Sunday, November 14, 2010

Autumn Has Been Kind


Against all odds, my garden is still growing. I've neglected it, done everything wrong, and *gasp* I haven't even fertilized. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I grew up, most plants are dead by now. We've had our first hard freeze, the leaves have fallen like rain from the trees, and things are starting to look a lot like Christmas. Without the snow. And some rain. Here in Austin, things look strangely similar to the way they looked all summer. It's still pretty green, the sun is still warm, and apparently...my tomato, basil and pepper plants are very happy. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have tried nursing them through the scorching summer heat. I would have planted in August. I suppose it would have helped if I'd bought that Texas Garden guide book back in March.

This week's post will be a collection of photos from my garden, as well as some photos from around the neighborhood. Autumn looks pretty nice from my kitchen.



When Home Depot has mums on sale for $1.25 a plant, you don't pass them up. You buy one of each color.


Sources say this is a Crepe Myrtle tree, growing right outside my kitchen window. In the spring, it puts out large quantities of purple/pink flowers that smell delicious.



My Thai hot pepper plant spent the summer, ironically, wilting and moping around. The moment it turned cooler, it perked up, made flowers, and started giving me these tiny little peppers. Don't let their small size fool you, because they pack quite a punch.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Baby it's Cold Outside

Shortly after I moved to Texas, someone hit my car while it was parked in front of my sister's house, shoving it ten feet down the road and totaling it. The resulting insurance payment was only enough to purchase a scooter off Craigslist. I've been relying on this mode of transportation ever since, which is usually pretty awesome. Except when it's raining or cold, which can be rather uncomfortable.

After I got home from work yesterday, shivering, I decided it was time to start making soup. This batch of lentil/split pea soup is the first of many pots of soup I will make with every intention of eating in their entirety, only to leave a bowl's worth at the bottom of the pot in the fridge until I need the pot for new soup, and have to figure out how to throw away spoiled soup with no garbage disposal. What a gripping life I lead.




Lentil soup in general, no matter what type, is best served with fresh lemon juice squeezed over the top, mixed in as you eat. Mmm.

Oh, and I also made my Great Grandma Read's banana walnut bread today: