tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26989326923728484852024-03-21T02:04:32.273-07:00At Home and AwayIdeas and reflections at home and awayB Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.comBlogger192125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-13872374873105218242022-11-20T13:44:00.009-08:002022-11-20T13:47:47.771-08:00Fresh Tomatillo Salsa<p> Today's harvest from the back patio included all of the ingredients needed for fresh tomatillo salsa.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MPTzFNB/0/e6767b99/L/i-MPTzFNB-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="743" height="517" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MPTzFNB/0/e6767b99/L/i-MPTzFNB-L.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tomatillos, three types of chili peppers, cilantro and onion. This is the first year I have grown tomatillos. In fact, this was my first time working with tomatillos in the kitchen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tomatillos are not "green" tomatoes. But they are in the same plant family, Solanaceae, so it is ok to be confused. In fact the plant family Solanaceae is a large group of familiar plants such as peppers, eggplants, and potatoes. Other deadly members of the family include tobacco, belladonna, mandrake and nightshade. Must have been interesting for the early taste testers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is easy to remove the husks of the tomatillos.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5DFPDjJ/0/94b4e2fe/L/i-5DFPDjJ-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="448" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5DFPDjJ/0/94b4e2fe/L/i-5DFPDjJ-L.jpg" width="448" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The fruit is firm, but without the husk, it will dry out, so it is best not to husk until you are ready to use. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-n73fgd6/0/aaefaeb0/L/i-n73fgd6-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="368" height="599" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-n73fgd6/0/aaefaeb0/L/i-n73fgd6-L.jpg" width="368" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recipe</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ingredients:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Six tomatillos</li><li>3 to 6 hot peppers </li><li>half a chopped onion</li><li>chopped cilantro</li><li>dash of salt</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span>Preparation: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>Heat the tomatillos and peppers under a broiler for 3 to 5 minutes until they begin to char. Then flip them and heat again. This adds to the taste of both and softens the tomatillos.</span></li><li>Remove the pepper stems. </li><li>Add all the ingredients to a blender and mix.</li><li>Give the mix at least 30 minutes to set.</li><li>Done</li></ul><div>The proportions are just a matter of taste. Like cilantro? Add more cilantro. Like heat? I do. I used a combination of Hungarian, poblano, and Serrano peppers, roasted, and unseeded. </div><div><br /></div><div>I like the salsa with tortilla chips, </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TQW2jrQ/0/40277350/L/i-TQW2jrQ-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TQW2jrQ/0/40277350/L/i-TQW2jrQ-L.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>or with my favorite burrito:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Mxjjstk/0/55d5b052/L/i-Mxjjstk-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Mxjjstk/0/55d5b052/L/i-Mxjjstk-L.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burrito: Left-over tri-tip, cheddar cheese, sour cream and garden fresh arugula and tomatoes</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-46643974999943987752022-08-22T11:38:00.000-07:002022-10-16T09:09:46.031-07:00Like a Magician, Identify Birds by their Songs with Merlin<p> During a recent visit my brother introduced me to the phone app Merlin from Cornell Lab.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-s4qj8d9/0/3db5ab7d/XL/i-s4qj8d9-XL.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="354" height="320" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-s4qj8d9/0/3db5ab7d/XL/i-s4qj8d9-XL.png" width="148" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>It is a free download. When you open the app, you will be asked to download a database of bird songs for your region. <div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8NmdNxw/0/53b63535/XL/i-8NmdNxw-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="800" height="515" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8NmdNxw/0/53b63535/XL/i-8NmdNxw-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All of the bird packs are free. This is a constantly evolving product. As of 2020, the bird packs have content for 7500 species around the world. If you click the "All" button on the bird packs, you can download packs for next your vacation or business journey. A good reason to get a lots of RAM on your next phone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-VVtjRDx/0/bd7ac84e/XL/i-VVtjRDx-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="355" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-VVtjRDx/0/bd7ac84e/XL/i-VVtjRDx-XL.jpg" width="355" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How does it work?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Open the app and download your bird pack. On the main screen choose "Sound ID".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9mwwLrX/0/3d1cbce9/XL/i-9mwwLrX-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="345" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9mwwLrX/0/3d1cbce9/XL/i-9mwwLrX-XL.jpg" width="345" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>On this page you can review your recordings, or start a new one. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vJVhGWX/0/66daeac1/XL/i-vJVhGWX-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="615" height="640" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vJVhGWX/0/66daeac1/XL/i-vJVhGWX-XL.jpg" width="513" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So if you are sitting on your deck in Edson, Alberta, or hiking in Iceland, if you want to know which bird is singing near you, hit the mic button.</div><div><br /></div><div>These were the birds heard recently in the wild-land behind my garden.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-s4DpMzF/0/a9487b39/XL/i-s4DpMzF-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="451" height="640" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-s4DpMzF/0/a9487b39/XL/i-s4DpMzF-XL.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><br /><div>Perfect? No. One recording identified a California Sage Grouse. You can click on the bird and hear the sound it identified. I did that with the Grouse. It was a person complaining somewhere in the neighborhood.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a short video of the application in action behind my house:</div><div><br /></div><iframe allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/12291029323_LxJ5fvX?width=640&height=720&albumId=305248914&albumKey=cQ6Mwg" width="1280"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><p><a href="https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/bird-packs/" target="_blank">More about Merlin here</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-40997424138227326372022-08-01T17:38:00.000-07:002022-11-20T13:41:15.109-08:00Overnight Oats and Homemade Raisins<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-QzJzqW7/0/e83acba3/XL/i-QzJzqW7-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-QzJzqW7/0/e83acba3/XL/i-QzJzqW7-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The summer is hot in Southern California and a healthy cold treat in the morning is a refreshing way to start the day.</p><p>This recipe is basically your favorite hot porridge oatmeal but not cooked. Same portions of liquid to oats, 2 to 1. I prefer oat milk for my liquid, but anything you would add to a cup of coffee would work. I use old fashioned oats. My fruit varies, but for this post I used a banana, California dates, and my <a href="https://www.townhousegardening.com/2022/08/the-grapes-of-townhouse-gardens.html" target="_blank">homemade raisins</a>. How much fruit? There is only one rule: Whatever makes you happy!</p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Overnight Oats</h3><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1 cup of oatmilk</li><li>1/2 cup of old fashioned oats</li><li>a pinch or two of salt</li><li>fruit</li></ul><p></p><p>Refrigerate the ingredients in a container with a lid. This is important in case you later in the evening reach into the refrigerator for a beer and tip over the container.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Bx3Gznf/0/5599fb4a/XL/i-Bx3Gznf-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Bx3Gznf/0/5599fb4a/XL/i-Bx3Gznf-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The next morning you have a perfect serving of oatmeal. No need for a sweetener. </p><p>When Linda and I were working the recent primary election, we had to leave the house by 5:15 AM to pick up our gear at the register of voters. We then drove an hour out into the desert, in time to open our office by 7:00 AM. Usually with enough time to enjoy our breakfast oats after our arrival.