Adventures in Gardening: Homemade Red Sauce

Yesterday I made my own sauce. I didn't know what to expect since I'd never done it before, but it was truly simple!

Here are my raw ingredients.

My garden's yield

 
No, I didn't put cucumbers in my sauce... That picture is just what I picked from my garden that day--about 30 tomatoes and two cucumbers! I didn't know how many tomatoes I'd get from four plants... I grew these plants from seeds--heirlooms from my bf's uncle--and they've been quite fruitful (pun intended). :)

(Not pictured: chopped red onion. I bought it pre-chopped because I really dislike cutting onions.)

I chopped and chopped and then simmered my veggies in olive oil.

Then I added the stars of the show: my sweet, sweet tomatoes!

I got all my ingredients mixed together. Looking delicious. And the smell? Oh, it's heavenly.

All the tomatoes cooked down nicely over the course of an hour. 

I thickened it up a little and it was ready to serve.

We ate fresh pasta from Giovanni Rana (our favorite). I have additional fresh pasta to eat with the leftover sauce!

This year's garden is just about kaput, but I'm inspired for next year already!

New porch friends

Today a tufted titmouse found my bedroom window particularly comfortable for a perch. We were hardly six inches away from each other, but with my window screen between us. She sang very happy little songs for me till the bird feeder caught her attention again.

I really miss my iPhone sometimes. My iBird app made looking up birds so much easier! *sigh*

First cucumber of the season!

So crisp, so sweet... My cucumbers vines are bursting with fruit now, meaning if any of you (in the local area) want an organically-grown cucumber, let me know. I'll soon have more than I know what to do with! (There is also potential for this same problem with tomatoes...)

Here's my beauty! I ate it solo because I can eat cucumber slices like chip. Good crunch. :)

First cucumber of the 2013 garden!

And... we're back

My apologies for not being in touch lately. Life's craziness got in the way, but now I'm back in action.

Here's what I've got planned for the next few weeks:

• Energy Bits review 
• Arbonne Fit Kit review
• Vapur antibottle review 
• Injinji yoga toe socks review
• Conscious Box review
• Oiselle apparel review
• Gardening updates
• Running progress alert

I'm working on getting some giveaways too, so stay tuned. :)

Garden Update: Tomato Flowers and Popeye's Spinach

I have lots more now, but here's the first!

Everything in my garden I have grown from seeds. I'm really proud of my plants. They're strong and they are just about as big as plants I've seen that other people have purchased, so I feel good about their age and maturity too.

Late last week, in between rainstorms, I was pruning tomatoes when I saw some fully opened tomato flowers!

After a few more days of rain, I decided it was time to pick some spinach. My plants took awhile longer to mature, but I think I let the biggest leaves get a little too big... they were as big as my palm!

Nevertheless, the spinach would've made Popeye proud and it was the first yield from my garden this year. I happily made a salad with it and enjoyed each scrumptious bite.

Note varying sizes in spinach leaves. :-o

Summer Garden Progress!

My whole garden!

It's tough to get a garden up to speed with wishy-washy weather and frost lasting through the first week of June, but, at last, summer is here and my garden is thriving!

My meager beginnings indoors with grow lamps and seed pods have led to healthy seedlings and, now, healthy vegetable plants and flowers. This is my favorite time because I get to care for the plants until they burst into color with fruit and flowers.

Last year I didn't really know what I was doing. I bought some seeds and dirt and hoped for the best. The funniest thing that happened was that my labels washed away... I didn't know what any of my seedlings were! I called it my secret garden because I really didn't know what was what...

Makeshift set up

I've come a long way this year. In February I took a short course with a local non-profit, Grow Pittsburgh, to learn some gardening basics. I was more excited than ever to have a garden after that class. Spring couldn't come soon enough!

I planted my original seedlings in April. I didn't have much success, unfortunately. I think the location in my house was too dry and that I used poor soil. So I started a second batch later on. These were much more successful.

Meager beginnings

I've still had attrition, even while hardening off the seedlings... which was sad because so many of them were doing well! But it happens. Not all seedlings are strong enough. It's a really brutal version of evolution's favorite game, Survival of the Fittest.

I know I didn't do everything perfectly. I definitely fried a few seedlings accidentally. :( I also got carried away with potting things as an in-between stage before planting them because the frost here didn't stop until early June. So some plants probably died just from the trauma of moving them too much. My fault. Ah, living and learning, again.

Nevertheless, I have some really beautiful plants right now. The garden itself looks marvelous. The individual plants are making me really excited about what produce I'll get this summer. Here are some more photos...

Itty bitty cucumber plants 

Broccoli... maybe. If it doesn't bolt. Again.

A forest of heirloom tomato plants!

Spinach! Popeye would be proud.

Refusing to Stay Blue

I was warned. I prepared. I acknowledged my feelings, and still they persist.

