FRUIT!

Raspberries are forming . . . WAY more than last year.

I can't believe we have grapes, I feel so Mediterranean!

I actually found a few pink strawberries outside while gardening today; we'll be eating strawberries in May!

I know that this is fairly obvious to all of you seasonal eaters out there, but to those who've never taken a crack at it, one of the bleakest things about winter is the fresh fruit deprivation.  I mean, apples are amazing.  How long they last, for months on end, is amazing.  But one longs for a little variety after a while.

And this family is not too strict.  We buy frozen and shipped fruit over the winter.  We were especially not too strict this past winter, since I had a baby in July (thereby missing the berry and peach storage--except for some strawberries a very pregnant woman managed to freeze).  This winter I hope to be better equipped.  My mother-in-law is hoping to teach me her fig preserve recipes (if they're ripe in time for my July visit to South Carolina) and thinks there might be some pears I could harvest off of a tree on my visit (I can see the battle with my husband as he loads the car for our return trip now).  But I digress . . .

When the rhubarb is full and elephant-leafed in the garden right near a new fig tree, a grape vine actually sporting grapes, strawberries, and black raspberry canes completely covered in raspberries . . . I feel blessed.  When I'm actually eating this fruit, I may be giddy.

Next year I think I'm planting a few gooseberry plants . . .

Rainbow in North Philly

Just had to share this . . . how cool is it to see a full arc rainbow out of the window?  I couldn't actually fit the whole thing in the picture.  Anyway, Davis family moment to be sure.  :)

Farmer's Market Schedule for Philly

So there are two different groups sponsoring farmer's markets in Philadelphia, and they list their schedules separately.  Here they are in case anyone is interested:

Food Trust Market Schedule

Farm to City Market Schedule

Happy Garden Day!

Micah was off school for voting day, this rainy day, and I decided we needed an event for our morning.  So I designed a garden scavenger hunt.  How many tomato plants can you find?  Pick a scallion.  Things like that.  Our final step was an edible craft, a vegetable rabbit.  Just thought I'd post some pictures, they were so cute.  The ears are radishes, the bodies are carrots, the whiskers are radish stems, the noses are peas, the mouths are thin strips of apple, the eyes are raisins, and the tails are cauliflower.

Blender Salsa (aka, Lazy Salsa)

I decided I should blog about this recipe when my three year-old asked me to put some salsa on his apple.  It's really that good.  So I start with fresh tomatoes (you can use canned or frozen ones from last year, but the whole point of bothering with this is to celebrate the fresh ones as they come).  I got some green house local ones on Saturday, and they were seconds so they weren't too expensive either.  

Anyway, you just wash a few tomatoes and cut them in half and throw them in the blender.  Then you add cilantro (as much as you want, but at least a good handful), a chunk of onion (1/4?), a little clove of garlic, some jalapeno or other hot pepper (unless you have a child who cannot bear the slightest hint of heat), a little salt, and a little cumin.  Then you blend on low.  The beauty of this recipe is that then you're done!

Philadelphia Water: The Iodine Continues

For those still pondering whether or not to get a good water filter, some food for thought (well, drink, more accurately):

More on Philly's iodine issue . . .

Garden Update

Clematis growing over the raspberries.

Raspberries looking good.

Strawberries getting ready.

They've more than doubled!

Baby kale and swiss chard.

Peas coming up (for the second time) through the extra four inches of soil I added to raise the beds.

Sick squash.  This is the third year this has happened.  Does anyone have any diagnosis for my poor squash?  I did add some compost and fish emulsion.  It didn't change anything.  :(

Happy Earth Day 2010

The work crew.

A year and a week late, my boys finally completed the Earth Day project labeling the drains in our neighborhood with stickers saying something like, "This leads to the river!  Don't litter!"  I am so proud!  What a timely and exciting contribution!

Stand Up to Industrial Farming!

Industrial farms are pushing to make it illegal to photograph their farms (I'm assuming they especially want animals to remain unphotographed). Here's a petition from "Slow Food USA" you can sign if you are alarmed at that as I am:

Goats, pigs, cows, farm dogs ready for their close-ups : Slow Food USA