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?

I'm A Potter Head....

No, no don't get the wrong idea folks.  I'm not smoking pot in my spare time nor have I ever. And yes I do like Harry Potter books and movies but not enough to qualify as a nutter...as of yet anywho ;)

My backyard last May (and yup that's my Baylee peeking thru the flowers lol)

I'm talking about potting plants. Its something I do every spring and I have a bajillion pots I make up for my front porch and back patio areas.  Nothing makes me happier than to see beautiful plants and blooms out every window.  That's what I miss most during the winter is all the color...I love the bright colors of red, greens, yellows, pinks and purples outside (along with the sun/heat of course)!

And I've wanted a potting bench forever y'all!

I love the ones in the catalogs but I'm not forking over big $$ for something I will

cover with dirt KWIM?

So I'm stalking my Habitat ReStore for a cool dresser I can paint a sunny color and use instead.

These pictures have inspired me and I don't think it would be too hard right?  A little help from the hubs with the pegboard area but the rest I can handle.

This is a cool one too....love the fun color and all the storage!  I want to spend under $100 total if I can and not sure I can get a whole hutch for that price at the ReStore.

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Love how they took out the drawers in this dresser for open storage and the picket fence for hanging!

This one is lovely too but I don't want to do that much building.  It was made with old doors and shutters which is a cool idea.  I couldn't find the original source for the tutorial if there was one though.

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And I love the idea of using it for a drink center...after a good cleaning of course ;)

Great for parties!

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And this one was too cute to not post...I love the additon of the Radio Flyer wagon.

And red & white are such fun colors for outside too!

Are you a Potter Head too??

Swinging From The Ceiling!

Happy TGIFriday...

I've got a project to share that will have you swingin' from the ceiling...or not LOL!

Today I thought I'd share a fun tutorial I found out on the ole' blogosphere. I want to make one as soon as I'm better and have the energy.  I've seen old chandeliers at Salvation Army and thrift stores for under $15-20 (doesn't matter if it works or not and if it doesn't work negotiate that price down) so this isn't an expensive project.  Take some spray paint, the pots you can get for $1-2 a piece and then your flowers.  I want to make one for under my cabana...too cute!

For all the directions and more pictures hop over to the DIY Showoff's Blog!

If you make one email me a picture because I'd love to see!

Now I'm taking the weekend off but will be back on Monday with a post as I promised in this post HERE !

(if you didn't see it) 

Have a great weekend!

Bloom Love!

I love flowers...tulips and hydrangeas are the TOPS with this gal though.  

Unfortunately I have NO tulips planted because our lovely squirrels have dug them all up TWICE now ugh.  I plan on planting some in my pots this fall though...so we shall see how that goes.  But I have hydrangea bushes all around my house and in all different colors.  This one in my front flower bed happens to be my favorite.  It has tripled in size since last year and was just full of beautiful blooms.  The one right next to it is soft purple-blue so they look so pretty together.  I have white snowball hydrangeas on the side of the house that are gorgeous too.  I have clipped a bunch and have them in my garage drying...love to use dried blooms on wreaths and in arrangements.

Gorgeous Yes?

Such a beautiful periwinkle color!

And a few for the kitchen table of course :)

What's your favorite flower??

Southern Staples!

Some Summer Yums!

To me summer OFFICIALLY begins when I have my first ripe tomatoes either from my garden OR the farmers market.  That is celebration time!  So I was so excited to see 3 large tomatoes ripened in my garden the other morning that I literally SQUEALED for joy!  There is something magical about the smell of tomato plants...I can't really explain it...but if you've smelled them before you know what I mean.  Smells green, clean and yummy!  Yeah I know you probably think I've lost my marbles but it IS one of my fave summer smells along with honeysuckle, cut grass and salty, ocean air.

Southern Staples

So if you're Southern (and perhaps if you are not) there are some sandwich staples you must use for tomato sandwiches.  Duke's Mayonnaise is #1...its the ONLY mayo I keep in the house...is it low fat? Heck no but I pretty much only use it for sandwiches so its ok and I don't like it dripping out of my sammie either.  Now some southerners use butter as well but I don't do butter on my sammies unless its a grilled sandwich.  Some ground pepper and a good, ripe tomato and WHITE BREAD...yup I said white bread.  I don't like Wonder Bread (slap my southern bum) but instead I choose Italian Bread as it has a bit more thickness to it but for me its gotta be SOFT!