My post-race blues are hitting me a little harder than I anticipated. It's difficult to tell what's post-race related and what's the-rest-of-my-life related though because I'm still not working full-time, I'm still not doing fulfilling work, and I'm still kinda lonely most days of the week. Nevertheless, I'm trying to see these blues for what they are: temporary.

Monday when I was still sore and I felt a little like I had the flu, I rested in a fog and let myself be sad that my big race was over. Tuesday, though, I had to go to my part-time job, so there was no way to abide in relentless sadness throughout the day.

Just what was so sad anyway? I met my goal! I finished a half marathon! I had trained so hard for several months. I had overcome personal and physical hurdles to be there and do well. Yes--yes, I was proud. I was glad I finished, that I ran well, and that I knew I could meet my goal. Nothing was particularly sad about the event. It's the LACK of the goal, created by the goal's completion, that creates an emptiness... and feels sad.

Several sources about post-race blues recommend a psychological reset button of sorts--getting back in touch with friends, allowing yourself a few indulgences, and setting a new goal. I'm beginning to do just that.

• I've been stretching all week to soothe my soreness. I'll go running today. I'm doing a 5k on Sunday--our local Race for the Cure, which is sure to be a positive event. 
• I got to catch up with a good friend (a non-runner) yesterday and that was delightful.
• I drank a Pepsi on Tuesday. (It was mega sweet, but it tasted good.)
• I'm planning to start my Arbonne detox in the next week or two to get my nutrition back on track.
• I repotted several plants on Wednesday and I'm planning to get my garden in the ground next week.
• I'm revamping my training plan for the half marathon I'm running in October (Staten Island). My dearest friend from college is running with me so we're training together but from afar.

Just typing out that list makes me feel a little more hopeful. I think if I can get back to my typical to-do list ways that my day-to-day accomplishments will be more fulfilling.

Anyone else ever deal with post-race blues? How did you deal with them? 

Spring sprouts!

SPROUTS!

I started some seeds for my spring garden crops last weekend and--lo! and behold!--midweek I had some sprouts!

Plastic greenhouse with grow light
and water spray bottle near my
heating vent. This is gardening, folks.

My setup isn't ideal, but I'm doing my best. I used the little plastic greenhouse tray I kept from last year's "Secret Garden" mishap and decided to leave the lid on only until I got my first sprouts. Last year I ended up with mold and sick seedlings to boot... No one really mentions that on the greenhouse packaging. They just say to keep the seedlings warm and moist... but that *duh* equals mold. No more mold for my seedlings! I have the tray on top of a towel on the ground near a heating vent in my house. (My house is old and doesn't warm up really well... so I wanted to keep the plants warm.) I bought a fluorescent "grow light" to give my plants some faux sun since Pittsburgh is anything but sunny right now... not that I have decently sunny windows anyway. Three-quarters of my house is surrounded with porches, which keeps the house cool all year (whether I want it to be cool or not).

I learned a LOT from my garden last year, and I'm taking a new approach to gardening thanks to the stellar class I took through Grow Pittsburgh. (Best $60 I ever spent!) I grew several flowers and vegetables from seeds last year, but I'm going to try to grow all my crops from seeds this year--vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

So far I've started the following seeds:

• lettuce (sprouted)
• broccoli (sprouted)
• lavender (some sprouted)
• Shasta daisies
• lemon balm

I need to get my spinach seeds SOON so I have those seedlings ready to plant when the rest of these seedlings are ready at the end of April/beginning of May. The rest of my spring crops I plan to plant by direct seeding (seeds in the ground, not started indoors for transplanting). But, naturally, I will need to wait for the weather to cooperate for most of those to even have a chance at survival.

This year's garden is off to a great start!

Look at those happy little sprouts. :)

Where I've been, what I'm doing

Oh my goodness, dear readers, I have not forsaken thee. I apologize, blog, that you have gone a full week without an update. For shame!

Working several part-time and freelance gigs is exhausting. Ensuring I have some income, the bills are paid, the dog is cared for, and all the other nuances of life seem more complicated when I'm not going to ONE workplace for a set period of time... and getting a paycheck directly deposited into my account. Invoicing is another element that freelancers don't get paid for that, alas, must be done!

What has happened in the meantime?

I'm excited about the possibilities in store, even if none of them include a full-time job... yet. I'm working hard at accepting what I have, enjoying each day, figuring out what I really want, and pursuing only what I truly desire. That in itself takes more energy than I have on most days, but the allocation of my talent is my own responsibility and if I waste my time and energy doing things I don't like or wishing for things I don't work for, then I deserve what I get. I want to deserve what I get and earn it in the sense that I brush hands with others trying to earn it.

So here's the past week...

I've started kicking my own butt to get to my running group. Tuesday evenings at the track or designated hill (for the beloved hill repeats) are now a must. I have directed my boyfriend to demand that I go when I waver (because goodness knows that I always feel better after I go).

My eyes are closed, but I think I look pretty darn good for
having run seven miles then climbed 45 floors!

