Yardening late May 2015

OK OK we Millers will try hard to test the recipe over the summer. Got two legal drinking young adults here now to help...thanks for the recipe- Considering the driving home- maybe we can skip the Tequila. It's been a loooong time, but I still remember the one night I drank Tequila at college....
8^O

Mark found us some free mulch- someone had dumped a few loads of wood chips (like tree trimmers? pure wood and pretty fresh-) in a field where we walked the dog. So he started mulching the paths in the back corner. Yay.

Wonder of wonders- today found green buds popping out on the brug Maya skeleton that's been sitting in a pot doing nothing for weeks and looking very dead. I'm glad I still had a hole to fill with her.

Swiss chard is looking great this year, first cutting today.

Homemade (Bailey’s) Irish Cream – (You’ll Never Buy it Again)

Ingredients
• 1 cup light cream (like 1/2 and 1/2)--or heavy whipping cream
• 14oz. or 12 oz. (one can) sweetened condensed milk
• 1cup Irish Whiskey (Like “Jameson's”)—or more…to your taste

• ***Irish whiskey is $$$. Some people use Tennessee Whiskey.
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 2 tablespoons Hershey’s chocolate syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed for 30 seconds.
2. Bottle in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate. Shake before using!
3. Will keep for up to 2 months.

********************************************************
From Darius:
Here's another recipe (makes 3 750 ML bottles):

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 (750 milliliter) bottle Irish whiskey
* 8 3/4 ounces milk chocolate
* 2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
* 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans evaporated milk
* 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
* 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour a small amount of whiskey into a large bowl. In the top of a double boiler, melt chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth. Mix the melted chocolate with the whiskey in the bowl. Gradually stir in the sweetened condensed milk and the evaporated milk. Stir in the cream, instant coffee granules, and the remaining whiskey.
2. Pour mixture into 3 (750 ml) bottles, seal and store in refrigerator. Best if kept at least 1 month before using. To serve: shake bottle well, serve in small glasses over crushed ice.

I used to like Jameson's Whiskey, but now prefer Bushmills... a tad smoother.

*********************************************************

From EJE—SF. CA:

Tennessee whiskey will probably be about the same proof (percentage alcohol) as Irish Whiskey; but, American Whiskies are going to have a much rougher flavor than Irish Whiskies.

The base grain used to make Tennessee Whiskey (and Bourbon) is mostly corn (at least 51%), where in Irish Whiskey (and Scotch) the base grain is barley.

Jameson's is a good, fairly mild, Irish whiskey for this sort of thing.

*********************************************************

AND--you will not believe how tasty this bred is!!! Only THREE ingredients!

BEER BREAD

3 c. self-rising flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 bottle any, room temperature, beer (12 oz.)
   (try Guinness Stout for dark, rich bread)

Optional--2-3 tsp. Caraway Seed ( I love these in breads!). 
2-3Tbs. melted butter

Mix all together (except butter) and spoon into greased,
floured, 9 1/2”x 5 1/2” loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour, or until pick inserted comes out clean.
When done—immediately, brush top with melted butter

Best cut into thick slices. Good toasted!
 
Gita

such a hillbilly . I got all clean and sweet before dinner but I've been back out barefoot across the yard again and potting plants. I can't stop!

oh yum thanks GIta!

Saly--

I have been at it for 2 days straight now....looking to see what plants I had bought
that needed to be potted--and then deciding WHERE i will pot them.

Still off tomorrow. Hope i can finish up and then see where the "holes" are
and go buy some more plants to fill them up.

Sunday--back to work and fighting with the hoses.

Went to bed last night @ 9;30PM and slept for 11 hours! Got up at 8:30AM.
How does that grab you? The sweating just drains me dry!

Gonna hit the sack as soon as I am done here. Get more "beauty sleep".

My body is telling me something.....Can't haul all day like I used to.

CIAO! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,,,,,,,,,, ♥

Sally--et al----

This soup (bisque) will blow you away!!! It is heavenly! To die for!

CREAM OF TOMATO--DILL SOUP WITH SHRIMP
(Baltimore Sun—“Recipe Finder”—May 5, 2010)

***This recipe comes from Oprah.com and was adapted from a recipe from Art Smith’s
“Kitchen Life”Cookbook. A simple substitution of fresh Dill (for the Marjoram)
was made.from the recipe the author found.
The finished Soup had balanced flavor and a rich, creamy consistency.
It was as pretty to look at, as it was tasty.
Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

¾ lb. medium shrimp (25-31 count) unshelled. (I have used Old Bay
steamed shrimp as part of this…maybe half--just for the flavor in the broth).
2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth—or Home-made. (I make my own….)
5 Tbs. Unsalted Butter—divided use. More never hurts!
1 Medium rib Celery—finely chopped.
½ cup Shallots, chopped (Sweet Onion, like Vidalia, can be substituted)
1-2 cloves garlic—minced (I like a couple more…)
½ cup all-purpose flour for thickening
1 can (28 oz.) Diced Tomatoes with juice
2 cups ½ and ½.
2 Tbs. Fresh Dill, chopped. Dried dill will do--just half the amount.
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

***NOTE; I find salt NOT necessary in this dish. Tomatoes have plenty of it.
So does “Old Bay”—if you use steamed Shrimp shells as part of the required
Shrimp amount. I love the flavor a lot better when I do that…..

