Dirt

When I think back on all of my years of schooling–everything I read, everything I heard, everything I memorized (and the many things I promptly forgot)–there are a few little gems that have stuck with me.  One of them, from my college soils class, is this:

“Dirt is just misplaced soil.”

How perfect.  Dirt is just misplaced soil.  A weed is just a misplaced plant.  These are the things I think about as I’m digging in the garden.  And the digging is starting to pay dividends!

It’s funny … we had a monster rainstorm not too long after I planted my first round of seeds, and I think the drops came down hard enough to bop some of the seeds around a bit–witness the lone kale sprout growing amid a sea of spinach. While the greens and snap peas are relishing the cool evenings, the tomato and spinach plants are hot and happy and safe from the wind and hail (3 bouts in as many days!) in their little covered hoop houses:

And next to the hoop houses, my other pride and joy:

I’m ridiculously excited about the compost bin.  I’ve been wanting to start one since I moved to Montana; I thought about building one but never got around to it, and finally caved and bought this beauty.  I’m so giddy about this project that I’m actually doing dorky things like bringing banana peels home from work so I can chop them up and add them to the kitchen scrap bucket.  And once that bucket is full, I tromp out back and make compost-art:

Such beautiful colors.  A rainbow of scraps, that will turn into a rich soil amendment, that will be used to grow a rainbow of plants, that will feed and nourish me.  Love! Until then, here is a rainbow of a recipe that is one of my favorite summer standbys:

Green Goddess Acai Bowl

Ingredients (makes 1 bowl)
4-oz packet unsweetened, frozen acai
1/2 banana, preferably frozen*
1/2 C diced mango, preferably frozen*
1 C packed fresh spinach
1/2″ piece ginger, peeled** and sliced thin
1 T honey
1/4 C coconut milk
toppings of your choice: fresh and/or dried berries, sliced or diced fresh fruit, seeds, nuts, granola, shredded coconut …

* I’ve found that frozen fruits provide a better consistency.  If you use fresh, cut back on the coconut milk by a tablespoon or two at first so it doesn’t get too soupy.
** Tip for peeling ginger: use the edge of a spoon!

• Place all ingredients (except the toppings) in a high-powered blender and blend.
• If mixture is too thick to blend, add extra coconut milk 1 T at a time.  Be careful, though, as it will go from acai bowl consistency to acai smoothie consistency quickly!
• Pour the acai mixture into a bowl and top with your toppings of choice.
• Enjoy!