</p><p>After the election (and our jobs) was over, I decided to make the overnight oats into a smoothy. This solved a problem my Scottish grandmother would have appreciated, "ay laddie, ther's many a slip between the cup and the lip." No matter how carefully I was eating my cold oats, I was often splashing the ingredients on to the table, my laptop, or down my shirt.</p><p>Now I just throw the overnight oats into the blender:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6vvdQm2/0/3d0df33c/XL/i-6vvdQm2-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="640" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6vvdQm2/0/3d0df33c/XL/i-6vvdQm2-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>And enjoy my breakfast in a glass.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WRNrLWs/0/4a49dbcb/XL/i-WRNrLWs-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="640" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WRNrLWs/0/4a49dbcb/XL/i-WRNrLWs-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It tastes like a date shake!</div><br /><p><br /></p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-62026395320738369142022-08-01T14:55:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:45.842-07:00The Grapes of the TownHouse Gardens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-rkhzctK/0/762424f5/XL/i-rkhzctK-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-rkhzctK/0/762424f5/XL/i-rkhzctK-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>Did I mention I have a lot of grapes? </p><p>I enjoy the grapes, so do many critters that live nearby. To make it a more challenging meal, I wrapped the bunches of grapes in fabric pouches. This season I used over 100 bags. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2QzMnLc/0/40977a30/XL/i-2QzMnLc-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2QzMnLc/0/40977a30/XL/i-2QzMnLc-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Eighty percent of our Townhouse is either rooftop or cement. The small amount of dig-able soil on our hill is the native California hardpan that is a composite of decomposed granite and clay. Grape plants are well adapted to grow in such soil (dirt!). Put a bare-root plant or even a cutting into the ground, then just add water and sun.</p><p>During the grape harvest, I pick three to five pounds of grapes. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-KDvRZDc/0/8a827d58/XL/i-KDvRZDc-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-KDvRZDc/0/8a827d58/XL/i-KDvRZDc-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I remove the unusable grapes outside. This also keeps the ants outside ;-)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-dJR3sBs/0/f11846e8/XL/i-dJR3sBs-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-dJR3sBs/0/f11846e8/XL/i-dJR3sBs-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I save some for the dinner table, but most of the grapes are dehydrated to make raisins.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RXPxrDF/0/9797ccef/XL/i-RXPxrDF-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RXPxrDF/0/9797ccef/XL/i-RXPxrDF-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I removed the grapes from the stems and spread them out on my dehydration trays. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-VjfQbKd/0/4fe39833/XL/i-VjfQbKd-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-VjfQbKd/0/4fe39833/XL/i-VjfQbKd-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="text-align: center;">I used a paper towel to keep the grapes from falling into the center circulation duct. It is removed before starting the dehydrator.</span></p><p><span style="text-align: center;">I set the time for 48 hours and the temperature to 135℉.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Cv6GKDc/0/0cef9c19/XL/i-Cv6GKDc-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Cv6GKDc/0/0cef9c19/XL/i-Cv6GKDc-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: center;">Two days later I have raisins!<br /></span><p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-79PPTgH/0/f936af89/XL/i-79PPTgH-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-79PPTgH/0/f936af89/XL/i-79PPTgH-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: center;">I bag up the raisins and either freeze them or keep them in the refrigerator. </span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;">The raisins are part of my summer breakfast: <a href="https://www.townhousegardening.com/2022/08/overnight-oats-and-homemade-raisins.html" target="_blank">Overnight Oats</a>!</span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-10356394687469958102022-07-25T16:51:00.000-07:002022-10-16T09:34:41.547-07:00Slow Down and Enjoy the Zinnias<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="EwKSsFDNUWs" width="400" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EwKSsFDNUWs"></iframe></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-58540008966190373652022-07-13T16:11:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:46.178-07:00Relaxing Tour the Patio Garden <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Uhy8_TWqPJI" width="320" youtube-src-id="Uhy8_TWqPJI"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br /><p> </p></div></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-88114892083471289242022-07-11T10:29:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:46.345-07:00 The Great Escape!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://macwillis.smugmug.com/Blog/Worms/n-vfL8VN/i-Fc93xP5/A" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Fc93xP5/0/5c83d31d/M/i-Fc93xP5-M.gif" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worms hard at work in the Worm Factory</td></tr></tbody></table><p>For a couple of years I have recruited worms to do my dirty business, turning kitchen waste into soil. They were housed in a Worm Factory 360. They were good factory workers, working 24/7 composting my old veggies, egg shells, coffee grounds and fruit.</p><p>The Worm Factory was easy to set up.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-dSfNTmj/0/a3fe20c4/L/i-dSfNTmj-L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-dSfNTmj/0/a3fe20c4/L/i-dSfNTmj-L.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">This year I moved the factory into the garage.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-R6jpH7K/0/f9f70bd9/L/i-R6jpH7K-L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-R6jpH7K/0/f9f70bd9/L/i-R6jpH7K-L.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I added a blender mix up the bio waste.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-B3Mjp6z/0/478f7277/L/i-B3Mjp6z-L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-B3Mjp6z/0/478f7277/L/i-B3Mjp6z-L.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8PQMVLN/0/f62140ca/L/i-8PQMVLN-L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8PQMVLN/0/f62140ca/L/i-8PQMVLN-L.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The worms were doing a good job making soil.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6XKThsf/0/f688ddf2/L/i-6XKThsf-L.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6XKThsf/0/f688ddf2/L/i-6XKThsf-L.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Separating the worms from the soil.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>The worm workers of the factory seemed to be happy at their tasks and even found time to make more worms. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://macwillis.smugmug.com/Blog/Worms/n-vfL8VN/i-LTcX3jL/A"><img alt="" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-LTcX3jL/0/b048bd8d/Th/i-LTcX3jL-Th.gif" /></a><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Worm Factory had a spigot at the bottom to drain off the excess water/liquid: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pJW6Qgh/0/7aeef9ff/L/i-pJW6Qgh-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pJW6Qgh/0/7aeef9ff/L/i-pJW6Qgh-L.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The liquid made a good fertilizer for my flowers near the garage. Eventually I learned online to leave the spigot open to increase the air circulation in the factory. Every few day I would empty the collection of worm waste. As summer approached, the amount of liquid waste decreased even as I increased the amount of liquid going in. I assumed it was evaporation as the temperatures in the garage went above 90 to sometimes over 100 degrees F. I was wrong.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As the temperature increased, the worms crowded near the spigot outlet. So many were there that the outlet was blocked, then one day the worm dam broke, and weeks worth of smelly, sticky worm waste spilled out, over the top of the container, and spread out over the garage. I turned off the spigot and cleaned as best as I could (Eventually it required a pressure washer to clean the mess).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A few days later you could hear the worms on the move along the sides and the lid of the factory. Little did I know what they were up to. They escaped! I found the worms when lifted a nearby package of cleaning wipes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r99vNf6/0/1f945655/XL/i-r99vNf6-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r99vNf6/0/1f945655/XL/i-r99vNf6-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was clear that the worms did not like my factory management. Those that survived the great escape were moved into the garden. I dismantled the factory got it ready to sell to another manager.