beauty that moves

29 :: june

Our main garden vegetable garden is close to the house, right alongside the driveway. The sunlight is great there and a watering source close by. But behind the stone wall there is a field, and in that field there is open space and a few shade trees and a horse (not ours) and a pumpkin patch. Oh, and blueberries and strawberries. This field sure holds a lot, it is oh-so-pretty back there. 

Having brought back plants from Vermont, I needed more garden space to plant them. 

And so I dug. This part of the earth had been turned over once in the spring, we composted too. I had plans for this sprawling garden of winter squash and melons (hoping raccoons do not touch the melons!), but none of my melon seeds germinated and as far as the squash goes, well, I just never did start those seeds. The weeds grew in, the weeks passed. I realized my best chance at growing these items would be to find some mature and robust seedlings. An assortment of these plants was the only thing I wanted to bring back from Vermont. (Thank you Vermont. You really do have everything I need.)

And so this week we dug up those weeds, added more compost, and planted our Vermont garden. Now if I can just will the deer and other critters to stay out of it because a fence won't be happening this year. Actually, I'm sure the whole thing will be greatly expanded next year. 

Because these things matter now, little Scout thinks it came out just fine. 

 

 

I'm sure there is more to capture than garden happenings, but I can't seem to think of too much else right now. A reader emailed me about my potato beetle concern and she pointed me to the underbelly of the leaves to look for larvae. Sure enough, there it is. Only on two leaves though but I will check daily for more to come... thank you for your help Jen!

 

 

He is such a fan of leafy greens. Not so much the eating of them, but the getting to play with one of his very own each night as we make dinner. He twirls around and tears it to shreds, then walks away... hmm. That's not the cute part. 

My laptop is going in for repair this week, and I'll be going away for a week coming up shortly. Both of these details are keeping my ebook, Mealtime Salads, at bay for a little longer than I had hoped. It looks like late July at this point. I'm so excited to share it with you though!

Did you know Renee has a new ebook coming out too? We're actually writing about the same topic! This happened by complete chance - we were chatting through email in the early spring and were sharing new projects and ideas we had coming up... we both had ebooks in the works on the topic of meal sized salads! So funny. We're excited to share our different perspectives and experiences as well as unique recipes. The best part, the recipe section of Renee's book will focus mostly on whole food dressings and mine will focus on salad compositions and hearty toppings (think yummy bean recipes, sunflower burger bits, smokey tempeh, etc). Both books will be valuable to anyone looking for ways to make salads a daily mealtime focus. 

I'd like to put it out there that I'm looking to hire someone to design and help with the publishing logistics of this book. Making it look pretty, have proper elements such as a table of contents, making sure people can read it on multiple devices, etc. If you know of a designer/ebook publisher to recommend, please let me know! (threadcityyoga@yahoo.com)

Time to sign off for today, I'm expecting a phone call from Erin soon... we're going behind the blog! 

26 :: june

 

The morning began slowly. Wild thunderstorms and a little screen porch sitting. Coffee. Emily went back to bed as she is the ever tired puppy mama now. It's really nice to see their bond develop. 

He sits already. At first we were like noooo, it must be coincidence, but after one more day of working with him to sit for his toy it appears to be true - he has solidly learned his first command. Smartypants.

 

 

Today was the first day of our summertime rhythm. It felt sort of strange with the incredible storms we were having to slip into summer, but alas, that is what the day brought. So we packed up and visited with some friends at their house on the lake and enjoyed our view, mostly from the indoors. 

 

 

I'm not sure if I mentioned here but I moved nearly my entire herb and perennial garden from the old house to this one. What a task that was, but so worth it! My sage and lavender aren't having a particular good show of growth and flowers this year as a result, but I'm confident they'll take root and be happier next year. Only one batch of Lavender Lemonade could be made with the amount of blossoms on hand. Every last drop was savored.

 

Having all that fresh thyme was wonderful as I prepared dinner last night. A huge green salad with a little wedge of Onion Tart (from The Art of Simple Food). Such magic happens in the oven with this basic recipe. With all the rain it was cool enough to turn on the oven and bake this up. A simple and rustic kind of dinner.

I do feel ready for a different pace. Early mornings, slow evenings. Sports schedules cast aside. Ah, summertime... here we go.

