The cherry trees are blooming and I saw a daffodil this morning so it must be time to order seeds and get going on the vegetables for 2009.
(Also, WOO! I saw cherry trees blooming and I LOVE cherry blossoms and I squeeeeee like a little fruity girl when I see them which Bubba totally loves! Maybe.)
And, no, I haven't had any fava beans from the winter garden yet BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT. What's important is that we get the empty garden section all adopted out so that I can begin adequately stressing out about starting seedlings, amending soil, turning compost, fixing irrigation, praying for rain and just generally losing my mind with regard to produce.
You remember this process. My crazy is not new.
Last year the Adopted Crop was pickling cucumbers (good job) and the goal was go to from seed to jar of pickles and then send the jar of pickles on a visit to one lucky Adopt a Cropper. And since that worked out so well (Minus certain attempts at pickling that came out like sour mustardy poo. Wow. That was gross.), I thought I'd adopt out this year's crop with the visitability (new word alert!) of the end product in mind.
SO - each of this year's choices have shippable end products which I will include in the choosing/adopting description so that you can do your adopting based on how much you'd really want to visit with its final state.
I mean, who knows, Winner 2008 might have really wanted pico de gallo instead of pickles but how would she have ever known?? Ok, it was obvious last year, but still.
And if you need a refresher or didn't play along last year, here's how you play Adopt a Crop:
Choose from the list of vegs below and then I do all the work to make your choice turn into food.
All you have to do while I'm sweating it out in the garden trying to make this whole seed to food thing happen is sit back and laugh at my tight hamstrings and sombrero (do not mess with the sun, people, he is not fucking around).
And in the end, the only thing you're really adopting is, potentially, the veg as its final product, which I will describe shortly.
Shortly's here!
Bicolor Cherry Tomatoes could become a canned Bicolor Tomato Sauce.
Black "Carbon" Tomatoes (standard size) could become Scary Salsa.
Lemon Cucumbers could become Pickle Chips.
Tricolor Basil could become Tricolor Pesto.So, choose away! You have until 3/1 to place your votes, which, coincidentally, is our last frost date here in merry San Jose. Love it here!
Then you can all begin the ritualistic finger-crossing that is my favorite gardening tactic. (Companion gardening and neem oil, pfffffft!)
Ooh, and I can't wait to introduce you to some of the other new garden faces around here. Clues: They produce food (duh), they don't live in the raised beds, they aren't vegetables.
Voting and guessing in the same post? Perhaps Spring Fever has arrived early.
I voted basil only because when I was pregnant I had an aweful craving for caprese salad. So I bought a little basil plant only it had worms so for the 14hours I was in hard labor at home I kept starring at the little wormy plant and just wishing someone would throw it away. After being trasferred to the hospital, an emergency c, and then 5 days at the hospital throwing away that damn plant was the first thing I did mwhen I got home.
ReplyDeleteI went with the lemon cucumbers, not because I need a pickle visit (snicker), but because I'm curious how you like them. They're so weird and not cucumber-y, they frighten me a little.
ReplyDeleteP.S. You planted fruit trees, didn't you? I can only hope citrus of some kind . . .
Okay, I'm thinking you planted berry bushes of some kind. Raspberry perhaps? I love me some Raspberries!
ReplyDeleteBeets.
ReplyDeleteWhere, oh where, Adopt-A-Crop Goddess have gone the beets???
I voted pesto because, come on, pesto! And I think you're growing buffalo. They'll crop the weeds and turn themselves into food.
ReplyDeleteSunflowers????
ReplyDeleteToday was so beautiful! I was in flip flops and short sleeves. Love it!!!
I voted for basil because pesto is yummy and delicious. And you people who live in CA suck because it's currently 20 freaking degrees in central OH and our frost date is May 9th.
ReplyDeleteChickens! Your doing chickens...wait, you aren't *doing* chickens, that would be wrong on a lot of counts, but maybe you are raising chickens. They aren't vegetables, but they do produce food, in the form of, oh why am I telling you? You know what a chicken does.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to tell you something else but now I have forgotten all about it, oh wait, now I remember.
I have an honest to goodness real live Daffodil in my front yard. It bloomed. It has sisters, but they are sleeping in right now, and will probably wake up sometime soon. The point is I actually grew something that was not a native plant. (read: weed) Don't tell any one, but I think my thumbs are turning green, or it could just be one of those things that happened on accident.
Word verification word: siatic...does not sound good.
Okay, Okay, I'll stop!
I voted for the lemon cucumbers for something new and fun. Our last frost date is May 1, but in our part of northern VA we wait until mid May because it's still too cool for the tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. Oh well, I'm starting seeds and getting ready anyway.
ReplyDeleteI voted basil because I just had my first taste of pesto yesterday, yum. I know its sad that it took 36 years but in the midwest pesto is still considered a little weird.
ReplyDeleteI also ordered seeds for my first ever vegetable garden, wish me luck!
What a cool project! I'd be happy with anything; I'm easy like that. Mostly though, it will be fun to watch the progress of your garden and subsequent endeavors.
ReplyDeleteLemon cucumbers! I love all things cucumbers or pickles, but I am crap at growing them.
ReplyDeleteHating you! We are getting 1-3 inches of snow today and it was 12 degrees when I drove to work. 12! Not to mention the windchill which is supposed to be below 0 this weekend. I would kill for a balmy 45, let alone blossoms!
ReplyDeleteIf I were going to adopt something, I would select "ALL". I'm no help.
ReplyDeleteConsider planting the heirloom tomato variety "Mortgage Lifter" for GREAT slicing/eating tomatoes. The story has it that this variety of tomato saved a poor guy's house during the depression. It is just that good!
Oh, I vote for the basil, because I've never successfully grown it. Once again, I'll live vicariously through you, Finny.
ReplyDeleteOh it's all about the tomatoes. I eat them like candy!
ReplyDeleteBy the way... you'll appreciate this:
http://www.teeful.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ABC-6
i vote for basil AND tomatoes. can i do that?? because the whole cucumber/pickling thing frightens me. that and what is better than basil and tomatoes?? nothing, i tell you...either way, i'm excited about the whole adopt-a-crop thing.
ReplyDeleteI voted for the black tomatoes....yum!
ReplyDeleteHm. Cranberries? Nah - too hard. Kiwis! They're vining, and are a fruit (not a veg), and I THINK are sort of permanent, so you wouldn't put them in a raised bed that has it's stuff rotated.