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I still collect my coffee grounds for the garden, but for the time being, the other vegetable waste goes into the trash. The State of California requires all food waste to be collected separately and disposed with our "green" waste collection. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I win the lottery, I would love to try the Lomi: Food waste in, compost out in hours!</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WqURkZ0p1J4" width="320" youtube-src-id="WqURkZ0p1J4"></iframe></div><br />B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-41088848711835111512022-06-21T10:27:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:46.615-07:00The Brussels Sprouts Plant is Very Slow Growing in SoCal<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-vPxB8kg/0/226d4a1c/XL/2022061908305861-998921617697945440-IMG_1058-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-vPxB8kg/0/226d4a1c/XL/2022061908305861-998921617697945440-IMG_1058-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Small sprouts developing</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It took me a long time before I enjoyed eating Brussels sprouts. However, our favorite Los Feliz couple introduced the family to this recipe based on a recipe from the New York Times and it is great:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-gVrrbhn/0/1e821392/XL/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-21%20at%209.57.26%20AM-XL.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="800" height="595" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-gVrrbhn/0/1e821392/XL/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-21%20at%209.57.26%20AM-XL.png" width="800" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A page from the Willis Family Cookbook</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I tried growing the plant. However, I've come to the conclusion that it is not the happiest plant in zone 9. A year ago last spring, I planted a couple of rows in the large grow bag, and only one plant germinated. It grew about six inches and then stopped. It was covered with cabbage aphids and I pretty much assumed it was DOA. But it persisted. It stayed a small, stunted plant as I harvested from the same bag: tomatoes, peas, beans, radishes, and even corn through the seasons. </p><p>Then this year it "woke-up" and started growing in April. I might actually get a small harvest of sprouts!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-pQkhBb6/0/765647b7/XL/2022061908305861-8812968439326955898-IMG_1057-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-pQkhBb6/0/765647b7/XL/2022061908305861-8812968439326955898-IMG_1057-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>So maybe good things do come to people who wait?</p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-34885928318069421712022-06-20T12:10:00.000-07:002022-11-18T14:34:18.187-08:00Necessity is the Mother of Invention<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-KTwhtNG/0/d6f46203/XL/IMG_1013-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-KTwhtNG/0/d6f46203/XL/IMG_1013-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><p>I injured my knee while setting up equipment for the Riverside Office of Voters center La Quinta in the Coachella Valley. </p><p>This made me re-examine the accessibility of some of my plants. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-PLFfdxT/0/eaca453d/XL/IMG_0991-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-PLFfdxT/0/eaca453d/XL/IMG_0991-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p>I have been interested in raising the garden to a higher level, but I have been put off by the price of pre-made tables and carts, and by the cost of plant friendly lumber. Then it came to me, "just make a platform for the fabric bags!"</p><p>I made a plan on Apple Preview (my license for Adobe products has lapsed!). The Plant Platform:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-TbKbHj8/0/83701821/XL/Plant%20Platform-XL.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="800" height="211" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-TbKbHj8/0/83701821/XL/Plant%20Platform-XL.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I don't own a power saw, so I was looking for the least number of the cuts possible. So rather than using a 4x4, I used two 2x4s, one 2 feet in length and the other 6 ft. This made the corners of the platform, and created a surface for the joist.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-MPntHCN/0/455d76cc/XL/IMG_0972-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-MPntHCN/0/455d76cc/XL/IMG_0972-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div>Home Depot made the project easier. I found where they had pre-cut lengths of 2x4 in two foot and four foot pieces. For the platform base and upper frame, I used 1x2.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-V7Qf2Gs/0/1aa90596/XL/IMG_0976-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-V7Qf2Gs/0/1aa90596/XL/IMG_0976-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div>I managed to put this together with help from the family, patience, and breaks for ice.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-Pj8KSjD/0/c51d007f/XL/IMG_0985-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-Pj8KSjD/0/c51d007f/XL/IMG_0985-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-9xJ9xGJ/0/4067d979/XL/IMG_0986-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-9xJ9xGJ/0/4067d979/XL/IMG_0986-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div>I rolled the platform over to the corner of the garden with several bags and the grapevine. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-ff82MwS/0/31629ba1/XL/IMG_0988-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-ff82MwS/0/31629ba1/XL/IMG_0988-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Now I don't need to lean over bags to get to my bags.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-JH3Ns32/0/4546f96c/XL/IMG_1008-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-JH3Ns32/0/4546f96c/XL/IMG_1008-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div>The platform holds six 5 gallon fabric bags and multiple hanging pots. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of the bags is a salad pot: </div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-nD3bvL7/0/d2fa60ff/XL/2022061913053796--502556098643688106-IMG_1048-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-nD3bvL7/0/d2fa60ff/XL/2022061913053796--502556098643688106-IMG_1048-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arugula and Merlot Lettuce</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the hanging frame, I have flowers such as this Kalanchoe:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-RXq7TnG/0/4c276cb6/XL/Kalanchoe-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="800" height="407" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-RXq7TnG/0/4c276cb6/XL/Kalanchoe-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I noticed that the platform blocked access to some grapes that needed to be protected from the critters.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-49KtmwR/0/00c50aca/XL/2022061810284841--3832148681254718881-IMG_1045-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-49KtmwR/0/00c50aca/XL/2022061810284841--3832148681254718881-IMG_1045-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">No problem, it is easy to move the platform even with all the bags on it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-mSt7b7m/0/559ee6e3/XL/2022061810284841--2961597460301619521-IMG_1044-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-mSt7b7m/0/559ee6e3/XL/2022061810284841--2961597460301619521-IMG_1044-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The new platform is not only easier on my knee, but it is a perfect fit for the garden.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-jMJHVGt/0/e788cc04/XL/IMG_1017-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Blog/n-8QjLh/Spring2022/i-jMJHVGt/0/e788cc04/XL/IMG_1017-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I will add a transparent cover for the winter to make a rolling hot house.</div><p><br /></p></div></div></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-13312348781975274172022-02-13T11:27:00.000-08:002022-10-15T16:12:47.252-07:00The Rams Lose the Game!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-btQp7MR/0/60525fce/XL/i-btQp7MR-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-btQp7MR/0/60525fce/XL/i-btQp7MR-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br />Two weeks ago after I finished my gardening chores, I made a sandwich and flipped on the TV. It was the Rams vs the Forty-Niners! Who would go to the SuperBowl? <p></p><p>I'm not the biggest fan of the modern gladiator sports. Traumatic brain injuries for fun and profit? However, that said, Spartacus is a great movie and I like the endings of a sport season. Besides, the Rams are the home team. Back when I was sixth grade, I saw the Fearsome Foursome take on Bart Starr and Paul Hornung under their coach, Vince Lombardi. But back then I was poor, now I have more money, however I can't afford football tickets. Ah, the weird economics of modern sports.