Planted three short rows of peas today, February 13, 2011.

• One of Sugar Snap – dated 2006
• Two of  Snow Peas – probably from 2008

It is windy today, but the temperature is in the mid-50s. I noticed some emerging  daffodils.

Pickles - in the jar June 12, 2010

We’ve had a great crop of cucumbers so far this year. All from 8 plants, four pickling type and four English cucumbers, bought at Doug’s Grocery in White Oak at the corner of Ringold and Brooke Roads. We’ve been eating cucumber salad all week and  I started some cucumbers for pickling yesterday.

We’ll taste the results in a few days. I put together a couple of different recipes for this, so we’ll see how that turns out.

The recipes were taken from Putting Food By and Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects.

Picked the cucumbers yesterday and did a short brine for about 24 hours. (Following directions from Putting Food By )

• Clean the cucumbers
• Put them in a crock with   one gallon of water and 3/4 cup of kosher salt for the brine.
• Keep the cucumbers submerged with a plate and let them brine over night.

Today I put 3 quart jars in a a big pot, submerged them, and heated the water until it boiled. Then to each jar I added (sort of following directions in Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects)

• Two dill sprigs
• Two dill seed heads
• Two tablespoons of Penzey’s pickling spice
• Two tablespoons of kosher salt
• Four cloves of garlic, crushed

Then I added vinegar until the jars were half full and then added water the rest of the way.

Here is what we came up with. We used a variation of the first bread recipe below and made honey-lavender butter. Each is very good, and they went together to the party and received lots of compliments.

• Lemon Zucchini Bread – All Recipes
  (tags: yellowsquash zuccuinibread recipe)
• Cooks.com – Recipe – Summer Squash Bread (Yellow Or Zucchini)
  (tags: yellowsquash recipe)
• Cooks.com – Recipe – Yellow Squash Bread
  (tags: yellowsquash recipe)
• Mom’s Summer Squash Recipe | Simply Recipes
  (tags: summersquash recipe)
• my little kitchen: Yellow Squash Summer Cake
  (tags: summersquash recipe)
• Summer Squash Salad Recipe | Simply Recipes
  (tags: summersquash recipe)

• Lavender Recipes – Happy Valley Lavender and Herb Farm
  (tags: lavender recipes cooking)

• Cornucopia Institute
  Seeking economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy, and economic development our goal is to empower farmers – partnered with consumers – in support of ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food.
  (tags: farming food green health organic policy sustainable activism, activism advocacy)
• WWOOF – Willing Workers on Organic Farms
  *WWOOF is a world wide network – It started in the UK in 1971 and has since become an international movement that is helping people share more sustainable ways of living.
  *WWOOF is an exchange – In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles.

• CRAFTS : Garden & Patio : Bottle Border : DIY Network
  Michele Beschen, the B. Original host, edges many of her garden beds with old bottles that otherwise might be headed for the recycling bin. The technique is simple and easy, and the effect is beautiful. Even better, Michele Beschen’s bottle border has stood the test of time without breakage.
  (tags: garden bottle landscaping diy)
• Peony Care
  How to take care of peonies.
  (tags: peony garden)

• Workspace: Three Plants that Give You Better Indoor Air
  Kamal Meattle used three just three indoor plant species to increase oxygen, filter air, and boost general health at a a New Delhi business park. You too can use them to freshen your indoor space.
  (tags: health plants ted lifehacker plant air)
• Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Tools for Your Blog or Web Site
  Having your own hosted web domain has never been cheaper, or easier, with the vast array of free resources out there. Here are our ten favorite tools to help anyone launch and maintain their internet presence.
  (tags: webhosting resources free)

Landscaping 
• Chesapeake Ecology Center
  The following chapter is excerpted from the newly released conservation landscaping primer entitled, Ecoscaping Back to the Future…Restoring Chesapeake Landscapes.
  (tags: landscaping conservation)

Eggplant Recipe

• Eggplant, Yogurt and Feta Spread
  A hearty, delicious dip that will make a tasty appetizer or try packing in your lunch to add a little excitement to your routine.
  (tags: recipe eggplant)

A Place to Bury Strangers 

• A Place to Bury Strangers Embark on Giant Tour
  To keep the vibe alive, APTBS will embark on a gigantic slew of tour dates early this month all the way through December, taking them across the U.S. and Europe.
  (tags: aptbs)
• This week’s onsales | Soundboard | Los Angeles Times
  Troubadour: Sloan, Oct. 1; Ben Kweller, Oct. 2; A Place to Bury Strangers,
  (tags: aptbs california)

We took a trip to Culpeper, VA for two reasons. One was to have lunch at Foti’s, an excellent restaurant in Culpeper. It’s a real treat to have a meal at Foti’s, and they did not disappoint. The meal and service was excellent! The other reason was to visit Morningside Farms & Nursery, a favorite nursery.

Morningside is west of Culpeper about six miles out on the on the road to Sperryville. As you are driving from Culpeper the turn off to it is on the left right after the Food for Thought store.

Really nice people run Morningside: George & Karen, the owners/gardeners we’ve seen and Justin, their son, who does the Web site and plants the rock garden. They have lots of nice succulents, perennials & herbs.

We bought a bunch of succulents (varieties of stonecrop and other things), a tree peony (we bought one there last year too), a native honeysuckle (red flowers), a couple of geraniums, and a great pot of sweet woodruff. Probably a few other things too. There’s lots of plants to look at. Occasionally we’d ask George for his opinion on a plant or a question about something.  He helped us pick out some plants and when we had everything we wanted we asked hum to look them over. He made some suggestions about looking for better specimens, and found some for us.

Both Foti’s & Morningside are excellent places to visit. It was a really nice way to spend my birthday.

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