It’s been colder than all get out here. All of three nice days so far in 2008. Last Sunday we were all the way up to 78 and I was luvin it. Then cold and nasty. And we are expecting the next two nights to be about 24 degrees and the paper said today to just kiss the cherry crop goodbye. That’s a pisser. I LOVE cherries. Fire up the smudge pots. I guess a couple of the local nurseries are planning to do just that to save their plant material. My apricot already bloomed as did the cornelian cherry. Have to wrap the fig in the big pot. The other one (which has not been planted up in a big pot) was rolled into the garage.
So, to take my mind off the fact that I can only garden between snow storms and cold fronts, I declared Wednesday to be a road trip day. We grabbed Kerry and her dog BOB, and my dog Cash, put D behind the wheel and off we went to Jordan Valley to see the grave site of John Baptiste Charbonneau, son of Sacajawea (Shoshone/Lemhi or Agadaika tribe) and her French Canadian fur trapper husband, Toussaint Charbonneau. You will remember Sacajawea was the native American woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition across the US in 1805-1807 and who, on more than one critical occasion, saved the men’s butts. I have a Sacajawea license plate…….I think it is funny: a native American female showing the way. Duh. Anyway, she not only saved the boys but she carried a baby on her back all the way from the Mandan village in South Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and back.
Jean Baptiste was adored by Captain Clark, who named him Pompey. He has a big outcropping near Billings MT named after him: Pompey’s Pillar. I wrote a paper on Pompey about a dozen years ago and always meant to go see the grave. Finally did. It was cold and windy, but the tokens of admiration were moving and I am glad we went.
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On the way back to Boise, we stopped in Jordan Valley for Basque food only to find out they were out of all things Basque save the 15 bean soup. We ate it and ordered cheeseburgers.
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We made a zig into Symms Fruit Ranch on Sunny Slope to see the cherry trees in bloom. They aren’t quite all open yet, and as I mentioned earlier in the post, and they may well be doomed tonite. It was still absolutely gorgeous and there is something so hopeful, promising, and bountiful about a fruit orchard. Some of the trees are 80 years old. Before the days of automated/mechanized herbicide spraying, we used to be allowed to go into the orchards and pick wild asparagus.
Still not getting enough flower power, I did a stealth visit to the greenhouses of the Boise State Hort program which are right next to the Idaho Botanical Garden grounds. It was warm and bright. I loved it. I needed it. I was jonesin’ for it.
And since the title of this post is Road Trip, I just had to add the photo of Clyde. Today, we went to Mike’s Stone to admire our new sandstone steps. It will be awhile before we can get them installed. And D thought he could lift them. Hardy har. I would venture that each step weighs about 500 pounds. We are talking many men and some big equipment. But, I digress. On the way home from the stone store, I thought I saw a camel walking in a parking lot. Whoa Nelly. One too many glasses of wine and it’s all caught up with me. I yelled, I think there’s a camel ! OK, those of you who REALLY know me know exactly how that was said. And by golly, there was a dromedary camel in a used car parking lot. His name was Clyde. Sweet baby Jezus in the manger!
At our Spring Fling, someone asked me about stints on The River radio and the resulting podcasts. You can find them over here, at The River Interactive website. Just scroll through the list and click on it to listen. Yours truly.
I am happy to pass along this information, just in from the Boise landmark, Edwards Greenhouses (off Hill Road & 36th Street);Garnette Monnie (owner) is conducting gardening 101 classes on Saturdays 10 AM to 11 AM.
At Edwards, no charge.
June 3 - Sept 30th ( Each Tuesday night 5PM to Dusk) In the Gazebo & Legacy Garden
Edwards Greenhouse & Capital City Market team for the second year to host a neighborhood Farmer’s Market. (We are still looking for neighborhood gardeners to sell local produce). Live music, fresh produce, wine, food, plus assorted other vendors.
Hard to believe that a week ago today I was being chauffeured around Austin by the lovely Pam Pennick and our fellow spring flingers racing from one garden to the next, each one a paradise unto itself, more fabulous than I could imagine. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING quite floats my boat like a garden tour. I am still a-dither just revisiting each of these gardens today by looking at the pictures again. Love those digital cameras. LOVE THEM!
