Rhubarb Gone Wild

It was so hot this spring, my rhubarb went a little crazy and bolted, sending up a giant flower stalk out of the center. 

I was looking up whether or not to cut it off or what the heck to do with it. Turns out you can eat the flowers. It looks like little broccoli florets. This weekend we're going to try it out, but for now, check out how cool this looks.

Wandering Wednesday: My Own Backyard

Our Japanese Maple has finally decided it is indeed Fall. This is seen from my studio window through the Improbable Two Story Tall Palm.

 Rubarb is suddenly going again?! I was shocked, especially since it's barely gotten any water all this long dry summer. But there it is getting all pretty and pink again. Maybe enough to make a strawberry rhubarb pie for my husband's birthday coming up soon?

One of our old old apple trees, still so very productive and this glorious yellow.

Happy October

Happy October, hard to believe it's already fall. Last week it was over 100F, and this week it was cold enough that our heater actually turned on. It's like a weather u-turn or something. But the redwood duff is falling and the leaves that turn colors around here (mostly yellows) are in process.

Fingers crossed for no fires because it is dry dry dry.

These are pictures of my brother in law's eggplants that he grew this year. I think the colors are really beautiful.

Rhubarb Day

Got to harvest my rhubarb crop yesterday. All in honor's of Father's Day.

 I didn't realize until I took this picture how pink one of our cutting boards really is, wow.

Here's the Father's Day connection, I made this recipe, for Rhubarb-Almond Coffee Cake (no coffee involved, just the type of cake). Oh boy was it ever good. I used more sliced almonds than called for, and sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top. 

The two fathers involved loved it, (my dad and DH) and since I cooked it in pie plates instead of cake pans, they were almost fooled into believing it was a pie. A long going argument in our family, I will always choose cake over pie, and thus that's what I like to make. Everyone else is the reverse case, but I almost fooled them this time.

So the leaves to the rhubarb are amazing and huge. I had to take a picture of them.

 Surely there must be something you can do with them, (don't eat them, very poisonous). According to this, you can polish stainless steel pots, and make a natural pesticide.

Impatient Gardening

 Waiting very impatient for the tomatoes to ripen. It's been such a hot summer, but they're still taking f...o....r....e....v....e...r!

 So are the peppers, but at least they have cute little flowers while we wait.

 And wait....

and wait.

The End of Anise

For the second design exercise, our small group decided to again go with something out of   Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design (Voices That Matter) .  This one was about finding patterns in nature.  First we were to choose a natural object and draw it everyday in our sketchbook.   I choose the end of a bunch of anise.  When I chopped it off, I was struck by all the patterns and interesting shapes and structures.

Since it would be changing soon (decomposing!) I took a lot of pictures of it.

And I even scanned it.  My son saw me doing it and just kind of shook his head and asked no questions.  At this point, he knows better, otherwise it's an art lecture from mom.

Then of course I had to fool around with the scan in Photoshop. I really loved how this filtered treatment brought out all the structures and patterns so clearly. 

Next we were supposed to start detailing the patterns from the object, exploring the details of it and expanding upon them in our sketchbook.

I also decided to carve a stamp based on one of the line drawings I did which emphasized the shapes and patterns I found most interesting.

 

My ink is getting a little old and gloopy and I need a padded stamping surface, so some of the stamped versions are too splotchy.

But I got at least one that I was able to use to make the small quilt (8.5 x 11") our group had decided to do as "homework".

It was supposed to be 3-D in some way, so I stuffed the stamped image of the anise.  But I wasn't happy with it, it was too literal, and "the usual" for me, and definitely cheating a bit on the 3-d aspect. I wanted something else, so I made a second one.

This is much more 3-D and much less literal.  I used lutradur and steam-a-seam to stiffen the folded fabric and then ironed the folds in.  

A closer view of the folding.
All in all, it was a really useful exercise, and is one I think I could repeat it many times.

Artichoke Bouquet

Yes I forgot to cook the artichokes I harvested. But they look pretty in a vase.

That purple! I wonder how long it will last?

Pumpkins In The Palm Of My Hand

Here are two of the three pumpkins I managed to grow this year. Aren't they the cutest little things? Baby Mini Jack from Renee's Garden Seeds.

So perfectly formed and miniature. They feel really nice in the hand and are making me smile just looking at them.

You can also spot the injury I unfortunately sustained while carving our larger pumpkins. Gory story, but it turns out I have cut one of the tendons in my pinky finger. Yes, of course on my right hand. And yes, I am right-handed. Sigh. I have a consult with the surgeon on Monday, hopefully the surgery and rehab won't be too awful. But it sure would be nice to be able to bend the tip of my finger again and have my whole hand not be so painful. Very hard to do a lot of things, especially gripping and controlling small things and heavy lifting. I'm adapting but it is most definitely slowing me down in the making art everyday and writing a novel projects I was attempting this month. What a bummer. But I'm not giving up!

