A Second Look around the Yard, 6-8-11

A Second Look around the yard this week was scary as I found several invasive vines ready to take over the world or at least the trees and plants they were near. I found poison ivy, Virginia creeper, Japanese honeysuckle, wild grape, trumpetcreeper, mile-a-minute, and bindweed vines.  All I can say is, "Danger, Danger Will Robinson."* If you see any of these in your yard, pull them immediately.

Poison ivy with its typical three leaves.

Japanese honeysuckle. Did you know that the flowers start out white and fade to yellow?

Bindweed (wild morning glory) Its roots can be as far as 30' underground.

Trumpetcreeper. This was originally planted by a previous owner who liked its orange flowers. However, it has since become out of control.

Virginia creeper. This is often mistaken for poison ivy. However, there are two important differences: it has five leaves instead of three and handling it does not make you itch.

Wild grape vine

Mile-a-minute. This vine with the interesting triangular leaves also has thorns.

This picture has at least three of the vines mentioned above. Can you name them?

If you want more information on invasive vines, go to the USDA site on invasive plants or check out the Ortho book, Controlling Weeds. Of the many books I have read on weeds, I found this one the most useful.

*Does anyone remember Lost in Space and what the Robot always said to Will when there was trouble?

Food Waste Friday

I was recently introduced to Food Waste Friday which encourages you to post pictures of the food that has gone to waste during the week. I thought that I would give it a try to see if it made us more careful with how we use our food. The plan was to start posting last week, but the refrigerator clean up we did yielded too many things for me to show without being embarrassed.  So, I decided that I would start this week with a relatively clean slate.

Knowing that I was going to post pictures on Friday, definitely motivated me. The soon to be rubbery celery was put into salad and soup just in the nick of time. The family got tired of the soup before it was gone, so I traded it with my sister for some fresh strawberries. When all was said and done, here's what is going to be thrown away this week.

Corn chips that we overcooked and a peanut butter sandwich that got lost in my desk at work.

Birthday Turkey

I live with a family of wannabe carnivores. According to Ward and the boys, meat would be the sum total of every meal if we didn't need those pesky vegetables to stay healthy. Therefore, I was not surprised when Theodore said he wanted a “Meat Event” for his recent birthday. After some discussion, it was decided that the event would be a fried turkey.

Our turkey fryer setup

Everyone I know swears that a fried turkey is the best turkey they've ever had. Also, they claim that since the oil doesn't penetrate the skin, it's still healthy. Well, that's not entirely true, a little of the oil does go into the meat--why else would it taste so good? But overall, it's not a bad choice, nutritionwise, in the meat world.

350 degrees is optimum frying temp.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with frying a turkey, but the concept is simple. Basically, you take a full size turkey, submerse it in hot oil, and fry it until it is done.* The first time we fried a turkey, I was very excited because a large size bird was only going to take about an hour to cook--what a time saver. However, we failed to realize that the setup and the heating of the oil to cooking temperature took a couple of hours. Lunch was a little late that day.

Ward getting ready to carve the turkey.

Ward was the mastermind behind frying the turkey for Theodore's meat event. He beautifully fried a 10 pound turkey most of which was eaten during the birthday meal. Did I mention that the males of the family like meat? We topped the evening off with a birthday cheesecake—but didn't fry it. Maybe next time.

*A word of caution if you are going to try this at home. A frozen turkey can explode in the hot oil.

This Week Around the Yard 6-1-11

A Second Look around the yard this week found a few new things including a rogue maple tree sprouting in the gutter. We clean them out at least twice a year, but the maple seed must have been determined.  Otherwise, most of the spring flowers are starting to fade and the summer flowers are beginning to bloom. The holly tree has just about finished blooming and I never noticed before this year what an aromatic smell the blossoms have. In addition, the heat is bringing out the bugs which can be annoying at times, but the all important bees are noticeably buzzing.

Note: If anyone can tell me the name of the yellow ground cover, that would be great.

The Logic of a Four Year Old

A conversation with Theodore when he was four years old.

Theodore contemplating the mysteries of life.

Mammals have hair, right? 

So, does that mean that bald people are reptiles?