I fell off a roof when I was 14, trying to capture just the right moody, black and white, nighttime scene. Oh the angst of a teenage “artist” in the ‘90’s. I was fine, BTW. There was a lot of blood from a scrape on my head, which was scary, but no lasting damage. AND I caught the camera, saving those masterpieces. (They weren’t masterpieces.)

There was a certain look we were all after in those days: gritty, dark, “real.”

Friends, I finally captured it:

This is the yard behind the Orta shop. It's real, it's gritty, and it was dark when I took the pictures. Dream of the '90's for sure, but that wasn't why I was there.

I was there because I heard frogs.

Yes, frogs. 🐸

I was inside the shop, packing up for the night when I heard unmistakable, and loud, croaking. The Orta shop neighborhood is hardly the quiet countryside. The fact that I could hear the frogs indoors was already quite something!

And then when I found where they were coming from, I was doubly surprised! This spot out the back is basically a big, horrible puddle in the winter, where water collects in an old foundation. It’s a total health hazard and a point of, shall we say, discussion with the neighbors. Full of debris, trash, and who knows what else.

Yesterday evening, they started making a racket at twilight, before it got dark, and I made this video for you. Sound ON!

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(Sorry there's no preview available - if you click above you can hear the frogs and see the "pond" in daylight.)

Such loud frogs! How did they get there? Are they happy? I can’t answer the second question, but the first has two likely explanations.

First of all, frogs can move pretty long distances when the weather is damp, up to a couple miles. We’re only about a ¼ mile from a creek. Maybe they just hopped over to see if there was anything good and found the pond. It’s also possible for frog eggs to attach themselves to bird feathers and catch a ride.

However they got there, it’s not uncommon. Gardeners who build ponds are often surprised by how fast frogs arrive!

Here’s some more unexpected wildlife this week:

This one startled me. I was packing this square pot in the glaze color Lichen to ship to a customer, and like always, I opened the box to double check that it had a cork. It did. AND it had a yellowjacket! Yikes! That one is still a total mystery.

If you know why a yellowjacket would be hanging out in a cardboard box inside a warehouse in February, please hit reply and let me know!

I haven’t been gardening as much as I would like lately, partly because I’ve been shipping a lot of pots to you all for your gardens! We’re staying home this long weekend, and I’m looking forward to starting another round of seeds.

I was feeling frustrated, though, like the garden is neglected and I'll be missing out on fresh produce and flowers this year.

Then I made some enchilada sauce with perennial herbs from the garden + some dried chiles from last year. That little dose of garden goodness, a gift to our present day family from myself of 2 & 3 years ago was a real boost.

If you've been here a while, you know I don't really do proper recipes like a food blogger, because I'm not, but if you like approximate, forgiving recipes, here's how I've been making enchilada sauce:

1.Put all these things together in a pot of boiling water:

• Dried chiles with seeds and stems removed. This time I used 4 cascabels + 2 guajillo + 1 aji cristal (the ones pictured above, from the garden, which came from the seed club a couple years ago). Cascabel and guajillo aren't usually spicy, but the aji cristal is! Note: I taste a small piece of each chile as I put them into the pot to make sure the heat level isn't too much.
• 1 onion, chopped roughly
• 4 cloves garlic
• 7 bay leaves.
• Handful of fresh oregano (dried would be fine, maybe a teaspoon?)
• Handful of fresh winter savory -- it has a flavor similar to thyme, but is much easier to grow! (You could also use dried thyme here)
• 3 whole cloves
• salt

2. Boil for an hour or so. Remove the bay leaves and put everything else into the blender until smooth.

3. Make a roux in your now empty pot.

• 2 tbsp of butter
• 2 tbsp of flour

Melt the butter and then mix in the flour until you have a paste.

4. Put the sauce from the blender back into the pot with the roux and whisk it on medium/low heat until it thickens to where you like it.

5. Salt to taste, and perhaps add a splash of vinegar if the sauce tastes like its missing something.

Happy Seedurday!

Anne

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When you’re ready, here are some more ways I can help you grow a thriving garden from seed:

1. Plan your seed-starting schedule with our ​free printable planner.​

2. Download the free ​Orta Seed Starting Handbook with all the basics you need to succeed with seeds.​

3. Take the guesswork out of watering with Orta Self-Watering Pots. (Find discounted factory seconds here!)

4. Join the Orta Seed Club to have 5 hand-picked, unusual & high-yielding varieties delivered to you every season.

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