Life is just a (giant) bowl of cherries.

The cherry harvest has begun. Oh. my. God. There are so many cherries. I knew there were a lot of cherries on that tree, but I had no idea. I was actually worried to begin that we wouldn't be able to reach so many of them because the tree is too tall and our ladder is too short. I had no reason to worry. One afternoon of picking cherries, mostly from what we could reach on our own, and some from a ladder yielded a gigantic bowl of cherries. It must be about 10 or 12 pounds. I really should get a scale. I even thought this bowl would go fast....but it's not.

Anyway, I should start at the beginning. We finally figured out the variety of cherry we have. It's a Montmorency cherry, which is one of the most popular sour cherries for pies and preserves. It's not that sour though, just a little tart. You can still eat them on their own and they are tasty.

On Sunday afternoon I went outside and starting picking with wild abandon; I wanted to get all the ripe cherries off the tree that I could. Then I would just start canning it and making pies, right?

On Monday I rushed out in the morning to get on the canning wagon and got myself a book, The Complete Book of Home Preserving, and a set of canning supplies including a gigantic stock pot that fits over two stovetop burners with a wire jar-holder thing, a jar lifter, jars, some cheesecloth, some pectin and a cherry pitter.

Cherry pitters are like the coolest thing ever. Last summer Mike and I went to a u-pick cherry farm and we pitted our cherries with a nail. This is way better.

I decided to start off with some jam. It seemed like the easiest thing to make given that this is my first try at canning and preserving. I pitted the cherries needed for the recipe and only then realized just how many cherries we had. I still have all the cherries on the left sitting in my fridge waiting for me to do something with them. It only took the little bit on the right to make 5 - 8 ounce jars of jam.

And then there was jam.

Today I need to get back in there before the cherries go bad and make a pie....and I think I'm going to make a big batch of pie filling and can that for later. Suddenly my life went from spending three hours in the kitchen everyday to six. Sheesh.

As a side note, Mike just came in the house with one of the “apricots” and said they are starting to turn red and he thinks they are red plums. Or maybe they are nectarines. We just don't know. You will have to come back for the exciting conclusion. It might take a couple months though.....I can hardly wait!

Apricots?!

No one knew what the fruit trees were on the lot when I bought the house. We knew they were fruit trees, but didn't know what for sure. We figured out the pear and the apple pretty quickly and I think we found some cherry pits on the ground around the cherry tree, and the last we assumed was a plum tree. It looked kinda like a plum tree and the plum trees at the Food Bank garden seemed to confirm this. They were growing about the same rate, in about the same pattern. So, we figured apple, pear, cherry and plum.

Well, as time has passed those plums aren't turning very purple. In fact, they are starting to look an awful lot like apricots. I do believe we have an apricot tree on our hands.

The cherry tree is really just about ready to start harvesting. We have been able to eat a few of the cherries right off the tree and they are pretty gosh-darn tasty. They aren't any Bing cherry.....but, that's OK.

Canning.

I was all set to sit down and do some research and write an entry on canning and food preservation. It's getting to be about that time already. The cherry tree is turning deeper shades of yellow-orange-red every day, we just put the remainder of the spinach in the freezer (incorrectly, mind you), and the kale is starting to bolt as well. In another month I'll probably be knee deep in zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers too. It's time to figure out how to preserve my food.

After just throwing some spinach in the freezer I discovered that it really is best to blanch it first. This stops the enzymes that causes the plant to basically keep aging. It will lose flavor and texture if you freeze it without blanching. Oopsie. Well, I'm learning as I go. Here's a handy reference for various vegetables.

As far as canning is concerned I am just about as inexperienced as with freezing. I preserved apples once and canned them in a water bath. But that's it. I went to one of the blogs I am subscribed to this morning though, and they had already written a really great entry on canning with lots of helpful links. They are based in LA and are a couple months ahead of me harvest-wise and already knee deep in vegetables.

I think I'm going to get a food preservation book this week. And I have a feeling I am going to spend a good chunk of my summer slaving over a boiling stovetop...

Green harvest.

