The Sad Tale of Little Bunny Fufu

July 8, 2011

It is a sad tale that I share today – one of a life gone bad.

It is the tale of Little Bunny Fufu.

It all started with a simple bag of edamame seeds given to me by a friend at church to try in the garden.

I planted that bag of edamame  right next to my green beans – never dreaming the drama that would unfold because of them.

Those seeds sprouted and grew into sturdy little plants. I weeded them and watered them and watched them with pride.

All the while -  in the grass just beyond the garden lurked Little Bunny Fufu – just watching and waiting.

He and two of his buddies made their first move on the morning of Father’s Day. Jan discovered the pesky varmints systematically eating off all the leaves on the edamame.

And I do mean systematically. They started at both ends and worked toward the middle.

The peace and serenity of my garden was shattered as 2 well-aimed gunshots ended the crime spree of Little Bunny Fufu’s friends – but Little Bunny Fufu escaped into the pasture.

He hopped back to his bunny den to mourn his friends and plot revenge.

Meanwhile, we upped our garden patrols and kept the .22 handy.

All was quiet for a few weeks. We spotted bunnies surveying the territory – casually nibbling on the sweet clover in the lawn – but they never venturing into the garden.

They were waiting.

Watching.

I checked the garden just before we left on our camping trip over the weekend. The edamame  were coming back beautifully and the electric fence was hot.

We felt safe in leaving.

And all was safe – until Tuesday.

At some point on Tuesday afternoon one of the rogue squash plants grew just enough to send out a shoot that shorted out the fence.

Little Bunny Fufu was waiting for just such an opportunity. He hopped into the garden with his new gang of outlaws and started systematically to eat the edamame.

I happened to be making my rounds at the time and saw the varmints in action.

I rushed to the workshop where Jan was busy fixing a mower (this time of year Jan is always in the shop fixing a mower!), threw open the door and yelled, “The bunnies are in the garden!”

Had I been more dramatic I would have added, “Avenge my edamame!”

He did. Three shots later three bunny accomplices lay dead near the edamame they craved.

But little Bunny Fufu once again escaped into the tall grass of the pasture.

We sighed and were heading back to the shop when out of the corner of his eye Jan saw movement.

Would you believe it was Little Bunny Fufu heading back to the garden!

He saw Jan and stopped halfway to the fence.

They eyed each other in the heat of the late afternoon.

Then Jan raised his gun and ended the life of the bunny gone bad.

Learn a lesson from Little Bunny Fufu – crime doesn’t pay. Stay on your side of the fence.

By Country Gal | Posted in Critters, Gardening | Tagged , , | Comments (7)

True Confessions

May 20, 2011

lettuceI feel like I must confess here.

After all my noble efforts to start my own plants this winter – well – ahem – things haven’t worked out so well.

Let’s start with my pathetic cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower plants.

They were so bad that when I was shopping with my sister at the Amish stores – in a moment of weakness I bought all new big and beautiful plants and planted them in my garden.

That’s not all – the spindly little cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower starts that I’ve been nursing for months got yanked out of their pots and – are you ready for this – fed to the chickens.

Ouch.

But wait – there’s more!

Most of cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, and squash plants looked fabulous for a while – but then started shriveling up and dying. Anything that had at least one green leaf got planted in the garden this week.

I think I will need to do a lot of replanting!

But on the bright side -we’ve have several meals of asparagus, a few tiny radish and our first garden fresh salad. The lettuce I planted was a mix of different varieties – some I am not familiar with.

Pedro took one bite of lettuce last night and announced, “I think I just ate a weed!”

I must confess that since my garden is not exactly weed-free that I”m more that a little worried he did!

Speaking of lettuce – during that same shopping trip with my sister Teresa – I also bought 2-4 packs of  head lettuce to put in the garden – thinking they would give me a head start on salad.

Two nights later there was a bunny convention in my garden and all my beautiful heads were served as the entree. Let’s just say that was some expensive bunny food. :(

But then there’s my tomato plants. We moved them into bigger pots a few weeks ago and planted them in the garden this week. They are doing great!

My friend Mendi asked me at Matt’s Graduation party just how many tomato plants I actually planted this year. Would you believe I didn’t even know?!

But since this post is a confessional of sorts – I sent Angel Girl out to count.

58.

Yes – I need to confess to going slightly overboard and planting fifty-eight tomato plants. I may be handing out bags of ripe tomatoes to random strangers come mid-August! :)

There – now that all of my garden blunders are out in the open – I have nothing more to hide.

They say that confession is good for the soul – I hope it’s good for a laugh or two as well! :)

I’ve linked this post up with the Tuesday Garden Party over at An Oregon Cottage.

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , , | Comments (8)

Starving Time

April 18, 2011

Plants It’s starving time.

No, I’m not literally starving. My scale tells me that I’m eating more than enough – but thanks for asking! :)

This is the time of year that the pioneers referred to as “Starving Time”.

They made it through the long winter but their provisions are low. Their gardens are begun, but it will be weeks before they harvest anything to eat.

Although there is an abundance of food in my home – I am still “starving” for garden fresh everything! Just the thought of a bowl of garden fresh salsa or a fresh raw peas straight from the vine makes me salivate!

Waiting patiently has never been one of my virtues. I look at my little plants growing in the basement and will those jalapenos to grow faster!

They are looking good though – actually all of the plants are. The  California Wonder sweet peppers took their sweet time in coming up – but are coming on strong now.

Some of my heirloom tomatoes look a little brown – but are still growing and have green leaves. Should I worry?

We are making progress outside – we even have the garden tilled thanks to Jan’s friend Donnie and his tractor mounted tiller (which my husband just added to his wish list!).

AND – are you ready for this? – I even have some peas, lettuce, and early radishes planted!

