show off

While everyone is talking about the crazy housewives, new jersey or new york...does it matter? (yes, I've indulged!) I am currently obsessed with The Fabulous Beekman Boys on planet green. It's a new docu-series which just sprouted in June. Want a little drama? Follow a former Martha Stewart V.P. & a drag queen turned ad man on their adventure from new york city slickers to organic farmers.

Josh & Brent are just like most married couples I know. Opposites. Josh seems to prefer life a little more loose & carefree (could be the drag queen in him), while Brent has a list a mile long always at the ready (martha, martha, martha). He even cleans the pigs off before a party. And, of course, they bicker. About money, chores, & their "kids", just to name the basics. Add into the mix a crazy llama, herd of goats, escaping piglets & a real life farmer and you get a very funny look at some pretty cool subjects. Sustainability, eating organic & local, raising animals humanely, connecting to the earth & your neighbors. What more could you want? "Skinny girl" margaritas? Ok, I get that. Have one while you watch.

I look forward to seeing what these boys do next...Think they will adopt me? Probably not. I"ll just have to settle on shaking their hands at Terrain on July 10th. Curious? It's a reading, book signing & conversation about their book...The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers

Oh, I almost forgot, for more drama you can visit the website...

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/the-fabulous-beekman-boys/the-fabulous-beekman-boys-leave-the-city-behind-in-a-new-reality-show.html

One of their friends is James Frey. Remember the author that Oprah made cry? Yup, that's the one. He writes a little bit about his dynamic duo buddies after each episode. Fact or fiction, you decide.

stops & starts

My garden is in the anticipation stage. And, oh, boy are we ever!

Just back from a waterlogged camping trip, I ducked out the back door to check on my green babies. Some didn't fair well. RIP my lovely strawberry plant. You will be missed. But this loss was off-set by all the promising green. The Rampapo tomato is taking over the far end of the plot giving the string beans a run for their money.
Peppers are prospering! And lots of leafy lush-ness is spilling out & over the sides of my raised bed. Carrot & beet greens continue to climb skyward. We have even harvested some bush beans. And hidden under all the promised bounty a little purple gem...eggplant. It's so cute. I am a proud momma.

Now back to work!

not so green

My poor strawberry plant didn't have as much fun while I was away as I did. Stating the obvious here. It was a good little plant too. Plenty of plump, ripe berries eaten right off the vine with plenty of red-stained fingers to prove it. This plant was to be the grandfather to all our future generations of berries. Big plans were hatched in my head for a strawberry patch, bushel of blueberries & bramble of raspberries. Dream big or go home, I say. Piece of advice...when dreaming don't forget to insert a back-up watering plan in with the visions of grandeur!

Well, I guess it's all part of my learning curve. Next year strawberries are going right in the ground. And Tom will (fingers crossed) be busy building me another beautiful raised bed to start everything early. And I have my mind set on a watering wizard...real, not imagined. In the meantime, we are taking better care of his younger sibling!

friend or foe

Well, if you ask me foe! The current state of my garden is a bit sad. With the warm weather & lettuce bolting. But the worst of it... I lost 4 plants to a little covert operator. He started out so tiny, it seemed impossible for the polka dot holes all over my broccoli & brussel sprout plants to have been created by him. But he had family stop by for the feast! I picked about 4 isty-bitsy green caterpillars off & carefully brushed all the little black dots, which I had learned from one of my garden gurus were eggs, yuck! Not pleasant business, I tell ya. But necessary for the survival of my brassica oleracea (ha, I looked it up!) plants. And I was done with that or so I thought.

Still more holes appeared & more black specks so my hunting expedition continued. I had to pull plants for fear of widespread damage. And when I thought all were vacated into the vegetative waste barrel, a rogue was spotted. He tried to make his escape by rolling down into the soil but I wasn't having it!! My fingers were poised for proper squashing when a reprieve came.

My sweet William felt such reverence for the fat-off-my-garden caterpillar he created quite a bug oasis in a not so old sidewalk chalk container. The container was quite new actually, but had been upended in haste on our basement floor to accommodate the leaf munching maven. It was a Greenpeace moment in my very backyard. I apparently played the part of big corporation, that's irony for ya.

Not sure the life expectancy of these invasive pests but our little buddy hung around in captivity for a few days until Will decided to set him free. I told him he could only be released far away from my little cultivated plot. Will & his shadow of a sister made their way to the end of the block to accommodate my wishes. I worried about someone else's broccoli but needlessly. Poor guy was already dead for his march :( Will saved this information only for me, as he knew his sister would have been truly upset. Like I said sweet.