We are gonna be busy tomorrow.

Today's field trip left us with...

A mixture of flowers, herbs and veggies.

Bonus pic.

We pass these dorms for West Chester U going to and fro.  For some reason we start singing the theme from Good Times.  Man, I used to love that show.  My favorite was "If you want any, just call Lenny."

Next...Weeding and Planting and Harvesting more Greens (take that Brookberry Garden Club).

More DC Fun

One great step for mankind.

Getting our kicks at the Air & Space Museum. 

Now we know.

What's he looking at?

Toddler playing with severed head.

Things that make you go Hmmm.

The South Lawn all decorated for the Easter Egg Roll with the President.

The lawn across from the south lawn for those kids not lucky enough to get picked to roll eggs with the President.  Is this the VP roll area?  "Hey kids, you don't get to rub elbows with President Obama.  But, you can take a turn with VP Potty Mouth Biden."  The row of crappers really add to the ambiance.

For a nominal fee, you too can have Honest Abe at your next event.

Just in case you missed it, Ted wanted some answers about the White House Garden.

 Retro Wannabes.

Destined for ParkedLikeAnAsshole.com.  Dude took up 2 of only 3 spaces at the Whole Foods.  Clearly marked Compact Cars Only.

What's for supper?

GrowDammit Salad.  That's what!

Lettuce from our garden!

The beauty of the GrowDammit Salad is that it can have anything in it, as long as it's from our garden.  It  will grow and evolve over time.  It won't pigeonhole itself like those dated Chef, Cobb and Greek Salads.  Move over Caesar, with the GrowDammit...Anything Goes!

It was delish.

Beets

I know I said more from DC was next, but the Pepper poll has ended.  Y'all like 'em sweet.  I still like spicy just a tish more than the sweets.  I don't know how Ted voted.  I'm sure he'll have something to say about it.

So, now it's time to tell us about beets.  You either love 'em or you hate 'em.  I love them.  I love them best served at room temperature on a bed of arugula with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.  Fresh beets mind you.  Canned are just nasty.

I know this, the spawn will vote "Hell No."  A couple of years ago, I decided to roast some beets at home. They walked into the house from school and immediately gagged at the smell.  Then they ran from the house screaming.  It looked something like this (just imagine the big Star Wars foot is a giant roasting beet).

Even Rufus Dragon refused to try them.  This is his protest.

They will all be relieved to know that we are not growing them this year.  This year.

More From DC

ICBM

ICBM

ICBS

This blog post is brought to you from our back deck.  It was a beautiful day.  We are toasting the garden with a glass of wine and a beer.  Watching a dawg patrol the grounds.  It would appear that we have disrupted the cutworm feeding schedule.  All is right with the world.

Next...Even more from DC.  AND, it might be time to harvest some lettuce.

Hi Honeys...We're Home!

We are too tired for a full report, but here's a taste of our adventure.

This blog is rolling out.

That's right folks, we're taking the show on the road.  Tonight is the much anticipated RUSH concert.  Then on to DC.  We did not receive an invite to tour the White House Garden.  I guess the Obamas don't read the blog.  Too bad.  I wanted to arm wrestle Michelle.  A classic 1L vs. 2L battle.  I've been working out.  I think I could've taken her.

In other news, we have a thief amongst us.  A piece of yard art is missing.  A cute frog windchime.  Anonymous speculated that it was either Bootsie or one of her heir.  I don't know about that.  I do have a theory that Bootsie is indeed haunting Ted.  Every time he moves her, he aggravates his hernia.

Rufus Dragon is frantic right now.  The bags have come out and the packing has commenced.  He knows something is afoot, but he's not quite sure who to follow around the house.  First Ted, then me, then Ted, then me...I think he's settled on sticking with Ted for now since I've been up and down the stairs 20 times and he isn't keen on exercise.  He did get a bath.  I'll let Ted fill you in since a)  I slept in and b) it was pretty uneventful.  One of Ted's strengths is to make even the most mundane funny.

Next...If I can figure out how to blog from my phone, you'll hear from us.  If not, we'll be back Sunday.  Will we take I95 (boo), or the road less travelled?  I'm thinking we need an adventure.  You never know what fun you'll find on the back roads.

Tactical Maneuvers

It would seem that even though we haven't harvested anything from the garden, the cutworms have been helping themselves to all of the leafy green goodness.  We will not take this lying down.

