Hydrangeas and Hostas, Buffa10 Day 1

I am in Buffalo for the 3rd annual Garden Bloggers meet-up. As far as I can tell, I am the newbie. It was to be expected, I’ve only been blogging for a few months. I’ve met a ton of garden bloggers in the few short hours I’ve been here and everyone has been great. Tonight’s dinner was at the 20th Century Club. This club has an interesting history as the first women’s only club in the US. It was founded in 1894. It is a club without a bar! Women…drinking…apparently that was not appropriate.

A huge thanks to Jim of Art of Gardening and Elizabeth of Gardening While Intoxicated for putting on such a great event.

Here are a few pictures from this evening’s dinner location:

What to do with all the eggplant?

Well, it was too wet to work in the yard today. So, I turned my attentions to the interior. It's amazing how much stuff you can get done around the house when you're not gardening.

One of the things I did was cook up some of my eggplant. I made Asian Eggplant Dip. Yummy! This recipe is from the Sunset book called Appetizers.

1 large eggplant (1 1/2 lbs) ends trimmed
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine (mirin) or dry vermouth
1 tbsp each minced fresh ginger, minced cilantro, and sesame oil
1/2 tsp crushed dried hot red chiles (optional)

With a fork pierce eggplant deeply in 10-12 places. Set in an 8-9" baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour (or until soft when pressed). Let cool. If desired, trim and discard skin. Cut eggplant into large chunks.
Place eggplant, garlic, soy, wine, ginger, cilantro, oil, and chiles in a food processor. Process until smooth.
Can be covered and refrigerated up to 4 days.
Makes 2 cups.

I make pita chips for dippers. Buy a package of pita bread, separate the two sides of each pita bread, then stack them all up and cut them into 1/6ths. Spread them on a baking sheet. Crush one garlic clove in a garlic press and mix into about a 1/4 olive oil and brush the pita. Put the pita chips a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes.

This is a really easy recipe. I served it at a party a few months ago and it was a hit.

What I need now is some ideas on how to use all my banana peppers.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Ok, enough is enough. I know yesterday I asked you to stay another day, but now you've overstayed your welcome. I mean, really, more than 5 inches in less than two days, that's just a bit ridiculous isn't it?
See that red bobber at the top of the rain gauge, yes folks, the rain gauge was full. And it is still coming down.












So much for that rain garden. It was able to handle two inches of rain, but now it has overflowed its banks.

The whole back yard is underwater and there are rivers flowing down the sidewalks.

Ah, but such is Houston, drought one day, deluge another.

Rain, Rain, Stay Another Day

Finally, some rain. Since I built my rain garden last month, we have had no significant rain. I have been wondering how much it would help with my backyard drainage problem. Well, today was the first test and it held up well.

There are still some low spots in a few areas that I might add some dirt to, but first I have to get my gutters and rain barrels in so I can truly see the new drainage patterns.

Check out my earlier post, Rain Garden, for more information about what is planted there.