Garden Archives - Page 3 of 3

Why Garden Weekends: Money

February 9, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 3 Comments

Okay, so… I had full intentions of doing “Why Garden Wednesday’s” all through the month of February to inspire you to start a backyard/balcony/windowsill garden this spring.

But, Wednesday came and went without a blog. I had been on the road for work, we had a major snow storm (again…), and I just wanted to spend sometime with this cute kid.

Sleepy dude.

Can you blame me?

Instead, welcome to “Why Garden Weekends!”

Spring is coming, even though it sure doesn’t seem like it in the Midwest, and every weekend in February I will be posting reasons on why YOU should start a garden.

So, without further adieu, Numero Uno, a reason top of mind for everyone: Money.

Last fall, I wrote as I reflected on the summer’s garden that gardening has definitely saved Adam and me a little cash. Thanks to the garden, I do not buy as a much at the grocery store and we are far less likely to go out to eat than we had been in the past. This is because we had so much food of our own to eat!

I have been seeking out garden workshops around Indiana to try to gain more knowledge and skill. At a program last September, put on by Purdue Extension, I picked up a flyer illustrating the benefits of gardening and the numbers listed for dollars saved. It’s impressive!

Home gardening gives you a 1:25 cost benefit.

This means, if you were to spend $50 on seeds you could produce over $1,200 of food.

Here’s a break down of a few items from our garden explaining what we pay and what we could be paying if we were to purchase them at a store.

Organic, Pasture raised Eggs:

Store Price: $3.50 per dozen

The chicks were $1 each and its $11 for feed every month. We get around 11 dozen eggs a month from our five hens. So, our eggs are about a $1.00 a dozen.

Organic Tomatoes:

Store Price: $3.00 per pound

One tomato plant can give you around fifteen pounds of tomatoes. You could buy a tomato plant for about $2.50. We started our tomatoes from seeds and were able to get twenty plants of various varieties about six bucks. So, a pound of our backyard tomatoes were a whopping two cents.

Organic Zucchini:

I thought this was a funny picture from last summer. Zucc’s the size of wine bottles!

Store Price: $3.00 per Pound

A packet of zucchini seeds is about $2.00. You could get about 10-15 zucchini plants per packet. Zucchini plants are like weeds. They just keep coming! We would get one zucchini from each plant about every day last summer. A typical plant will give you around nine pounds of zucchini each season.

We had six zucchini plants last summer making a pound of our zucchini about four cents.

Organic Cucumbers:

Store Price: $2.00 per pound

A packet of cucumber seeds is about $1 and could give you thirty plants. We planted four cucumber plants and got about three pounds of cucumbers per week per plant when we were harvesting, making well over thirty pounds of cucumber for the season. Our cucumbers were less than three cents a pound.

Organic carrots:

Store Price: $3.00 per pound

You have to sow carrot seeds directly into the ground. A packet of seeds is about $2.00 and you could yield at least thirty pounds of carrots from one packet.

We plan to plant many more carrot seeds next year. The taste of a backyard carrot versus a carrot from a bag of baby carrots in the store is amazingly different. It has so much more depth of flavor and at six cents a pound, why not?

When I start to add in our entire garden’s lettuce, broccoli plans, snap peas, strawberries, herbs, peppers, and more the savings really start to add up.

Money savings is one of the big reasons I enjoy sharing our garden stories. There are so many people in America struggling to feed their families, let alone feed their families well. Gardens help make this possible. The knowledge just needs to be shared. There are many groups around the nation such as Farm to School and Extension offices working to inform people the benefits of gardening and teach the skills needed.

Community and Urban Gardens are popping up in cities everywhere. And, SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan, participants can purchase seeds or plants from any SNAP retailer or Farmers Market. This is awesome because the participants can use the seeds to grow food that they normally couldn’t purchase… in large quantities, too!

Still not convinced a backyard garden is worth it? Tune is next weekend and we will talk about your health.

End of the Season and So Much More

November 2, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Autumn became a little aggressive last couple weeks bringing blustery wind, biting cold, and even flurries. Yuck.

This made me very glad that Adam and I had taken advantage of the sunshine the weekend before last and cleaned up the garden for the end of the season.