Rufus vs. the Flamingoes.  We did some redecorating and put them in the garden as name stakes.  I guess he thought they must've moved themselves and went nuts barking at them.  Only the offer of treats could tear him away.

Goings on in the flower garden...tulips & bleeding hearts.

Bootsie.

Next...We'll break out the DDT if we have to cutworms.  You've been warned.  The Dragon's bath has been put on hold until tomorrow night because Friday he is going to the Spa for the weekend.

P.S.  I like both sweet and spicy peppers too, but I like one just a smidge more than the other.  So vote.

And the Asparagus Takes It

I admit, I do love roasted asparagus.  However, there is just something decadent about artichokes.  They are awesome steamed whole served with escargot in a white wine, butter and garlic sauce.  You can peel the leaves off and dip them in the butter.  Then, when you get to the heart.  Man, Oh, Man...that is the Good.

Apparently, our readers prefer smelly urine.

Anywho, a new poll is up.  Peppas.  Sweet or Spicy?  My youngest spawn told me once that I wasn't sweet, I'm spicy.  LMAO.  This is the same one who asked me in the checkout line of a grocery store why I wasn't on the cover of a magazine.  He's a player, that one.

We picked peppers because Farmer Ted put on his chef hat today in an attempt to fight off the depression that has set in over yet another NASTY, cold, wet day.  He was making me some vegetarian sauce (soy crumbles and earthy mushrooms - today's were woodears - to sub for meat) to add to a mix of whole grain rices and parmesan stuffed in a bell pepper.  Yummy.  We also roasted some poblanos to stuff with black beans and queso (which we decided would be even better with the addition of a cornbread stuffing).  More Yummy.

Next.  Rufus still has not had a bath.  The mulch pile is still there.  And, Cornholio has not made an appearance tonight.  Yet.  Ted is wearing his Rocky sweatshirt, so we'll see.

Boys and Their Toys

Farmer Ted got his hands on the neighbor's lawn tractor today.  I'm not sure what it accomplished, because the only thing that is growing in my back yard right now is onion grass, but he rode around on it.  The grin on his face when I got home was a mile wide.  It also kept him occupied, so I snuck into the garden to get those tomatoes, peppers and asparagus in the ground.  Wouldn't you know, I didn't get two plants in before he marched over and proceeded to dig holes for the rest.  *sigh*  Actually, it's really cute.  One thing I don't mind is having help.  Nobody likes lazy.

The fig tree is in the ground!  We jury rigged some fencing around it to keep the critters out, so we'll have to come up with something better tomorrow.  Is it jury rig or jerry rig?  I think I've heard both.  I'll let Ted figure that out.  Since he gets up so early, he can often be found reading random Wikipedia entries when he's not in his library.  He knows a LOT of random shit.  It might not be acceptable for citation in research papers, but he sure can spout off some interesting facts convincingly.

Next...Rufus vs. the Bath.  He's been on groundhog patrol.

Fun with 10 square yards of mulch.

Never a dull moment.

The Strike is Ovah.

That little temper tantrum didn't last long, but boy does crappy weather put us in a bad mood.  Today was much more seasonable, and productive.

Ted and I seem to be at an impasse about the yard work.  He doesn't like to see me work?  So, while I REALLY hate to complain about this...I like working in the yard.  I pick up the mafia scissors (you know the ones...they look like they were designed to cut off a toe) to do a little pruning, and he immediately takes over.  I pick up a rake, and within minutes he's got the rake.  The only thing he won't touch is my flower garden.  He doesn't know a weed from a daisy, so he's not going near it. I fixed his wagon and decided to put the herbs we got yesterday in there.  I could tell he wanted to take the trowel away from me, but decided against it.  Besides, the youngest spawn was eager to help so I didn't do all of the work.  I was considering planting some of the hot peppers in there as well, but he gave me the stank eye as he grabbed those along with the tomatoes and shoved them inside the gate of one of our veggie plots.  Point taken.  I know when to back off.

He went back to work on the front bed we decided to tackle today, and clearly was not going to let me help.  As he's said before, my job is to "stand around and look hot."  LMAO.  I went and got a manicure.  He stayed home and performed a small miracle on that bed.  I guess I'll wait to do my yoga until he is finished gardening for the day.

