Enjoy!

A beautiful rose in my backyard in mid-June, 2011.

As I write this post it is the first official day of summer and it is sunny and 82 degrees outside! It is a bit difficult to be inside writing this, but Adam and I have been outside almost all day enjoying the weather. Summer is my very favorite time of year here in Oregon because it brings so much beauty and so much to enjoy! This week I am focusing on the things we have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy as the summer goes on.


Country Garden Report:

Some pretty wildflowers we found along a trail in the woods.

On Tuesday of last week Adam and I went to my parent's house to visit and do some work in the garden. Our day out there started as many do, with a walk through the woods with Adam. This time we went on the trail that leads to the pond. We had a fun time exploring there and saw many pretty plants along the way as we carefully avoided touching the stinging nettles.

Some lovely little blue wildflowers along the woodland trail.

A pretty view of the wetland grasses by the pond.

Later on, as Adam napped my Mom and I were able to work around 2 hours in the garden together. We got a lot of work done then. While my Mom planted all of the corn seeds in rows and covered them with newspaper to keep the crows from eating the seeds I worked on weeding along the fence area so that beans could be planted along that edge. We were each able to complete our tasks! Hooray!

Our corn seeds are covered with newspapers to keep the crows from eating them before they are able to sprout.

A very healthy bok choy plant that came up from last year's seed. There are many "volunteers" scattered about the garden.

Later on in the week my Mom was able to finish planting all of the seeds for our warmer weather crops! She wanted to finish it up quickly as all of us (my parents, my brother and his wife, my husband, Adam and I) were headed up to Seattle for the weekend to visit family and sight-see a bit. Here is her report on the plantings:

Seed Planting Report:

"Last night Dad spaded up the area next to the fence that you had weeded on Tuesday.

1. This morning I planted pole beans there.

2. Along the edge of the corn facing the shop, I planted winter squash, cantaloupe, and watermelon as there is a nice space there for them to grow towards the fence; and they can even ramble into the corn.

3. I planted a row of pickling cucumbers between the blueberries and the grapes.

4. On the opposite side of the corn, facing the orchard, I planted bush beans.

5. Basil seed is planted between the lettuce and rutabagas.

6. Tomatillos are planted at both ends of the lettuce/rutabaga/turnip/beet/basil block.

7. Zucchini and pumpkins are at the south end of the corn planting.

8. Dill is in the concord grape row, over by the rhubarb.

9. Swiss chard had only a couple plants show up, so I replanted some seeds in the same spot.

We have got a serious infestation of some kind of bug that is eating the leaves of vegetable plants, even the rhubarb leaves are riddled with holes. I noticed some spider webs in the area, so perhaps they are helping to reduce the bug population, but I don't see enough webs to take care of all of them, so we may have to do something. I have some red pepper flakes that I may add to some water to then spray on the plants to see if that will help. I doubt, however, that I would get to it before next Monday evening. Some of the smaller tomato plants look like the leaves are made of lace. Yikes."- Serena Johnston- June 16, 2011. Luckily- later on this week my Mom reported that the tomato plants had a lot of new growth and looked a lot better. So, hopefully the bugs will not keep bothering the plants this season!
Here is my Mom's report on progress in the garden this week. It includes a few items that need to be worked on this week and next in the garden. Adam and I will be headed out there later on this week to take a look and take some pictures, but here is the news as of today:


Country Garden Progress:

"I spent a little time in the garden and came in just moments ago. The garden is still damp, so no need for watering. I went along the area where the cabbages are, and weeded a bit around them; and I hope to spend some time tomorrow using the hoe to get the bulk of the weeds in that area. Dad dug up quite a bit of the soil around the gooseberries, but we haven't gotten all the way to that corner yet. The blueberries need weeding, too. The weeds are still small enough that it should be fairly easy to get some hoeing done all around the garden. The biggest need is getting the thistles out before they go to seed.

The tomatoes have actually grown some and are a nice dark green, so even though the bugs have eaten some holes in them, they are looking better than last week, and the holes are fewer and farther between. I'd still like to spray them with the pepper spray, though, as I know the bugs keep the plants from being as healthy as they would otherwise be.