We tore out the remaining plants and tilled up the garden beds. All the herbs were pulled from their pots and composted; after trimming pieces we could still use.

Cleaning up a garden at the end of the season helps to make planting easier in the spring. You want to wait until the first frost, so that plants don’t grow back after removing them and trimming them back.

After a day of putting the garden to bed, I looked out at the empty piece of land.

It was hard to imagine that just a couple months ago that same spot was booming with life and vibrancy.

This brought on a little reflection.

The garden has given Adam and I so much more than produce. It has helped us grow. Learn. Expand who we are as individuals and together.

I read something somewhere that you should take time each day for your mind, body and soul.

And that is exactly what we did- without even knowing it- through this summer’s garden.

Mind

Outside of a pathetic attempt at green beans and a couple cherry tomato plants, Adam and I had never gardened before this summer. We learned so much.

We learned how things grow. How to take care of plants. The benefits of eating food from a backyard garden.

This learning made us want to know more.

We were open to new concepts. Tried new things. Created new recipes with our veggies.

We read. We researched. We attended conferences. We listened to old pros. We Googled and Youtubed.

As a strong, yet apathic student in my younger years, I don’t know if I have been so interested, engaged and excited about learning ever.

Body

First? The injuries.

Two bee stings. A sliced thumb when making cucumbers. One very, very bad sunburn when I thought it would be a good idea to pull weeds in a bikini top. And an unfortunate canning incident where boiling water poured down my right hand, branding the outline of my claddagh ring to my finger.

Don’t worry… Adam happened to make it out unscathed.

Second: A lot of people ask if we were doing it for the health benefits.

And I would be lying if I said, “No.” And we did see them.

We weren’t doing 4,000 calorie burning Cross Fit workouts, but we were outside and moving.

We didn’t feel like we were on a diet, but we were eating more vegetables than we had in the past.

I didn’t lose any noticeable weight, but I also didn’t gain any.

However, one thing that is fatter is our wallets. Grocery lists were shorter than ever. We also used to eat out at least once a week, but since June, we have maybe been out to eat just a handful of times.

Soul

Tonight, I told Adam I was writing this post and asked him what he would say the garden gave us. Without hesitation, he said, “It has changed who we are.”

I smiled, because I couldn’t agree more.

As an individual, I felt like I gained a stronger definition of myself.

Ten months ago I was a young woman who worked hard trying to develop her career and liked to be with her friends. You might have gotten “shopping” out of me if you asked about my hobbies.

Kind of superficial. Very on the surface. Pretty boring.

Now, not only do I love working hard, being with my friends, and shopping, but I can go so much deeper than that.

There is so much more that makes me… me.

I love to spend time in the garden, getting dirt under my nails. I giggle with I have a gaggle of hens following me around the yard. I get so excited create something delicious with the fresh food from the backyard and share it with my friends and family. I like to learn more about local food growers, sustainable and self-sufficient living. I seek out hyper local restaurants and opportunities to share this new found passion.

I looked at Adam, who clearly was thinking of nearly the same things I was, and said, “But you know what was so great about all of this? What was at the core of everything? We did it together.”

Adam lit up and nodded.

Hours were spent working alongside each other outside in the garden with no other distractions. We laughed remembering the chicks when they were clumsy, little fluff balls that could entertain us more than any episode of Big Bang Theory. And the evenings in early June spent in the garden together catching up and checking out the changes in the growing plants with a glass of wine are memories that we both will carry with us for the rest of our lives.

I don’t think we needed it, but the garden did make us closer. It made us stronger. It made us better.

And we both cannot wait to see what next year will bring.

Keeping Vampires Away

October 31, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween is the first Holiday that I really put up decorations since Adam and I got married two and a half years ago. We were in the process of building our home and lot of things were in boxes, not just decorations. It always seemed like too much energy to sort through everything and put them up in a place that was always temporary.

It’s fun to get a little festive.

… haha, ignore the fact that I am still in the market for some new knobs.

Something we also did recently that fits in with Halloween festivities, thanks to some old folklore, was plant garlic.

