Citrus × meyeri

I have always had a fascintation with citrus trees. I have early memories of visiting my grandparents for the Christmas holidays and heading downstairs to see the lemon, lime and orange trees basking in the afternoon sun.

I bought my first citrus tree last year from The Tasteful Garden-- the Meyer Lemon (citrus x meyeri). I was so excited about it, thinking about all of the recipes I could make with it's extra sweet, slightly tart flavors. When it began to bloom in January, I could hardly contain myself. I was a bit discouraged when I read that it could take up to a year for the fruit to ripen - thinking this must have been a misprint. Not really.

Ten months later, my tree is heavy with golden fruit. The first recipe on our list, lemon curd. The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat.

MEYER LEMON CURD

Juice and zest from 4 meyer lemons

4 egg yolks

4 eggs

300 grams of fine sugar

200 grams of unsalted butter

We use a double boiler set-up, so start heating your water over medium low heat. Combine eggs, yolks and sugar in a large glass bowl, and mix until sugar is dissolved. Add juice, zest and butter and heat over simmering water. Wisk until curd begins to thicken...this could take a while (20+ minutes). Since you don't want scrambled eggs, be careful with the heat. Your patience will definitely pay off.

Recipe makes approximately 4+ small mason jars of lemon curd. Using standard canning method, simmer canning lids and rings in hot water for 10 minutes, while heating clean mason jars in an oven of 275 degrees. Remove the hot jars and let them cool briefly (no reason to waste your hard work by scrambling the eggs now). Fill with lemony goodness, finish with lids and rings and let cool.

I know you think you might share with your friends, but I wouldn't count on it.

It's all gone Pear Shaped

I have a large, beautiful tree in the green space behind my apartment. I love this tree. As Spring approached I noticed that it was fruiting. To my chagrin, I could not figure out what these fruit were...crab apples, walnuts? Nothing quite fit, or tasted right (I have a habit of tasting green things). It has been baffling and, honestly, a bit frustrating.

Well, lately the squirrels and birds have been going absolutely crazy over this tree. I see them carrying fruit that is as big as they are to and from the tree. It is like Woodland Creature Land over there. So today I decided to go back and research some more. Wasn't I surprised when the the fruit looked a PEAR, albeit an underripe pear, but a pear nonetheless. So I bit into it...hmmm...tastes faintly of a pear. I went inside and cut it open. Seeds just like a pear, grainy texture like a pear, thick stem like a pear.

1/2 hour of research later I have concluded that they are in fact PEARS!!! I am still trying to figure out what sort of pear it is, but it is undoubtedly a pear tree. I believe it is a Bradford Pear Tree, or an Asian Pear. but I am not 100% sure. This is exciting news to say the least. I am not sure if the fruit is edible, but I intend to find out. The birds and squirrels certainly think so. Now if only they would leave my strawberries and lemons alone and gorge on Pears instead!

welcome!

We have a new contributor-Kristen Hall.

She has a lovely garden and an adorable house and home! Plus a cute husband and daughter...

Yeah growing!

Eat your View

Last night I enjoyed beans from my own garden! Granted, it was only 2...but they were delicious. It was the first food from my own garden that I had grown from sead. You would have thought that I birthed these beans as excited and proud as I was. My garden is going crazy! I have zinnias in vases all over my house and basil out the...well, you know.

I need these things. I need to grow things and create life and beauty.

Now, if only I could get those damn chickens!!!

garden photos to come soon. Also coming soon: thoughts on sugar and ADD and society. they are brewing in me...

Don't get between me and my dirt

This afternoon I was headed out the patio to grab my bag of dirt and haul it around front so I could finish planting my little herb garden. I'd opened the sliding glass door, picked up my very sad begonia to take it out on the patio on my way out there, turned my head to listen to something Allen was saying, and then proceeded to plow down the screen door on my way out. The whole thing just about flew off the tracks which I immediately proceeded to step on. Ouch. Still, moral of the story: Don't get between me and my dirt.

Incidentally I think my garden is about complete. I have five pots of herbs -basil, cilantro, oregano, thyme, and rosemary- along with several more pots full of flowers. Out on my back patio I have an old fashioned rose bush, a dwarf gardenia, and a confederate jasmine. Once my gardenia buds open all three will be in bloom. Mmmm, can't wait to smell that bouquet. I also have the requisite petunias and impatiens. I like to put my plants out on my shady back patio where I can see them from the living room, so I'm pretty limited as to variety. One day though.... When I wander through Lowe's or Home Depot or even Walmart I keep wishing I had the yard and the money to buy two or three of everything and scatter them around.

Holy Crap!

My family and I have joined the Growing Alabama Co-op. I am beyond excited! In preparation I have become a vegetarian. No meat or eggs, er, well eggs are still debatable. Is that not meat? I don't know, bit it is fun finding alternatives to eat. My garden has grown so much it looks a bit in disarray- all the tomatoes are bowing low and the beans are taking over the greens. Poor garden. We are deciding rather to move or not so i am not as committed to it. If we move i see chickens and large raised bed gardens in sight!