We also need to put some more soil around the potato plants. They are nearly ready to bloom and are looking really good, but we can get a better yield if we hill them up. As I recall, after they are done blooming we could dig up a few new potatoes from around each plant.

We also need to put some fertilizer around the root crops and once I finish weeding the cabbages, we need to fertilize those as well. Dad has got another 1 1/2 garbage cans full of aged chicken manure/wood chips so we have plenty of material. Our carrots and parsnips are showing nicely, so we should have good yields there if we keep them weeded and fed.

Dad has mowed the orchard again - the grasses grow so fast. Amazingly enough, we have better fruit set this year than last. I guess the blossoms and the insects that pollinated them just managed to dodge the raindrops. The cherries appear to be pretty slim pickings except for the pie cherries. I did notice that the Stella cherries, although not bearing yet as we just planted them this year, are the healthiest looking, with large, deep green leaves. Those are reportedly the best for west of the Cascade mountains, and I think it is right."- Serena Johnston June 21, 2011.

Suburban Garden Report:

One of my heirloom roses in bloom.

This week my roses have really started to bloom. It makes me so happy to see the bright blooms and it is even fun to pick off ones that are past their prime in anticipation of more blooms later on. Also, my little dogwood tree is blooming as you can see in the photo below. Many plants are in bloom and my garden is growing so well too!

A large bloom on my dogwood tree.

One of my tomato plants growing quite well.

My vegetable and fruit garden is doing so well! I am very happy with it. It seemed like every thing grew a lot during the three days that we were gone during the weekend. My tomato plants are already getting so big! I am sure I will need to tie them to their posts soon. Also, my row of lettuce is looking very lush! There are still no ripe strawberries but I am hoping with the sun and warmth this week that they will ripen.

A row of lettuce in my raised bed garden.

A view of the back yard from my raised bed garden.

This week I have gotten out into the yard to weed a couple of times. Yesterday I weeded some of the flower beds and the raised bed gardens for a bit and today I was able to completely weed the side yard as Adam played outside. Later on I finished weeding the garden and most of the flower beds as Adam played with the hose and sprayer. He had such fun! It is nice to work outside in the sun and see all of the pretty plants. I love the view! We even were able to enjoy lunch outside today. I love summer!

Two pies, a party and Seattle:

One of my pie shells formed and ready to be baked.

This past weekend we went up to Seattle to go to my Uncle Lloyd and Aunt Maureen's annual pie party! It was held at their home on Saturday, June 18th. It was so nice to visit with them and sample all of the delicious pies. My uncle baked many kinds of pie including apple, cherry, blueberry and pumpkin. I brought two pies to the event- a French Silk Chocolate Pie and a Shoo Fly Pie. I enjoyed making these pies and both recipes were new to me. I decided to make the Shoo Fly pie because Paul surprised me with a gift of an Amish pie basket to carry the pies in to the party in Seattle and the basket came with the recipe. Here are the photos and recipes for the pies:

The French Silk Chocolate Pie I made for the party.

French Silk Chocolate Pie:

This recipe is from the magazine Cook's Country. It took a bit of work but it was well worth it!

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (I used 2 bars of Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and softened.
1 9- inch pie shell, baked and cooled.

1. Whip Cream: With electric mixer on medium high speed, whip cream to stiff peaks, 2-3 minutes. Transfer whipped cream to small bowl and refrigerate.

2. Beat Eggs: Combine eggs, sugar, and water in large heatproof bowl set over medium saucepan filled with 1/2 inch barely simmering water (don't let bowl touch water). With electric hand mixer on medium speed, beat until egg mixture is thickened and registers 160 degrees, 7-10 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat egg mixture until fluffy and cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes.

3. Beat, Fold, Cool: Add chocolate and vanilla to cool egg mixture and beat until incorporated. Beat in butter, a few pieces at a time, until well combined. Using a spatula, fold in whipped cream until no streaks of white remain. Scrape filling into pie shell and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours.

Note: I only had time to refrigerate the pie for 1 hour. Then, I put it in the pie basket with blue ice packs. After that, at the hotel I kept it iced down using a zip lock bag full of ice. It worked very well because the pie was nice and set for the party on Saturday!

