My Edible Garden

My new Vegetable Garden is planted! Ouch! I can't believe how sore I am from just squatting, bending and kneeling for a couple of days. If all goes well, I should be tasting the fruits of my labor this summer - corn, lettuce, onion, bell pepper, pole beans, eggplant, and  strawberries.This in addition to the other vegggies we already planted back in March and are now starting to eat - cucumbers, zucchini and carrots.

When returning some books to the library yesterday I picked up The Edible Flower Garden by Rosalind Creasy. I love the pictures, the easy planting instructions and preparation tips for eating each flower.

I already planted Johnny-Jump-Ups ( tri-color Violas) and placed a large pot in the Garden so that I can  plant some Nasturtiums ( both flowers are edible, the jump-ups taste a little like lettuce).
 I'm contemplating another area in my back yard to use solely for edible flowers. Who knew you could eat a Tulip or a Day lily? Well, I didn't.

I am enjoying From The Garden Up The Story of a First Garden by Amy Stewart, and after reading the chapter on compost ( don't let the chapter title scare you, it is an entertaining book), I'm considering running out and buying a few more bags. I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge of  a composter, but who knows, there may be one in my future.

Short and good.... How else can I read 100 books???

With everything else going on in my life why did I think I could read 100 books before the end of the year?
Well, I haven't given up, I think I can do it by augmenting my usual reads with some short but good books. I know their out there and though the Brown Eyed Girl's Book Club doesn't seek out books of any particular length ( though some members have thumbs down books for being a little too long, or have requested we give ourselves more time to read before we meet again) we have read books we have enjoyed that have been around 200 pages or less.

Memories of my Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a favorite  read of mine and provided a good discussion as I remember. We read several of Alexander McCall Smith's books - Tears of the Giraffe, and The Kalahari Typing School for Men,  both enjoyable and also what I would consider a fast read. Having read Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima  in college as did most of my friends, we were happy to read his Serafina's Stories which entertained us with a number of cuentos/ stories told by the hero of the story Serifina, a Pueblo Indian in 1680 who by entertaining the Govenor with the stories wins the freedom of a dozen Indian prisoners.

So to better my chances of reading 100 books I will include the following  books (that I think won't dissapoint) on my to do list:
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Sijie Dai, Shop Girl by Steve Martin, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, and Push by Sapphire.

If anyone can suggest any other fast but very good reads it would be appreciated!

A Day at LATFOB

I always enjoy myself at the festival . Many people get tickets in advance to see certain authors of interest but unless I really have to see someone, I and my brown eyed buddy check out as many booths as possible, peruse any books that catch our eye, and run into to authors, celebrity/authors, and activities at random.

We went on Saturday, and happened upon Jeff Garlin signing his book, My Footprints:Carrying the weight of the World, the Life of Pi Author Yann Martel signing his new book Beatrice & Virgil and Top Chef's Betty, C.J., and Stefan (you know who they are if your a fan of Top Chef on Bravo, like I am) in a quick fire challenge. We strolled through the Children's area, and saw Carl Reiner reading from his book, Tell Me a Silly Story , saw several Wayan Brothers, and Henry Winkler. We sat down to hear two author's speak and only because we happened upon them - Jeffrey Ross talking about his book, I only Roast the One's I love and Louis Gossett Jr. being interviewed by Pat Morrison and her Hat (I'm not kidding but the woman always has a hat on!) about his book, An Actor and a Gentleman. I know it's a take off on his movie An Officer and a Gentleman, but the title fits him to a T. Jeffrey Ross had everyone cracking up. I always feel funny laughing at people making fun of other's, but he is just too good at it!

We left the festival a little tired, but satisfied and ready to read!

                                             

Growing Inspiration

I've search for a book to to read that will compliment my garden activities this week, and I think I found it. From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden by Amy Stewart. Though I have a small area of my garden devoted to several types of vegetables, I've prepared a much larger plot and this Sunday I plan to start planting. I know I'll need a break ( probable a few) and that's when I'll start the book.    


I stopped by the Growing Experience in Long Beach yesterday for a little inspiration.  In celebration of Earth Day, I and everyone else who dropped by were offered delicious appetizers made from the garden produce. There were activities for the kids, and information about the garden and gardening in general. I did speak with Adriana who's blog, Anarchy in the Garden I will continue to follow. I received some bean and marigold seeds from her table, and will incorporate them into my garden along with the suggested corn.

I took a shot of some of their growing greens - and look forward to seeing my own in the near future.

It's Earth Day

My plans are to head over to an Earth Day celebration at the Growing Experience in Long Beach this afternoon. I got the heads up about it from Adriana at Anarchy in the Garden http://www.anarchyinthegarden.com/. I have been gardening for a while now, but only recently branched out into the world of vegetable gardening. Last year I grew tomatoes,some huge squash ( a little too huge), a few carrots, and a nice variety of herbs and raspberries. So far this year it looks like I have a nice bunch of carrots coming up, a smaller variety of zucchini, cucumbers, and  tomatoes. I have prepared an additonal plot of ground that would have been lawn, but now will hopeful produce something more useful. I'm hoping to get some good advice from the master gardeners that will be at the Earth Day event today!

Would a Brown Eye like Olive Kitteridge?

When ever I finish a book, I consider if I would recommend it to the Brown Eyes - would they like it, find something in it of merit - finish it?We have read many books as a book club, and most of our members are drawn to books that may hold some tragic elements, but don't dwell on the hurts and dissapointments of others.

Though Olive Kitteridge wouldn't be a book I would recommend for our club, I finished it accepting that there wasn't going to be a fix- to tie things up with a pretty little bow for any of the characters.  There were glimmers of hope, understanding and even love in the lives described by Strout that were enough to leave me feeling hopeful. Sometimes, as in this case, hope can be better than a happy ending.

Olive is bumming me out!

Just about finished reading Olive Kitteridge.  I had to take a break.  It's truly bumming me out, not because it's a bad book, but because I'm reminded on every page of all the ways people can hurt. I have to finish the book to see if anyone is spared from heartache!