Zucchini Squashed, Tomato Hope- Garden Updates

Updates on my gardening hopes and dreams: Sometimes they fall hard.

~Zucchini squashed! I recently attempted to hand-pollinate zucchini blossoms after weeks and weeks of flowers with no veggies. My squash plant is now dead. I discovered it collapsed into a sad, droopy heap one morning. :(

~Tomato hope! The heirloom tomato plant that had grown super skinny and tall and was losing branches had a turn for the better! I noticed that the bottom of the plant began growing new branches a few weeks ago. I decided to give the top part of the plant a specified time to see if it would do the same. When it didn't, I sacrificed the few tomatoes growing there and lopped the whole, long, skinny part of the plant off at the base. The new branches are healthy and full and sprouting lots of blossoms (see photo below, tomato plant closest to camera)! We ended up letting the tomatoes ripen that were growing at the top of the plant before I pruned it, and they were delish! Hoping for more to come! :D

Our second tomato plant (toward back of picture below) has loads of fruit, and after our most recent fertilizing they look bigger and plumper than ever. Our first from this plant were also delicious!























~Green stuff! Our green beans and most of our herbs have continued to produce!

~New crops planted! The seedlings of our very first fall crops are growing: broccoli, spinach, lettuce & dill and cilantro. A hard downpour and hail damaged some of our spinach, but we still have some. The herbs have their first "true" leaves, and I thinned the lettuce and broccoli some just yesterday.

Morning Walk, Forest Encounters

Hiked into Frick twice in the past week- I've been craving physical activity and sweating along with woodland peace. :) The Black-eyed Susans are everywhere, water is flowing, big and little butterflies are dancing together in whirls, tiny frogs are hopping. Didn't hear or see many birds, but the forest silence and gentle, rushing streams were blissful.

On one hike I took the trail along Nine Mile Run , something I rarely do because I get so sad about the garbage that builds up there. At one point last summer I was taking a bag there with me on hikes so I could carry some trash. When more and more kept appearing, I got discouraged and just quit walking there. I'm not sure if it's a monetary issue, a lack of volunteers or organization, or simply that the onslaught of garbage is too much for regular maintenance to take care of. The stream is unhealthy, which the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association says is typical of an urban stream. After all of the finances, time, and energy invested in restoring the aquatic ecosystem and the wildlife there (it really is remarkable to see the changes!), though, the stream continues to struggle with a human-caused blight. :( Looking into ways to help more. Until then, focusing on the beautiful along Nine Mile Run and in Frick Park!


Met a sweet little frog on my hike today! I asked if I could take her picture, and she said I could as long as I didn't reveal her true identity. I promised not to.

Drink the Wild Air: Zipline Adventure Through the Trees!

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

For my birthday this year, we went on a trip to New River Gorge in West Virginia. Led by guides from their Tree Tops Canopy Tour, we traversed through the forest over tall tress and rushing waters along an elaborate and incredible system of ziplines and rope bridges! The environmentally-conscious zip line tour is a combination of short, steep hikes and ten ziplines, five skybridges, and one rappel. It was my first zipline adventure, and it was a-ma-zing!

A thought I remember having while flying through the forest sky was that the experience was far too thrilling and inexpressibly cool for my body to be so calm and my brain to be so orderly! A deep sense of peace and connection to life kept my heart strangely calm even as it and my spirit were dancing and laughing and screaming with joy. It was this strange combination of wanting to take all of it in and let it make an impression, breathless delight, and complete, logical serenity.

The question my friends and family asked me most about the trip is, "Were you scared?" Surprisingly (well, not to me), I was not! I was a bit nervous, but I found that volunteering to be the very first one to zip left no time for nervousness. haha! My only complaint, which isn't really a complaint so much as a desire for more, is that everything happened so quickly that there was barely a moment to let all of that EXPERIENCING absorb into your memory, experience, and system before it was over!

New River Gorge also has an *upgraded* version of the Treetops Canopy Tour called the Gravity Zip Line Tour. Can't wait to sign up!

Check out my photos taken from the zip line platforms, as well as a video of T zipping and someone zipping across a line below the platform we were on (they were on a zip line slightly ahead of us on the course). Awesomeness!

This Year's Garden- Good Eats & Challenges

Gardening continues to be one of my true loves, and like love the garden yields joys and challenges in equal opportunity. :)

















My sweet little niece stopped by to labor in the garden for a while with me. :) She's a dirt-y girl after my own heart.


