Growing Things - 2021 Garden

 
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Things I grew this year, in no particular order:

  1. Jimmy Nardello Pepper: I haven’t had luck growing peppers before, but I did with this absolutely terrific variety. The seedlings were a bit fussy, but once they took hold, this plant took off and I’m beyond thrilled with the outcome.

  2. Jack Be Little pumpkin and Sugar Pumpkin: I ended up with a handful of Jack Be Little, but not as many as the first time I grew them. And we won’t talk about the full-size pumpkins. It just wasn’t my year to grow decorative gourds. Win some, lose some.

  3. Tiny Tim Tomato: A hardy, abundant cherry tomato, this was my second year growing these and it won’t be the last.

  4. French Breakfast Radishes: I keep striking out on radishes. Large, leafy greens, lackluster tiny veg. I think this comes down to something I’m doing/not doing correctly — it might be an issue of fertilizing? The few full-size radishes I did manage, though, were good.

  5. Rose Finn Apple Potatoes: Hands down, this was my favorite thing I grew. I used a few containers for growing, but next year, I’ll use trash bins to get a larger crop.

  6. Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas: This was my second year growing this variety and I give them a bazillion stars. Robust, fast-growing, tons and tons of peas: everything to love, nothing to hate. I did do a second planting in August. It might be too late for a second batch, but worst case scenario, the shoots will be nice for salads.

  7. Basil: Another thing I grew from the Hudson Valley Seed Company. I grew a few rows of basil and was able to get enough to make and freeze pesto. I could have frozen more, but I ate a larger quantity than I set up, regrettably.

    I also grew lettuce, which is doing far better now than it did earlier in the season. The onions were a colossal disaster. And I grew White Lace and Utrecht Blue Wheat (which looks wonderful dried). And the final thing I had a go at was Elephant Ear which took forever and a day to sprout, but ended up doing pretty well as the season progressed. I’m moving that indoors here in the next week or so.

Owen's Disappearance

 
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A few weeks back, I stumbled on a newspaper clipping about my great-grandfather’s cousin’s disappearance. Late one spring night, Owen Halpin left the house, distraught. He would later be found drowned in the East River. You can read the rest of the story here. It’s heart-breaking. And mysterious. And I wonder what really happened to a 60’something engineer, drowned on the eve of World War I.

Summer'ish Things

 
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I may have co-opted my nieces’ and nephew’s markers… I’m back at final art for a 2023 picture book, after some time off spent with visiting family. I’ve mostly been glued to my drafting table since, but a few things:

* When the kids were visiting, we watched the new adaptation of The Mysterious Benedict Society. It’s an absolute gem of a show and we were waiting expectantly each week for a new episode. Also, there’s the matter of the delightfully anachronistic costume and set design. Think if Wes Anderson made a kid’s show and you’d be conjuring up about the right look.

* I’m finally getting around to reading All Creatures Great and Small. I’m also about a halfway through A Horse and His Boy, which awkwardly enough has sat unread on my bookshelf since the third grade. Guilt over this fact finally won out, which is a good thing, as it’s an awfully charming read.

* Most of what I’m listening to right now, on repeat. Be forewarned, it’s the auditory equivalent of dumping a couple of shots of espresso and a pack of pixy stixs into a blender.