MINTY, MINT MINT MINT!!!!!

I started out wanting a mint garden.  I wanted it in an area of lawn where I didn't care if the mint took over, which I know it will.  My friend, when she bought her house, had stepped out the door on a cold March evening and smelled mint.  There growing outside of her door was a ton of mint.  I remember her being so excited about it and since then, I wanted a patch too.  I thought I found that place but quickly realized I didn't think it got enough sun.  So I put the mint I had purchased aside (all seven kinds) until I could figure out a new spot.

 

The mint sat there for several weeks, until I gave up sometime last week and put them in a container garden out in the front of my house.  Although they look good, I was hoping for mint everywhere!  I LOVE mint (if you couldn't tell).  Hopefully soon, I'll find that perfect spot.  Until then, I'll have to enjoy them in their containers.  I do think I am going to fertilize and then hopefully get them into the ground so, sometime in March I can step outside and smell the mint.

Strawberry Picking

One morning this week, my kids and I drove up to a local farm to pick our own strawberries.  The knowledge of where our food comes from is important to me for my kids to know.  I don't want them thinking the grocery store is where food is made but rather I want them to experience the farm and all of it's quirky goodness.

We decided to ask my mom to join us.  She was having a "good" day (she has MS) and was excited to go berry picking.  My kids love every moment they spend with her.  They were so excited to have this experience with my mom.

We drove the 15 minutes to "the farm", gathered our strawberry boxes and waited for the next shuttle.  I think my kids favorite part was riding the shuttle.  This consisted of two park benches, back to back, on a flatbed being pulled by a camoflaged golf cart.  They thought it was AWESOME!  And the farm lives up to "quirky goodness". 

The shuttle dropped us off at the patch and we started the hunt.  I was hoping to fill both my boxes and have my kids fill their boxes.  You know where this is going?  Well I started gleefully picking my strawberries.  It was kind of hot out there, but the intermittent light rain was really perfect.  There was a slight breeze to accompany the light rain.  I looked over to where my kids were crowding my mom to see my mom laughing so hard I thought she was going to fall over.  My daughter kept picking the strawberries and then she'd say, "Grammy!  Here's a good one.  I think I'll eat it."  And so this ensued the entire picking time.  Needless to say, her basket ended up with about 3 strawberries while her belly probably had a good quart of them. 

By the end of the picking session, I walked away with about two and a half baskets full of strawberries.  With those, I made strawberry preserves.  My kids and husband go through a ton of jelly.  I figured I'd make it cheaper on us.  The entire lot of strawberries came to about $25.  The pectin, which I didn't have, came to about $12, but I got coupons in the boxes.  I had the canning jars and lids and everything else needed.  So for about $40, I was able to make 16 and a 1/2 pints of preserves/jam.  Not bad for a day of work.

The thing that struck me most about "the farm" is that it used to be in the middle of the country.  But as always, suburbia keeps growing.  Kudos to the farm for keeping it's land and continuing to function as a farm.  But also for growing into the role that it now plays, which is a farm but also market, tea party hostess, gift shop, garden center, wine shop and bakery all in one.

From high atop the hillside I looked down past all of the buildings to see the farms other fields full of bounty and bordered by a shopping plaza.  Behind me I heard the roar of the trucks and cars on one of the busiest highways in all of Pittsburgh.  I thought about this small piece of heaven in the middle of all the commotion.  Life stops for no one and yet this farm knows how to stop time amid the hustle and bustle of modern day life.  Again, kudos to them.

Poison Ivy

I've never known what poison ivy looks like. I mean I know the rule, "leaves of three, let it be", however, there are other less problematic plants that have leaves of three. I have asked several of my friends who are "outdoorsy", but no one could ever point it out.

Last week, my husband and I went on a "Venture Outdoors" hike (http://www.ventureoutdoors.org/). It was really awesome. The lovely guide pointed out poison ivy along the trail. Hubby bared his forearm, which is totally covered in the itchy rash. The crowd oohed and ahhed at the sight of this little plant and it's wrath.

I'm so thankful the guide pointed out what it looks like, because the very next day, as I was getting out of my car, I saw some. It is along the driveway in what I refer to as "my woods". My Woods is a small (maybe 6-8 feet) area between my driveway and my neighbors yard where we let the plants do what they do naturally. It provides a nice barrier between yards and we attract quite a bit of birds (what ever the cats don't get), squirrels and other critters. It makes us feel a little more secluded in our suburban neighborhood and we like it.

Yesterday, my brothers came to pick some things up I was storing for them. My one brother, Dennis is super "outdoorsy". He was standing in my driveway and pointed out how the poison ivy has taken the liberty of starting to climb our oak tree in "my woods". I challenged him because there is also another vine on it. Calmly he showed me the difference in the two. By George, there is a difference.

At this point I am looking for "green" ways to get rid of it. I've read boiling water.... but not sure that will do anything. In the mean time, I am now wise to it's appearance. I am hoping I excape this season WITHOUT any of it. This is more than I can say for hubby.

Foraging

Last year I found a place in Brookville PA that hosts really cool looking "outdoorsy" type excursions. When I was reading the website, I thought it was a B&B that hosted classes in yoga and relaxation as well as how to make soap, cheese and a variety of other classes. I kept thinking, "THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!", but let me back up a bit.

