Garden Goodness

 

One of the peaks of summer is having a bounty of fresh produce to choose from...and even better, most of it is from our backyard or backyards of our neighbors. Try to eat local and in season...not only is it good for you, but it's cheaper and it is 10times more delicious! 

Sweet, delicious yellow pepper from the farmers market.

My morning omelette. Mushrooms from a friend, zucchini from the neighbors garden. Aspargus, yellow pepper and scallion.

And then for lunch, roasted root veggies. Beets, sweet potatoes and onions from our garden. Rosemary and Thyme from a friends herb garden. Drizzle with some olive oil, throw in a few cloves of garlic - cover and roast at 350 for an hour and a half. Serve with some Braggs Liquid Aminos over arugula and drizzle with tahini. MMMMMMMM.

Summer Fun with the Serwatka's

Yesterday was a good day. I taught/hosted my first ever yoga party, then enjoyed a surf and some beach time with my friend Chris Paisley. After the beach we ate some food and I did a totally fucked up, intense and oddly amazing CrossFit WOD at Living Well in Northfield. I was home in time for dinner with my family which I was super grateful for. The sunset is so late right now that I was able to catch a sunset surf with Johnny DiGenni and Brooke (Serwatka...who drove down to the shore for a 24hr visit). The surf was perfect: waist high and clean, and just the three of us out. We hung at the Centennial Guest House afterwards (the DiGennis bed and breakfast in sea isle) and enjoyed wine, conversation, tomato and basil sliders and lots of laughs. Late to bed, early to rise- beach yoga at 7am and then a studio class at the OC Zen Den @ 9:30am. Both classes were great, and with 20 people at the Zen Den class the studio was packed with positivity. After class Brooke and her beautiful mama Lorraine came to the house to hang. Lorraine worked in the garden and we all enjoyed some swim time. After our swim we snacked poolside before saying our goodbyes. Tired...exhausted actually, but grateful for such a wonderful 24 hours.

Garden Time

I helped my mom yesterday grooming dogs, and then when we were done and Dad was awake from his nap we all headed out to putz in the garden. Dad posts up in a chair and points his cane at mom and I, offering up praise and criticism. HE is the one with the green thumb...my mom and I are known to kill even the most hearty of plants. But this year the garden is mostly in our hands, so wish us luck! For her birthday, my Mom received a FIG TREE from her wonderful friend Lori. We planted that yesterday over by the pig pens and the watermelon patch. I am super exicted for this to start baring fruit because I LOVE figs and they are not an easy thing to find in the supermarkets and farmers markets around here.

I had to cut some asparagus, and even though this has been my job since I was a SMALL CHILD, my Dad posted up and supervised my asaparagus-cutting-skills.

The key to cutting asapargus is a sharp, serrated edge knife. You push the knife a few inches down into the soil, cutting the asapargus about 4" below the surface.

Farming is made even better when you are wearing cute, comfortable boots. Thanks to my friend Rob Kulisek for my epic birthday gift: a pair of SeaVees. Now not only am I a champion asparagus cutter -- but I look damn good when I'm doing it!

Garden Maintenance 101

After all the rain we had, Mom and I had a teeny bit of damage control to take care of in the garden. As with all things concerning my mother, it can't happen NOW, it needs to happen RIGHT NOW. So, despite being in my robe - making my morning cup of tea - she insisted that the work needed to be done RIGHT NOW. She put one of my dads jackets on me, and I slid into my boots, fresh juice still in hand, and out we went. First things first though - she wanted to show me her new compost 'barrel'. Woohoo, exciting stuff! Then we checked on the snap peas, some of which were uncovered and just need a little dirt to cover them. The lettuces we stored under the pool deck so thankfully they didn't get too much water. And then, the onions - which you need to be careful with too much moisture - nobody likes a rotten onion. So we put the bin up on bricks so that it could drain properly. Just another morning at the Callahan's house....