Let me rephrase that, we planted one hundred cloves of garlic.

Anyone we tell this to responds with something along the lines of, “Good God. Are you guys trying to keep vampires away?!”

Well, fortunately, we have not been too concerned about the threat of vampires. (… Phew!) But, it still made me curious to see where this connection between vampires and garlic was made.

Turns out it goes back far in history, but was made popular by the novel “Dracula” in the late 1800s when characters wore garlic around their necks to protect themselves from vampires.

The theory was used in real life as well and was based on the idea that vampires are symbolic of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes suck blood and spread diseases. One of the common diseases spread by mosquitoes is Malaria. Victims of malaria appear to be drained and suffer from anemia, much like eerie Dracula stories describe victims of vampire bites.

Garlic is often associated with longevity, good health and also happens to be a mosquito repellent!

This is why garlic would be worn, hung, or rubbed on doors, windows, chimneys, and keyholes… People felt as though they needed to repel vampires.

Like I mentioned, vampires have not been too much of a concern, but it could be because I cook with garlic nearly every evening.

Okay, so maybe it’s not the best thing to have on a first date, but it is so versatile. Garlic goes well in almost any dish. Asian. Mexican. Italian. You name it. Not to mention, Adam and I think it is delish.

I love this quote about garlic.

SO TRUE.

Thanks to our passion for garlic (… and five years together, making garlic breath a non-issue) we decided to plant the hard-neck garlic variety in the backyard. Hard-neck garlic grows best in cooler climates and it is also what I am most familiar cooking with.

When planting garlic, you want to plant in the fall so that the roots can develop before the winter. Plant only the large, plump cloves. The small inner gloves will likely not develop correctly.

Make sure your garlic bed will receive good sun and water.

Create three inch deep holes spaced eight inches apart and place the flat end of the clove down, pointy tip up, in the hole.

Cover the cloves with two inches of loose soil then about four inches of straw. The straw will help prevent damage from frost and cold weather to your growing bulbs. The straw will be pulled away in the spring.

In the spring, we will also thin the garlic and pull out every other when they begin to look like scallions. The bulbs will likely be harvested in late summer.

So, yes, it sounds crazy to plant one hundred cloves, but we will likely only get fifty bulbs. Which I am pretty confident we will be able to use.

And, if not?

We will use them to keep the vampires (and pesky mosquitoes) away.

Post done…! Time to go hang with some “Party Bones.”

It’s 95 Degree’s Out and I am Freezing…

July 17, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 3 Comments

For the last week or so we have had HUGE takes from the garden every day. While this is exciting, it’s also a tad overwhelming. I finally had the feeling of, “Oh, geez… How are we ever going to eat all this food?”

The baby shower was great timing last weekend because I was able to use plenty of produce from the garden. I made a big salad with the mixed greens and just had different toppings and dressings so people could make it their own. I also prepared this great cucumber salad we have already made multiple times this summer. It’s really simple to make and only requires a few ingredients. That’s always a win for me.

Recipe: http://www.takingonmagazines.com/cucumber-salad-from-all-you/

Another recipe that we made for the party is also a go to in the summer is this sautéed zucchini side dish. We have been making this recipe for two years now; I pretty much know it by heart. The flavors go together so well and compliment any meal.

… Sorry no awesome iPhone picture. But, there is one at this link to the recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Garden-Zucchini—Corn-Saute

Thanks to the bounty of produce accumulating on my counter top, I decided it was time to do some freezing. Freezing is a great way to preserve fruits and vegetables and is much simpler than canning. Frozen veggies are good for about twelve months.

Or, so I read.

I, of course, had never done this before, but it really didn’t seem too bad.

I started with snap beans because ours were towering and full of peas. I have been picking them for about two weeks. They make great additions to salads and even serve as a great snack with some hummus or without. The flavor of these peas has been incredible.

After work I spent about thirty minutes picking as many of the larger beans that I could find (…in the massive heat wave that is hitting the Midwest currently) I headed in to get to work in the kitchen.

I cleaned and snipped the end of the beans with a knife.

Next, I got everything set up to blanch the beans.

