Mulberry Pie

My mulberry trees are loaded with mulberries Since I just planted them last year I'm surprised at the large amount. Especially the one near the chicken coop. It's at least twice the size of all the others. MmmmHmmm chicken manure makes great fertilizer....and great mulberries! This recipe is a modified blackberry pie recipe from one of my cookbooks, and wow, it is yummy!!! Recipe is at the bottom. Let me know if you try it.

Mulberry Pie

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts (I make mine homemade in the food processor with 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 sticks of butter, teaspoon of salt, 5 tablespoons of water, blend butter, salt and flour, add enough water to make ball stick, put in fridge until firm enough to roll)

5 cups of mulberries

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg (ground)

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of lemon juice

1/4 cup of flour

3/4 cup of sugar

butter

Combine all ingredients. Gently stir until well mixed and coated. Put filling in pie crust. Roll out 2nd pie crust and cover top of pie. Pinch down edges. Use knife to cut 7 to 8 evenly spaced slits in top of pie. Put sliver of butter in each slit. I like to use any spare crust dough to make a little decoration in the middle. If you brush the crust with egg white it will come out shiny. You can also sprinkle the top with coarse sugar to decorate after brushing with egg white.

Bake at 375 degrees for 1 to 1 hour and 15 minutes until top is golden and inside is bubbly. Let cool for 30 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Moonglow Iris

They're blooming! I counted 25 iris blooms yesterday. The garden is getting bee-yoo-tee-ful! Pictures coming real soon.

This is a picture of yesterday's harvest. A perfect cabbage, an artichoke, broccoli, Swiss chard, a few strawberries, and carrots (three types). I also picked bulls blood and Detroit red beets (they didn't make the pic).

Private New Orlean's Gardens

Firstly...(if that's a word)...Myself and my family have been through quite a lot recently. My Father had a very serious stroke and the last thing I felt like doing was blogging or attending this tour. I attended the tour mainly because that is what my Father would have told me to do if he could have. I dearly love my father and find it hard to write or vocalize what I think and feel right now. Also the pain is so sharp that I find it difficult to share with anyone but those who love him as much or almost as much as I. Maybe soon I will be able to.

I am a member of a local garden club and serve as the state historian for the Louisiana Garden Club Federation. This year they are celebrating their 75th anniversary and the convention was in New Orleans. So, many festivities this past week were planned. One being this tour. I bought my ticket to this "Private New Orleans' Gardens" tour last October without a care in the world and was just thrilled that I got one of the last four tickets....yippeee!

From the beginning when we moved to New Orleans thirty years ago, every time we went down St. Charles street my eight year old nose was pressed against the car glass gazing at the magnificent houses and gardens.....especially the "wedding cake house". If you're from New Orleans you know what the "wedding cake house" is. No, it's not a bakery....It's a glorious Victorian house that resembles one of those huge monstrous dripping with swags, roses, and columns....and generally overdone wedding cakes.....but....it's so much more wonderful on a house...especially to an eight year old.

When I heard that this historical home was on the tour....I just had to go. Finally I would get to see the gardens behind the tall wrought iron fence and gates....

Really the lot is large for a city lot, but quite small for the size of the home. The original 1800's bisecting entrance sidewalk was removed and replace with a more visually pleasing arched sidewalk that echoed the shape of the grand entrance steps with each end of the sidewalk ending at the street and exiting through two wrought iron gates.

That day the azaleas' blooms were just ending, but the Chinese fringe tree more than made up for it. The front entrance was framed with them and they were a floating cloud of white. The very small front yard had an arched garden in the front filled with pink camellias, boxwood and impatiens.

Another exciting aspect of this tour was the fact that each garden's designer was flown in to give the tour and answer questions. Sweet. Okay....I want to know this...I want to know that....blah blah blah blah blah....thankfully they were all very patient and at least one was full of himself....not John Sidney Steele of McDugad Steele Associates, he was very very nice and patient with all our questions.
They made use of urns to bring color into the garden and serve as focal points. The garden has very few color spots and are kept purposely small. The design makes use of boxwood, small trees, magnolias, bamboo, and other plants to direct vistas and form frames around lawn areas.
A close-up view of the small clipped boxwood and flowers.

This walkway runs along the side of the house leading to side entrance and pool area. A row of tall crepe myrtles separates this walk way from a lawn area that is framed with clipped boxwood and edged with a walkway bed of grey limestone.

