Where does the time go?

There has been so much movement in the backyard - moving from a green, grassy and cool space to a dusty, dry and down-right dirty place (one that not many would care to call their sanctuary). A portion has been transformed - an inviting garden space is in full bloom with 2 smallish harvests already taken place... A space has been reserved for native grasses and plants and another spot has been designated a stone patio - the native plant and grass area will be the last in as we will be playing in the rocks all weekend long!

Pictures and more details to follow.

Hot Summer Months Translates to a Load of Fresh Veggies!

Week 9 Produce Pick-Up from Peaceful Belly

Turnips - Summer Squash - Chard - Boc Choi - Basil - Cilantro - Lettuce

Today I picked up week 10's bounty and still have produce to fix from week 9 and we share our share with a close friend - 6 people eating from the farm and we still find it difficult to use what we have before the next week's pick-up!

I forgot to take the camera to the farm tonight when picking up our fresh food from the farm and unfortunately do not have a picture from the menu board... but this is what we got:

Week 10 Produce Pick-Up from Peaceful Belly
1 Head of Lettuce - 2 Bunches of Basil - 3 Squash, which included 2 yellow summer squash and 1 zucchini - 2 Walla Walla Sweet Onions - 1 Bag of New Potatoes (small red potatoes) - 1 Bunch of Orange and Red Beets

Indoor Container Garden

We enjoyed our first "vine-ripe" tomato from our container garden this week! Mmm mm m - nothing tastes quite like a fresh tomato!

Locally Grown Food

Week 8 Produce Pick-Up from the Peaceful Belly Farm...
Beets - Carrots - Fava Beans - Squash - Kale - Boc Choy - Red Leaf Lettuce

Seasonal Local Produce from the Farm

No Pick-Up for the Official Week 7

4th of July Week

Backyard Prep - Hot Tub Deck Placement

The boys got the deck moved and leveled...

And made sure that the space for the hot tub was level too...

The tub was a pretty big project - was? Is... with more to follow - pluming and draining etc.

Backyard Prep

A lot has happened in our backyard since the last backyard prep entry "Saying Goodbye to our Grass ...one section at a time."

Heavy equipment was brought in to break through the sod mesh and hard-packed earth. And at long last, each section of our yard is devoid of grass (makes it a little tough for the puppy to poo) - but it has opened up garden space that we can use to grow some of our own food this summer and fall with enough (fingers crossed) to put away for use in the cooler winter months.

Oddly enough, I haven't taken many bare ground pictures and haven't taken any of the 15'X21' space earmarked for crops this year (tilled and rowed). However, in this picture you get a pretty good idea of the amount of sweat and tears that has been put into this project so far...and much of the far right side of the yard is designated garden space for now...

Seasonal Local Produce from the Farm

Harvested Weekly for Members to Pick Up

Week 6 Peaceful Belly CSA Produce
Carrot - Beets - Green Onion - Napa Cabbage - Bag of Shelling Peas - Lettuce - Cherries

Seasonal Local Produce from the Farm

Harvested Weekly for Members to Pick Up

Week 5 Peaceful Belly CSA Produce
Carrot - Green Onion - Napa Cabbage - Spinach - Lettuce Mix - Peas

You haven't had a pea or a carrot until you've eaten them fresh from the farm... And yet, we chose to prepare a Slow-Roasted Salmon with Melted Cabbage recipe by Chef Michael Schlow, known for his work on PBS's Victory Garden with our Napa Cabbage and carrots with this week’s bounty.

Slowly roasted med-rare salmon, carrot reduction sauce, bacon, fresh carrots and fresh napa cabbage combine to make your mouth water.

The complete recipe can be found at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/eat/recipes/salmon_cabbage.html#carrots.