Garden Kids

Wow!

Scroll to the bottom of this .Mac photo album to see how far the garden has come!

Isabel

The edges of Hurricane Isabel passed over Brooklyn last night. We slept through most of the drama. This morning, while I still slept, David documented the damage, most of it minor. The delicate petals of the impatiens held together remarkably, while our sturdy basil stalks went horizontal.

David found a few green tomatoes on the ground and made a delicious batch of fried green tomatoes.

Sunflower

"Girasol" is the Spanish word for sunflower, a fusion of "girar" (to turn around, to spin) and "sol" (sun). Occasionally, I slip and refer to sunflowers as "mirasoles." Watches the sun.

The absence of natural light in most libraries is the reason I prefer to work at home. In this respect, and others, I'm like my grandmother, who would move her books from room to room, until the sun had run its course through her house. By the time I went to college and began to devote myself to literature, as she had, Abuelita had retreated into her memories and was seldom aware of what went on around her. Still, you would often find her reading in the sun. This is how I last saw her.

She died last year, in May. Today, walking past this sunflower, my thoughts turned to her.

the summer is setting

Apologies for the down time - we've been travelling (separately and together) and working hard. First, a huge thank you to Sarah and David for taking care of the garden the weeks were away. So much of the joy of gardening is the social aspect -- exchanging ideas, seedlings or just sharing a coffee and picking basil leaves. Even when we were away from the garden, I got a restful feeling just knowing that Sarah & David were caring for it and I loved hearing what parts of the garden they responded to.

One intrinsic problem with garden blogging, as soon as I get to thinking about the garden I go outside and enjoy it right away rather than writing about it. It's going well, and there will be new pictures over at Hello, Garden momentarily.

I'd also like to report a bicyclist in Prospect Park this afternoon wearing one of You Grow Girl's Garden Hoe t-shirts. Represent!

Hungarian Flora

*Hungarian Natural History Museum, Department of Botany

The Department of Botany holds altogether 1,800,000 specimens in the paleobotanical, cryptogam, flowering plant and fungi collections. From 390 million years old Devonian fossils to recent plants, floras from almost all geological periods are represented. Objects from tiny pollen grains to giant plants collected from the arctic to the tropics show the diversity of the plant kingdom. The historical collection keeps herbaria of several great personalities of the past, like Pál Kitaibel, Lajos Kossuth, Lajos Haynald, Árpád Degen and Sándor Jávorka. Among the most precious treasures of the Herbarium are water-colours of high artistic and scientific value painted by Vera Csapody.

Gwen and David, you do not have far to go to find four thousand species of Carpathian flowering plants. Bükk National Park, however, may be a little farther. Next time!

Love, Adriana

Ha-gan ha-botani

I set out early this morning for a long walk to the Jersualem Botanical Gardens. My Jerusalem map, which is at least five years old but which I keep for sentimental reasons (it was my first Jerusalem map!), indicated a walk of about 40 minutes. In fact, closer inspection of my out-dated map revealed a pleasant short-cut through Gan Sacher, one of the few places you can ride a bike or jog in Jerusalem. 30 minutes max.

Two hours later, I arrived at the Garden.

Somewhere in Gan Sacher I took a turn onto a road with no name, represented on my map by a squiggly line that SHOULD HAVE crossed with a major street were it not for the fact that my map is…old.

Goodbye, dear friend. You took me many places. I'll never forget you. But I'm afraid that if you stick around any longer, I'll die of heatstroke on an unnamed road.

Continue reading "Ha-gan ha-botani"

Flora Hierosolymitana

I can't identify most of Jerusalem's flora but they cover the city like wildflowers. Rosemary grows everywhere, as do capers. The pink spiky flower is a kind of portulaca, and the yellow round fruit on a tree is young pomegranate, which also grows abundantly in Jerusalem. The cactii featured in the orange image (taken from a painted lion sculpture) is the infamous sabra, "prickly on the outside, soft on the inside," just like Israelis (This is not my original idea. Young native-born Israelis are referred to as "sabras.").

rain rain stay right here

I am measuring the growth of our basil plants in inches, daily. Others may not be happy about the rain, but I bet those others didn't enjoy two juicy tomatoes off of the vine today. (Not that I'm into reifying otherness through garden access and weather preference.)