Pumpkins To Go

I'm finding images of pumpkins all over the place these days. This is a freebie from Dover Books from Mother Goose (Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater).
I love that orange don't you? So filled with the sun's glow. And I've always found the idea of a pumpkin big enough to fit inside of rather intriguing. That might make an interesting collage or journal page, hmmmm.

So far in my garden this year I have one pumpkin that is about 5 pounds so far, but is very dark green at this point. I don't know if it will achieve the desired shade of orange in time for carving up for Halloween or not. There are also a couple mini pumpkins growing and they're about at a yellow-peachy level at the moment. We had our first frost this morning so I don't know if that helps or hurts as far as the color change, like it does with fall leaves.

I think it is finally time to buy some pumpkins for decorations around here since the garden was a big FAIL this year. Oh well. I'll try to plant earlier next year to give the pumpkins long enough to orange up.

Peppers and Pears

After all that studio touring yesterday, I'm back in the kitchen, trying to use up the end of season bounty from our weekly CSA basket. This pile of red peppers has been slowly diminishing as we eat them as snacks. There is enough left to try and roast a tray of them which I'll then make soup with. Most of them are quite sweet but every now and then one is surprisingly spicy.

The pears have been coming in at a good rate, but most of them are getting eaten. Tonight I'm trying a poached pear recipe with some kind of wine sauce for dessert, we'll see how it turns out.Pear skin is always interesting to look at up close, I'm planning to use this picture as a printout for a background in a collage.

Late Summer Garden

Out in the garden in this late, hot summer, there are many many blossoms on the pumpkins and gourds that I planted. And a whole lot of bees. Like 5, in one blossom?!

Only have one pumpkin growing (that I've spotted) so far, and I think this is from the giant variety that we planted. Hard to tell exactly as all the pumkin vines are kaboobled up.

One of the birdhouse gourds is growing, it is even changing color which is pretty.

And I see lots of artichokes on the horizon. The first ones I've gotten in years. Guess that regular watering really does work (duh!). We are eating these tonight.

Buncha Links!

Haven't done a link-tastic post in a while, so here are a bunch of links on various and sundry subject, that I've been holding onto until the "right time":

A Denyse Schmidt fabric giveaway at Little Blue Cottage.

Free embroidery pattern from BadBird

Something to use up a whole lot of your long fabric scraps.

Amazing under the sea sculptures, website translated from the original French.

A black velvet Elvis painted with....Cheese Puffs, no, really!

Vote in a Stitched-by-Hand Flickr contest.

Ideas for gift sewing at Sew, Mama, Sew

How to make an all-recycled sketchbook by leethal.

A beautiful wreath made from fresh brussels sprouts!

A great new clothes sewing blog called This Large Life.

Trip to the Farm

It is finally time to start our weekly visits to Camp Joy, our local organic bio-dynamic farm where we are part owners. Well participants in the CSA anyways. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, you pay a lump sum before the growing season begins, enabling the farmers to buy supplies (seed,etc.) and then you get a weekly basket of whatever the farm produces over the season.
Camp Joy also has a flower share where you can get an organic bouquet every week, so far I haven't been decadent enough to spring for one. Mostly because I'm so self-deluded that I'll be growing *plenty* of flowers for as many bouquets as I want from my own garden, riiiiight.

The first thing you have to do when you walk through the gate is to go on the rope swing. Even recently turned 13 year olds still enjoy this activity. Boy does the tree branch ever dip now though, he must be getting too big!

There is the front porch where the baskets are set out, three left, one of which is ours.

The pomegranate tree is huge this year, with a lot of blossoms. It must not produce enough fruit to pass out though, as I've never gotten a pomegranate in my basket. Maybe this is the year??
The chickens are moved to a different spot every year, now they are under the apple trees and running free within the little fence. Jim the farmer tells me that the animals get moved around a lot because of the work that they do during the season, producing, ahem, manure, scratching it into the soil, turning the soil over, eating the bugs and all the weeds and weed seeds. I forget the term for it, it had layering in it, fascinating though.

Even the goats get moved around, unless they're in the milking pen. We once took a cheese making class here, where we got to milk the goats and then make the cheese from the fresh milk, man was that ever good! Basically a soft feta cheese. Made me want to get a goat!
Here's the big greenhouse with the plant sale table and sale plants in front. It is sooooo hot in there this time of year. They could sell sauna time in there!
One of my favorite views on the farm. Looking up from under the arch trellis and along one of the paths of the flower garden section towards the huge rose bower, with a chicken way off in the distance.

Finally, to the real reason we buy a Camp Joy share every year, the produce. Here is how it looks in the basket. They give us a sheet every week with poems, observations, interviews with the apprentice gardeners, funny drawings and recipes on how to use the yumminess!

And then here it is washed and on the counter. Kale, lettuce, dill, peas, carrots, garlic, dried chiles, potatoes and a basket of ollalieberries. Yum!