Pickled Peppers

The other night I pickled our sweet banana, jalapeno, cajun and chili peppers. I found the recipe online. My husband says they are not hot anymore, but I think they are plenty spicy.

When one thing leads to another

One recent evening over beers and casual conversation I mentioned that we have lots of hot peppers and someone suggested to pickle them. I embraced the idea and decided to try out pickling this weekend. I did not have any canning jars, so I went to a local hardware store to buy some. There I noticed they had broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower seedlings for sale, so I bought them.
To make some room for my new plants, I pulled out a wilting zucchini, a few cucumber plants past their prime and corn that no longer produce. I dug up potatoes I planted in spring, then picked more hot peppers and sweet banana peppers, one green bell pepper that I accidentally pushed over and a small ear of corn. There is also that yellow thing... I'm not sure what it is... might be something between a squash and a decorative pumpkin. One thing is for sure - I did not seed anything that looked alike the outcome.
While weeding in the garden, I noticed a few other things. Near parsley plants I found this black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. Welcome, friend! (Sorry for the fuzzy picture, I could not get my camera to focus.)
My first yellow bell pepper is ripening.
Winter squash has produced a single fruit. I hope there will be more.
In the afternoon I was catching shots of a golden finch on my sunflowers.
And right then a hummingbird flew right next to me to check out crown-of-thorns on the deck where I was standing.

Good day. I still need to pickle those peppers, though.

Ode to Dill

Dill is my favorite herb by far. In Latvia, where I grew up, dill is ever present in summertime meals. Spices and herbs are not widely used in Latvian cuisine, but dill, once in season, is added fresh to almost any dish except dessert. So I always associate it with summer's warm weather, wellness and freshness.I've been seeding dill directly in soil twice a year. First in mid to late March when the top layer is just warm enough. They grow full and produce seeds by late June. In July I collect seed heads for the next year. Another sowing comes late August to early September for fall crop of few-inch tall seedlings (that's now!). Dill sprouts after 7-10 days. In a few weeks one can start pulling out the first seedlings to use in meals.
Fresh dill from the garden is one of my biggest satisfaction factors of owning a garden. It's so nice to step outside and pick a few very aromatic leaves. I add dill to my fresh salads, to smoked salmon sandwiches, tuna salad and use in olive oil + fresh lemon juice + pressed garlic + thyme + dill + salt + ground pepper marinade for seafood or chicken. I also dry some dill on paper towels to use later in winter with some meat dishes.
In addition, I find dill to be a beautiful, almost architectural plant. Just look at it's delicate flower head.

It seems that no many Americans care for dill as much as I do. Is that true and if so, why?

Green Composition

Last night a deer had jumped over the netting fence around my vegetable patch and eaten two ripe tomatoes. It knocked down the green ones. When I went to pick those up, I also pulled a small decorative pumpkin, four sweet banana peppers and two ugly cucumbers.Why this deer comes to my garden? There are plenty of neighbors who live closer to the woods and have their tomatoes in open spaces in their front yards. They have their red tomatoes. Why such injustice?

Sam's Farm

With nothing planned for this afternoon, I decided to go visit Sam's Farm nursery on Route 7 near Falls Church. For one reason or another I had not been there yet this year.They have wide variety of plants, shrubs and garden decorations.
I feel like a kid in a candy store every time I go there. I want this and this, and this... Meadow rue is so beautiful. Just a picture this time will have to suffice.
Love this green horse. Everything seems to be growing so well at Sam's Farm.
This dude looks just like my dad :)
Elephant. Or is it a mammoth?
Mammoth detail...
My purchase: black salvia, perennial verbena, toad lily and one more flower I do not know the name of. Did I keep the tag??? And exactly where I should plant them?
I really did not need any more plants, but cannot help but get something when I'm in nurseries. I guess some people have the same feeling in shoe or department stores. Then in comparison my obsession is not as costly. This black salvia was the most expensive purchase and only $10.
At first I did not have a clear idea where everything would go. After some plant musical chairs in my front yard, everything is in ground and well watered. Grow well now!

Nameless Beauty

I do not know what this plant is. In my mind I call it "pretty nettle". I has been in my garden ever since we moved in. The plant is annual, it releases strange aroma and has small, insignificant flowers. It self-seeds and I have it in many places in my garden.

The most striking feature is the purple leaves that also have an iridescent glow to them. Right now the plants are in their prime.

Zinnias on My Desk

August in the office...

Beet Salad II

Last night I made beet salad for supper. (Did I mention that I LOVE beets? If you are like me, you might enjoy this other beet salad recipe, too.)Mix together shredded roasted beets, cooked beans, finely chopped dill pickles and a dollop of mayonnaise.

Only the beets came from my garden, the rest came in jars from my grocery store. Maybe one day... when I have a fence that keeps away rabbits that eat my beans and when I have time to make my own pickles and mayonnaise... But for now my own beets were reason enough to make this salad in the first place.

Productive Day

I started working in the garden about 10 am this morning planning to tidy up the vegetable patch and sow carrot and lettuce seeds.

The veggie patch has been taken over with growing plants. This is how it looked in May, just about two months ago:

Here's the same view taken the other day. Some plants have been harvested already: radishes, garlic, shallots and onions. Some plants have been added: squashes, sunflowers, peppers and tomatoes. Everything has grown very well (unless eaten by rabbits, like beans and sweet potato vines). It's one big green mess.
To get some order in there, I started with pulling out the overgrown broccoli and radishes, then came out a wheel barrel load of weeds.

I moved on to flower beds and decided that today will be the day when I cut down the small Japanese maple in our backyard. This small tree would often be in my way and the flower bed around it was hard to keep up because of maple's roots. I guess I still did some damage to them anyway as the maple would never look good during summer.

Well, cutting down the maple started a wave of pruning. My husband pruned another, larger Japanese maple we have. Some overgrown bushes in the front were up next. We cut out two of them and trimmed the third one. Dogwood in the side yard also got trimmed. After all the cutting we have this huge pile of brush on the curb.Then, to fill in the empty spot in the front, I transferred black-eyed susans, ornamental grass, Siberian iris, and lamb's ears from other parts of the garden. We are happy with how it looks now.
And yes, after all that, I went on to do what I initially planned. Carrot and lettuce seeds are in the ground as well as three nastrium seeds that I picked up in Sausalito, CA last summer. They'll germinate and start growing during August and should do really well during the cooler days of September.

It was 3 pm when I finally got inside. Tired and achy, yet it was never an issue until today's planned and unplanned things were finished.