I love Alabama in the Spring

My garden

much needed dirt time

I just spend some much needed time in my garden. I have been out there every day, watering and checking on things, but today I got good and dirty. I finally got some of the flowering plants that I bought at the Botanical Gardens into the ground.

I am having so much fun watching my little garden bloom. My lemon tree has lemons, my strawberries will probably turn red and ripe this weekend (when I am out of town!), and my beans are just ready to come out. It is a new experience to grow some of my own food and I am hooked. I have always had a few little herbs, but nothing like this. I think that I will be able to put my tomatoes outside in a week or so. Then things will really be going! I can make an entire salad out of things that I have growing back there. My vases are also going to be full of cut flowers come summer. Brown eyes susans, columbine, Cosmos and Zinnias...so pretty!

How is your garden coming?

Blog freecycle

My love for gardening has spread around the office. The Garden book buyer left me a big surprise on my chair...books!

However, she has already given me a copy of most of them. So....they are up for grabs!

Here is what I have: (1 copy of each)
The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
The Gardeners A-Z guide to Growing Organic Food
the Veggie Gardeners Answer book
Incredible Vegetables in Self-watering Containers

Let me know if you want any of these!

First come, first get.

Just Can't Get Enough!

Just felt like sharing images. Here is part one of my mini gardens. The neighbors wanted to take them down so they could put a path of pavers in the back of all the condos on our row. Well to bad, they have been gardenfied!


Here is my strawberry pot. I put a birdhouse above it on the tree because it looked so cute! Not a good idea. I want to invite the birdies but not to eat my food. They can have the Japanese maple to live in...

My name is Elisa and I am an O.G

Obsessive Gardener. I was repotting things last night and putting out my new Dwarf Meyer lemon tree when I looked back at my little stoop. It was covered almost completely. I had to bob and weave my way back to my back door. it is getting bad. I did some rearranging and moving and things are looking better. However, I still have 2 tomato varieties, tomatillos, lemon balm, more lettuce, bee balm and coneflowers to find homes for. They have almost outgrown their seed homes. Where are they going to go? I am accepting my fate of being 'that lady in the apartment complex with the jungle out her back door' to the kids in the complex. I love it. I love it so much! Today as I was driving to work I realized that I had left my seedlings outside to get some sun and they may get rained on. An internal struggle ensued about whether to turn around and bring them in, or get to work on tim. I went to work, but have been fretting all day, running to the back door to check the weather (no windows in the building!). If it pours on them, their little stems are not strong enough to take it and they may perish. Very upsetting.
Everyday when I arrive home, I drop my handbag and go straight out back to see the progress. Yesterday I had beans sprouting up! And little red sprouts of red from my Rainbow Chard. 3 new blossoms on my strawberry plants and more mint than I can handle! What is a girl to do?

Get a goat and some chicken and resign herself to fate.

It's Catching On

The garden bug seems to have bitten a lot of people this year. And gratefully so! my mom came over and scolded me for not tying my green bean plants (I'll get to that...soon enough.) I, too, racked up at the Botanical Garden Sale. I got one blue berry bush and found out you need two different kinds for them to cross pollinate and produce fun berries. They had run out by the time I realized that so I went to Whole Foods to check out what they had. Twice as much (and on sale!), but not twice as big. It was a different kind so I am sticking with the new plant. Lesson learned...the Botanical Garden Sale rocks my face off!

Reading, writing and ...eating?

This is for you, CJ!

This article from The Kitchn on the best food to eat while reading. I thought it was cute and I know that we all love to read, so I thought I would share.

btw-MORE little plants sprouting up every day. Oh how the rain of late has been good to me and my little green friends.
This weekend-botanical gardens Plant sale-old Bruno's at Brookwood-CJ, Emily and I are going at 11 on Friday. Come join us! We are meeting out front. I am hoping for some fruit trees and plants. Lemons and berries. Which leads me to a question: What is it your dream to be able to grow? For me, it is probably berries and avocados. and grapes.

Potted bliss

Not having a garden proper (and being singularly afflicted with shade on/around my patio) I'm pretty much sticking with flowers at the moment. I have a lovely blue flowering Jacob's Ladder in a pot out back along with a brave potted rose and some bright red petunias that I just bought yesterday. Sick and tired of my boring, empty, dead flowerpot sitting out front I also bought some very pretty little portulacas. Yeah, I'd never heard of them either, but they look sort of like old-fashioned roses except that they're small little plants like impatients or similar and come in the most luscious colors. I found them cheap at Home Depot alongside the petunias and other annuals.

Maybe if I can keep my flowers alive I'll try branching out a bit. We'll see.
'

Oh Happy Day!

