She's here!

Obviously I haven't posted anything in about a week. Lily was born last Wednesday, and my posts may be few and further between until we get into our routine. I'm an overwhelmed Mommy at the moment!

I just couldn't help myself

So I broke down today and purchased 2 cucumber plants from the local greenhouse. They are now living happily amongst the peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. I had moved my herb garden out of the greenhouse to its more permanent outdoor location, and there was this empty space on the shelf that was just begging to be filled, as well as 2 pieces of soaker hose that was just watering the floor. I have actually never tried growing cucumbers before, so we'll see how this goes. Really, everything in the greenhouse is an experiment this year.

Today's Garden Happenings

My one Lily is happily blooming away, while the rest sit and think about it.





Spinach and Kale are officially in the raised beds now, and they seem quite happy with their new living arrangements.

This years compost pile.

Last years compost pile.

The main event in the garden today is the compost. I finally got around to turning and watering last years compost pile, and I was pleasantly surprised! There is still a lot of dried garden waste (mostly last years tomato plants), but there was lots of earthy smelling dirt as well! This is the first time I have turned this pile, so I expected to find a lot of organic matter that hadn't really started decomposing yet. This is my first attempt at composting, and I have a 3 year plan in mind.

Year 1) Start a fresh pile each year, in the fence to keep the critters away, no turning, just piling.
Year 2) Turn and water (occasionally)
Year 3) Turn and water (occasionally) and turn into the raised beds in the fall

I figure this plan will give me compost with a minimal amount of work or attention, and give the organic matter time to fully decompose even though it freezes every winter. This means that starting next fall, I will begin to incorporate my compost into my garden. I want to garden exclusively organically, and I figure this is the best way to go about it. I am contemplating adding aged steer manure in year two, but I haven't decided on that yet. Eventually I will also be getting my chickens going, and I will add their manure in year one or two as well. Give me a few years, and my garden should show a marked improvement... I have nothing but time!

Sustainable dinner...

On the menu for tonight:

Salmon and Broccoli Alfredo
Cranberry/Rhubarb Crisp


Made an awesome dinner tonight that even the kid loved! The alfredo is simple... Bake a Salmon Fillet (Fresh caught King Salmon, which you probably guessed if you read my blog regularly,) with olive oil and fresh herbs, make your favorite basic alfredo sauce and add the baked salmon and some broccoli florets (which would have come out of my garden if it weren't only June). Mix it all together, add a little sea salt, and serve over your favorite noodles.

Now for the best part...
(I used fresh cut Rhubarb from my garden and cranberries I had stored in the freezer from last year)

Cranberry/Rhubarb Crisp

1 cup chopped rhubarb
1 cup cranberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt (if desired)
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour

Place the cut up rhubarb and cranberries in a shallow 6" x 10" baking dish.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and salt.
Melt the butter over low heat and add the sugar and flour until the mixture is the consistency of cornmeal, spread over the rhubarb/cranberry mixture.
Bake uncovered in a 350F oven until tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
If the rhubarb and cranberries are frozen, increase baking time by approximately 20 minutes.
Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired!

Good news in the garden!

The Pole Beans and the Carrots have finally broken ground! This means that my entire garden is officially growing now! I also just transplanted the Shrimp Flowers into a bigger pot, where they should be able to grow all summer. Hopefully I will get lots of seeds this year so I have more to plant next year! I'll post some pictures when the seedlings get a little bigger.

Garden Happenings...

Here's some photos of the progression of the garden so far...

Mixed Radishes

Wild Raspberries

Sitka Roses (behind them is where my Rock Garden will eventually live)

Lots of Cabbages!!!

Snap Peas

Broccoli

Zucchini

Rhubarb

Spinach

Kale

This is not everything in the garden, obviously, but gives a pretty good representation of how things are doing.... And remember, its only June 4th, and this is Alaska... I have no complaints so far!

Just a good day

A worn out kid and a lazy cat... life is good!

Fishing Success!!!

Rob fixed the boat yesterday and we decided to take a nice little trip to Deshka, just for the fun of it. Neither of us expected to catch anything, especially because only about 58 Kings have made it to the weir so far. Boy were we in for a surprise! There have been some years where we fished the Deshka religiously for King Salmon, and came home empty handed every trip... but not this year! Rob caught him after only about 10 casts, using a #6 Blue Vibrax. He put up quite a nice fight, and definately started our fishing season off right! Were having Salmon for dinner tonight!!! We usually fish mostly for silvers, as it is a bit easier to fill our freezer with them, but a few Kings are always appreciated!