Harvest Monday ... and the First Planting Update

I'm joining other bloggers over at Daphne's Dandelions as we share our weekly harvests...it's fun to see what others are harvesting and what they are cooking up with it...check it out!

I won't have a harvest from the garden for quite a while yet ... my arthritis flare up in the fall kept my fall/winter garden from getting planted (I didn't even get all the fall cleanup done ... it's a mess out there that I am just starting to tackle).  We are still eating from our frozen and canned stores, though.  I made lasagna rolls with some of the Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce Saturday night and (Whoo Hoo!)  my first  homemade ricotta cheese!  It came out great but was unfortunately camera shy (next time, I promise :).

The first of my seedlings are starting to sprout in the potting shed ...

And today the weather was nice enough for me to get the first of the raised beds prepared ...

... and planted my first batch of carrot seeds.  FitzGyver made me some new "Square Foot" planting jigs that I think I am really going to like using.  I have one with nine holes per square foot and another with sixteen.  These are going to be great both for direct seeding and for spacing transplants.

My first 32 carrots were quickly seeded  ...

... and tucked in under a germination mat.  I'll start checking for germination in a few days and remove the mat once the first seedlings appear.

I put the plastic cover back over the bed ...

... and that's one bed started, only 5 more to go!

Enjoy!

New Additions ...

There still isn't very much to blog about garden wise.  I am just about caught up on my seed starting and hope to get more going this weekend, but I'm holding back a bit since there are going to be some changes to my garden layout soon.  If you click on the "Garden Layout" tab above it will take you to a diagram of my 2012 garden ... with space reserved for my new cold frame and greenhouse!  The cold frame is here and just needs to be put together and installed ...

FitzGyver chose the greenhouse.  He wanted one that would be energy efficient and strong enough to stand up to our winter snow.  He chose this one ... it is supposed to arrive sometime in March ...

I will lose one of my raised beds to make room for the greenhouse; I'm sure it will be worth it!  I'll keep you posted ...

Enjoy!

I'm Back ... and Pot Roast

I have to apologize for another long gap between posts. I've had the flu for a couple of weeks (that's why there haven't been any posts and why I had ABSOLUTELY NO SEEDS STARTED UNTIL TODAY!!!)  I was actually feeling better a few days ago and was wanting some comfort food (something besides my homemade chicken broth that I lived on for the two weeks prior ... thank God I had plenty canned and in the pantry).  FitzGyver was going to run some errands so I gave him a grocery list and asked him to check over the chuck roasts on sale at Safeway and if they looked good to get one for dinner.  The photographs of the roast and the recipe would have been the subject of this post if it were not for circumstances beyond my control.


While FitzGyver was gone it occured to me that a pie would be nice for dessert ... so I pulled some peaches and raspberries out of the freezer and whipped up a pie crust ( YES!! I can actually "whip up a pie crust" now!  It only took me 58 years to figure it out *blush*)  I put the pie in the oven and called FitzGyver and asked him to add some vanilla ice cream to the shopping list.

FitzGyver came home, put the groceries on the counter and stalked off to his man cave.  Being a supposedly intuitive female I should have been alerted that something was wrong in Paradise at that moment, but I was in comfort food bliss ...

I started the roast and when FitzGyver came back in I asked if he would help prep the veggies to go with the roast ... which he did without any comment (I missed that black thundercloud hanging over his head ... I really need a refresher course in feminine intuition ).

An hour later the post roast was done ... and the mushroom gravy ... and the biscuits to go with it all ... comfort food heaven!  And I called to FitzGyver that dinner was ready ... and HE EXPLODED!

Yes, dear reader, he exploded!  He accused me of attempted "Murder By Pot Roast"!  Now, you have to understand ... Mike has a high cholesterol problem (which is really NOT due to my cooking but to his unfortunate genetic inheritance from his ancestors).  I've got great cholesterol genes (thanks Mom and Dad), but have really tried to change my cooking style to low fat and healthy for my husband's sake ... but I'd been sick ... really sick ... and I was craving some comfort food.  So ...

Me: " What part of  I said we'd have pot roast if he bought one was he missing here?"

FitzGyver: Something about fat and cholesterol ... a little bit garbled so I can't quote exactly (I really need to get a recorder for times like these).

Me: "You helped prep the veggies for the pot roast ... so what part of we were having pot roast for dinner did you miss? "

FitzGyver: "Blah, blah something ... expletive deleted." ... it was getting harder to make out his words at this point ... and I have to admit, by this time I was sitting down and enjoying my meal ... it was wonderful!

Me: "You know, I can fix you something besides the pot roast ... would you like a spinach salad?"  At this point I was spooning up some of the pie and slathering it with vanilla ice cream ... ah, bliss!

FitzGyver: "Blah, blah, blah ..."  ... something to the effect of the pot roast is there and now he can't help himself ... words to the effect of I was offering candy to a diabetic ...

And I thought to myself  ... you bought the roast ... you helped cook the roast ... and NOW YOU SAY I'M TRYING TO KILL YOU WITH THE ROAST ???!!!

And I looked down at the bowl of pie and ice cream in my hands and ...

There was a reason why I was always the last person picked in school for the softball team ... I've got most of the peaches off the lighting fixtures and the cupboards ... still a little on the ceiling and I think I'm going to have to paint ... maybe sponge with something raspberry colored ...

*sigh*




PS. I did receive some rather lovely flowers ....

PPS.  It will be a while before I cook another pot roast and post the recipe ... I'm sure you understand ...