I Am Foodie, Hear Me Roar

Ten years ago, when I moved to State College, I did not know how to cook. I ate microwave meals and the occasional bag of popcorn for dinner. I looked at food as sustenance - nothing more, nothing less.
Then I started dating an Italian guy. He taught me to cook. He patiently ate my creations and suggested ways to improve my technique. I started watching the Food Network and discovered my local farmers market.
As the years went by, my love of food grew. I started a garden, became a Top Chef junkie and downloaded the Epicurious app onto my Iphone. I enjoy reading recipes and have a subscription to Southern Living just for that reason. Without me realizing it, food had become a passion.
Two years ago, I was diagnosed with a wheat allergy, which forced me to completely change my lifestyle. Real bread, pasta and beer were off the table. I had to rethink recipes that required flour and read every food label to ensure that there wasn't wheat lurking in my food. (Hint: there is wheat in just about everything - soup, Twizzlers, some kinds of soy sauce, etc.) I was forced to be obsessed with the things that were going into my mouth. I am obsessed with the slow food movement and with putting as much whole foods into my diet as possible.
I joined a community share this spring. I stop every Friday after work and enjoy picking out my veggies for the week. I have two raised beds, a strawberry pot, pots of basil and assorted veggies growing in my yard. I took a cooking class at a conference and came home more energized than ever about cooking.
Cooking gives me the same joy that gardening does - it is comforting and calming all at the same time. I love trying new recipes and creating dishes for my friends. I hosted the first annual Julia Child Night this past winter. I take pictures of my food.
The girl 10 years ago never would have envisioned the day when her food bill would be more than her bar tab.
I am a foodie.

Invasion!

Now that my star turn in "Mrs. McThing" (ha!) has ended, I can update you on all the good things I've been up to in my Oasis.

It started in April, when I power washed, primed and repainted my trellis. All told that took a week. I truly couldn't not have accomplished it without help from a friend, who patiently endured me splattering primer everywhere (my hair, my flip flops, a chair). I'm a messy painter!
After that was done, I turned my attention to building my raised bed. I purchased a kit made from recycled plastic. I figured it would be a piece of cake to put together.

Yeah, not so much.

Had the kit come with pre-drilled holes, I would have had no trouble putting the brackets on. Unfortunately, it did not. After nearly breaking my electric screwdriver, I called in the calvary (or in my case, a friend with a big drill) to help. In 5 minutes, he had the brackets attached.
With the brackets in, I was able to lay out and construct the bed. I filled it with a mix of dirt from the garden area and a bag of compost from State College Borough's compost facility.

Once it was built, I planted peppers (two green pepper plants and another variety), rhubarb, onions and lettuce. I supplemented the raised bed with three tomato plants that I put in pots (I had the blight last year, so I figured it was better to put them in pots this year), basil, dill, an unidentified herb I picked up at the Linden Hall Garden Club Plant Sale for $.50 and mint that I'm growing in a container in my house.

I finished all of this at about the same time that rehearsals started for my play. I was quite content to move into growing mode - watering, weeding, excitedly monitoring plants for signs of growth.

Then it happened - a groundhog invasion.

Punxsutawney Phil's evil twin brothers took up residence under my shed. They feasted daily on my lettuce. They dug holes everywhere. When I caught them moving toward the Oasis, I knew it was time to take serious action.

I called in the Crazy Township Neighbor (CTN), who assured me he had much practice in catching these pesky rodents. I didn't want them to die, but I did want them out of my yard. Make no mistake - Punxsutawney Phil is HEAVILY drugged on Groundhog Day. Real groundhogs are horribly mean little creatures. The thought of trapping them on my own and then transporting a hissing, mean animal in my car was less than pleasing.

CTN set up his wooden trap, filling it with carrots, peanut butter crackers and lettuce. Every day, I checked the trap. Most days CTN showed up in my yard in the wee morning hours to check the trap. I was beginning to think I was going to need some kind of CTN extraction plan.
After 3 weeks, CTN lost interest. Some animal was stuck in the trap for a while, but it managed to chew its way out. I moved the lettuce to a window box planter and hung it for my trellis. It hasn't grown (a big bummer), but the groundhogs seemed to have disappeared for now. CTN has gone back to only bugging me at work, thankfully.

Rebirth in the Oasis

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing better than they have everdone before." - Vita Sackville-West

One of my friends posted the above quote on my facebook page. This could truly be the quote of the spring, as I am working very hard to take the Oasis to the next level.

In the coming days, I will be installing raised garden beds, painting my trellis and planting, planting, planting. Stay tuned for pictures and details!

In addition to the projects listed above, I installed a rock border along my front flower bed. I literally used the rocks in my cellar (that the old homeowner dug out of the garden area). There are still rocks left, though maybe not enough to create the same border in the backyard.

Spring has sprung on Hemlock Street!

My Grand Ideas...

Once again, I have been a delinquent blogger! I can not promise things will get any better, as I realized yesterday that I have three free weekends left until October 24th. But, on the bright side, 24 days to Penn State football!!!

The garden has done really well! My onions are huge and are so sweet. My basil is growing like mad. I'm going to dry some, freeze some and also make a ton of pesto to freeze. Thanks to Patti for the great pesto recipe! I've been told that if I keep pinching it back, my basil will blossom well into the fall. If you have basil needs, please let me know. I'm happy to share my bounty!

Late tomato blight hit our community garden in Boalsburg. So far, I have not had any problems. It is a horrible year for tomatoes - they love hot weather; we've had a ton of rain and have only hit 90 a few times this summer. My fingers are crossed that I'll be able to get some tomatoes from my plants.

I have one big project that I want to complete before the end of August. I'm not giving away details now, but I will take some before and after pictures, so you all can see my handiwork. Fingers crossed that it will all work out!

Lastly, allow me to make a shameless plug for the movie, "Julie and Julia." What a great movie! I highly recommend it. I plan to spend my winter cooking some of the recipes in Julia Child's famous cookbook. My mom is bring up the "Joy of Cooking" for me in late August, so I'm going to try a few of those, too.

Until next time, enjoy the fresh bounty of summer vegetables at your local farmer's market. Remember: eat local!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

My sister reminded me last weekend that I have been a bad blogger! I'm so sorry. I was so busy with my play and then the start of the summer. I'll be a better blogger from now on. I promise.

We have had a ton of rain this spring/summer. I seriously feel like I live in Seattle! The one up side to the rain? My onions are going to be the size of softballs! I was in the garden the other day and noticed how tall they are. The best part? They still have about another 2 weeks to go. I may have to consider entering them in a contest!

So far I've enjoyed broccoli, mesclun mix and red leaf lettuce out of the garden. I recently planted leeks, a banana pepper plant, basil and two tomato plants. The one tomato plant has a small little tomato on it. The banana pepper plant has a few small peppers growing on them and the leeks are growing like mad (which doesn't surprise me one bit, since leeks are in the same family as onions and they love, love, love the rain). I am going to pick up some more basil to plant in pots, since the one I planted isn't doing so hot.

I have to sing the praises of the black landscape fabric. It has made my life so much easier. I do need to weed out the back part of the garden that I didn't plant and cover that in fabric as well. I encourage anyone who wants to garden, but who doesn't have a lot of time to worry about weeding to invest in the fabric. Its well worth the $10 I paid for each roll.

Until next time, happy gardening!

And We're Back.....

Welcome back to my blog and to the garden!! I am pleased to say I am taking all of the knowledge I've gained over the last year and applying it in this year's garden.

I've consulted a lot of gardening friends about how to cut down on weeds. I decided to try the landscape fabric and straw technique. I bought two rolls of fabric and put it down yesterday before I put my veggies in. The idea is that the fabric will help cut off the supply of sun to the weeds. Here's hoping it works!

Yesterday, I visited Tait Farms, a wonderful farm in Boalsburg, and purchased a load of veggies to plant. I bought onions (only one container this year!), lettuce (two kinds), bok choy and broccoli. I'll put peppers and tomatoes in after Memorial Day, when the soil temperature is at a consistent 70 degrees and more conducive to growing them. I also plan to plant herbs in pots after Memorial Day.