One of the two cute statues by the small play pool that doubles as a water feature viewed from the breakfast room.

I adore this large palm. The building in the back was once a carriage house and then a garage and now, since the driveway area has been transformed into a garden, it serves as a cabana and guest house.

The front porch had this nice sitting area. I really dig the coffee tables.

I love the way carefully pruned crepe myrtle trunks look. This young one looks great nestled among the azaleas and Japanese holly fern, and it'll look even better as it gets older.

Here is one of the two lawn areas that are frames with boxwood and lime stone. It suits the house very nicely and I imagine it provides a place to congregate when giving outdoor parties.

A parting shot of the side facade and another one of those magnificent palms.

Around The House and Gardens

With spring finally arriving (the pecans have budded) there is so much to do! These 50 bales of pine straw should provide mulch for my whole potager and other gardens. I use pine straw from north of lake Pontchartrain all delivered in one huge load to last the year. The straw falls from the trees each year, is baled, and then the trees live on to make another batch the next year.

I do not use cypress mulch. Cypress trees are cut down and fed whole into shredders to provide people with cypress mulch for their gardens. It surprised me to find out that these trees were removed from the swamp....huh? These trees provide valuable land erosion deterrents. With Louisiana eroding away at an alarming rate and making all of our land and homes more vulnerable to large storms......Why Why Why!!! would anyone use it? Especially locals....anyway...I'm going to mulch my gardens.

All the citrus is blooming and the air is permeated with it's smile inducing scent.
The garden is starting to burst. Look at how beautiful the chives came back. They really should be divided. I gave my girls each a little square in the chive bed to grow what they wished.

Hello! Look what's peeking out of those huge artichoke plants!

This is a Cecile Brunner climbing rose. I looked high and low for one to plant on my pergola and finally found it at a wonderful nursery in Bridge City called Bantings. Luv, luv, luv...them! The boxes in the back ground are going to cover the grass and then the pine straw will be thrown liberally on top.

I thought these cabbages were goners at the beginning of the winter. Byron let the chickens out to free range and they happily chomped my new cabbage seedlings leaving only nubs and roots. I decided to give them a chance....I'm glad I did!

The culinary ginger survived the freeze and is testing the air.

Louisiana phlox! Not very showy, but dependable and wonderful in large plantings.

I'm getting all the pots slowly planted with their new stars for this year. I think I'm going to use a lot of coleus!

Soooo, much to do...in a few weeks this will be transformed! We still have a lot to do on the pergola. One more layer on the top, the trim at top and bottom of the columns, a screen with round aperture in the back, two swings, a bench, and a coffee table/fire pit. Hmmmm...bee-you-tee-ful! Patience....patience.

Sprouting in the garden now:

Green beans

asparagus long beans

black beauty zucchini

yellow squash

patti pan squash

purple hull peas

cracker jack marigolds

zinnias

gladiolus

Harvesting now:

carrots

spinach

beets

lettuce

strawberries

chives

Swiss chard

curly mustard

herbs, parsley, mint, onions, bay, rosemary, oregano, thyme

About to harvest:

cabbage

Brussels sprouts

artichokes

Growing now:

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Onions

Peppers

Living With Less is More

Finally there was a moment to give it a whirl at these sticky buns I wanted to make. I bought the book, "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois and have anticipated trying some of the recipes since I bought it. I frequently make their "rustic boule" from a recipe I found in Mother Earth Magazine.

March is my busy month as an event florist and yesterday was the first chance I've had to sit down and do what I want in two weeks. Enjoying this quite moment reminds me why I choose to spend most of my time at home instead of spinning the hamster wheel.

When I weigh the value of the money I make against the time I have at home.....It's easy to decide to live with less stuff and perfection. Living with less is more.
Here is a pic of the Bridal Bouquet from last weeks wedding.
Black Magic, Cherry Brandy, Orange Curiosity roses and Mango Callas make up this bouquet.

Also there's a collar of lily grass loops to give it a finished look and gold ribbon accents to pick up the accents on the bride's dress.

This Weekend's Wedding

I'm an event florist and here are a few pics from the wedding I did this weekend. Thought you might enjoy all the spring flowers....Come on spring!!!!