Rufus Dragon continues with his daily groundhog patrol.  This consists of napping all day until I pull up in the driveway, at which point he hops up and makes a mad dash to the groundhog hole in the back yard.  He then pops over to the neighbor's yard to check the various holes that Phil has made over there.  After he makes his rounds, he comes back and harasses one of us until he gets a treat.

Just another day in the life.

Next...tomorrow's forecast looks pretty nice.  Of course, I have to work but I imagine Ted will be out in it.  I'm not going to tell him yet about Tuesday's weather.  You might hear him sobbing from here.

This blog is on strike until Spring actually arrives.

Rain and a high of 48 on April 16th.  Depressing.

Do you think the Obama's would be interested in a Celebrity Garden Feature?

We were sitting around one night shooting the shit with the eldest spawn who announces that Rush is on tour and he would like to see them in concert.  16 + Rush = Huh?  Anyway, Ted was all about it.  After some investigation, we decided that the upcoming show in Baltimore was doable.

The dilemma about whether or not to drive all the way down and back was soon solved.  I pricelined a hotel for a great price in DC, so we decided to make a weekend of it.  The youngest spawn is going with his dad to Canada for a special trip, so it'll just be the three of us.  The plan is to drive to Baltimore.  Ted and #1 will see the show.  I hopefully can catch up with and hang with a friend there.  And after the show, drive down to DC.

Needless to say, we are pretty excited.  Ted and I were talking about our last trip to DC, how much fun we had, and what we might want to do this time.  And then it hit us, how can we go about getting a tour of the White House garden?  I mean, can you see Ted chatting up Barack?  We started to plan:

Do we know people?  Do we know people who would actually let us on the grounds of the White House?

Michele:  Do you think they’d let us sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom?  You look like Abe.

Ted:  Philadelphia has their own Ben Franklin for events.   I could be available to do tours of the Lincoln Memorial.

Michele:  I promise not to bring cigars.

Ted:  Please bring cigars.

Michele:  I wonder if they’ll accept garden art, like they have a White House Christmas Tree?  Mr. Greenjeans would be honored.

Ted:  They could name their garden “The Cluck Stops Here.”

Michele:  I bet they spread their manure liberally.

Ted:  Did Jimmy Carter have a White House Garden?  He could’ve called it the Peanut Gallery.

Battle of the A's

What's your fave?  Artichokes or Asparagus?

Butter Beans blew the rest out of the water.  This surprised me.  Clearly, Lima Beans are far superior.  Why the Lima hate?

Nothing new in the garden since we've been back.  Today it rained.  Yesterday was a day of unpacking and cleaning up my new-to-me Jag.  That's right folks.  I bought a 1990 Jaguar XJ6.  For $1.  The engine is sweet, but the body and interior need some work.  The plan is to get rid of my leased Ford (what a waste of money...leasing a car) in June and fix up the Jag.  Hopefully, we can find a cheap pickup as well.

Next...Hopefully, when we can finally slog out to get a good look at the gardens, we'll find some sprouts growing.  The plants don't look like any varmints got to them, so that's a bonus.

Random Vacation Blog Post

We have yard art envy.

Something made us think of you Paige!

One in a rash of strange recent ambulance sightings.  The other pic is being held hostage by Ted's Blackberry.

New Dock.

Wannabes at the beach.

Ted got roped into some gardening.

Next...Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety, Jig.

Goodbye Sweaters...Hello Bikini

We are packing!  See ya' later dreary Northeastern Spring.

You can suck it.

Hello Gorgeous!

Now THAT's what I'm talking about.

As far as asparagus, we bought some plants to put in the ground.  Since we had freezing rain all day, they didn't go into the ground.  And I need to do some growing conditions research.  I do know they will  grow around here.  I also know they make your pee smell, so that's kinda cool.

Next...On the Road Again.

Spring 2011...You're SUCH a Tease.

What a beautiful day!  Mid 70's, sunny with a nice light breeze.  Too bad you had to fall on a Monday, while I had to work.  I got home, and found Ted just standing in the driveway staring off into space.  I think it's been so long since he's had warm weather he didn't know what to do with himself.  I hope you enjoyed it babe!  It's back down in the 50's tomorrow.

No worries.  Come tomorrow night, the blog is going to be on vacation.  Actually, the bloggers will be on vacation.  The blog may see some action, but it probably won't be about gardening.  We are headed home to Chucktown for a few days.  I'll be sure to come in and taunt some of my Yankee friends who don't hesitate to let me know when they are in the Caribbean or in Hawaii.  You know who you are.  I hope it snows while I'm gone.

