A picture is worth a thousand words...

And my camera broke.
Welcome to the family, Canon Powershot S95!

Enchanté

On a tour through Brussels, I met the nicest plant. Our guide had purchased it that morning at the market and brought it with him. It was love at first sight for me, but it quickly developed into love for life after having smelled it’s citrus scent. There was no tag, no name and nothing familiar about this plant. I asked, but learned that he discovered it in Thailand and this was the first time he’d seen this plant in his home, Brussels.

He was almost tree-like, but had these spectacular bursts of red to yellow flowers and a scent that I won’t soon forget (the plant, that is, not the guide).

Having met this exotic creature, I’m questioning my newfound commitment to planting natives. How fickle the gardener’s heart can be…

Homesteading is not for me

Or, I could have called this post: Grocery Stores are Great.

I picked 52 tomatoes and 6 cucumbers the other day, so I knew canning was in my future. I’ve done regular tomato canning in the past and decided I should save a step and make sauce right away complete with fresh basil from the garden. The sauce is terrific and fresh, but after 52 tomatoes and 8 hours in the kitchen, I ended up with 4 measly pints of sauce.

The cucumbers went much better. Six cucumbers netted 6 jars of relish, but seriously, who needs 6 jars of relish… ever?