Zoey & I Are Going To Be Running Buddies!

This isn't specifically about the house or garden, but it does involve the dog, & the community we live in, so I hope you'll indulge this plug for a fundraiser I'm doing for an important health care resource in San Francisco.

If you follow health care stuff at all, you are probably aware that access to quality (or even competent)   care is not just an issue of money. Doctors make assumptions about who you are that are based on what you look like, that then affect how they hear your complaints, & what treatment they recommend (if any). Women, for example, have battled sexism in the doctor's office for decades, knowing that their symptoms aren't just "in their heads." LGBT people & people of color also face barriers caused by the bad ideas in some doctors' heads. For example, there is a very famous transgender author who writes about being thrown out of an emergency room (and into a snowstorm, I might add), despite a 104-degree fever caused by endocarditis, once the doctor realized he was transgendered.

Lyon-Martin Health Services is a clinic that was started in 1979 to address the barriers to health care that lesbians were facing in San Francisco. Since then, they have expanded their scope to accept patients from many walks of life, and even in San Francisco in 2013, Lyon-Martin is still one of the only places where some people can get quality, culturally appropriate health care at an affordable cost.

Being a community clinic, they rely on community support for a large part of their funding. I believe that the service Lyon-Martin provides to San Francisco is essential and irreplaceable, and that's why once again I'm participating in their annual "30 Days of Health" fundraiser.

The idea behind "30 Days" is that you choose one thing you want to do to improve your health & ask people to sponsor you to do it each day for the month of May. Then, by May 31, you have built a new, healthy habit, Lyon-Martin has raised a bunch of money, & since Lyon-Martin is a 501(c)3, all the donors have a new tax deduction. Everyone wins!

I've done "30 Days" for three years running. This year, my project is to start jogging with Zoey. For me, it will be about building fitness, and for her, it will be about building fitness, as well as learning that on this kind of trip, she can't stop and sniff every tree trunk we pass. Daunting, but doable! Plus, one of our dog trainers also tells me that running is good for nervous dogs, because they have less time to focus on scary things (ex. a big truck going by). So hopefully this will also contribute to reducing her overall level of anxiety, as well.

If you are able to support my project & make a donation to Lyon-Martin, please go to my fundraising page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christinedarosa/30DaysofHealth2013  The site is totally secure, & again, the donation is tax deductible.

Thank you for reading my pitch!

Momma Arave Solves The Riddle!

Last week, I made a plea for help in identifying the mysterious new plant in the back yard. Great news! Momma Arave solved the puzzle. It is the elegantly named Gopher Spurge: http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/euplathyrus.htm

Thank you for saving the day, Georganne!

Meanwhile, the garden keeps on growing happily.

Pea blossoms:

Fava blossoms:

Heads of lettuce, new arugula sprouts, swiss chard sprouts:

Spinach, beets (& cat-proofing materials):

And a dog enjoying the sunshine:

Not bad for the last weekend in April!

Smothered Chicken & Collards

As if spinach & arugula risotto weren't enough deliciousness for one week, last night Adrienne made smothered chicken, with collards & butter lettuce from the garden.

Ridiculously good!

Spinach & Arugula Risotto

As promised, here is a photo of the spinach & arugula risotto Adrienne made tonight, with stuff from the garden:

Delicious!

Mars Farm Expands

The weather has been fantastic for the past week or so -- high 60's/low 70's, bright & sunny.

The bad news is that it made all the arugula bolt while I was on the east coast for a visit last week:

This is about a pound's worth. Maybe two.

The good news is that we now can make lots of arugula pesto! The other good news is that I now have lots of room to plant the swiss chard seeds my dad sent after I got back to Mars!

Saturday & Sunday this weekend were dedicated to gardening. Here's the garden, at about 8am Saturday morning:

The fava plants are about 4 feet tall, & have just started blooming:

I noticed today that the first planting of snap peas has just produced a few blossoms, as well!

Anyway, this weekend, I planted the swiss chard, and more spinach, beets, & carrots, but I spent most of my time weeding & cutting back some of the more ornamental plants edging the garden -- pretty, but starting to choke the vegetables. I also cleared out all kinds of grass & clover & stuff around the yellow roses & the herb garden I planted last year:

Dog guarding some more swiss chard, planted in planters picked up from the neighbor's "free" pile before they went off to travel in Bali for a year (!).

If anyone can identify that 3' tall bluish spikey plant on the left, please let us know. It just started growing there a couple months ago. We have no idea what it is.

Last year's herb garden:

Cala lillies that the previous owner had put in, towards the top of the picture; her borage (the purple flowers) & mint, on the right; our summer savory, sage, & thyme.

Meanwhile, it's finally time to put the pumpkins in! I cleared out the front yard of weeds & moved things around to make room a couple weeks ago:

The pumpkins belong in the far corner, next to the hydrangea, where the house & front stoop meet.

Sunday, I made a big old pumpkin hill, plus planted a ton of new radishes:

It's hard to make wet dirt look interesting, but there it is.

I also planted more swiss chard next to that spikey plant in the front.

So another week full of excitement, waiting for sprouts to poke through. Meanwhile, it's time to start harvesting leaves off the spinach & collards. Adrienne is going to make spinach risotto this week. I'll be sure to post a photo.

First Radish! Warm Weather!

This week, we celebrated two important Mars events.

We pulled up the first of the radishes:

And we got a few days of sunny, 70-degree weather after a week of rain. Some of us were particularly excited: