I love this time of year. Everything seems so hopeful. My garden is getting a start.
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| my deck container lettuce garden |
Salads made with freshly harvested lettuce are so much better than grocery store salad kits. I have the opportunity to begin food preservation before I tire of it.
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| 2 small jars of chive blossom vinegar -- will be ready by the end of June |
Chive blossoms are opening and ready for making chive blossom vinegar. The rhubarb is at its best. And it's not too hot to sit outside during the middle of the day or by a fire in the early evening.
Now not every day is great. We've had some chilly and rainy weather this month. And the slugs ate most of my carrot sprouts. We've also had some unseasonably warm weather that necessitated watering everything daily. But overall, it's pretty nice.
We've had several hot dog cook-outs this month, most recent on Wednesday.
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| my plate from our cook-out |
I harvested lettuce from my plastic bin container lettuce garden, made herbed rice (one of our three times of rice this week), made a bowl of rhubarb jello, and heated some frozen peas. No need for buns for our hot dogs. Rice was our starchy dish.
Rhubarb jello is my family's favorite way to eat rhubarb sauce. How I make it:
- I make a batch of sweetened rhubarb sauce
- allow to cool, then run through the blender
- measure the sauce
- soften the appropriate amount of gelatin (based on the measure of rhubarb sauce, plus about 1/2 teaspoon extra gelatin) in a small amount of cold water -- basically for every cup of sauce, use 1 teaspoon plain gelatin, then add an extra 1/2 teaspoon to ensure set.
- after gelatin has softened, heat in the microwave to melt
- stir melted gelatin into the puréed rhubarb sauce
- refrigerate for 5 or more hours
I'm an optimist in May. Bunnies are still cute. So are squirrels. I have big hopes for my garden's harvest. Watering my seedlings is a joy. Vibrant new flowers bloom each day and provide cheer for my outdoor work. May is magic, a renewal of the land as well as my spirit.
What makes the month of May special for you?
May is my birthday month, so I'm predisposed to liking it. 😉 In Michigan, it's also the month when the grass starts to green up, the leaves pop out, and the flowering trees and shrubs are in their glory. I tend to feel reminiscent of my growing-up home in May--something about the freshness of the daylight and the green puts me in mind of taking bike rides on country roads and swinging on a swing suspended from an old oak tree. It's a month of hope.
ReplyDeleteThose are lovely thoughts, Kris. I hope this May has been everything you've hoped for.
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