Friday, April 16, 2010

Little Farmers


Oh my, where has this week gone?! I really can't believe it's Friday already. So much has been going on, but the highlight of our week was going to visit my parents in the Central Valley, about 80 miles away. My dad has an amazing garden which my boys have really taken an interest in this year. On our last visit, they planted squash and wanted to call my dad daily to remind him to water them :). Needless to say, my dad LOVES this time with his grandsons, passing along his wisdom and love of gardening on to them.


Nico was happy to harvest some red leaf lettuce for us

Luca LOVES sugar snap peas!

Does anyone know what this is? The leaves are enormous and bitter! It's some kind of lettuce, kale or chard. I tried steaming it, and it ended up looking like collard greens, but would need a lot of doctoring up to make edible... I would love to know what it is and if anyone has a recipe for it since my dad has a few of them and doesn't know what they are either.

We found a little visitor in our harvest when we got home :)

I'm gearing up for Ivan's absence this weekend, stocking the refrigerator, tidying up the house, folding laundry so I can focus just on the boys over the next few days. Fortunately it looks like there are many fun, free things to do in the Bay Area this weekend, may be you can help me decide :) ?
...or I could just go with the flow and see what mood strikes us when we wake up :)

Thanks for visiting and I hope you all have been enjoying the Great Outdoor Challenge!
I hope you all have a wonderful, fun weekend!

11 comments:

Nicola said...

Marina, Starting at the end, first, I am laughing because I just hit submit on an Examiner article on all the fun things to do this weekend! Here is the link. You got some ideas I missed!
http://www.examiner.com/x-22477-Oakland-Frugal-Living-Examiner~y2010m4d16-Earth-Day-Activities

Your boys are so sweet. I have been thinking about you guys all week...wishing we could connect for more regular time together! (Love Matteo's haircut!)

I don't know what that leafy green is and the following word is taboo everywhere online these days, but have you considered cooking up the greens Asian style with a bit of sugar?

Hugs,
Nicola

Anonymous said...

look at all that garden growth! wow, it looks great. have a good weekend, hope it goes well!

Ariella said...

Lovely photos as always :)

FrontierDreams said...

I'm sorry is going away again. Please call me if you need to! It sounds like you have a lot to keep everyone occupied :)

I love it when you post your father's garden pics. You're family is the sweetest thing ever!!! <3

Tonya Gunn said...

Oh, I can't wait to eat fresh vegetables again. Our snap peas are only two inches high, though.
Your photographs are beautiful. Wishing you and your boys a wonderful weekend.

Simple Mama said...

I'm so totally jealous that your gardens are so far along already. We're just getting ours in.

Anonymous said...

Love the snail...and the family! so sweet!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, it's so wonderful to see gardens in bloom! That green doesn't look like chard, my best guess is that it's a red romaine lettuce... try googling that and see if it matches up.

angelina said...

hi!
i feel the same way: where do the weeks get off to? lovely garden.
xxxx

Heather said...

Gorgeous photos, and since I am a true snail lover, it was fun to see you capture that one up close :)

mb said...

you might have grown some mustard greens. google image "red mustard greens" and see if you think it's a match. :) it would make sense that they taste bitter. i love "spicy" greens like mustard and arugula in salads, but they're tougher to eat the older they get.