Many Miles Later...

I had an extended weekend trip up to see my family, and in four days managed to fit in time both at my brother's house and at Mom & Dad's, see old friends and meet new babies, and explore a part of the world I hadn't been to before. Me, Tighe, Mom and Dad spent Monday and Tuesday south of Lewiston, Idaho, actually ending up a few miles into the northeastern corner of Oregon, in a very remote and cut-off area. We hiked up the Wenaha River on Monday, putting in 8.5 miles and seeing lots of wildflowers, butterflies, and incredible scenery. We napped in the sun at our cushy, grassy lunch spot on the banks of the river, and even got to watch a couple groups of bighorn sheep climbing around on the basalt cliffs high above us. We spent the night at a cabin on the Grande Ronde River, and had a delicious cook-out dinner. Due to a miscommunication, we had been under the impression that the cabin had a kitchen in it; in reality, it had only a sink and microwave. We had not packed stove nor dishes with which to cook/eat our salad, potatoes and pork chops, so we improvised. Firewood was gathered at the trailhead and strapped onto the top of the car for the drive back to the cabin, a fire was built in a fire-ring at the edge of the river, potatoes were cooked in the microwave, salad eaten from the bag it was packed in, and pork chops cut into cubes, tossed in spices, and roasted on sticks over the fire, marshmallow-style. We all agreed that it all probably tasted much better than it would have cooked on a stove, and we also got to spend a beautiful evening sitting around the fire, eating with our fingers, which is pretty much the most satisfying way to end a day of hiking anyway.

 Off-trail botanizing. This happens a lot with my family, as does butterfly-chasing and birdwatching.

On Tuesday morning we hiked another four miles in a wildlife area in the higher country 15 miles away, and then drove back to Spokane in time to have dinner with Lisia before I had to catch my plane home. It all went by far to fast, but it was the first time in years that the four of us went on an overnight road trip together. Also I got my first sunburn of the year, and many fun memories were made.

At the Garden

After work on Monday, I biked over to the garden and did my first planting of the season. It was the day after St. Patrick's Day, so I planted potatoes! Really just two of them, because my space is so limited- but I have to have at least a few new potatoes to dig up. I am trying a new-to-me variety this year, Red La Sodas.
I also planted turnips and radishes and beets, and did a bunch of cleaning up of my plot. It felt so good to get out and till things up, and pull (numerous) weeds, and tidy up all the chunks of cardboard that started out as mulch and then disintegrated and blew around everywhere and made it look a mess. It was a lovely evening, warm until the sun went down, then freezing. It was the first time I'd been able to go to the garden after work, thanks to Daylight Savings- now it stays light past 7 PM!

I officially finished the term last night with my last exam, and tomorrow night I'm off to visit my family for several days, do some hiking, and revel in not having to think about school for the next two and a half weeks.  Happy spring!
 

Around Here Lately

I feel like without a full-on garden or animals or much space, I don't have nearly as much to write about as I used to. I miss the chickens like crazy some days. And the fresh, beautiful eggs. Someday again I will have that. But for now, I am valuing the simplicity of my life on my own. As I told my parents a couple nights ago, there is something very comforting and liberating about having your entire life contained within a 600 square foot area. All of my things fit in my apartment (even if they're wedged in weird corners), I have pared things down so I have only what I love and use, and I don't have anything tying me down (lease aside). I can be content and comfortable, but not feel trapped in any way by pets, gardens, or other obligations. Much as I love those things, right now it's nice to feel free.

My life is filled with simple meals, I'm getting a lot of joy out of cooking and getting creative with it (which is really just a fancy way of saying I'm seeing how far I can stretch my budget). It's been fun to be more aware of how one tasty ingredient can make an entire meal feel special. The other night, I splurged on a bunch of fresh cilantro at the store, and heaped up that night's simple tacos with it- that fresh tanginess makes so much difference. I've been on a major broccoli kick this winter, and last week I branched out from my usual steamed broccoli and chopped some up fine and put it in a quiche.

My space is small, so my chores are pretty simple. A good sweeping once a week is usually all that's necessary, and most of the time I do the dishes regularly, and wipe down the counters. On weekends I give the bathroom a once-over and take out the garbage and recycling. Often I can go two weeks before my kitchen trash bag is full. Lately I've had to put food scraps in the garbage, which feels terrible- but I accidentally overfed my worm bin so I'm giving them a  chance to catch up and eat everything that's already in there before I add more.

As one person, I can usually go two weeks between loads of laundry (the trick is to have enough socks and underwear to last that long). I only use the dryer if there are sheets or towels to dry, otherwise everything goes on racks in front of the heater.

I've got a new knitting project on my needles, the most complicated thing I've attempted yet. I'll get it up on Ravelry one of these days. I have another cotton dishcloth going too, small and quick. It's easier to do a few rows of that when I have a couple minutes to kill but don't want to pay close attention to what I'm doing.

On Friday night I broke out the potting soil again and got my tomatoes, peppers, brassicas, and flowers started under the lights. I forgot that I was out of planting tags, and went rifling through the cupboards to see if I had anything that would suffice- turns out a container like this one converts into tags perfectly:

Last but never least, I had my first dinner of microgreens last week! They've been growing away in their tray, and I cut off a pile to have with potatoes one night. I ate them plain and with my fingers- so delightful!

Spring Has Sprung!

I've just spent the last 5 hours in a computer lab, finishing up a big term paper and presentation. So close to the end of the quarter. Another week and a half and I'm done. As soon as I've written this, I'll be back out in the sunshine. It is gorgeous out today, and being stuck in here doing homework was pure torture. I rode my bike to campus today though, on the trail along the river in the bright sunshine. Having finished the paper (ok, just a solid draft. Still lots of work to do), my reward is the beautiful ride home.

