26 June 2006

Zucchini the size of your arm

Because there's so much garden stuff in here lately, I should note that we picked, prepared and devoured our first home-grown zucchini this weekend. Woot! Read all about it here, on out JAM*intake site: http://jamintake.blogspot.com/2006/06/home-grown.html

Gardens (and eating locally and organically) rock! :-D

21 June 2006

Summer, Summer, Summertime

Summer summer summertime
time to sit back and unwind

Here it is the groove slightly transformed
just a bit of a break from the norm
just a little somethin' to break the monotony
of all that hardcore dance that has gotten to be
a little bit out of control it's cool to dance
but what about the groove that soothes that moves romance
give me a soft subtle mix
and if ain't broke then don't try to fix it
and think of the summers of the past
adjust the base and let the alpine blast
pop in my CD and let me run a rhyme
and put your car on cruise and lay back cause this is summertime
--The Fresh Prince


Happy Summer Solstice! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_solstice

One Love,
JAM

17 June 2006

Meet our boy, Francis

Lots of outside work lately :o) The veggie garden that we laid out in April was planted right before Mother's Day and is doing fabulously. Yay veggies!

The photograph on the top is facing the alley, the photograph on the bottom is facing the house. The white building is our neighbor's garage whose vintage look is proving to be a perfect backdrop to the garden, don't you think?

We planted:
tomatoes
zucchini
yellow squash
jalapeƱo peppers
banana peppers

red bell peppers
broccoli
cabbage
onions
string beans
red lettuce

So far, no fertilizer, no pesticides, no insecticides, no nothing! We mixed in our compost pile with the soil when it was planted and since then, it's had just sun, water and love. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll continue to get through the season with only those three ingredients.

We also moved Saint Francis to his
intended place in the garden. What? didn't you know Saints should be placed behind the lettuce?

The Saint Francis statue was given to me by two amazing people, Jean and Wally Dolan. Ol' Saint Franny was chillin' in their gardens for nearly 30 years, where Wally unfailingly took care of him with a fresh coat of spray polyurethane every other season or so. Then, a few years ago, the Dolans decided to downsize and moved into a condo. They gave a lot of things away when they moved, downsizing not only their landscape, but also their possessions.

Of course, Saint Francis made the cut, and found his new place at the foot of the stairs leading up to the new Dolan home. Wally and Jean always knew that they wanted to pass the statue onto someone, but they wanted to find someone that would care for him and get as much joy out of him as they had for so long.

A couple months ago, they mentioned Saint Francis and their quest to find him a new home to a group of us and I jumped (no really, I jumped), clasped my hand together, and gushed about my love for the Saint and how he is just my favorite Saint ever and how we just dug up our yard and how I would have just the perfect place for him once we put in the gardens and I promised I would take care of him and could I, could I please, keep him? Please? Please, huh, please?

I think primarily in an effort to shut me up, they said yes. I picked him up that afternoon.

So, Francis has kind of been hanging out here and there in the yard since April. This weekend, he picked his preferred location in the lively, colorful and serene vegetable garden. (Click the photo to enlarge it.) He looks perfect there, doesn't he?


11 June 2006

Zoom!

Best thrift store purchase to date: Aaaw yeah. It's a Scott's classic model in impeccable condition, and came with a catch bag and a sharpening kit. Oh, and it cost us 25 bucks.

25.

Bucks.

Had we bought it new, it would have cost us over $100. I've been looking for a reel mower since last spring, and I am so glad that I didn't give up, give in and buy one new. My favorite thrift store, Impact! in Lansdale, reliably came through for us once again. It's lovely when patience pays off, yes?

It only took five of us, but we figured out how to sharpen the blades:

From left to right, that's Jason, Mattie, Daddy-O and Bill. Mikaela is behind the camera.

03 June 2006

This is where shrubs come to die

Did I say die? I mean, rehabilitate. They come here to get better, healthier, happier, yay!

The best part of rehabilitating plants? Re-potting.
The best part of re-potting? Dirt.
The best part of dirt? Adding water.
The best part of adding water? Mud.
The best part of mud? This:

My little neighbor and Amanda's sister, Erykah, was my helper this weekend. Actually, she's been our helper since Amanda and I planted the front bed. I just want to eat her up.