This garden has already been a fantastic learning experience for the students, and they have already reaped the rewards in the form of salad and ownership.  Most of the students can tell you which plant they grew from a seed and then planted in the garden, what it is, and they are excited about it!  And it just isn't gardening they are learning, there have been reading lessons, math lessons, social studies (complete with a borscht and salsa garden) and it is all growing right outside the windows to the school from the tiny seed of an idea.

When we walk by the school during recess it is great to see that some of the kids actually spend their free time in the garden, walking the paths, checking for weeds, enjoying the space.  Community members and neighbors use it as a spot for picnics and to take care of it.  Food produced from the garden will go to families who need it and the Food Bank during the summer when kids are not in school.  It is truly amazing what has transpired from that tiny seed of an idea.

Just imagine what we could do as a community if we all put our little bit of effort into something.  A marshy portion of a field became a garden in a matter of a few months and a handful of work parties.  People who have no vested interest in either of the schools got involved.  We had adults and kids alike who were there for a baseball or soccer game during a work party pick up a shovel and pitch in, they wanted to be involved.  Amazing…simply amazing.

During this whole process a neighbor and photographer Steven Herppich came and took photos documenting the process and he was kind enough to put those photos into a very moving slide show.  It was shown at the garden dedication and it was very emotional for the adults but for the children as well.

And now you can see how far the garden has come, and the fabulous thing is, it is just going to continue to get better and amaze us all.

http://animoto.com/play/kR4NEGWY1jv4rSXEKG0N7g

The meeting was being held at the Shafer Baillie Mansion.  This place is HUMONGOUS!  Yes that big.  All caps are in order.  We could fit two and probably close to three of our house inside this true mansion.  The owners have done a great job of restoring the grandeur of this historic home, the woodwork is breathtakingly beautiful.  The meeting was being held in the basement (downstairs) speakeasy.  Yes really!  Complete with the bar and everything.  It is very cool.  You can just imagine the neighborhood millionaires gathering there imbibing on illegal liquids with a cloud of cigar smoke lingering above.

Anyhow back to the walk.  It was a beautiful fall day.  A little crisp but not freezing.  The sun was shining and lighting up the fall foliage like a light behind a stained glass window.  Magic.  As Lauren and I strolled along the street I kept pausing the admire the beautiful homes.  Each one had such great architecture.  They are all large homes on Millionaire’s row, each one with something different to offer.  This one had fantastic eaves, they extended further out, great for a NW home, that one had interesting trimwork around the windows really making each one a piece of art.  One’s paint scheme, another one’s landscaping, or hardscaping, or stairs, or fence, or porch, or columns.  Really each one was individual and unique, giving me ideas and inspiration for  lots of projects.  At the end of the street was a sign for Volunteer Park.  I had no idea it was so close.  Just behind the sign on a hill was a large brick tower.  I assumed it was a water tower (I assumed correctly).  I decided to continue walking into the park to explore.  The water tower was open.  There is a steep winding staircase that leads to a observation deck at or near the top of the tower with a display on the Olmsteads who were responsible for many of Seattle’s parks and boulevards.  The view was spectacular.  Clear view of the Space Needle with a ferry leaving the terminal, downtown Seattle, the 520 floating bridge, Bellevue, and everything in between.  It wasn’t a perfectly clear day, there was still a bit of marine layer otherwise I bet the Cascades, Olympics, and Mt Rainier would have been out in all their glory too!

After leaving the tower I continued along the path into the park, Lauren babbling to me, and saying, "Hi!" to every man, woman, child, dog, squirrel,  bird or other living creature she saw and getting annoyed if they didn’t say,  "Hi!" back.  We came upon another building, it looked older and Art Deco in nature and I was surprised to find it was the Asian Art Museum.  Unfortunately I decided against bringing the diaper bag with my wallet in it.  I was already carrying Lauren and the camera and didn’t want the extra weight of the diaper bag as well.  Shoot!  Oh well.  Perhaps we will have to come another time.  Truth be told it was much too nice a day to go inside.  Lauren and I continued past the museum and I spotted what at first appeared to be a rose garden in the distance full of blooms.  I turned and started down a narrow path across the lawn in that direction.

What appeared in the distance to be roses was actually dahlias.  A small dahlia garden planted and maintained by the Seattle Dahlia Society.  The were beautiful.  I know some people think roses are high maintenance plants, but anything I have to dig up and store properly and then replant the next year is a bit too much maintenance for me.  I don’t have to do much to my roses but trim them back.  That is pretty good for me.  The dahlias though were like multi-hued jewels.  Large ones, small ones, variegated ones, solid ones, dense petals, loose petals, even one I thought at first glance was a rose.  So much variation in one plant species.