Yesterday I got home from work and, like everyday, I went to my garden first to check on things (yes, I am a dork). I peered into all of my little pots to make sure they were moist enough for some good germination action. Then, in my arugula pot, I saw it...SEEDLINGS! A patch of tiny 2 leaved green goodness. I actually shouted my glee aloud, yelling "their here, it's happening!" to Carrie, who was visiting. We both got excited (obviously me moreso). I was unsure of growing anything from seed, especially anything that I may want to eat, but so far...success! A summer of fresh greens. I am keeping my fingers crossed for my little seeds germinating indoors, all warm and moist in their miniature plastic greenhouse...and for my beans and other greens trying to make it outdoors as well.

My herb garden is spreading like crazy! I may have to transplant my mint, as I think it is crowding out the oregano and thyme. The damp weather has been so good for the little guys.

I feel like a proud parent on talent show day! Soon I will be inviting everyone over to pick up some veggies.

Did you know?

April is National Gardening Month! As well as Earth Day month. Speaking of which, the Botanical Gardens has a festival type thing on the Sunday before Earth Day....and it's free! I am going and would love for anyone to join me. their plant sale begins Friday (it is at the old Bruno's by Brookwood). I may go and peruse their offerings.

It looks like rain tonight. Good, my new strawberries can dig into their new home! (Thanks Anna).

adios

Strawberries

Hello ladies, I am here to invite you all to come by and get some strawberry plants today! Emily Spear asked if she could come over after work to get a few plants, so I thought that if anyone else wants some and has some free time at any point today, they should come get some too. This is the perfect time, as they are just flowering, and will be bursting with strawberry goodness very soon.
BUT A WARNING FOLLOWS:
I have pink eye...in both eyes. I have no idea where this came from, but I went to the doctor this morning and was diagnosed. I have started my ointment treatment, so all should be well, but be wary and don't get too close to me. Cost benefit analysis...GO!
But it should be fun anyway, right?

Weeds

I hate weeds! They are awful. My garden would be so beautiful now if it were without weeds. Well...maybe not so beautiful, but more leaning in that direction. I have lovely oregano, thyme, mint, lemon balm, and rosemary; all are thriving. I have a bazillion strawberry plants on the cusp of blooming little white flowers which will then turn into succulent strawberry deliciousness. And then I have the cursed dandelions and other weeds that I do not know the name of. Some of them, I confess, are pretty easy to just pluck out of the ground, and I will put my lack of plucking down to laziness. But there are others, such as dandelions, that are just impossible to get out of the ground in one piece! The roots end up firmly on the ground with all of the leaves crushed in my fingers, and mere moments later there is new growth - teasing me, taunting me.
ARG! I AM SO ANGRY!!!

OK. Enough of my rant.
If anyone wants a strawberry plant, let me know. They will soon be taking over my whole plot, me thinks.

I hope I always, always feel this way

I went to look at my little garden space today and, after looking close, I found them...LITTLE GREEN SPROUTS! My poppies are starting to come in. I was worried because after all the rain, my soil was beginning to again resemble clay. I was sure that the little friends would not be able to push their way through. I misjudged them. Like me, they are stronger than they look. A little difficulty was not stopping them from basking in the sunlight of spring. I almost cried.

My seeds came in today. Some of the veggies say to sow outdoors in early spring, so I guess that is now?! The tomatoes and tomatillos need some indoor lovin' first, so they are going to be set up on trays in my bedroom (the best light in the house). I am hoping to get dirty this weekend.

Amy, my Amaryllis is just about to bloom. She is in the phase where she has 3 distinct leaves, pink and green and vein-y just waiting go burst. Her stalk is so green and solid. I love it. Maybe tomorrow.

I love Spring. This year seems especially special...life after death. Green after so much brown. I keep mentioning this, in my personal blog, to everyone I see...it is on my mind a lot. I feel like I am maybe opening up again as well.

**Stay tuned to hear about CJ and my first week as members of a CSA. What veggies will we be enjoying this week???

When it's good, it doesn't seem so bad

I didn’t have to get far into Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, a book by Thomas McNamee, before I began planning my own pilgrimage to the Berkeley restaurant. Now, only days after completing it, Elisa and I have have subscribed to a community-supported agriculture farm and are looking forward to cooking with locally-grown, seasonal vegetables ourselves.

OK, I can’t give Alice Waters all the credit. Elisa and I started talking about this weeks ago. And honestly, I may never have done it if she hadn’t done the research, the phone calling, the math. But I am very excited that she and I will be splitting this local produce without increasing our grocery bills!

We’re joining Grow Alabama, and our plan (which we’ve been told is just enough for two single people) works out to just $11 per week. I spend about $100 on groceries monthly, and half of that is produce, so I feel good about this new venture.

Cooking seasonally has also been on my mind lately. I’ve slowly started to attempt figuring it out, just by paying attention to cost. (Did you notice that Publix’s asparagus recently dropped from $3.99 a pound to $1.99?) And The Cook and The Gardener, a cookbook by one of my favorite food writers, Amanda Hesser, focuses on seasonal recipes divided by months.

Bring on the leeks, the cabbage and the snap beans. I’m ready.