We had a good haul today. Harvested from the garden this afternoon:

• 1 head Romaine lettuce

• 1 head Salad Bowl lettuce

• oodles of green onions

• 2 heads broccoli

And the other day we harvested another batch of sugar snap peas and we got our first good batch of shelling peas!

Planted in the garden today:

• 1 row Dragon Tongue beans

• 1 row Empress green beans

• 4 pepper starts (bell and chile)

Tech + Handmade.

While I was on my trip I finished two knitting projects. These are the first two projects I have ever completed. One was a baby blanket. It took a long time, and halfway through it caused me to almost swear off knitting forever. But I persevered. And then I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it away. My bad.

I also upgraded my cell phone and I didn't want to just throw my new fancy phone in my bag to make friends with my keys and other scratchy things like I did with my last phone. So, I knitted a cell phone case. It's small, so it only took two days, but it was the first time I had sewn a seam, or a button, or velcro. I'm pretty proud of it. Plus, I didn't spend $25 on a plastic case. I spent $5 on materials for a handmade one.

My mom and I stopped by a Michael's while we were out one day so I could pick up some velcro and a decorative button. Did you know that Michael's doesn't have buttons? Not really. They have some bags of kitschy, novelty buttons, but they don't have a button section. What kind of craft store doesn't have a button section?! It worked out for the best though because my mom said that she thought she had my grandmother's old jar of buttons. And she did.

I remember being a little kid and dumping out the big jar of buttons and playing with them at the dining room table. Organizing them, inspecting them, dumping them into and out of the jar. It's amazing what will entertain a child. I'm very happy now that I get to carry around one of my grandma's buttons all the time. I get to take that memory with me wherever I go.

Colorado gardens and riding in the rain.

In Colorado I went to visit my brother and his very pregnant wife. I'm happy to say as of this morning she is no longer pregnant. Hooray!

When we pulled up and I saw their yard and garden I was so sad. I was sad because I want my yard to look like that. Only remembering that they have lived in that house for eight years and I have only lived in my house for eight months assuaged my disappointment in my home. The front yard is just adorable and I love their selection of flowers. I am going to follow their lead and at some point put in irises, catnip and poppies. It made the house so inviting.

In the back they have some nice raised bed with lots of peppers, lettuce and hops growing. I'm really jealous of the peppers. We don't get enough sun in Oregon to get the peppers going properly, even though I am going to try.

The backyard itself is an oasis. I hope my yard will be like this someday, instead of just looking out on the street through the chain-link fence. I guess get back to me in eight years and we'll see where I'm at.

I also went to my family reunion in Colorado. There was tons of family fun and my dad and I went horseback riding. We scheduled the trip a couple days in advance, and the day of it was cold and raining. Pretty standard Portland weather, but I wasn't packed for it. After much debate, given late nights the night before for the both of us, we decided to go ahead with it. The other group who was going to do the ride cancelled because of the rain, so it was just me, my dad and the wrangler. Pretty cool. Despite nearly freezing my hands and thighs off it was an awesome experience. We rode right through the middle of a herd of elk, which you could never do on foot. It was like we were one of them. Just a slightly taller four-legged friend.

When I was a kid I never really understood why people drove cars. Even back in the 80's all you ever heard was holes in the ozone layer, carbon emissions, recycle, drive less, etc. As a kid hearing that I didn't understand why we didn't just start riding horses again. Obviously, this presents an issue in the city and you can't go as fast or as far. But, you know what? Riding a horse is fun. One of my concerns about ever moving to the country is that I would be dependent on a car again to get me anywhere. But, this trip reminded me about horses. So, if I ever move to the country I'm going to be that crazy lady who rides her horse to the market.

Texas gardens, part deux

I had the chance to visit a friend's garden in Austin. I was really looking forward to seeing it, as she has also been keeping a photographic log of her garden's progress online. She and her husband just built their first raised beds this year and are having their first real garden. On my way over to their house, however, one of those legendary Texas thunderstorms rolled into town. I was hoping that I would get to see a thunderstorm while I was there. We just don't get those in Oregon. It rains, but it doesn't really storm. There is something awesome about seeing it go from blue skies to green skies in a matter of minutes. I remember as a kid looking across our yard (which was a pretty good distance) and actually seeing the rain line start at the other end and rush towards me. It's exhilarating.