</p><p>Anyway, back to the game. I sent my son a shot of the screen. I watched the whole thing. Albeit I was doing other things: Played an online game with my brother, did the latest Wordle, and ordered seeds for the garden. In the end, I was very disappointed by the Forty-Niners interception that spoiled any chance of a Rams victory. The Rams lost!</p><p>Yes, in my universe the Rams lost. </p><p>The Forty-Niners would be heading to the SuperBowl. </p><p>Later that evening, Linda and I were watching the news. All these LA fans were cheering. What the heck! Why were they happy? What do you mean that the Rams won? I saw them lose.</p><p>Had I gone in and out of a parallel universe where the Berenstein Bears existed, JFK Jr was actually alive and the Rams lost?</p><p>No, I watched a replay of a two week old game, and missed the actual play-off.</p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-12755463827781815112022-02-08T13:11:00.000-08:002022-10-15T16:12:47.415-07:00I Like Birds in the Garden, Not on the Garden.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WsqTSZG/0/7ae2f412/L/i-WsqTSZG-L.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="450" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WsqTSZG/0/7ae2f412/L/i-WsqTSZG-L.gif" width="800" /></a></div><br />I noticed a row of radishes sprouts disappear. Tender greens are very temping food for small birds. When I raised parakeets, a favorite treat was carrots tops. I would put a large batch into the aviary and within moments they were gone. Devoured in a feeding frenzy. Birds are after all, descended from of dinosaurs.<div><br /></div><div>I have a lot of cds in garage. Some are labeled Microsoft, others old games for machines long forgotten. Some cds have been replaced by Apple Music. A simple hole drilled near the edge and some twine, makes a scary cd.</div><div><br /></div><div>So far the birds are avoiding the garden were these shiny objects spin about in the breeze.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-16709075058256655822022-02-05T11:58:00.000-08:002022-10-15T16:12:47.583-07:00Wren and Finches in Slo-mo<a href="https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-FLT4Vt/i-f7qgx2F/A"><img alt="" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-f7qgx2F/0/2d35f34b/L/i-f7qgx2F-L.gif" /></a><p>Slo-Motion video close-ups of a Bewick's Wren and House Finches on the back patio of the Townhouse Gardens.</p><iframe allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/11496078525_4gfz4rp?width=640&height=360&albumId=279183476&albumKey=dpcqrX" width="640"></iframe><p><br /></p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-91115721253175215172022-01-26T18:12:00.000-08:002022-10-15T16:12:47.751-07:00This Old Bag Update<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqxZYa2ceVeCtaYKWqLc04eGQVjzo6Xkx4rZzOdQngDRbp1hUo7xc8fN0O-CHdKRAWDZ3pqZWF23hSudkXbRq1Mt1ImvPUAe8i1zfTgpMaein8zgApNJrlorBSIFO4F5JFoFRGe-FrA-t/s640/IMG_2237.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqxZYa2ceVeCtaYKWqLc04eGQVjzo6Xkx4rZzOdQngDRbp1hUo7xc8fN0O-CHdKRAWDZ3pqZWF23hSudkXbRq1Mt1ImvPUAe8i1zfTgpMaein8zgApNJrlorBSIFO4F5JFoFRGe-FrA-t/w453-h340/IMG_2237.jpg" width="453" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 2018</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Back at the start of this blog in 2018 I wrote about a raised bed solution from <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1128971836403694107/1791625667115622922#" target="_blank">SmartPots</a>. The blog post is here: <a href="https://www.townhousegardening.com/2018/05/smartpots-raised-bed-solution.html">https://www.townhousegardening.com/2018/05/smartpots-raised-bed-solution.html</a></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8mHVjQr/0/7af8c754/XL/i-8mHVjQr-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8mHVjQr/0/7af8c754/XL/i-8mHVjQr-XL.jpg" title="[featured]" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fall 2018</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The big bag survived raccoons foraging for grubs in 2020.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r2jpPQP/0/96cee71b/XL/i-r2jpPQP-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-r2jpPQP/0/96cee71b/XL/i-r2jpPQP-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p>The big bag has been a platform for an experiment with critter netting in 2021. In the picture below it is filled with sugar snap peas.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GQ8nBxX/0/c10a0bbf/XL/i-GQ8nBxX-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="800" height="659" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GQ8nBxX/0/c10a0bbf/XL/i-GQ8nBxX-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><p>By July the big bag was producing tomatoes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JkG53kF/0/b20ab898/XL/i-JkG53kF-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JkG53kF/0/b20ab898/XL/i-JkG53kF-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><p>The bag has performed beyond my expectations. It is now in its fifth year of continuous use.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-t4tvVD7/0/c8a342aa/XL/i-t4tvVD7-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-t4tvVD7/0/c8a342aa/XL/i-t4tvVD7-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>Stained and discolored by the hard water, but otherwise in great shape. No tears or rips. It works as advertised. This large 50 inch bag and its smaller siblings have produced crop after crop in a very small space. The only SmartPot that is no longer in service was used to grow a bare root Thompson Seedless Grape. Grape roots, like the vines themselves are tough and woody and grew right through the fabric of the small fabric pot. </p><p>I would highly recommend a SmartPot for your raised garden bed.</p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-56726057588125641902022-01-16T10:25:00.000-08:002022-10-15T16:12:48.030-07:00Return of the Finches<a href="https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-FLT4Vt/i-KwVGmBn/A"><img alt="" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-KwVGmBn/0/3042704a/M/i-KwVGmBn-M.gif" /></a> <p>The finches are back in the courtyard at the TownHouse Garden. </p><p>Caught in slow motion, you can hear these small feathered dinosaurs roar, not tweet as they fight for their place at the table. Crank up your volume.<iframe allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="1280" height="720" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/11427246420_BZSscGm?width=600&height=360&albumId=279183476&albumKey=dpcqrX"></iframe> B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-11233309691889911252022-01-15T18:59:00.000-08:002022-10-16T15:48:58.323-07:00Preserving Lemons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-QfdTn52/0/d71d6b49/XL/i-QfdTn52-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-QfdTn52/0/d71d6b49/XL/i-QfdTn52-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p>It is the time of year we read posts from our neighbors: "Free Lemons! Please come and pick from our tree!" An abundance of lemons!</p><p>The most common lemon in Southern California is the Meyer "Improved" Lemon. The Meyer is thought to be a cross between a Mandarin orange and a Eureka lemon. The Meyer is both tart and sweet and can be used as a lemon in most recipes. It was first introduced to the California citrus industry in the early 1900's, but was susceptible to local diseases. A better version was created at the University of California. It was resistant to the diseases. This is the Meyer "Improved" Lemon.</p><p>A number of recipes we enjoy at the house call for lemon juice and/or zest, such as marinade for chicken shawarma, chicken barbecue, Thai green curry, and lemon gelato. It is easy this time of year to just go outside and pick a lemon, but planning ahead and buying a lemon at a store stumps my style of spontaneous cooking. </p><p>So the question is: How to preserve the bounty of the Meyer Lemon for the future, when the tree is empty? </p><p>I used two methods: Freezing and drying.</p><p>I picked 13 of the lemons, then washed in soapy water. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Zest Storage</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-jNxn8D7/0/b3e72133/XL/i-jNxn8D7-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-jNxn8D7/0/b3e72133/XL/i-jNxn8D7-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p>Using my handy zesting tool, I processed the lemons. Like shearing sheep, the fruit looked naked with out its outer coat.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-sdpF7Bs/0/d7c6b22f/XL/i-sdpF7Bs-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-sdpF7Bs/0/d7c6b22f/XL/i-sdpF7Bs-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p>I then spread out the zest on my drying screens.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nb8ksVH/0/bad6f53e/XL/i-nb8ksVH-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nb8ksVH/0/bad6f53e/XL/i-nb8ksVH-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>I put the screens on the dehydrator at 165℉ for 6 hours.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MmPqw28/0/45173018/XL/i-MmPqw28-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MmPqw28/0/45173018/XL/i-MmPqw28-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>This dried out the zest. I then transferred the zest to a mason jar. It should keep for months in the cupboard with my other spices.