It has been a veritable social whirlwind around Bumblebee Garden.
On Tuesday of last week Susan, from Garden Rant and Sustainable Gardening, made the trek from further north out here to the country for a little Bumblebee Garden tour and dinner with my fellows. Susan and I met up at the Spring Fling in Austin this past April. Of course, I was delighted to find another Maryland gardener.
Garden Rant’s Susan Harris lounges at the Bumblebee Garden gate
I don’t know many avid gardeners here in Calvert County, so it was great fun to yak and yak and yak some more while strolling the garden and making dinner. (Dinner, by the way, was a tomato tart with guyere cheese, spinach cucumber salad with fresh basil, sautéed squash and fresh peaches with whipped cream. Recipes might follow someday.)
Susan offered some great ideas and pointed out, in her kind and gentle way, some issues that I haven’t dealt with. If you ever need a garden coach, call Susan. She won’t laugh at you if she didn’t laugh at me. Susan tells me that she’s posting her own version of events sometime tomorrow on the Rant and SG.
Then on Saturday evening, Harry and I hosted a party for the volunteers in our local groups, including my Calvert Eats Local group and his Calvert County Heritage Committee and the Old Wallville School committee. What a fine and entertaining group of people. Imagine that two complete strangers attending the event found that they are both Viking reenactment buffs. Well, well.
Our menu was:
Crab cakes and dill horseradish sauce (What’s a party in Maryland without crabcakes, right?)
Curried peanut chicken
Homemade neufchatel cheese with garden grown herbs and homemade French bread (yep, I made both)
Homegrown tomatillo salsa and chips
Cucumber watermellon salsa and chips (recipe forthcoming)
Blueberry lemon cream bars (recipe forthcoming)
Carmel brownies
Cranberry vodka punch, wine, beer and such
And guess what we offered to guests as they left? Yes! “Free Squash to a Good Home!”
All but one little crookneck squash was adopted. Good thing too, cause I’m not above sneaking it into people’s cars if they’re left unlocked.
I will be posting actual garden pictures soon, so stay tuned.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I’ll be waiting for the blueberry lemon bar recipe…sounds wonderful! And I’ll be trying the salsa recipe too…actually it all sounds great!
August 4th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Readers, Robin is FAR too modest. If you check out my own blog now and GardenRant tomorrow you’ll see what I mean. Gorgeous! And no more than the usual “problem spots”. Good lord, wait til she sees my garden and finds out that gardening coaches have problem spots, too. Believe it!
Also, I have no photos to prove it but she’s a fabulous cook. That’s something that will NOT be replicated when she visits me, though. Carry-out, anyone? S
August 4th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Everyone has trouble spots in their garden! It sounds like a wonderful evening.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
So, I am waiting, waiting, waiting for the recipes…
August 4th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Robin, your menus for Susan’s visit and the party sound scrumptious! I know all your guests over the past week were wowed.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Robin: I’m still missing our Spring Fling meeting but this is great that you got to show Susan around your beautiful garden! I did get to meet fellow blogger Heather from Heather’s garden this weekend. Perhaps it was a weekend of friendships and meetings. Does your new job eclipse your old job? I am loving your Examiner posts.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
[...] News » News The Partying and Goings-On Around Here, Oh My2008-08-04 23:31:39Garden Maryland without crabcakes, right?) Curried peanut chicken Homemade [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I’m so glad you and Susan had fun. She is a fun lady, and we all need garden tips from time to time no matter how good you are. I’m also glad you made it through your party week unscathed.~~Dee
August 5th, 2008 at 11:14 am
If I ever visit you, I’ll remember to lock the car! I’m glad Susan’s visit went well & you both had a good time.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
[...] admin wrote a fantastic post today on “The Partying and Goings-On Around Here, Oh My”Here’s ONLY a quick extractCranberry vodka punch, wine, beer and such. And guess what we offered to guests as they left? Yes! “Free Squash to a Good Home!” All but one little crookneck squash was adopted. Good thing too, cause I’m not above sneaking it into … [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 2:15 am
[...] News » News The Partying and Goings-On Around Here, Oh My2008-08-06 02:15:36Garden Maryland without crabcakes, right?) Curried peanut chicken Homemade [...]
August 18th, 2008 at 1:42 am
i would drive right over for the squash if it weren’t 2500 miles!
eager to see the recipes – yummmmmm!