Happy Tomato Planting Day!

mood: accomplished
drink: sun tea :)

You already planted your tomatoes, didn't you?! I have to admit that I planted mine last weekend, but I waited as long as I could! April 28 is "official" Tomato Planting Day here in Sacramento, according to Farmer Fred (who has lots more great gardening advice, check it out!)

Why wait? The plants are happiest in soils around 65 degrees and optimal fruit production occurs above 70 degrees soil temperature. And what about that crazy weather we've had over the past few weeks? Thunderstorms and wind...threats to your young plants.

When it does come time to plant, clip off the lower leaves and put as much of the stem in the ground as you can. Roots will grow from the nodes and give the plant a good base of support.

A good way to support your growing plants is by rolling cages of six-inch mesh concrete reinforcement wire. Bonus: local gardeners report less problems with hornworms when using these cages. One friend says he watched a western scrub-jay perching on the cage and picking off the worms.

Do you have to do all these things to get tomatoes?! Well, no. These are just tips to help you have happy, healthy, productive tomato plants. Good luck!

WARNING -- EXPERIMENT IN PROGRESS

Brent is the one that identified a healthy, happy honeysuckle along our fenceline. Sorry bees, I'm trying some liqueur! I found some references on the internet, but couldn't find a recipe I liked, so here's my experiment. I picked as many flowers as I could stand and fairly tightly packed them into a quart jar, then filled with vodka. I'll let you know the results in a couple months!

Quiche!

mood: dilatory

With the girls giving us 2-3 eggs a day, quiche has become a weekend brunch staple around the House of Pi. It may be easier than you think...at least the way I make it!
 

Base Quiche Recipe

1 refrigerated pie crust

3 large eggs

1 c. milk or half-and-half

3-5 c. fillings*

1 c. cheese (or more!)  

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pie crust and give a few pokes with a fork.
3. Whisk together eggs and milk. Fold in fillings and cheese.
4. Pour into pie crust and bake for about 45 minutes. A toothpick poked into the quiche should come out clean. Feel free to sprinkle more cheese on top for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time. Let cool for 20 minutes.

Fillings

Plan your fillings, or just empty out your fridge. Here are some options that work for me:

Bacon

Cook 4-5 slices of bacon. Crumble.

Broccoli

Dice broccoli florets. Tender stems too, if you like. Cook in boiling water until fork tender, about 2 minutes. Let cool.

Mushrooms

Slice or dice your favorite kind and sauté in butter. Maybe with a diced shallot or red onion. Let cool.

Spinach

Wilt 4-6 c. of spinach (it shrinks!).

Zucchini
Thinly slice a zucchini and sauté in butter. Let cool.

 

Combos
Here are some of my favorite combinations:

broccoli - bacon - cheddar
spinach - mushroom -swiss
zucchini - mushroom - feta

 

Purpose and Need

mood: informative
drink: white wine from a box (that's right)

The title is for all my pals in environmental planning. :)

I thought I should do a post in introduction. I figure most visitors will be people I know, so this is more for those that find their way here down the rabbithole of the interwebs. Bet you wish you took the blue pill...

My name is Lily and I live in Sacramento, California. Professionally I am a wildlife biologist, currently employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I mostly sit in a chair. But if you're interested in checking out more from when I used to get to go outside, I had a blog back then: Bishop or Bust! But at home, I've come to enjoy a variety of hobbies, including cooking, preserving, gardening, gaming, and beer. Friends ask for my recipes and like my dilly beans, so I thought I might as well put some info out there for all y'all.

"All y'all"?! I thought you were originally from San Francisco?! True story. Well, my fiance Brent grew up in North Carolina. So you never know when some of that southern influence might sneak in. But for now, we live in Midtown in Sacramento in a 100-year old craftsman bungalow. With Jatarri. Both pictured below on a lazy Sunday.

We were fortunate enough to inherit a number of mature fruit trees: fig, tangelo, Meyer lemon, avocado, and cherry plum. Keep an eye out for recipes featuring these; I aim to feature ingredients in season. Hey, guess who else lives in our yard?!

Well that's Buffy (left), Penny (back), and Zoe (right)! Bonus points if you get the name references. Prepare for more chicken details than you ever wanted to know...

Penny and Zoe are rescues from a local craigslist post. Penny is an auburn Java, a rare color of the second oldest breed in the U.S. Javas are considered good for both meat and laying, but are slow to develop so they are less preferred by our society of immediate gratification. Zoe is a splash Andalusian, a breed studied by Gregor Mendel while developing his genetic theory. The standard for the breed is a blue color, but you can't breed blues without a splash. Science!

Buffy is a cross between Ameraucana and French Marans. Say what?! Well, Ameraucana are sometimes known as "Easter Egg chickens" for their blue colored eggs. And Marans lay chocolate brown. So Buffy's breeder raises crosses to get a variety of "camo" eggs. While I was hoping for olive green, she lays brown eggs with the occasional dark spotting. Regardless, they're delicious!

So that's the household! I plan for weekly posts. Thanks for following!

The black-chins are back!

mood: chillaxed
fingernails: silver

Okay, so I intended to start this blog off with more of a cooking/preserving/gardening tack, but today's quiche is an experiment and I saw my first of the year (FOY) black-chinned hummingbird, so that's what you're getting! Well maybe I'll sneak a pseudo-recipe in...

I dabble in photography, but I have to admit to borrowing pretty hummingbird pictures for this post from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology - All About Birds page. Thanks to the original photographers with better cameras and more patience than me!

Here on the west coast, we're lucky enough to have hummingbirds here year-round.  Anna's hummingbirds are our largest, and the males are striking with rose-pink feathers on their heads as well as their throats.  They readily attend feeders, and you can often hear their squeaking songs in your neighborhood.

male Anna's

male black-chinned

But in the spring, we get to double our hummingbird pleasure! Black-chinned hummingbirds are smaller and more aggressive.  The males have a black chin (hence the name), bordered by iridescent purple below. Handsome!  They also make an interesting noise in flight, likened to the sound of a yo-yo string zipping up.  Or something like that.  Listen for it!

We also have a chance of spotting rufous hummingbirds during migration.  Unlike our other two species with green body feathers, rufous live up to their name and sport a bright reddish-orange. Check out this recent Audublog post for more information on where they're showing up!

If you do choose to put up a feeder to attract these beauties, simply use a mixture of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Boiling the water helps to dissolve the sugar and prevent fungal growth. Do not use honey or red food coloring! Most feeders have enough color. And keep those feeders clean!

For a cool opportunity to participate in some citizen science, Hummingbirds @ Home is a new program by the National Audubon Society designed to gather information on flowering times and hummingbird arrival (think climate change!) and the effect that feeders have on the birds.  Download the app and participate!

Oh yea, I promised a recipe. As you'll learn, we have a huge and prosperous tangelo tree in our yard. So I'm constantly trying new ways to utilize the prolific fruit. Today? Tangelo mimosas on the porch, while watching the hummingbird feeder!

Tangelo Mimosa

a glass of your favorite bubbly
a splash of tangelo juice

Pour together into a cute glass. Enjoy.

Super helpful, right?! Recipe inspired by My Drunk Kitchen.