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-qMqcpZm/1/8ac2ee06/XL/i-qMqcpZm-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-qMqcpZm/1/8ac2ee06/XL/i-qMqcpZm-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Saving the Juice</h3><p>I sliced the naked lemons and extracted the juice using an attachment on the Kitchen Aid mixer. I strained the juice and put it into ice cube trays.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-bBBxf3K/0/3af17e46/XL/i-bBBxf3K-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-bBBxf3K/0/3af17e46/XL/i-bBBxf3K-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>The trays have a nice snap on cover which makes them easy to stack in the freezer without sticking. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-HHTC2kD/0/b3efc576/XL/i-HHTC2kD-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-HHTC2kD/0/b3efc576/XL/i-HHTC2kD-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The remains of Lemon Gelato in the background</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The next day I emptied the trays, washed them and got ready for the next batch of lemons.</p><p><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-mTttpqJ/0/2d572ea1/XL/i-mTttpqJ-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-mTttpqJ/0/2d572ea1/XL/i-mTttpqJ-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></p><p>When the tree is empty and I have a recipe for a little juice I can reach into the freezer of a cube or two. If I need zest, it will be in the cupboard.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-12627944642169387162022-01-15T13:46:00.000-08:002022-10-15T16:12:48.369-07:00The Interactive Garden in 2022<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2wmsF7p/0/29fb908b/L/i-2wmsF7p-L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-2wmsF7p/0/29fb908b/L/i-2wmsF7p-L.jpg" title="[featured]" /></a></div><p><a href="https://www.townhousegardening.com/2021/03/the-interactive-garden.html" target="_blank">Last year I set up a system using QR Codes</a> to identify what was happening in different parts of the Townhouse Gardens. One side of the plant ID stick was a code that linked to the a "public" post on this blog site. The other side of the stick was a code that opened the "editors" version of the blog post.</p><p>I had suggested this would be nice in public gardens such as the Huntington Gardens or the Botanical Gardens at the nearby University of California, Riverside. Since then we have run into QR Codes at restaurants that connect to online menus. Menus are a great idea as you don't need to disinfect the plastic/paper menus, you can alter the choices if an ingredient is unavailable, and you can stealthily raise the cost.</p><p>It was the first time I had tried this method of digital sharing/record keeping in the garden. It was flawed. Of course the biggest flaw was in this time of Covid, who has visitors! But I remain optimistic that friends and and family will be able to visit one day, that was not the flaw I am correcting in the 2022 version.</p><p>The sticks, labels, and Gorilla tape covers worked great together. Cold and record highs, drought and atmospheric rivers, had no effect on the labels. They did not fade or spoil. </p><p>The problem was the QR Code for the public. It linked to a single blog post. My intention was to give a user/visitor an up-to-date version of the garden, not the original post. I should not have made a link to a single post, like this QR Code for my stone fruit trees from last year:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-bFBj9PN/0/9c520a67/Th/i-bFBj9PN-Th.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="150" height="115" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-bFBj9PN/0/9c520a67/Th/i-bFBj9PN-Th.png" width="115" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span data-sheets-formula="="www.townhousegardening.com/2021/03/"&R[0]C[-1]&".html"" data-sheets-hyperlink="http://www.townhousegardening.com/2021/03/plot-1_5.html" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":14339,"3":{"1":0},"4":{"1":2,"2":16777215},"14":{"1":2,"2":16226333},"15":"Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif","16":11}" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"www.townhousegardening.com/2021/03/plot-1_5.html"}" style="font-family: Inconsolata, Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-skip-ink: none;">www.townhousegardening.com/2021/03/plot-1_5.html</span></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p>But what did the trees look like when they bloomed? Did they fruit? Are they the only stone fruit trees?</p><p>This year, the QR Codes are a search link that gathers all of the posts about a subject with the latest one at the top.</p><p><span data-sheets-formula="="www.townhousegardening.com/search/label/"&R[0]C[-1]" data-sheets-hyperlink="http://www.townhousegardening.com/search/label/Spices" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":14339,"3":{"1":0},"4":{"1":2,"2":16777215},"14":{"1":2,"2":16226333},"15":"Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif","16":11}" data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"www.townhousegardening.com/search/label/Spices"}" style="color: #f7981d; font-family: Inconsolata, Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none;"><a class="in-cell-link" href="http://www.townhousegardening.com/search/label/Spices" target="_blank"></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PgkvTNJ/0/0c74585b/Th/i-PgkvTNJ-Th.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="142" data-original-width="150" height="102" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PgkvTNJ/0/0c74585b/Th/i-PgkvTNJ-Th.png" width="108" /></a></div><br />www.townhousegardening.com/<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">search</span></b>/label/Spices<p></p><p>Using this code, a garden visitor sees all of the posts about spices, with the latest one first. When there is an update, that post will be at the top of the search results.</p><p>The new and improved tags link to a subject, not just a single post. So when you scan the peas either on this page or while walking in the garden, you see all the posts related to peas at the Townhouse Gardens. The latest post will be at the top. As before I used Google Sheets to create the QR Codes. Here is the formula for creating a QR Code (note that the cell B2 is the URL for the home page of this blog):</p><p> <span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=</span><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">image</span><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span class="string" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: green; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"https://image-charts.com/chart?chs=150x150&cht=qr&choe=UTF-8&chl="</span><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">&</span><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ENCODEURL</span><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #f7981d; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">B2</span><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p><span class="default-formula-text-color" dir="auto" face="Inconsolata, monospace, arial, sans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Heres is a sample of some of the QR codes used in the garden:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PFHXtWG/0/a12f41f3/L/i-PFHXtWG-L.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="800" height="382" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PFHXtWG/0/a12f41f3/L/i-PFHXtWG-L.png" width="800" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>In the garden....<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-kv6Z2mK/1/5cd03826/L/i-kv6Z2mK-L.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-kv6Z2mK/1/5cd03826/L/i-kv6Z2mK-L.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pole Beans</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-tMSJTQN/0/371cc926/L/i-tMSJTQN-L.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="450" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-tMSJTQN/0/371cc926/L/i-tMSJTQN-L.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sugar Snap Peas</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RPhHbtj/0/1a7617ec/XL/i-RPhHbtj-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="599" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RPhHbtj/0/1a7617ec/XL/i-RPhHbtj-XL.jpg" width="449" /></a></div><br /><div><p>Using QR Codes sealed behind clear Gorilla tape is an excellent way of keeping track of your garden, whether it is to identify a variety of rose, or which flowers are suppose to emerge from that pot of bulbs. Creating a QR map of the yard could be a fun activity with kids. It is a good cross of technology and gardening to get a child off the couch and into the yard. At least it works for this slightly older kid!</p></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-31921197774957431782022-01-15T13:33:00.000-08:002022-10-15T16:12:48.538-07:00Chinese String Eggplants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-H3hShXC/1/e71cb197/XL/i-H3hShXC-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-H3hShXC/1/e71cb197/XL/i-H3hShXC-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>I am trying out Chinese String Eggplants in the garden this year (2022). We will see how these compare to the eggplants we use to eat in Asia. </p><p>I have started the plants on my propagation bench in the garage.