Continuing on from the dahlia garden we headed toward the conservatory.  A beautiful structure, again looks historic, more Victorian, all the glass glistening in the sun, and it was packed full of plants.  Only flaw?  Not open on a Monday.  We weren’t having much luck with things today.  I really enjoyed admiring the building though.  Again it gave me ideas, a nice light but protected area outdoors so you could see the surrounding gardens, what a lovely spot for a wedding…hmmmm.  Well I don’t see that happening until our apple trees fall over and I sincerely hope they don’t.

At this point I heard church bells (not sure from where) signaling it was noon.  At least I assumed it was noon.  Since lunch was being served at 12:30, or most likely 1:00pm because the meetings never seem to run on time, I decided I should head back.  I walked back along another path and went past two koi ponds, those were some big carp in there!  And beautiful.  One of them was nearly leopard spotted, scales alternating gold and black, with long flowing fins.  Lauren at this point is singing the sleeping song.  Yes she sings herself to sleep in the stroller or hip carrier, a monotonous chanting sort of sound, like a car that just doesn’t quite start. Ahhh ahhh ahhh ahhh.  So in a matter of moments she is sound asleep snuggling into my armpit.  I stroll back along the leaf covered sidewalks and decide to look at the houses on the other side of Aloha, especially since one is for sale.  You never know when you might come into a spare 4.5 million!  It is another mansion, brick with a stunning front window.  Actually the house that stopped me on that section was a Tudor style house with a large turret out the front.  Not sure what it was exactly but I stopped to admire it both on the way down and the way back up the street.  The front sidewalk stairs leading to the front porch with the looming turret overhead, it was a perfect photo, but I didn’t want to take a photo of a stranger’s house.  Especially since it bothers me when random people stop their cars out the front of our house to take photos.  But those people also ignore us when we wave or ask them if they want to see the inside, I would have said, "Hi, beautiful house.  Why, yes I would love to see the inside.  Do you mind that I took a photo?  I just couldn’t help myself"

After tearing myself away from the house, I made my way back to the meeting, lunch, and then decided that since Lauren only napped for about 10 minutes she really really should have a nap or dinner tonight was going to be really noisy and unpleasant.  Since I knew she wouldn’t fall asleep with me holding her (unless I was walking again and I would have to keep walking for two hours), I went out to the car, strapped her into her carseat and I sat in the car listening to the radio and watching the traffic (both foot and vehicle) go by.  The more I watched the more I realized that city life is not for me.  There were so many people.  I really enjoy our neighborhood.  It is close enough that I can walk just about anywhere, I know many of our neighbors and wouldn’t hesitate to knock on a door if I needed help, but the traffic isn’t bad either that I could ride my bike or drive and not stress out about it.

Lauren slept in her carseat for a solid two hours, although she did talk in her sleep, she was yelling at the dog.  "Bad dog, out out, blah blah blah, dog woof."  I thought she was waking up and commenting on the dog that was walking past, but when I leaned back to look at her she was still fast asleep.  It was pretty cute.  My guess is she was dreaming the dog was barking at the back door to get let back in.

The meeting ended shortly after Lauren woke up and after saying good-byes to several innkeepers we headed off to dinner at Olivar, just down the hill on E Roy.  I looked at the directions and saw it was about half a mile away and thought that perhaps we should just walk, but since we didn’t think we would need our coats (Lauren had one, but neither Nathan or I did) and it was now spitting with rain, we drove.  And drove, and drove and drove in circles looking for a parking spot.  Finally we found one, it was adjacent to a no parking red curb, but Sandy was short enough to JUST fit.  Our other innkeepers driving larger vehicles drove even more than we did.  Upon entering the restaurant I really was struck with the feeling I had been in the restaurant before.  I think I had coffee there with an old friend from high school many years ago, the murals were very familiar.  According to one of the waitresses they were hand painted in the 30′s, it is a story about a Russian Czar.  I love stuff like that.  She said another restauranteur wanted to occupy the space but wanted to paint over the murals, but there was an outcry and the city protected the murals.  I assumed that meant they are on the historical registry in some fashion  but I am not sure.