Fresh is Best

I cut all my tomatoes with a tomato knife...if you don't have one, well you need one!  They are very thin with a serrated edge that cuts cleanly through the tomato, no smushing of the tomato gosh forbid.  My dad got them for me and my siblings years and years ago before I was even married...he knows how much we all love tomatoes.  Somehow I ended up with two...shhh not sure where the 2nd came from...but we use them A LOT!  You can find them in all styles and prices if you need one...I'd say you need one LOL...if ya asked that is!

Red Delicious Slices of Freshness

Mmmmm thick slices of tomato..I like thick slices on my sandwiches with a thin layer of mayo

on my bread.  Then some ground pepper on top...mmmmmm....looking good so far.

Look!  Its ready for MY mouth LOL!

So good I almost made a second one but instead made one for my son who loves them almost as much as me.  Hubby likes his with cheese...sometimes we add cheese or ham or both and sometimes we toast them.  So many varieties and all soooo good.  But the first 2-3 tomato sammies are PURE...just tomatoes, mayo and pepper for me thank you!

So just sharing one of favorite summer rituals with you!!

What's one of your favorite summer rituals?

A View From the Garden!

Treasures from my Garden

 This was a pic of my tomatoes before I went on vacation 2 weeks ago. Lots of green tomatoes all over my plants. 

This is what they look like now...another day and the large ones will be 100% ready.  I picked about 20 Cherry Tomatoes today for a fresh salad tonight...YUM!

 I grow my cucumbers UP/vertically so they don't take over my whole garden.  I picked two yesterday and this one is almost ready.  Looks like I may have about 50 blooms on these plants...that means I will be canning lots of PICKLES!!

 I planted more lettuce seeds before I left and this is what I came home to.  We had lots of rain so the lettuce just sprang up...will be using this in fresh salads and on sandwiches this week.

 I have 4 large zucchini plants and we've gotten 3 zucchinis off of it so far with many more growing...including the GIANT one below LOL!  I love grilled and sauteed zucchini.  I like to dice it up and saute it with some diced onion, salt/pepper and some red pepper flakes in olive oil.  Then top it with some mozzarella cheese...mmmmm good!

 Yes, Yes...that is a GIANT zucchini from my garden LOL!  I chopped it up and put it in foodsaver bags to use in zucchini bread real soon.  Those were some of the treasures from my garden when I got home.  A few radishes, a few tomatoes, lots of wax beans, lettuce and zucchini.

My zinnia seeds also sprouted up and frame the backside of my garden.  So pretty and good for keeping garden pests at bay along with my marigolds.  Organic pesticide I call them!! 

How's your garden growing?

Freshness Rules!

Let me count the ways that I LOVE fresh produce...fresh from the farmer's market is great...BUT fresh from MY garden is even better! The taste is 1000x better than what's bought at the stores that's for sure.  When we went to Maui a couple of years ago we were AMAZED at the different flavor bananas and pineapple had because they were off the tree fresh and soooo yummy!  I've always had a garden since I've been married, sometimes it was a container garden (when we lived in a condo) and sometimes it was a DEAD garden LOL due to lack of rain and us away on vacation.  But I've always tried to have a garden and shop at the farmer's markets during the summer as much as I can.

You could say my mom was farm-2-table-hippy-cool before it was "in style".  Growing up we had a HUGE garden and most of what we ate in the summer came from the garden.  My mom canned most things (pickles, corn, tomatoes, jams, etc) and made her own bread, yogurt...pretty much everything except meat/poultry/seafood.  Although we did live on an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay so fresh fish/crabs/oysters were...are...a way of life here thank goodness because seafood rules SUPREME in my book.  My mom still cooks like that...makes bread most days, is the most amazing baker in the whole wide world and has been going to the local Amish market for veggies & fruits since before I was born.  I was the girl in elementary school BEGGING my friends to bring me bags of Doritos or Oreos because I never got that in my lunchbox.  It was more likely to be pita sandwich with bean sprouts and something homemade like soup LOL.  I didn't appreciate it then but I DO appreciate it now...I never had all that processed junk entering my body at a young age.  And yeah I do keep some junk in my house nowadays but I'm careful most of the time about what I feed myself and my family.  But I learned if you totally forbid the junk your kids (and meself lol) will go searching it out more.  I just offer MORE healthy choices at meal times!