So, one part of me was happy and excited to get to be in a thunderstorm, but another part was really sad because I didn't get to see the garden. As I pulled up to their house the first raindrops fell. By the time I got to the front door it was a downpour. I did see the garden from the window though, and it looked very nice. I encourage you to check out her photographic progress on her blog, KAJ Photography.

The garden goes on without me.

Well, I'm back. In my time away I got to visit a few friends' and family's gardens. I spent almost the entire time out of the kitchen (with the exception of making my now patented guacamole). I flew 3,000 miles and drove over 1,000. With my first day back in Portland I am jumping back into it with lots of veggie harvesting, weed pulling, garden cleaning, baking and cooking.

I'll have to write about my travels later as my garden exploded while I was gone!

Have you ever seen spinach bolt? Neither had I. Check it out. Aaaah!

I spent this afternoon pulling all the giant spinach stalks out of the garden and harvesting the leaves I could. This gave me two giant bowls packed full of spinach, most of which I am going to freeze to enjoy over the summer. Mike already harvested and froze another giant bag of spinach while I was gone.

There are broccolis now! I find the broccoli plants a little annoying, because for the little heads that are on it right now the plants are about 20 times bigger. I'm hoping the harvest from these guys is worth the space they take up.

There are tomato flowers!

I need to find a recipe for chard soon.

The carrot tops look like real carrot tops now instead of whispy little weeds like they did before I left.

Lettuces are doing great. We are going to have to start having salads more often.

The peas are perhaps the most exciting. Before I left they were just starting to grow and I was afraid I would miss out on all the fresh peas. Boy, was I wrong. There is a container in the freezer already of fresh picked peas from when I was gone, and I went out today and harvested another big batch. I ate one and just about fell over. It was one of those moments when you realize you have never had a pea before in your entire life. You have only had some bastardized, dumbed-down version of a pea that is a mass produced and sold in a bag. My eyes have been opened. I love peas.

Some of the cherries are already starting to turn red. We think they might be Rainier cherries, which is a little disappointing since we both love Bing cherries. Damn.

The herbs are taking off and doing well.

Look, ma! My cilantro is big!

I'm going to have to make some Mexican food soon so I can put some more seed in the pot. Is there a Mexican dish with chard, spinach and peas? Hmmm....

I'm especially happy to be home because I get to see this every day again.

Until next time when I will cover Texas Gardens: part deux, Colorado gardens and riding horses is the rain.

Texas gardens, Part One.

I'm in my childhood home in Texas this week. It's really hot here and my body didn't have the time to adjust to the season, so I'm just sweating....a lot. Since my mom and I live so far apart I decided to send her some seeds so we could grow the same thing together, albeit 2,000 miles apart. I sent a package of cilantro seeds last month and she planted them last week, just in time for them to sprout the day I got here.

I learned some really interesting things about cilantro when I read this article. Did you know cilantro and coriander are the same thing? I had no idea! Cilantro is one of my favorite things. I think it feels like a little burst of fresh air in your mouth, although others will say it tastes like soap. I recommend you stay away from those people. Cilantro is also the most cost-effective plant you can put in your garden. The space vs. yield vs. market cost of cilantro puts it at the top of the most frugal things you can grow yourself, which makes me doubly happy.

Last year my mom started an herb garden, which I think is lovely. There are three rosemary bushes along the back, two oregano plants, a basil and two mints. The cilantro will be added in this summer. The rosemary has done exceedingly well. Rosemary is an amazing herb. It grows into a giant bush and it's really, really hard to kill. They seem to do well in almost any environment with little care.

Another thing I love about it here is no neighbors. I am pretty self-conscious about my neighbors watching me do things, which probably has something to do with growing up where that was never an issue. I love living in the city and being able to walk places and not have to worry about having a car, but there is something to be said about living in the country where you can go outside in your pajamas to take picture of plants and not have to feel silly (my neighbors in Portland must think I'm crazy, always taking photos of spinach).

Just look at this - the neighbors are trees! There's no one there; breathe a sigh of relief. The only person looking at you right now is a deer.

Oh, and that dog.