giardiniera: italian for gardener

somehow lately i've turned into a crazy garden lady.  every day after work i go out to pick ripened tomatoes, peppers, and carrots, and check on the progress of the other veggies.  i also pull weeds, trim off dead branches, and de-flower the basil (ha).

it's become a labor of love as everyday i learn more about normal growth, the proper ways to harvest, and how to manage garden insects (my answer so far is spiders - they're the best).  the ever growing stalks keep me creative as i continuously have to invent new ways to prop them up.

^^this is an onion flower.  did you know onions made flowers?!  it is so pretty that i left it when i harvested all of the others, and it's still blooming.^^

the onions were all ready at once a few weeks ago, but everything else is just starting to be ripe here and there.  on friday, when i came home, i found belle in the garden (i know chicken wire isn't that much of a deterrent, but it's kept them out so far) helping herself to anything and everything!  our biggest loss was the broccoli, which she had completely pulled out of the ground and devoured.  she also helped herself to a couple of tomatoes, but we have lots to spare, so not as big of a deal.

it seems that when she got to the peppers she would pull one off, realize it was hot, and continue on just pulling them off and dropping them.  we had jalapeños and anaheim peppers lying all over the garden bed.  i love to cook some spicy food, but what was i going to do with 14 peppers??

and then it came to me.  spicy pepper relish (aka giardiniera).  like the kind you get on your sandwiches at potbelly or snarfs.   i crave these spicy pepper mixes and would eat them on everything if i could.  and thanks to belle it was looking like there was a good chance i'd be able to do just that.  between the garden and our fridge we had hot peppers, bell peppers, carrots, and celery, so i picked up some green olives and cauliflower and we were set!

full confession, i have never canned or pickled anything before... and after chopping up all the veggies, i googled how to do so and got a bit of a surprise.  it is much more complicated than i imagined.  thankfully, canning has become more popular lately so there are many resources out there.  i mean, i bought a canner at bed, bath, and beyond, and had multiple options to choose from.  thank you, hipsters.

^^this is a canner with my jars in it.  i had no idea.^^

i will say, it was adorable that i was approached by two separate older ladies who asked if i needed any help or advice.  they said they were happy to see someone still out there doing it besides themselves.  i talked to each of them for about 20 minutes and even got one of their phone numbers.  never thought i'd have a contact called Joan the Canning Lady.

overall it went pretty well.  the peppers are very tasty and i didn't even have to call joan :)

i'm so happy we planted the garden.  when we started i was a little skeptical that anything would actually grow, especially from seed.  but it has!  so now i've bought seed for our winter vegetables and am ready to plant as soon as there is space.

here's a before of the garden.  it looks vastly different now that the tomatoes and corn are both taller than the fence.

ah summer.  my favorite season is finally here.  dc completely skipped spring.  it was just cold for a really long time, then a little chilly, and now it's in the 90s.

weekends these days are the best.  they're all day fun in the sun.  last weekend norah came over for a pool party.  she was so cute splashing around her little pool.

 weekdays have also gotten more relaxing.  the days are long so you feel like you have so much more time to get things done.

a very nice summer afternoon routine has begun to develop.  i get home, switch my pumps out for crocs, and head outside to check out our garden's progress.  as usual, it looks like everything has grown five inches overnight.  with all the rain we've had the growth is getting out of control! then, like clockwork, the ice cream truck goes up and down the street and i once again get its song stuck in my head for the evening.  the girls like to run around the yard, do some rolling, and eat some grass.  the other day we made clover necklaces and crowns for the girls' heads.  they were happy enough to help pick the clover flowers, but didn't really like wearing them :)

at some point after checking all of the garden beds and playing in the grass, we head up to the porch to sit and enjoy how quiet and peaceful our yard is while drinking some cool lemonade.  it's so easy to sit and do absolutely nothing until it's just about time to throw dinner on the grill.  to top it off, after dinner the fireflies have started coming out, twinkling over the darkened lawn.

why can't it always be summer?

last weekend chris and allie were married right on the potomac in southern maryland.  the ceremony had the most heartfelt and romantic vows i have ever heard.

everything was perfect - the weather, the people, the venue, it was such a great time.  oh and the food, oh man, it was the best.  every time we go to a wedding, eric and i feel like we're getting married again, it was so romantic and fun.  congrats to chris and allie; thanks for letting us share this awesome day with you :)

it's cherry blossom time! 
the national cherry blossom festival has been going on for the last two weekends, but the blooms weren't really happening until late last week.  with the freezing cold front moving in today, i'd say they barely got a good week of blooms in there, poor trees!

nevertheless, the festival has brought in lots of tourists and we've ventured out a few times ourselves to get a look at all that's happening.

last weekend we went to the southwest waterfront festivities.  there were market stalls, food trucks, the fish market, and fireworks!

there have also been a couple of days that i've walked down to the mall from the office to check out the flowers closer to the lincoln memorial.  one evening i walked down with a high school best friend who was in town visiting!