Pear Party

Back in late July, Simon came over for a pear party. He climbed a ladder and picked a massive bucket full of beautiful little pears from the backyard pear tree. We may have been a little early for fully ripe pears, but we beat the squirrels and crows, so if they weren't totally ripe, it was still worth it to be able to do something with them besides pick half eaten ones up off the lawn.

We had purchased a Ball starter canning kit, and pulled a recipe for pear butter from the book that was included. Peeling and coring pound after pound of tiny pears was tedious.

The recipe turned out to be a bit too sweet--the sugar nearly covered the pear flavor. Still, the pear butter is nice on toast in the morning. Simon set aside some of the pear puree before it was sweetened, and turned it into a spectacular pear sorbet.

I also put a few pears to work in a bowl full of vodka. The pear-infused vodka was a big hit a few weeks later mixed with 7-Up and a twist of lime.

I cobbled together some loose instructions from the internet, which basically said to infuse vodka, put something in it and let it sit for a while. So I placed about six pears, sliced in half, into a glass container full of vodka and stored it in a dark place for a couple of weeks. I didn't refrigerate it. I think that worked out okay. When it was time to drink the vodka, I strained it through a coffee filter and funnel back into its original bottle.

And finally, we sent a bucket of pears home with Trevor, who is bottling pear beer this week! Looking forward to tasting the fruits of his labor as well!

Poster as Wrapping Paper

I work at Orchestra Hall, and occasionally the marketing department will do a poster purge to get rid of old advertisements that were in the windows of the box office. I grab a few each time, thinking if nothing else, the back side of that big sheet of heavy paper will come in handy someday. Incidentally, this kind of thinking, while a useful attribute for a DIYer, makes for a very full house. All of my shelves and drawers and corners are stuffed with things that might someday be a useful ingredient for a craft project.

Amanda's birthday is this week, and I found my use for this poster. I happened to order her gift online and have it shipped to work, so she wouldn't see it, and when it came, I set it on the floor in the corner of my cube, right next to said poster. Aha! Look how pretty!

Side note: These pictures are a good reminder about the rules of lighting and photography--the wrapped gift picture was taken in late afternoon, near a window. The unwrapped poster picture was taken further away from a window, in the morning. Hmmm.

Perennial Sale!

My favorite greenhouse, Wagner's, is having a sale. All perennials are 40% off. I spent a long time there on Sunday, browsing the selection. What a great way to spend an hour.


My intention was to look for some shade-loving plants for the front yard. There's a big (maple?) tree in the south half of the front yard that shades pretty much that whole side. There's a nice border of hostas along the sidewalk, and the rest of the space filled with a sprinkling of ferns, lilly of the valley, and lots of weeds. I wanted to find (a) a shade loving vine to climb the arbor on the shady south side, and (b) a shade loving plant that would aggressively fill in the space under the tree that the ferns have failed to fill.

"Silver Moon" Clematis

I found one variety of a flowering vine that likes partial shade: the "Silver Moon" clematis. I can't wait to see if it will flower in the spring. I wonder what "pruning type 2" means. And I wonder if I need to add wires or string or something to help it climb.

"Cherry Blossom" Lenten Rose

For the space under the tree, I am giving this "Cherry Blossom" Lenten Rose a try. It was the most expensive of my picks, but I have high hopes for it. The actual plant looks thick and sturdy. The tag says it's "exceptionally vigorous" and is an excellent groundcover for shady areas. Exactly what I need.

So I'd found what I was looking for. But then I kept finding more plants that wanted to go home with me. My front rock garden is still a weedy mess, because even though I've planted lots of low, thick groundcover, there are still areas of bare dirt. So I splurged on three new plants for the rock garden.

"Black Scallop" Ajuga

I love the "Chocolate Chip" Ajuga that I planted the last couple of summers. It's pretty all summer, and it is spreading nicely. This "Black Scallop" version has a bigger leaf, but otherwise looks very similar. I hope it spreads as well. This one supposedly likes partial shade, so I put it on the side of the front rock garden that gets a lot of shade from the maple. It will get dappled light during the day, and some sun in the late afternoons.

Mexican Evening Primrose

Now that I've decided to focus my energies on vegetable gardening, I didn't plant a single annual this year, and I missed the color. When I saw this Mexican Evening Primrose, I was wooed by its pretty flowers combined with its groundcover properties. The tag promises "profuse day-blooming flowers over a long season." This should be a treat!

"Heart Attack" Sweet William

Presumably named for its blood red blooms, I fell in love with the healthy-looking thick foliage and the potential for bright color in the spring. The tag says "Heart Attack" Sweet William is perfect for amassing in beds and borders.

From Humble Beginnings...

The summer has flown by, and from humble beginnings has spring a very lively garden. We've had loads of cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, basil and dill. We're on the verge of a robust butternut squash harvest, and if the vigor of the as-yet fruitless vines of the pumpkin plants are any indication, we should have a great pumpkin harvest, too. We've got a couple of tiny acorn squashes and watermelons. And still have hopes that we'll get carrots, beets, and onions.

A few highlights in pictures: