Hope You are Seeing ....

.... some of this in your "neck of the woods".

A surprising second flush of blooms on the camellia.  Lots of winter damage, but still the imperative to bloom must be really strong. 

Too soon, too soon. 

If the frost next week is not too heavy, we really may have turned the corner.  One can only hope. 

Wednesday Workday - Veggie Garden!

This bizarre winter/spring that we are having is providing all sorts of opportunities to get things done early.   Beginning on Monday and going for the next ten days we are 10-20 degrees above normal ... normal being high 50's and this warm stretch ranging from mid-60's to the low 80's.  What?

There's plenty to be done, but i'm concentrating on getting the veggie garden up and ready for the plants when they arrive.

I've bought soil mixture and made soil mixture - and mixed the two together.  

I've created a cold frame in the hope of getting some seeds started outside early.  (Our last freeze date is April 6 or 15 - depending on your authority - so i am trying to push it by three weeks.)  Am hoping to use this warm spell to heat the soil enough to germinate the seeds now, and then protect them in the cold frame until they are large enough to harden off after the last frost.

Am testing early seeding in the cold frame - with seeds held back in case i need to re-seed in mid-April.

I've set up two more planters - one for peas and one for a second blueberry.  

The "tuteur" was a Christmas gift from friends.

It's filled with little birds!

And, i've started planting cool season herbs and greens - lettuce, spinach, arugula, broccoli, kale, cilantro and Italian parsley plants and spinach and kale seeds.


I joined GrowJourney and the first seeds (cherry tomatoes, eggplant and spinach) have already arrived and are planted in cells in the cold frame, with scallions, beets and ground cherries due later this week.  If you are not familiar with GrowJourney, see Marie's post here on "Sixty-six Square Feet (Plus)" for good information.

There's another order of tomato plants, peas and an additional container-sized blueberry due to arrive over the next couple of weeks.  In other words, spring planting is well underway - even if it's not really spring. 

The first breath of spring!

Next week ... more early flowers!

There's a New Chef in Town!

Do you ever feel like you just cannot cook one more dinner?  or, like planning and shopping for this week's meals is just too, too much?

I've been feeling that way a lot recently.  I started to roughly calculate how many dinners i have cooked, and found it too depressing.  So, when a single-father friend of ours recently sent me a coupon for HelloFresh(TM) , I jumped at it.

You know the concept.  You choose the meals and they ship them out weekly.  Here's what arrived chez nous on Saturday.

We got three meals for two - all packed and ready to go, with the meats packed in ice packs and all in very good condition.  My biggest problem was getting it all into the refrigerator!

Cold stuff on the bottom with freezer packs; then the dry ingredients and veggies all in a box.

One box and one meat package per meal.

Saturday night we had "Chili Roasted Shrimp with Spinach and White Beans".

Everything's in the box except oil, salt and pepper.  See the small package on the left?  It's two cloves of garlic - all peeled and ready to mince.

The literally step-by-step directions are clear and include plenty of photos and a good time line.  Once it's all prepped, it looked like this. 

The shrimp are roasting in the oven, while i cook the veggies and beans.

And, finally plated up.  It looks good and tasted great!

Sunday we had Honey-Gllazed Roast Pork and tonight it will be Mozzarella-Crusted Chicken.  In our first box we had Peppercorn Steak, Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken Saltimocca, and Shrimp and Lemon Risotto. 

First, let me say that Hello Fresh (TM) has in no way paid me*.  

Now we have now eaten five meals and all have been easy to prepare and delicious.  I have enjoyed trying new recipes and especially have loved not having to plan and shop.

For us (in Richmond) the cost of these three meals is just about what we spend for one dinner (with wine) in a decent - not great - restaurant.

There are a number of these services out there.  If you have been wanting to try one, i would not only recommend Hello Fresh (TM), but can give you a "coupon" number to save $40 on your first order.  You can get meals for two or four.  They come with a standard order each week, but you can make some substitution.  There is also a vegetarian option.

We are currently getting meals every other week, while i empty out the well-stocked freezer we have, but the day will probably come when we do it weekly. 

It's almost like having a Personal Shopper for the kitchen!

If you're intrigued, check out there website www.hellofresh.com for better information; and if you want the coupon email me at webb2206@hotmail.com.   *Full disclosure:  If you use my coupon, I will get a credit on my account, so that will be "payment".

Baby, it's Deep Outside!

The blizzard of '16 is finally gone.  I understand it has a name, and altho we have definitely been introduced, I don't know what it is.  It matters not.  S/he dumped a lot of white stuff in my neck of the woods. 

Friday morning - one hour of snow.

Sunday morning - all the snow.
Look closely and you can see the pot.

The weather guessers are saying 12-14 inches fell, but with the drifting it's greatly more and greatly less depending on what the wind did and when.  Fortunately, it's pretty dry and fluffy, but getting a foot or so off the driveway will be a challenge.  We suddenly realize that we are the "elderly people" on our block - you know, the ones that the newsfolk have been warning people to check on.  Would someone please check on our driveway?  I have an appointment on Thursday!

New Cryptomeria.  It's 33 inches tall, but only 11 inches above the snow now.

The new veggie garden - that fence is 24 inches tall.

The view down the street.  So far, two vehicles have been down the street,
altho neither was a plow.

Who can resist snow-covered nandina?

The 'Carolina Yellow Jessamine' is fully budded and ready to open....
well, I hope it will open now.

It is pretty tho!  and, we have plenty of food and wine.  Let the hibernating continue.