The Shoo Fly Pie I made for the party.

Shoo Fly Pie:

This recipe is from Sarah Miller who included it in the Amish pie basket I received. It is a delicious pie that reminds me of molasses cookies or gingerbread.

Note: I actually doubled the recipe (below is the single version) because I had a 10 inch pie shell. I wanted to be able to really fill up the pie shell. Also, I used 1/2 molasses and 1/2 dark corn syrup for my pie.

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup molasses
1 large egg yolk
Pastry for 9 inch single crust pie
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons shortening

Preheat oven to 450F

1. In a small bowl dissolve the baking soda in boiling water.

2. In a separate bowl, combine molasses and egg yolk. Stir in baking soda mixture and mix well. Pour into pie shell. Set aside.

3. Stir together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over pie.

5. Bake for 15 minutes; reduce the heat to 350F and bake 20 minutes longer. Cool before serving.

Enjoy your pie!!

Seattle Trip Highlights:

It was such an unexpected treat to be able to visit with my cousin Dan (pictured below) at the party. I think that the last time I saw him he might have been 10 or 11 years old! How time flies! It is so nice to see him happy, successful and all grown up!

My brother Stuart, Me and my cousin Dan at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Seattle.

My Aunt Maureen and Uncle Lloyd- such sweet people- were lovely hosts. It was fun to see all 0f the remodeling that they had done to their home and meet many of their neighbors at the party. We got to see their new furniture and decor. My Uncle even made a really neat balsa wood plane for Adam to play with. He thought that was pretty fun!

My cousin Dan, Aunt Maureen and Uncle Lloyd.

My husband Paul, son Adam and my Mom helping Adam with some delicious cherry pie! It was my favorite pie of the afternoon! My Uncle does a great job of baking pies!

A lovely bunch of pies including- apple made with fuji apples, blueberry, cherry, pumpkin, rhubarb custard, French silk and shoo fly.

A very unique and lovely sign that my parents made for my Aunt and Uncle to label the pies.

Besides the pie party we had a great time sight seeing in Seattle as a family. We went up to Seattle on Friday and arrived in the late afternoon. From our hotel we were able to walk down to Pike's Place Market and enjoy the sunny day. First, we went to an arcade area that had a carousel. Adam was thrilled to ride it and had such fun picking out the horse he wanted to ride!

Me with Adam on the carousel.

After the arcade we headed down the hallway to the Crab Pot restaurant. We had seen the fun dinners that they served on TV so we wanted to try it for ourselves. It was a very delicious and memorable meal. Adam had fun pointing to what he wanted to eat on the table and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Paul and Adam enjoying a bounty of seafood at the Crab Pot.

The next day, as we promised Adam we took the monorail to the Space Needle. Adam loved looking out the window of the elevator on our ride up to the observation deck! I, however stood at the back of the elevator!

Me with Adam on the 0bservation deck level of the Space Needle.

Paul with Adam. He is pretending to look out of the binoculars to see the view. He wanted to try out each and every pair of binoculars there!

To close, as I am finishing up this post on June 22, 2011 I cannot believe that yesterday it was above 80 degrees! Today it started out very sunny but it got colder and only ended up being around 67 degrees. I ended up putting on a sweatshirt later in the day! However, Adam and I still had some summer fun in the back yard making water balloons as you can see in the photo below. The key is to enjoy every day!

Adam with two water balloons. He loves having fun in the back yard!

Summer is Coming! Summer is Coming!

A very wet Adam running around the back yard this past Sunday after he ran through the sprinkler!

This past week we have seen sun and much warmer temperatures overall. Although today it is only about 64-65F as I write this it is a big improvement on how it was last June. I hope that this warming trend continues! It finally feels like for the most part- summer is here to stay! Our forecast looks dry and fairly warm- in the upper 60's and 70's for the next 10 days! I am so very excited and I know this means that our gardens stand a better chance of a good growing season this year.

Country Garden Report:

This week I have a short report from the country garden since my parents were gone to the beach last weekend I haven't had a chance to visit the garden out there. However, later on this week we'll have a chance to visit and plant our tomato and pepper starts.

