What is Going on With the Weather

It is got into the 80's yesterday and is doing the same today. Last night, we saw Trixie, our calico, waiting on the deck rail to get into the house. She was sitting under the porch light and something was bugging her. When my husband went to let her in he saw a hummingbird dive bombing her head. Why do we have a hummingbird here in February? Also, we already have May flies. What's up with that?

Ants in the Worm Bin

I am risking the wrath of I know it is you, Ed a commenter by posting this, but it worked and no worms were harmed. A while back fire ants had set up a colony in my compost bin. I used diatomaceous earth to kill many of them. The rest moved. This weekend I discovered they had moved into my worm bin. I dusted the top with DE, but was afraid to disturb the bin contents too much. I have read that fire ants hate molasses and cinnamon and have tried both with limited success in evicting fire ants. This time I used both. A cheap bottle of cinnamon from the dollar store and a bottle of molasses were applied to the bin and watered in well. I am happy to report that the ants moved on. While, I know they will show up someplace else, I am happy they are gone from the compost pile and worm bin. I can use more direct methods outside of the bins. I want to harm as few the good bugs as possible. After the molasses and cinnamon, the worms looked particularly fat, active and healthy.

Worm poo is very good poo. I put rabbit poo in the worm bin along with kitchen scrap and the resulting castings are wonderful for plants. A tea made from these castings is a great foliar feed as well.

To read more about poo and guano check out these posts from Weed Wackin Wenches and Poor Richard's Almanac.

Thin Mints or Samoas?

It is that time of year again. Just when we have made it through the holidays and it looks like winter will be over. Right about the time it seems possible to lose a little weight, the Girl Scouts arrive with their crack. Every year for Valentine's I get a box of chocolates or two. Then a couple of weeks later, I get a box of Thin Mints or two. These are gifts from Manly Man and I love him. Now, I don't eat all of the candy or cookies at one time. In fact, I eat about one piece of candy or one cookie a day. Here is the problem, I do not want to share my cookies or my candy with anybody. To keep them all to myself, I hide the boxes all over the house. If something happens to me y'all are going to have to come over here and find it all.

Thin Mints or Samoas?

Proof

 

If you didn't believe that my kids actually eat vegetables, here is the proof. Middle Monkey is eating a baked acorn squash with nothing on it but a little bit of butter. Yes, I am bragging.

 

 

Now look, some monkey or another has put a plastic bug on my Valentine's flowers. Naughty or nice?

Has anyone ever grown potatoes in bags? If so, did it work?

Chimichurri Sauce

 

As I mentioned yesterday,we have a lot of parsley. There are four large plants and several smaller sets. If it were geographically possible, I would share some with all of you. At this point I am running the risk of spoiling several relationships because of excess parsley offerings. So I needed a recipe that uses lots of parsley. I found chimichurri.

Chimichurri is an Argentinian recipe for a sauce that is a condiment or marinade. There are many different recipes but the basics are parsley, olive oil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and something acidic.

Here is my version #1
1 cup parsley loosely packed
1/4 cup dried cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
I left out the onion
Pinch of salt
Dash of my After Burner sauce (you can use Tabasco)
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon paprika

Process everything in a food processor until smooth.

This stuff had the prettiest color and tasted fresh and smokey at the same time. Manly Man had smoked some ribs for dinner. I like a little acidic flavor with beef and pork, but most steak sauces are really salty. This was a nice compliment to the rib meat in place of a vinegary barbecue or steak sauce. I also think it would be good on grilled veggies and as a marinade for grilled fish. If you have too much parsley this is a good option.

Pretty Day Pictures and a Meme

It was a beautiful day today. I spent the afternoon in the garden. Here are a few pictures of what is going on.

Cabbages and a crystal ball.

 

Broccoli and a Calico

 

The first head of cabbage which will be kraut in a week.

 

Parsley, I have about four large parsley plants. Anyone want to come help me bale it?

 

James and Shala posted a meme yesterday and I thought I would play along.

Describe your gardening style.

Well does what a mess count as a style?

What was the last plant you bought?

Curly Whirly Juncus.

What were the last seeds you bought?

Heirloom tomatoes, but I have to add that I received some really cool heirloom seeds from Monica including Avivvi and Ladino di Panacchio. Thanks Monica.

When was the last time you picked dirt out from under your nail?

Well I need to do that right now.

Any plans for the garden this year?

Convert the whole thing over to raised beds. I am about a third done with this project.

What was your biggest mistake in gardening ever?

Giant rose bush in tiny space, using a broken thermometer in the compost pile, trying to grow a Brandy wine tomato plant year after year and never succeeding here because we get too hot (I never learn). I am sure there will be more.

Biggest success.

Raising three boys who love veggies.

If you could do anything right now regarding gardening what would it be.

Control the weather. Wait that is the gardening super power I want.

Thanks Double Danger for hosting this meme.

And if that were not enough. James asked me a few questions a little bit ago and tonight he posted my response with a few other garden bloggers. I feel so Auntly. Anyway, go check out the responses of "What Does Gardening Mean to You" over at Double Danger.

Test

Okay, I played with my feed again. This is a test to see if it will show up anywhere. If it works on our family blog, I will change blotanical again. Wish me luck. I am horrible at this. Thanks to everyone who drops and checks for my missing posts.