Dear Reader,
Hello! I’m excited to share what I have been up to this week because 1.) I actually have a successful garden for the first time ever, and 2.) I baked, and baked, and everything was delicious. So, let me start with the events in the garden. My last letter basically consisted of me avoiding the outdoors because of the wasps and yellow jackets (also wasps, I think). I explained to my dad why I was worried and that I needed to mow the lawn and pull weeds, but I was scared. While I have never been attacked by wasps, I have sat on a bee. It hurt! And, what if I had an allergic reaction? My phone stays inside because my gardening clothes do not have pockets, a ridiculous component of most women’s clothing, and no one else seems to be up and moving at 6:30am. To his credit, my dad did not laugh at me. Instead, he grabbed his “wasp poker” which is really a windshield squeegee on a long pole he uses for cleaning his bus, and went with me to my home to investigate. We walked around the garden with him poking the corn and swinging squeegee through the weeds, and NOTHING!
So, yesterday (Thursday), I went out and bravely mowed the front and back lawns. No wasp swarms, or any sign of them, so I kept going and pulled weeds for a few minutes. My hands started to ache so I stopped. But, in the process I discovered that I had marigolds come up AND BLOOM, and my snapdragons had also started to bloom again. I also discovered I had my first ripe slicing tomato and I picked it. My dad and I are going to have it with our lunch today. I’m going to have a burger, and I think he is going to have a salad.
Then, today I was pulling more of the weeds and discovered the green beans are actually beans! Hooray! And, there are a lot of ripe cherry tomatoes to pick this afternoon! The sprinklers came on, so I stopped to write to you all. I’ll include pictures of the haul next week. I’m so excited about the garden! I’m hoping to convince my dad to help me stake up the tomatoes so I can finish pulling the weeds around them tomorrow morning without damaging them.
As for the baking, I made three different kinds of scones: pumpkin, apple cinnamon, and gingerbread. I made 16 of each kind, and you probably noticed the fall flavor selection. I live in eastern Washington state, where we usually experience all four seasons. I like them all, but my favorites are fall and winter because the holidays bring my favorite thing: time with family and friends. The smells of the season and the fresh baking always makes my heart happy, and I was longing for those scents and flavors. I also know I get to go back to work on Monday, and what better to have with my coffee than a little bit of homey deliciousness? I also baked quick-rise whole wheat rolls to have with my lunches. I wanted to be sure I knew how to make them and that they were really quick-rise before I got into the swing of work. They also turned out really well.
This week’s pictures are of my brother’s quilt top (finished and ready to “sandwich”), marigolds, ripe tomato, and snapdragons, squash, etc., and baked goods. Next week, watch for beans and a tomato haul, among other pictures. Until then, have a great week!
Sincerely,
Cyndars
Brother’s quilt top.
marigolds
Slicing tomato on the vine
picked tomato!
Snapdragon
squash in the lawn.
more squash flowers
squash flower
corn
Scarlett runner beans
pumpkin scones before baking
Baked pumpkin scones
Fresh apple cinnamon scones before baking
Fresh apple cinnamon scones baked
Gingerbread scones before baking
Gingerbread scones after baking.
whole wheat dinner rolls before baking
whole wheat dinner rolls baked
