Tuesday, April 17, 2012

It's Hip to be (Jam) Square

Things are growing so quickly around here that it's hard to keep up. Recently, my amaryllis put up a nice healthy stalk.

The flower head at the top of the stalk split open, revealing the tightly-furled flowers within.

They pushed up...

...and started to open.

Before long, they were all in glorious bloom. And the smell was amazing!

The columbines, too, followed a similar path. The soft green flower heads thickened and pinked up...

Then, having obtained the right shape, nodded over...

...and started to open.

Beautiful!

I just love seeing the columbines en masse. I grew them all from the same small batch of seeds, but the backyard columbines are mainly pink.

However, I started a line of columbines along the front of the house, and they're purple with a pansy-like face...completely different from the backyard columbines.

They can even be grown in containers. I've got them mixed in with some lilies here.

It's been warm, and then cool, and then warm again, but fairly dry. Finally, we had a really good rain.

Just what my parched garden needed.

These are the last of the early-blooming lilacs. It's perfect. Just as they're dying off...

...the late-blooming lilacs burst onto the scene.

I almost prefer these for bouquets, because the flowers are a bit smaller and remind me of heather...and the colors are a lot deeper.

Here's a side-by-side comparison...you can really see the difference between the two types!

I bought this tiny glass vase at Goodwill for .50. Perfect for this type of lilac with shorter stems.

Of course, I put them in bigger vases, too!

All sorts of things are budding out. I discover new things every day. My sage is getting ready to bloom. I should pinch off these buds and cut back the new growth to encourage a bushier, more compact plant, but I love to see it growing wild and sprawling over our walkway.

Salvia is getting ready to open up...

...and my low-growing geranium plants are blooming beautifully!

I have a tall mystery plant ready to bloom. I think it's a weed...but I'm going to wait and see what the flowers look like!

I also saw some tiny acrobats out in the hydrangea bushes. Teeny tiny spiders balancing on silken threads. They were completely immobile...

...except for one little spider, who was shakily making his way from leaf to leaf.

I saw a black stripe on their abdomens. Oh, how wonderful if they are garden spiders! I'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, I saw this crab spider nestled in the tightly-coiled buds of one of my hydrangea bushes.

I was really gratified to see those buds on my smallest bush. I bought it at least 7 years ago, just a small hydrangea start. Each year it leafs out, but no blooms. I can't wait to see what color it is!

I haven't just been in the garden. I've done an extraordinary amount of baking lately, but I just haven't had time or space to post a recipe. This recipe, though, is exceptional. It's one of the best non-chocolate desserts I think I've ever had...and it's so easy! I mainly chose it to try because I wanted to use up some ingredients in my kitchen...that forgotten jar of jam in the back of the refrigerator, those slivered almonds left over from Halloween's witch fingers, the last of the oatmeal. I didn't expect those leftovers to create such a tasty treat!

Almond Jam Squares
modified from Farm Girl Fare

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups sliced or slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups jam
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream your butter and sugars well, and then beat in your eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, almonds, and oatmeal. Gradually add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.

Split your mixture in half. Press half into the bottom of a greased 9 x 12" pan. Heat the jam of your choice in the microwave until it's nicely spreadable. Pour on top of pressed mixture and spread evenly, and then sprinkle the remaining mixture on top. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until top is golden.

It's easy to "lighten up" this recipe. I cut it in half and used much less sugar than the recipe called for. I also used whole wheat flour (note: recipe, cut in half, baked for about 20 minutes).

The possibilities are endless here. If you don't like jam, consider using cherry pie filling. Or saute apple slices in cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla until soft, and then layer in between crumble layers.

These are healthy, gooey, soft, and delicious. I highly recommend them! I hope you can bake them this week!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Spring Fever

On a recent trip to storage, I found a Kitty Garden kit that I'd bought years ago for my cats. I was a little skeptical that it might still yield the promised organic oats, wheat, rye, and barley, but I thought, what do I have to lose? Imagine my surprise when I had sprouts after only a few days!