To Do----
--Peel and de-vain Shrimp, reserving the shells.
--Combine the shells and the Chicken Broth in a saucepan and bring to a
simmer over medium heat.
--Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
--Strain the Shells-- reserving the broth –You should have about 2 cups.
Add water, or more broth, if needed to make up the quantity.

*****Pre-cooked broth from shells can be made ahead of time and frozen
in Zip-bags. Makes for less work when you want to serve this…

Gita

I don't drink Tequila anymore, result of an evening of serious over indulgence. Probably 20 years ago and I still can't drink the stuff.

Looking good, Muddy! Looks like a pro did it.

Ooh, it looks good!

Is anyone else finding the heat and humidity today making it totally miserable to garden, or am I just being a wuss??? I had so many plans but I am having so much trouble with the weather conditions.

You're not the only one Dear. I decided earlier this morning that it was gonna be too much for me, especially considering I do it every day at work, (with nowhere air conditioned to run to for temporary solace), so I watered everything well early this morning and called it good enough. Maybe I'm getting "too geezer-like" but I just can't take it anymore like I used to.

No actual gardening for me today either I was helping in another garden with the Garden Club tour. Just manning the table at the entrance to one of the gardens.

I hope you had shade at that table, goodness! And lots of sunblock... and a hat! =)

The sun was sooooo hot today! I'm waiting until 7 or 8 before I go back out there.

This is the hottest recorded May *ever* in DC! We're around 7 or 8 degrees above normal for the month. Ugh!

Yes, terribly muggy day. I spent nearly an hour digging a hole for the new tree this morning, early, around 6:00... the humidity was so thick, you could have cut it. Yuck.

Just missed getting rain, to the west of us, getting a nice shower. Dammit.

Around 10:00 this morning the temp gauge (not a thermometer, but a sensor, which then reports the outside temp to a thingy in the house) said it was 98.6 on my deck - YIKES!

I'm noticing now that the wind is kicking up a bit; thinking that, even though the sky is clear, we may be getting some rain blowing in soon.. I hope. < =/ I hate it when all around us it rains, but we get none. Makes me feel sorta ripped off, HA!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Speedie, but looks like most of the showers and pop up storns are in western MD and central PA. We have only a 20 percent chance of getting one.

Oh Phooey! Well, then I'm glad I got out and watered this morning.

Something weird I've been noticing; The Grape tomato plant on my deck is FAR bigger and taller than the Heirloom (? varieties.. don't remember) ones in the ground out front. Very odd to me. I installed them with LOADS of leafgro, they get lots of sunlight, but more in the afternoon, whereas the one on the deck gets mostly morning and mid-day sun. They both get regularly heavily fed with PlantTone and watered about 3 times a week. Anyone have any idea why a potted tomato plant would be so far ahead of its in-ground compatriots?

IMHO tomato plant growth is highly correlated with soil temps so the container is warmer root zone wise than in ground.

Also, grape tomatoes are generally more vigerous (rampant0 than other tomato types and an early 'days to maturity' will spring up faster than a 75 or 85 day maturity variety. Quite a few of the heirlooms are later or longer season maturers. Rarely is an heirloom 'the first real tomato of the season' Can't hurry love or a good tomato!

Excellent, thank you Judy! I just popped out onto the deck to look at the tag on the pot again, to make sure exactly what type of tomato it is... my apologies, but I was wrong; it's a Husky Cherry Red cherry tomato. It says "75 days to maturity", I guess we'll see. But your explanation makes perfect sense, it's certainly gotta be warmer in that pot than in the ground.
Heeheee, I don't wanna hurry the love of a good tomato, I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong with the babies in the ground out front; BOY do I LOVE a good tomato! =) Do you think I should be feeding the in-ground ones more? They get fed about every 2 weeks, a FAT pinch (more like a scant handful) of Plant Tone each plant.

I will be closely monitoring the health and yield of all the tomato plants, and if it turns out the pot-grown one does better, I will have to consider growing them all in pots on the deck next year.

Thank you to everyone who sent me plants via Chantell! I got them today & will be planting tomorrow!! ^_^

Yay, Becky!

The silver lining to this terribly dry weather is the lack of mosquitos. I'm still getting bitten, but only a couple of times per night, so I haven't needed to use deet.

I finally planted cucumber seeds today. It looks like I'm still in the range of recommended planting time.

Tomorrow will be 88* I think.....no mercy for me! I know i will be outside HD all day watering....
It does do a number on me--but I can deal with it pretty good.

I have been hauling in my own garden Thurs. --Fri--but today--I had to go shopping
and never got to anything. Just watered all my beds...that's it.

