July 28, 2008

I'm so tired of looking at that pile of wood chips in the back yard, where they ground out the stump from the maple tree. I don't know why the tree removal company left it for us to clean up after they charged us nearly $2500 to remove the tree. I did ask them to leave the wood for a neighbor with a wood burning stove, but I didn't ask for the chips. I've spread as many as I could around the new veggie garden, which does make nice, clean pathways.

Then there's the remains of the yard of compost I bought earlier this month. I'd like to be able to save it for later use, but it's also smack-dab in the middle of my back yard. So, rake in hand, I leveled out the chips as best I could, then raked the compost over them as far as it would reach, then scattered some grass seed over the top. If it grows it grows, if it doesn't grow...well, I really did want to put a row of raspberries there next spring.

Before I spread the compost, I bucketed a bunch of it into the garden and top dressed every bed I could reach. I pushed it in around the tomatoes and the peppers, and spread it over all the unplanted areas of the new raised beds. I piled some up next to the dog run, and planted the remainder of my "Kentucky Wonder" pole beans there. I still had a dozen or so seeds left after the ski pole planting, and I hate to waste anything. Of course, after they were planted, I remembered we are going to have to move the kennel to rebuild the back fence...if the insurance money ever comes through for that.

Which brings me back to the tree, the wood chips and the huge hole in the fence. It's been nearly a month since the windstorm, and Safeco still hasn't come through with any money for the tree removal or the damage to three fences.

Where I'd removed the bush bean plants yesterday, I planted a short row of beets and a wide row of carrots. I'm determined to use up all the old seed I've been hoarding so I can start fresh next spring. A close inspection of the north bed showed all the bush beans and beets doing well, but only half the row of lettuce showing and spotty germination of the carrots. I let the carrots be, as it's too early to tell if more will sprout, but I replanted the bare spots in the lettuce row.

We ate most of the ripe tomatoes last night. My, they were delicious! Grandson Kevin was visiting for dinner, and he and Mr. H. devoured that huge cucumber I picked yesterday. We also had the green beans I'd picked earlier, and they were so good just boiled with some onion, then tossed with butter, salt and pepper. The new potatoes came from a nearby farmer's market, freshly dug (the dirt still clinging to them), but the parsley I put on them was from the garden. I was hungry for comfort food, so I made Porcupine Meatballs to go with all of our fresh veggies.

Porcupine MeatballsServes 6

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup uncooked long-grain rice
2 slightly beaten egg whites
1 tablespoon snipped parsley
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 10¾-ounce can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine meat, rice, egg, parsley, onion, salt, dash pepper, and 1/4 cup condensed tomato soup. Mix well; shape into 12 large meatballs (1/4 cup mixture for each) or 18 small meatballs and brown in hot oil in skillet. Transfer meatballs to a casserole dish. Pour grease from pan; mix remaining soup, water, and Worcestershire in pan and bring to boil; pour over meatballs. Cover and bake for 1 hour.

Annie thinks it's her job to prewash the dishes before they go through the dishwasher. She's such a neatnik!

I'm up to my ears in zucchini again today, so I'll bake some zucchini bread and make fried zucchini for dinner. Mr. Husband loves fried zucchini, even though it's certainly not the healthiest way to consume it.