Sister City Community Gardens

My sister has been a mentor to our committee in the creation of our local community garden. We borrowed heavily from the guidelines and procedures that were in place at the Central Okaganagan Community Gardens, that she is a member of, to develop a working model for our garden. Using their knowledge and experience helped us get our project up and running much more quickly than if we had had to "reinvent the wheel". The August 2009 issue of the COCG newsletter, edited by my sister, includes a story of the relationship between the two community gardens.

Last year I got a chance to see some of the gardens in her town. She is the coordinator of two of them in two very different settings, but just meters away from each other across an alleyway.

Cawston Garden is in a churchyard. With the exception of an unauthorized cherry tomato food fight one year, it is a very successful garden for the handful of gardeners who maintain plots there.










St. Paul's is in the parking lot of a condominium highrise building. Even with many eyes-in-the-sky an inexplicable incident of broccoli theft took place last year. Otherwise this has also been a great project and location.










It is about time for a report on the 2010 COCG. We were shocked to receive news of a vandalism spree at the newest garden in the COCG earlier this spring. If we receive further updates we will pass them along.

Good thoughts go out to our sister city gardeners for a great growing season and a bountiful harvest.

Postage Stamp Garden? No Problem!

Another image from Flower and Garden magazine.




I completely trust this Faribault farm girl. She has a body.




Do you suppose they'd prefer to be called "little vegetables"?

Do They Weed with Their Teeth?

Recently I picked up a copy of a vintage magazine called Flower and Garden that is exactly as vintage as me. There is plenty of interesting content in the January 19 cough cough issue, but it is the ads that are particularly fascinating.




Most fascinating is the phenomonom of disembodied heads as sales tool.





Definitely creepy, but was it effective?




I think I would buy anything being sold by a floating head just to make it go away.




Double heads = double freaky.




It's probably good that these sales folks deal only in mail order. They'd have a hard time catching shoplifters.

Fair Finale

Last chance for curds today. The deep fat in the fryer at week's end is, by now, seasoned to perfection. Yum.




Last chance to get a thrill by going higher than the top of any building in town for a great view.




Last chance to pick a duck and win...




...a beautiful tiara...




...a happy flower...




...or a colorful ape.




Last chance to buy 83 oz. of fries (Yes, that's more than 5 lbs.) from some very congenial fry guys.




Last chance to see what a reserve (or is that reserved?) grand champion chicken looks like.




Last chance to get up close and personal with the source of the main ingredient in your ice cream cone.




And last chance to see more jolly anthropomorphizing in one day than you will in the entire next 12 months.




Soak it up, it's gotta last until next year. Farewell fair.

No Fair! IV

Some lovely pink Asiatic lilies lost in a monarda jungle were begging to be rescued and to become stars of their own show.




Sorry guys, too late for the fair, but just for kicks and to keep up the floral design skills here you go. Enjoy the spotlight.




That was fun. I'd been looking for a chance to take this very official, thrifted dish for a test drive anyway.




Maybe next year we'll make it to the big time. We coulda been contendahs.


Back at the real fair the flowers and houseplants department judging took over 7 hours. Each arrangement, bloom, leaf, and pot was carefully looked over to determine the most outstanding candidates for ribbons.



The sweepstakes winner in the annual category was a pale lime green nicotiana.




The floral design sweepstakes went to this impressive arrangement in the category "design on a pedestal".




Sweepstakes prizes were also awarded in the perennial category to a beautiful giant bloom of "Annabelle" hydrangea and in the houseplants category to an interesting planter of moss-like leptinella - Platt's Black.

On the back walls you can see crop entries in the plant and soil science department and a display of 704 ribbons won over 25 years by an octogenarian fair entrant. You don't get that kind of results by entering the pretend fair. Guess NDL had better step it up. Next year we'll enter anything we can find around here that fits a category and isn't nailed down.

No Fair! III

Remember the 1500 quilt pieces? Now they are one.





Another no-show at the fair, the Buttons and Bows Quilt.

No Fair! II

Today's entry in the pretend fair, a baby quilt made from Amy Butler charm squares in a snowball block variation.




The lovely spiral quilting was done by my favorite long-arm quilter lady, Jennifer.




At the real fair the domestic arts department is pleasingly full of entries in all categories, and ribbons have been awarded to many industrious domestic artists including several in NDL's acquaintance. Congratulations to all!

No Fair!

The fair starts today. Unfortunately, due to a busy June, the neighborhood goes unrepresented in open class competition this year. Let me show you what woulda coulda been in contention for ribbons and premiums if NDL had better organizational skills.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar kids' quilt still needs binding. Maybe it can be entered next year if it doesn't have a new home by then.








Pieced top before layering and quilting.




It's been very fun working with these high quality and very cheerful Eric Carle prints from Andover Fabrics.

Sugar Ann

Pretty, and pretty tasty too.



This the first harvest from the 2010 CG plot and the first peas I have ever grown.

Warning: The first zucchini has been spotted. Big as my thumb yesterday. Probably bigger than a loaf of bread by this afternoon. Run. Hide. Or get out your zucchini bread recipe.

Can't Beet It

Beets and bleu, or in this case bleu's kissin' cousin, Gorgonzola. The best culinary combo of summer.




Well, until it's Caprese salad time anyway.

Chromatella

Great name. Great foliage. Great flower.




Chromatella

Black Bean Salsa

Always popular at the party or potluck. Quick and easy to assemble. Colorful and festive-looking too.




Two cans black beans, drained and rinsed
One can white corn, drained
Chopped scallions
Chopped cilantro
Lime juice
Garlic
Cumin
1 - 2 cups prepared salsa or as much as needed to achieve desired consistency.

Play with it. Fill in the exact amounts if you find the perfect balance of ingredients to suit your taste.

Great Scapes

One huge dollar bag of garlic scapes from the farmers' market has been shared all around the neighborhood. The scapes keep well in the frig and are a very versatile menu item.




Various neighbors have used them chopped in a salad, cooked with beet greens, and grilled to a slight char. NDL happened to be in the right place at the right time to taste a couple of those preparations and has declared them delicious!

Whoever has a stash remaining needs to try the Garlic Scape Pesto recipe from Kim O'Donnel's blog, A Mighty Appetite, at the Washington Post, and report on the results.

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:
Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

For ½ pound short pasta such as penne, add about 2 tablespoons of pesto to cooked pasta and stir until pasta is well coated.


What's not to like?

Sunset Over Dairyland

Travelers (and other far away readers), here's what you are missing.



Wherever you ramble,

Wherever you roam,

Always remember,

There's no place like home.

Be safe. Have lots of adventures. Come home soon. It's just not the same here without you.

Salade Nicoise

Here are the delicious ingredients for a mixed version of the classic composed salad.




Combine, and dress the salad with:

Garlic
Parsley
Brine from the Kalamata olives
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Black pepper

Give it a toss. Bon appetit!

Community Garden Report

The peas are podding.




The squash are blossoming.




The cabbages are crinkling.




And everything is green, green, green, thanks to marvelous June rains.