JOYS: Our harvest so far

~Abundant mint and sage bunches, shared happily with neighbors
~LETTUCE- we love fresh salads, and so do our Budgies
~Fresh Herbs (pronounced with the "h" in honor of global friends- heehee):
*fresh dill and basil and mints make our green salads spicy and vibrant
*crushed basil and oregano sprinkled on our pizza after the oven add pizzazz
*chives sprinkled into pasta salads and potato salad make both savory and delish
*peppermint and spearmint make wonderful tea and lemonade
~Green beans- T likes them raw, I prefer them lightly steamed. :)

CHALLENGES: This year's conundrums

~Tomato plants that are shooting skyward instead of bushing out. I guess we didn't prune as we should have early on, given the huge growth spurts that happened with the loads of rain and humidity. Lots of re-staking to keep up. There may also be an issue of not enough sunlight, but our neighbors' tomoatoes last year in the same area did well. Looks like one plant is struggling a little more and may not make it. :(

~Lots of blossoms, but no fruit on the zucchini. There have been so many big, beautiful blossoms that I was sure we would be eating loads of delish zucchini. For some reason, though, we haven't had a single fruit! All flowers, nothing growing in their place. :/ I have no idea why.

~Figuring out the golden raspberry. So far it's not doing much as far as growth, and I've never grown berries.

~Nibbling on some of our leaves and herbs by pests, especially the basil and sage. I haven't been able to find the little culprits like in years past, but I keep hand-inspecting. Today I noticed that whole leaves of the basil were eaten.

~Fickle herbs. Our cilantro plant and dill bolted after two weeks. :( This is my first dill (I love it), but I have yet to have success in keeping cilantro all summer. I just recently read it prefers to be sown directly in the garden soil, so I will try that over replanting seedlings. Rosemary is stunted, so we are uprooting from the garden and putting it in its own pot so it can stay dryer.

PLANS: Fall Planting

Reading up on some ways to make a garden more efficient reminded me that it's time to plant now for fall crops! Just got beautiful organic seeds in the mail from Homegrown Healthy on Etsy: broccoli, spinach, more lettuce, and herbs (can't hurt to give those another go, right?). I may just grow the herbs in pots so I can bring them indoors for winter.

Stay tuned for updates. :)

Frick Park Lushness!

Recent visits to the park. Loads of lush, thick greenery from so much rain and lots of butterflies gathering on the damp paths. The one in the picture I snapped above is a Red-Spotted Purple. :)

Peaceful as always. I need to go more often. Posting some video, too, just to share the forest sounds- have a listen!

Garden!

Yesterday, we had our first green bean harvest from this year's crop! Delicious, sweet, crunchy beans lightly steamed with a touch of vegan butter. YUM!



Past years' gardening adventures didn't lead to very satisfying results. If you followed my posts last summer, you may remember we had our soil tested by the local cooperative extension and had been trying for years to build up the soil with compost, rototilling, planting, fertilizing. Not much success, and lots of hard work and heart invested to see very disappointing crops.

This year we decided to opt for raised beds, after seeing our upstairs neighbors have some positive results last year. We used our neighbors' bed from last year and built two additional 4x4' beds where our bed was last in years past. We used untreated wood to build our boxes, lined the space of each with grass clippings, then a layer of compost, then loads of organic soil (we purchased bags). I'm delighted to share that growth has been explosive since we planted at the very end of May! YAY!

Here are some pictures taken just after our first planting:

















Herbs and greens! The sage, mint, one dill plant, and chives showed up from last year.



















Our new raised 4x4' beds. So cute!


















Two heirloom tomatoes in the back (one red, one pink- wish I could find those name cards- doh!). Beans and eggplant in front.

















Zucchini, golden raspberry, and carrots in front!


And just 1 month later- we couldn't believe the growth! Have a look! We swear these photos have not been altered, and all growth is hormone- and steroid-free. :)






































































Here's our garden today (below), just after a fresh composting, weeding, staking, and watering. Tomatoes newly supported from fallen tree branches, squash caged happily, beans growing around expanded poles, carrots thinned. Dill and cilantro, as well as a lettuce and chard plant lost. We added a rogue pumpkin plant that had sprouted among the oregano- gave it its own spot among the greens. Lots of tomatoes, several eggplants, lots of squash blossoms but so far no squash. Excited at the prospects!

