn behind it, the tomatoes beside it, and the pepper (oh darn!!!) in front of it.  The pepper plants are suffering most, not enough light.  The leaves of the zuccini are very healthy and prickly and tooopooo big!

This is another Home Depot bare root - purchased very small, so I didn't expect anything, as this is also year one and it is a VERY SMALL tree....but it is already fruit bearing (yes yes yes) Elberta Peaches!!!!  Can't wait!  Home grown peaches are THE BEST!

I planted from seed SERVERAL varieties of corn (red, white, multicolor, super sweet - so many!!!) from many different seed companies so I could compare and contrast for next year, and I am so pleased - many are already bearing ears of corn, some as many as THREE ears!  WOW!  Last year, before I planted the corn in boxes as I did this year, the gopher beat me to each one - this year, I'm hoping Sir Gopher's family stays faaaar away and that the boxes, which have wire bottoms, do their work!

Since I am so new at this, I am undoubtedly making error after error, and one of them I think was to let the celery planted last year in my veggie boxes grow into celery TREES!  They are HUGE and the stalks are rounded like regular tree trunks, and so coarse that the outer edges need to be trimmed to be edible, but the centers are quite sweet and juicy.  I've been using them for flavoring, need to attack this forest.  How much celery can we eat?

There is a sweet large apricot tree many years old - here are some of the apricots.  Last year the birds beat me to almost of all them, this year I will be quicker!

At Green Thumb Nursery in Ventura, last year, I bought a small vine that had little purple flowers on it and grew slightly-smaller-than-a-tennis-ball sized, oval striped fruits that seem a cross between a cucumber and a melon.  Delicious, refreshing, and this year, after a year of abundant growth, it looks much better established with many small cucumber-melons ripening.  We already harvested on this year and it was perfect.  Our one dog who loves to play with anything round, sees other possiblities for these fruits! 

Our asparagus is doing quite well!  I purchased roots (rhyzomes?) from Park Seed, and while about half of them arrived in awful shape, the other half is thriving... and the asparagus are SO SWEET and JUICY!

ANother possible mistake is this bravehearted mango, which is too tucked away between larger bushy plants to get enough sun, but it is in year 2!!!!  I will give it more light this week.

From seed from several companies I planted sugar snaps and Chinese peas - and the harvest is already beginning!  So sweet, crunchy, healthy - they really don't make it back to the house, I eat them as I'm gardening!

Last year I planted several small bareroot trees, which our Leonberger dog decided to use as chewtoys - some he gnawed down to the stump (and one he pulled out totally!) -  but I kept watering the remaining stumps anyway.  Happily this one is trying to make a comeback!  Who knows if it will ever fruit, but as long as it wants to try to live I'll help it along.  The others are still, well, pretty stumpy... 

This is NOT a planted plant - it is a gutsy matillija poppy that has decided to wrangle with the lovely morning glory for space.  Matillija poppies sometimes grow alongside the roads (if you're lucky).  The flowers can get as large as a person't head, with huge yellow centers.  Some people call it the fried egg plant, but I think it's far too pretty for that name...

More soon!  This is GROWING SEASON, and I LOVE IT!

Crop Report! May 2010