Category Archives: gardening

Wicked Busy

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I apologize for not posting in awhile. We’ve had an insanely busy few weeks, and the next few are bound to be just as crazy. We’re packing like mad to move, and still hoping to close on the new house by the end of the month (though the bank has not yet set a date). I will try to summarize, with pictures.

Hank likes to help pack. This is an appropriate box for him to choose, because no one ever kisses his face. Ever.

Hank’s big accomplishment of the last few weeks is that he’s had a potty-training breakthrough. After months and months of practice and hit-or-miss, he’s finally consistently telling us when he needs the potty — even when his pants are still dry. He’s now been in training pants during the day and diapers only at night for about a week, with very few minor mishaps, and we’re so proud of him. Now we’re working on advanced potty technique: standing up.

Wednesday afternoon, we met up with my Aunt and Uncle as they passed through on a cross-country road trip, at their friend Lori’s house at not-too-far-away Lake Morey. Hank loved splashing in the lake and studying the fish (minnows) that Uncle Rob caught and put in a bucket for him. (We released them unharmed.)

This past weekend we had a visit from my dad (Papa Chuck, to Hank), and we packed a ton of activity into a few short hours.

We went blueberry picking, which is insane for this time of year in Vermont: blueberry season usually doesn’t happen until August. The corn’s almost ready, too, also a month ahead of schedule. You can’t tell me there’s no such thing as global warming.

It’s been really, really hot and dry for weeks now. Hank’s been beating the heat by spending much of his time in the paddling pool in our front yard, eating pole beans and cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas right out of the garden. However, the paddling pool is too small to share, so after blueberry picking, we gathered our suits and towels and headed for the local swimming pond. Pictured above: Papa Chuck and Hank compare their hands after a refreshing dip.

Finally, yesterday afternoon we went down to Massachusetts to meet up with one of Hank’s donor siblings and his mama. They usually live down in Georgia, but were visiting family in MA, so we met up at the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory. I won’t share any pictures from that introduction because it wouldn’t be kosher to post photos of other people’s kids without permission, so you’ll just have to take my word for the fact that the resemblance is a little spooky, especially around the eyes. There was one point when the boys were running side-by-side, and though they don’t share the same build at all (Hank’s sturdy, while the other child is lean and lanky), they had exactly the same gait, the same funny wiggle to their run. The mamas didn’t get too much time to talk (what with all the toddler chasing, and the fact that both boys were overtired having had sub-par naps), but it was great to make that connection in person.

-C.

Easy Rhubarb Crisp: Hold the Strawberries

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I love Rhubarb. I love rhubarb pie, rhubarb crisp, rhubarb sauce served over ice cream or waffles, rhubarb tarts, rhubarb jam…. If it has rhubarb, I love it. Unless, and this is a big caveat, unless it has been corrupted by strawberries.

I don’t know why people decided that rhubarb goes with strawberries. I’ve heard people say they use it to counteract the tartness of rhubarb, but honestly, people! That’s why God gave us sugar. Strawberries are a perfectly lovely berry, but (and this is important): they should never be cooked. Cooked strawberries are mushy and revolting and, frankly, a crime against nature. Therefore, strawberries should never be added to rhubarb, which must be cooked in order to be edible.

This Strawberry-Free Rhubarb Crisp is one of the easiest recipes I know, particularly since this time of year, the main ingredient is available for harvest twelve feet from my front door.

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.

2. Wash and cut approximately 10-12 stalks of rhubarb (enough to fill a 9×13″ glass ungreased baking pan). (Eat only the stalk, not the leaves or roots, which are toxic.)

3. In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour (we use Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour, since Penelope is allergic to wheat), 1 to 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt (optional). If you like a crunchier crisp, you can also add sliced almonds to the topping.

4.  Cut 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter into pea-sized pieces, and combine with the dry mix. (No need to get the lumps out: the butter will melt.) Then pour over the rhubarb. Gently tap the pan against the counter a few times to help the topping settle.

5. Cook in lower 1/3 of oven for 50-55 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. (You can put uncooked strawberry slices on the side, if you like.)

Enjoy!

-C

Home in Bloom

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Spot the Toddler!

You can’t do much outdoor gardening before late May, when you live in Vermont. The temperatures are still too extreme. While it isn’t unheard of to have daytime high temperatures in the high 70s and even 80s this time of year, the nights still have some bite. We had a frost warning this past Friday.

The other factor complicating our gardening ambitions this year is the fact that in two short months, we may very well not live here. We have a home under contract in the next town north, and while we haven’t yet done the home inspection (scheduled for Tuesday after next) or all of the mortgage hurdles, there is a very good chance we won’t be here to see the seeds we plant now grow to harvest.

To solve both of these issues, we’re opting to do most of our gardening in containers this summer. We can move containers inside or onto the sheltered porch if cold threatens, and we can put them in the back of the moving van (in theory) if the home-buying adventure goes well. (I say “in theory” because Penelope is a lot more optimistic about being able to move containers full of eight-foot-tall Kentucky Wonder pole beans than I am.)

Anyway, each spring for those few weeks when the poppies and rhododendron burst into bloom, our front yard suddenly looks almost charmingly wild and whimsical (rather than merely unkempt, which it generally is). This might just be my favorite time of the year.

-C.

Inch by Inch, Row by Row, Gonna Make this Garden Grow

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We spent the afternoon putting in a new perennial bed above our stone wall. Our house is on the market, and we’re trying to spruce up the place — as if a new flower bed might be all it takes to lure a good buyer in this utterly crap market. It’s a bittersweet thing, to put forth all that energy to build, plant, and tend a garden when, if all goes according to plan, you won’t be around to watch it mature. Still, it was a good day’s work, and for days to come, every twinge in my back will remind me of it.

-C.

I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error. ~Sara Stein