Garden Week 4

The lettuce and peas are doing really well.  Several leaves have been harvested from each of the lettuces, and none of the plants have died!  Well, none yet, anyway.

The beans in the planter box are doing much better than the beans in the raised bed.  I think it is the difference in rabbit access.  Selma has a friend in the garden, too.  The yet unnamed yellow cherry tomato plant was added on Saturday, along with some bell peppers.  The garden centre was out of red, yellow and orange bell pepper varieties.  They were running very low on green bell peppers, but we managed to find some.  We also selected a new (to us) kind that claims it will ripen to purple.  They had lots of those.  I guess no one wants a deep purple pepper?   

So, the Oregano Of Doom was hacked back (again) to make room for the tomato and a couple of marigolds.  The girls took turns making holes, gently removing plants from pots, sticking them in the soil and covering them with soil.  They were not allowed to water the plants.  The watering-can is very heavy when full, and can be tricky for small(ish) hands to control.  We could have given them each a smaller watering can (like the toys for the beach), but then they would have watered stuff that didn't require it.  Like the driveway, sidewalk and each other.

What you don’t know can kill you

Normally the Friday post is health related.  It usually has a cancer focus.  Not this week. 

I was reading the paper the other day, and I came across an article about strokes.   It’s available on-line here.    The full report is available on the website for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, here.

I was shocked to read how little women know about heart attacks and strokes. 

Especially Chinese and South Asian women.   

Which is really upsetting, considering they have the highest death rate. 

Apparently there are lots of emails circulating that share “tips” on what to do before, during and after a stroke.  The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends you do not follow or forward these things (Snopes.com has examples of the emails, if you are curious), but instead become familiar with the actual warning signs of stroke by visiting their website.

Stroke Warning signs

Heart Attack Warning signs

Lettuce! From the garden!

Wow, it looks like summer hit suddenly.  It's a Hot, Hazy and Humid day.   How hot? The forecast says 40 °C with the Humidex.  That's 104 °F for folks visiting from the United States.

And so, a cool lunch for a hot day:

(Yes, the picture quality isn't that good.  I took this with my phone.)

Today the girls have dumplings (pork and veg) that I boiled in the microwave.  I do not want to add heat today.  And do you see that green, leafy stuff?  It's Buttercrunch lettuce.  Fresh.  Picked from the planter just a few minutes before the photo was taken.     Happy dance!

The girls also have snap peas (not from the garden - yet), yellow pepper (again, not yet from the garden), purple grapes, a strawberry and some blueberries.  Not pictured: large stainless steel water bottles and ice packs.

As much as I'd love to plant berries in the yard, I don't think it's going to happen.  We live very close to a pond, and get lots of wild visitors.  I doubt we'd ever harvest a single berry.  But that's OK.  We also live very close to an awesome Farmer's Market, and there are some local Farm Markets that should be opening in the next couple of weeks.


Added to What's For Lunch Wednesday

Lettuce and Peas, Week 3

Another week full of rain.  The ground is saturated, and low lying areas range from partially flooded to boggy.  This is nothing compared to what is happening in Quebec and Alberta.

So, how about something cheerful?

Week 3 of the experiment:

Look at them grow!  The peas are climbing!  Yippee!

The beans have sprouted and are pushing upwards as well.  One of the sunflowers is trying to grow.  Two leaves have emerged, and the stalk is almost 3 cm tall.

In the background of the photo you can just see Stella, right behind the oregano plant that is taking over the raised bed.  I'm thinking of pulling some of it out to use a a lawn-replacing ground cover.  It is just growing like crazy.  It's been cut in half three (yes, 3!) times so far this spring.    I guess oregano really likes the humid, wet weather.

Food Doesn’t Taste Right While On Chemotherapy

A while ago, I bumped into an old friend from University.  Not that she is old.  Or that I am old.  Well, maybe a little bit older than, say, new grads, but we aren’t up for CPP or anything yet. 

Anyway....

We were chatting about all kinds of stuff, and Cancer came up.  She was looking for advice for her Mom, who had started Chemotherapy, and was having food issues.  Specifically, it was hard to eat as much as she was supposed to because the food just didn’t taste right. 

Being a Cancer Sherpa, I promised I would ask around, and tell her what I found.  I sent her an email long ago, but still had the info on my desktop.  So why not share it?  That’s what this blog thing is for, right?

