TROUTS LATEST PHOTOS

August, 2009 - Issue #99

 

DAWN AND DUSK

 

August days are hot.  The best times of the day are early morning and just after the sun goes down.  Here's the view off our back porch of the bird feeders and the view from our garden on the other side of the lawn chairs and table.

 

MOWING AND WEEDING

 

We had a lot of rain this season making the grass and weeds flourish.  Bob mows, and Camille follows up with her little cane knife to make the garden pretty and weed free.

 

HANGING IN THERE

 

The garden has seen its glory days but continues to supply the house with fresh produce and flowers.

 

ZINNIA, LEEKS AND EDAMAME

 

We never want for fresh cut flowers in our home.  The leeks make an incredible potato soup and edamame, well if you have not had edamame boiled in salted water, you are truly missing a wonderful treat.

 

OKRA AND CUCUMBERS

 

After nearly two years in the South, we are slowly acquiring a taste for okra.  We like it best sliced thin and fried crisp in oil then salted with a touch of powdered garlic and onion.  Cucumbers are great lightly pickled with sugar, vinegar and water.

 

TOMATOES AND BANANAS

 

The tomatoes had a hard year which started out with blossom end rot and finished with tomato blight.  They will soon be finished but continue to produce, despite the state of the vines.  We are nursing two small banana plants and plan on over wintering them in Jason and Haruka's greenhouse. 

 

CRITTERS

 

A parasitic wasp has laid its eggs on this tomato horn worm.  They will hatch, eat their host and then fly away.  Camille saw this cute little snake on the back porch.

 

TWO OF OUR FAVORITE MEALS

 

We receive two CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares every Tuesday and a good way to handle the abundance of produce is chop it up and make a big stir fry. Camille slices okra to fry and serve atop a stir fry on a Tuesday evening.  Another of our favorite meals is steamed new potatoes with margarine and parsley, fried seitan, sautéed squash and peppers and gravy.  Poor little vegans!

 

END OF THE DAY

   

As part of our evening routine, Bob takes care of the garden chores with a cold beer while Camille prepares dinner.  And sometimes he even gets in a few disc golf putts.

 

PIEDMONT ECO INDUSTRIAL PARK

 

There's always something happening at work.  On any given day there may be a tour or a workshop.  Or perhaps a tractor pulling a small house.  More on this story at: New Office Space at Piedmont 

 

PROJECT AT THE BEND IN THE ROAD

 

Many of us have put time and energy into this house lately because it is up for sale.  The transformation from overgrown to trimmed was immensely satisfying.  There are more pictures here:  Cleaning Up Yellow

 

JACK AND ADAH

We're going to miss you when you leave next month!

THIS MONTH'S QUOTES:

"If we went back to the obesity rates that existed back in the 1980s, the Medicare system over several years could save as much as a trillion dollars." - Barak Obama

"In the corporately managed theater state, it's not whether a thing is true that matters, but how it sounds and looks and what you call it. Call end of life counseling a "death panel," and you've just turned mercy and choice into one more Great Satan." - Joe Bageant

"The President's health care policy speech was brilliant but when you get into the details another picture emerges. Unfortunately, at this point, the proposal outlined last night is the ultimate corporate giveaway. It's not health care, it’s insurance care." - Dennis Kucinich, 9/10/09

"But it's the truth, even if it didn't happen." - Chief Bromden from Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest'

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