Purple asparagus

A late summer surprise...

Each family member gets one spear, the 5th is fought over.

Fruit flies buggin' you?

This homemade trap, introduced by my co-worker, really works. I have to confess that I'm a lazy composter. I compost everything. I have good intentions. I just don't go out and dump the bucket into the compost pile often enough. Inevitably, there are fruit flies.

Last week I tried one of those electronic bug zappers that look like tennis rackets and almost had a heart attack. My idea was to be able to press the button and do a slow swipe, electrocuting all fruit flies in one controlled range of motion. Unfortunately, it came too close to a new water bottle and sent a shock of electricity out (really makes me wonder what that seemingly plastic water bottle is made of!). I tried to be more careful and the next time I held the button down and swiped (away from the water bottle), the racket came too close to the metal range blower, and I was almost struck down. I carefully placed the racket down and decided to try less violent methods (such as death by low-tech drowning).

This fruit fly trap is simply apple cider vinegar in a cup with a piece of plastic wrap rubber-banded around the top and holes poked in with the end of a paper clip. What you can't see are the 15 fruit flies trapped and drowned in the vinegar. We did try this at work, but I don't think it was as effective. There are two possible confounding variables. At work, we used the Press and Seal type of plastic wrap, but the trap below uses regular plastic wrap. Also, at work, the level of the vinegar was lower, in the trap below, I've used more vinegar.

If the fruit flies are buggin' you, this trap will cost you little to nothing to try, and it really works for me!

This burns me up (sunscald)!

What Now?

• Now I am finding spots on my tomatoes and peppers that I have diagnosed to be sunscald. Sunscald usually begins looking like white/yellow spots that are sunken and leathery in texture. Once affected, it usually prevents the fruit from ripening properly. I know this is sunscald because the spots are on the top side of the fruits, and most of the fruits underneath are not affected. The spots on the peppers and tomato in the photos above did begin white, sunken, and leathery but are now also beginning to mold. The tomato has other problems as well (that burn me up too).

Why Me?

• Sunscald is caused by the sudden exposure of fruits to direct sunlight in hot, dry weather. It's also caused by extended periods of direct sunlight. It can happen when extreme weather such as hail or strong winds move the protective foliage from the fruits. When septoria or blight cause leaves to drop, fruits can be left exposed to intense sun. In retrospect, I remember several consecutive days when we had some strong winds and storms that pushed the pepper plants to one side. I did stake them, but long after they had started leaning. I didn't want to snap the stem in an effort to straighten the plant, so they've been sort of diagonal since the storm. I believe this is what exposed the peppers to direct sun. My tomatoes have been affected by blight, explaining why the first pickings of tomatoes have been fine, but this past week, the tomatoes have looked horrible.
  

Now what?

• Now, when I spot a fruit that has sunscald, I can pick off that fruit in order to encourage the plant to set more fruit. Other suggestions for preventing sunscald: use a shade cloth during the hottest part of the day (realistically, I will not be diligent enough to do this), plant tomatoes upside-down, limit pruning and keep foliage healthy in order to provide shade to protect fruit.

Meme award for me!

The ever-wonderful Bangchik (My Little Vegetable Garden), my friend in Malaysia, passed the Meme Award along to me. To play along, I need to reveal 7 things about myself. Because I'm not feeling very profoundish today, I've decided to talk about my hair. Since I'm 35 years old, I will divide my years by 7 and talk about the changes that my hair has gone through in 5 year segments (yes, I am totally serious. The brain is really working today - just in rather odd ways).

1. birth to 5 years old. I had a stereotypical little Asian girl hairstyle (I don't know why Chinese parents do this to their kids). Bangs, about shoulder-length hair. The texture was sort of medium (not too thick or fine), and straight. The color of my hair was a dark brown. I had no thoughts about my hair, but did like to put my younger sister's hair in pink plastic rollers, and at one point, I wanted to be a hair stylist.


2. 5-10 years old. During this period, I started growing my hair (b/c my mom didn't cut it, not because I had any care about it), and being the late 70's early 80's, lots of hair accessories became the norm - we would buy simple barrettes and weave ribbon through them, let the ribbon hang down a few inches and maybe add some color coordinating beads. In the younger years, used yarn and barrettes, later on, the Scrunci was invented. Soon thereafter, the banana clip was invented. Fun stuff.