Yesterday was just as lovely as today, and when I got home in the afternoon I went for a walk around the neighborhood with my camera, on a treasure hunt for springtime. And I found it!

Look at the fuzzy buds! Look at that sky! 

Leaves! Leavesleavesleavesleavesleaves! 

I've been walking past this tree every few days, waiting for those buds to burst open. Yesterday was the day! So much beauty. Nature does it best.  

 Spring projects getting underway down the street.

An early tulip- the only one I saw. 

After many months of waiting, it's here. Spring is here! Bright happy daffodils everywhere, and tomorrow is daylight savings! I'm SO glad (can you tell? I might not have used enough exclamation points). 

Easy Potato-Vegetable Fritters

This is an easy meal I've been making recently. I discovered the world of fritters while living in New Zealand. I'm calling them fritters, but they go by lots of other names too. I had eaten potato latkes before, but New Zealand was the first place I was introduced to the idea of making them with other kinds of vegetables. It's fairly crucial to have potatoes (or sweet potatoes) and onions involved, but in addition you can use any vegetables that are good for roasting. Shredded cheese makes a really nice addition too, and you could add in bacon or chopped sausage if you want to get really fancy. You can make a similar dish using mashed potatoes, but I think the texture with shredded ones is much better. Last week I made some using a bunch of frozen shredded zuchinni that I had in the freezer. Here is my basic recipe (this makes about six medium-sized fritters):

Shred in a food processor:

1 1/2 cup vegetables (zucchini, carrot, parsnip, kale, etc)
3 medium potatoes
1/4 onion

Mix together in a bowl, salt lightly and let sit for about five minutes. This will draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Use your hands to squeeze out the liquid, and drain it off. Put the veggies back in the bowl. This step is crucial- if you don't get rid of the liquid, you'll end up with soggy fritters.

Next, add one egg and 1/2 cup of flour.

Mix thoroughly. Heat a skillet with a couple tablespoons of a good frying oil in it. I use canola oil, it has a high flash point so it's good for frying at high heat. Spoon the mixture into pan and use the spoon to flatten it into pancake shapes. Fry at medium to high heat until the fritters are nice and brown on both sides.

They're delicious just with butter and salt and pepper, but I also really like them with horseradish for a topping. These take about twenty minutes from start to finish, they're a tasty and quick meal and a good way to use up any random veggies you happen to have in the fridge.

Garden Beginnings

It's almost that time of year. I'm restraining myself this year when it comes to starting my veggies for the garden, since I massively jumped the gun last year and learned my lesson. But still! There are crocuses and daffodils blooming in this town, so surely it's nearly time for planting (never mind that it's 45 degrees and raining sideways).

Monday was a holiday, so I had an extra day of weekend to dream about garden things. On Sunday night I sprawled out on the floor with my dinner, box of seeds, and some handy engineering paper left over from my biostats class, mapping out what/where I will plant things this spring.

I am forcing myself to hold off till early March before starting my tomatoes and peppers, but on Monday morning I planted a flat of greens that I can harvest straight from the tray, just to start something growing! I rigged up the lights under the table, and got the timer set up to keep the light on 16 hours a day, and put my tray down there in its artificial sun to start growing.

The blanket is to insulate the trays from the floor, which gets quite cold. 

And, a few days later....

Sprouts! I planted a mix of greens: arugula, mizuna, bok choy, and miners lettuce.

On Monday afternoon the weather was cold and clear, and I biked up to the community garden to check in on my plot and harvest a big bag of chard. The poor plot has been pretty neglected this winter. Since the beginning of November, I haven't done anything but turn up every few weeks to cut a bunch of chard. 

A bit weedy.

Turns out planting leeks from starts, even at the beginning of September, doesn't mean they'll grow rapidly through the winter! They've grown, but not much. Oh well, I'll just let them keep going and once the weather warms up they should get a growth spurt. 

The parsnips have been growing decently well, but are a little overrun with weeds. There's no telling what's going on beneath the surface though- last summer the garden had a healthy gopher population so they could very well be nibbling away on the roots...

The cover crops seem to have been doing well- this vetch is looking healthy.

I had plenty of time, so I weeded the chard and leeks and parsnips, and it felt SO good to get my hands in dirt again. This time of anticipation is so much fun- plotting and planning and deciding what to plant. Everything is so full of potential. I am excited to see what my plot looks like this summer. I'm also going to do a few pots of herbs and flowers outside my apartment, to see how things do there, and ideally to have some fresh herbs available to cook with.

 Looking a little tidier after weeding. The chard hasn't gotten huge, but has been growing steadily all winter. I'll just leave it growing for as long as it will produce. I can't get enough of it, and it helps me keep up with the dietary recommendation for lots of dark green vegetables (multicolored stems notwithstanding...)

Because of the limited space I decided not to plant any squash this year. It's easy to come by delicious, cheap, locally grown summer and winter squash in Portland, and since it takes up so much space it's not really worth it for me to grow it. I'm only going to do a few potato plants for the same reason. I LOVE new potatoes, so I'll plant a few early in March to satisfy that particular craving, but after that I can get them at the farmer's market. In the winter, I get potatoes from the Grocery Outlet store. They carry bags of Oregon-grown organic potatoes for very good prices. Potatoes are on the dirty dozen so I only get organic ones, and it breaks the bank to buy them from trendy, upmarket places when it's not farmer's market season. 

Fellow gardeners- what are you planning to grow this year?