Springtime on the Southside of North Oakland

Lessons from the Winter Garden

Daikon Fries

In many places, a winter garden is planted from mid-July to early September, so that the harvest is ready before the cold weather arrives. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about that. I've gotten away with planting seedlings into October and November with no penalty, simply because summer doesn't usually arrive until September anyway. 

Case in point - daikon radishes. Now I'm not the biggest fan of radishes. In fact, I'm not a fan of radishes at all, but our new Saturday covid ritual of picking up banh mi sandwiches, loaded with pickled daikon and carrots has made me change my mind (the errand has gotten a bit harder, now that traffic is almost back to its horrendous "normal").

Daikon is easy to grow, the tops and the bottoms are all edible, in this area they can be planted anywhere from August to November, and they last a long time in the ground if you are too lazy to pull them. So a new lesson - grow daikon radishes.

Don't grow cabbage, unless you have plans for kimchi or sauerkraut or something large and important. I grew three, and the one that weighed 6 1/2 lbs. took up a lot of space in the refrigerator. We never did quite finish it all. Pretty little lettuces are probably a much smarter choice.

You can grow some of your spring crops in your winter garden. I planted snow and snap peas in mid-October. We started eating them in late February (usually it's early March, but climate change is real, folks) and we haven't stopped yet. Luckily, our friends and neighbors have been quite generous about helping eat the excess.

They're BACK!

The gourd was hung in backyard in January, 2016 as a nesting site (it looked a lot fresher back then.). And that spring, and every spring since, it has hosted at least one round of Bewick's wren nestlings. Often two. 

Over the past few weeks, we have observed (from a polite distance, of course) a lot of "birdie-action" at the nest site: Chestnut-backed chickadees, Oak titmice and the wrens, all checking out the property. But until very recently, it wasn't clear who would be claiming the gourd this year. 

Bewick's wren, April 1st, 2021

So how did we know for certain that it was to be the wren's home again? Two days ago, one of the wrens was observed chasing away a Fox squirrel from around the gourd! We wish these fierce little ones all the best this nesting season.

Got Out of Dodge!

 Hooray! 

We have now received all of our vaccines (for now, at least), and after waiting the requisite extra weeks, we got away for a few days. For me, the first time out of the Bay Area since October, 2019. 

Morro Bay. Quiet. Low-key. And pretty empty during the week. 

I can't say it changed my life, but it was very nice. I truly hope that we all will soon be able to move about safely in our lives.

Springtime

The single blooming daffodil and the new baby hummingbirds tell me that our brief winter is pretty much over for another year. 

Even the cliff maids (Lewisia longipetala) are starting to bloom.

One Plus Two Equals One

As part of the adventure series, What's in the Closets, I came across some wool sweaters I had knit years ago. 

With less need to wear wool because of climate change, the sweaters had slowly worked their way to the top shelf of the closet - you know, that shelf. The one that can only be reached by standing on a chair. The yarn was still in fine shape, so I carefully handwashed the sweaters and gently took them apart.

The result? Plenty enough yarn for an afghan for our tiny TV room. And I might even have it completed before the weather warms up and it's too hot to keep working on. 

Afghan, maybe 1/3 completed

Inauguration

On Wednesday evening, we're planning on sitting on the front porch and raising a glass to the new President and Vice-President. We hope you will consider doing the same.

Greetings from Hawaii

Just kidding! 

We're stuck at home, as is most everyone right now. So instead of whining about Hawaii, I've been working on a Hawaiian style New Year's Eve dinner. 

The idea, and essential, inspirational ingredient came from Sunnie, one of my ceramic class buddies. She was the one who introduced me to custard mochi, a delicious dessert found in Hawaii. The first time I had it, I wanted to embarrass myself by eating the entire thing (or rather, I wanted to eat the entire thing and not get embarrassed), but somehow managed to only have seconds. And maybe one tiny little slice more.

Trouble is, you can't make custard mochi without sweet rice flour. Now try finding that during a pandemic. Sunnie did, and gave me a box. Thank you, Sunnie!

What else is on the menu? 

Rum punch

Spare ribs with huli-huli sauce

Ginger carrots

Green beans braised in coconut milk (I absolutely love coconut milk. I would probably eat braised dirt if it were simmered in coconut milk.)

Rice, naturally, followed by

Custard mochi for dessert.

And finished off with a very slow waddle around the neighborhood. 

Happy New Year to All!

Covid Families

Toasting Marshmallows, Nov. 2020

With the first lockdown in March, we started "Drinks in the Driveway" with a small group of neighbors. No masks back then, although that changed soon enough, but socially-distanced seating was mandated (easy to measure since the driveway is only seven feet wide).

Strictly bring your own, including your own chair, although one set of neighbors started to store their chairs further up our driveway, rather than lug them across the street each time. Just a group of soon-to-become friends gathering in the early evening.

Over the summer, we became the "Porchaholics". We sat on our porch steps and our neighbors would arrange their chairs and drinks in our tiny front yard. People walking past on the sidewalk would pause, chat, wave, or sometimes just shake their heads and move on.

With the cooler weather, we switched back to the driveway for the occasional campfire. For the first one, I stole my neighbor's little Smokey Joe® grill (it had been sitting in her driveway untouched for nearly ten years. Honest, I did tell her that I was going to walk off with it, and she didn't even notice until I was ratted out.), arranged a few sheets of newspaper, an egg carton, a bit of kindling and small branches in the base. Also, since Safety Sam is a member of our household, a large bucket of water was placed nearby, just in case. One match, and the party was on. 

As of this week, these little gatherings are no longer allowed until early January, at the earliest. But I am hopeful that once this current lockdown is over, if it isn't raining (please, please, please rain already!), we'll be able to meet up once again with our new family. 

Thanksgiving for Two

 Unusual. Uncertain. Unsettled. Unpredictable. All these adjectives that have been applied to the pandemic over the past months now apply to this Thanksgiving as well. 

But I am avoiding: Chaotic. Turbulent. Challenging. Troubled. Complicated. And a few other words like that because one meal, no matter how special, just ain't worth that level of bother. In fact, here we're going with "unusual" to such an extent that pork ribs and roasted (homegrown) potatoes are the featured items on the menu. Yumm!

So let's all aim for that other pandemic word - Safe - and have a wonderful time with whomever, be they virtually or really there, is across the table from you.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!