 

 

So this is my garden currently...its 16 feet by 5.5 ft and it gets sunlight for most of the day which all my plants seem to love.  I love having raised beds and I use organic soil and compost fertilizer on it (I will have more on my DIY compost container, hee).  I don't use any pesticides or chemicals in my garden, no sirreeee!  I have a plastic wire fence surrounding the garden that hubby created with an easy opening for me to get inside to weed, plant and harvest.  We have lots of bunnies, groundhogs and deer that like to nibble so I gotta protect it as much as I can...not to mention 2 doggies that like to dig in it oy!  So in the top garden I have only tomato plants with a few pepper plants and cilantro (and marigolds surround it to keep away bad buggies & deer).  I plant a variety of heirloom, large tomato and cherry tomato plants...peppers are green and jalepeno.  Then in the lower garden I have zucchini, cucumbers, different gourmet lettuces, radishes, onions, peas, wax beans and green beans.   As I go thru the lettuce I plant new seedlings, it grows quick and ensures that I will have lettuce thru the summer!  I'd really like to add one more bed to the garden for things like cabbage, cauliflower and larger veggies...shhhh don't tell the hubby because he's my builder and I know he will GROAN LOL...but I will plan it for NEXT year!!
**our neighbor's sprinkler system sprays in my garden most evenings so it gets watered for free hahahaha...thanks neighbors, I shall share some veggies with them**

I totally plan to can some things this year...I grew up watching my mom and I figure I can do it too.  So I bought all the "stuff" I needed and I have plans to do pickles, tomatoes and some jams with fruit from local farms.  So when I do that I will keep you in the loop...I'm sure it will be a series of mishaps and successes!!

These were some of the lettuces I pulled from the garden the other night...its a mix of different lettuces.  Fresh lettuce is soooo good, sweet and I could just sit and eat it plain...but what fun would that be right?  LOL!

So I decided to make a lettuce (from my garden), tomato (from farmer's market), mozzerella (from local farm) and balsamic dressing salad.  OMGeee it was so good we were fighting over it LOL.  I served it with roast chicken, parmesan risotta and semolina bread.  Our farmers market has a bunch of local farms at it and they sell everything from farm made honey, mushrooms, veggies to cheeses, dairy and meats.  I have to CONTROL myself to not over buy LOL because I want it ALL!  And best part is we know EXACTLY where it comes from and how it was made/grown/raised...so much better that way.

So the balsamic dressing is a Suzanne Specialty...lol...I've tweaked different recipes over the years to come up with my own version.  I've put it below for you if you want to try it along with some variations...my measurements are as close as I can approximate because you know I don't measure when I cook!  Enjoy!

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EDITED:  Here are a few pics of my DIY fence LOL...its cheap, it works and it was easy to create...well easy for my hubby to make ;)  Its plastic fencing from Lowes that comes in a large roll and is pretty inexpensive.  Then he bought bamboo poles and cut them all to a uniform  size and used plastic ties to attach the fencing to the rods tightly (you could of course use any dowels or wood poles for it too, we just like bamboo and its light).  We just stick them in the soil around the garden.  For the opening/gate he created a permanent hole in the ground using a plastic screw anchor in a large size...so the rod goes in neatly in the ground and is easy to pull out and put back when I want to get in with just a bit of overlapping on the fence.  He also nailed fencing to the wooden fence alongside the garden because those buggars will crawl right through the pickets into my garden and eat a good meal LOL!  So that's the fencing we use, its easy to install and inexpensive and we can add to it if we make the garden bigger at some point!

LINK UPS:

(I have a few more links to put up but both blogger & my Mac aren't cooperating...arghhh...will try in the morn)

The Shabby Nest

I'm linking this up at A Bowl Full of Lemons Linky Party!