The winter break is over. The new semester starts tomorrow. Once the semester starts I have very little time for gardening on weekdays. So I spent much of this week clearing out the garden. I weeded vegetable beds, transferred two tomato plants into big pots and pruned lemongrass. I didn't have time to sow seeds though. A friend made another raised bed for me. I will prepare it next weekend.
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| The new raised bed. I bought the wood from the cull lumber rack at Home Depot. |
Mustard greens are doing very well. I picked fresh greens several times for sautéing.
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| Mustard greens. |
I have green onions grown from the root ends of store bought ones. I picked a bunch to add to mushrooms.
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| Green onions. |
Radishes are ready to be picked, and I noticed several green beans as well though the vines didn't look very healthy. I should fertilize them soon.
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| Radish. |
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| Green beans. |
Yesterday I made a French apple tart. The recipe is from Cook's Illustrated and you can find it here. I made several changes. I used gluten free flour to make the crust. I only had salted butter and Red Delicious apples. I prefer tart flavor, so next time I will make it with Golden Delicious apples. Still, it was delicious. And I think it looks so pretty as well. 😊
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| French apple tart. |
Have you watched Indiana Jones movies? The four movies are now on Netflix. I've heard of these movies, but hadn't seen them. So this past week I watched the first two. I was tickled to learn that a part of the second movie "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was filmed in Sri Lanka. According to the movie, Indiana Jones' plane crashed and he landed in India. When I saw the actor who played the village leader, I thought "hey, that's a Sri Lankan actor!". It turned out that there was a whole bunch of Sri Lankan actors, speaking Sinhalese. If you have seen the movie, from the point where Jones ends up in the river after the plane crash to the point where he goes to the Pankot Palace, the movie was filmed in a Sri Lankan village. According to Wikipedia, Spielberg was not allowed to film in India because the Indian government found the script offensive and wanted to make changes.
Now it's time to pack lunch and water bottles for tomorrow.
Have a great week everyone.
Results of this week's to-do list:
1) Sow seeds.
2) Prepare a raised bed.
3)Cut more quilt blocks.
4) Declutter the spare bedroom.
Now it's time to pack lunch and water bottles for tomorrow.
Have a great week everyone.
Results of this week's to-do list:
1) Sow seeds.
2) Prepare a raised bed.
3)
4) Declutter the spare bedroom.
5) Do yoga.
6)Sleep 7 hrs.
6)
Next week's to-do list:
1) Take the car for regular maintenance.
2) Prepare a raised bed.
3) Fertilize green beans.
4) Organize user manual folders.
5) Cut more quilt blocks.
6) Do yoga.
7) Sleep 7 hrs.
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Nil
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Nil
Nil, that is interesting about the movies. Wow, that tart looks so very pretty. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Chel.
DeleteIt took me a while to make up my mind to cut the tart, because I didn't want to mess up the pretty slices. Heheee :)
You have such nice gardens! Beautiful French apple tart. I've seen parts of the Indiana Jones movies a while back but I really don't watch a movie I just have it on in the background for some reason! Good luck with your new semester. Andrea
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrea.
DeleteI do the same (listening to movies) when I lose interest. :)
Hi Nil, Your vegetables look amazing! I wish I had planted green beans. I love them. Maybe there is still time. The mustard greens look so healthy and delicious, too. How fun for you to see those movies filmed at your home.
ReplyDeleteYes, Stephenie I'm pretty happy about how plants are doing at the moment. I can be lazy and forget watering sometimes. Fortunately we had rain lately. :)
DeleteYour tart looks amazing! I can almost smell it, it is so pretty. How wonderful to live in a climate where you can grow nice vegetables all year round. The Indiana Jones movies are long time family favourites, we watched them with all four children. They love a good adventure film. Have a good week x
ReplyDeleteI still have to watch the 4th one. : I too love good adventure movies, but am not really a fan of all the snakes, rats and roaches on Indiana Jones movies. :)
DeleteYour mustard greens are SO beautiful! And so is that apple tart.:-) Yes, I've seen the Indiana Jones movies, but I didn't know where they were filmed, interesting. Good job getting your 7 hours of sleep, Nil, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Priscilla. My next target is to have 7 1/2 sleep. :)
DeleteNil, your veggies are growing so well. And how amazing is that apple tart? So pretty for a tart!
ReplyDeletexTania
Thanks Tania. :)
DeleteThe apple tart looks amazing. Did it take long to position the slices like that? X
ReplyDeleteNot that long Jules. Perhaps 10 minutes max. It was a 10 inch pan and I used slices of 5 medium size apples. :)
DeleteOh, I love your raised garden, Nil. I wish we could have a garden here, but there are too many poisonous snakes. One day I will have a garden though. Your French Apple tart is beautiful and looks delicious as well. :)
ReplyDeleteSnakes! Argh!! I've heard that gardeners here talk about seeing snakes, but fortunately I haven't seen any yet. I hope I never will. :)
DeleteThat apple tart is a work of art. Your vegetables look so healthy and yummy. It seemed your semester break flew by-best wishes for the new term. I admire all teachers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anita.
DeleteJust two days in to the semester and I can really feel that I've talked too much. These four months will also fly by quickly. I have a nice bunch of students. :)
It sounds like your tart was as delicious as it is beautiful. It sounds like you had a nice productive break from work
ReplyDeleteDebra
The tart was delicious, Debra. I've found that recipes from Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen) are really good.
DeleteYour winter weather is soooooo mild!!!!! We could not grow anything, this time of year.
ReplyDeleteSimply gorgeous!!!!!!! French Apple Tart. Must have been a lot of work, but what a delightful outcome.
Ahhhh, G/F flour. You too, have to eat G/F?
I have bought G/F frozen pie crusts, but never tried to make one, myself.
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I am fine with gluten, Wisps of Words. But several of my friends have gluten intolerance. Because I often share food with them, I try to make GF food when I can. :)
DeleteYou'll be heading back to work feeling pleased and satisfied with all you accomplished during your break. Did you eat that whole pie yourself, it looks so good...yum! Enjoy the new semester.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nanette.
DeleteNo, I still have about half of the tart. I ate a small piece and shared several slices with friends. :)
Wow, a very productive garden and kitchen!
ReplyDeleteThanks Earthmotherwithin. :)
DeleteSuch a lovely apple tart! Too pretty to eat! Your garden is nice and productive, too! It's hard to go back to work after being off for a couple of weeks, isn't it? My daughter, too, has to return to work. I hope the new semester is off to a good start and you have a good week. By the way, another movie that was filmed in Sri Lanka is Bridge on the River Kwai.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bless. My throat is sore already, and I worked only 2 days so far. :)
DeleteI've seen Bridge on the River Kwai. And I've been to Kitulgala where it was filmed, and you can still see remnants (concrete pieces of the foundation) of the bridge there.
Oh, Nil ... that apple tart is just divine. It looks almost too gorgeous to eat! I adore apple desserts so would love to make one soon. I've never made a French Apple Tart before. Meg:)
ReplyDeleteI know Meg :) I t was hard to cut the first slice, because I didn't want to mess it up. :) I prefer these tarts because they only have a bottom crust.
DeleteI saw the photo of the apple tart, Nil, and had to let you know that my husband has also made this tart and it's always so delicious and is made when we invite people over. That way we won't eat all of it ourselves. Your veggies look so good too!
ReplyDeleteOh yes Beatrice. This apple tart is something I really enjoy. I always find recipes from Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen to be so good.
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