GeekOrchard

The new fence is finally up. Here’s some before, during and after shots.

And yes, those were the blackberry brambles. So next year will be a bit lite on the berry harvest while we restructure their ‘habitat’.

Think the orange tree is lonely? I don’t, it has more fruit then ever now that it’s not under the shadow of the blackberry.

Yes, that’s Robin putting the final screws into the top of the pickets. Now we need to seal it ASAP. The rains are coming, the rains are coming. Although you can’t tell that today, but don’t be fooled by our microclimate!

Yes, it’s the last stand of the vegtables in the back garden for this year. I learned a lot about the amount of sun we get through that narrow walkway. I’m impressed at the bounty from my 7 tomato plants (three Roma, three beefsteak, and one heirloom pink capsacium). I learned I’m not letting Robin plant 5 cucumber plants again….I made everything you can think of and still couldn’t use them all.

We had a power outage the other day, and made the last batch of tomato sauce while answering support calls about ‘the Internet being broken’. That’s the nice thing about gas my grandmother taught me, and my mom cemented- it works even when you don’t have PG&E sending power down the line.

I did this batch a little different than the last one. The last one I did sicilian style, and cooked it a long time and got a very deep rustic flavor. This time I did it a little fresher and brighter with a more northern style recipe. Nonna forgive me, I was experimenting.

Well, it’s what I’m thinking currently. As always, it’s my kitchen and I reserve the right to change my mind and the menu as it suits me.

and it being Thanksgiving I’ll be roasting a bird, using my mom’s stuffing recipe (like I said- you can never have enough starches, apparently, just ask Robin), and a gravy recipe from Cook’s with a little added common sense (this is not America’s test kitchen- it’s mine )

That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I think that since I have pecans intended as the sweet potato dish topping, and there’s toasted almonds intended for the green bean or aspargus, I’ll forgo the Pecan pie unless someone brings it. And we’ll have to have pumpkin something… wonder if Robin is up for doing another pie, otherwise I’m doing something esoteric like a Pumpkin Chiffon Trifle. That linked recipe had me right up until the “Jar walnut or pecan dessert”.

In the mean time I need to make a cream of mushroom soup soon, and I’ve got a yen to do more squash and roast a chicken soon. We’ll see what we can fit into the schedule.