This week I accidentally made the best hamburger of my life. But we’ll get to that, obviously. First, let’s talk about the asparagus. I’ve picked about six pounds so far. I don’t remember signing up for that much responsibility, but here we are.
"About" 6 pounds which sounds more casual than six pounds exactly, but let’s be clear: I weighed it. Multiple times. Just to be sure I wasn’t hallucinating my productivity.
If you’ve been putting off planting asparagus because it seems like a commitment, I get it. But I’m officially done being polite about it. Plant the asparagus. It pays off in quiet, relentless spears. Here’s how and when to do it. Mark it in your calendar: [How to Grow Asparagus ]
Philip & the Soccer Field
Philip, my standard poodle, went for a run. That sounds ordinary, but it isn’t. I took him to the local soccer field where he galloped, spun, and generally behaved like a living French horn solo. He's 4. I've been told this is normal.
Hardening Off, the Lazy Way
I finished hardening off all of my plants. Every last one. Tomatoes, peppers, flowers—they’ve all had their controlled exposure to the big, bad, sun. Instead of lugging hundreds of seedling trays inside and outside like a Victorian orphan, I loaded them onto the rolling cart from my seed starting setup and wheeled them in and out of the house.
With homemade french fries, pickled dilly beans because I RAN OUT OF DILL PICKLES, and a very burned (but still delicious) jalapeño popper on top.
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Hamburger Revelation
Back to the hamburger.
It started like all great things do: convenience. I didn’t measure, I didn’t follow my own hamburger recipe, I did, however, add some egg, tons of salt & pepper, and a lot of Murray's Steak spice, which is a local butcher shop. Therefore that information is of no use to you unless you live around Hamilton, Ontario in which case, if you do - go to Murray's and buy the steak spice. Put it in your next hamburgers.
Somehow, by the power of extreme hunger and beef fat, it turned out to be the best burger I’ve ever made. I cried tears of flavour.
Now of course, I'm afraid to try to make another one because it'll never be as good. Like your eyebrows after the 90's.
Rhubarb Flowers (aka Plant Confetti)
I pulled some rhubarb flowers (because that's how you maintain a rhubarb patch, by removing flowers and splitting the rhubarb plant every few years)
I cut the stems and shoved the flower heads into a vase because I thought they looked weird enough to be interesting but they ended up being officially beautiful. The unopened flowers are sculptural and coloured beautifully with pale greens and very slight pink. But they’re also messy. Every time you brush by them, they release a confetti bomb of tiny green beads (florets, really), that scatter like botanical glitter.
That’s the week. Have a good weekend - currently the coldest end of May on record here.
Camille Olivia
NEVER MIND! I found the flowers. SHEESH! 🙄
Karen
Good job. Maybe "flowers" is the wrong description. Pre-flower mounds? ~ karen!
Camille Olivia
Where’s the pic of rhubarb flowers???
Deanna W
Italian Seasoning
Deanna
Ok Karen…That reference to Murray’s seasoning should be a challenge to
your creative abilities! Give us a reasonable version so we can make it ourselves ! I have a great italian seasoning I use on everything but
coconut cookies and I make it in big batches and will willingly share the recipe in exchange for your version of Murray’s mix!
Jan in Waterdown
Ummm…. you have a tv over your stove? Doesn’t it get all grease spattered? 😮 or maybe you’re a very tidy cook.
Jo-Ann
Expand the photo of the TV, it looks like a spectre peering through a window lol
Jan in Waterdown
Hah! Yes I did do that and saw a very very scary Karen!!!
Karen
I look a bit like Kevin Bacon. I do have a tv over the stove, and it's perfectly fine. It was an old television that I used to keep on the counter but wanted the counterspace back. I figured it'd work for a couple of months. It's been well over a year now. I don't cook on the back burners often. Surprisinglly - it's been perfectly fine. ~ karen!
Carrie Anne
OMG
That looks soooo scary!!!! 😳
WTH Karen! All I wanted was a really good burger recipe not a nightmare! lol
Kat - the other 1
Villas and pansies also spit their seeds.
I had put several seed heads in a paper cup and left it on the kitchen table to dry. Every once in a while someone in the kitchen would hear a weird popping noise, but we couldn't find the source. Found the source. Lol. And seeds all over the kitchen table and everywhere. 😆
Next time I put them in a paper bag and closed it and hung it in my room to dry. Every once in a while, pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! 😆
Apparently this is also why they keep popping up randomly in the yard. Unfortunately the lawn guy keeps whacking and spraying them. He seems to think they are weeds. Killed mom's morning glories too. 😐
Kat - the other 1
Violas*
Thanks spellcheck. 😑
Karen
Nothing worse than a projectile vomiting seed pod. ~ karen!
Linda in Illinois
A rolling cart to take your vegetable plants out for hardening off, why didn’t I think of that? That’s why you are the teacher! Brilliant, I will be doing that Next year.
Karen
I didn't get smart enough until this year Linda! I had to bring the cart up from the basement but it was SO much easier than hand carrying every plant and tray inside and out. I had to build a little 2" ramp with scrap wood at my back door to roll the cart in and out smoothly. ~ karen!
Terry Rutherford
Official then is it? It sure feels like it. Pool is nowhere near needed so not opened. Might get a week before it’s time to close! To my question: what have you not planted because they’re tender seedlings? Cantaloupes? Watermelons? Cucumbers? Winter Squash or pumpkins? (Hint: these are what are getting older in the sunroom waiting to go out) even my peppers are sitting in the cold frame because, if it wasn’t cold, it was raining. Tomatoes and brassicas are planted but none of them are thanking me.
Poodle runs are the best.
Karen
I haven't planted a ton of stuff. Most of it actually. Right now potatoes, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are all planted. Everything else has been hardened off and waiting because of the cold and rain. A couple of tomatoes are planted in pots in my backyard but the majority of them aren't. I'm planning on spending the rest of today at the garden weeding and getting a few more things in. I'm direct seeding melons and squash and beans etc. But tomatoes, dahlias etc. all need planting. Our season is different than it used to be so don't worry about it. Nice weather starts weeks later and goes weeks longer. Good luck! ~ karen
Jane
Philip is already 4! How time flies! Just like kids, you blink and they're grown.
Karen
I know! It doesn't seem like much time has passed because he's still such a clown.~ karen!
Thera
Love the rhubarb flowers!
Karen
Me too! ~ karen