Today, for your viewing pleasure, dear reader, feast your eyes on the lovely Lucinda’s home and cha-cha garden. She had also prepared some mango/pineapple punch, with fresh limes and champagne………served with exquisite Mexican pastries. I am tellin’ ya, it doesn’t get much better than this……..until the next time……….or the next.
For an elegant, one of a kind, Texas garden, get yourself to this one (on the Garden Conservancy Tour): The David/Peese home and garden in Austin. The home is built of humble materials, all put together in the most elegant manner. I know, I used elegant a couple times to describe this place, but no other word works as well. The house is created with cinder/concret block or CMUs (concrete masonry units), painted wooden floors, corrugated tin, concrete slabs, steel I-Beams and the indigenous, abundant Texas limestone.
Pam, just so you know right up front, I poached this recipe from over at your site. I mean, really, why would I want to use anyone’s recipe but yours? You dah hostess with the mostess!
Speaking of which, I promised to share the recipe for the signature drink of the Spring Fling. The Texas martini, also known as the Mexican martini, is essentially a margarita served in a martini glass with salt on the rim and a stuffed olive (preferably stuffed with jalapenos) on a sword pick and a wedge of lime in the glass. Yum.
I use the Cedar Door’s Original Mexican Martini Mix (basically pure cane sugar, water, and citrus oils), which has the recipe right on the back:
Over ice, pour equal parts Tequila, Triple Sec, and Mexican Martini Mix into a pint (16 oz.) glass. Add one freshly squeezed lime (important!) then shake well. Garnish with 3 skewered green olives and a lime wedge.
For the happy hour, to save time, I mixed up a large batch in a pitcher the night before, chilled it overnight in the refrigerator, and set it on the bar along with lime wedges, salt for the rim, and olives, and let people pour their own. I wouldn’t advise mixing the martinis more than 24 hours ahead, for freshness.
Ahem. I will now start the long and ardent search for Mexican Martini Mix.
What I did on my summer vacation. No, make that, what I did on my spring vacation: Went to Austin, TX. Yes, I remembered to take some snaps to share with y’all. Didn’t bring you any barbeque or ice cold Shinerbock. Sorry. Pictures is all ya get.
I was participating in the first ever annual Garden Bloggers’ Spring Fling thing in Austin TX. With 35 fellow garden bloggers, we started the morning with a docent-lead tour of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Texas bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, yellow columbine and pink primroses bloomed as if on cue. Suhweet!
The Center is one of the best designed botanical sites I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. I especially liked the true Texas flavor of the preserve: the architecture and landscape architecture pay homage to the three main groups of Texas residents: the native and Mexican peoples, the German settlers and the ranch families. The entry building is a gorgeous limestone water cistern meant to celebrate the lifeblood essential to Texas land use: WATER. Rainwater is harvested throughout the property and carried via metal aqueducts to other buildings and other plantings. The metal roofs of buildings increase the ability to gather water during typical Texas rain soakings.
Texas limestone is the bane of many a gardener but an abundant and beautiful indigenous building material. The German settlers used it to build their farms and settlements. The humble, affordable and industrial corrugated tin is used for roofing and siding on some of the buildings as it was on working farms and ranches. Shade structures are made of branches and woods harvested locally……as they have been made for hundreds of years.
Next up, Austin’s famous Natural Gardener Nursery. The nursery has several demo gardens, I have included the poppy field and a couple of shots of the veggie garden. This place is all about color. Jeeeeez, I hate that. Not. I so wanted to bring home the copper globe mallow, pink actually, oh, I wanted it. Alas, the smallest they had was a one gallon container and I am so over the idea of packing plants on planes, especially one gallon plants. Arrrrggggh.
Back to the hotel to put up our feet for about three seconds and then to our hostess extraordinaire’s home for Texas-tinis and consumables. Our hostess, Pam, from Digging, has a delightful home, art I want, and makes a mean cocktail. I intend to shamelessly copy her blue bottle tree! Take THAT Boise! I know it is derived from Southern spiritual tradition (wards off evil), but if any body needed to ward off evil, it’s me. Some of you are aware we are in the war of our lives against the evildoers.
