Sunday, May 1, 2011

Weeks 14 - 17: April Showers

April was pretty busy month, lots of work. Aside from that, I taught 2 classes (2 sessions each) midmonth. One was a gardening class, and the other was a Sherlock Holmes themed chemistry class. (Projects 11 & 12) The Holmes chemistry class was a lot of work but really rewarding - one of the students was a huge Holmes buff, and the kids seemed to really enjoy all the science. The class was inspired by a project still in progress, rereading all of the Sherlock Holmes books .

Spring arrived, which has been wonderful, allergies aside! The seeds started indoors are growing nicely, and the tomatoes were transplanted to larger pots and are ready to be transplanted a second time (transplanting is detrimental to some plants, but can be helpful for tomatoes). A swiss chard plant from last summer survived through the winter and has been growing beautifully. A quick phone picture of the most recent harvest:



 Swiss chard is one of my favorite vegetables. It’s best when the stalks are tender and sweet. If you don’t like the stalks, or if they’re too tough, the green leafy part can be cooked like spinach. If you’ve never tried it, you should!


Speaking of food, after a year of delays, F and I finally baked carrot cake cupcakes. They were great! K decorated one to look like me – a smile and glasses. F's cupcakes turned out much better than mine. Decorating cupcakes is not my forte. I am much better at eating them!