Friday, May 15, 2009

Hanging Out with the Bobolinks

Today's Wonder of the World is...the Garden!

Mr. Pig welcomes you to the garden.
Little does he know that the herbs growing behind him may very well end up brushed with butter all over his Boston Butt.

Have you met the gardeners?

Ooh, I do like my neck in that poorly cut and pasted photo. So long and lean. A giraffe neck! I seem to be not quite attached to my collar, however.
It's probably because I'm a fraud. A fraud, I tell you!
Todd is the only farmer in our house. I just eat the food and hang garden tools on my walls.


Remember my rakish art? I believe I've shown it to you before.
And guess what I just found...

Photo by flatcreekforge.etsy.com
My new friend Tammy over at Flat Creek Farm has a blacksmithing husband who made it from a railroad spike. He sells them in his Etsy store, flatcreekforge.etsy.com It looks like art to me.

Back to gardening...
You've heard what my pal Emily Dickinson wrote about gardening, haven't you?

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church,
I keep it staying at Home -
With a bobolink for a Chorister,
And an Orchard, for a Dome.

A bobolink is a bird, just in case you don't know. I looked it up for us.
By the way, children, if you're reading this...you know we go to church on Sunday. Don't even try the gardening excuse.
(Not that my children would do that, of course.)

Come on, let's go touring around my--well, Todd's-- garden.
Are these not the biggest tomato cages you've ever seen?

My husband is an optimist, imagining Jolly Green Giant sized tomato plants. Tons of tomatoes for our favorite tomato pie.
Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my long lean neck.

As long as we're out here, I've got a question to ask you. Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage...


Rosemary and Thyme.


We've got blueberries too.

Hopefully no bears live in our subdivision. (Did I ever tell you Sarah's nickname is Sal? Do you know why this makes any sense?)

And in this corner, we've got one little spear of asparagus, inching its deliciousness out of the soil.

We're on our second asparagus season of the spring. The first batch already grew and flowered and was cut down and trampled.
No, it wasn't trampled. I just felt like saying that.

Need a fig leaf, Eve?
We've got loads of them.

Hopefully we'll have loads of figs too.

How about muscadines?

That's a strange, pungent southeastern grape that you have to peel and eat skinless. Not only do they taste like nothing else you've ever tried, they have the weird texture of eyeballs in your mouth. They make a most delicious wine.
Mmm. Everyone in my house is crazy about them. Tanner is too, although they make his face swell to twice its size. No no, Tanner. Don't even think about it.

Good boy.

Have a wonder-full Friday, y'all, and a super weekend!
Love, Becky



PS. Excuse this post's weird title. I just wanted an excuse to use the word bobolink.

26 comments:

Jojo said...

Happy gardening! I am still waiting to see how your husband's wine efforts turn out.

My grandpa abandoned the muscadine wine production but had great luck with plum wine.

Poor Mr. Pig - guess what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

LW said...

I miss gardening; we use to have a very large one, pumpkins, watermelons, tomatoes, corn.
It became a game to see how fast we could get the ears of corn into a boiling pot of water …
I think our best time was 2 minutes, 12 seconds from stalk to pot.

Enjoy.....

Louise

Ellen said...

Fabulous garden pictures---gardening is a favorite hobby of mine. Right up there with cooking actually :) Everything looked wonderful---especially those awesome blueberries. Any chance of seeing your tomato pie recipe? :)

Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Jojo, the wine turned out great! It was such a success that he made some pomegranate wine and strawberry wine as well. (He started with pomegranate juice, not the fruit.)

Louise, your talk of fresh corn has my mouth watering. There are few things better.

Hey Ellen, I'm glad to share. My friend Eleanor taught me how to make it and it's so easy. Start with an unbaked pie shell and layer the following: fresh basil leaves, cheese (mozzarella or baby bell,) more fresh basil, tomato slices (as many as you can squeeze together in a single layer.) Then sprinkle on salt, plenty of pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 for maybe 35-35 minutes. It's SO good!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

35-35 minutes?
I obviously need coffee.
To be honest I'm forgotten how long it takes to bake. Just until the tomatoes start to shrivel a little. Maybe 45 minutes?

lotusgirl said...

