My Culinary Gunius of a Husband

Ryan thinks I taught him how to cook... but how could I have created such brilliancy so quickly? No, he has the instinct for it. He just never knew it until I put him in front of the stove. The mind of an inventor + the eye of an artist + highly functional taste-buds = Ryan. He made dinner last night. I helped some, but he came up with the idea and arranged it all. Here are some pictures:

Mussels and Pasta with Oil-Herb-Mushroom Sauce and Asaigo Cheese

Ryan's regular pasta (left), my gluten-free pasta (right).

Yogurt with Berries and Grated Chocolate

(Don't forget the veggies!)

Garden time!

This spring Ryan and I have decided to try our first garden. We don't have much room, so we decided to just try a little of each. Here's what we're growing:

Broccoli
Zucchini
Spinach
Sugar Snap Peas
A variety of Hot Peppers
Oregon Spring Tomatoes
Sage
Sweet Basil
Cilantro/Coriander
Oregano
Garlic Chives
Mint
Fern Strawberries
Blueberries

...Oh yeah, and Dwarf Marigolds! We're going to plant these around the other plants to help keep the bugs away.

Because of the limited space issue, we're going to try a combination of containers for our garden. For most of the stuff, we're going to build 2, 2'x2' boxes. The sides will be made of ply wood (off of Ryan's dad's stash in his back yard), and the bottom will be weed fabric.

The planter for the peas will be relatively the same but a long rectangle with a bamboo/string trellis (left) for them to climb.

We want to hang the tomatoes upside-down, and I'm not paying for those fancy, high-fan-dangled Topsy Turvy things. You can get the same effect with a 5-gallon bucket. Simply cut a small hole in the bottom, place a coffee filter or something over the hole (with a slit), and thread the plant through (For more detailed instructions on how to do this, here's a great source).

The berry plants will both be in their own pots, likely also 5-gallon buckets, and the mint will be on it's own or with the peas (you can't plant mint with other herbs or the other herbs will be minty!). It's too early to plant most of the stuff, but I'm still busy getting ready. As soon as we get the planter built, the peas are going in. Soon after will come the spinach.

I've started the broccoli indoors and yesterday I discovered some little shoots! In March I can start germinating the tomatoes, peppers, and other seeds.

I haven't been able to find seeds for the strawberry and blueberry varieties we want, even online. I did, however, find this highly recommended site for ordering strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry plants: Sakuma Bros ...and guess what? They have the strawberries I want!

One more awesome resource for starting-out-gardeners, especially (but not limited to) those who live around Portland, OR, is Portland Nursery.

I hope some of my information is useful to you other beginning gardeners like myself. Enjoy!