Quick Tangent..

Predictions for next year's NBC shows:

• Community: Jeff and Annie will date secretly over the summer, then awkwardly have to figure out how to deal with him being 15 years older than her. The Britta/Slater thing(which by the way was out of character for both of them and sort of embarrassing to watch) can't be resolved in real time.. who would wait 3 months to sort that out? I still think Modern Warfare would've been a better season finale. 

• Parks & Rec: They'll drag out Andy/April for a few episodes..why is Rashida Jones always the other woman?? I hope it's resolved quickly, but I wouldn't bet on it. Rob Lowe won't be around long, Leslie and the new guy will hook up. Mark will make an appearance later in the season, hopefully his company will be building the park or something like that.

• The Office: Holly!! I missed Amy Ryan. Not much else to predict, I guess..

• 30 Rock: Matt Damon won't stay around long, even though I thought it was a brilliant performance and thoroughly enjoyable to watch (so was Michael Sheen). Elizabeth Banks already had a pregnancy plot in Scrubs.. she's either lying about it or something else will happen to break up her and Jack. I'm still hoping for the Liz/Jack hookup but I think it's a long way away.

Modern Family wrapped up pretty neatly.. it's following a much more "everything reverts to normal by the end of the episode" pattern. So, no predictions for that..

I'll revisit this in the fall!

Growing My Own

After months of allowing assorted plants to languish in too-small containers and fall prey to aphids and mischievous squirrels, I'm finally putting together my home garden.

Above, the materials for my self-watering planter, per the instructions in Fresh Food From Small Spaces. A plastic container and its top, a plastic basket, and a small length of pipe was pretty much the extent of the planter itself. Also pictured: organic fertilizer(mm, chicken manure!), spade, seed packets.

I put it together about a week ago and recently introduced it to some plants. Transferred my strawberry and squash plants, and planted some carrot and lettuce seeds. However, I did end up overwatering a bit and need to make some modifications to my planter. I'll be working on that this weekend.

I'm really excited about the prospect of growing my own food, even though realistically it won't replace a significant percentage of our consumption anytime soon. My grandparents always grew a lot of fruits and vegetables and no matter how fresh things are at the farmers' market, there's just something about a fruit truly just off the vine. Plus, I'll be gaining at least some knowledge for possible future WWOOFing.. and the plants will create a nice layer between our small balcony and the building's driveway.

Strawberries in their seedling pot

And now some pictures of food!

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20-Minute(ish) Veggie Shepherd's Pie
Improvised this a few days ago when I was hungry and tired, and it turned out better than some things I've spent way more time and effort on: mashed potatoes + sauteed mushrooms, peas, carrots + veggieburger. Maya Ik hot sauce. Done.

Tonight: fish and chips!

I can't take credit for cooking this one- thanks Trader Joe's frozen section!