Lotsa Gardening

May 2010. Cold. Windy. Already lost one box of strawberries and bell peppers. Larry was out in the garden, we figured, at least 14 days solid, all day into the sunset pulling knarly weeds, choking mint and rosemary plants and planting a lovely creamy David Austin Ambridge Rose, a climbing Joseph's Coat and flowers that will spread nicely. How many trips to the mega store for more soil and organic fertilizer? Too many to count. Never mind the broken down gloves ripped from thorny bushes.

We added more clay pots to our already eleven Earthboxes filled with vegies and tomatoes and honest to God, those vegies in the clay pots are thriving with zucchini already. We came upon a very natural spray from http://www.spray-n-growgardening.com and ordered what was necessary to reboot the garden. It is already working big time after one week of spray. We plan to do an every 2 week spray during the blooming season.

It isn't over yet. Purple and pink salvia await a planting. I need a bird bath because the birds are bathing in a old Italian bowl I left on the ground. I need an umbrella for the patio table because the winds have ripped huge holes in it over 9 yrs. If you look too hard or too far, there is always something you have to fix or replace.

Hmmmm. I wonder if Mango trees would grow up here in the Sahara?

A Rock and Roll Easter Sunday

A wild and wooley Easter rocked the big house in Laguna Niguel taking the shake from the surprising Baja Earthquake. We thought it was the second round of French 75's cocktails that made us feel like we were a canoe on the open sea. But then the big pool swooshing water overboard. Uh Huh. I watched my sister's eyes get big as we held onto the kitchen island. Did we time it? No, but it felt like a minute of rolling. After that, we went for a third round.

Our 91 year old Dad and 83 year old Mom took the rolling in stride. After all, how many earthquakes have they been through?

The big BBQ was a success and sisters and nieces, nephews and uncles joined in the fun of a beautiful blue sky, an unsettling earthquake and enough food to choke a horse.

Garden Is In

Spring has sprung and soil has been flung. Larry had the bright idea of removing various overgrown lavendars and geraniums and rose bushes that struggled against odds. Once the ground lay bare, trips to the various and sundry nurseries ( count 5)revealed a plan. But what to plant that would withstand the morning sun and the evening shade? Henry Fonda yellow rose tree won the first round followed by our first try at two azaleas. Some Zion daisies filled in along with verbena. I have no idea what else Larry planted. A variegated leafed something with some hopeful flowers blooming. Alot of wood chips and dirty jeans ended that project.

In the backyard for two weekends in a row in between unexpected showers, we planted eleven Earthboxes with pickling cucs, Japanese cucs, zucchini in pots as well, lots and lots of tomatoes, strawberries ( a first - well we'll see with our bird friends), lots of multi colored bell peppers. We had some clay pots around and we filled it with gigante jalapeno plants, green bunching onions, basil, and herbs.

Now the wait until mid June to July . . . .

An Out of this World Black Bean Soup

I have an aversion to bean soups. Or rather they have an aversion to me. I love the taste, but I suffer with digestive aftermath. So I set out to figure a soup that would change the course of those events. People that know me say I modify or "doctor up" every recipe I find. In this case, I took about 5 different variations and made them my own. Trust me, the taste is so heavenly and you won't regret it.

BLACK TURTLE BEAN SOUP

1. 1 Bag of Aromatica Organic Black Turtle Beans ( dry )emptied and soaked overnite in cold water 6-9 hours.
2. Drain the old water and rinse a few times.
3. Pour beans in a big pot with fresh cold water- cover beans. I use a large enameled cast iron pot.
4. Bring to boil- won't take long and then drain again.
5. Pour boiled beans in a bowl and set aside.
6. Olive oil and 1 Tbs. butter in cast iron pot heated up.
7. Saute' 2 cloves of garlic whole, 1 chopped onion,1 finely chopped raw carrot, 4 chopped stalks of celery, 3 dried red chili's, 1 sweet red bell pepper chopped, 1 chopped fresh jalapeno seeds removed, 1 chipotle chili, a healthy dash of ancho powder(achiote), lemon zest and orange zest and juice of 1/4 orange, herbs of choice: I used oregano, basil, coriander, parsely, cilantro, fennel seeds and mustard seeds( found in the East Indian store), about 3/4-1 cup of frozen organic corn. Let all that sweat while sauteeing. If you like cumin, which I don't, go for it.
8. Add 6 cups of water. I added about a cup of homemade chick broth I had as well.
9. Add beans and bring to boil. Make sure water covers beans.
10. Skim off any foam that builds from the boiling. I didn't have much.
11. Now reduce to a simmer, cover the pot and time it. You will be cooking it with occasional stirs for about 2-3 hours.
12. Last 30 min: add 2 Tbs. sherry, 1 Tbs. brown sugar ( optional), juice of one lemon, and if you have handy, some leftover chopped ham. I only used about 1/2 cup.