Actually, no I don't.  Not only does the stuff we put in the ground yesterday look great, but we put in more seeds today.  Having to wait to see if they grow will give us something to look forward to when we get back.  We've also been keeping a hairy eyeball on our friend the groundhog.  So far, Phil seems content to stay in the neighbor's yard.  Good.  Undermine his foundation, not mine.  Not nice?  You're damn right it's not nice.  This is the neighbor who called the police with an "anonymous" tip that there was an illegal controlled burn in his neighborhood.

Backstory:  A previous homeowner thought it would be a great idea to put white pines in the front yard.  White pines are not only a freakin' mess (they shed their needles twice a year), but they are really weak.   They also have it out for my car.

That was from last winter, which was worse.  They got it again this year, not as bad, but still.  Those branches are the size of China, and my front yard looked like a war zone.  Instead of paying a tree company a couple grand to clean it up.  I burn it in my burn barrel.  Last year the spawn and I took care of it.  This year I was indoctrinating Ted on the procedure, when the WeGo cops showed up to let us know the law had changed and controlled burns were now a no-no.  Real nice of the neighbor who was aware of the change to call Johnny instead of us and give us the 411 on the law change.  And which neighbor would even know the law changed?  My guess is the volunteer firefighter next door.  We've polled the other neighbors, who were just as shocked to hear of the change.  Call me kooky, but I can put 2 and 2 together.

So tunnel away Phil, just do it under his house and not mine.

Next...Asparagus!

Farmer Ted is a Machine!

That's right folks...we have plants in the ground.  Finally.

Lettuce. Spinach.  Onions. Scallions. Garlic.  Collards.  Brussel Sprouts. Bok Choi. Snap peas (mostly seeds).  To come this week:  Chinese Long Beans, Turnips, Artichokes, Lima Beans (also mostly will be seeds b/c we didn't find plants).

ALL the credit here goes to Ted.  I spent my morning having my toenails painted a lovely shade of Blue Suede Shoes, and my afternoon in bed arguing with a migraine.  Ultimately I was the victor; however, that MF*er put up one hell of a fight.  Today was a day of incredible, pride inducing productivity.  Unfortunately, I spent most of it in bed and missed it all.  What are you gonna do?

We have new garden art.

The yoga frog is in honor of Ted's new favorite spectator sport.  The garden tool is from a cool little antique shop we stopped at on yesterday's field trip.

Finally, our fig.  It's not in the ground yet, but will be this week.  It's already fruiting!  I can't wait.

Next...I dunno.  We'll just hafta wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Field Trip

No, not to Home Depot.

What can I say?  It's a favorite past-time of ours.

We also have had a seedling disaster.  After our initial success, some of them weren't really thriving and we were concerned.  We didn't understand because we've been watering them and had them under grow lights.  The herbs and tomatoes were the worst.  We figured they must need fertilizer, so we added some fish emulsion to our water and let them have it.  Overnight, they went from various states of bad to almost dead.  We just couldn't figure out what we did wrong?

We got up today and decided to go to a garden center and buy established cold weather plants.  The garden centers in Lancaster are cheaper and have a better selection than those around here.  And hey, who doesn't like Intercourse?  So, off we went.

Once we got home, we decided to try transplanting some of the stronger looking okra and tomato plants. That's when we discovered what went wrong.  We used two different types of seedling soil.  When we started to move the tomatoes, we found that the top part of the soil was good and wet but the root end was dry as a bone.  The Agway soil was not draining properly so the roots could not thrive.  This prompted us to over fertilize the other stuff, which was now suffering.  Ugh.

Oh well, we have some stuff to put in the ground.  Tomorrow!  And we'll see if we could save some of the plants that can't be put in until May.  We are not looking at this as a defeat.  Rather a lesson learned.

Next...What's going in the ground?  Where are we going to put our new fig tree?  And, new fence art.

Paging Anna Keck...

You wanted to see a growing jelly bean...

I have to tell ya', this was no easy feat.  It had us up all night.  We were so caught up in it, we couldn't even post to the blog yesterday.   I think we forgot to feed the spawn.  Rufus Dragon is feeling neglected.  But hey, you follow our blog and care enough to comment...and, we aim to please.   ;)