A summary of what I learned:

1. I know an awful lot of people who either have cancer right now or have battled it at least once in their lives. 
2. There is no one answer.  Unless you count “It depends.”  Everyone I spoke to had a different way of dealing with the food issues. 

The tips themselves:

• Eat tiny portions.  One friend will eat only 2-3 tablespoons at any one time, to combat nausea.  It means he's pretty much constantly "snacking" on foods that are pretty much pureed, alternating with soda crackers.
• Eat with plastic fork, knife and spoon.  One friend-of-a-friend can really taste the metal in foods, and stainless steel utensils make it worse.
• Eat the food only when it is really hot.  One friend says the food doesn't taste right because the taste buds are formed by fast growing cells, so the chemo gets them, too.  She finds the food has a more natural taste if it is hotter.
• Add more spice to the food.  This is another friend who follows the 'taste buds are dying' approach.  She uses a lot of spices (no salt!) in her food to make it more palatable.  Unfortunately, her family can't stand the extra, so she seasons her food separately.
• Eat the food really cold.  Yet another friend (I told you I know a lot of people on chemo) prefers his food to be so cold it has no taste.  He lets his supper portion cool while the family eats, then puts it in the fridge for a bit (30 mins. or so) and eats it as cold as possible.

Other tips I received:

• Eat the comfort food from your childhood; it will make you feel better.
• Don't eat the comfort food from your childhood; it will ruin it forever. Clearly no winner on that one.
• If you feel like eating something, eat it.
• Eat when you feel like it, even if people look at you funny.
• Suck on a mint or chew gum to get rid of dry mouth.
• Never suck on a mint or chew gum to get rid of dry mouth. Again, this seems to be a contested, personal choice thing.
• Magic Mouthwash will eliminate cottonmouth!  This was unanimous among those who'd tried it.  It's a prescription item, and you will have to ask your Oncologist or Oncological Pharmacist person about it.  I tried to get the actual name of the thing, but all anyone would say is "Magic Mouthwash".

And here’s a tip from me:

Contact your local chapter of the Cancer Society, or check it out on line.  There may be a survivor’s or living-with-cancer group in your area.  They may have some good resources available.    

If you have something to add to the list, let me know.

Towel Day 2011

Today, (May 25), is Towel Day!

I’m a Douglas Adams fan.  I watched the Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy TV series when I was little (check it out on NetFlix!), and have read the books of the trilogy in four parts (plus a bit) many times.  No, I haven’t heard the original-broadcast-radio series.

The girls have seen the Hitch Hiker’s Guide TV series, and the 2005 film.  While they really liked both, there are parts of the HHGTTG movie they like more.  Specifically the yarn bits and the voice of Marvin.

To celebrate Towel Day, I wanted to do something to let the girls know they are pretty hoopy froods. 

So, here we have:

So Long And Thanks For All the Fish Tuna Pasta Salad, topped with the answer to life, the universe and everything.  Yes it’s purple cabbage.  It’s fine.  It’s mostly harmless.  Purple is not mauve, and all the really dangerous things are mauve, right?

They also have a single strawberry, some yellow pepper slices, and some blueberries.

And what would towel day be without towels?  Here used as napkins, with a very important motto.

Check out What's For Lunch Wednesday

They are growing! A Lettuce and Peas Update

The May 24 Weekend has ended.  It rained for part of every day.  The rest of the week promises lots of rain and continued warm temperatures, too.

As is the custom, we gardened.  Lots of weeding, mowing and cleaning was done.  Some beds were edged. We even planted a few things.  Mostly hardy-ish plants, like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.  And Selma.  She had set flowers, and was not going to get pollinated indoors.

Yes, I know colder weather is coming.  We are watching Selma, and the forecasts.

The exciting news is the peas and beans have sprouted! A few of them are beginning to climb the netting!  It’s working!  See?

Well, so far, anyway.  The lettuce looks much happier in the window box as well.  We planted up the rest of them in other containers sprinkled around the deck and yard.

No significant bunny sightings this weekend.  I didn’t see any earwigs, but I know they are out there.  We did see lots and lots of ants.  They have made hills in some of the flowerbeds and have killed at least one shrub for sure. 

The girls spotted this little guy, and named him Trevor. 

They found a larger toad a few days ago, and named him Nigel.  So far he has been camera shy.