Late Winter Greens

Kale & China Choy ~ cold weather greens

We've had sooooo much rain, cold weather and mud around here this winter that I haven't had a chance yet to get out to my main veggie garden to weed and till the soil in preparation for Spring planting. The chore still needs to be done, but will be done later this year than usual.

I did, however, have the pleasure of harvesting some very late winter greenery from that same garden bed last week. Seen in the photo above are some crunchy kale (I forget the exact variety that I planted) and some juicy China Choy cabbage which is similar to bok choy, but not quite as sturdy. When fully mature like these are, both greens are great used in stir fries, soups, stews or simply steamed. When younger and more tender, they are very nice in fresh green salads.

I used some of the kale as an addition to a stir fry dinner a few days ago. Very tasty and also nutritious. I believe that kale in particular contains high amounts of lutein, which is supposed to be very good for eye and heart health.

I will plant more of each of these greens, among others, this Spring after I get a chance to work the soil and prepare the seed beds. Still way too muddy and wet out there today. Maybe next week...




© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

Communion?

Merlot & Animal Crackers


OK, so does dunking my animal crackers in my glass of Merlot count as taking Communion?

No?

Hmmm....didn't think so.

Interesting taste combination though.



© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

And Valentine's Chocolates, Too!

Heart Shaped Box ~ Dark Chocolates


And....


Rectangular Shaped Box ~ Dark Chocolates


MMMmmmm........creamy rich comforting calories...

Happy Valentine's Day to me from my partners, Bob and Jack!

Such Sweeties, both of them.









© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

Tulips for My Heart

So I was down by the chicken coop when I heard the Fed Ex truck roll up my gravel driveway. The nice Fed Ex lady handed me this long cardboard box:



I had been warned to stay home to receive a Fed Ex delivery, but I was not completely sure what to expect.

Here is what I saw when I opened the box:



This is how they deliver flowers nowadays. No water. A nice vase. A packet of flower-fresh powder to mix into the water. A nice cellophane, raffia and gauze wrapping:



Colorful Spring tulips! Aren't they beautiful??

So I carefully mixed up the water and the contents of the flower-fresh packet, trimmed each stem a little bit to help the flower drink more easily, and then arranged them as best I could in their very nice vase:

My sweet kitty Jessie supervised the whole process, but I didn't get her picture this time. I think she thought I was preparing something good to eat since I was so busy in the kitchen. Given the chance, she would eat these beautiful flowers as a snack!

So these beautiful multi-colored tulips are a Valentine's Day gift from my partner Bob. Thank you Bob, my Sweetie, for bringing Spring into my home a whole month early!


Beautiful Spring Tulips

I Love Tulips!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

© Copyright 2010 Mountain Harvest Basket

Too Busy to Post Anything

Close Up of my Christmas Tree

As you may have noticed, I have been way too busy and preoccupied with other happenings in my life for the past several weeks to keep up with posting photos and stories in my blogs. I miss writing to you, and I miss the interaction with my readers.

Life has been moving so fast for me lately, that I have been struggling to keep up with it in "real time" and have not had the time or energy to process it, reflect on it or write about it.

So I just wanted to check in to let you all know that I am still alive and still here. I will do a "catch up" post soon and then hopefully get back to more frequent and "newsy" blogging.

As you can see from the photo above, I did manage to get and decorate my Christmas tree, so there has been some joy and some holiday spirit around here in between all of the chaos.

For now, I wish you all a very Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, Happy Hannakah, Kwanzaa and/or whatever winter holidays you celebrate!

I leave you with this photo of hot cocoa adorned with a homemade (I bought it at our Xmas Bazaar) marshmallow to keep you warm and cozy on these cold winter nights.

Love to you all,
Farmer Jen


Hot Cocoa with Red Sugared Homemade Marshmallow



© Copyright 2009 Mountain Harvest Basket

Some Days are Like This

© Copyright 2009 Mountain Harvest Basket

Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns

Scary Toothy Grin in the dark



Not So Scary in the Light


This is just a quick post to show off our pumpkin carving talents to make this year's Jack-o-Lanterns for Halloween.

First off, we went out and bought field pumpkins because we only grew sweet pie pumpkins this year in our gardens, which are way better for making pies than for carving into jack-o-lanterns. Since Bob really wanted to grow his own pumpkin and make it grow really, really big, I have saved some seeds from these field pumpkins and we will plant them next spring to see if Bob can nurture "the Great Pumpkin" in his garden for his 2010 Halloween jack-o-lantern.

So on to the pumpkin carving. We gathered in my kitchen the night before Halloween, carved designs into our pumpkins, drank hot spiced apple cider and ate Halloween candy. (we don't get many trick-or-treaters around here, so we didn't need to leave much candy for them!)

First up is Bob's fancy design showing off his knife skills (a very sharp knife!) especially around the eyes & eyebrow areas:



Next is Jack's toothless design that seems to have some anxiety and stress going on. Great expression on that one! Kind of disturbing too. Bob mentioned that this face reminded him of someone he knows.



Then there is mine. Sort of cat-like, but with more teeth than one would expect for a cat. The guys said mine was the scariest face. (my pumpkin, not my own face...at least I think that's what they meant!)

Here's the full family trio of scary jack-o-lanterns, lit up and slightly out of focus.

Great fun and great family time. I love pumpkins.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and got only treats and no tricks this year.

© Copyright 2009 Mountain Harvest Basket