The Garden of Weedin' - Phase III

When last we left the Garden of Weedin', we had six empty garden beds. That didn't last long.

We had 17 yards of garden soil delivered and dumped into our driveway, next to the gravel. Here's the first delivery...

Be careful, Bruce!

Uh oh. Oh, wait. I see his sleeve there behind the truck. Whew.









The inaugural load of soil goes to the garden...

Gotta love the Truper.

That is some good-looking soil there.

Cody took a liking to the dirt under the teepee next to the garden. He could see in all directions and keep an eye on us while we worked.

Nice bed!












We got two more deliveries of soil while we worked to fill the other five beds. I hope it's enough.

Two apple trees and one plum tree joined our little family and got planted in the garden.

A Haralred (we named it Harold, after my dad) and a Honeycrisp are now growing happily together in the back corner.

The Italian Plum tree was planted in the front, near the gate.

It took us several days to fill all six beds. Each bed took about 12 Truper loads of soil. Who needs aerobics?

I started planting seeds and starter plants as we filled the beds so they could start grrrroooowwwwing.

Each bed got three bags of manure added, along with a sprinkling of super-duper fertilizer.

Now that's a load of crap!












Before planting could begin, we had one more thing to add to the beds. Worms! We bought seven containers of big, fat nightcrawlers from our local hardware store.

These critters are usually bought to get stuck on a hook and thrown into the lake. We rescued them to be our garden pets.

I named this one Homer.











We planted a little bit of everything. Pumpkins, radishes, kohlrabi, tomatoes, basil, beans, potatoes, carrots and much more.

We're going to be very busy once all of these plants start producing.

Finishing things off, Bruce filled in the aisle with gravel.











We're going to put some pavers under the patio furniture. This will be a pleasant place to ponder the plants.

We did it. We got everything done and planted before the end of May. Whew. Our Happy Garden!

What's For Supper - Fish Cakes

I've made this recipe twice now, once with cod and once with mahi mahi. Both were delicious!

Of course I don't measure anything - sorry. I'll guestimate for you and you can go from there.

Start by baking the fish with olive oil, salt and pepper in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes, until the fish is about 120 degrees.

Let the fish cool until you can tear it into bite-sized pieces.











Assemble your other ingredients.

Along with olive oil, salt and pepper, you will need:
Mayo
Bread Crumbs
Old Bay
Chili Powder
Lemon
Egg
Chives or Green Onion








Zest the lemon and squeeze out about 1 tablespoon of juice.

Separate the egg and reserve the yolk.

Add the zest, juice, egg yolk, chopped chives or green onion, Old Bay (about  1 teaspoon), chili powder to taste, mayo (about 2 tablespoons), bread crumbs (about 2 tablespoons), salt and pepper to the fish.

Mix it all together and check the consistency. You should be able to form a ball with the mixture that BARELY holds together. If it's too dry, add a little more mayo and/or lemon juice. If it's too wet, add a few more bread crumbs.

Place about one cup of bread crumbs on a large plate. Start heating a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Divide the mixture evenly into how many cakes you want. Take one section and form it into a ball, then flatten it slightly into a cake.

Very carefully, dredge the cake in the bread crumbs. The cakes will be really delicate so you'll need to baby them. 

If pieces fall off, just stick them back on. 

Immediately place the fish cake into the skillet. Form the other cakes and place them in the skillet. 

Cook the cakes until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Use a large spatula. You may even need to use two spatulas to help the cakes flip over without breaking. 

But guess what? The cakes taste just as delicious even if they don't make it to the plate in one piece! 

I served my mahi mahi cakes with good ole' tater tots and a scrumptious homemade cole slaw. The cakes were so good, I didn't even serve any kind of sauce for them. Enjoy!

Garden of Weedin' Phase II

When last we visited our Garden of Weedin', we had just finished...weedin'. And it was a LOT of weedin'. So now we start Phase II:

Cody, our supervisor, oversaw the start of the laying of garden cloth.

Halfway done! Our garden is 40' x 30', so this part took a couple of days. Fitting the "cloth" (stiff wire) around this one bed we left in the garden was a challenge.


                                                 







                                                   Done!

Next step - lay the fabric.

Whoa, that was fast! Actually, it took another couple of days. This looks a lot better than dirt and weeds.

We had 24 yards of 2" Rainbow gravel delivered. We'll use a little over half of that in the garden, and the rest will go in various flower beds, around the woodshed and in the driveway.

My garden clog looks pretty good against it.










OK, Bruce, your break time is over. There's much more to do.

Bruce built six 10' x 5' x 18" beds out of split 6" logs. That should give us enough growing space for all of our crops :-)













Before bringing the beds into the garden, we filled the entryway with rock.

Bruce assembled the first bed in the back corner.

Three done, three to go.










Make up your own caption for this one...

Six beds plus the existing 7' x 3' bed. Think that will be enough? We also left a little space here in the front corner for a small fruit tree.

We left space in the  back corner for two fruit trees and our table and chairs.







Bruce needed to modify the wheelbarrow handles for his height. Dave, the owner of our local hardware store, gave him a couple of metal posts that another customer had given him. Bruce spruced them up, painted them, and attached them to the existing handles.

That's better!











The last step in Phase II was to haul in the gravel and lay it around the beds.

Lest anyone out there think I do nothing except take photos, I am participating in this project. I helped lay the garden cloth and fabric, and shoveled and raked gravel. Really! Here's proof:

And so we reach the end of Phase II. We left the middle aisle gravel-free so it's easier to bring the soil in for the beds.

A few years from now, we'll be sitting at our little cafe table here under two beautiful trees.

What's Bruce saying?  "I built this!"  With a little lot of help from me.