The chef had created a family style menu for our group.  All the food was very well done.  How many ways can you say it?  Amazing, flavorful, expertly done.  We started off with an arugula salad with blue cheese, roasted beets and balsamic vinegar.  Crisp greens with the slightly peppery flavor arugula is known for, the beets a touch of sweetness, the cheese a nice earthy flavor with cream and the vinegar was just enough to bring it all together.  Next was a portabello mushroom tart  with a PX vinegar reduction.  Now I could have eaten about three of those.  Crispy, flaky, buttery, rich flavorful mushroom flavor with the vinegar adding a touch of sweetness.  The tart was followed by sea scallops atop a parsnip puree and an herb salad.  The scallops were cooked to perfection, they were sweet and tender, flavorful, and creamy.  The salad, I am not sure exactly what herbs were in it but it was wonderful.  Out of the kitchen next was Nathan’s favorite, potato gnocchi with roasted red peppers and crispy Parmesan topping.   The gnocchi was fresh, melt in your mouth tender and buttery.  Yum.  And no dinner didn’t stop there.  Following the gnocchi was my favorite which surprised me.  Seared duck breast with pickled green tomatoes and grilled polenta.  The duck had such a great flavor, I am not sure what I expected but between the flavor of the duck, the tomatoes and the awesome polenta, I would have had two of these following the three mushroom tarts.  The last main dish to come out was ground lamb meatballs with Nicoise olive and artichoke puree.  They were a lovely red color inside from a Moroccan spice (similar to paprika the waitress told us).  So flavorful, and still moist even though they were lamb and well done. 

Of course no meal is complete without dessert.  After all the food we had enjoyed so far we still had one more to finish our meal,  an apple tart tatin with a cinnamon creme brulee.  I honestly didn’t get much between Nathan and Lauren.  Lauren’s comments upon devouring the creme brulee were "Yummm, yumm, yumm."  And then she reached over and stole the apple out of the tart.  I did have a couple of tastes of the creme brulee and it was rich and creamy, the sugar crust on the top was a lovely crispy caramel but no trace of burnt flavor some have.  The tart had that lovely flaky buttery crust.  The combination of the two were like an upscale version of apple pie with ice cream.

After all the time being restrained, contained and reigned in, Lauren had had enough, she wanted out, down and away.  She was really good for the majority of the day, but at the end of the day she just wanted to crawl and explore and be heard.  As the restaurant got busier our group started to disperse and Lauren was more entertained by the burst of movement and conversation.  By the time we left, and got on I-5 headed south and home she was fast asleep.  So yet another great meal at a fantastic restaurant made even better with conversation with friends and fellow innkeepers.  What a long but lovely day.

Oh and thank you to the chef who sent out a special slice of pumpkin bread for Lauren!  She wasn’t as patient as the rest of us for each flight to come out of the kitchen.  I would like to say it was just as wonderful as the rest of the food, but she didn’t share a single crumb with anyone.

The akeebia have fruit and we haven’t harvested it yet.  We aren’t exactly sure how to tell when they are ripe.  They are still green.  And we do think we will get quite a few squash this year (yum).  The bad thing our tomatoes did not do well.  I think some of those were mislabeled as well, one of them was supposed to be a red heirloom variety and they are yellow.  Hmmm.  I don’t know if we will be buying from that vendor again.

The good thing is that the rose garden did get completed and it looks lovely and with the mulch the roses are starting to rebloom.  Now to pick out other roses and plants to complete it, plus transplant some plants (flowers) in our garden beds so we can dedicate the beds to fruits and veg.  Fall is going to be a busy time outside in the garden.

Also our garden is still producing strawberries and raspberries, the strawberry patch has done well enough to do several breakfasts so far, and the rasperries have too, it is so nice to go out the back and pick your own produce.

The grapes, all will have tons of grapes on them this year, and I think we will actually get some butternut squash.  Last year we didn’t get any.  We planted two English cucumbers and one plant has several flowers and three cucumbers, the other, a couple of flowers.  Our tomatoes have not thrived but we are getting some fruit.

We made a new bed under Lauren’s window as we had move the compost bins we just dumped it into that bed.  We planted lettuce, chard, and basil, but we have several squash plants and tomato plants that have grown, as well as some pepper plants and they are thriving.  Apparently the compost bin didn’t get hot enough to kill the seeds.  We aren’t complaining though.

The akeebia has some fruit on it, it hasn’t ripened as of yet though, I am kind of excited I want to know what it tastes like and what my fod possibilities are.

The rose garden has been our focus so our vegetable garden has been a tad neglected.  Our goal after the rose garden has been finished is to get water back into the garden so we can have our drip irrigation again, our plants would be so much happier!  That was the one summer our garden did outstandingly well.  We watered every day at 4am for 15 minutes, and then after a really hot day we would water at 10pm for 10 minutes.  Everything was so lush and sweet and fast growing and productive.   Our last step for the rose garden is going to be a delivery of compost top dressing and I think we will get enough to do our garden beds as well and get a jump on the next season.