Needless to say, we are thrilled, and tending and watching our little veggies and herbs grow every day adds sweet little jolts of peace and joy to my day. :)

The Steel Town Gets Down & Old School!

I will be vending at two fabulous upcoming car and motorcycle rallies over the next month! Woohoo! My craft business, SilentLotus Creations, is teaming up with other Pittsburgh indie crafter to vend our handmade wares alongside hot rods, pin up girls, live music, prize givaways, old school good times, and the coolest of the cool around Pittsburgh! The 1st Annual Steel City Rockers vs. Mods on August 21st (this Saturday!) and the Steeltown Shakedown on Sept. 11th are two events you definitely won't want to miss!

Mention this blog post when you visit my booth to save $2 off every $10 you spend! Hope to see you there!

1st Annual Steel City Rockers vs. Mods Vintage Motorcycle & Scooter Rally



Pittsburgh's first vintage motorcycle and scooter rally! Get out the gear, polish up the Nortons, Triumphs, and BMWs or Vespas, Lambrettas,and Allstates (depending on your allegiance) and commemorate this unique period in Motorcycle history with the First Annual Steel City Rockers vs. Mods! Join us for a one-of-a-kind rally featuring bands, DJs, a pin-up-girl contest, raffles, tattoos, entertainment, vendors, and of course, lots of bikes! Special guest judges will be on-site to distribute awards to both motorcycles and scooters. Come on out and help us make this event one to remember! A portion of our proceeds will benefit Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh's Hard Head Patrol.

Visit http://steelcityrockersvsmods.com for more info!


Steeltown Shakedown, hosted by The Drifters Car Club



On Saturday, September 11, The Drifters will be hosting the 5th annual Steeltown Shakedown at the Twin Hi Way Drive-In on Route 60 in Robinson Township. This all day car show is open to all pre-65 rat rods, hot rods, and custom cruisers. Shop the vendors and enjoy the various raffles, flamethrower contest, pin up contest, and live music. If that isn’t enough for, then prepare yourself for a one night only showing of a true vintage movie when the sun goes down. Bring your old ride and help us celebrate the 76th anniversary of the very first drive-in movie theater the only way we know how: ol’ skool.

Visit www.steeltownshakedown.com for more details.

South Side Works Artists Exposed- Come See Me This Weekend!

Getting all prepped and juiced up for a three-day weekend of crafty vending coming up at the end of this week! Woot! :) Come and check me out there, along with lots of my talented fellow crafters. Hope to see you there!





SouthSide Works Exposed is an outdoor bazaar and music festival celebrating summer and the arts in Pittsburgh. The setting for this event is in and around the Town Square of the SouthSide Works.

More than 70 local artists and craftspeople will be selling handmade wares including ceramics, photography, paintings, jewelry, clothing, nat...ural body products, woodworked games and more.

Each day features food from SouthSide Works restaurants, drinks, music and traveling entertainers – and a dedicated area for kids!

To learn about the excitement and to see a sample of the artisans, visit http://www.imadeitmarket.com/ or http://www.southsideworks.com.

Adventures in the Woods

I have been loving my time in the woods hiking lately. The scent of honeysuckle and earth, the teeny purple butterflies that land on the puddles on the trail, tadpoles swimming in clear gentle streams, the lilting tune of song sparrow and chatter of chickadee- these lull me into a sweeter state.







Were it not for a fall, twisting the same ankle twice, and the occasional daddy (or mommy) long-leg that hitchhikes out on my back to surprise me later, it would be downright perfection. :P

When T & I hike together, we have even been wandering out of the woods to walk in the local cemetery! I've always been freaked out by cemeteries until we decided to explore the one just near where we hike. It is so peaceful and quiet and nature-y... we stumbled on three deer there playing one evening! In the park, we've also seen baby snakes, and late last week I met the teeniest, tinest, most miniscule, squee froggie baby I have EVER SEEN! it was like half the size of my pinkie fingernail- no joke! Her legs were so skinny and wee I was amazed at how they could be strong enough for her to (clumsily) jump on. :)

Since I last posted about my hiking adventures, I've actually remembered to bring my camera with me! Sharing some photos here now. I didn't change my settings for the sunny conditions, so the quality isn't that great. But you'll get the idea. :)


Giant black snake. Scared the crap out of me!


The little toad I mentioned meeting in my last hiking post.


Song sparrow.


Tadpoles!




More tadpoles!


Sweet little chickadee hiding in the trees.