The Great Garden Expansion

One of my favorite things in the world is working in my garden.  I find it meditative, restorative, therapeutic, peaceful.....

When Annie was little I could barely keep my gardening head above water; the weeds got me every single year.  I was generally overwhelmed.

Now that my children are older, I've found that it's much easier to take care of my garden.  I have committed to mulching every year, and trying to keep ahead of the weeds--much easier now than it was even 5 years ago! We have flower beds all around the perimeter of our home and they include hostas, coral bells, peonies, ranunculus, azaleas, lilac, hydrangea, irises, Solomon's seal, artemesia, Jacob's ladder, ferns, Japanese silver grass, roses, tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, lilies, coneflowers, Shasta daisies, sedum, bleeding hearts, morning glories, lily of the valley, and more....and our newest flower bed, which runs alongside the patio we had built in 2017, contains rosemary, blue false indigo, Veronica speedwell, a dwarf butterfly bush, and my dear little lavender plants.

And it's good that I'm in this manageable place, because new things are coming here on the farm.

When my mother built this house in the early 1990s, she decided to fence in only a portion of the 1.25-acre lot that she owned.  She thought that mowing such a large piece of land would be too much for her (she used a push mower!).  So for over 25 years, we've had about half--maybe less--of our property fenced in as "yard," and the rest is just cow field! 

My husband decided that it was time for us to change the fence line. And that means my yard will grow from being maybe half an acre to being over an acre.  We had a surveyor come out last week and confirm the property corners, my cousin is going to put in the corner posts soon, and he'll get the fence changed as soon as he finishes haying.....

Our new yard (!) will include a portion of sloped, grassy land to the southwest with no trees, and then a steeper-sloped, rockier portion to the northeast with a couple of beautiful (blooming right now!) black locust trees. When I was young and my mother built the house, my room was the only room that faced these trees, and I romantically--I have some Anne Shirley in me--called it the "locust grove" and used to gaze at it out my window, imagining it as a romantic fairyland.

My cousin knocked down a couple of these mostly-dead fairyland black locusts last week with the tractor in preparation for the fence work, but we should be able to salvage two of the remaining trees; one is quite large and still very healthy; I need to check on the other one.



{the view from our front yard out to the locust grove. those peonies are so close to blooming in this photo--they just began yesterday!  the fence that is pictured will be gone soon....and I love the way the locust trees look when they are blooming!}

So I'm starting to look at these areas every day on my walks, trying to catch a vision for what to do with our newfound land. The ideas swirl! I know it will take me a while to create a vision and begin to implement plans; Finn and I signed up to take an online landscape design course to further our abilities in this department.

 It will be a long process; this year my sole goals are to have the new fence installed and to clean the brush and junk out of the fairyland, and get a feel for what I want to plant where, and when.  Next year, Lord willing, I hope to start planting in the fairyland.  The children and I walked out there yesterday and discussed it: our goal is to have a secret garden where we can sit and relax, and where no other house, structure, or human thing can be seen--just the long view across the fields, valley, and distant mountains.  That will involve planting a few hedges.  And of course, we want it to be pretty.  And peaceful.  And fragrant!

Will the new plan for the land involve cherry trees? A grape arbor? A greenhouse?  Will it involve a wildflower meadow?  An archery range? More lavender plants?  Shall I plant spirea, more hydrangea, quince? Should we expand our potager (this is what you call the vegetable garden when your son is a French scholar :))? Install a wisteria arbor?

Suddenly, an acre and a quarter seems way too small!

Comments are Working!

Friends, just a quick post to say:

I figured it out!  Please don't ever hire me to be a technical guru of anything at any time; apparently my comment problem was that I had moderation for comments turned on, but I didn't have an email address listed so I had no idea there were comments to be approved.  This seems like a very basic issue, which just goes to show how incapable and clueless I am on the computer.

I thought I fixed it a few days ago, and this morning I logged on to find dozens of older comments from sweet people! I am so sorry your comments have not been posted, and so glad that will be remedied now.  I must say, you're all so nice, and I'm having the most wonderful time reading each comment (accompanied by my coffee) and hitting "publish" after each one.  They are making me smile this Monday morning--truly, what a gold mine of kind words and happiness I found today! This really has made my week, and the week just began.

Special thanks to sweet Sarah for sending an email asking about comments, because that is what first clued me in to the fact that there might be a problem. If you need a technical guru, please see Sarah....

Ah! Back to reading and hitting "publish." This is so fun! Thank you for all the wonderful, sweet words!

Edited to Add: you all make me cry.  I had no idea there were so many kind, sweet comments that had been overlooked for so long. I am so very sorry! I am still going through them, and I am feeling so encouraged by you today.  This has been like Christmas morning!  You are all so very lovely.  Thank you!!!!

Edited again to add: now I'm getting to comments from 2018, when my husband had cancer.  I am crying over my coffee.  Oh, I had no idea so many people had so many sweet things to say.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you. 

Crying......

Little Joys (& Fixed Comments?)

When all of this started, I created a fairly long list of my own projects I'd like to accomplish while we have so much more margin at home.

But over the past couple of weeks, I decided to shift my focus from MY goals, and instead work on creating a joyful experience for my children.  Fortunately, our children are not prone to anxiety about this illness (my father says that's because my husband and I are so laid-back--although make no mistake, we are realistic about risks and careful, particularly because he is in remission from cancer, and he's an essential worker! No working from home here....).  So they are not worried or living in fear at all. 

Our state is advised to stay-at-home into the middle of the June.  