Here's what my mom had to say about the work she did in the garden:

"I did manage to do some weeding this weekend. The lettuce is weed-free at the moment. The turnips and rutabagas are free of weeds, but probably need thinning. There are beets showing up and I managed to weed around some of them, but there is still some to be done there. The brussels sprouts have shown up, but there aren't many of them. All we need is a few.

I also did a bit of weeding around each cabbage and broccoli, so at least they can be seen more easily.

The parsnips and carrots appear to have emerged also. I think a few Swiss chard are also up. Anyway, although there are some weeds, we have a lot of what we planted. I also think that some of the "weeds" may be tomatillos and bok choi, and maybe some other vegetables that went to seed. They will still be there when I finally have a chance to weed again, so maybe they'll look like something identifiable.

All of the peas have emerged and are about to reach the trellis. The potatoes are doing very well. Whew!"

It looks like our seeds are coming up quite nicely and my mom is doing a wonderful job of keeping everything weed-free so that all of the plants can grow well. I am excited about our chances for a large crop of vegetables this year!

One of the tomato starts that I planted in our raised bed garden.

Suburban Garden Report:

Last Wednesday we had very nice, sunny weather in the morning so Adam and I ventured into the yard and I decided to finally plant the tomato and pepper starts that my mom gave me. It is a good feeling that it is now warm enough to plant these and I think they will do well. I put a garden stake beside each plant and later on I will need to tie up the tomatoes as they grow.

My tiny little lettuce plants coming up!

Also, I could see that my two rows of lettuce are coming up nicely as well as a few very thin threads of green that are popping up in my row of Walla-Walla onions!

Some "baby" strawberries on my plants.

I can see many, many strawberries forming on my very healthy plants. It looks like we are going to have a huge crop this year! I am very excited. I hope to have enough extra to make some strawberry jam which is Paul's favorite.

The beautiful sculpture/sprinkler in action in the raised bed garden.

Several years ago my mom gave me a really neat piece of yard art that is also a useful sprinkler. It is metal and has a pretty piece of stained glass in it. It is a lovely piece of art that is a fantastic sprinkler as well! It is so very useful! I didn't have a very good spot for it until this year when we built our large garden bed. It is perfect at watering the plants as you can see here. And, the added bonus is that Adam can get cooled off and run in the sprinkler at the same time! I love it!!

A clematis vine that I hope will grow up strong and healthy this year.

Besides the raised bed fruit and vegetable garden I have many other plants, shrubs and bushes that I really love in the yard. It is like a living collection that I work with each year. The clematis vine pictured above I have had for many years. The first 2-3 years I had it in the wrong spot. I think it got too much sun. Then, last year I moved it to this location but I did not have the trellis anchored very well and I think the chicken coop was in the way and it did not get enough sun. I have high hopes for it this year. I hope it will continue to grow and bloom a lot this year!

A lovely pot full of dianthus that comes back better each year!

Another plant that I love that comes back every year is dianthus. I have three pots planted with it and it continues to amaze me. I think this year it looks better than ever! It has so many blooms and buds on it. I love all of the bright colors!

Huge blooms on the rhododendron in our front yard.

Oregon is a place where rhododendrons grow very, very well. I am so glad that I really like them. We have two large bushes in our front yard and several small ones in the back yard. I love the ones on either side of our front porch. This red one is spectacular this year! You can hardly see any green leaves because there are so many large blooms on it!

Our blue hydrangea bush in the front yard.

This hydrangea bush is next to the large, red rhodie in our front yard. We have rescued this plant because a couple of years ago it was being overtaken by the bush beside it. Paul trimmed back the rhodie this year and the year before. I have also made sure that the area around it is well weeded to make sure it gets plenty of nutrients to grow well. I think it is looking very healthy this year and already has many buds on it. I hope each year it will grow even larger.

Our front planter filled with annuals.

I love this front yard planter that Paul built. A few years ago we had the concrete blocks and sand delivered and Paul worked very hard to build such a nice planter. In the spring each year tulips bloom in it. Then, I cut back the tulips, add new topsoil and plant annuals in it to last through the summer. I like to do different colors each year. This year I am excited about the bright purple wave petunias that I know will really fill out the planter and be so cheery!