Dining room table center piece at the Elms Plantation on St. Charles Street.
Outdoor table centerpiece. Guests second lining to the band in the courtyard.

Bridesmaid's bouquets

Bridal bouquet

The mothers carried a single adorned calla lily.

The bridal bouquet and bridesmaids' bouquets lined up on the mantle at the Elms plantation.

Louisiana Strawberries

Louisiana strawberries are coming in and you can buy them on the side of the road right out of the back of the farmer's truck! I love handing the cash straight to the farmer. One more way to help out the little guy. I'm working on a large wedding this weekend, but.....I still found time to make some of the yummiest.....
.....

.....

STRAWBERRY JAM!!!!!!

Choosing Seeds

My sister Monique called this morning..."Kristi, you know that seed company Baker's Creek?...Well..."

Their overwhelming selection had her wondering... How do you choose!!! Choice is wonderful, but can be befuddling....hundreds of tomatoes in every color, short day or long day onions, cooking or carving pumpkins, winter or summer squash.....huh????

So I gave her a few tips I use to help me decide. All I really want to do is call and say, "SEND ME ONE OF EACH!!!" Time and space bring me back down to reality and....I have to choose. Here it is. How I make my choices.

Most Important: Gather Information about your gardening climate!!! Know your gardening zone and what that means. Buy a Month by Month Gardening book for your area. Read garden blogs from your area. Talk to the gardener next door or at the local farmers market.

If you do not know WHEN AND WHAT to plant in your climate you will fail and be sorely disappointed and discouraged. Do not waste your precious time trying to grow something that is not suited to your zone. The more informed you are the better choices you will make.

• First make a list of what your family will eat and what you would like to try. Do not waste time growing what they will not eat. On that note...I cannot stress enough...some things your family will not eat that you buy from the store, they will love, love, love when you grow it. So you may want to try some things they won't eat at least once. For instance, my girls love to chow down on red, purple, yellow, orange and white carrots I grow as soon as I bring them in from the garden. Kohlrabi on the other hand...no one likes so I will not be growing it again any time soon. Store bought tomatoes taste like Styrofoam. I don't blame kids for hating them, but they just might love a juicy purple tomato.

• Once you've made a list of must haves, read the descriptions under each variety and pay attention to clues. Descriptions will clue you into which climates it might shine in or if it is a space saving variety or not. It might say "wonderful choice for hot and humid climate" that would be on my short list immediately. Or maybe "patio" or "small compact bush", if space were an issue for me I might look closer at that variety. As you read, circle with a bright marker any varieties that catch your eye.

• After you've gone through your catalogs and circled all the realistic possibilities ignore the rest. Then consider the space and time you have to garden. If you order more seed than you can grow your money and seed will simply go to waste. Look at each variety carefully and cross out any that aren't your top choice. Then choose from those you have left according to your space, time, needs and yes, desires.

• Don't forget to include a couple of "just for fun" varieties. You may want to plant some birdhouse gourds on the back fence. Maybe some Moon Flower vines on the deck, or some loofah gourds on the chicken coop. Giant sunflowers are loads of fun and work well next to a fence. I plant loofahs to provide shade and food for my chickens. The sponges are lagniappe (lan-yap). That's New Orleans for "a little something extra".

• Mark any that were eliminated due to time and space restraints, 'To Try Next Year Maybe!"

• Remember to keep a journal on what worked and what didn't to help with your choices next year. A large wall calender might work for you, or you may want to begin your own garden blog. I often click on last year's month on my blog to see what was going on.

Happy Planting to You!!!

Around The House And Gardens

Beautiful weather! Just perfect for putting everything in order again. The seedlings hardening off on the front porch.
Byron dishing out orders to the girls for our family work day.

A huge beautiful moth the girls spotted.

The not so beautiful front garden trimmed and ready to grow beautiful. The tropicals aren't completely dead. Once the dead foliage was trimmed back, I spotted pinkish yellow tips pushing up through the soil.

Beets and Lettuce

Swiss Chard...the plants have grown leaps with the recent warmer temps and sun.

Parsley

Look at my artichokes! Yippee! They should produce this year.

Carrots and Brussels Sprouts

Garlic and Chives

Strawberry blossoms....with all the birds ...I better get a net ready...

The compost corral overflowing with trimmings...

The pears are blooming....

and the mulberries are budding....Spring must be arriving.