Springtime, Invasive Weeds & Lovely Dirt

I am working very hard right now to remember that winter isn't forever. I know that winter in Seattle is incredibly easy going and relatively quick to get through. I know that back home they're dealing with highs of 28 degrees and feet of snow still on the ground. I know. I do. It's just that I'd be happy with four weeks of winter a year, with the rest of the seasons happily taking up the other 11 months. That's all.

I bought my house back in December, and up until the past few weeks had done a remarkably great job of ignoring the state of my back yard. I knew that I had huge garden beds and four fruit trees. I also knew that I had ivy, blackberry, mud pits, and an overflow of trash from my neighbors property. I had automatically assumed the worst and was nearly ready to admit defeat on having a garden this year. Yes, before I had even put my hands in the dirt. It seemed like such an overwhelming amount of work, and I had assumed it would take me countless hours and yards of new soil just to get my beds into usable shape.

I was so wrong. Well, at least half wrong. I have spent close to 9 hours just pulling ivy, blackberry, and tiny fruit trees out of my garden beds. I am less than halfway done. I have pulled out roots longer than my body. I have fallen on my ass, gotten dirt clumps in my eyes, tweaked my back, strained my hands, been stabbed by blackberry thorns more times than I can count, and am now fairly certain that my entire neighborhood is built on a giant foundation of ivy roots. 

But! But! My soil! My soil is magnificent! My soil is rich and healthy. It smells beautiful and earthy and dark. It had gone years without being cared for, but because of that it had been filled with rotting fruit and leaves and is full of worms and bugs and magic.

I went from thinking that I'd be growing a few herbs in pots this year, to now plotting the largest garden  I've ever had. I haven't planted anything yet, but am dreaming of root veggies and peas and tomatoes. I may even attempt watermelons and rhubarb now that I have the space. 

What's going in your garden this year? Any favorites or suggestions for someone who has never grown more than a handful of tomatoes and peppers?

Tiny & New

Oh, hey. That's my new kitchen! It's about the size of my old bathroom, has incredibly strange lighting, and about ten square inches of counter space. But so far only wonderful things have come out of it. I made broccoli and feta pesto over gluten free pasta for dinner tonight. I have a peach and creme fraiche pie in the oven right now. My refrigerator is full of pickling cucumbers, friends are coming over for a tiny vegan feast on Friday, and I've somehow found room to store my stand mixer, ice cream maker, and canning pots. There is absolutely nothing for me to complain about.

These past three months have been the most transitional, chaotic, and challenging months that I've had in years. I'm finally settled into my new tiny home, loving what life is handing me, and working my butt off to keep myself moving forward. A lot of the things that keep me going on a day to day basis fell aside, and I can't even begin to describe how great it feels to be getting my hands dirty and making awesome messes again.

Link Love!

- Seattle Eats Local Neighborhood Poster from Drywell.

- I've been putting pea vines in my morning smoothies lately and can't seem to get enough of them. This Simple Mint Pea Dip from My New Roots can be made using frozen peas as well, if you are having the kind of spring that we are in Seattle. I have the feeling that fresh peas are going to be a little while still.

- When I found this set of Charley Harper + Todd Oldham plates for Fish's Eddy I announced to Brittany that we were going to have to get married immediately, just so we can put them on our registry.

- I have been doing a fairly awesome job the past few weeks of avoiding gluten. I figured out a while ago that I have an intolerance, but hadn't really dealt with it. It's been getting worse lately, so I've been experimenting with gluten free bread and pasta and have found a few that I really like. The above cupcake is from the recently opened Bouteloua Bakery in my neighborhood. It's actually a vegan bakery, but they have at least one gluten free item per day as well, and I'm totally crazy in love with their cupcakes.

 

- I think it might actually finally be summer in Seattle. I have a sunburn to prove it. This means it's time to start eating frozen things. Fudge Popsicles from Smitten Kitchen are very, very high on my list.

Life, Lately

Things are mostly wonderful, although I've barely had time to breath lately. Camping and morel hunting this weekend, a tutu sewing fest next week, Ski to Sea with co-workers the weekend after that, and it goes on and on.

Rabbit Eggs

 Brown eggs dye perfectly.

We drank mimosas, ate my favorite quiche, and took a glorious nap.

A Good Calendar

I love, love, love a good calendar.  One of my most favorite things about the New Year is new calendars!  Here are some of my favorites from Etsy:

Adventures 2011 Calendar by Sally Harless (Sadly Harmless)

2011 Letterpress Calendar BOATS by 1canoe2

Eat More Veg 2011 Calendar by Laurie Coyle Designs

2011 Mini Magnetic Calendar by Graphic Grain

2011 Calendar Mint on Ivory by Valarie Jar

2011 Illustrated Calendar by sloeginfizz

Do you hang up a new calendar each year?