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RPhHbtj/0/1a7617ec/XL/i-RPhHbtj-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RPhHbtj/0/1a7617ec/XL/i-RPhHbtj-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>They are in small peat pots that can easily be moved to the garden once the plants are large and happy.</p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-68399825129901712892021-08-25T10:26:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:49.335-07:00Seen at the TownHouse Gardens<p> </p><iframe allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/10827751230_M2J7ZRN?width=640&height=360&albumId=257605443&albumKey=VvxcVX" width="640"></iframe> <a href="https://macwillis.smugmug.com/Blog/Blog21/n-5mLSm8/i-7khWkL8/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7khWkL8/0/74791da4/XL/i-7khWkL8-XL.gif" alt=""></a>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-72611054585833375942021-08-23T10:40:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:49.500-07:00Instant Pot Coconut Rice with Shrimp and Corn<p>Here is a quick and easy Instant Pot recipe adaptation of <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022459-coconut-rice-with-shrimp-and-corn?campaign_id=58&emc=edit_ck_20210821&instance_id=38456&nl=cooking&regi_id=67770952&segment_id=66911&te=1&user_id=02e43fb438cc1a33bf2bee590c3ce194" target="_blank">Samantha Seneviratne's Coconut Rice with Shrimp and Corn</a> found on the New York Times. The biggest difference? My recipe is easier ;-)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pJ7ctDd/0/131e33de/XL/i-pJ7ctDd-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pJ7ctDd/0/131e33de/XL/i-pJ7ctDd-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">INGREDIENTS</h3><p>Two tablespoons oil</p><p>One yellow onion, finely chopped</p><p>Peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger to taste</p><p>One jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped </p><p>¾ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste</p><p>One and half cups jasmine rice</p><p>One (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk</p><p>One pound peeled and deveined pre-cooked frozen shrimp</p><p>One can drained corn kernels</p><p>Lime, basil leaves, and cashews as condiments with serving.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">PREPARATION</h3><p>In a large, heavy pot, heat coconut oil over medium. Add the onion, ginger and jalapeño and season with the 3/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.</p><p>In your Instant Pot, add rice, the ingredients of the heavy pot, water, and coconut milk. Mix. Close the lid of the instant pot. Set the Instant Pot to Rice. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RBQVDTG/0/6bce5774/XL/i-RBQVDTG-XL.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="800" height="577" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-RBQVDTG/0/6bce5774/XL/i-RBQVDTG-XL.png" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Cooking will be finished in about 20 minutes with the cool down. Add shrimp to the pot, mix, cover and cook on the "Pressure Cook" setting for another 5 minutes. Avoid burning.</p><div>Enjoy with your favorite condiment such as lime, basil leaves, and cashews. Of course Sriracha sauce would be good too!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pJ7ctDd/0/131e33de/XL/i-pJ7ctDd-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pJ7ctDd/0/131e33de/XL/i-pJ7ctDd-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><div>Here's a video summary:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> <iframe allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/10823639705_xSJVMc4?width=640&height=360&albumId=257605443&albumKey=VvxcVX" width="640"></iframe>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-75404409728222924232021-08-09T11:38:00.000-07:002022-10-16T17:56:18.484-07:00Spicy Peanut Shrimp Noodles<h2 style="text-align: left;">Spicy Peanut Shrimp Noodles</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6HZWk3s/0/eed34847/XL/i-6HZWk3s-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6HZWk3s/0/eed34847/XL/i-6HZWk3s-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Four years ago, Linda and I took a cooking class in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon. The sauce we made for the summer rolls was very simple: Magi Chili Sauce and an equal amount of creamy peanut butter. The chili sauce is similar to Sriracha sauce. The combination of sweet and spicy made a nice addition to our summer rolls.</p><p>Way before the cooking class, I learned to how to make sweet and sour sauce while on a snorkeling adventure (yeah, this was the trip with pirates!) in the South China Sea: Magi Chili Sauce again, and an equal amount of ketchup. Again the combination of sweet and hot maked a tasty sauce.</p><p>The star of my spicy peanut shrimp sauce is the combination of peanut butter and Sriracha with Shishito Peppers. My nephew Josh gave me a package of seeds two years ago, and I planted them in April.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-R8Z4W2j/1/74ce5dde/XL/i-R8Z4W2j-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-R8Z4W2j/1/74ce5dde/XL/i-R8Z4W2j-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p>The peppers thrived:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-B5B7J4W/0/e7f007b6/XL/i-B5B7J4W-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-B5B7J4W/0/e7f007b6/XL/i-B5B7J4W-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><p>The Shishito is a sweet pepper, well... mostly, usually, but about 10% of them will knock your socks off. When I prepped the peppers I removed the seeds and hung them outside to dry for next year's crop, or to share with others.</p><p>Also in the garden I had fresh green onion and cucumber. The red pepper was fresh from Trader Joe's, as was the ginger. Soon I will have ginger from the garden! It looks too healthy to dig out a root at this time. It is in the same pot as my basil.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3RqrBL9/0/2fed81eb/XL/i-3RqrBL9-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3RqrBL9/0/2fed81eb/XL/i-3RqrBL9-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ginger (large leaves) growing in the same pot as basil</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The vegetables from the garden look so fresh!<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-L3pFhw9/0/acc737b5/XL/i-L3pFhw9-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-L3pFhw9/0/acc737b5/XL/i-L3pFhw9-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the main event</td></tr></tbody></table><br />You can use almost any pasta with this recipe. In the past I used spaghetti. This time I used 12 ounces of rice noodles. The directions on the package said to soak in hot water for 20 minutes, then drain.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MbC7VPC/0/50f32e52/XL/i-MbC7VPC-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MbC7VPC/0/50f32e52/XL/i-MbC7VPC-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div>The next time I do this, I will let the noodle sit for another 10-20 minutes. They were ok, but they absorbed more liquid from the sauce than I preferred.<br /><p>Here is a link to my one minute video of how to prepare this recipe. Enjoy!</p><p><iframe allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/10772572866_8pppDLs?width=640&height=360&albumId=257605443&albumKey=VvxcVX" width="640"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Spicy Peanut Shrimp Noodles</h3><p><b>Ingredients</b></p><p>12 oz dry noodles</p><p>1 large red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips then cut into 2-inch pieces</p><p>A handful of Shishito Peppers</p><p>1 cup sliced carrots</p><p>3/4 cup chopped green onions</p><p>Optional: Pre-cooked shrimp</p><p>Garnishes: Sesame seeds, cucumber slices, chopped peanuts</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sauce Ingredients</b></p><p>1/2 cup creamy peanut butter</p><p>1/4 cup warm water</p><p>3 Tbsp soy sauce</p><p>2 Tbsp honey</p><p>2 Tbsp Sriracha (more or less to taste)</p><p>2 Tbsp fresh lime juice</p><p>1 1/2 Tbsp peeled and minced fresh ginger</p><p>1 Tbsp minced garlic</p><p>1 Tbsp sesame oil</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Instructions</b></p><p>Cook pasta according to directions listed on package. </p><p>Prepare sauce by combining all sauce ingredients in a heavy pan, blending until smooth.</p><p>Add veggies.</p><p>Add pasta</p><p>Add shrimp</p><p>Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve. </p><br /><p><br /></p></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-85747092883279933612021-08-07T15:17:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:17:54.040-07:00 California Ballotmania<p></p><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> California Ballotmania</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vN3K3b3/0/01f16122/XL/i-vN3K3b3-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="477" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vN3K3b3/0/01f16122/XL/i-vN3K3b3-XL.jpg" width="477" /></a></div><br />Several years ago I wrote a blog post about an election in Nepal in which 139 people or parties were on the ballot. At the time I thought it was silly that so many people were on the ballot. Confusing choices between the Hammer and Sickle party or just the Sickle party or the Hammer party, Buffalo party and so on. At least <a href="https://www.roads2take.com/2013/11/election-season.html" target="_blank">there was a lot of excitement about the election</a>.