First thing was to tear up the "sod".  The rose garden used to be just a side lawn that wrapped around the house, then we made it shorter by extending our living space, and also fenced it off, and added more roses to be more officially designated as a rose garden.  The grass died every year in this area, was beautiful and lush until about mid-June when it would be toasted to a crispy critter by the afternoon sun bouncing off the house.  Not the optimal plan, and it was not that appealing to hang out in because it was so brown.  So we decided to tear out the grass and lay cobblestone pavers.

I was sick with bronchitis and a sinus infection so Nathan went out with our garden tiller and began removing the sod.  This area never had a problem with drainage as other areas in our yard does and we quickly found out why.  Under the sod was a thin layer of top soil and then gravel.  That might have some reason as to why the grass died every year, the soil couldn’t have held that much nutrient, there wasn’t that much soil.    This was a dusty dirty job.  It took about two days with several breaks and only working in the morning and evenings when the sun wasn’t blazing down.

Then came a general leveling.  Not a true leveling as we didn’t want to excavate the gravel that was there or bring in more gravel and have the pavers be any higher.  Next we made a frame out of 2x4s and leveled that from the highest point.  We did dig that point out a bit as we discovered it was higher than we anticipated to the lowest point.  This probably was the most important part., if the frame wasn’t level the sand wouldn’t be level and then the pavers wouldn’t be level.  After it was level enough (we didn’t want it absolutely level, we wanted it to slope generally away from the house), the sand hauling began.  Nathan would load the wheelbarrow with sand that was delivered near the carport and haul it around and up a ramp into the frame and dump it.  I would then rake it out and try and eyeball level it.

After we thought it was generally full enough and level we used a level and a scree to level it based on the top of the frame.  Basically it was an 8ft 2×4 with a thumb on one end that rested on the top of the frame, the other end had the level attached to it.  Then Nathan and I would on our hands and knees comb the sand trying to level it.  We filled in low spots and took down high spots until we had it level.  With tampers we tamped it down to help insure it didn’t shift too much as we started the next step, laying the pavers.

We chose a pattern that has three sized stones and looks more like a random pattern, but is an actual pattern.  The hardest part has been carrying all the stones from the parking lot around the house to the garden.  The actual paving went faster than we hoped and looks wonderful.  We are now all done except one last corner where the gate at the front of the house is.  We are making two steps from the rose garden level to the main yard level so we didn’t lay those last stones as we will be extending out and doing the steps too.  Oh and the heat.  We were hauling those stones around with record temperatures.  We moved quickly in the morning and could work until nearly noon when the sun would come around the corner of the house, and then in the evenings from about 7pm until 8:30pm or so depending on Lauren’s mood.  The day we got the most paving done we reached highs of 104, it was not cool by any stretch of the imagination.

Our plans for the space evolve and change every time we are out there.  It is such a nice space.  After our next wedding we hope to do the walls out of the reddish brown bricks we already have and then to find a nice cap to top the wall.

Every morning we are woken with the sounds of birds chirping outside, such a beautiful sound.  With all of our feeders scattered around the property we see them throughout the day as wel eating.  We have quite the collection of Blue Stellar Jays that hang around.  A guest told us that they bring good luck.  They are always welcome!

I am reminded though at night of my chidlhood when we sleep with an open window and I don’t hear frogs singing.  For the majority of my childhood we lived near a creek and in spring the tree frogs would all be singing and croaking, it is such a lovely sound to fall asleep to and I don’t hear them here.  Every now and then I might here one random one, but not very often.

We have planted seeds in our veggie patch and have planted a lot more densly than we have in the past, we will see how that goes for us this year as far as yeilds go.  We also started our next crops from seed indoors and they should be ready to go out in a week or so.  Our asaragus doesn’t seem to be doing too much, but I am not sure what exactly it is supposed to be doing, I would imagine it is suppose to be growing, but I am not certain.

Well off to do some projects outside while the weather is nice!

So there were a ton of carrots and tomatoes.  We kept the tomatoes on the vines and they are ripening on cookie sheets in the garden room.  There are quite a few, so we’ll have to see if they all turn or not, otherwise…fried green tomatoes anyone?  Some of them are starting to turn already.  It is promising.  Maybe enough for another batch of sauce or soup?  Still haven’t been able to locate a food mill though!  You would think somewhere would have one.  Bed, Bath and Beyond says they normally have them but they are out.  I will have to check again, I have a 20% off coupon too, so cross your fingers.  Plus I can use it for the carrots and make some babyfood for Lauren and can that for when she is older.  Plus there is always applesauce.

