Friday, July 31, 2009

Back in the South

Hi guys,
just a quick note to let you all know we got back safe and sound. We're still a bit tired, but overall - getting back in the groove.
I picked produce in the garden today, and got flooded with tomatoes... many were splitting and rotting on the vine... Eggplants have tons of flies of some sort on them - I think I will have to spray them with neem oil... maybe early monday morning, if it's not gonna be extremely hot that day.

I still have a LOT of pictures I want to share with you, but have not gotten my computer fixed yet.
It's a bummer.

More to come, as I settle back in:)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Computer trouble

Sorry Folks for not posting much here lately. Besides having a lot to do and finding very little time to sit down to write - my computers USB ports are not working any more. For a while I was able to still download pictures even though memory sticks didn't work in the ports, but now my little photo transfer gadget doesn't work in them either. Such a bummer. I suppose it is time to do something about it...

until then - enjoy the summer and any goodies you can get from your gardens, or your local farmers market. I have some great pix from Farmers market in Tartu, Estonia I'd like to share with you eventually... we've had some fresh salted/pickled cucumbers, chanterells, wild blueberries, fresh peas and strawberries from there... first early local potatoes are out in the markets, and we've eaten ourselves silly with black bread and hazelnut yogurt...

See you all soon!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Sweet Home Estonia: My Mother's Garden

So we made it to my homeland safe and sound. We almost missed a flight... but lets not think about that again:) We spent a few days in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, had some good times with my friends, but Tallinn is waaayyyyy too busy for me... well, we all concluded that.
As soon as we got off the train in Püssi, the town near my home village, the peace and quiet was such a sweet reward to all the travel troubles. My dad picked us up, and brought us home where mom had cooked up some hot boiled potatoes, and pork. Yummy!!!! Of course, there was plenty of beer and vodka for the grownups.
Our email is semi working - we are able to receive emails but not send them, so please bear with us.
For right now I wanted to share some pictures of my parents home and my mom's garden. Mom and I spent half a day weeding and dead heading flower beds. We have a big family reunion coming up, so there is a lot to do.
The summer has been rainy and cold. vegetables are not doing the best they could... more pictures of those later.
This is the view towards the creek where we loved to play in as kids. There are still two old apple trees - great climbing trees for Lyza and Andreas, marking a time when the vegetable garden used to be covering most of this lawn. I remember this place as a wonderful jungle! Our play house used to be there, pea trellises, tulip and daffodil beds... I remember picking cabbage worms off cabbages as a form of pest control... now it's a place for family gatherings and grilling out.
The house on the right is the house I grew up in. The house on the left is my brothers new home. The flag pole is in the center, surrounded by flowers.
Ain't it purty?!
And of course, a very important feature of an Estonian country life -the outhouse. In this case - it's next to the garage/dad's work room/root cellar. The outhouse has moved more than once also during my lifetime.
Well, another day has passed. The sun is setting behind the church tower in the village, it's almost midnight.

Monday, June 22, 2009

What the World Eats

Check this out!

Do people REALLY drink that much bottled stuff in a week?!?!?!?
And the amount of prepackaged foods on the tables is astonishing to me...
What would YOUR weekly spread look like?

Thursday, June 18, 2009

MORE WORMS

On June 4th, STARworks Garden hosted another worm workshop on STARworks premises. 
2 groups of fourth graders gathered under the shade of the big oak trees in front of STARworks building. 44 children!
Mrs. Lamonds had kept a worm bin in the classroom all year and her students had taken care of the worms - feeding them and learning about their behavior. Now it was time to harvest the castings, or "vermicompost". Kids took turns separating worms from castings and walking on our brand new walking trail. One of the boys said that he ran 16 laps - that's 2 miles! 
Here is Melanie Lamonds with a group of fourth graders sorting out the worms.
After harvesting the castings, Mrs. Lamonds' and Mrs. Comer's classes each started a new bin - with shredded newspaper, some compost from the old bins, and a bunch of worms. We also went to check on the flower bed that the kids planted a little more than a month ago. They recognized some plants, marveled over the height of the sunflowers, and checked the little watermelons that had started to form. Yesterday when I looked at the plants - the sunflowers were blooming, and some of the watermelons are about 4 inches in diameter! I can't wait for those kids to come back to the garden when school starts, to taste the fruits of their seeds!