A New Season

Its been nearly a year since my last posting on here and I think its about time to tend to the blog. I had pretty much decided to stop writing it because I was getting so busy with other things but the school year is nearly over (my last one at PCC) and the summer stretches out in front of me with it's promise of inspiration. Of course, here in cool, drizzly Portland no one would know June has arrived.
I'm thrilled to have just found a group of like-minded souls here in PDX, a group of "urban homesteaders". I've been teaching myself as many new/old skills as I can but sometimes its so hard to get started without someone else to bounce ideas off of. I'm really looking forward to more get-togethers and learning lots of new skills with a great group of people.

New Garden Pictures

This is an italian sweet red pepper... Here is my newest garden box. Del built it for my fall crop. Behind it you can see my giant rosemary, chard, green beans, zucchini, and cucumbers.
Sugar pumpkin vine...
Zucchini and cukes...

Sunflower Pictures

Looking up into a giant sunflower... Lovely red sunflowers...

Even More Garden Pictures

Here are some cherry tomatoes ripening on their vine... Below is a shot of a gorgeous plot in the garden (not mine!). Those are beans in the foreground and the low dark leaves in the background are probably kale.
Here is my pride and joy, my first head of broccoli. These little plants struggled so badly at first that I didn't expect any to survive at all.
And here is another shot of one of my neighbor's plots (same one as before). His corn is so great!
Here are 4 heads of lettuce grown by yours truly. The red lettuce tasted the best.

Homemade Tahini

I never even thought about making homemade tahini until I needed it for a recipe and the brand I usually buy was in the middle of a recall (salmonella! Fun!). So I found this recipe on http://www.about.com/ and it took 15 minutes and tastes EXACTLY the same and for a lot less money. The store bought brand is between $3.50 and $5 a jar...mine cost about $1.50 to make. For anyone out there who doesn't know what the hell tahini is, it is a sesame seed paste (comparable to peanut butter) used in lots of middle eastern dishes. I use it in hummus, falafel, and the yummy tofu burgers that I'm going to be making tomorrow. Here is the recipe, for anyone who is interested...(I promised I'd start including recipes, didn't I?)


INGREDIENTS:
5 cups sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350. Toast sesame seeds for 5-10 minutes, shaking the seeds frequently with a spatula. Do not allow to brown. Cool for 20 minutes. Pour sesame seeds into food processor and add oil.
Blend for 2 minutes. Check for consistency. The goal is a thick, yet pourable texture. Add more oil and blend until desired consistency. Yield: 4 cups

Storing Tahini: Tahini should be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container. It will keep for up to 3 months.