My latest creation is Banana Coconut sorbet.  It is so tasty!  Nathan helped me make the batter yesterday morning when we were waiting for guests to come down for breakfast and then I put it in the machine yesterday afternoon and we had some last night for dinner.  It is so creamy and flavorful.

Here’s the recipe I used:

4 ripe bananas
1 can coconut milk (14.8oz or something strange like that)
3 cups water
1.5 cups sugar

Bring water to boil; add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved, return to boil for 5 minutes.

Peel and chop bananas into food processor or blender. Add coconut milk. Process until well mixed, smooth and creamy.

Stir banana coconut mixture into cooling sugar mixture.

Place resulting mixture into refrigerator for 2+ hours.  Make sure it is completely chilled or it will take longer to set up in the ice cream maker.

Prepare ice cream maker and pour mixture into ice cream maker. Process/freeze according to ice cream maker instructions.

I have a 2qt maker and it was full to the maximum line and I ran it for about 35 minutes.  It probably could have stayed in a little longer, but I wasn’t eating it right away so transferred it to a freezer safe container and put it in the freezer to set up the rest of the way.

The reviews last night were very good, there was a suggestion of opening a sorbet shop, and all the different flavors I could have.  Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, Plum, Banana Coconut, Lemon, Key Lime, Orange, Pineapple, Watermelon, Apple, Grape (those two I am not so sure about), Kiwi, Akeebia, Kumquat, Mango, Pina Colada, Screwdriver (orange and vodka), more adult beverage flavors…and the list went on, especially when you start combining flavors.

I like the fact that they are easy and can be accommodated to just about every food allergy.  They don’t have any dairy (coconut milk isn’t really milk I found out yesterday), no wheat, no eggs, no nuts, no animal products for our vegan guests.  The only ingredients are the fruit, sugar and water, so if someone was allergic to a specific fruit, you just pick another!  So far I haven’t met anyone that is allergic to ALL fruit, so it works really well.

I think the sorbets might become a staple in the summer here.  It is a bit too cold to do them all year round I think.  In fact we decided it was a bit too cold this morning to serve the Banana Coconut one, and tonight we just have one room so I will probably use the last of the strawberry tomorrow and then the Banana Coconut on Sunday morning when we have a full house. 

I can probably make another batch of strawberry, the strawberry plants are going nuts, and I might have found some blackberries too!  And there are still plums on the tree, and all of our guests commented on how deliciously plummy the plum sorbet was.  Several of them commenting it was the best sorbet they had ever had.  I am still planning on harvesting plums from our neighbor and making a large batch of plum butter, it is one of the key ingredients in our kielbasa glaze and makes an impression on guests when you tell them the plums are from your own garden.  Especially during the winter when you don’t have access to as much fresh fruit.

So now…I have strawberries picked and ready to turn into a lovely sorbet for breakfast.  Of course I probably have enough strawberries to make several batches, and the raspberries are just turning ripe, and there will be more strawberries in a few days.  We have Vegans coming to stay tomorrow night so it will be perfect, no animal products in sorbet, plus it is supposed to be hot tomorrow so it will be nice and and refreshing.

Oh and I found recipes for plums, and lemons, and watermelon.  Anyone have any interesting combinations that they think would be good?  I would love to see if anyone in the neighborhood knows of any unsprayed blackberry thickets, blackberry sorbet…yum!  Or for something a little exotic, banana with coconut milk?  If we do get akeebia and kiwi this year (no blooms yet) that might be something really interesting for a sorbet.

Our plums on the tree are finally ripe so I went and picked another bowl full today (a huge mixing bowl), and will probably be picking plums every day for a week or so, the tree is full of them.  Plus our neighbor two doors down who has recently moved out of the neighborhood but still owns the house has several plum trees and he said we were welcome to as many as we would like, so I do believe I will be able to replenish our plum butter supply.  The apples are falling rapidly.  I may try and pick some of them and see what the insides look like and decide if apple sauce is in my future.  The chunky applesauce that I serve warm in the winter is really popular with our guests (especially when you tell them the apples are from the trees out the front).

The longest part of making the sorbet though is unfortunately waiting for the bowl to freeze!  I suppose I could make the test batch tonight for dessert.  I am sure I can convince Nathan as long as the strawberry doesn’t have strawberry chunks in it.