Last Saturday I also made it to the group run downtown. It's kind of an expensive long run for me if I don't have other plans in the city before/after it (it's 20 miles there, 20 back), but I went. I ran about seven miles.

After the run, I did the Fight for Air stair climb downtown. Holy moly, stair climbing is a horse of a different color when it comes to exercise... I definitely don't consider myself a stair athlete!

Last week I completed my first set of fifteen freelance articles for a new client. It was a little tough to complete them so quickly without being repetitive, but I did my very best and they were pleased. :)

In the past few days, I've made a few strategic purchases, both of which I will be reviewing in the next few months. Because I have been tutoring a Korean woman for almost a year now and she recently asked me to begin working with her very young daughter, I decided to get Rosetta Stone in Korean. I have some reservations about the program, considering that my background is in language teaching and I have some strong opinions on how people learn language (otherwise how could I teach?!); however, I decided that with the program's guarantee and my current available time that I had nothing to lose.

I also purchased a full month of the Arbonne Fit Kit detox from Becki at Fighting for Wellness. The kit includes protein shake mixes, chews, drink mixes, and a few other items, which accompany an altered diet in order to help the user determine what foods or food entities might be causing distress. I've had issues with food for quite a while now and I'm at a loss for what else to try. I feel uncomfortable no matter what I eat and I don't seem to have enough energy. I decided that I would try the Arbonne detox to try to narrow down some of my issues. Nonetheless, since my half marathon is coming up in just five weeks, I will wait until after the race to begin the detox. I don't want to change anything right now; it's too close to the race. Even if it's for the better, it could affect my running and I might not recuperate properly.

Finally, I started some seeds for my garden! I don't have all the seeds I want yet, so I don't have a full set. I do, however, have lettuce, lavender, lemon balm, shasta daisies, and broccoli planted in my spare room under a grow lamp. Hooray!

From seeds: sunflowers

I have a real sense of pride when I look at my sunflower. It was one of the first plants to differentiate itself among my seedlings that, ahem, were unlabeled, so I knew a little more about what to expect in terms of development. I knew I wouldn't get a flower head until it was pretty tall. This one is about four and a half feet tall. Because I have a raised bed for my garden, this put the flower at nearly eye level for six foot tall Karissa!

The bumble bees in my yard have kept busy in this one flower. Every day I see at least two bees in there covering themselves in pollen. I snapped a picture just the other day, even though the flower head itself is a little worse for the wear at this stage (petals are falling off, the seeds in the center are being pecked away). 

I'm excited to see how my other sunflowers turn out. I have another stalk with at least three flower heads on it. I think it's a different variety of the flower. (I used seeds from a variety pack, adding more suspense to the "secret garden.")

Knowing my success with sunflowers this year makes me want to plant a bunch of them next year. Perhaps the wall along the back of my house, facing sunrise, would do well lined with these beauties.

Pride in zinnias

When I decided to plant seeds this year, I didn't really have a plan. I never tried growing anything from a seed...

My little labels got rubbed off in my mini greenhouse early on, prompting me to regard my experiment as "The Secret Garden," since I had no idea what anything was. All the seedlings looked alike and until they grew and had differentiating characteristics, I couldn't tell a cucumber from a sunflower.

The last plant to really give me clues to its identity was the zinnia. I didn't have much experience with zinnias anyway, so identifying one in its infancy was not happening.

But now they're in full bloom and they're the visual pride of my garden. The colors and sizes thrill me, and they're attracting the bees too! (My cucumbers hadn't been producing any fruit and I was worried, but I think the zinnias drew the bees towards my cucumbers because now I have a plethora of cucumbers-in-progress!.)

Return of the Bloginator

Okay, okay, okay. I am really bad at not having a blog. I'm still not sure I can maintain one with working full time, commuting, and the actual living of life... but I'm going to try. If I have any readers left, I guess I'll find out soon.

So in prior posts I was going on about my nature encounters. I think I'd still like to do that. Since I last posted, I've become obsessed with birds--field guides, binoculars, multiple bird feeders with multiple kinds of feed... and photos of as many birds as I can capture with my iPhone. Of course, I'll have nature encounters that don't include birds, and I plan to post those too. I grew my first garden this year, and it's been a bit crazy to keep up with, but I'm enjoying it. It's like one morning I washed my hands after watering my plants and discovered a green thumb attached to my own hand.

Nature won't be my only topic, though. I recently took up running and I'm quite passionate about it. There's something about the sport that drives me. I hope to make this a little bit of a diary about my running.

Unfortunately, writing about running means that I will also have to include some discussions of my asthma. Yes, what I thought was a childhood pulmonary pest has surfaced again and with vengeance. Currently I haven't run for a week and a half because my asthma has been so bad. I'm being treated, but it's difficult to know if something will work because, as we all know, everyone is different. Oh joy.

I'm Karissa a.k.a. Grammarissa. This is my blog and these are my adventures.