Wet Morning

Right before I turned it last night (3:00am) I sensed a certain restlessness in the air. I checked the back, but it was just the wind. Since I've been sleeping with the back door open & the air conditioner off, I've grown used to the 16th St. sounds of night - stray cats, the occasional car alarm, etc. But I what I woke up to was the most amazing downpour of my adult life. In my groggy state, I thought I was a young child back in West Virginia on vacation with my parents — my reaction to the downpour was so profound I only had a child's memory of primal awe as reference.

The whole garden was flooded. I peeked outside and saw our best tomato plant leaning forward about to fall over. I hopped out and was instantly soaked. I put one of the potted crown of thorns under cover and attempted to right the tomato plant, but the soil was so wet it was falling one way and then the next. I got it standing more or less straight up, surveyed the rest of the yard and darted back inside, but not before I snatched up an unripe tomato that had fallen on the ground. I chopped it up quickly, threw it in some hot, hot oil and - I swear it was my first time - that fried green tomato was amazing.

The King's Mantle

Consider the "squirrel problem" a thing of the past. Two weeks after I started, may I present to you the crown of thorns post. I've had a little too much caffeine today.

Before and After

Though Adriana is in Jerusalem, her spirit remains here in our garden. I've been silently chronicling my solo adventurers over at "Hello, Garden."

The third tomato plant from the left appears to have been afflicted with the same disease that the previous tomato plants were, so I've just pulled it up. I think it was an overly crowded corner anyway, and we'll have plenty of tomatoes regardless.

I harvested a handful of herbs, a tomato and a pepper last night, which helped turn our last can of black beans into a tremendous soup.

I've eaten two hot peppers, and they're wicked hot. I had trouble speaking for the first few hours of the day as I had foolishly chomped the first on my way out the door this morning.

My dream, the "wall of basil," is close to a reality. I also have some young'uns left to plant, should I somehow imagine some new space in our little plot.

There is a light rain falling, and with the back door open the apartment smells wonderful. We've come a long, long way!

Garden Update

Radish Salad

I promised John of 13 Labs this recipe for radish salad. He and Jennifer recently harvested about 30 bulbs! What to do with so much radish? Here's one idea:

Radish Salad

You will need:

*one stalk spring onion
*red wine vinegar
*olive oil
*radishes (many)
*salt
*salad bowl for mixing

Then, you will:

Chop finely the white part of the spring onion and a litte bit of the green (not too much though or your salad will taste like scallions). Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Now add some vinegar. Mix (I use my finger. It works better. Trust me. Just wash your hands first.). If it tastes like oil, add some vinegar--if like vinegar, add oil. You should have a good three to four tablespoons of dressing. Now add some salt (to taste).

Slice the radishes into thin slices. You want about a cup (and a half) of radishes. Just make sure that in the end the radishes are evenly coated in dressing. Mix thoroughly (with a spoon, this time) and leave in the fridge for an hour. Serve and enjoy.

UPDATE: John and Jennifer planted white radishes, which do not suit this recipe. Pickled white radish is supposed to be tasty, however. I'm sure their harvest will dwindle in no time.

Hello, Garden

This beautiful picture, among others, can be found at David's provisional (this could change) site Hello, Typepad. There you will find many updated pictures of our garden's colorful denizens, including the most recent addition, crown of thorns (beware cats!). Enjoy your visit.

Back inside from the garden, and blogging :)

We're pleased to bestow our second "urban garden of the day" award to 13 labs garden, from a backyard in the second city, Chicago, Illinois.

John & Jennifer's garden blog has high quality posts in great quantity. Reading through the archives of 13 labs is a practical how-to guide for urban gardeners. The constant growth, blooming and pruning going on in their garden is amazing. They inspired Adriana and me to plant sweet peas, they've battled rabbits (which I guess is the midwest's equivalent to what we in New York call "squirrel"), rain, and landscaped their yard with 7.5 cu yards of fresh dirt (That's a ton!). John even has a freakin' science pole!

Special thanks to meg, who represented our first urban garden of the day award with distinction and excellence!