Re "Hussky Cherry Red" tomato--It IS a Cherry patio type.
We sell loads and loads of this one. It has really fat stems (a sign that it is a patio Tomato)
and is a "determinate" one.

My tomatoes by the shed are doing great. Digging up a lot of volunteers from last
years fallen cherries. Mostly--Yellow pear. I pot them in cups and take them to work.
Speedie--you feed them Plant Tone?
I have that--but I seldom feed my tomatoes once they are planted...Should I????

OK! Bed time for me....saving my energy for tomorrow....
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz G.

Speedie someone will probably chime in on the care and feeding of tomatoes, I do know that they love calcium so blue crab compost or lobster compost is great. In containers and on a deck gets reflected heat from deck, too. 'Husky' sort of says it all...huge stems to support tiny tomatoes! Not all tomatoes are suited to growing in even l a r g e containers as if you keep to one main leader, they get quite tall. I've had to do tomato cages and then stake and stakes don't hold so well in containers! How big is your deck? lol

Still lots of warm growing days to bring in a good crop of cucumbers SSG! Glad for fewer skeeters and wish for fewer ticks alas.

Becky Becky Becky! If the Milkweed I sent is still in their pots, just cut the pots away rather than risk bruising their roots. They probably no so little any more. Hope some Monarchs find them and you!

Well then, Muddy.... that would explain why it looked like a pro did it. :)

all good, ssg, I still intend to plant squash seeds, ...I think. Dang shade over the vegetable garden. Taking out a Norway maple would help, some.

Hmm. If we completely redo the shed and have the door on another side, I could totally move the vegetable gardening to a sunnier spot..DANG!! Does every garden idea eventually lead to completely rearranging every plant and all the soil....

urghh!! Hindsight ...

I've got to get hoses hooked up, continuing breeze with no rain here. I am very pleased with the still pretty copper finish on a twirly dec sprinkler I got @ Lowes couple years ago- but there must be a spider sac clogging the tube, or something..
kinda like
http://www.bestbudsgarden.com/IBS/SimpleCat/Shelf/ASP/Hierarchy/0H.html

Gita and Judy - yeah, that plant does have nice fat stems on her. I popped a 5' cage into the pot on the day I planted her, so she's behaving very well,... so far. And yeah G, I do feed them Plant Tone. I'm not sure if you "should", I only know that, DARNIT, I want big fat tasty healthy tomatoes! :) Judy, the deck is 10 x 12, so I should be able to fit 3 more potted tomatoes in there next year if I have to. ;) heehee Strange, what I'd read online said that these are an INdeterminate variety. Hmmm... guess we'll see. For now, I've got several clusters of blossoms, anywhere from 6-9 blossoms per cluster, and about 8 or so clusters of blossoms of varying degrees of openness. That's the plant that's doing the chimera thing, it's sorta pretty. :)

Got a lot more done today than yesterday. It was still hot, but didn't feel as humid as yesterday. It looked like we were going to get a thunderstorm, but after a lot of dark clouds and a lot of rumbling, it passed right on by. No rain, and now it is bright and sunny again. I should get back out there and do a little more planting, but I think I am plum wore out. Time for a cool bath and then relax with some ice tea under the fans on the front porch.

Aaaaah, that sounds nice and refreshing! Did you, by any chance, get any pics of the work you did today? (she asks even though she's not shared any pics of anything in like forever!) ;)

Alrighty, well, since I mentioned how I'd not shared any pics in a while, here's a couple.

First 2, a couple of pretty shots of the first Paeony bloom this year. Got her before she fully opened, I love that look

Third one (and maybe 4th), that chimera tomato plant. Looks like a little patch of sunlight hitting right in the middle of the plant, but nope, it's the leaves' colouring. Neato, huh? :)

Got a good 2 inches of rain last night. Excellent chance for more today from about 4:00 into tomorrow morning. YAYYYYY !!!

Hope every else got some rain and gets some more today, especially those of you who have missed the last couple of showers/storms that have come thru here. Fingers crossed.

I saw the radar last night thought, More rain for cam and critter and zilch for us, again.

We actually got a sprinkling, but we need mooooaaarrrr.

Our radar showed zero but we must have had a sprinkle. only a tiny bit. I haven't yet watered that much except for the new plants, and garden vegetables, spot watering.

I was within 30-50 feet of a lighting bolt. Made me jump but well worth it. :) I have been closer... close enough to make all my hair stand up.

We actually got rain last night too. It was weird hearing it on the window a/c; I almost forgot what it sounded like. I think we got about 0.4". We are in a flash flood watch and I'm wondering what it is these people up at the NWS are smoking.

I used to go without shoes every now and again in the yard but now I try to keep that to a 'bare' minimum (pun intended). I have to watch out because of our pyracantha hedge and, to a lesser extent, the mahonia bealei. We also have a blue spruce in the back that makes for a prickly barefoot experience.

We got a mere 0.2". I even forgot to put the tractor in the barn to tempt the rain. LOL