Foraging Fun

The container gardens are coming along. I've kept the mesclun mix up on the porch, out of direct sunlight, which it seems to appreciate. It looks healthiest in the early morning coolness. But the two window boxes of mesclun that were planted back in March haven't done much of anything except die or get about 2 inches tall. Today I plucked them all - but not before an enterprising caterpillar had a sizable snack - and added them to my lunch. I have the best meals when I try to use up food. Lunch was the end of day-old bakery sourdough with sesame seeds, lightly toasted, with hummus, the micro mesclun, and the little bit of feta left in the fridge. With dried apricots on the side. The mesclun was chockablock full of peppery flavor and stood up to the hummus and feta. Yummy.

Since I'm not having any luck with the mesclun, now that I freed up 2 boxes I plan to plant them later today with arugula. Oh how I love arugula. I just hope the bunnies don't make a buffet of it. The garden cage is out in full sun all day long. Probably too hot for arugula. It looks like it's too hot for the peas. They are not happy. So the arugula will live on the porch. The porch upon which this morning I watched a baby bunny hop into the landscaping and disappear underneath. Underneath the porch, that is. I was convinced that the occasional scrabbling I hear in the walls was a squirrel, but now I'm thinking it might be rabbits. Which would be more likely to chew wires? We had phone trouble which we traced back to the wires connected to one of (the most conveniently located) jacks in the house. Hmm. Chewed wires I can live with (one of the pleasures of renting) but I will not be as forgiving with my arugula.

Yesterday was a big transplant day. It was hot as blazes and my arms are a now a lovely, tender shade of cooked lobster. But what fun to get dirty and tired out in the sun. Jon and I somewhat haphazardly created potting mix with purchased soil, sand, vermiculite, and compost from our pile. Before we ran out of dirt, everything got transplanted except the broccoli and a couple zucchini. Very exciting. I'm even excited that the basil and parsley moved from tofu containers to peanut butter buckets. And the landlords have left the window boxes for us to plant. We've got 3, each facing a different ordinal direction. I think the most shaded one will become mesclun (I'm not ready to give up), the sunniest will be Thai peppers, and the mixed light one will be oregano. I'm making myself hungry.

Which leads us nicely into dinner tonight. Foraging! Among the landlords' rhubarb patch and raspberry patch are wild carrots. And Jon discovered wild mint among the landscaping. I'm not sure what we are going to have exactly, but it will involve the last 2 installments of donated asparagus from the landlords, corn that is languishing in the fridge, and as many wild carrots as I can manage to free from the ground. With the possible additions of wild mint and wild onions.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Wild Carrot, or Queen Anne's Lace (it's the same thing), resembles Poison Hemlock which is deadly. I seem to remember Shakespeare killing off characters with hemlock. Regardless, if you forage, be careful and don't eat anything unless you are positive it is safe. The stems of poison hemlock are hollow with purple blotches while the stems of wild carrots are hairy. Also, the leaves on the carrots appear more feathery than the hemlock which, to me, resemble flat leaf parsley. Here's a couple of pages for reference, click on the photos for enlargements: wild carrots and poison hemlock. There's a picture here with a good comparison of the leaves. And here's more on wild carrots and poison hemlock.