This lovely photo is from Dutch Gardens, a mail-order catalogue that I used for over 20 years to order my tulips and daffodills. I loved fringed tulips, and ordered dozens of them for mass-plantings. But, much to my dismay, the bulbs only produced well for 3 - 4 years, then stopped blooming. They'd run their course and immature bulblets took their place, just stringy little things that suffered miserably in the soil, never showing a bloom. You'll see these little strands poking up in gardens where there once were magnificent tulips. In less than a month I'll be 64...and I'm still playing in the dirt. But some of this yard work is just too much for me anymore. Not only do I peter out, but I find excuses to quit, to go in the house for another cup of tea. Hunt down a couple Dove chocolates! Bread pudding. Pizza. High-calorie stuff that gives me instant energy.
I've forgotten how strenuous it is to get ready for a summer garden. It creates an appetite not because you are hungry, but because you want to experience something pleasant! Gardening is much harder than jogging, because when you are done you are weary and sore. But, with jogging you just glide along, with an increase in breathing, and you feel so refreshed when you are done.
I realize that most of my life I've done just real hard work - the manual labor of an industrial kitchen and heavy lifting with care-giving. Those jobs really took a toll on my shoulders and arms, and I doubt that any of the strength training that I've done throughout the winter will compensate greatly for those injuries - I have to work around them, do low-impact training. But exercise really does help tone-done inflammation and build strength, and so far I haven't had the tendinitis and bursitis issues that I have had in previous years.
Years past all I had to do was LOOK at a digging fork and my shoulders would tingle. Now, I'm learning to take it slower, work up to a sustained level and keep it there. However, I'll be glad when this gardening is done and all I'll need to do is water the plants.
This is a photo of our green bean crop a few years ago, nestled against a south- facing window. It is George's project....if he remembers to put the seeds in the ground. Last year I did it, so this year he's got them in the ground early! They are his 'babies'.I mulch all my flowerbeds with grass-clippings, so weeding is never an issue. If I have them, I just dig them in for compost. Most of my gardening in the past was 'intensive gardening', with all the plants using up all the space, staggered growing periods, and double-digging. A lot of it was vertical, like corn and beans. Staked things, like tomatoes, were pruned and guided, so that it maximized fruit growth. I even did overlays, where root crops like carrots, onions, and potatoes would be planted next to sprawling plants which would take over the soil when the root crops attained maturity. I'd just keep them in the ground until I needed them for a meal.
I went to the nursery today to pick up a few things, and it was packed with shoppers. I will have to go again on the weekend to get more chicken manure and potting soil for my planters. We need bark chips spread along the walkways - that is a yearly thing. I'll put in a few bedding plants in during the middle of May.
If it weren't for getting the taxes done this weekend, we'd be canoeing. It is gorgeous outside. I tell George every year to do the taxes in February, but he always waits until the last few days before he starts them. If he'd followed my suggestion, we'd be doing this:
George and Daisy, canoeing on Puget Sound. Just after I shot this photo, the waves started rolling in, crashing the canoe back and forth on the shore. I captured it all on video, and it was so dramatic. Needless to say, George was telling me to put the camera down, and get into the canoe!
Paddling withTaraz and Megan on an excursion down the Black River. This was a late afternoon-early evening paddle, when the water was so deeply blue and tranquil, so lovely. Huge carp swirled below us unexpectedly dashing away, leaving the water frothing with bubbles and waves. On a different note: When I was at the market getting a few things, a food demonstration was in progress. The cook was making 'Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Goat Cheese'.
I went over and asked her a few questions about the kind of grill, the sauce she used as a marinade, and what she uses as side dishes. She was quite knowledgeable about mushrooms, offered me a sample, and I just loved it. A cast-iron griddle is preferable she says, as it can get very hot, and it only takes about 5 minutes on each side.
The goat cheese is spread on after grilling, and adds a wonderful flavor to the mushroom. The sauce used at the market was olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic cloves and coarse sea salt, but I substituted with a sesame ginger marinade, which resulted in more caramelising, a sweeter taste. One mushroom was a full serving for George and I. We cut it in half.Speaking of tulips: If you've given up on the garden kind, there is always this fanciful culinary creation, a tulip cookie (Flickr) with a citron emulsion - now, that's something I'd like to see prepared!
Ms. Glaze says it is 'super light and delicious, a cookie filled with frozen lemon sabayon and topped with angel hair caramel. Recipe here, from this culinary class.
