Summer Aspirations

By  | June 12, 2014 | Filed under: Cookin' in Brooklyn, Random Thoughts

She’s back, folks!

After a looong hiatus in­volv­ing a new job, and an epic move to a new apart­ment, here I am again. I still have un­pack­ing to do, even though I moved al­most seven months ago, which is ab­surd and typ­ical. I blame my com­pul­sive need to spend co­untless hours on home-improvement pro­jects. I have ex­ceeded my own ex­pec­ta­tions with my am­biti­ous (and ridicul­ous since I am a tenant and not an owner) end­eavors – backsplash, floor­ing, under-the-cabinet-double-trashcan – but I am ex­haus­ted. Too ex­haus­ted to fin­ish un­pack­ing, ap­parent­ly!

One of my favorite fea­tures of my new apart­ment, is what I like to refer to as The Veran­da. So far I have gril­led some steak and vegg­ies out there, a co­u­ple of burg­ers, and some hot dogs. I have gril­led be­fore, but I am still gett­ing used to the tim­ing and amount of heat to use. The dish below was de­lic­ous, but sadly the steak was too well-done for my taste.

Griled Steak and Veggies

Aside from grill­ing, The Veran­da al­lows me an­oth­er great pleasure – con­tain­er gar­den­ing. I have at­tempted this be­fore, but with less-than-ideal con­di­tions (too much blis­ter­ing sun and ex­treme heat, not en­ough sun, ac­cess only through my room­mates be­droom, etc.). Its loc­a­tion is fair­ly ideal – on the south-side of the build­ing, so it gets a de­cent amount of sun­light (would get more if not for the VERY tall oak tree to the west). I am try­ing to man­age my ex­pec­ta­tions, but so far th­ings are look­ing pre­tty darn good. Here is a list of what I’ve got going:

  • Bran­dywine Heir­loom Tomato
  • Be­efsteak Tomato
  • Green Zebra Heir­loom Tomato
  • Cherokee Pur­ple Heir­loom Tomato
  • Grape Tomato
  • Plum Tomato
  • Asian Eggplant
  • Black Be­auty Zucchini
  • Shis­hito Pepp­er
  • Sugar Snap Peas
  • Rosema­ry
  • Sage
  • Pur­ple Sage
  • Tar­ragon
  • Oregano
  • Thyme
  • Pep­permint
  • Spear­mint
  • Ging­er Mint
  • Grapef­ruit Mint
  • Basil
  • Cilantro
  • Italian (Flat-Leaf) Par­se­ly
  • Chives
  • Gar­lic Chives
  • Dill
  • Cit­ronel­la (pest con­trol)
  • Bee Balm (flower­ing)
  • Penny Royal (pest con­trol)
  • Cat­nip (pest con­trol)
  • Sweet Pea (flower­ing)

I am ob­ses­sed with my gard­en on The Veran­da. I am out there every morn­ing and night, some­times just to stare at the plants (you know what they say about a watched pot), and some­times with a glass of wine to enjoy the view and the goings-on below. I can­not get en­ough of it. I went away for a weekend (of 80 de­gree weath­er and no rain) and stres­sed about wheth­er The Veran­da would pre­sent a swath of with­ered plants when I re­tur­ned. I was very lucky – my plants were per­fect­ly fine. Here are some highlights:

Eggplant First Beefsteak Tomatoes Four Types of Mint Thyme, Purple Sage, Sage, and Oregano

I can­not wait to see how th­ings pro­gress. I dayd­ream of fresh­ly pic­ked, per­fect­ly ripe tomatoes that will be super­ior to even the de­lici­ous farm­ers’ mar­ket selec­tion, not to men­tion a lot less ex­pen­sive. Fin­g­ers cros­sed!

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