I love muscadines! I had both varieties in my yard growing up. (Green and Purple). I LOVE the skin though. That my favorite part and then mix that sour with the sweet. Heaven. My Mama makes muscadine hull preserves. Those are the absolute best. Do you use the other words for them? Scuppernongs? Bullisses? It looks like y'all are going to have some serious tomatoes coming.

Kim said...

Rebecca -
Can't wait to try the tomato pie...I have to tell my mother about this since she usually has about a billion tomatoes in her garden and no idea how to use them up before they spoil. Loved the photos of the garden.

Susan said...

I love to partake of the garden, but not the work. Great pictures, but I'm wondering how you know what eyeballs feel like in one's mouth. Hmmm, is there more to this story than meets the...sorry.

Have a great weekend, Susan

Tana said...

Wow I love your garden! I heart Mr. Pig!!!

Renee said...

The green is great, but you are beautiful of course Beckie.

xoxox

Julia said...

Blueberries for Sal! A super book. I love the kitchen drawings particularly, and would say that they are definitely of a certain era, except that we seem to have nearly as old-fashioned a kitchen ;-). Glad there are no bears in Greenville though!

Muscadine grapes are wonderful. Yum.

Adrienne said...

That tomato pie is making my mouth water!
You have a wonderful garden. But how do you keep Tanner out of those grapes?

Ellen said...

Thanks so much, Becky :) I'm going to give it a whirl next time I get to the grocery and pick up some cheese. I'll keep an eye out for shriveling :)

Thanks again!

May Vanderbilt said...

Wow! He is one ambitious gardener. And you have the most charmed lives!

Lately I've been dying to buy a single-family home and plant a garden full of veggies in the postage-stamp backyard. If there was room left, I'd put a hot tub in one corner.

Oh if only they didn't cost $1.5 million in San Francisco!

Ronnie said...

You have me inspired! Lookin' so good around there! My garden is a disaster. I may show you next week. Perhaps a good before and after would get my rear in gear!
Todd is a master gardener and you have a crack in your neck.

Scarlett Fiona Reed said...

What a fabulous garden! I am greeen with leaf envy! And thank you for saying bobolink :)

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I used to play under the muscadine vines when I was little. Have you ever had muscadine ice cream?? Soooo good!

David Ebright said...

Now I've commented before about Todd's garden, but the tomato cages (the word optimist sprang to mind - but you beat me to it) look like they've been made from wire mesh used for reinforcing concrete. Hmmm...

I never heard of tomato pie, sounds pretty good. Have a great weekend. DE

Unknown said...

Your garden looks heavenly! I'm GREEN with envy! ;)

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Y'all are so sweet.
I guess my photos don't show all the weeds, the occasional "dog dirt" as my British friends say, and the bare patches of grass.

Jaxpop, they just may be that kind of wire. I told you he's an optimist. And an engineer--we have the strongest fence in town.

Unknown said...

What a neat post! I love the pictures and I also can't wait to hear all about your husband's wine making efforts :-)

Randy and Linda said...

Excellent garden! Amazing the blueberries do so well at this low elevation. I can only imagine the dedication required to maintain such a nice garden. The bobolink word is one with double or triple meaning to it - for those that have fun with words. This one is easy - bobo = black owned black operated, link = what connects them together --- The Black Pages phonebook. They are available at a lot of supermarkets in SC, GA, and FL. Seems like a return of segregation. On a better note, I'm sure your hubby's wine has been a fantastic treat!
Have a great weekend. -Randy

Susan Tuttle said...

such joyous garden photos -- i particularly love the one of you and dh!:)

Cathy ~ Tadpoles and Teacups said...

The only "wonder" about my garden is how on earth it will survive the encroaching weeds!!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

But Cathy, if it weren't for the weeds, my backyard wouldn't be green!

Kelly H-Y said...

Love gardening! Yours looks spectacular ... those tomato plants are amazing!