spectacular spider web

Early this morning I noticed a spectacular spider web that was audaciously woven across the steps to the upstairs neighbor. Surely, the web would last a long time, but it certainly was impressive! (click on the photos to enlarge for more detail):

tomato plants out of control!!!

I've been away for the past several weeks (getting married!) and just returned, eager to see what's new in the backyard. Since I've been gone, the tomato plants have completely overtaken the raised bed. The herb plants and lavender are no longer visible. The tomato plants have stretched across the stairway, toppled the bamboo supports and reached 7+ feet in the air. Dozens of little yellow flowers and many small baby green tomatoes. I was overwhelmed. They are growing sideways into the yard! We'll have a huge tomato harvest soon. Given how many there are, the tomatoes probably won't be too big, but they will still be tasty!

purplette onion harvest

The purplette onion tops emerged and looked ready to be yanked out of the soil. From our first onion harvest:

taking over the bed: a pictoral timeline of tomato growth

Well, it turns out that fertile soil+water+sunshine=happy plants. As illusive as that combination of ingredients might be, I think I've finally found success in the backyard. Move over rosemary, step aside thyme, the tomato plants have taken over the raised bed! I'll give myself credit for a bit of forethought: I planted the tomatoes on the eastern side of the raised bed since I didn't want their height and bulk to block the sunlight from the smaller herbs. But that plan has been overcome by the lengthy tomato branches which have completely dominated the rest of the garden. The poor purplette onions are smothered! It is remarkable how quickly the tomatoes have bulked up, now that their root system is in place. As a tribute to the remarkable tomato plants, I have assembled a pictorial timeline of their unprecedented growth (maybe I should make a flip book!):

June 11 (planting day):
July 2 (bamboo stakes added):

July 16:
July 20:

July 28 (surpassed the bamboo):

Small yellow flowers on the tomato plants:


And a few flowers have already yielded little baby tomatoes!

lazy locavores: outsourcing the backyard garden

A relevant article from today's New York Times:

"Eating locally raised food is a growing trend. But who has time to get to the farmer’s market, let alone plant a garden?

That is where Trevor Paque comes in. For a fee, Mr. Paque, who lives in San Francisco, will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back porch when he leaves.

Call them the lazy locavores — city dwellers who insist on eating food grown close to home but have no inclination to get their hands dirty. Mr. Paque is typical of a new breed of business owner serving their needs."

-NYTimes.com (link to full article)

For me, the joy of backyard gardening is experiencing the plants as they grow and change each day. I like learning about the soil, light and water conditions that make growing food possible. As I've found out, growing food is challenging and from that challenge comes a deep appreciation of the miraculous process of photosynthesis. When we take food for granted, sitting on the shelves of the supermarket, we don't see all of work that goes into producing food.

I would encourage any "lazy locavore" who is considering outsourcing their backyard garden to think again. While it may take time to tend to a garden and it will definitely result in some dirty clothes, I argue that this is exactly the type of connection to the earth that we so desperately need to rediscover. Not only for the sake of our own appreciation but also for the sake of the planet.

guest blogger: pesto!

Guest Blogger: Future wife of "Bean Grower"

Summer is here and that means that basil is growing like crazy. Between the basil we get from the CSA and the basil growing in our garden, we are inundated with basil! The more we harvest, the more it grows. What do we do with all that basil? We make pesto, of course!

Pesto is a sauce that originated in
Genoa in Northern Italy. It is a combination of basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a hard cheese such as parmesan. The name comes from the Latin root pestle--to pound or to crush. Historically, pesto was made using a mortar and pestle. First the basil leaves were washed and dried and then put in the mortar along with garlic and salt and crushed to a pulp. Then pine nuts were crushed and added to the mix. Afterwards, cheese and oil were stirred in with a spoon.

Now, I can make pesto with fresh basil by blending the ingredients in a food processor. After adding the fresh pesto to pasta, I often have extra. My trick is to fill ice cube trays with the leftover pesto. Once it freezes, I take it out of the ice cube trays and leave the cubes in the freezer in zip lock bags. When we are ready for more pesto, I defrost a few cubes.

blackberry breakfast ritual

This past week I've started a new morning ritual. As soon as I wake up, I head out to the backyard and collect the darkest, juiciest blackberries from the blackberry bush. I add them to my morning bowl of cereal and they are simply delicious. So far, I've picked on pace with how fast they ripen, so every morning there are new ripe berries waiting for me. I have a feeling this might last through August...