Wrapping Up 2010

Happy New Year lovelies!  I thought today might be the ideal time to look back over my not quite resolutions from last year, before I set any new ones for this year!

 

The best breakfast of 2010!

1. Learn how to make cheese. 

- I actually kind of bombed this one.  While I did make a simple homemade goat cheese, it was the only cheese making adventure that I had in 2010.  For some reason I have a feeling that 2011 may involve something more.

2. Go back to school. 

- I did!  I started taking online accounting classes at Bellevue College, and am now very slowly working my way through a bookkeeping certificate.  To be honest- I'm not in love with it, but it has been good for my job.  I'd like to take some more interesting classes this year, even if they aren't part of my program.

3. Get outside.  By outside I mean out of the city- and into the woods and dirt and ocean and mud. 

- This definitely happened!  See: here, here, here (!!!), here, here, here, here, and here! 

4. Expand my horizons in the kitchen.  

-  I can't say that I had a wild and crazy year in the kitchen- but it was a pretty darn good one.  I never did manage to get together a post about the catered lunch that I did in July.  It was fairly casual and wasn't huge- but was definitely a new experience for me.  Some of my favorite recipes of the year: Goat Cheese, Kale, and Beef Bacon Quiche (this is still a favorite- I made it on Christmas morning!), Wild Fennel & Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Blackberry and Lavender Muffins, Brown Sugar Lemonade with Sea Salt and Mint, Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lavender and Asiago, and Kale with White Beans and Bleu Cheese.  I really would have liked to have shared more recipes- so that may be something I work on this year.

5. Grow more food.

- Honestly. This was kind of a disaster.  I didn't really realize that our apartment patio gets about two total hours of sun, even in the middle of the summer.  All of my beautiful starts croaked within a month.  My container potatoes fared a bit better- but not really.  Unfortunately this is just one of those things that I'm going to have to give up on until we move into a different place.

6. Get a social life.

- I don't know.  I think I cheated at this one, considering that my two closest friends moved back to Seattle this year.  Double score!

7. Take a real vacation.  Really.  A real one.

- I would considering this a success.  Most of my vacations were over the course of two or three days- but it works for me!  I bought a car over the summer, and it made for a lot of really great weekend trips. 

How do you feel about the year wrapping up?  Are you happy with how your year ended?

Lunar Eclipse, Mendenhall Glacier, and Blue Mussle Cabin

Juneau, Alaska is truly a unique place.  Growing up it seemed normal that a glacier was within walking distance.  My family never paid for seafood or game meat- but we ate it often.  There were never any road trips or amusement parks- but there were always endless hikes and more woods and beach than you could dream up.

It took me a few years to really get the hang of going back home after I moved to Seattle.  I left Juneau with a broken heart and a deeply rooted frustration.  At first it was something that I didn't want to let go of- and then I just wasn't quite sure how.  I had to allow "home" to be what I needed, and stop myself from dwelling on how things used to be.  I love it there now, and I'm nothing short of happy when I visit.  While this past trip home was mainly all about family- I managed to sneak in a a couple of really fantastic adventures as well.

The lunar eclipse happened on my second night home.  I trekked down to aptly named Sandy Beach with my mom, her partner John, and two of my favorite aunts (they all are!) with two thermoses of hot cocoa and a water bottle filled with Baileys.  We got more than a little silly, and when the moon was fully covered the entire little island of Douglas erupted in cheers and howls!  I realize that you can't see diddly-squat in these pictures- but I just love how spooky they turned out.

The next afternoon my friend Amy and acquaintance Tyler dragged my over-dressed butt out onto the frozen Mendenhall Lake and right smack up against the face of the Mendenhall Glacier.  I will just state right now that frozen lakes, and insanely huge moving masses of ice made me a little bit jumpy.  No one fell in or froze to death, so I'd say it was a pretty solid success.

The night before Christmas Eve my brothers girlfriend Liz had gone out at the Blue Mussle cabin with some friends.  My friend Morgan had decided not to hike out with them then- but instead invited Amy and I to go along with her the next morning to surprise them.  It's a 3.5 mile hike each way, and the second part spit us right out onto the beach, with some incredible wind and very, very low temperatures.  They were surprised!  We all hiked back together and had near perfect timing, as it had just started to snow again before we reached the trail head.

What is home like for you?