a very quick late-night post

Posted on Posted in food and garden, projects

this time of year, weekends are all about getting things trafficked from the garden to the freezer, so a lot of my weekend hours have to be redirected from knitting to those tasks. i spent some time yesterday morning getting some herbs bagged up for the freezer

the basil, parsley, oregano, and cutting celery are really at their peak right now and i wanted to get them in before the overly dry weather took the brightness out of them (last friday when i stepped out into the yard in the morning, the air was filled with the fragrance of basil, maybe from the morning sun? even the stargazers took a back seat to it for a few minutes there and it was heavenly).

fortunately, our garden is a LOT less grunt work this year, which makes it possible to afford the time to pick and process all the extra produce we’re harvesting. that top photo shows just what i picked this evening . . . let’s zoom in on that centerpiece

i swore last weekend that i had put up my last bag of greens, but there i was for three hours tonight, in the kitchen doing up a few more (i think we have at least 20 bags in there by now).

i prefer to do most of the garden work one day a week, usually on sunday, with a quick check-in on squash every other day. but there’s only so much i can give away on mondays, unless i get everyone i know on a regular vegetable-centered diet schedule of dropping by to pick up greens, haha (actually, not a bad idea . . .). it seems, that the knitting crowd, though nobly willing to absorb a lot of the excess, cannot keep up either. i might have to call second harvest or another organization to come by on mondays for a carload of it.

i dug up our very first successful beets tonight, too. though i did not get to cook them this evening, i’m excited to taste them—everything else (except the lettuce) has been more delicious than in my wildest dreams, so i have high hopes for these too, because i’m trying to tempt david into liking them enough to justify serving them once in a while, when i get a yen.

i did knitting too!
actually, yesterday i did quite a lot of knitting in the afternoon and evening—i was determined to get the second sleeve for my gold sweater pretty far along. and surprisingly, i got a LOT further than i expected (it really makes a difference when i actually spend time knitting)

we even got to see anne marie model the body during spinning class (i was trying to talk her into test knitting it and also to use the same colorway) and it looked fab on her (so she agreed, yay!).

both sleeves are now complete and i got one of them sewed in this afternoon after spinning class. i am so psyched—just one or two more hours work and it will be complete. i’m going to wash this sweater to block it for several reasons

first, it’s knit mostly in the round and will be difficult to steam block as i’d like. secondly, the motif makes a very constricted fabric during construction that will grow a measurable amount once it’s washed and i’ll need the true, blocked measurements to write the pattern. also, i want to be able to describe in the pattern what sort of growth should be expected (or, conversely, how much smaller it will be during construction, before achieving its final size by blocking and being worn).

i’ve been working on the secret project at night while i watch the bike races with david and so far, all is well. i hope i can keep the pace up and get it done before i leave for sock summit.

speaking of which, it IS late night now and my project is calling—and i need me some knitting after all that cooking i did.

32 thoughts on “a very quick late-night post

  1. The smell of herbs wafting on the breeze is definitely wonderful. A friend has been weeding my garden and pulling up rampant mint and I love to be outside when she’s working!

  2. Oh, I wish I were there to help you eat all that! We love beet salad, with fennel and blue cheese and toasted walnuts, on lettuce. It’s a weekly dinner for us this time of year 🙂 The secret project is a gorgeous color — I’m glad the racing is inspiring you (and wasn’t today fun?).

  3. Wish we lived closer to you…I’d happily take a lot of produce off your hands! As it is, my measly tomatoes are suffering so dreadfully and the leaves are even withering! To top it all off, we have seen no sun for over 48 hours and it rained this afternoon…AGAIN!! Sigh. But I am so pleased for you at how your garden is turning out…someone’s has to!

  4. I’d be so happy to take a few bags of greens off your hands! I love greens but they have never done well in our garden. I’m on David’s side when it comes to the beets, though. Looking forward to seeing the sweater all finished and blocked, and to finding out more about the secret project (love the color of the yarn so it’s got to be good).

