yard work

this weekend was dedicated to yard work. we have a tiny TINY backyard. really, it's a patio over a gravel driveway and a giant, dying tree. i love the tree, but it is only a matter of time : ( it's awesome to have the shade, since our back faces south, but it takes up most of the space that i could use as my edible garden.  there is a small patch of plantable area, but until last friday it was overtaken by ivy, daylilies, and an unknown thorny something.  so i dedicated my day off to turning it into a small veggie patch!  it's an experiment, since my mom explained the black walnut tree emits some sort of poison through the roots to discourage other plants from growing... but i will take any sunny spot i can get.  so i dug up the gravel that had been dumped there - at least a foot thick in some places (!) - and transplanted some daylilies to make room for tomatoes and eggplants.  i ripped out the ivy and thorny bush and also found room for my pea plants and a few hyacinth beans my mom gave me. my back was KILLING me by the end of the day... need to do more core work!!

saturday we had a sweet first birthday party, followed by a 30th birthday party for her dad.  sunday we slept in and decided to put together a front walk.  there were a bunch of broken slate tiles leftover from the mud room in the basement that the previous owner had left along the staircase and we planned on using those.  i uncovered over a dozen whole tiles when i removed the ivy near the tree - what a lucky day!  so we laid them into the strip between the sidewalk and street, since we walk from the street all the time.  but it took a lot of weeding to get it clean first. more back-breaking.  phil is amazing! he is such a good worker. he knows the best way to do things he's never done before. i, on the other hand, am rather inefficient... : ) those who know me well know that it is true!! 

the weather has been absolutely fantastic, so we enjoyed lunch outside at my new favorite - jettie's!  they have great sandwiches and picnic tables to eat outside.  we go to the one in the palisades, since it is closest.  we also ate dinner outside - just too nice not to enjoy.  i roasted veggies: asparagus, potatoes, red peppers, red onion, garlic, crookneck squash... whatever was leftover from last week's farm share or on its last legs in the fridge.  i roasted them for about 40 minutes on 400 degrees with olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice, and chopped herbs from the garden (sage, rosemary, thyme).  

 

yes, that is me being classy with ice cubes in my white wine : ) 

i will post more photos of the veggie garden as it develops - i took before photos, but it looks pretty scrawny right now. i'll wait until it looks healthy and awesome! still working on the patio furniture...