Blanching is when you heat up veggies and then quickly cool them to lock in flavor and nutrients. I actually had not blanched anything since lab courses in college, but it is, fortunately, really easy.

I set a pot on the stove top to bring to a boil, a big bowl full of ice and cold water, and a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. The beans were put in boiling water for two minutes. I then lifted them with a large straining spoon and dunked them into the ice water.

The instant they hit the water they turned a bight, beautiful green, just like I remembered would happen from that early morning lab. The beans were in the ice water for two minutes as well. I then strained them out and placed them on the cookie sheets. The paper towels quickly absorbed their moisture.

I repeated the process until my many snap beans were blanched and drying on the cookie sheets. I took another paper towel and pressed it on top of them to pick up any remaining water.

Next, you can put them directly into a ziplock bag to freeze or you can freeze them on the cookie sheets, then put them in ziplock bags after they had frozen. I choose the put them in the freezer on cookie sheets because it will prevent the beans from freezing stuck together.

I am so looking forward to using a handful of these summer beans throughout the winter in side dishes or stir fry’s.

Next, it was onto the zucchini. I thought I was in the clear with zucchini after the shower. I had sliced the nine zucchini’s I had in my kitchen to serve the crowd. After all that I was certain I wouldn’t have to worry about zucchini for little while.

Silly me…

Today- two days later- there were already six on my counter top.

You can blanch sliced or diced zucchini and it is great for stews and casseroles, but my poor little refrigerator ice maker needed to play catch up after the ice bath for all the snap beans. Maybe some other day.

Instead, I grated two zucchini’s and portioned them into ½ cup servings.

I wrapped each portion in saran wrap, put them into a zip lock bag, and placed them in the freezer. (Helpful Tip: Be sure to date and label whatever you freeze. This will help you out nine months from now when you cannot remember what you did today!)

This grated zucchini will be great for all sorts of baked goods, like zucchini cakes or muffins. I put them in half cup portions to make it easy to add to any batter. I was able to get eight cups out of two zucchini’s.

All in all, not bad and it really didn’t take too long. Now I can combat that feeling of panic that we will never be able to eat everything by knowing we will be eating from this garden all year long.

I already cannot wait to use these frozen items on a day in December, when I am feeling frozen myself, and remember how HOT it was today.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: The Untold Story.

July 11, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 2 Comments

Eric Carle’s “A Very Hungry Caterpillar” was a staple of my childhood. I loved the colorful illustrations and the little holes in the food items that the cute little, green caterpillar ate… but was still hungry.

Well, now that I am older, I know there are always two sides to every story.

And now that I am a gardener, I know that caterpillar was a pain in the ass.

About ten days ago, I noticed that my broccoli leaves had multiple holes in them and were not looking so great.

I showed the damage to Adam and he noticed tiny, green caterpillars on the leaves. They were so small and nearly the same color green as the leaf so it’s no wonder I missed them at my first glance.

Little Hungry Loopers.

We went inside to determine what they heck was going on. Adam looked up from Google and said, “They are cabbage loopers.”

“Okay, what do they do?” I asked.

“Eat the shit out of your plants,” he bluntly stated as his wide eyes scrolled image after image of damage these little buggers created.

And they did.

umm… YIKES.

The following morning it was ten times worse so I knew something needed to be done. I talked to a couple neighbors and they both (very ominously…) said, “Ohh. You going to need to get some Sevin.”

I looked up Sevin online-which I learned is not spelled like the number- and found plenty of information that made me realize this was not the product I wanted to use.

Directions for application instructed one to wear long sleeves, eye protection and a face mask to prevent breathing in the chemical. It also said to ensure that pets would not come in contact with the plants.

… And I was going to put this on something I was planning on eating? I don’t think so.

(I also read that it kills bees. I like bees. Bees are important… more on that later.)

So then I used searches like “eco-friendly” or “organic” removal/control of loopers.

A site said just to remove the loopers from the leaves and step on them.

Well… this worked for about, oh… let’s see… ten minutes. They blend in with the big green broccoli leaves so well it was like your eyes would play tricks on you. There were tons. Not to mention, it was hot. And the wormies were nasty. This method made Sevin sound pretty good.