NOTICE I DID NOT SALT WHICH HARDENS THE BEANS.

I added salt at the end for taste. And I actually simmered it for 4 hours just to make sure the beans were thoroughly cooked down.

Last measure: puree with the hand blender, pour into bowls with a spring of cilantro and a dollop of sour cream if you are not dairy sensitive.

Serve with heated up Trader Joes Spelt rolls ( in freezer) if you are not spelt sensitive. A salad and you are good to go.

A soup to remember.

Our World, Our Universe

Sometimes we have to stop and be in awe of what is greater than our flesh and bones, our things, our little life.

The magnificence of what is encased within our biology, our quantum mind and our consciousness grows into a vastness we cannot comprehend in the here and now. What went before us, will come behind us and what exists in the present that opens the door to all change makes us wonder about what the award winning novelist Octavia E. Butler said in her book of hope and faith in a post apocalyptic world " Parable of the Sower", that God is Change.

So how could any of us stay the same, think the same ol', when change surrounds us every living moment? Change allows us to re-invent ourselves, to experience so we can grow in different dimensions, to see with new eyes and hear with new ears.

Family Unites at Dodger Stadium

I've never been to Dodger Stadium. What kind of LA girl am I? There are a few places in this mighty town I have yet to visit. When my sister told me that our nephew, Marc, a junior at UCLA on the varsity baseball team was going to bat against USC in the Dodger Stadium this weekend, the first of the Dodgertown Classic, ever, I downloaded directions and took the whirlybird ride up Stadium Way. There is a synchronous electric feel to the air and sure enough, my sister and family drove up from Orange County right behind us at Parking Lot ball #3.

Okay I felt a little out of place not wearing the UCLA flag across my chest and behind but blue has never been my favorite color anyway. I was there for the screaming excitement watching my nephews team beat the ass off USC.

And they did. In front of 14,448 enthusiasts blanketing the left and right field pavilions.


Oddly my brother-in-law led the parade toward foul ball territory right behind the alumni tubas and beating drums. Not to mention the guy eating nonstop candy and yelling out the names of the players coupled with a mix of the appropriate insults and way-to-go's through the UCLA megaphone every few minutes. We cheered. We screamed til our throats went raw.

Then the foul balls came at us, as predicted by our Brother Phil who spent time on the field in the old days with the Philadelphia Phillies minors. Sure enough. My sister Cathy covered my head and saved my life. Brother-in-law Mike caught the ball and let it fall into a neighbors lap.

We watched our nephew Marc steal bases and reveled in the glory of a 6-1 Victory over the Trojans. Did we eat a Dodger Dog? No. The line would have lasted two innings and the line was slow so we saved our appetites for a dinner afterwards.

What was grand was the company kept and the joy shared and the big hugs and knuckle slaps. We gathered for our boy Marc and the long hard work of his team mates. And of course, a Dodger first for me. Happily, my husband remembered his one time visit to the center field pavilion. At ten years old,(53 years ago) he and his Dad saw a game and he caught a home run ball. Without his glove!

We Are Made of Star Stuff

For a while now I have been reading international forums, out of curiosity. I wanted to know what people are saying, feeling, knowing about their placement in this world, in this Universe. My search has been provocative, bringing me to heights of interest and wonder. Across the world people are thinking as I do, asking the same questions and then we share and each of us picks up a piece of the atomic energy that floats ineluctably across the miles of space that has our collective signature upon it. I ask a man in Uruguay or a women in Sweden, or a young man in the backwoods of Canada what thrills them about this knowing and what is the catalyst for their quests. We debate, we justify, we link up our resources, we try not to generalize. So the search is not disengenuious. There is a clear cut motive why people want to know why it is that they keep searching for higher answers as to their existence.

Some cite their belief in God, a force, a consciousness that pervades the Soul Matrix. Some want to know why we have been thrust into a world that is comprised of so much evil and dark energy. Some use science or metascience or cycles of the ancient past to qualify their hints of understanding. A book, some research, a notion, a crop circle, a newly discovered document that may give a clue.

A woman in New Zealand fights for the rights of health and argues justifiably against the constraints of covert corporate chains. We all want to know why. After all, we were endowed with enough DNA to ask these questions that plague us throughout the histories of this planet. The common thread is why haven't we advanced technologically and intellectually and spiritually? What is holding us back that steeps us in the mire of depression and poverty consciousness? Are we not children of God filled with the Primal Light of the heavens?

My experiences in cyberspace are selective. I might find a forum that accepts all ways of thinking so I have to dig through the garbage dump to find the gold. But its there. There are questioning and answering minds that hover and wait for the connection. An hour or two to explore. To share what miniscule wisdom I can impart as I dodge the snarky prickly ones who lie in wait to use their unconvincing arguments as their intoxicant for the hour. It has taught me to be bold but also to be nonjudgmental and considerate. We all are feeling our way with blindfolds on.