Huzzah for Crops that Make Yummy Drinks

The Peacevine cherry tomatoes are serious rock stars right now. They have found their way into many dishes and still have plenty to spare for the next creation. There are 4 of these guys, and they really deserve an A+ for their reproductive acts. I picked a ton today and still there are double amounts that are green or pinkish yellow, ready to be picked in a day or two.

I have been nursing a thrown out back, and chiropractic and homeopathy advice has gotten me through. What better of a healing power to partake in than to drink a bit of veggies accompanied by a lil vodka. Yes, a Maria de mierda made of local ingredients. I used many of the cherry tomatoes from the vine as well as things I picked up from the Farmer's Market. I started out using The Chubby Vegetarian's recipe since it holds goodness in each item used, but I did not have everything on hand, so I used what I had available to me this time of year.

I do not have Roma tomatoes yet, so I picked up 3 large tomatoes from the Co-op and substituted the cherry toms for the remainder. Yumm! Also, I did not have a cucumber, so I added beets and a mixture of radish I had left over from lunch. I upped the garlic to two, but will probably add more next time since I love it so very much. I also added sweet onion I bought from my garlic guy, ridiculous flavor and hope to never not put onion in. I used one drop of liquid smoke, might double that next time as well. What I would like to add to a future batch is a bit of grated horseradish and will wait to crack fresh pepper in the drink instead of the mix, while squeezing fresh lime.

Vitamins abound!

And if you can wait about 15-30 minutes for the tastes to kick it together, I suggest the extra time. It was crazy better on the second drink once all the veggies became pals. Add the juice, the vodka, then the grate horseradish, cracked pepper, lime,  and sit back and enjoy the yummy to the tummy drink.

Frieda dog and I are doing just that. I have my Ruta on hand to kill the back pain, icing the hurt area, and drinking the yummy libation while watching the B.R.A.T.S. run down the gulch. They switched from July 4th to Pride weekend, so the entertainment is a few weeks early. Each and every piece is outstanding, and I constantly think of cars I could possibly build, but have yet to settle on an idea to craft. To top it off, an early monsoon is threatening the area. The breeze feels amazing and the heat has been whisked away. It is a gorgeous day to sit on the porch, not one that comes along too often in June.

Keeping an eye on things

 Heather Green, from Heather Green Studios, and her students created this for B.R.A.T.S., cool, huh?

Folks from Shady Dell, cool place to stay

The Mouse Trap

Joseph and Co. before leading the lingerie parade for Pride

C Sharp

Hanging in Goar Park

And one little nugget thrown in is the Bougainvillea. I have not had much luck in the past for this beaut to flower, but persistence pays off and the rewards reaped. It is flowering, which hasn't happened in a long time...It is a nice addition to the loveliness of the front porch.

I wish I would have gained the skills of growing this from my Grandmother like I did of my Skip-Bo skills

A Summary at Hand

Boy has time flown during this uber busy season. I see it has been over a month since my last post, but not for a lack of trying. I have a couple of unfinished posts ready to be completed, but those will have to wait.

Its garden time.

Things were going so well. I transplanted 10 of the tomato plants out in buckets to the porch. Then, BOOM! a cold snap with freezing temps had me shuffling the tomato and every other plant into the two upstairs houses. It was like a jungle in my living room as they refuged from the cold. Now I am skeptical about putting anything outside that can't be carted back in the house if need be. For some odd reason the frost free day is really late in April for this area. Arizona, go figure.

The beginning of the tomato army.

This beautiful thing survived the frost too.

Plants happy outside.

I did bite the bullet and put the mystery plants outside. I am still in wonder about what they might turn out to be, a squash, a watermelon, S thinks okra. I guess this is what happens when a person composts. Whatever they are, they want to GROW! They have beat everyone in the cycle and are rocking and rolling.

Anyone have a guess as to what it is?

And check out what I found growing, the bundling sage. I tried so hard last year to get this silly plant to grow to little such luck. This is the second plant I have found randomly. I guess it needed a couple of seasons to start.

Growing in a crack.

The potatoes finally started to emerge from their blanket of comfort. I was gifted a bale of 'straw', come to find out it is hay, so I pick out little hay sprouts daily from the potato bin. Not too worry though, I am on it. The hay will not impede the growing of the potatoes.

Super stoked about these guys' arrival into the world

I did the adult chore of a thing to do and bought a new set of tires for the land turtle (car) before my big trip next month. The guy at the place thought I was going to pay him $10 to take my tires away. Yeah right, silly goose. So far it is home to a few dianthus, another flower I can't remember what it is, and a cherry tomato. I have heard mixed reviews about eating plants grown in tires, and haven't really made up my mind on it, so the tomato will stay til I make up my mind. The other two tires will house hollyhocks and marigolds when they are ready to transplant. It lies in the path of the back entrance, so a bit of color to go along with all the edible plants that will soon be out there.

Since this has become a summary of sorts I will continue with what else has been done to fancy up the outside space for this year's garden. The few coldish months that I took as a break allowed the yard to really start to look icky, so getting it back to show time has been in my mind. S is great at building things and had me help in building a structure that will attempt to keep frieda paprika in the compound walls. She is smart and will probably not take her too long to find an escape route, but a nicer fence was needed and it was a good thing for me to learn.

The fence, lettuce and spinach tray, sage, onion and carrot and garlic boxes

You think you can keep me in...

 And totally ungarden related, but really cool, the hummingbirds are back. I have seen about 3 different species, and the Broad-billed is such a beaut with its bright red beak.

So, I guess it is time for summer to roll in. If not yet, then I would call this porch season, for today I can't seem to do anything other than sit on the porch and let the cool breeze blow against my face. Well, that and a little guitar pickin' (on the porch, of course).

And since we have hit on a couple of non-gardening things, here is a small list of what has been going on outside the gardening world.

Ranger Michael has come up with an awesome idea, Ranger Recipes, and my 'Yummy to the Tummy Vegan Nachos' is recipe #7. You should check it out, there are great recipes on this site.  I veganized the 'Mrs. Liang's Ginger Crackle Cookies', and they were awesome and replaced the already stellar ginger cookie recipe I had on hand. I am sure for you egg eating folks they are just as good with eggs.


I again joined artistic forces with S. Lee for an 8-hour drawing event at Heather Green Studios. It was a jewel of a time working among others while they create, and everyone's piece was amazing to view. There are alot of talented folks in this community. There is a time-lapse video at Heather's blog, where you can check out the progression of the pieces as the day unfolds. This was my first real go on wheat pasting (the man hunched over) and I can't wait to put up a couple of more pieces around town.

What 8 hours can do.

With the amount of plants still housed in the bathroom the next few weeks will keep me pretty busy as I ready the beds for them to move outside. The end of the bathroom is going to look really lonely when all of the plants vacate.