How Does Your Garden Grow?

SUM.SUM.SUMMERTIME!!

Do you plant a garden every spring & summer?  Do you love going out your back door and picking some fresh produce. I know I sure do....one of my favorite things about summer.  I don't use any pesticides on my plants so I know exactly where and how my produce is grown.

There is just something about the smell of a tomato plant that always symbols summer to me.

And when you cut fresh herbs....a little bit of heaven on earth I think.

Nothing better for you or more inexpensive than growing your own veggies and herbs.

Even if you have a garden in a pot....so worth it!!

This was my garden a month ago....everything coming in nicely and anticipating some yummy veggies and herbs.

And this is today!  Everything is growing in beautifully and we've been eating already from the garden most nights.

My zucchini plants are looking great....lots of beautiful blooms so I know we will be eating fresh zucchini by the time I get back from vacation!

I plant both the zucchini and cucumbers with seeds every year and have always had success with them.  In fact other than my tomato and pepper plants everything is planted by seeds.  For under $25 you can have a garden full of yummy produce for the summer....can't beat that!

I always plant 5 different types of lettuces in my garden...super easy to grow and OMGosh it tastes so good.  We have fresh salads, BLTs, Caprese Salad, Burgers...everything has fresh lettuce on it. And once these crops dwindle, I pull up the leftover stalks and plant new seeds. I usually have lettuce thru October most years. And enough to share with neighbors and friends too :)  Even though I use no pesticides the lettuce still has dirt on it...so everything gets washed and then I use the OXO Salad Spinner to dry it out (love my spinner).

I'm most excited about having some fresh tomatoes real soon.  There are some biggun's already growing and a ton of cherry tomatoes...I expect to have them for next weekend's Fourth of July...mmm. Can we say tomato sandwich with Dukes Mayo and a bit of pepper...YUMMO!

My basil plants are stunning...no doubt about it...they look beautiful! Planted by seeds and I have enough for 1000 Italian dinners LOL!  We've already used it in Caprese Salads, Chicken Parmesan and Italian Meatloaf.  I like the sweet basil so that's usually what I plant.  I also have chives, cilantro and rosemary planted that we've been using too.

This is one of my pepper plants...I don't like peppers nor do I eat them.  However the boys love them so I always plant a mix of green peppers and habanero peppers for them.  Those are my cosmos coming in nicely to the right of the peppers.  I like to plant flowers in my garden as well....they look pretty and deter the animals.

This is what I've been pulling out of the garden most days....along with bowlfuls for friends.

Soooo yummy!

Salads most nights with my homemade Caesar Dressing or Balsamic Dressings.

And chicken parmesan with fresh basil....so good...non-paleo yes but very good indeed ;)

So...How Does Your Garden Grow?