3. 10-15 years old. The largest amount of change probably happened during this time. I began living at the pool each summer from about 8-12 years old, and my hair color was still overall a dark brown, but also became a little brassy. I also had some lighter - almost blondish colored highlights (from the sun). Around 10 years of age, my hair texture changed dramatically and became extremely full and wavy. Towards the mid 80's, I dreaded haircuts because the hairdressers would inevitably tell me how much they loved "playing" with my hair and blow dry it waaaay up and out, with big wings on the sides and bangs that curled up. All eyes were on me as I left the joints, and I was not happy. It was Miss America hair and I hated it. Big, huge, fluffy, wavy. The exact opposite of the loose, straight, flat, hairstyles I liked. Truth be told, it was probably the typical Caucasian hair that I desired - light, wispy, soft-looking, etc. There are probably a whole host of ethnic-identity issues here, but as I said, I'm not feeling profoundish today - just wanna talk about my hair. One hairdresser told me I'd be glad to have thick, full hair one day.


4. 15-20 years old. This was a time of experimentation. When I was 15, I kept only the hair on the very top of my head, but shaved the rest of my head to the scalp (picture this with my combat boots, fishnet stockings, blackberry lipstick, and black liquid eyeliner). Most of the time, I wore the top part of my hair in a braid or ponytail. I also experimented with color and tried: auburn (loved it), magenta (not me), blond streaks (including Sun-In and Frost and Tip), but most of the time, it was dyed blue-black. I liked the style of the shaved head, but also liked that with most of my head shaved, I finally got rid of the dense, heavy head of hair that I cannot stand and have fought for years.
   
5. 20-25 years old. During this time, I'm raising my first child and ponytailing most of the time. I like the ponytail b/c I don't like hair in my face, and obviously, it's easy. I feel alert with my hair out of my face. It's not necessarily attractive, but this is also not necessarily my focus.
   
6. 25-30 years old. More change, though not so wild. I am a busy working mom, and have starting working on my second Master's degree part time in the evenings. I spend a lot of money on a haircut, and as a result, try not to cut too often. At this point, I grow it long, long, long, then cut it chin length. Then long, long, long, then chin length. Once, I donated to Locks of Love (though they probably threw it out when they got it because my hair is still very big, frizzy, wavy, unruly, scraggly, etc.). One year, I discovered a straightening iron, which gives my hair a very sleek look, but since I have so much of it, it takes about an hour to do - an hour more than I have to invest in my hair. Ironically, it was taking me an hour to get my hair to look like the hair that most Asian people have naturally.


7. 30-35 years old. I have my second child at this time, and though I'm still busy, have taken slightly more interest in my appearance. I think that developmentally, this is because I am starting to feel the effects of age. I start reflecting on the self-esteem (I'm talking purely about superficial aspects) that I lacked as a teen and wondered why I thought I looked fat in my 20's when I actually looked pretty good; about why I ponytailed it when I could have worn it down and attractively. In the past year, I have also noticed a dramatic amount of hair actually falling out. I think I've probably lost about 30% of the fullness during these 5 years. In addition, I choose to dye my hair regularly to cover the grays. So now, I'm realizing I want to take more pride in my appearance, cause giiiirrrrlll, it's fadin' fast. Around age 30, I also found an amazing hair stylist (who has since moved) who showed me how to actually work with my own hair texture instead of fighting it. So instead of pulling stunts like carefully sleeping on my hair a certain way so it will dry flat, or spending an hour with a straight iron, or shaving my head, I can use a simple product on my wet hair and let it air dry. One hour later, ka-bam! A great head of hair that is loose and wavy and sort of beach-tousled looking. The greatest thing about it is that I finally accept my hair for what it is, and have actually even come to love my hair.

While I think ANYONE who has read this post deserves an award, I am passing the Meme Award on to the following blogs - just some out of many blogs that I really enjoy!

Best in Bloom Today- Cause Lynn is totally awesome! Nuff said.

The Little Things - Julie, all-around cool person striving to do the best she can for her kids and live in an authentic way.

Gardening With Soule - I love Teresa's appreciation for and wonder of the world around her.

