Fantasy Garden

Isn't this beautiful?? The fence, the neat beds, the fruit trees, the woods beyond. There has to be a stream in those woods, right? Read more about it here.

Loping through the Lavender

This morning my mom and I participated in a 5K at the Young Living Lavender Farm. Young Living Essential Oils is one of myriad health-related multilevel marketing companies in Utah County, and they happen to have a huge lavender field in Mona, Utah, south of Santaquin and just north of the edge of nowhere. Here we are at the starting line:

The guy in the hat behind us is the CEO of the company, and he started the race with a shotgun. Later there would be a staged gunfight in which he played Wyatt Earp. We left before that event. My mom thought ahead and dressed appropriately in lavender. I didn't. Oops.

Here we are toward the end of the race. I was able to run most of the way (walking no more than 2-3 minutes at a time), so I finished ahead of my mom, who was walking. So I came back and met up with her so we could finish together.

I had to include both pictures, because she looks better in one and I look better in the other. No hope for my hair, though. It would not be contained this morning.

After the race there was muffins and fruit and trying to find our times. They only had the first 300 people or so posted (out of over 1,000), and we weren't on that list. So I have no idea how long it took me.

It was hard--the longest I've ever run--but once it was done I was already thinking about the next race, the one where I'd run the whole time, not stopping even once. Maybe I'll find one in the fall when it's not so hot. It was an odd feeling for this natural couch potato. I can see how people get hooked on this stuff.

CSA week 1

Braising greens (mixed), spinach, microgreens (overgrown sprouts), rainbow carrots, French radishes, two kinds of chard, and a huge bunch of cilantro.

I've been eating salads of spinach and microgreens, plus peas from the farmers' market. Tonight we had grilled chicken (marinated lightly in lime juice) with cilantro pesto and a barley salad with peas, rainbow carrots, and fresh herbs. Later this week we'll eat the chard and greens in two different meals. I'm not sure what to do with the radishes.

I made another yummy thing that's not CSA-related but not worth a post of its own: strawberry sauce. But I didn't use just any strawberries; these were tiny, sun-ripened berries foraged (with permission) from my neighbor's garden. I was hoping to make jam, but no such luck. I got about a cup of perfect sauce, just berries, sugar, water, and lemon juice. I'm eating it over tart frozen yogurt, my new favorite treat. Mmmmmm..... I love summer food.

Chicken fest

A couple Saturdays ago was the Wasatch Gardens Tour de Coops, a self-guided tour through a whole slew of backyard chicken coops. The chickens were gorgeous and looked happy. More impressive, though, were the gardens. Only a few properties had large back yards; most were smaller than your typical suburban plot. But all were full of vegetables and herbs and flowers. Only one had a nice lawn in the back, and that's because they planted their garden on top of their garage.

I would have taken more garden photos, but I was trying to keep Atticus from trampling the garden or falling off the roof. I wanted to get a photo of Atty with a chicken, but he wouldn't get close to them, even when they were caged. He'd stand far back, point, and say "cheek-en."

This coop used to be a sleeper cab for a semi truck. Now chickens sleep here.

This same property kept bees. Several properties we visited kept bees. I guess if you have a large garden, it just makes sense. And it fits with the urban-hippie vibe.

This was the most decorative coop we saw. The sleeper cab is just to the right. It was at this farm that I met Sharon, an enthusiastic hippie chick with hairy armpits who runs the garden (doesn't own the property or chickens). She actually has several gardens in other people's back yards and sells the produce at local farmers' markets. And it just so happened that she was starting up a CSA. Most CSAs require that you pay back in March or April, so they have start-up money for seeds etc. And I had decided not to go with our regular CSA for various reasons. But when she told me that she specializes in greens and beans, I was hooked. Plus she's planted 20 varieties of tomatoes. And herbs. AND she delivers. How can you beat that??

All in all, I was very inspired by what I saw. I saw that I don't have to have half an acre or more to have the little farm of my dreams. Not to say that I wouldn't enjoy a larger plot (dairy goats would need more room), but it's good to see that it's not required.

Yeah, sandals will do that to you.

And man, do they stink.

Bourdain!

James and I had a great time Saturday night when we went to see Anthony Bourdain speak. If you don't know who he is, you should look him up. He has a great show on the Travel channel called "No Reservations." James interviewed him for SLUG magazine (you can read his interview here), and as a bonus we got free tickets to the show. Ninth row center. Pretty darn good. And even better, we happened to be sitting next to the editor of SLUG, Angela, and her boyfriend, Fletcher.

Bourdain's press agent promised us tickets for the VIP meet-and-greet afterward, but apparently that didn't happen. I was digging the email from the agent out of my purse, though, when a nice couple gave us their VIP tickets. And because we'd been haggling with the usher, we ended up first in line. Bonus! And by strange coincidence we knew both of the women selling his books in the signing room. And afterward we were able to pass off our tickets to friends from the ward so they could get their book signed.

The only potential downer was when I lost my knitting when the ball of yarn rolled under the seats ahead of me, then dragged away the sweater I was working on as it moved toward the stage. It only got three or four rows up, and I did get it all back in one piece. James says he can't take me anywhere, but I say all's well that ends well, right?

This was also the first time we left Atticus with a real babysitter. As in teenage girls. He likes to hang out with Carly, an 11-year-old girl in our ward, but she's a bit young to babysit alone, so her older sister Cassidy came along. He got a little nervous when we were leaving, but when I told him they would give him candy (one gummy vitamin) after we left, it was like, "what, you're still here? go already!" It cost us a little extra to have two babysitters, but it was worth it. Atty had a great time, and we had a lovely time without him.

Memorial Day, part 2

[Does anyone know how to rotate video in Blogger?]

That evening our friends Larry and Sharon Nielson invited us over to help them eat leftovers from Sharon's daughter's wedding. How could we say no to gyoza and chocolate strawberries?? We brought a cooler of bottled soda. Atty thought the luggage cart was the best thing ever. On the way home, they kept getting grounded on the grass, so James dumped the ice and carried the cooler so Atty could control the cart. He's such a sweet dad.