The Neverending Lawn Saga

I love the anticipation (and appearance) of fresh fruits and vegetables that comes with this time of year. But having a whole other part of the house to take care of (the yard) sure adds to the chore list.  It wouldn't normally mind, but my yard has been a major thorn in my side.   Let me show you why... Advice is welcome!

The Province of Ontario banned the use of many pesticides about three years ago. In theory, I like the idea of not putting chemicals on my lawn or having to endure neighbour's chemicals. In practice, it makes lawn maintenance more challenging.

Here's my lawn shortly after the snow melted (some time in March):

By "lawn", I mean, weed graveyard.

Ugh.

I don't know what happened -- it was fine in July of last year:

Either we killed it with a lack of water...or the city's arch nemesis, grubs, got to our lawn. Grubs have been a growing problem around here since our winters aren't really cold enough to kill them off and nematodes (the non-chemical solution to grubs) requires a lot of water to be effective and are still not 100% effective when applied correctly. All you have to do is walk around various neighbourhoods in Ottawa and you'll see large patches of lawn missing or in various states of (dis)repair.

In around April of this year, here's what our weeded lawn looked like:

Not exactly the perfect spot for a picnic.  So depressing!

I asked around (local nurseries, Master Gardener's of Ottawa, neighbours, etc.) and got advice ranging from adding 2 inches of top soil and reseeding to resodding.

In the end, we decided to till the entire yard, add some compost, roll and reseed.  Kudos goes to R for doing all of the work.

See that pile of sticks in the corner?  Those are roots coming out of the ground.  There must have been a tree planted in our yard at some point.

See that crazy branch in the picture below?  Also, dug out of the ground...

Here it is up close:

Dealing with the portions of the lawn with existing grass was actually the most difficult since we wanted to level the soil.

After tilling the lawn, R spread compost lightly throughout:

After getting rid of the remaining grass, raking the lawn flat and spreading compost, we rented a lawn roller from Home Depot.

Hoping to be proactive, we opted to seed with a fescues mix.  Fescues is a variety of grass seed that tends to be more drought resistant and less attractive to grubs.  The trouble with fescues it that it germinates more slowly and seems to take longer to create an established lawn.  We went with Eco-Lawn

After about three weeks of watering regularly (early in the morning, if there wasn't any rain forecasted for the day), here's what our lawn looked like:

I wish I had a great after-picture to share with you...but it's still a work in progress.  It's looking greener, but a lot of what's there is weeds.  FML! 

I think it's going to be a multi-year project to get our lawn back.  Worst comes to worst, we'll just give up and re-sod (R also likes the option of paving it...but I don't see that happening).  But, I took the above picture into Green Thumb Nursery, where we bought the seed, asking whether it looks okay and she said it looks normal and to just keep watering.  

The clover is particularly aggressive:

R's new plan is to weed daily, add more seed and water twice a day. 

On the bright side, the garden is planted.  

The soil looks a bit strange at the moment, after the torrential rain we had yesterday...But I think all of the plants are in tact.  We planted 4 tomato varieties, cucumbers, 3 lettuces and 4 herbs.  I'm aiming for something low maintenance because I don't think we'll have much time for gardening later on in the summer.

R even suited up in his "impenetrable superhero suit" to remove a couple of wasp's nests that we found.  

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

I'm holding Giz captive in Ottawa.  We are hard at work shopping for baby essentials and filling up my freezer.  I'll try to update you on both at some point in the near future.  Here's a post I wrote up a while ago, didn't save properly (I'm blaming the new blogger on that one) and just got time to finish it off:

_____________________________________________________________

What was that no-so subtle hint,  mom?  You want me to blog?

The thing is that I haven't felt like trying new recipes lately.  Between making stuff from our usual repertoire and eating cereal, I've been quite content. R, he's more adventurous.  Give him a few days in Montreal and he'll come home with random photos of poutine with everything (except for the kitchen sink) on top.

Let me share one of R's more recent concoctions.

He initiated this from start to finish...between asking my mom for recipe recommendations, making sure we had the ingredients, making the food, taking pictures (including the obligatory crotch shot...don't ask why - it's just a thing he does when taking pictures that he knows I'll put up on the blog), and eating it all up.

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

            4 flour tortillas (10 inches)

            2 tablespoons canola oil

            1 large onion, diced

            1 jalapeno chile, minced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)

            2 garlic cloves, minced

            1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

            Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

            2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed

            12 ounces beer, or 1 1/2 cups water

            1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn

            4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish

            8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (2 1/2 cups)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. With a paring knife, trim tortillas to fit a 9-inch springform pan. Use the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

 Add beans and beer, and bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat to medium; simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. 

Stir in corn and scallions, and remove from heat. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Fit a trimmed tortilla in bottom of springform pan; layer with 1/4 of the beans 

and 1/2 cup of cheese. 

Repeat three times, using 1 cup cheese on top layer. 

Bake until cheese melts, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove side of pan; sprinkle pie with scallions. To serve, slice into wedges.

According to R, this recipe is a winner and he would make it again.

Chicken Enchilladas

Since I've discovered the flavours of Mexico I've become a little crazy about trying everything I can.  What have I been doing all my life without having such wonderful combinations in my menu planning.  You also have heard me talk about my newest addiction to Pinterest.  It's really quite addictive finding new recipes and great ideas.  I'd seen enchilladas everywhere and .... well... the rest is just history.

I made sure I had the right ingredients in the house and decided it was time to give this one a whirl.  While taking out the ingredients, I got distracted and put away the enchillada sauce.  Have you seen it?  No?  Neither have I.  I'm sure I put it somewhere but honestly, I can't find it anywhere.  One of these days it'll turn up in a cupboard or freezer somewhere.  So, what to do?  I had a jar of President's Choice Corn and Black Bean Salsa - Mild and decided that this would be the new version of enchillada sauce.  

Ingredients:

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1 bottle White Corn and Black Bean salsa

1/2 cup chicken broth or water

8 oz. combination of cheddar and monterey jack cheese

jalapenos for more heat, garnish or not

8 large whole wheat  tortillas

How to:

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Spray a 9x13 pan with non stick

In a deep skillet pour in the salsa and water.  Cook the breasts in the salsa for about 20 minutes at medium.

Shred the chicken and divide to the 8 tortillas.  Top with a little cheese on each one and roll up. 

Put half of the salsa on the bottom of your 9x13 and add your enchilladas seam side down in your pan.

Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle cheese over the top.

Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes (depending on how brown you like your cheese)

I'm really such a novice when it comes to this cuisine but this was so easy and so flavourful. I'll definitely be making this one again and again.