While at Tait's, I was able to enjoy their open house and try some yummy local food. I wound up buying a hunk of sharp cheddar cheese made by a local farmer in Millheim. I am a sucker for good cheese and aspire to someday make my own. I probably need to find someone with a cow first, but I'll work on that.

I am really excited at how popular gardening has become. We started a community garden program in the Township. We sold over 20 plots with very little effort. The best part is that some of the gardeners are people who live in apartments and therefore wouldn't have a way to grow their own food. Its great to see a push toward sustainability and healthy living. I really hope this fad sticks.

In addition to my garden, I've been busy getting the yard in shape. Last year, I was totally overwhelmed by the flower beds and the yard. This year, I've decided to tackle things in chunks. I've focused on the Oasis first. I planted the "gutter" of the trellis (which is really a planter) with some pretty flowers. I also redid the bottom of the trellis - I added more stones and ripped out the cheap plastic border. In its place, I made a border out of the rocks that the old homeowner picked from the garden and stored in my cellar. I got over my fear of the cellar and harvested a ton of rocks. I still have a ton, so if anyone needs rocks, please let me know!

I'm in a play, so the next three weeks are incredibly busy. Expect more posts once my turn as Mandi McCoy is over.

Until then, happy gardening!

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming....

In 1992, I turned 18. Because Pennsylvania's primary was in May, I was able to vote in both the primary and the general election.

I remember how excited I was to be a voter and how seriously I took my responsibility. I can still remember sitting cross legged on the family room floor, the League of Women Voters Voter's Guide spread out before me, pen and paper in hand. I carefully read each candidate's positions and made a list of who I would vote for.

I believe I voted in a car dealership. My friend Taissia accompanied me to the polls. She was still 17, so she was very excited to watch her friend cast her first ballot. I voted for Bill Clinton.

After I graduated from high school, I prepared for college and kept a keen eye on the presidential race. I've always been a political junkie (I was a Jerry Brown supporter at one time). I watched the Democratic National Convention and felt inspired by Clinton and Gore. I even wrote a letter to the editor of the Harrisburg Patriot News, explaining why my ballot would be cast for Clinton and Gore. My parents, though they didn't agree with my political ideology (I'm much more liberal than the rest of my family), proudly cut my letter out of the paper and ran off copies to show to family and friends.

I started college at Penn State's main campus in August. George Bush made a campaign stop on Old Main lawn. I stood next to a man dressed as a chicken and booed loudly, even though I was nowhere near Presiden Bush. My roommate managed to get in the front of the crowd; she held up the Clinton Gore sign she smuggled in. After the rally, we hung it proudly in our room.

Since I coudn't travel home to Hershey to cast my ballot, my parents secured an absentee ballot for me. I sent my roommate out of our room (the ballot said it was to be filled out in secret, after all) and cast my ballot for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. I was energized and engaged, a voter in my first presidential election. I would remember this moment for the rest of my life.

On election night, we gathered in a floormate's room, popcorn and soda in hand. We were ready to ring in a new era. We could literally feel the world changing. As the results came in, we saw hope, we saw potential for our future.

Fast forward to this year. My hair is grayer, my chosen path a life in public service. I saw Barack Obama speak on Old Main lawn. I waited in line for 2 hours to gain a spot near the front. I was inspired by his message of change, his message of hope. He touched me in a way no candidate had done since Bill Clinton and Al Gore reached me as an 18 year old. I once again had hope for my country.

Today, I waited in line for 30 minutes to cast my ballot for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. As I did when I was 18, I cast my ballot for hope and inspiration.

Tonight, I sit here with tears in my eyes and our country again at a crossroads. I can see change coming, change that is so desparately needed. I see a country that will once again unite to take care of its own, to right its ship.

I wonder if there is another 18 year old who has been touched by Barack Obama in the way Bill Clinton reached me. To those newly-energized voters, I offer my congratulations. You voted in your first presidential election. Its a moment in time that will stay with you forever.