WATERMELON RADISHES

Harvested the last of the radish crop this morning.

The Watermelon Radish is one of my favorite radishes to grow.  It produces large radishes if left in the garden until fall.  I plant them in the early spring and begin harvesting in the summer as soon as they reach 1 inch in diameter. They do not become woody or pithy like other radishes.  They are a bit milder than traditional radishes, and the flamboyant color makes them great appetizers,  Slice thinly and top with a dab of cream cheese sprinkled with course sea salt and minced chives.

This radish measured 14 and 1/2 inches in diameter,

about the size of a softball.

A vintage milk glass tea cup placed on the radish helps give you

 an idea of how large these radishes can grow.

Think I'll run back out to the garden, pick some arugula, slather butter on  thin slices of home-made wheat bread, and have a radish sandwich for lunch.

YUMM!

On our Way to the ART FESTIVAL

We loaded up all my art supplies and enough provisions for a couple of weeks. Got up early (as usual) and left at 4:00 a.m. the following morning.

Arrived at the camp grounds late in the afternoon.

Made a lot of stops taking pictures of the beautiful scenery (prior post).

Thankfully there was a camping spot available and my husband

skillfully back "Rosie"into the tiny spot.

Camped by the beautiful Wide Hollow Reservoir

just west of Escalante in the Petrified Forest State Park.
Hundreds of Canadian Geese, spending a few days resting on the pond, serenaded us every night.

Early every morning as I headed out to paint, I had to wait for the wild Turkeys

 to decide which side of the road they wanted to eat from. 

 It reminded me of one of my favorite childhood story books,

"Make way for Ducklings"

A quaint little rock shop along side the road

One day as I was out painting, I discovered a Bear near the campsite

and if one bear isn't enough, I found this one just a short distance from the first,

ironically they are in the same group of rocks!

(look closely, can you find them?)

Painting from morning til dark in the beautiful outdoors, surrounded by some of the most breathtaking scenery on earth.  Conversations with like minded, artistic, eccentric, people and making great friends  (Linda, Lois, Penny, Peggy, Marsha, and Blaine) made for a wonderful week.

The forest service provided many informative discussions and presentations.

I observed demonstrations by renowned Plein Air painters; Brad Holt, Doug Braithwaite,

 and Valerie Orelman.

I bought a book by Edward Abbey

"Desert Solitude" 

at the gift store in the Visitors Center (my dog-eared copy is currently sitting boxed away in a storage unit).  I first read this book years ago as a young girl just out of high school.  I related with the wandering spirit, living in the wild outdoors, and desire of solitude. 

 Kept this book close at hand along with my

 John James Audubon writings and bird books, and the works of  Thoreau.

 I learned so much over the week, generally I have been a studio painter and painting in the great outdoors is different.  The play of light on surfaces is so fleeting, the colors changing right before your eyes, the sun intensifying every hue, and the silence, the silence is full of life, color, beauty and wonder. 

 This experience has opened the door, to the great outdoors, and a new adventure in painting.

  I have a lot of practicing to do, and new techniques to learn, apply, and hopefully master. 

I can hardly wait for next years Festival!

Fall Leaves and Wildflowers

To paraphrase the poet Robert Frost,

"I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference....."

The leaves were just beginning to change as I made my way over the mountains of Southern Utah on my way to the Plein Air Escalante Canyon Arts Festival.

I took a few photos through the windshield as we drove through the soft rain.

On the scenic route of Highway 12

we drove through a portion of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

                                                     ROBERT FROST

Escalante Arts Festival

Hi Ya'll,

Our whole married life, we have never done anything special, or gone anywhere exciting for our anniversary (hubby always worked 6:40 a.m. til 11:00 p.m. and Saturdays, but with his job change, he has evenings off ( home by 6;00 p.m.) and doesn't work on Saturday, so we decided to do something this year,  THIRTY years is definitely something to celebrate.

my rendition of a "just married"  sign

Met the kids in Cedar City for breakfast at the park .  My daughter found this and gave it to me!
Thanks Dodie, I have hunted for one all my life!  