<p></p><p>I should know better. I am from California. Here we have a system where you can become governor with only 10% of the people voting for you.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Here’s how to do it. </h3><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>After a general election, get 12% of the number of people who voted in that election to sign a recall petition.</li><li>Then for a small fee you can get your name on the ballot. </li><li>Make sure everyone knows how easy it is to get on the ballot, the more people on the ballot, the easier it is to win by only a few percentage points.</li><li>Get more votes than anyone else.</li></ol><p></p><p>The first page of this recall ballot is a binary choice: Shall the governor be recalled (removed) from the office? “Yes” or “No”.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-wKJJVzz/0/9d5bf8ec/XL/i-wKJJVzz-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="600" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-wKJJVzz/0/9d5bf8ec/XL/i-wKJJVzz-XL.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The other side of the ballot has the 46 candidates for the office. If the majority of voters choose to remove the governor, then one of these candidates will be the winner. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-z4RbmzW/0/88710bbd/XL/i-z4RbmzW-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="768" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-z4RbmzW/0/88710bbd/XL/i-z4RbmzW-XL.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: left;">There's no chance to narrow down the field or anything like that. Only a plurality of votes is required to select the winner. The governor is replaced by whoever gets that plurality, not the </span><b style="text-align: left;">majority!</b></div><p>For example, if each candidate received 2% of the vote that would be 92% of the total vote. In such a scenario, if one of those candidates had 10% of the vote, that person would then become the governor of California until the next general election. </p><p>If Caitlyn Jenner won the election, she would be sworn in 38 days after the vote, or on October 22nd. The next general election for the office would be 382 days later, on November 8, 2022.</p><p>The recall election will cost the tax payers $276 million. </p><p>The last, and probably most famous recall was of Governor Gray Davis. Arnold Schwarzenegger won the recall with 48.6% of the vote, far more than was required. This year there is no "big" standout name on the ballot. On CrowdWisdom.live, they report a majority favoring a recall, with 29 year old, YouTube personality Kevin Paffrath ahead of the pack with 27%.</p><p>All in all, it seems like a strange way to run the 5th largest economy in the world. <b>Yes, the world!</b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">*From Wikipedia: The economy of the State of California is the largest in the United States, boasting a $3.2 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2019. If California were a sovereign nation (2020), it would rank as the world's fifth largest economy, ahead of India and behind Germany.</div></blockquote>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-87514621371576325442021-07-24T12:05:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:49.828-07:00Spud in a Stew<h2 style="text-align: left;"> Spud in a Stew</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy25OaOQDHpY9U0ot2wjzQ_Qf9tnA9afkQTd47nSjwLwGdmihgRqJcU2Gn1triACHmyS8ADWsWIpSann4pjQqGy5yZG3Dw4037VBkAOkBNOShKIchTiFaBVuwAblYybtiXPqmS0fS7HGMQ/s639/IMG_1505.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="639" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy25OaOQDHpY9U0ot2wjzQ_Qf9tnA9afkQTd47nSjwLwGdmihgRqJcU2Gn1triACHmyS8ADWsWIpSann4pjQqGy5yZG3Dw4037VBkAOkBNOShKIchTiFaBVuwAblYybtiXPqmS0fS7HGMQ/s320/IMG_1505.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://www.townhousegardening.com/2021/03/the-spud-nik-that-fell-to-earth.html">Back in March</a> I wrote a post about a spoiled potato that I planted back into the earth. Large vines grew from the spud. Recently those vines started to die. I moved the fabric pot with the plant to a dry spot on the patio. Tonight I needed some potatoes for a beef stew. <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-sTf9XsM/0/f3bf13a4/XL/i-sTf9XsM-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-sTf9XsM/0/f3bf13a4/XL/i-sTf9XsM-XL.jpg" /></a></div><p>I only dug up half of the soil in the bag. I did not need all of the potatoes and the remaining spuds will store nicely in the dry soil for a while. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TXjTMVF/0/88a13722/XL/i-TXjTMVF-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-TXjTMVF/0/88a13722/XL/i-TXjTMVF-XL.jpg" title="[feature]" /></a></div><p></p><p>I only needed two pounds of potatoes for the stew. The potatoes I dug up were absolutely perfect. They cleaned up nicely for the stew. </p><p>My grandparents had a root cellar on the farm in Guelph, Ontario. For all of the cousins, it was easy to run up to the sloping roof of the building and access the ancient apple tree, or throw yourself off the side. The roof was tar covered, spongy under our bare feet, the tar between our toes gathering the pine needles until we had to pause to clean our feet with a stick.</p><p>For my grandmother, the root cellar was for storing potatoes. The first step with storing potatoes requires a curing period, a process that toughen up the skin, and sugars turn to starch. Then in the root cellar, potatoes can last for months. </p><p>I do not need a root cellar as the production at the TownHouse Garden is limited. We eat them fresh. The garden fresh potatoes are sweeter, and the skin is more delicate than store bought. They were a perfect addition to the stew. Pretty amazing when you consider that all of the potatoes started with a single spoiled spud in March. </p> <a href="https://macwillis.smugmug.com/Blog/Blog21/n-5mLSm8/i-MS29Q8k/A"><img alt="" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MS29Q8k/0/3a55430b/M/i-MS29Q8k-M.gif" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Recipe</h3><div><br /></div><div><b>Ingredients</b>:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Splash of olive oil </li><li>2 pounds stew meat, I like it chunky, but you might want to cut into bite size cubes </li><li>Salt and pepper, to taste </li><li>2 pound fresh potatoes, cut and quartered to small bites. </li><li>4 carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. I used a combination of fresh garden carrots and store bought mini carrots. </li><li>1 onion, diced </li><li>3 cloves garlic, minced </li><li>3 cups beef broth </li><li>1 6 oz can of tomato paste </li><li>1 teaspoon garden fresh thyme </li><li>1 teaspoon garden fresh rosemary </li><li>1 teaspoon paprika </li><li>1/4 cup arrowroot flour</li></ul></div><div><b>Directions</b>:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. </li><li>Season beef with salt and pepper, to taste. </li><li>Add beef to the skillet and cook until evenly browned, about 5 minutes. </li><li>Place beef, potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic into a 6-qt slow cooker. </li><li>Stir in beef broth, tomato paste, thyme, rosemary and paprika until well combined</li><li>Season again with salt and pepper, to taste. </li><li>Cover and cook on high heat for 6 hours. </li><li>In a small bowl, whisk together arrowroot and 1/2 cup stew broth. Arrowroot is twice as effective as regular flour. </li><li>Stir in arrowroot mixture into the slow cooker. </li><li>Cover and cook on high heat for an additional hour, or until thickened. </li><li>Ready to Serve, preferable with a thick slab of sourdough bread.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-75753739919272284402021-07-20T15:05:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:49.994-07:00Space Jam!<p>Then again, maybe not. Just trying to get your attention by using the name of a recent movie. However this is a post about making grape jam. </p><p>Many of us grew up with grape jelly, not jam. </p><p>On the rare occasion my family stopped to eat breakfast at a diner, I remembered the excitement of the jam lottery. What type of jam or jelly would you get with your toast? The waitress would reach down into her apron and throw onto the table a small container of either strawberry jam, grape jelly, or some mystery berry (not sure what that was!). I felt lucky if I got strawberry, and sometimes I would hit the jackpot if she dropped two packets on my plate. One package was barely enough to change the color of your toast, but two, I could make a delightful puddle of jam on the bread. I lost the lottery if I got grape jelly. Not a fan.</p><p>But here I am with a large abundance of grapes. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-89bCrfh/0/8a6e69f6/XL/i-89bCrfh-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-89bCrfh/0/8a6e69f6/XL/i-89bCrfh-XL.jpg" title="[feature]" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7n3C9tQ/0/e4f946cd/XL/i-7n3C9tQ-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7n3C9tQ/0/e4f946cd/XL/i-7n3C9tQ-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I have pounds of raisins, so I thought I would try making grape jam this week.