I was rather proud of myself until I noticed yesterday that all of my Amish neighbors already have things growing in their gardens.

Oh well! I’m just waiting now for a few dry days to get some more things planted.

Meanwhile I’ll enjoy the beautiful daffodils and hyacinths and rejoice that the fruit trees are starting to bloom.

And I’m be thankful for both the rhubarb pie and crisp we’ve enjoyed and the tiny amount of fresh asparagus we harvested.

…even if I’m still starving for a fresh radish! :)

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening, Spring | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

A Time to Plant…

March 9, 2011

plantsI planted seeds yesterday. Lots and lots of seeds.

468 to be exact.

(My mathematical son counted them.)

I may have gone overboard just a little bit. If everything germinates we may need to triple the size of the garden. :)

I’m like a kid in a candy store when I stand in the seed aisle at Menard’s: honey dew melon, 3 kinds of watermelons, 3 kinds of muskmelons, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, summer squash, butternut squash, pumpkin, the list goes on and on…

Then there was my Baker Creek Heirloom Seed order for the most wonderful jalapeno peppers ever (Tam Jalapeno) and three different kinds of tomatoes ( Sioux, Amish Paste, and Rutgers).

That’s what a long winter does to a gardener – they snap in the seed aisle come spring.

Although – I’m not sure I should actually call myself a gardener.

My Amish neighbors would just roll their eyes in disbelief if they saw our operation. They actually know the date of the last expected frost and carefully time their plantings to line up with it.

But not me.

Oh no – I planted everything at once. Everything. Tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, and squash. The whole kit-and-caboodle went into pots yesterday.

I think I’m about 2 weeks late with the peppers and tomatoes and at least 2 weeks early with the melons.

Please don’t tell.

I’m sure there’s no garden police to fine me for such haphazard practices – but one cannot be too sure!

And while I’m confessing – can I add that most of these plants will get set out at the same time as well. (Oh dear – I think I heard some of you gasp in shock!)

Now you know the reason why my garden is behind the house and can’t be seen from the road! :)

I wouldn’t want a passing Amish buggy to gawk at my gardening attempts or look in horror as I get my broccoli in the ground just about the time they are harvesting.

I’m sure there’s a science to planting a garden – but then – I never was any good at science.  Then there’s the math involved in figuring plants per rows and frost dates – and you all know I hate to borrow and carry.

No – I like words.  I may not have the most perfect garden in our neighborhood – but I can tell you how I feel about it.

I love the smell and feel of warm dirt in my hands.

I love the sun on the back of my neck and the breeze blowing through the hair.

I love the taste of a fresh ear of corn, the juice of that first ripe tomato, the satisfaction of serving the produce we grew ourselves to my family.

I love the sound of the canning jar as it “pings” its seal before I line them on the shelves ready for the winter.

I love seeing my kids learn the value of hard labor – that it feels really good to sweat.

And that my friend, works just fine for me!

I’ve linked this post up with the Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage.

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening | Tagged , | Comments (8)

Parsnips Primer

January 7, 2011

The garden catalogs are coming in the mail and I’m sighing wishfully over the pictures of all the fresh vegetables!  As I’m working on my seed order for the year,  I’m overwhelmed with the possibilities. Maybe I should be like my Mom and Dad who choose one new thing to try every year. Their latest choice was parsnips. Here’s Mom’s take on this root vegetable.

ParsnipsThis year we chose parsnips as our “new” veggie in the garden.  They were easy to plant and had such pretty leaves.

This fall Papa dug up one for us to try. But now what should we do with it?

It was time for some research!

Rachel Ray’s cooking magazine had a page with information on it and we uncovered a   recipe for Roasted-Parsnip Bread Pudding in a Martha Stewart magazine.  We couldn’t go wrong with this expert advice!  It had to be delicious!

We learned that parsnips can be stored in the crisper, wrapped individually in paper towels in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks.  A friend said that they would leave them in the soil in the garden all winter and eat them in the spring – we are experimenting with this!

You can also purchase them in a supermarket — avoid roots with brown spots or lots of hair-like sprouts.  Select medium uniformly shaped roots for easier prep.

We discovered that parsnips have a mild flavor so they can be “paired” up with potatoes & mashed; grated raw into coleslaw or salads; used shredded for half of the carrot in a cake or muffin; added to stews and soups; or sliced and roasted in oven.

Roasted Parsnip Bread Pudding
(use as a side-dish)
Can be made ahead, refrigerated for 24 hours, let stand at room temp for 15 min before baking
Serves 6 – 8

1 lb. parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 -inch pieces
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt & Pepper
2 Tbs. butter, plus 3Tbs. melted
3 Cups chopped onions
2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme (or equivalent of dried)
2 Cups heavy cream ( I used canned evaporated milk)
5 Eggs
1 Cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 Loaf (12 ounces) bread cut into 1 inch cubes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle parsnips with oil, season with salt and pepper. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, shaking occasionally, until caramelized and tender, (25 min). Let cool. Reduce heat to 375 degrees.

Heat 2 Tbs. butter over med heat in a medium saute pan until melted. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 min. Remove form heat. Add thyme and stir in the roasted parsnips.

Whisk together melted butter, heavy cream, eggs and 3/4 cup Parmesan in a large bowl. Season with salt & pepper. Add onion-parsnip mixture, then fold in bread. (This can be refrigerated overnight.)

Pour the  mixture into a shallow, buttered 2-quart baking dish. Cover loosely with foil. Bake until golden brown and puffed, 50 minutes. Remove foil. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and bake for 10 minutes more.

Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Nana Shirley

I’ve linked this post up with An Oregon Cottage’s Tuesday Garden Party.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Gardening, Main Dishes | Tagged , , | Comments (4)