And let me tell you something. These folks are garden communicators. And man, oh, man, can they talk! You shoulda been there. To be continued…………
This is from Bo, over at the Idaho Earth Institute:
a Plant Sale fund raiser on April 19th, 10 am- 2 pm, at Lucy’s Coffee & Espresso, and I was wondering if you could/would be so kind as to “advertise” this for us. We will be selling organic locally grown veggies, herbs and some bedding plants from Canyon Bounty Farm and organically drought tolerant (some of those are natives) plants from Draggin’ Wing Farm. Thanks a bunch. Oh, I simply love this site! You da bomb!!!
Regards, Bo
Bo, so ya know, I am happy to keep a calendar of these sales…….LOVE THE NATIVE PLANTS! BTW, Ann DeBolt and Roger Rosentreter (or R2 as I like to call him), well, they are rock stars in my book. The queen and king of native plants.
I will post more plant sale info here later………..The Idaho Botanical Garden Sale is the weekend of April 25-26.
Succession planting is a wonderful way to make the most of a postage stamp size veg garden. There is a great article on how to do this by Charlie Nardozzi, over at the National Gardening Association’s website HERE. The article has some beautiful,(but too small) photos of mixed garden beds and good information on crop rotation and companion planting.
I want to encourage first time gardeners to do jumbo pots, at least 24 inches across, and one foot deep, minimum. Deeper is better. Tomatoes love to grow long deep roots. And we will add tomatoes when the time is right. Look for something lightweight and easy to drag or move…..especially critical if you are putting this on the patio where you will be entertaining. Invest in a $10 roller for the pot with at four casters. If you like the industrial look, go for an old fashioned shiny metal trash can. Punch drain holes in the bottom and put some styrofoam peanuts in the first 12 inches. (There’s a whole ‘nother post on the pros and cons of the interface created between the peanuts and the soil and yada yada yada, but let’s put those peanuts to good use for now).
Fill this pot with a mix of good quality potting soil (I lean toward Black Gold or Whitney Farms) with 3/4 potting soil and 1/4 compost. And here’s where I get kind of picky: go for a compost that is not derived from animal waste. Sorry, but that’s my take on it for now. I know, I know, this is getting a little pricey. But you will only have to do this once this growing season. The pot will need a little topping off next year. Please don’t buy the potting soil with the added moisture retention granules. I keep reading that these polymers break down into something nasty.
Now that the pot is full of delish soil mix, dampen the entire pot, not soaking, but damp. Use warm water if at all possible because it is absorbed a little better by the commercial potting mixes. I turn the hose on, with a sprayer on the end, in the off position. Let the hose fill up with water, and then let the hose sit in the sun for a half hour. Saves on the hot water heater. Solar POWAH!
Now, sprinkle a pack of leaf lettuce seeds on top of the damp soil. You might want to try a more foodie/restaurant salad approach, using mesclun or corn salad seed mix. Sprinkly evenly. Now put a thin, maybe 1/4 inch layer of damp potting soil on top of that to hold it in place.
Soon as those little pups sprout, you can go back in and put a few sugar snap peas around the perimeter of your pot. As these items mature, we will be adding a flower or two and a tomato.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, I have discovered the fab-U-luss PICTOBROWSER. Works with your Flickr photos. So, if you go back to look at the March post for Alcatraz, or Visiting the Rock, you can see my photos.
Classical Inspirations
The Idaho Annual Rose Show
Saturday — June 14, 2008
At the Cloverdale Church of God
3755 S. Cloverdale Boise, Idaho
(Between Victory and Amity)
See locally grown roses in competition and in floral display, Find your favorites, and discover new ones.
Rose Growers on site to answer questions.
Show: 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm — no charge
Lunch: Served from Noon to 2:00 pm — $4.00
For more information or advance lunch tickets Call 375-3623, Darlene
If you would like to enter the show contact Nita Gonzalez at agonzalez@intgas.com.
