Spring Gardening

It wouldn't be spring if I didn't post a lot of gardening photos.

All of the bulbs we planted in November came up beautifully:

 

We planted spinach, kale, lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, beets, carrots, potatoes, spring onions, and garlic, with mixed success - we had tons of spinach, kale, lettuce, beets, carrots, and beans, but squirrels or rats ate most of our potatoes and the broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts all failed to get very big.

A few of the potatoes we saved.

  

Sancho with the spinach and kale

 

 



Pumpkins and beans

 

Five pounds of green beans

Pickled green beans

 



 

Apple blossoms

 

In the children's garden

  

Winter vegetables

Brussels sprouts

This was a great year for cool season vegetables!

On November 4 I planted mesclun, spinach, kale, artichokes, beets, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, garlic, green onions, leeks, and potatoes.

Baby spinach

  

Green onions, carrots, potatoes, kale, and spinach

Dog with kale

We could barely eat the spinach and kale fast enough.

 

The only big disappointment was our potatoes. They were really thriving - we probably had about twenty pounds coming in - when a rat or squirrel got into the garden and ate almost all of them.  We managed to salvage about three pounds, enough for one meal but not nearly as many as we'd planned on.

The potatoes in happier times

Making a frittata with leeks and (a few) potatoes from the garden

Also the artichokes kept dying off - I have never gotten an artichoke to stay alive more than three weeks, but I'll keep trying.

I just put all the warm season vegetables into the ground - I hope the new drip irrigation system will get them through the heat. We also planted six new fruit trees! More on that soon ...

 

New irritation hoses in the garden beds

Best of Fall

 

It's officially winter in Los Angeles, which means another season has come to an end.

 

 

We started the season with a trip to the pumpkin festival at Underwood Family Farms.

 

Fascinated by goats

 

A goat lounging on the hood of a car

 

 

This is a really challenging corn maze.

 

Beatrice choose this giant pumpkin to bring home.

 

I also made a "hay ride" for the kids by putting some bales of hay into the wagon and pulling it around the neighborhood.  Arthur and William loved it.

 

 

We went to the LA County Fair, where William was mobbed by baby goats.

 

 

Beatrice found the queen bee.

And she rode this pretty serious ride all by herself.

We also discovered a wonderful new "hidden" spot in L.A., the Audubon Center in Montecito Heights.  On the Sunday we went we had the entire place to ourselves.  (We didn't get any photos, but we also went to the excellent Wildlife Learning Center in Sylmar for the first time - highly recommended!)

 

 

A few shots of my front yard, which always looks great in the fall, with the two Japanese maples and the autumnal colors of the Japanese barberry, Mexican feather grass, the nandina, and the three new sweet potato vines I added this year.

 

 

And our Thanksgiving decorations - everything this year was light blue and orange.

 

 

Reading while walking to school, like I used to do

We finally gave Arthur the Princess Anna coronation dress he had been asking for since last November, and I think it was truly the happiest he has ever been in his entire life.

 

The photo is blurry because he couldn't stop dancing for joy.

We went apple picking up in Willow Glen, then made a pie with the apples at home.  Our new baby apple tree in the backyard has some apples on it, too, though not quite enough for a pie yet.

Shamelessly including this photo just because my hair looks good.

And I took some photos of the kids in front of St. Mark's (I was trying to get a nice one of all three together, but I failed - again).

 

St. Mark's also shared some photos of Arthur with us - a glimpse into his life at school:

 

Eating champorado and learning about the Philippines, next to his best friend Henry

 

Learning about dental hygiene by brushing dinosaurs' teeth, with Ivy Harris

Then, at last, we went up to San Jose for Thanksgiving where we went for several long walks through Vasona Park with Aunt Julie, who just moved much closer to us! We are so happy she is in San Francisco now and not all the way across the country in New York.

Sitting on the wing of a real airplane

 

Chasing geese

 

Picking up Chinese takeout on Thanksgiving weekend

And last, a picture of me and Amy, taken by Summer St. Pierre - this might be the first picture of me and Amy I've seen since we were in seventh grade.  Thank you, Summer!