Garden Eats

I spent yesterday working on the garden, weeding and getting it ready for planting. We (Aaron) also did quite a bit of yard work. Part of this process has been harvesting what is out there from fall and even last summer. I planted this chard last fall. I also harvested some onions that didn't do much last year, they won't make a bulb this year, but they are like big green onions. I got some carrots, lettuce and spinach planted. I also got my potatoes in the ground, but I'm really regretting it now that the weather is saying it is going to rain for like 2 week straight. I'm going to dig them up tomorrow and hope they are alright, otherwise they are just going to rot.



There is also lettuce, this is the lettuce that survived that cold streak this winter. It's a little bitter, but not bad considering how old it is.



Tonight I made breaded chicken with a leek, (the last of last year's, I should have taken a picture, one of them was HUGE!) mushroom, chardonnay sauce. I steamed the chard with a little butter and garlic and roasted a sweet potato with onion and olive oil.

I can't wait to have more space to grow more things! I have a lot of room here really, but it doesn't all get enough sun for growing things. I think I'm going to spread out into the space between the sidewalk and the street this summer and try not to stress out about all the dogs trampling and pooping on things. Don't get me started on some of the dog owner's in my neighborhood...
We are getting excited to grow more of our own food. I read the book Farm City and LOVED it, I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to garden. Actually anyone that likes to eat, it's a good reminder of where our food comes from. She is also hilarious, which always helps. She also has a blog called Ghost Town Farm, I would have linked it, but it seems to be down for some reason, I can only see it in my reader.
One last thing - I got the results of my restorative board. I got 74.275 points - I needed 75 to pass. So I have paid $460 (!$@) to take it again in June. Very frustrating since I feel like I basically taught myself with little help from my instructor. Oh well, I will be well prepared to take it again. In 10 weeks I will be gardening and relaxing and not doing school anymore, that is enough to keep me going at this point.

Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words! I am feeling better since getting one board out of the way. I think it went okay...but it's so hard to tell for sure. They should let me know in a week or so. I'm going to guess if I don't mention it, I didn't do so well! Next one is this Friday, so I'm going to be studying all day, everyday until then. Except for Wednesday, I need to spend all day at school wrapping the term up and placing my first composite filling in a real person.

Grump

There is a reason why I haven't been blogging. Well, I guess really there are about 14 of them. It's boring really, but I have been swamped with school work. I have my first board exam on Sunday morning. In Eugene. At 7 am. Which is really like 6 because it is Daylight Savings. How crazy is that. I have been spending all my spare time this week preparing. The test is to place 2 posterior restorations in a typodont tooth, one mandibular, one maxillary, one amalgam, one composite.


This is a composite that I did on a mock board we had earlier this week. You can't see my amalgams, they are ugly...but passing, so I'll take it. This is amazingly challenging. The composites you build up. The amalgams you carve down, so the process is very different. The anatomy of a tooth is surprisingly complex, and while dentists never carve to this accuracy, we are required to to pass our board. Last year only 50% passed. Needless to say I am stressed about this.
Next Friday I take my national board. I haven't had time to study since the review I attended. The amount of finals, papers and projects didn't lighten even though this is a big test for us. 17 subjects, everything we have learned so far, 550 questions, 9 hours to complete. I have one more paper to write before I can focus on this.
This is why I don't blog, my life is so uninteresting right now and I'm pretty unhappy most of the time. I'm surprised Aaron hasn't left me yet. He has been great, taking over all housekeeping responsibilities, preparing all meals and making me lunches everyday. He even drove me to Eugene last night when I needed to go for the second time that day. He doesn't even complain ever, even though I know I am not fun to be around.
We are taking off for California the day after my test. I'm looking forward to getting away, even though I know I won't have time to plan our trip. Luckily Aaron is doing that too :)