Adam having fun washing the car on June 1, 2011.

We are so lucky to live in the middle of a cul de sac. It is great that most days if it isn't raining hard Adam and I can go out and play in the front yard. Last Wednesday it was so nice outside that we decided to wash the car. Adam really got a kick out of wiping the car down and then he used the hose to rinse off the car. It was a lot of fun! He was so proud!

Adam having a great time with pine cones in the front yard/cul de sac.

Today in the morning we went out to play in the front yard although it was a lot colder than it had been in the past few days. It was dry and pleasant, so we went out with our light jackets on. Often, we round around in circles, kick a ball around together and sometimes play hide and seek outside.

Adam playing the "bongo drums" on the wood outside.

Also, today Adam played on the wood pile left from the trees we cut down near our house and he said he was playing "bongos." Such a great imagination!

Trista and Adam playing outside on the morning of June 7, 2011.

We have such fun playing together outside every chance that we get! I think it is important to get fresh air and enjoy nature all that we can!

Beaverton Farmer's Market Report:

Last weekend I splurged on some lovely treats at the farmer's market.

Due to the fact that I was preparing final exams and doing a lot of paperwork for school I hadn't had a chance to make bread last week. So, I decided to buy a loaf a the market. I bought a delicious loaf of hazelnut and cranberry sourdough bread from Alpine Sourdough Bakery. It is a nice, soft loaf that has big chunks of hazelnuts and lots of cranberries. It makes perfect toast for breakfast in the morning which was exactly what I was looking for! Yum!

Pictured below you can see the bread included in my breakfast. I have always been someone who loves to eat a big breakfast. I am always so hungry in the morning and it gets me off to a great start. I usually have a fried egg (from my parent's chickens of course!), whole grain toast with peanut butter, fruit with plain whole milk yogurt and granola and a cup of coffee with cream and whole milk along with a large glass of water and my vitamins. Delicious!!

The typical breakfast that I like to eat during the week. The bread and nut butter that I bought from the market are featured here along with local granola, strawberries, milk and cream from the farmer's market.

I also bought some amazing Hazelnut and Chocolate Butter Blend from a business called Nut-ritious Foods. They have a large variety of nut butters for sale that have flax seed blended into them. It is really delicious and you can really taste the dark chocolate in it!


The last item that I bought was a box of granola from Little Brown Box & Co. I decided to try the Oregon Huckleberry Crumble. It is such a delicious granola and the package couldn't be prettier! I think it would make such a nice host/hostess gift for a summer party! Adam has been enjoying it every morning for breakfast and I like to sprinkle it on my yogurt and strawberries!

A Simple Grilling Recipe:

Korean Grilled Chicken garnished with some extra sauce and some fresh spinach leaves.

Since it was so nice and sunny this weekend I wanted to get out and do some barbecuing! I wanted to share a simple chicken marinade recipe that I have used for several years that really has a nice flavor and keeps the chicken moist while grilling.

This simple marinade just uses a few common ingredients.

Korean BBQ Chicken Marinade:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 teaspoons hot chile paste (optional) or hot sauce of choice

1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, whisk together the sugar, soy sauce, water, onion powder, and ground ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes.

2. Remove the mixture from heat, cool, and whisk in lemon juice and hot chile paste. Place chicken in the mixture. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours before barbecuing chicken.

Notes:

This time I decided to divide the marinade into 3 containers once it was done cooking. I put 2 teaspoons chile paste into the marinade in 1 container, left one container of marinade plain and then saved a third small portion to use as a sauce for the cooked chicken. You can taste the sauce and add more chile paste as desired before you add the chicken. It depends on how spicy you like your chicken.

I have a gas grill so I usually heat the grill on the high setting and let it sit a few minutes. Then, I turn down the heat just a bit and grill the chicken till done. I like to use a digital thermometer to check doneness. It is nice that the chicken stays moist even when it has a nice char on the outside. Delicious! Enjoy!!

Adam and Paul making some water balloons.

To end this blog- on Sunday after barbecuing some hamburgers for dinner Paul and Adam sat outside and made some water balloons. They sure had a fun time. Here's to summer!!

Pop! Splash!!