Orange You Glad You Stopped By?

I've been away from Philly Makes! for most of the summer, but if you recall my previous posts you’ll remember I love gardening. For my houseplants I’m partial to exotic flowers and succulents, outside I like to grow edibles. In my tiny yard I have an assortment of heirloom tomatoes and vegetables, over thirty herbs, figs, grapes and calamondins, a variety of miniature oranges that are similar to kumquats. The fruits are small, around the size of a ping-pong ball, and have a sweet rind with a sour inside.

I’ve had the calamondin tree shown in the photo at right for over ten years; it’s almost four feet tall and lives in the yard from April through October, then comes inside for the winter. It produces gloriously scented blossoms and fruit year-round, although every few years it takes a rest.

I made the tart in the photo above using this recipe from Epicurious.com. The top is covered with candied calamondins and the filling is made with ricotta, sour cream and toasted fennel. It was my first time making this recipe so I followed it exactly and used sugar, but next time I’ll make it my way and substitute honey or agave. I served it chilled and garnished with leaves from my tree and of course a pun: “Orange you glad you stopped by?”.

The Year of the Snapdragon

In Philadelphia snapdragons are usually annuals, but this particular plant preferred perennial status. Over the winter it was covered with snow and coated in ice, but it weathered each storm with its leaves intact. Several times this spring it was pelted with hail but managed to stay upright, then about a week ago it started blooming.

The photo was taken mid-morning with a FujiFilm FinePix A201. At this time of day the fence appears bluish-grey instead of white, and I love the way it looks with the green foliage and bright yellow blooms. My brain transposes everything I see into jewelry, so you can expect me to design a collection using this color-combo in the future.

What's the Story, Morning Glory?

When I was four years old I became obsessed with growing things. My first foray into gardening was an experiment with navy beans; they grew so fast I was afraid of them so my Mom took them out of my room.

My second planting was much more “successful”. I took several packs of morning glory seeds and scattered them all over our yard and the lawns of the houses on either side of us. No-one realized what I had done until the tell-tale heart-shaped leaves appeared. That summer the morning glories covered all three yards in a "Heavenly Blue" tangle (and because they are self-seeding, they were persistent for years after). Our neighbors were not amused, but my Mother never let them yell at me. Instead, she taught me about boundaries, respecting people's property, and of course weeding.

All these years later, when we’re out and about and see a wall or fence covered in morning glory vines, my Mom giggles. I took this photo last summer and saved it to frame as one of this year’s Mother’s Day gifts. This week I didn’t make a piece of art or a concrete thing, I made my Mom laugh.

The photo was taken in natural light with a FujiFilm FinePix A201.