Plantings

We planted spring greens: swiss chard, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, arugula and spinach. These are in one side of our u-shaped raised garden. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant and, hopefully, Dixie butter peas will go in soon.

Look What's Bloomin'

Do you know what this is?



Beautiful blueberry blossoms. We have six bushes and each is in one stage of bloom or another. If we have as many berries as we have blossoms, we'll have a nice blueberry crop this year.

We have many different and beautiful purple flowers growing in the yard like weeds. This one looks like a violet - so pretty.



Not sure what this one is, but it is very abundant and welcome to stay.



What's bloomin' in your world?

The Last Word on Rhubarb, for Now

Today I went out to harvest our first rhubarb this year to make Banana Rhubarb Cobbler. Two of the older plants were already making flowers so I removed them, as I read you should do, in order to allow the plant to focus its energy on making more edible stalks.



I was able to harvest enough for the cobbler and it was delicious - thanks to my sister HG for the recipe.

Rhubarb and Banana Cobbler

Vegetable oil for pan
4-6 stalks fresh rhubarb, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices (~4 cups)
2 medium bananas, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 and 1/2 cups rolled (not quick cooking) oatmeal
1/4 cup grapeseed or canola oil
1/4 cup soy milk (may substitute low-fat milk)
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil one 8-9 inch baking dish or 6 individual baking dishes with 1.5 cup capacity.

In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb and banana slices with the sugar and toss to combine. Spread in the prepared baking dish(es).



In a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the oatmeal, oil, milk, salt, baking powder, sugar, and honey for 1 minute. Spread the oatmeal topping over the fruit.



Bake until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve hot.

*Meant to have a photo of finished product but got distracted by the instructions to eat it hot :)

Note from HG: I always use canola oil and low fat milk.

Note from YG: I only had olive oil or coconut on hand, so I used coconut; also, I had lots of oatmeal on hand, but my choices were instant, steel cut and quick cooking. I chose the latter and it was still delicious. One more thing, I used an 8" square aluminum pan and baked it about 35 minutes. And, after re-reading the recipe, I realize I sliced my rhubarb way too thick - still delicious.

Bamboo Wattle

This is the wattle border for the rhubarb patch.



The wattle fence has two walls - the rhubarb is bordered by the house and a rock wall on the other two sides. I used thick bamboo canes for the stakes - my husband helped me cut them on his miter saw so they have one blunt end and one pointed end to drive into the ground. Our bamboo for weaving had obvious thick and thin ends, so when weaving the fence we alternated the direction of the canes so the fence would stay fairly level. Once we were finished weaving, we cut the ends to neaten them up. I was planning to lash the joints, but I'm going to see how this stands up as it dries out and sets up. This was a fun project!

Oh Joy!

Today I went to plant some more rhubarb - the last scraggly ones on Walmart's shelves. I discovered the other three rhubarb we planted a couple of years ago are coming back, in various stages of development.



I also cut some bamboo canes today to make some waddle (ha ha, looked it up and it is wattle, not waddle) fencing, like they use in colonial Williamsburg, so that we can mark off the rhubarb patch. I think traditional wattle fencing is made of saplings, but since we happen to have bamboo I want to try it. The newly emerging plants are somewhat outside of where I thought they should be, so this will help keep track of things.

Awaiting Asparagus

This may look like a barren patch of nothing, but soon there will be tender green asparagus popping up. (The pile of brush is composed of the stalks we let go to seed last year.) We have to remember to start checking every day about this time of year because it comes on strong and grows quickly. This patch was planted many years ago by my parents and has stubbornly clung to life despite neglect and competition from black walnut trees. I know it's over 25 years old because an Army friend of mine earned goody points with my dad by weeding it in 1987. We cleared it out last year and are eager to see if it will continue to thrive.

The tree at the end of the patch is a fig tree, also planted by my father, that bears many figs each year which the birds happily devour. I would like to work out an agreement with them this year that they have the top of the tree and we have the bottom.

Aloe Repot Revisited

The aloe plants that I repotted a few days ago look sad. A wise person has informed me that peat moss has exactly the opposite properties of sand and is, therefore, a poor substitute. Duh, you say? Okay - that's fair.

So now I have repotted them again, this time using a mix of potting soil, sand and small gravel. I hated to traumatize them again but I don't know if they would make it otherwise. I will report back on this topic as things develop.

Welcome Rhubarb

This is what rhubarb looks like when it emerges in the spring - like little baby cabbages pushing through the earth. I cleared out the bed and this is the one rhubarb coming back where there should be four - I hope the others will be along shortly. I had always heard that rhubarb doesn't like the southern heat, but the farmer who I got my plants from said if you plant them where they get 6-8 hours of morning sun, then afternoon shade, they can do well. I need to give them more attention this year.

What a treat rhubarb is! Of course we love strawberry-rhubarb pie, and last year I found a recipe on Martha Stewart's website for Rhubarb Buckle. It has a bar cookie/cake texture and is so good.

Aloe Kitty

It's a beautiful weekend in east Tennessee. I repotted an overgrown aloe plant - and now I have at least ten potted aloes. There are good instructions at www.blogsmonroe.com - when I get better at blogging I will make a link. Basically, aloe need good drainage from a soil mixed with gravel and sand or other grit. I didn't have sand but used peat moss and small gravel mixed into potting soil.

So far I've mainly been filling bird and squirrel feeders.

Here is where I will post photos and updates of my efforts to become a yard and garden person. I have a goal in 2013 to focus on doing a little each day on this 2.5 acre property.