Decisions about farmshare, and dieffenbachia gives me a surprise

So this year's farmshare has not lived up to the excitement of previous years.  The farmers have made various decisions about crops and choices, and since I've been going to farmers' markets this year, too, I'm thinking about switching my budget next year to shop more at farmers' markets, just going to the farmshare farm for fruit, which is the best.

Mainly this year there has been only one farmshare location -- previous years they've switched to the other side of the farm with different crops for the second part of the season, and that's when the zinnias were part of the adventure, and a wider variety, it seemed to me, of fruit.

This year one location only, and I think fewer shares of fruit, no flowers, many fewer free add ons, smaller variety of vegetables, and a large amount of potatoes, way too many even for this potato lover.  I'm two weeks behind in my potato consumption, even sharing with Handsome Son, and there's another couple of pounds in this week's share. 

I spoke with the farmer today when I picked up, about this, and she, lifelong farmhouse dweller, and thrilled with their bumper spud crop,  seemed to be quite amazed to hear that there are homes in this town (most of them, in fact) without the capacity to store potatoes. 

I explained no garage, no basement, no cool upstairs rooms, and she said, well keep them on the patio, at which point I gave up, since bylaws flatly forbid keeping food on the patio because of squirrel and rat populations.  We can't even put out birdseed!  and speaking as a squirrel ridden homeowner, I'm in favor of the ban.  She ended by saying, well eat potatoes every day. No use explaining I'm already doing that, and I'm still swamped!

I can, and do, give away my surplus to friends and neighbors, but I can't afford to give half my share, no point in the membership then. Sooooo, thinking, thinking.  I was fair to her, though, pointing out that the imbalance didn't suit this customer.  If they announce any changes for next year I'll be in.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try making gnocchi  to freeze and see if that's a good solution to the Plethora of Potatoes, since I love gnocchi and have never made them.  Had wonderful ones long ago in France.

But I still think I might switch my allegiance next year to farm markets.  It's been fun, but maybe it's time.  And going to the farm market is a great morning out anyway, much more food variety and all kinds of interesting people.

So look for pix of gnocchi in process!  This month's Bite Club cook is Nigella Lawson, and I love the way she writes, very readable and honest, and I hate the photographs of herself, very cheesy, supposed to be ironic, but come off silly and a bit cheap, throughout the book. If I were to buy this one, I'd cut out all the pix of her and just keep the food!  

Last month I made, from the 123 book, by  Rozane Gold, her maple walnut bars, and they were just lovely.  They were made in the late afternoon, polished off at the club meeting, and no pix are available, sorry. Maple walnut is a favorite flavor, dating back to historic times which I'll talk about another time, not wishing you all to nod off today...

And, back in the living room, the dieffenbachia gave me a heck of a surprise, by putting out five new flowers, in the house.  I was surprised enough when she did it last year out of doors, in excellent light, but I guess she's got the hang of it now, and see her latest effort.  Since there are few insects indoors to pollinate her, she's going to be disappointed.  

They are hermaphroditic -- first part of the bloom is male, I think then that fades and what appears is female, or it may be the other way around. The interval for insects to fertilize is only a matter of hours or days, so these are finely engineered plants.  

You only need one plant to propagate flowers, no need to worry about a partner.  What you see here is the first bloom of the cluster, to be replaced by a different appearance to the same spike.Can't name her, unless I choose a gender neutral name.  Dana the Dieffenbachia, or Tracy, or Evelyn or something.

All this activity in here today is treading water while I get up the gumption to start painting my kitchen tomorrow...now that the Big Insulation is done, little last bits all complete and working fine, and the dress I made into a coat thing is all finished and ready to wear, and the plants are indoors, and I can't think of any other household chores to use to postpone the Painting of the Walls, I'm for it.  One wall per session is my mantra.

Hardest part is getting out the can of paint and stirring.  After that it usually goes pretty well.  I'm thinking of tiling the backsplash wall, too with copper tiles.  Or possibly farming that job out, but I'd rather do it myself.  Anyway, that wall won't be painted.  

The kitchen is awkward, not that many square feet, but a lot of stuff to move around and climb over and reach behind.  I have a nice gallon of lovely fresh green paint, free from the dumpster, so that's a small investment..and I already removed the phone jack from the sink wall, dating back to when I had a landline, easy to remove, and the hole will vanish under the tiles.