It grew and grew!

It's healthy for your cats to nibble on greens, and I know that Bosewichte in particular is always begging to go outside and eat grass. I set the Kitty's Garden on the floor for his inspection.

Then he had a nibble...

...some lick-smacking...

...and back for more!

I'm so happy that he likes it. I'm starting to take him outside more, mainly because he's such a beggar and I'm such a softie. He loves laying in the sun.

I've started my garden work this year...clearing the leaves out of the beds and pulling the young weeds. I know that a little work here now...

...will produce this in a few months!

Because I want even more flowers this year, Todd and I decided to invest in a heat mat and grow lights for our basement. Todd built this wooden stand for them.

He drilled holes in almost 200 Dixie cups and I carefully separated out my seeds. I chose easy-grow annuals because I wanted to learn the grow light system well: green Envy Zinnias, colorful and spiky Larkspur, soft pink Cosmos, sprawling Nasturtiums, climbing white Sweet Peas, unique green Bells of Ireland, and so on.

Once the seeds were planted in their domed containers...

...they were taken to the basement and set up on the heat mat.

I made a grave error, though. I put soil in the cups, then seeds, and then watered them. It wasn't enough water to penetrate the soil and many seedlings just didn't germinate because of it. Sadly, my germination rate was only about 15 - 20%. I still got a sampling of each flower, though, except for Sweet Peas, which continue to confound me.

When your seedlings emerge from the soil, they must be removed from the heat mats, which will cook their roots, and put under the grow lights. Because I had seedlings that germinated at different times, some had to be transplanted early.

They can become root bound in their little pots, which is unhealthy.

Or, you can have too many seedlings in a small space, like these snapdragons. They must be thinned, or none will live.

Ahhh! All transplanted to bigger cups with more space and nourishing soil.

I couldn't bear to throw away many of the snapdragon seedlings, so I separated them out in old planting containers. They're doing well!

Meanwhile, we've still been taking long hikes with Borga at our local state park. Corgis need to feel like they have a job, and Borga considers walking us her job. I've never seen a dog so crazy for taking walks.

(Excuse this series of photos, taken with Todd's iPhone!)

We have to admit that we enjoy 'being walked'! I was just remarking to Todd today how wonderful the spring is here. When we first started taking our long hikes several weeks ago, the ground was bare except for a carpet of leaves. Just a few spring plants were pushing through: mayapples, spring beauties, golden ragwort, and dutchman's breeches, to name a few. Then, most of those plants died back, and huge carpets of virginia bluebells sprang up everywhere.

Lovely little ferns broke through the carpet of leaves and unfurled in the sun.

We noticed tiny spiderwebs stringing from branch to branch in the trees bordering our path, as small spiders were beginning to be more active!

Then, last week the virginia bluebells started to drop their blossoms, and shooting stars came up.

Fields of shooting stars!

Honeysuckles burst into bloom, both white and yellow...

...and pink!

The air was unbelievably fragrant, especially around these mystery bushes, which were numerous around the lake.

Wild delphiniums popped up, too, adding some color.

Today we saw that the mayapples were sprouting a single white bloom. Creeping jenny has started poking its way around the lake's edge. Leaves are beginning to unfurl on lower branches of small trees. Every week it's something different, and we are delighting in our little discoveries. Walking along honeysuckle-scented paths, with carpets of flowers all around, though the ever-changing forests and along the lake, with iridescent blue tree swallows and red wing blackbirds flitting overhead and singing lustily...we have to wonder why more people aren't enjoying it, too! Even last Saturday, the park was almost empty. What else could be so wonderful?

We both love to see what's new every week...and Borga loves the satisfaction of a job well done!

I haven't posted any recipes or knitting for a while, but I hope to get back on track with things soon.

Have a great week...and take a walk in the park, if you can!