The Good Life

Spinach and Bean Soup

janeinaustin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:44:00 +0000

After two weeks away in Europe I returned to a lovely crop of spinach and beans. This afternoon I’ll be making some soup – adding potatoes, leeks, chicken stock and some sage and parsley (also from the garden). Given that the weather is now an almost chilly 75F in the mornings, I’m also considering what to plant for the fall harvest – time for a trip to the Natural Gardener I think!

The First Pumpkin and Belle’s First Parsley from the Patch

janeinaustin — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:45:42 +0000

Much excitement on a Friday night – during my evening meander around the veggie patch, I discovered the first pumpkin. Fingers crossed Percy keeps growing until late October – he’ll then be carved by Eva for Halloween (or perhaps by Charlotte seeing as two year olds and knives probably don’t mix). Belle also got a treat – fresh parsley from the garden. The goal is to have enough mint, basil and parsley to feed her at least three times a week. She’ll be a sustainable, organic bunny.

Malabar Spinach

janeinaustin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:40:53 +0000

The creeping Malabar spinach is doing v. well – I had the first salad from it with friends last weekend and it has already regenerated enough for me to strip it again. I’m planning on stuffing pasta shells with a combination of courgettes, mushroom and sauteed spinach with some of the sage from the herb patch (plus parmesan and a bechamel sauce).

Pumpkin Patch Update

janeinaustin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:31:17 +0000

Pumpkins pre-pruning

The saga of the pumpkin continues. Despite ripping out two-thirds of the rampant buggers, the remaining plant is still steadily creeping its way around the designated “patch”. Here’s the before and the current look of the pumpkin patch (note pal Sabrina’s first attempt at using a wheelbarrow).

Post pruning. Pumpkins still rampant and about to converge with cucumbers.

Gardening hiatus…heading indoors

Charlotte Deal — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:02:17 +0000

Well, I’ve been watering on my kitchen balcony, but you can’t really call that gardening. My plants are barely clinging to life. The brandywine tomato that I had such high hopes for is waning.

So I am trying my hand at something new. Houseplants.

Day One: Ficus. I actually like how this looks in our bedroom. Unintentionally, it appears that the leaf shape echoes the leaf motif in the rug (Judy Ross) and, a little bit, on the pillow (Inklore). The pot is IKEA. I knitted the little mat.

Let’s see how I do with this.

Meanwhile, my delinquent co-blogger is so busy in her garden, she is having to take a machete to a veritable jungle! It’s not fair!

Outdoor lanterns

Charlotte Deal — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:08:07 +0000

Love today’s Design Sponge post on lanterns. May just have to skip over to Z Gallerie for this beauty (the larger one)…

A visitor to my garden

Charlotte Deal — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:04:06 +0000

So pretty…

Loving these patios…

Charlotte Deal — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:40:20 +0000

From Remodelista (one of my all-time favorite blogs)…

This courtyard looks so cool and inviting. Love the tile floor and the trailing ivy. Note to self…

Over achieving cucumbers/rampant pumpkins

janeinaustin — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:32:42 +0000

I planted some ‘container friendly’ cucumber seeds on Friday – the packet said 5 – 10 days for seedlings to develop. My cucumbers are clearly at the high end of the achievement scale (which makes me ridiculously smug) and are already up after four days. I planted some directly into the two new veggie patches around the pool as well, so we’ll see which ones do best.. if they are anything like the pumpkins, I may need to figure out how to make cucumber pickle.

The rampant pumpkins have flowered and are now taking over the contained veggie patch. Fingers crossed they actually produce carving fodder for Halloween.

Romantic lighting

Charlotte Deal — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:52:40 +0000

I really enjoyed receiving Maxwell’s email yesterday (I subscribe to the daily update from Apartment Therapy) and I highly recommend his lighting picks.

This was my favorite image…I’m imagining a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc, a sampling of olives, nuts, and, of course, cheese…