What now?

There are some nice surprises when you buy a neglected house and start to dig out the overgrowth. Peony shoots pushing up under piles of dead leaves and pine needles. Looking deep underneath the backyard trees, and seeing the buds of giant purple Star of Persia alliums.

On the other hand, there is the "hellstrip." The impossible to landscape strip between the street and the sidewalk that bakes and scorches all summer. Neighbors told us that one owner had hand-picked river rocks and placed them between ornamental ground cover along the whole strip, and carefully maintained it.

That was a long time ago. Now there is close to 80 feet of this.

"Roundup, Roundup, Roundup and repeat," one neighbor suggested. I think that purposely using Roundup is one of the things we will have to answer for in the afterlife. But after seeing the alternative, I will never judge another person for using it.

I got down on my hands and knees, and dug up every one of these rocks by hand.

In between, I looked on the computer and found great ideas for xeriscaping the hellstrip. I got inspired to divide and transplant some of the xeric plantings in the backyard, and create the first beautiful waterwise hellstrip in the neighborhood.

Then I thought about how quickly well-intentioned xeriscaping becomes scraggly late-August-highway-median in the hands of someone like me with no knowledge or money. And I balked. D. pointed out that there is probably a reason that even neighbors with nice yards have hellstrips with patches of browning grass, or boring stretches of tidy rocks.

So I think we are going to take out the weeds, level the dirt, lay down a weed barrier, and put rocks on top. Smaller rocks, with fewer gaps for weeds. We will still have to pull the occasional weed, but there will be no Roundup. And the beautiful river rocks can be saved for another day and another part of the yard.

April 22

Turkey and bean roll-ups on a whole wheat tortilla; cucumber and cheddar shapes; clementines, grapes and snap peas; carrot pumpkin muffin. I love the graceful seed patterns in the cucumbers, and the inside of the peapod.

April 21

April 20

It kept snowing all day Saturday, for a total of 14 inches. By Sunday evening, the garden looked like this.

Two feet of snow already melted, and the only casualty was a couple of toppled pea-brush twigs

This is peas and spinach-mustard, but even the tiny mesclun transplants popped right back up.

Today's lunch:

The baby bok choi at the grocery store was so beautiful that I got some seeds. They took awhile to germinate, but they are finally growing under the lights. We'll see how they do. I took some of the whole grain wonton wrappers I made for egg rolls, and made taco cups with them. Cut them square, press them into mini-muffin cups sprayed with oil, and bake. Keep in a ziploc in the freezer.

Vitamin A Muffins
makes 10 - 12 full size muffins, more mini-muffins
This is adapted from several pumpkin bread recipes. I started with the recipe in Meredith McCarty's book Sweet and Natural.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon plus 1/4 tsp. cloves and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
or, 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. ground flaxseed
1/4 c. wheat germ
1.5 c. pureed pumpkin
1.5 c. grated carrots
1/4 c. canola oil
1/2 c. maple syrup, agave nectar or brown rice syrup
add-ins to taste: raisins, pecans, dried cranberries, walnuts, chocolate chips, or coconut

1.Preheat oven to 350F. Line the muffin tin(s).
2. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk wet ingredients together, then stir into dry until well moistened. Fold in any add-ins.
3. Transfer the thick batter to tin and bake until tops are brown and muffins test done with a skewer.

Healthy Refried Beans
I'm not going to post a recipe for the taco filling, because I don't know the measurements. But this is a fast and nutritious thing to have in the freezer. Use it as a dip or spread, inside burritos, or on its own next to rice.

Toast spices in the skillet (cumin, freshly ground if possible, powdered red chile, dried oregano). Sautee onions and garlic until translucent, add grated or diced carrots, zucchini, any other vegetable you like. Cook until tender, then add chopped and blanched spinach or other greens. Scallions, a squeeze of lime and some cilantro are good in this too. Add any kind or combination of beans--I used red kidney beans, black beans, and pintos. Cook until heated through, then puree in the food processor. As chunky or smooth as you like. Heat a little olive oil in a non-stick skillet, spread the puree in it, and cook until it turns slightly darker in color and smells fragrant.