Nasturtium Preserves

I had some inspiration today. Both kids asleep {at the same time?!} and a bounty of blooms along with a clean kitchen led to searching around the web for what I might do with a whole mess of nasturium blooms. I found nothing. So I made it up as I went and some lovely stuff came from a mind bent on nothing but a bunch of beautiful goodness in the quiet of an afternoon kitchen bathed in sunlight.

I started with fresh blooms and then added in some African Blue basil just for fun. Just sounded yummy.

Gave them a good long soak (and removed a whole lot of ants that I hadn't seen while picking). I have to admit I was afraid cooking these beauties would turn them brown and ruin them. Eh no matter, there were many more outside.

Here is what I came up with:

1 cup packed nasturtium flowers

2 cups water

2 T white balsamic vinegar

1 T basil flowers

1/4 cup maple syrup

Pamona's Pectin, following directions

The results are beautiful. There is a delicate hint of pepper which I could see on a delish pork loin. Hmmmn might need to try that. Oooh or over a nice soft triple cream brie. mmmmmmmm.

Sunday Flowers

:::sweet peas and carrot blossoms::: (I couldn't decide which to post :)


....joining A Sonoma Garden with summer flowers

Beautiful Things from Today

A bouquet of broccoli for the barbeque
our front path

The boys camping out on the lawn tonight

matijila poppy in bloom

freshly dug potatoes

my baby enjoying some berries

few and delicate: the first golden raspberries

harvest

pulling spent greens and finding perfect peas

(and a collection of chicken food)

ramblers on the shade blanket

dinner salad in the evening sun

carrot bloom

elephant garlic

elephant garlic blossom

Flowers Inside, A New Summer Sunday Habit

I was just reading through some of my favorite garden blogs and saw this post by Kendra of A Sonoma Garden encouraging a Sunday flowers habit and thought it was a really splendid idea so I am joining in.

This first post is on a Tuesday, but these are all flowers we picked over the weekend. We don't have a dinner table, our house is too small for that. We eat at our kitchen counter/bar and it's in the process of being decluttered (specifically at the stage where it is worse before it gets better haha) so no view of that one ;)

Elephant garlic flower buds and sweet peas in my kitchen window (and a pair of smiling eyes peering through)

Parsnip greens and flower buds at my new custom computer table (thanks to my husband!)

Hot Lips salvia in the shower window
This one was picked and placed by my son: 2 simple yellow Yarrow blooms by the bathroom sink (& I just noticed some cerinthe seeds which must have dropped off from last week's boquet on the sink!)

Dinner From the Garden

Yesterday afternoon I happened to look over at the potatoes to see that a few of them were popping up out of the soil, begging to be harvested. My older son and I happily obliged, making yesterday the first potato harvest of the season. He was so proud of this big pink one he had a hard time setting it down.
We tossed them in olive oil with some sea salt and chopped rosemary from the garden and roasted them in a trusty cast iron in the oven.

Then I tossed in some baby amaranth greens (yay for abundant amaranth volunteers! Now that we eat their leaves I'm never bummed to see them spout up!)

Then my son had the great idea to add in the steamed broccoli and peas to make a big bowl of garden goodness. It was fantastic and he ate a ton of it.

Ahhhh Summertime. Bon Appetit!

Spotted Boysenberry Vines = Septoria Leaf Spot

The Nanaberries are beginning to ripen. Yesterday we all had a choice first berry of the season. Just in time, too, since I opened the last jar of jam this week.

This year brings a new issue with the berries: Spotted leaves. All over last year's canes. The way we were instructed to grow these from Cyrus' grandfather when he gave us some rootings was to clip away the previous years growth and train the new canes up in the fall. The previous year's canes then produce fruit the following summer. I have to admit we were tardy on both clipping back and training up, which I see we may be paying for now with a fungus or bacterial problem. All our late season rain (yay! not complaining about rain in California I swear!) may have aided in this as well.

Some of the canes have completely died back, shriveled baby fruit and all.

The flowers were completely fine this spring, there are a few remaining and they are perfect little spotless flowers.

The spots can be found on the leaves AND the canes. Here is a front and back and sun view of an affected leaf.

I did a bit of searching around and am wondering if it could be Septoria Leaf Spot but I'm afraid I just don't know enough about it.

Anyone have any ideas?

I'm considering pruning all the canes back to the ground after this season and spraying sulfur all over everything.

UPDATE: Looks as if I was on the right track! Shauna over at Chronicles of a Pacific Northwest Gardener gave me this link on Septoria and the photos are dead on. Thanks Shauna!

Hello? Hello!

I was just going through some photos and realized I have gobs of pic I just never posted. What can I say, time is limited. The garden is going off, there is camping and mothering and mothering and mothering and ..... life! haha! We've been busy here at the compound.

Overall the garden is getting a slow start. It really wasn't until today, after a few real days of heat, that I could see things really are getting along just fine. Color is filling out, weeds are a spoutin' all over the dang place. I should always realize if the weeds aren't growing great then it really is the weather!

The newest planting of corn (with one more batch to go!) is in and getting situated. You can see the roll of cover crop I decided to compost instead of till there in the center of the photo, the chamomile just beyond and the raised beds (which mostly contain things going to seed so I can save them)

A closer view of the corn and beds
figs!

See this corn? Knee high by the fourth of July! Heck ya! By the fourth of June in fact!

Other things happening as my babe and I walked around tonight:

The chickens beginning to roost:

The tomatoes thriving:

Seedlings miraculously thriving despite my lack of attention:

First sweat pea! I plant these always right before Christmas time for Mother's day blossoms. Weeks behind this year. Interesting. Perhaps this year I will have to plant at Thanksgiving.

Iris

My curly toe-headed baby dining on salvia nectar

Till next time!