Tag Archives: herbs

14 July 2014 Garden Photos

Bill and I left town for about two weeks. When we came back, our garden had gone kind of wild. Others were watering for us, and may have harvested a few things. I don’t know. I did, however, take a bunch of photos. There’s a sample below, including a tomato I’d like diagnosed, please! If you’d like to see more, just click through any photo to get to the image within the flickr set & poke around!

After we took all these photos, we went to dinner. Then we came back and harvested a ton of green bell peppers. I’m going to demand Jen share her stuffed pepper recipe.… Continue reading →

More Garden Photos

On Sunday, I called my father and he accused me of only calling out of “an overdeveloped sense of obligation.” This was a load of crap, of course. I called him out of a perfectly tuned sense of obligation. Eventually, we both agreed we could maybe call one another more often.

Then he asked for garden photos and I said he clearly wasn’t reading my blog. To which he admitted, but then pointed out I could be more aggressive about sharing. So, I’ll do that. And I’ll put up a few more photos, because I love him and I think he’d enjoy them. Also, because I enjoy sharing them.

This isn’t my usual view walking in, as I tend to enter from the southwest, not the east.… Continue reading →

Gardening 2014

I’ve started a bit of gardening again. Previously, I’ve done kind of a lot of container gardening, but I’ve been pretty clear that it’s more for the joy I find in growing things than any sort of self-sufficiency. This is pretty good, because sometimes I only get three tiny tomatoes.

But I’ve taken to gardening on a larger scale. Sort of. I got a plot in a community garden near-ish my home. And then I promptly agreed to share it with a new friend, John. John promptly filled his half of the plot with tomatoes, peppers and basil.

My half of the plot promptly got a couple of mustard greens. And the sage cut back dramatically. But it still basically looks like this:

My friend Toni has sent me some seeds, as a gift.… Continue reading →

Pinch Spice Market

I don’t know when we discovered Pinch Spice Market, but I’m really glad we did. It’s a great little business here in Chicago, on Milwaukee Avenue, maybe half a blog away from the Western-O’Hare Blue line stop. More importantly, it’s near Ipsento Coffee, which is where Bill is getting most of his coffee beans right now, so it’s a great place that’s conveniently located for us. Though, to be honest, I love the place so much I now go buy my spices there whether we’re going to Ipsento or not.

My Chicago readers need to check this place out. The selection is good, the interior gorgeous, and most importantly the proprietors, Mike and Shoebocks1, are incredibly friendly and helpful. Not only are they quick to help find a spice or fill an order, they’re happy to answer any question, or even just chat for a bit.… Continue reading →

My “garden”

One of the things I wanted to commit to this year was growing a little of my own food. I had these great intentions, back in December, of finding and participating in a community garden.

Then, in January, I got caught up in life, the universe and everything. And also a comunity market that’s stolen my heart (and free time) Thoughts of joining a community garden persisted, but weren’t really acted on.

Well, that didn’t change my desire to grow something for Bill & I to eat. It just limited what I could do. We’ve areas that are not impossible to grow on, but it’s a challenge. We have a small balcony & some large windowsills. The windowsills face south & east, the two best directions, I’m told.… Continue reading →