  5. very intrigued to see how the sweather look when blocked. The ridges are pronounced now and I like it this way , I’m wondering though if blocking will completely flatten the hills and the valleys..

  6. Your garden is just smashing!!! I love your golden sweater as well 🙂 I’ve never heard of freezing greens…is this difficult? Happy knitting. 🙂

  7. I love your knitting and your patterns are gorgeous but somehow all I can think about this morning is “Mmmmmmmm. Beets.” I love beets and those are just gorgeous.

  8. I am so impressed with your garden….well your knitting is totally overwhelming…..I have a small potted garden…so far no tomatos, a few baby jalapino’s, small basil plant and A lot of hope…..

  9. I don’t have a lot of friends who are into the TDF, but it’s kind of nice to know that someone else is sitting around knitting lace and watching the bike races too.

  10. Maybe you could tempt David with roasted beets – they’re truly heavenly, hot or cold.

    Perhaps your town has a food pantry which could take the extra produce off your hands. Some towns have a ‘grow and extra row’ program for donating. Or you could set up your own farmer’s market stand – in your free time – ha!

    The mango yarn is so delicious looking – I can’t wait to get some!

  11. I’d love to know how you freeze your herbs…I always feel so wasteful when we have a bumper crop (which seems like every year) and so much goes uneaten.

  12. what an inspiring post! the food and the knitting are to die for! I’m curious about your design process for the gold sweater: at any point did you think about braiding or interlacing the cables rather than having one lie on top of the other? thanks,
    Linda

  13. What great veggie photos. My tomatoes are nowhere near ripe yet. I think it’s been too cool for them. I do have some basil and plan to make pesto w/it, substituting walnuts for pine nuts. I’m not a beet fan either–but I will eat them grudgingly if they are roasted, so maybe try that and see if David gives a thumbs up. I came away with some lovelies from Briar Rose on Friday-Angel Face for Artichaut, Sea Pearl for Boxleaf, an amazing ‘limited edition’ for ??, and Chris is dyeing me some sportweight for Ondule. Not Grandma’s Blessing…Morning Glory? She was so nice and I got to meet Roger of the Roger sock. 🙂

  14. I used to hate beets but now…Roast the beets, then toss cubed with Chevre and Balsamic vinegar. Easy and super yummy.

  15. I need to freeze some of my herbs and will try to dehydrate the rest. I never liked beets either, but as the others have said, roasted with some olive oil and salt and pepper – very tasty.

  16. Go Armstrong! I have also watched TdF, but it was still afternoon here.
    I cannot wait to know more about the secret project.

  17. i’ve been loving that sweater. i was really curious if you were going to block it – it looks really great as is so it’ll be fun to see the change blocking makes.

  18. The vegetables are fabulous! We have NONE. The rain, here, has killed us.

    The sweater is beautiful!

  19. Mmmmm… I think cooked beets and cottage cheese make such a delicious snack. I love watching the progress on this “secret project.”

  20. I say this every year – are you sure you don’t want to move next door to me here in Oregon????

  21. Go with Amanda’s recipe on the beets. They are sublime roasted or baked in a closed pot in about an inch of orange juice. Peel, cube, toss in the balsamic vinaigrette. Chill and top with some chevre. Here in Louisville it’s been a fairly cool summer yet our harvest has been incredible. Maybe there’s something about the Midwest. Today I picked Japanese eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper and an onion and made ratatouille’s ratatouille from http://www.smittenkitchen.com. I think you’d like her blog. Sometimes it’s hard to choose between cooking and knitting! :p

  22. Loving all of the garden pictures! How are you putting away all of your herbs? We have a huge area of basil and sage, but can’t use them fast enough.

  23. I actually burst out laughing when I saw all that garden booty. I’m, like, NEVER taking a picture of my pitiful vegetable patch again. EVER.

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