When my best friend and I were teenagers, we used to do sleep overs several times per week. I can't tell you how many nights I spent at her mom's house watching movies and then getting up the next morning to drag our butts to school. "The Breakfast Club" was always on the list, but so was a movie called, "Casual Sex". It isn't exactly what the title implys. It is about two single girl friends who are tired of working non stop, so they book a trip to a spa resort. Andrew Dice Clay is in it and there breeds the title, "Casual Sex". Anyway, she and I have always made a pact that someday, we would do what these gals did.... go to a spa and relax!

Here we are almost 17 years later and we still have yet to do the spa thing. So when I saw this place that is close to home, should something arise with our kids, yet far enough away that we feel like we are AWAY, I thought it a win-win. Last summer came and went without us even calling to get details. I decided I wouldn't wait so long this year and I called. It seems this isn't an inclusive thing, unless you get 5 or more people together. Also, you aren't staying on the actual farm.... it would be about a half mile down the road at another farm. I think it is still looks like a wonderful place, but it just isn't what I was hoping for when thinking of our "girls trip".

What I did find on their list of schedules is a foraging class. This is something they offer regardless if there is a group staying. My husband and I are very interested in the idea of picking our own food in our own backyard/woods. I called to get some details and the EXTREMELY nice woman explained they do not put up just one family, rather we would need to stay somewhere else close by. This opened up the door for a camping excursion.

My son has been asking us to take him camping for at least 6 months. I like camping, but seem to smell like a last supper to mosquitos.... so I end up being miserable. My husband doesn't care for camping unless he has a working toilet and some water. He's more of a cabin type of guy. Cook Forest is not far from this place so I am hoping to get a cabin there for the weekend.

In preparation for the "class" on foraging, I went into my own backyard to pick mulberries from my GIGANTIC mulberry tree, only to realize that the ladder I needed to pick the currently ripe berries is buried in the back of my garage. It is nicely tucked between all the crap from the basement and my gardening stuff. Determined NOT to let it get me down, I walked back over to the tree and realized the wind had knocked a lot of ripe berries off the tree onto the ground. I began to forage. I picked a nice bunch of berries and washed them. I am putting them into a baggie and into the freezer until I've picked enough to make some jelly. Hopefully, there will be enough left over to freeze to use as a filling for pie come winter.

As I was squatting to pick up the berries, my mind went to the animals that eat these berries and then to the Native Americans who used to forage in this same manor. I also began to think about areas in the world where this is still the method for finding your food. One phrase rang out over and over again in my mind, "Do you know where your food comes from?" I answered my own thoughts with, "YES! YES I DO!". Pride beamed from my inner self.

I also thought of some of my friends and acquaintances who like the idea of local produce but would not be able to get over the fact that these berries were found on the ground. They would be thinking how "unsterile" it is to eat a berry off the ground. I had a nice chuckle and then got gloomy. It is truly sad how disconnected we've become. My mind raced to the movie "WALL-E" and also the movie "Food Inc". How have we let ourselves become so far removed from the idea of REAL FOOD?

I enjoyed my short adventure in my own backyard, however so did the mosquitos. In the 15-20 minutes I was out there, I've already found at least 3 bites. I'm sure there are more that will expose themselves, as always. I guess those little buggers were just foraging too.

My Big Score!

Since building my patio retreat, I've been wanting a metal table and chairs. But I didn't want a new one, I wanted an older looking one. I wanted a cast iron or something similar. I've read about cast iron and how it rusts.... they say aluminum is better. I've been on the look out for two years..... and I found one the other day. To say I'm overjoyed is an understatement. I just keep looking at the set and it makes me smile every time. I paid $50 at the thrift store and it is cast aluminum.

SCORE!!!!!

Bites.

So MDM is over. I skipped out on the last two days..... instead choosing to do indoor projects. Things that needed to be done but weren't "outside" jobs. I've since gotten over the novelty of OUTSIDE all the time.

The one thing, though, that has been quite the downer is this year the bugs seem to be in overload mode. I have bites from head to toe. In fact, this morning, I went out to check on my plants, which we'll get to in a moment, and within 2 minutes, literally, of being out there I had a welt on my shoulder. That infamous itchy sensation started to set in followed by the area of redness and my irresisitable urge to SCRATCH!

I keep asking hubby dearest to add a bat box to our garage. They eat the mosquitos and keep the other populations of bugs way down. He is a paranoid person and says they have rabies. I may add one and see if he notices.

The other issue are with my plants. Something is eating them. It isn't pretty. I started out with so many tomato plants I thought I was gonna be canning until the cows come home. Only to find out, I'll be lucky if two survive. All four of the Eggplants I've planted are dead or dying. Two are gone the other two are looking like swiss cheese. Then there are the hot pepper plants. I had a ton of these too. I am down to maybe 2 or 3, if that.

I cried on the phone with my mom this morning. I told her that maybe I wasn't meant to be a gardener. I've tried for three years and all three years I've gotten SHIT out of the garden. OK, so that isn't true. A few years back I ended up getting a TON of tomatoes..... I canned them. But aside from that one crop that one year, I've got NOTHING! Enough on my rant. I think I'll go eat some worms :(