 Took off camping in the Southern Utah wilderness and visited several National and State parks.  Stayed in little  Rosie at the Petrified Forest State Park.

  I picked a whole bunch of tomatoes before we left thinking it will probably freeze before I get back. Been eating tomato sandwiches until I don't think I want one for another year.  Had so many tomatoes  we shared them with everyone at the campgrounds.   Hubby of thirty years left Sunday to go back to work and I have stayed for the annual Escalante Arts Festival in celebration of Everett Ruess, a young artist and poet who disappeared in the wilderness of the Grand Escalante Staircase area in 1934.  He is a fascinating person, look him up on the net.  Many books are also written about him.    I will spend a week of Plein Air painting, entering several competitions (which is rather ridiculous, I can't compete with these great painters) and just enjoying the company of other artists.
 Sorry I missed market last week and will not be there again this week.  I'll let you know all about my trip when I get back.  Have a great week!

Now is the time to plant garlic and perinnial onions

Fall is the best time for planting garlic.  If your winters are long and cold get them in the ground in mid September.  This allows the bulbs to put out roots before winter weather sets in.  The hard neck varieties do best in my zone 4 growing season (1a in the western garden book).  If you are wanting to plant Elephant Garlic  it does not do well in cold areas without some sort of covering.  I have used a 4 inch bed of straw placed over an outdoor planting, but usually suffer a fifty percent loss due to winter kill.  The past few years I have only planted the Elephant Garlic in the Greenhouse with a thick layer of mulch and it has done extremely well.

Plant individual cloves about 3-4 inches apart with the root side down, pointed side up.  Garlic likes loose, viable soil so add plenty of organic matter and till into the soil before planting.  Water well and cover with a thick layer of mulch.

If you do not have a greenhouse try planting garlic in a large cold frame

garlic is one of the first plants in my greenhouse to break ground in the early spring

(we feed the tender weeds to the hens so I just let them grow freely until we start planting tomatoes)

Egyptian or Walking Onion bulbs should also be planted in the fall.  Simply break them apart and plant the individual bulbs with a 3 inch spacing.  Do not dig up the mature plant.  It will winter over, multiply underground, and send up new growth in the spring.  Dig the onions for table use before they send up the long flower spike.  The bulbs become pithy as they put their energy into producing the tiny new plants at the end of the spike.  If left unattended the spike will eventually fall over to the ground and the onions will plant themselves.

Dig up the whole plant of bunching onions.  Divide into clumps of 6 to 8 onions.  Cut back the tops and replant.  Potato onions can also be planted this time of year.  Shallots are usually planted in the greenhouse to prevent winter kill, or if I plant them outside, I wait until early spring.  You can purchase garlic at the grocery store and plant.  Shallots and Jerusalem artichokes purchased at your local store usually do well also.   The onions from the store are mature and if planted will grow fresh green tops, but they are only editable for a short time in the spring before the onion produces a seed head and the stems turn pithy.  They make a beautiful statement in the garden however.

Root Crops at market

Yummy beets will be at market again this week

The SWEET GOLDEN

CHIGGOIA, CYLINDER, and Detroit Red

(aren't they beautiful)

Turnips and Potatoes

ONION BRAIDS

probably my last week for purple and yellow beans

I will have a big variety of summer veges 

and bushels and bushels of CARROTS!

Please come early, I will be leaving market at 5:00 for an

 ARTIST RECEPTION

at the Gallery in the Western Park Museum

 Vernal, Utah

celebrating the 25th annual Jurried show

I've entered several of my paintings

hope you all come out to see the exhibit!

I just couldn't resist, I entered this little 8x10 self portrait entitled
 "FarmHER JILL"
 in the open oil category
hopefully the judge has a sense of humor!