Tasha Tudor is a fairly new discovery for me. As a matter of fact, I read a book about her garden a very long time ago, but I just didn't "get" it, and sent it back to the library, forgetting all about Tasha.
But recently, I came across the book again, as I was preparing my own garden. This time, I was hooked -- by her garden, her lifestyle, and Tasha herself. What a singular person Tasha was!
When I discovered that today was the anniversary of her birthday, it seemed like a good time to help the children experience a little of the Tasha magic.
In the morning, after breakfast, Daddy took the children for a long walk in the woods.
While they were gone, I ate my breakfast of homemade yogurt, homemade granola, and strawberry jam the neighbors harvested and canned. I brought out the tablecloths and picked what seems to be the last straggly flowers of the season. Not much to look at, but we'll miss them when they leave us in the fall, just around the corner!
When the family arrived back home, we ate a light lunch of Cream of Chicken Soup, Cheddar Cheese Rounds (Tasha's receipts,) grapes, and orange juice.
Then we set to work on making some small soft furnishings for the dolls' house. Roks (5) learned to "embroider" a pretty tablecloth for the dolls' table, and the older two children and I made tiny braided rugs to keep their feet warm.
Daddy and Bert worked outside in the garden, tidying up and weeding around the flowers. Roks joined in as soon as he was finished stitching and fringing his table cloth.
They have a lovely pumpkin growing in spite of devastating bug/fungus attack, and had three watermelons.
We thought it would be a great idea to let the chicken ladies into the garden, to eat the grass growing up around the end-of-summer-season veggies. They did do a lovely job of eating lots of clover and grass -- but also helped themselves to several cucumbers, quite a lot of celery, and two of the watermelons.
Daffodil, a Buff Orpington
Bessie, a Plymouth Rock Barred, and Ruffian, an Araucana.
Tigger, an Araucana
Truckster and Tigger, side by side -- Araucanas.
We have two more Buff Orpingtons, another Araucana and another Plymouth Rock Barred.
We collected up the eggs, one blue, one green, and three brown -- and took them inside, to make a tasty custard for dinner dessert. We collected a huge brown egg a couple of days ago, and we used it too. When we broke it open, it had two full-size yolks. Good work for a young chicken lady.We have two more Buff Orpingtons, another Araucana and another Plymouth Rock Barred.
In the late afternoon we had a small tea-break, with homemade hot chocolate and marshmallows. And we worked on our projects, finally getting them finished a little bit too late for mamma to make dinner. So we had fried chicken and mashed potatoes and green beans, but not homemade. :-)
After dinner, we ate the silky-smooth custard (Tasha's receipt,) courtesy of the lovely chicken ladies, topped with a drizzle of home-produced maple syrup from our neighbors' maple trees.
Tasha Tudor Day was quite a lot of fun for everyone.
But oh! the house is messy!