</span></div><p>I found several recipes for grape jam online. Some recipes involved a food mill, but no mill here! Other recipes called for pounds of sugar. Nope. What I did come up with leaned heavily on a recipe by <a href="https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/easy-grape-jam/" target="_blank">Camilla Hawkins</a>, but without the two pounds of sugar she suggested.</p><p>I cleaned and removed the stems of about 2 lbs of Thompson Seedless (<i>not really seedless</i>) grapes from the backyard.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nW6zZ8d/0/0c6cf8dd/XL/i-nW6zZ8d-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-nW6zZ8d/0/0c6cf8dd/XL/i-nW6zZ8d-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Then slowly cooked the grapes with:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>2/3 cups of water</li><li>2/3 cups plus heaping tablespoon of sugar</li><li>1/3 cup of lime juice</li></ul><p></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7sNWFkB/0/635322df/XL/i-7sNWFkB-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7sNWFkB/0/635322df/XL/i-7sNWFkB-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>After twenty minutes, the grapes were soft. I used a potato masher to break them up. After the mashing was done, I used a stick blender to finish breaking the grapes.</p><p>I added 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of pectin and started boiling the mixture down.</p><a href="https://macwillis.smugmug.com/Blog/Blog21/n-5mLSm8/i-D85QqgW/A"><img alt="" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-D85QqgW/0/0f9f94a8/M/i-D85QqgW-M.gif" /></a><p>You'll note there are still seeds in the mix. I guess this was one of the attractions of Camilla's recipe which totally ignored seeds. It does make the end product a "preserve," not a "jam." The difference between the two? A jam contains just the fruit pulp, the preserves contains fruit chunks. Thompson Seedless are not really without seeds. They are just smaller, softer versions of their seedy cousins. When you eat a raisin, there are seeds hiding inside.</p><p>After 20 minutes of vigorous boiling, the temperature of the mixture approached 217 degrees. At that temperature the pectin forms a mesh which traps liquids, helping your mixture to jell as it cools.</p><p>I poured the hot mixture into two sterilized mason jars.</p><p>I had set the scale to zero with the weight of an empty jar. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-t2chjhZ/0/955e1f24/XL/i-t2chjhZ-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-t2chjhZ/0/955e1f24/XL/i-t2chjhZ-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>Then weighed one of my two jars filled with preserves:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pK6hm6m/0/1a423d78/XL/i-pK6hm6m-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-pK6hm6m/0/1a423d78/XL/i-pK6hm6m-XL.jpg" title="[feature]" /></a></div><p>So my two pounds of grapes made one pound of jam/preserves.</p><p>The next day the jam was ready for the taste test.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WH7kvRF/0/d935543d/XL/i-WH7kvRF-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WH7kvRF/0/d935543d/XL/i-WH7kvRF-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>The jam set really well and had a slightly tart taste. Maybe a tad more sugar, or less lime juice on the next try and it will be perfect. It was a very easy recipe to make and will get another visit.</p><p><br /></p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-64024957576105570212021-07-18T14:55:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:50.161-07:00The Oven is Dead. An Update on My One Pan Feta Cheese Dish<p>This is an update on the <a href="https://www.townhousegardening.com/2021/06/garden-fresh-to-plate-one-pan-feta-pasta.html" target="_blank">My One Pan Feta Cheese Dish</a></p><p>The oven is dead. It is only 47 years old, and I know my grandmother's wood stove oven on the farm in Canada lasted longer than that, but those new fangled things called thermostats on a gas stove don't last forever.</p><p>Fortunately we have a natural gas Weber grill in our courtyard. It has three burners, each with a separate control valve. This allows me to have a "cool" 350 degree oven heat for my banana bread, or blast it to 666 degrees for my pizzas. But for the feta cheese dish, I have been using a heavy sauce pan with a lid. Cooking the sauce at the lowest heat possible until it looks done. The slow cooking produces a nice aroma in the kitchen and smells like you are working really hard on a culinary masterpiece.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xV6BJCp/0/5353cd12/XL/i-xV6BJCp-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xV6BJCp/0/5353cd12/XL/i-xV6BJCp-XL.jpg" title="[feature]" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I have been harvesting at least 2 pounds of cherry tomatoes from the five Burpee Sweet 100 plants I have on the back patio. I have been very saucy, trying to keep up with the supply.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xHTB8FD/0/c403648c/XL/i-xHTB8FD-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xHTB8FD/0/c403648c/XL/i-xHTB8FD-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9bRS2Bf/0/ebcdfe96/XL/i-9bRS2Bf-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9bRS2Bf/0/ebcdfe96/XL/i-9bRS2Bf-XL.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p>I used 630 grams of tomatoes for the sauce recipe. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5kZX6t8/0/b613847b/XL/i-5kZX6t8-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5kZX6t8/0/b613847b/XL/i-5kZX6t8-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The completed sauce will rest in the freezer until we need it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GRbqVRp/0/250fd8b3/XL/i-GRbqVRp-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-GRbqVRp/0/250fd8b3/XL/i-GRbqVRp-XL.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>This super easy to make and I am sure it will taste garden fresh for months to come. The recipe can be found here: <a href="https://www.townhousegardening.com/2021/06/garden-fresh-to-plate-one-pan-feta-pasta.html" target="_blank">My One Pan Feta Cheese Dish</a></p>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698932692372848485.post-21871900286031792062021-07-16T15:13:00.000-07:002022-10-15T16:12:50.326-07:00Bee Little, Bee Good<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JkG53kF/0/b20ab898/XL/i-JkG53kF-XL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JkG53kF/0/b20ab898/XL/i-JkG53kF-XL.jpg" title="[feature]" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Bee Little, Bee Good </h2><div>I was reclined in one of my favorite locations, the chaise lounge on the back patio. Watching the tomatoes turn red, the bean vines twist, and the birds hop through the branches. Well actually, maybe Thoreau would have done that at Walden Pond. But I was one wink away from my true devotion, a nap.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I heard a buzz. With age comes wisdom, and also the keen sense to differentiate between buzz types. A fly? Then swing away like a horse's tail. You will not hit the fly, but maybe it will look for a softer target. A mosquito? Use your spidey senses, echo locate to the last heard location, and open you eyes just a little to confirm. Then order your hand to kill!</div><div><br /></div><div>But this buzz was a bee, in which case stillness is the appropriate action. As I was in a prone position, I was going to lay very still, very quiet. </div><div><br /></div><div>The bee landed on my chin. By the weight of the landing, I knew it was not a bumble bee. As I said, with age comes wisdom and not only do I have lots of prior bee experience, I also have a great deal of age.</div><div><br /></div><div>I kept my eyes closed. The bee walked up my chin and paused on my lips. The thought passed through my mind, "What does a bee taste like?" My first job in education was as a camp instructor in the mountains near my school district. We would take six grade students from opposite ends of the district and mix them together for a week in the woods. Each week, at the end of a long "survival" hike, I would stop at a decaying log, open it up, pull out a really fat termite and eat it. The students would always run back to the camp. </div><div><br /></div><div>Termites do taste like shrimp. I speculated a honey bee would be sweeter. Its close proximity to honey, and with a covering of pollen, would surely make it a "super" food. Any tasty pleasure that gave would be short lived if the barbed stinger was stuck into my tongue by an angry Ahab, one last act of vengeance by the tiny bee against the giant monster (me!).</div><div><br /></div><div>I let my epicurean chance slip by as the bee moved further up my face. It paused on my upper lip, as if carefully choosing its next action, "Door number one, or door number two?" I could feel the antennae check each opening. The twin caves of my nose were irresistible. It entered the left nostril.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now the boyhood entomologist kicked in. I had not seen this bee. Was it a honeybee, looking for pollen. Did I snort up pollen while working in the garden this morning? Or was it a solitary bee, the type that creates a tunnel in the ground to lay it eggs. The eggs feeding on the soft pollen left behind by the adult.</div><div><br /></div><div>I let you know if I feel anything crawling around in there.</div>B Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04071451990519271817noreply@blogger.com0