Arabella's Garden - I really relate to L'il Ned's sense of fun and her down to earth self.

Joel the Urban Gardener - Who makes any urban gardener or Marylander proud.

Digging RI - For informative and sensitive posts typed from my second favorite state in the US.

Bay Area Tendrils Garden Travel- who makes me yearn to see the world.

And because I'm not sure Bay Area Tendrils will post non-travel related things, I'm allowing myself to add an 8th:

A Faerie's Garden - a really amazing balcony gardener and cupcake baker!

Here are the guidelines:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award
2. Reveal the 7 things about yourself
3. Tag 7 other bloggers at the end of your post and link to them
4. Let each blogger know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Let the tagger know when your post is up.

Just because I can(ned) doesn't mean I will again

After a very brief and very intense obsession with canning, I will need to be talked into trying it ever again. It was a great idea in theory: next year, I would grow double the vegetables, preserve the bounty in a variety of ways to enjoy throughout the year - jams of course, pasta sauce of course, but also special chutneys and sauces that would be the envy of the most expensive shelf at Whole Foods. Though it was immensely time consuming and nerve-wracking, I did accomplish the latter goal. Below, I will chronicle the production of seven perfect jars of bruschetta. I estimate each eight ounce jar to cost $24.


Here's the rundown on canning night:

• 8:30pm to 8:35pm - figured out how to jerry-rig a rack to put on the bottom of the pan. I ended up using screw rings tied together with yarn.

• 8:35pm-9:15pm - cut tomatoes (my own heirloom beefsteaks). I really can't tell you why it took so damn long to cut the tomatoes.



• 9:15pm-9:30pm - gathered the rest of the ingredients (white wine, white vinegar, dried basil, dried oregano, water, my own ajo rojo garlic, sugar...

...and also balsamic vinegar.




• 9:30pm to 10:10pm - washed and heated glass jars and lids, and also cooked the liquid and herb ingredients.



• 10:10pm to 10:30 - filled jars. Since I was not using a true canner, and only my large pots and pans, I could only process three jars in each pot! I had 3 burners going to process my seven half-pint jars.

• 10:30-11am - processed the three batches of bruschetta

• 10:50pm-11:15 - cooled jars and cleaned up a bit

Total time involved: 2 hours and 45 minutes!!!

Here is the finished product - a gorgeous little jar of bruschetta. The plan is to give as gifts (to very special people!) along with some french bread or crackers, and a little bottle of olive oil.

How I calculate the cost for each $24 jar of bruschetta - my hourly work wage (I would imagine my free time would cost even more though!!!), the cost of jars, new tools (a kit that contains a jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, etc.), vinegars, wine, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. I didn't even calculate the "cost" of my tomatoes - always a precious commodity in the Greenish Thumb garden in August when blight, pests, neglect, take over. Each tomato could easily be a $64 Dollar Tomato, though I only used a market price to calculate my cost.

As I conclude and reflect on the business of canning...

Along with some very beautiful and certainly costly little jars of bruschetta, are many questions. First and foremost, why would I ever want to do this messy and labor intensive project again?

I do recognize that much of what slowed me down was my lack of experience and the fear that was put in me by the book I read on preserving. I stood with a kitchen full of measuring cups, timers, pots, and pans having learned that if every minute detail is not followed exactly, the jar will burst, or I will feed my family botulism spores.

Though I basically read a 2 inch book cover to cover (including most of the recipes) before I began, now as I conclude, I am left with more questions than answers:

• Does a concave seal mean there's nothing to worry about with regards to the seal? Ever?


• Is it ok to see very tiny air bubbles near the top of the jar?
  
• Is it possible to deviate ever so slightly from the recipe - for instance, by using fresh instead of dried herbs?


• Can I stack jars in a canner?


• How can I chop tomatoes more efficiently!?


• Should I buy a canner?


• Will I ever gain confidence using the jar lifter?


• Is my fear that glass will explode into a million shards all over my kitchen warranted?


• Was I justified in screaming at my child, and later my husband, when they got too close to the jars right after I JUST said, "Don't touch the jars for 24 hours or you'll mess up the seal and all my hard work will be for nothing!"?

Any ideas, tips, comments, thoughts would be appreciated!!!