25 :: june

Allow me to properly introduce you to our newest family member, Scout! He is an eight week old Border Collie pup who is settling in so nicely here at home. 

You know, I never told my family this (until after the fact), but the week leading up to vacation I had this crystal clear vision (more then once) of us adopting a puppy on the ride back from Vermont. How silly, right? But this very clear scenario kept running through my mind's eye.

Now, we have been planning on getting a puppy this summer, but the odds of randomly stumbling upon puppies while traveling are not to be counted on. Especially puppies of the very breed that my husband and daughter both had at the top of their list. Being that we aren't the type to seek out a breeder, we were counting on the right puppy to present itself to us, Border Collie or otherwise. 

We decided to hop off the highway and drive through the town of South Royalton, to show Emily the law school Adam chose not to attend so many years ago, opting for the one with the better scholarship instead (oh, hindsight can be such a stinker). As we approached the town green we noticed a farmers market winding down, only fifteen minutes left before closing time. Thinking of the near empty refrigerator we'd be returning home to, we decided to stop for a few provisions.

Among the eggs and carrots and radishes and kale - we found the sweetest little tumbled up pile of puppies! We were smitten and talked with the owners who farmed grass fed beef and an apple orchard. Everything felt right and we had a brief but serious family meeting by the gazebo... the decision was made to welcome this little guy into our family. Normally we prefer female dogs, but something about Scout's temperament spoke to us and after three days together I am happy to say he is a wonderful match.

I guess there was something to those visions after all. 

 

 

 

 

The day after we returned home was spent hanging laundry, as well as harvesting and weeding the garden. I think it's fair to say that for every day we were away, one hour of weeding was required. Six hours of weeding paid off though because things are looking pretty good out there. (Though why does it still look weedy to me in these pics? It's really not!)

{The newly dug section.}

Most of our garden was properly prepared in the early Spring, with lots of great compost worked into the soil. In a bit of a 'we have more plants than space' panic right before we went away, we dug up another eight feet and stuck the remaining plants in. This is not ideal soil, but my fingers are crossed (and I did add a whole bunch of compost last night). Now the rain is pouring down and I do hope those roots are being happily nourished. 

 

I noticed one potato beetle last night so I must read up on them today. I've got three rows of potatoes to protect and am feeling like a mother hen about that. Other than the rogue beetle - our chard, kale, and lettuce have not seen a single pest yet for which I am super thankful for. Now, let's hope tomato, melon, and corn season looks the same. What a miracle that would be! 

Tonight I'm going to make a version of Alice Waters' Onion Tart using swiss chard with the caramelized onions, I think that will be a nice combination and we have a beautiful crop of chard at the moment. 

We're taking Scout to visit with some friends as well. Other than that, just continuing with our puppy-moon and enjoying the garden and the rain. It's good to be home. 

 

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Some of you wondered where we were staying in Vermont. We were at The Stowe Mountain Lodge and we were happy to take advantage of pre-season rates combined with a 20% off coupon, as part of their summer promotion. It was a wonderfully luxurious place to visit and we look forward to returning again some day. Thank you for enjoying Vermont with us last week, such fun to be able to share our beloved Green Mountain State with you - especially those of you that have never had such a glimpse before. Perhaps we'll do it again in the future. 

22 :: june {postcards from vermont}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, Vermont... we just had to bring a little part of you home with us. xo

21 :: june {postcards from vermont}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel our time here coming to a close... soon. Thankful for the promise of a full summer stretched out before us upon returning home. Also thankful I decided to share some of our moments here, for it brought many of you closer to our world as you shared wonderful local spots and delights for us to check out (we did!), as the author of the book I'm reading (and quoting) said hello on yesterday's post. All so wonderful.

Though we are feeling a disappointed that one of my close blogging friends was in this very town yesterday, which we learned of a little too late. Imagine!

I'll share a little more about where we are staying once we return home and I can think properly about a few details to offer. Some of you have been asking where exactly we are in Stowe, I'll fill you in on that soon. 

For now, we soak in the final moments of this trip. Hoping to beat the heat on a little outdoor adventuring... wondering if instead we'll find ourselves lounging with more of those amazing maple creamees in hand. I'm hoping for a little of both.