Dreamy new bedroom

This is our outside bedroom. I don’t think I need to say much, just look at the pictures.

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Dec 2011 in New House

Just looking at photos of the house when we first moved in. We have come a long way in tearing things down and replacing major things like heating system and water heater. Now it is time to make it pretty

Kitchen Living Room wall

Dec 26th the cabinets come down with the help of Brian, Paul’s brother. One of those holiday bonding moments with family. What followed next was the tearing down of the wall in early Spring 2012 and we just did more tear down and framing the past few months. Here are the photos I have of that process

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Outdoor kitchen

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I saw an idea in a magazine, not sure which one but probably Urban Farmer.
We made it a reality.

The idea was having an outdoor sink near the garden and compost. Normally I would bring in vegetables to the kitchen, clean and cut them for preparation. This results in the compost bin filling up often the same night and dirt on the counter (especially root vegetables!)

Having the sink outside allows me to prep the food there. I toss the cuttings into the compost bin behind me and use the water to rinse and scrub the veggies right there. I was going to just use a hose to run over to the sink but Paul ran me a new irrigation line so I have running cold water from the sink itself. The sink I found for $10 at a thrift store.

Heaven for a gardener!

Garden in August

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The first picture shows a care package I gave to a neighboor who gave me honey from his bees when we first moved in. I gave him food as a thank you for having these great bees who help pollinate my food.

I am drying tomatillos and tomatoes. The tomatoes are mostly San Marzano which are meant for sauce so they have low water content and dry quickly yet provide concentrated tomato flavor. They also make delicious sauce which I have in the freezer. The tomatillos when dried and sprinkled with a bit of salt take on a tasty mild apple flavor. Yum!

I bought a lot of seeds for next years garden. I am a bit over zealous I think but super excited to see what I can grow and how it might taste. I bought a four small metal cases with small circular containers that are intended to hold beads. I find it a delightful seed sorter so I can store them in my fridge without having to pull them out all the time to look at what I have or their package for info.

We have eating tomatoes frequently available. I love walking out to the garden and letting what is ripe dictate my dinner that night. Some interesting shapes arise too.

The pond has what I thought was duck weed on it then later learned it is a certain kind of water fern. I like it better now knowing that for some reason. Like a soft carpet floating over the water providing a cozy blanket for all.

I try to eat zucchini flowers but with travel I had one that got away from me. I cam beach to one that is bigger than my forearm.

Peppers are very happy with all this heat. Habanero peppers which I made into a ground powder to use like seasoning. Fresno which are delicious stuffed with goat chase and roasted.

The garden is in full swing, producing food and still some flowers are around. The wisteria has dropped it’s flowers but the full foliage remains above the deck area providing shade.

Jasmine that I put in pots is now in full growth, creating a green wall that I had hoped for.

We are sleeping outside in a screened in room that we call the zen room. Beautiful space to sleep in and the summer nights are cool and quiet to drift off to sleep.

I love our life here.

Garden in July

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My first tomatoes, beautifully misshapen as garden varieties go yet superb flavor. Next year we will have better irrigation to run them a bit drier, my goal is dry farming, to create more intense flavor. A few hots days and direct sun caused some flower bud drop. Maybe I need to offer shade cloth on those days?

My surprise tomato patch is growing and filling the whole space behind the white trellis. I am so surprised that they grew here at all. These were all planting from seed.

Warmer weather bring loads of sunbathing for the dogs

More raspberries ripening!

Fresno and jalapeno peppers are steady along with squash blossoms

Baby lizards hatching all over garden and milling about

Paul put in new irrigation near my prep table. This will have its own blog all together, just know that having an outdoor sink near your compost is devine

Oak leaves continue to fall all year round. The leaves are lined with sharp spines, unlike any oak tree in the Midwest. This is a strange and mysterious place sometimes.

Garden in June

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Tomatillos! How I love these fruits! Not just raw or roasted in salsa, but raw sprinkled with salt makes a crunchy delicious snack and once dehydrated makes a chewy snack that has a hint of apple flavor. These continue to produce into Oct!

We have a cactus that produces beautiful pink explosions of flowers in the front yard. Truly stunning. A little ray of sunshine to court us as we looked out the kitchen window.

Berries! Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, what a treat! Delicious bursts of nature’s sugar! I have planted more strawberries and all the blueberries, and the raspberries came with the house

Tomatoes getting bigger but still green. Merge flowers popping up all over.

I swear this house came with simple instructions of “Just add water and wait to be surprised.”

Garden in May

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Birds of Paradise, raspberries in full growth, tomatoes starting to form the tiniest of fruit, eating squash flowers every 2-3 days (this actually continues all year well into Oct), and baby carrots ready to eat.

Garden in April

Asparagus, seeds to plants to outdoors, new garden getting started, new garden fence up. I have a garden!

Living room Overhaul

July 2012 brought changes to the inside of the house. We ripped down the dark paneled wall in the living room and Paul’s office. Also the partial wall that was between the living room and kitchen is further removed. We ripped out the closet between the office and bedroom and are reframing all of it. We now have no finished walls, floor or ceiling in the bedroom, office, living room, and part of the kitchen. Our goal is to have it finished by Dec 2012 but with my travel it may be difficult.

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