Bubbling Kimchi, originally uploaded by dorisaurus.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Farmville!
When I moved into my current apartment I was thrilled to discover there was a patio included in our living space. It's actually pretty sizable, although mostly concrete. There's a dirt edging the concrete and I instantly thought about planting a garden! I'd gotten so far as to put in flower bulbs through most of the before I realized how much fun it would be to start a vegetable garden!
Of course once I had this idea I'd had these dreams of growing enough to just have mounds of fresh leafy greens at my disposal. I'd have beets and radishes spilling out of my vegetable crisper and I'd give them away to friends and family who would be duly impressed.
Turns out growing things from seed during an El Nino year, with limited sunlight at all and poor light in the yard doesn't yield a lot in the way of beets and carrots and radishes, However, I've been having some decent luck with lettuce and chard (not from seed) in a planter box. This picture is my first chard harvest. Weeks of growing and some monetary investment went into producing these leaves that were enough for....one side dish to serve...one. ME! Ha! Not exactly the bonanza of fresh produce I was hoping for!
I just read a great article (thanks Dave!) about a man in Brooklyn running an experiment to see if he could live off his backyard for a month. And he did! Sort of.. .enough for one meal a day for 3 weeks, after spending $11,000 -
http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/37273/
I'll admit even after reading this I still have dreams of having enough tomatoes to make jars of sauce, or enough peppers or squash to preserve for the winter. After all I'm not trying to LIVE off a home garden, and at least I feel better knowing that my parents' garden ALREADY produces enough fruit to make tons of jam. But I'm jazzed to keep on with my experiments in vegetable gardening in a bigger, sunnier space. I think the key will be to aim for plants with higher yields.
Wish me luck!
Of course once I had this idea I'd had these dreams of growing enough to just have mounds of fresh leafy greens at my disposal. I'd have beets and radishes spilling out of my vegetable crisper and I'd give them away to friends and family who would be duly impressed.
Turns out growing things from seed during an El Nino year, with limited sunlight at all and poor light in the yard doesn't yield a lot in the way of beets and carrots and radishes, However, I've been having some decent luck with lettuce and chard (not from seed) in a planter box. This picture is my first chard harvest. Weeks of growing and some monetary investment went into producing these leaves that were enough for....one side dish to serve...one. ME! Ha! Not exactly the bonanza of fresh produce I was hoping for!
I just read a great article (thanks Dave!) about a man in Brooklyn running an experiment to see if he could live off his backyard for a month. And he did! Sort of.. .enough for one meal a day for 3 weeks, after spending $11,000 -
http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/37273/
I'll admit even after reading this I still have dreams of having enough tomatoes to make jars of sauce, or enough peppers or squash to preserve for the winter. After all I'm not trying to LIVE off a home garden, and at least I feel better knowing that my parents' garden ALREADY produces enough fruit to make tons of jam. But I'm jazzed to keep on with my experiments in vegetable gardening in a bigger, sunnier space. I think the key will be to aim for plants with higher yields.
Wish me luck!
Monday, March 8, 2010
2010 Big Eat SF #47 - La Mar
I missed out on last year's Big Eat list of 100 things to eat in SF for the year (ok, the list is about things to eat before you die. For the year sounds better.) When Shannon's sis came to town while she was away for work, it was the perfect time to take her out and try one of the items on the list.
La Mar is a Peruvian restaurant on the Embarcadero where it seems like everything is delicious! The ceviche made it on the list and it is certainly limey, refreshing, yummy and fresh. This sampler has it done four ways. Sadly I can't remember now all the ways except the two on the left are done a Chinese and Japanese influence. I could have had just this for dinner!!!! mmmmm!
La Mar is a Peruvian restaurant on the Embarcadero where it seems like everything is delicious! The ceviche made it on the list and it is certainly limey, refreshing, yummy and fresh. This sampler has it done four ways. Sadly I can't remember now all the ways except the two on the left are done a Chinese and Japanese influence. I could have had just this for dinner!!!! mmmmm!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Duck in a pool!
Duck in a pool!, originally uploaded by dorisaurus.
I call this guy CEO Duck. He's been hanging around for about two weeks, finally caught him on video. Like a rich CEO he has a pimping ginormous pad; he's so rich other people clean it for him. His friends are much poorer and are hanging out in the puddles of a nearby shopping center. But like a lonely human CEO, CEO Duck must be so busy in life he can't find a nice lady friend to live in his pad with him. Good luck in your search, CEO Duck!
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Plus, I can't get over the awesomeness of having THIS happen every time I open up a fresh jar. Nothing says AWESOME like some insane bubbling followed by the spicy fermented vegetable goodness. I'm happily stinking up the office with some now...although, my co-worker's eyes just started watering and he just had to leave. Eeeeep...sorry!! O_o I'm THAT annoying coworker.