Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 We had a white Christmas here in New England today, the light snow flurries this morning being our first snowfall of the season. Best wishes to all for a prosperous and happy new year!

Happy Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
  Yesterday my daughter and I made roasted pumpkin seeds, from The Victory Garden Cookbook, an old favorite. Today was a beautiful mild day.  We had a traditional dinner with a stuffed turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked yam, creamed pearl onions, home-made cranberry sauce, our own canned green beans, fresh Brussels Sprouts from the garden, and of course pumpkin pie!

The birds of my backyard

Wild Turkey

Gray Catbird

The last few weeks have been relatively quiet as far as bird activity, but lately I've noticed increased traffic around the deck as if they are looking for the feeder.  This morning I saw Chickadees, Carolina Wren, and Yellow-rumped Warblers (commonly known as butter butt!).  So I put up the nyjer seed feeder, and sure enough by afternoon the Chickadees had found it!
I'll put up the black oil sunflower seed feeder when the weather gets a little colder.
Here is my list of the birds I have seen in my yard over the last few years.

1. American Robin
2. Northern Cardinal
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. Tufted Titmouse
5. White-breasted Nuthatch
6. American Goldfinch
7. House Finch
8. Carolina Wren
9. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
10. Bluebird
11. Blue Jay
12. Junco
13. Sparrow
14. Yellow-rumped Warbler
15. Gray Catbird
16. Brown-headed Cowbird
17. Mourning Dove
18. Northern Flicker
19. Red-bellied Woodpecker
20. Pileated Woodpecker
21. Red-winged Blackbird
22. Common Grackle
23. Crow
24. Hawk
25. Wild Turkey
26. Great Horned Owl -- never seen but often heard hooting late night and early morning, especially in the last few weeks

Late summer garden notes

cherry tomatoes

Brussels sprouts

arugula

Well, summer is winding down and so is the garden.  I still have some tomatoes, green peppers, beets, and Brussels sprouts, but the beans, squash and cukes are done for the year. I planted some arugula seeds in a rectangular planter a few weeks ago and this is what they look like today. The cherry tomatoes are still going strong, too.  Believe it or not, my dog Rusty likes cherry tomatoes. And twice I've seen a chipmunk scurrying across the deck with a cherry tomato in its mouth -- cutest thing you ever did see!

Backyard Invaders!

No, they're not aliens from outer space, I'm talking about invasive plant species. The worst offender is poison ivy, pictured below.  This vine is growing its way up a dead tree in the back corner of my lot.  If you look closely, you can see other dead roots, some as wide as three or four inches, yes, that is one ancient poison ivy root!  I thought I had eradicated this unwelcome guest from my yard a few years ago, but it's back with a vengeance.  Notice the slightly shiny leaves in groups of three and the reddish tint to the new growth at the top. (Double click to enlarge photos.)

poison ivy roots alongside tree

Queen Anne's lace

purple loosestrife

The purple loosestrife and Queen Anne's lace are technically weeds, but they're not particularly invasive and they have a beauty all their own.  Mint (not pictured) is very invasive, however, and I've got that down to just a few plants hiding along one side of the yard.

b. coli

Okay, so no one really calls it B. coli. Broccoli, a cruciferous vegetable, is easy to grow. After cutting the main head, small sideshoots will continue to sprout from the main stalk. Here is the recipe for Broccoli Apple Salad, another family favorite, handed down to me from my mother:

• One bunch of broccoli, cut into florets and steamed (or microwaved) lightly, approximately 3 minutes
• One apple, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
• Two stalks celery, chopped
• Cheddar cheese, preferably orange in color, cut into cubes
• One generous dollop of Miracle Whip
• Optional: chopped walnuts or peanuts      

 Mix all ingredients gently and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Too Many Tomatoes!

Oh, my gosh, the tomatoes are ripe already!  Usually I don't get ripe tomatoes until early September, but it's mid-August and I have enough to can a batch. So  I used some fresh basil from my one and only basil plant to make pesto, which went into this tomato, mozzarella and pesto sandwich -- there's one tomato down and who knows how many to go!  For complete instructions on how to can tomatoes using the boiling water bath method, click here. I use a pressure cooker to can tomatoes because I think it's easier, and you can refer to the instructions that come with your pressure cooker on how to do that. I use my home-canned tomatoes in soups, spaghetti sauce, and chili.

Pickled Beets

fresh picked dahlias and pickled beets

Hi, folks!

Today I made pickled beets, an old family favorite. I picked about a dozen beets and it made one quart and one half-pint. The recipe is from The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash and it's easy to make because no processing is required. These jars will keep in the refrigerator for a week or two. The beet greens are also delicious, sauteed or lightly steamed.

Garden notes

Hi, everybody!  Canned 15 more half-pints of green beans this weekend!  I like the half-pint jars because they're just right for one or two servings.  Still picking summer squash, green peppers, cucumbers.  Here is one of my favorite ways to use fresh garden vegetables and home-canned tomatoes, it's just vegetable stew really, and you can vary the vegetables according to what you have on hand.
      Saute in olive oil any combination of chopped onion, peppers, celery, or carrots, garlic if desired
      Add summer squash, any variety, and eggplant if desired, chopped, salted and drained
      Saute until vegetables soften slightly
      Add one pint jar of home-canned tomatoes (two pints if making large batch), salt and pepper
       Simmer about a half-hour, adding fresh chopped basil and parsley near end of cooking time
This is also delicious left over; just spoon some onto a baguette or focaccia bread, top with shredded cheese and broil to perfection.

     

Canning green beans

Today I canned another five half-pints of green beans.  The whole project took about an hour and a half, from picking beans to finished product. Beans are the easiest vegetable to can because all you have to do is wash, trim, chop, pack in clean jars, add salt, cover with boiling water, and process for 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a pressure cooker.

What's in my garden

Hi, folks!
I've been picking summer squash and cucumbers for the past week or two, and now the beans are in!

Row of beans, with chicken wire to keep rabbits out

I only have one row of beans, but you'd be surprised how long they last.  I still have canned beans from last year and they're dated 7/28 and 7/30. Today is the 29th and I canned 10 half-pints of beans from that one basket, and there's enough left over to make three-bean salad. I started canning almost 30 years ago when my husband and I had a much bigger garden.  Canning is easy and fun, you can buy the supplies at the hardware store or grocery store.  If you don't grow your own, you can buy in bulk from your local farm stand.  For complete instructions on home canning, visit www.foodinjars.com.
Here is a list of what I'm growing:
      One row of green beans
       two cucumber plants
       one zucchini plant
       one yellow summer squash plant
       four broccoli plants
       two Brussels sprout stalks
       two green pepper plants
       one small patch of beets
       two Jet Star tomato plants
       one cherry tomato in a patio container
       one plant each of sage, chives, basil, parsley and lavender
 

Welcome to my backyard!

herbs and flowers

Hydrangeas and lilies

rabbit in the early evening

baby Robins 

Iris

Catbirds love the bird bath

Bunny looking for breakfast

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. I'm Deb Hudson, I've been living in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts for about eleven years now. My favorite hobbies are gardening, bird-watching, and photography, so I am starting this garden journal so that I can share with you the amazing beauty of nature that's right outside my back door. My backyard is in a wooded area, there are several willow trees along one side, many perennials, a fair amount of lawn, and three tiny gardens for vegetables and herbs. I get a lot of enjoyment from watching the many different birds and other wildlife that live in my backyard. I hope you will enjoy this blog and let me know what's happening in your backyard, too.