Two months!

As long as we all stay healthy, I can dream up many engaging things to do in the next couple of months.   

I'm not saying this to belittle the reality of the pandemic.  I have friends and family who have been impacted already, and I know almost no one who hasn't suffered some financial consequences--including us.  But I know what I have control over, and it's basically: keeping my home clean and sanitary, supporting my husband's health, and making life beautiful over here.  That's it!  I have no control over anything else--just my own home and my own attitude. 

So to that end, I'm trying to dream up fun things for us to do:

*sidewalk chalk art

*bringing plenty of flowers inside (my flower beds in April have never looked so good, because I've had so much time to do all the chores and make things lovely!)

*baking together--a lot!

*playing kickball, badminton, basketball, and tag with my children

*indulging Finn's love of medieval history with a documentary on medieval weaponry

*drawing or coloring together and maybe learning more watercoloring techniques

*Spencerian handwriting books, for Annie and me (maybe?)

*a landscape design class for Finn and for me!

*sewing--Annie in particular has been working on her sewing skills. She's 9, and can use my sewing machine herself now!  Yesterday she worked on a 'quilt' she's making while I worked on a dress I'm sewing for her.  Very satisfying!

*picnics

*Finn is taking an Imagineering course via Khan Academy and he says it is fantastic so far

*writing lots of letters to friends and relatives

*sleeping in as much as we'd like

*dinner al fresco on the patio once the weather is warmer

*reading through a stack of books

....and that's just the tip of the iceberg of my ideas.

Life can and should be fun, even in the midst of a hard time.  My children are still having a childhood, even now.  I felt the same way when my husband was going through all of the awful cancer surgeries and treatments in 2018.  Yes, it was a hard time, but yes, our children were still children and we tried to still create happy memories for them.  (And interestingly, our son says that time period was one of the best of his life so far; not because of my husband's illness, but because of the things that our children were able to do during that time.)

I am praying that my husband stays healthy and does not carry home any unwanted germs.

And we'll do our best to make life sweet.


*          *         *

I also want to say that I've had a lot of issues with comments--that is, people aren't able to leave them!--and after hunting around I think I've identified and fixed the issue.  We'll see!  Sorry about that. :) 

Let's Talk about Homemade Pizza

Now that we have more time at home, I'm enjoying a lot more baking.  I already bake--but now I really bake!

Also, pizza is a great food if you need to cook from your pantry.  Crust is easy to make.  Pizza sauce can be made in bulk (here's the recipe I've used in the past) or purchased in a jar, and live in the pantry or freezer for weeks or months.  Same thing with cured meat, like pepperoni.  I like my pizza with more vegetables than anything else--and last week I made one with the first shoots of asparagus from our garden.  Cheese will usually keep for a long time in the fridge (fresh mozzarella is an exception, and of course, it's delicious!). 

Pizza crust used to annoy me. I've tried many recipes over the years and none of them have really made me particularly happy.  But they were sufficient.  For weeks my children have pestered me to get "Miss Naomi's" recipe--she's our neighbor--because they ate pizza at her house once that was apparently wonderful.  I finally got it!

She told me the secret to the crust is pounding the dough.  For real: actually pounding it for ten solid minutes. This apparently activates the gluten, which is apparently what you want. (Who knew?)  I will say that the first time I made this, I was impressed at how well the dough behaved once I began to roll it out. I am able to toss it without ever having it tear or rip, which is more than I can say for any other pizza crust recipe I've tried. 

She uses bread flour, but I recently purchased a means of grinding my own wheat, so I am making this with freshly-milled wheat flour.  I am able to eat that without a spike in my blood sugar (I have a touch of hypoglycemia and generally avoid all bread except sprouted grain because of it).  Hooray!

Naomi's recipe also makes "one 16-inch crust."  However, we decided this makes a crust that it too thick for our tastes.  I love a very thin, crispy crust.  So I divide this and make two 16-inch crusts out of it, and that works better for me.  

{This is the thicker version.}

My children like their pizza with pepperoni and spinach!

I like my pizza with lots of vegetables--whatever I have on hand.  This one had spinach, asparagus, peppers, and sundried tomatoes. 

So here's the recipe for 1 thicker 16" crust or 2 thinner 16" crusts:

1 T. yeast

1 1/2 T. sugar

1 1/3 c. hot water

1 1/2 T oil 

Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes (while it's sitting, I grind my wheat).

Then add: 

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. italian seasoning 

1/4 tsp. basil

3 1/4- 3 1/2 cups bread flour (or freshly-milled wheat flour!)

Dough should be a tiny bit sticky.  Grease hands with a little soft butter, then pound with both fists for 10 minutes.  Place dough in a butter-greased bowl, cover, and let rise for an hour.

When preparing pizza pan, spray with baking spray, then spread with 2 T. oil.  Sprinkle a little corn meal if you wish.  Place dough on pan and spread to edges. [Polly's note: I roll it out with my rolling pin, then toss to get it evenly thin.]  Put on toppings [note: I like to use about 1/2 cup of sauce per pizza] and bake at 425 until crust is browned. [She says 12-15 minutes; in my oven, it's a scant 8.]

A few more notes:

I would like to get a pizza stone. I'm hoping that will crisp the crust up even more (we really like a crispy crust!)

Naomi also told me you can brush melted butter along the edge of the crust before baking to give it a nice extra flavor. 

 {Tip: cut with scissors!}

Making good food for my family is a comforting exercise these days!

Hope everyone is staying healthy and well. Happy pizza baking!