What Do I Do With a Gourd?

I've been trying all day to post this blurb Gerry wrote about gourds, and it hasn't been cooperating, so I am going to start over from scratch!

When Ger was at the farm on Friday picking up our half-share, another CSA member asked what to do with the gourds. Gerry told him he was planning to dry ours to make birdhouses, and he would post information later. Well, it's MUCH later now, but better late than never!

How to Dry Gourds
Another Take on Drying Gourds--Great info here!
Making a Gourd Birdhouse

This is an example of a gourd birdhouse we bought down in Kinzers, PA at Smucker's Gourds. We like the natural look of the gourds hanging in our trees, and birds really do use them!

Pretty!

We won't be sauteeing these, grilling them, or eating them raw.

But we are enjoying them!

Local Produce

This is a veggie post with a twist, a different kind of local produce, if you will. Beautiful works by a local artist!

Farm Buildings on Derstine Road, available on Etsy

I have a friend named Taryn Day, and she is an artist. She paints, she draws, she teaches, and she is just plain good. Taryn started her blog a few years ago, and I always looked forward to seeing what she'd painted or whose portrait she'd done, so I was really excited when she asked if I would volunteer to have my portrait drawn and added to her portfolio. You can see the portraits she did of both me and Gerry over there in the sidebar. Pretty nice, huh?

Then, when Ger and I started to renovate our kitchen, I immediately skipped ahead about twenty seven steps and starting thinking about what I could hang on the walls. (Nevermind that we hadn't picked a paint color yet!) After looking at posters and prints and things online for a while, I finally realized I was overlooking a talented artist who was right under my nose! Worried that she might find my request trite and ridiculous, I asked Taryn if she might do some paintings of vegetables. To my delight, she jumped in and gave it a try, and the very first one she did was these radishes, which couldn't be more perfect.

A few paintings later, this radish turned up, and Gerry immediately said, "I want it!" That Gerry and his affinity for root vegetables!

Radicchio Lettuce available on Etsy

I hope you enjoyed this mini art show! With our shared appreciation of vegetables and beauty and all things local, I thought you might enjoy it!

To see more:

Taryn Day Fine Art

Awake and Painting on Etsy

Awake and Painting Blog

Editing to add: The radish painting is in a painting competition! My radish painting!

Vote for the radishes! :)

Smelly

In reading about lemon balm, I was drawn to the non-culinary uses, because I wanted to make use of its scent. In a book called Grow Herbs by Jekka McVicar I found a method for extracting the oil from the leaves for use in the bath.

To do this, you take a couple of handfuls of lemon balm leaves, cover them with about a pint of water, and bring to a boil on the stove.

Once you've achieved a boil, cover the pot and let it simmer for five minutes.

After straining out the leaves, this is what you'll have. I was amazed at how dark it was and figued it was going to make for a very potent bath.

Well, not quite. In fact, not at all. As I dumped the herbal extract into the water, the scent completely dissipated. What a disappointment! I was ready for a relaxing, aromatic soak and ended up with nothing more than dingy water. Fail!

On the bright side, my mint-infused iced tea is DELICIOUS! I'll have that again!

Gearing Up

Our season with Myerov Farm hasn't started yet, but we are starting to get into the groove with other locally grown vegetables. At Bolton's Farm Market, Gerry succumbed to the siren song of asparagus, and then we spied the spinach fresh from the field in its picking basket, so we had to have some of that as well! We then stumbled upon a small farmers' market on our way home and snagged some lettuce and these beautiful French breakfast radishes, which are new to us. Isabella has had her first taste of this season's fresh greens, and we will join her at dinner tonight with a big, fresh salad.

If you are thinking of joining a CSA this year, there's still time! If it's something you've never done, I urge you to take the plunge. You can see if there is a CSA local to you at the Local Harvest website. I guarantee you'll learn things, meet great people, and experience new tastes. You'll also be supporting the local economy and helping the environment by eliminating long-distance transport from the equation. C'mon, give it a go!