Sure there aren't clusters and clusters of blueberry blossoms, but enough to start the Garden to Table Challenge creative flow! Will it be blueberry buckle? Maybe blueberry sorbet? Perhaps I'll try blueberry tarts, or... how about chocolate covered blueberries!?Folks - the Garden to Table Challenge will begin this Saturday! Each Saturday, I will be posting about how I've used some part of my garden harvest that week. Each week, I encourage you to join me by posting on your blog and then linking via mr. linky. Or, if you choose, participate simply by leaving a comment. Here's a sample posting - I searched through the old GTTC posts and forgot about the week I made jalapeno pesto. Gaaawwd - am I excited for summer!
Last year I got so many wonderful ideas from people who joined me. I also found it super fun to think about creative ways to use my harvests. PLUS, I will be offering a contest for participants. Details will follow on Saturday. For now, go see what you've got in the garden and get cookin'! If you're not a vegetable grower - don't fret. You can still participate by posting about how you've used your seasonal vegetables purchased from the market. The goal is to think creatively and eat seasonally.
THIS WEEK ONLY - if you leave a comment explaining how you've helped advertise the opening date of this year's Garden to Table Challenge, I will give you two entries to the 2011 GTTC contest (probably in the form of a raffle for prizes to be drawn for at the end of the season).
*****************************************************
SPRING BREAK 2011
We've taken a reprieve from our usual Spring Break adventures. This year, we did the ultimate staycation. It was very low-key. One of the days, my husband even cancelled our day trip because...it was raining. My Spring Break started with my afternoon with the Satanic Boy Scouts. The next day, it was demo time. See that mess below? This is not a corner in a run down shopping mall stairwell where bums pee. This is my home.
The first of our official trips was to Longwood Gardens in PA. I want one of those orange hoses that shoot mulch! Can you imagine what life could be like? And if you could have a helper follow you around and unkink your hose and reload your mulch shooter? I could get so much more done.
I've posted about this before - this is a large hallway with living walls. The doors you see in the wall lead to individual "bathroom pods" - each with its own skylight.
Below, our second child - not quite the nature child - is very proud of how brave she's being holding a gigantic beetle (notice I'm several feet away shielding my face with a camera). Her dad is assuring her it is friendly and does not bite.
Once on the ground and about to enjoy a picnic lunch, she's back to being the happy annoying little sister again. Big sis is not amused.
After several hours of cutting out moldy drywall, jackhammering the concrete in my basement, a beautiful pipe and sump pump were buried in the ground, then all covered up with new concrete. Don't you just love (large!) expenses that you can't even show off to your friends?
The first of our official trips was to Longwood Gardens in PA. I want one of those orange hoses that shoot mulch! Can you imagine what life could be like? And if you could have a helper follow you around and unkink your hose and reload your mulch shooter? I could get so much more done.
This is the curved "Whispering Bench" - a large curved stone bench. If you sit on one end across from your friend sitting several feet away on the other end, you can have a covert conversation just by softly whispering into the curve of the bench.
I've posted about this before - this is a large hallway with living walls. The doors you see in the wall lead to individual "bathroom pods" - each with its own skylight. 
The next day, we hiked our nearby Sugarloaf Mountain. It's a very steep (and fun) 1/4 mile to the summit.
Below, our second child - not quite the nature child - is very proud of how brave she's being holding a gigantic beetle (notice I'm several feet away shielding my face with a camera). Her dad is assuring her it is friendly and does not bite. 
...though he failed to mention the sharp burrs on its legs that have just cut our totally freaked out child's hand. Tears don't help the descent.
Once on the ground and about to enjoy a picnic lunch, she's back to being the happy annoying little sister again. Big sis is not amused.
On a rainy day - hours of Super Mario Bros. Here, Lyric is again proud. This time it's because she's earned 99 lives. She tried to flip it to 100 but the game won't allow it. Remember the good old days when you got 3 lives that were totally precious and if you lost them all, you needed to go beg your parents for another quarter? Or sometimes you could get another life, but you'd have to earn 10,000 points first.
At the National Gallery of Art to see Gauguin. This is the moving walkway connecting the West and East buildings. The moving lights are actually a light sculpture by Leo Villareal. It's very cool and fun for kids to pass through.
At my parents' house. My father is fishing. In the house, the incubator is completely full of duck and goose eggs! I'm sure I'll have some fun photos to share soon!