Brookside Gardens - how many different types of inspiration are there?

As a kid, I always enjoyed Brookside Gardens, in nearby Silver Spring, Maryland. I always looked forward to crossing the stone paths over various ponds, and walking for what feels (at least to a kid on a hot summer day) for miles and miles to the ultimate destination - the Japanese Tea House - a peaceful, natural structure surrounded by great boulders and weeping trees and shrubs of all sorts, and overhanging a large pond filled with koi when I was a child, and turtles today. I'm not sure if the reminiscent feeling is due to the summer days I spent there as a child, but being there transports you to another place and time. Just past the Japanese Tea House, is a fairly new labyrinth worth the long winding race walk to reach the end to jump up and down and cheer- unless of course, you're using the labyrinth for it's intended purpose - meditation. Here is a beautiful spot with a beautiful message along the way to the Japanese Tea House.

As an adult, I appreciate the new Visitor's Center where I attended a Horticulture Symposium with my friend Grace last year. It was great fun to have a full day of inspiration and be in an auditorium filled with other gardening fanatics from every neighboring state. Today, I appreciated that the Visitor's Center is also at the midway point so my heat-exhausted kids could smile again upon entering the air-conditioned building. After getting water and using the bathroom, we exit again to play and explore in the also fairly new, and very manageable sized Children's Garden.

As a parent, I was a damn good sport for taking my kids to the annual Wings of Fancy butterfly show. Here's a little secret - I'm deathly afraid of butterflies. Though some may see these creatures as beautiful and delicate wonders of nature, I see them as enormous winged insects that can't see where they're going. Often, they dive bomb towards my face, just to veer away at the last moment. Usually at this Wings of Fancy show, they land on me. Last year, to both freak me out and embarrass me publicly, a butterfly sat right on my backside between the butt cheeks for the entire length of our visit. Having learned that butterflies are attracted to bold colors (I wore green pants last year), I dressed in gray capris and a dark gray tank top today. Did that bring any reprieve? At one point, I had a butterfly on my head, one on my shoulder, and had big time heebie jeebies, all the while with smile on face, "Look, Lyric! Aren't they beautiful" through clenched teeth, tight fists, and goosebumps all over. In fact, just seeing the extent of the goosebumps today gave me goosebumps. This is why I feel that as a parent, I'm a damn good sport.

Can you spot the butterfly in the photo below? As I've mentioned before, nature is weird.

As a conservationist obsessed with saving water, I was in awe at this huge structure below, just imagine how much rain you could capture with this baby! hhhhaaaaawwwww... I also loved the bright green plants arranged like stepping stones - or at least that's how it looked to me.

As a gardener with about eight new fall gardening catalogs to peruse, I was inspired by the late summer perennials on display - today I fell in love with gomphrena "strawberry fields". I must have it.

As a new garden blogger eager to share, I can't explain why I didn't take any pictures of the many gorgeous plant and flower combinations, or the beautiful and serene landscaping. My only thought is that maybe since a large garden is so full of different types of inspiration, the brain can only register so much. Each time I visit, I think, "I really have to come here more often", and perhaps when I do next, the Fragrance Garden will pique my interest, or maybe the native trees, or perhaps the woodland plantings, or the garden structures, or the use of ornamental grasses, or the tropicals, or the spring bulbs, or the plaque inscriptions, or the autumn interest, or the... You know what I'm talkin' about.

Panzanella salad - show off your summer bounty

I love this panzanella salad because I can put it together quickly without consulting a cookbook, because it tastes like summer on a plate, and because when my guests comment on how delicious it is (cause they always do), I can casually point out that the ingredients come from my garden. Don't believe me? Try it yourself. I'd like to know if they DON'T ooh and aah over it!

Toss together in a large bowl:

• french bread cubed and sauteed in a pan with olive oil and chopped garlic
• tomatoes cut into wedges or large chunks
• sliced fresh mozzarella - I aim for large bite sized pieces
• basil snipped into thin ribbons
• very thinly sliced red onion
• a very generous amount of balsamic vinegar drizzled on the salad to taste

The bread will soak up the balsamic vinegar and juice from the tomatoes. Feel free to add an extra drizzle of olive oil if you like.