We are gonna have a party..

Good news to share today. My son and daughter in law were married in early April and we are finally having the reception..in late Aug.






There are many reasons for the late reception and I won't go into all the details but the happy couple decided to have the reception, a backyard barbecue, in my home. We are expecting about 40 guests from Vancouver, Toronto and Powell River.


I have a busy month ahead of me and with budgets stretched very tight I have to get very creative to pull this off without a glitch and without it costing a bomb.

The men will be responsible for making sure the yard is comfortable come sun or rain. We looked at renting a tent .. hard to believe but the party folks want 300.00 to rent a 20 X 20' tent. So whatever the men come up with, my sisters and I will have to make it look nice. Decorating ideas are very welcome.


I'll start baking bread, muffins and cookies and buy a little extra meat whenever it's on sale and stock pile my freezer. It's expensive to take the ferry and most of the family will also have to book a hotel - I don't want any of our visitors to spend money to eat out.


I really hope my veggie patch will give me lots of goodies, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, patty pans, green beans and onions, that will also save a lot... eggs won't be a problem :).




During this time I will be participating in the Powell River 50 mile challenge which won't be easy but I'm determined to serve as much local food at the reception as I can.

Phew!!! lots to think about and more importantly lots to do but I am so looking forward to visiting with family and friends. Oh and one more thing..lets hope for hot and dry weather.

Margaret

Freezing eggs

Well..who knew eggs could be frozen, not me...

I was walking my dog and ran into my next door neighbour, we started chatting about this and that and she asked how my chickens were doing, "Great, great, love them but..so many eggs from only six chickens". It just happens she used to have chickens to and with only two people in her house she had the same "too many eggs" problem. Freeze them she tells me, no, really? Yup and cook them up during winter when the chickens don't lay as many eggs. Perfect for scrambled eggs, omelettes, quiche and baking.

Still not really believing it I tried freezing 4 eggs and defrosted them and ate them today, delicious, you would never know they were frozen.

Freeze your eggs in small batches which works out well for me, 4 eggs is enough to scramble or make an omelet for me and my husband. Crack them into a container, add a pinch of salt, and mix with a fork without adding too much air to your egg mixture.





Pour into a small container, leaving 1/2 inch head space or into a zip lock bag. I chose a zip lock bag because I can lay it flat. Make sure you date your egg mixture and use it with 6 months.



Defrost in the fridge overnight or run cold water over the zip lock bag and make sure you cook the defrosted eggs right away.

Breakfast this morning, frozen scrambled eggs with spring onions from the garden and a bagel.




So I best get cracking...


Margaret

Getting ready for winter planting

For the first time I'm planting a winter garden. This is certainly not a new idea but I was a little lost as to where to begin. I ran into this Winter Gardening Chart from Territorial Seeds in Oregon. The chart is really easy to read which bolstered my confidence.

Over the last week I pulled all my carrots. I peeled, cut, blanched and froze one large zip lock bag. Some of the carrots were marred with the evil carrot rust fly but I harvested enough carrots to try growing them again. This time with the help float covers, hopefully this will keep the carrot rust fly away.

Sugar peas were also picked, blanched and frozen, with many more on the vine. I didn't know but peas can also be planted again in September for an early spring harvest. I'll have to keep that in mind and if there is room I'll put some down.




Now, these sorry little plants were started by my mom and transplanted into my garden upon my return from Vancouver. They are Pan de Zucchero, a lovely fall chicory that is delicious as a salad, it can also be cooked but I've never had it cooked. If all goes well I should be able to harvest in the fall. In the front of the bed I planted Radicchio seeds which will be ready to harvest from November onwards.




I started broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, a little late but hopefully these will work. I planted them in regular soil because the soiless mixture you find in the spring was nowhere to be found in Powell River. Peat pellets were also missing so fingers crossed my little seedling escape wilting when they are just small. Next year I must buy enough supplies for winter planting. If my seeds fail I'll keep my eyes open for starter plants.


And..very exciting for me as a first time potato grower, is my first potato harvest. The red potatoes are from my neighbors garden and the Yukon gold are from my garden. Guess what's for dinner tonight?






And my biggest and most important garden helper? ..Mr. Bee. I planted hollyhocks on the North side of the garden and the bees love them.

Back to the real world

Although I spent a few days in Vancouver I also had a few days off from work prior to my trip.
Everyone needs some down time, even from the garden. The flowers and veggies were watered but I did no weeding, staking or puttering.

What did I do will all my extra time? Well some of it was spent at Gibson's Beach watching the sunset.















Some of the time was spent at the float cabin swimming and boating.







And well just fooling around.



I sure hope you all get to play this summer, it's good for the soul.

Margaret

Heading to Vancouver

New in my shop. A vintage style kitchen towel made of 100% lint free cotton.






I'm heading to Vancouver for a few days..talk to you Wednesday.

Artichokes

Last year I harvested about 30 artichokes, small but delicious. I processed them for the freezer and twice in the dead of winter I made hot artichoke and spinach dip as an appy. I don't know if you noticed but in Canada canned artichokes are very expensive so I was thrilled to have them in the freezer and I was looking forward to more of the same this year. Well...maybe not.



Of my 6 artichoke plants I have two small artichokes. So what's the problem? A fellow gardener I just met a few weeks ago told me that artichokes don't last very long, maybe five years and to extend their life I should separate them or sever the babies from the mother plant by a deep cut with a long shovel. I have not been able to confirm this method but I'll try it on one plant.



I noticed my next door neighbour's plants were in worst shape than mine and they are literally 20 feet apart, so I think it might have been our colder than usual winter.

Happy Canada Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!