Trying to pick off the loopers. Hard, boring, hot work.

So, back to the search engines. The chemical Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (BTK) was recommended and used by many organic gardeners. Even with the use of BTK the produce is still considered organic.

I had to hunt a bit for this chemical, but finally found it at a home improvement store. It was made by a company called Garden Safe and was even labeled for Organic Gardening. Less than ten bucks later I was on my way home and the looper’s days were numbered.

The chemical was in concentrate form so I combined with water in a spray bottle. I spritz the solution on to the leaves and their undersides.

That was ten days ago and we have not seen a looper since.

So, in the end of this bedtime story, the very hungry caterpillar died. But, the very savvy gardener was able to pull three great looking broccoli heads from her garden this evening.

Pinteresting Veggies.

June 26, 2013 by theblogbloom.com Leave a Comment

Written June 19, 2013

It’s pretty safe to say that I am obsessed with Pinterest.

But, if loving Pinterest is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

It’s is so handy and I actually use it… a lot.

Like look at this great wreath I made for the Fourth of July last week.

It is based on this image I found on Pinterest that links to:http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2011/07/red-white-and-blue-wreath-idea.html

It was a great resource when building and decorating our new house.

We used this room as inspiration for our master bedroom.

The photo came from: http://ashleeraubachphotography.blogspot.jp/2011/04/alison-royer-interior-designer-belmont.html

I love our beautiful master bedroom. It is the perfect combination of romantic and relaxing.

I also loved this idea to save counter space and use planter baskets for produce.

I got my planters from Hobby Lobby. These are from http://www.store.willowhouse.com/

It works great in our house as fresh fruits and veggies are the norm.

Last year we hosted a Baby-Que, inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, for one of Adam’s fraternity brothers and his wife when they were expecting this first son. I made these fun labels for the barbeque sauce to stick with the Baby-Que theme.

The mild sauce was called “Mild Child Sauce.” The hot barbeque sauce said, “Oh Baby! That’s Hot Sauce!” And then we got a super-hot sauce that we called “Screaming Hot Temper Tantrum Sauce!”

I am always looking for new ways to work out so that I don’t get bored. Pinterest is full of links to health magazines or youtube videos. Like this one for your arms by Tracy Anderson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=4dQOBbLnk7o
It is awesome because it doesn’t require any equipment. Consider yourself warned, it’s only eight minutes but it’s killer!

My new favorite thing to do is Barre workouts and Pinterest is full of them. I just use a kitchen chair to serve as my “barre” so I can do them at home. I love a work out that doesn’t require shoes!

… I told you I use it a lot. 🙂

But what I love most about Pinterest the recipes and how it has introduced me to so many new food blogs. Before Pinterest, I would Google things like “Chicken Recipes” or “Party Dips” and have to sort through all kinds of links. Now I have pin boards full of recipes or I can visit a cooking blog that I have learned to love.

Some of my favorite cooking blogs that I have found on Pinterest are the following:

SkinnyTaste.com: She includes all the nutritional information for her recipes, including Weight Watcher’s points. I have made a ton of meals from this site. The Asian recipes are all phenomenal and she loves spicy stuff!
http://www.takingonmagazines.com/: This woman makes recipes from popular cooking magazines and cook books, reviews them and lets you know if something should be changed. It’s really nice because she also describes the process. It helps to know what you are getting into!
(Speaking of magazines, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Real Simple and Cooking Light are also the home some of my favorite Pinterest recipes.)
iowagirleats.com/:I literally feel like I am friends with Kristin, the author of this site, because I am on it at least once a week. Like me, she is a young wife in the Midwest. She posts great recipes, stories from her worldwide travels (I hope to use some of her Napa tips soon as I am dying to go.), and running workouts (I-unfortunately- don’t use these… remember, I like workouts that don’t require shoes.).

I came across a Spinach and Risotto recipe from iowagirleats.com on Pinterest just as the spinach and the basil in the garden were ready for a harvest.

Tomatoes also play a starring role in this recipe, but ours are nowhere near ready so I had to opt for some on the vine tomatoes at the grocery. (Grown in a greenhouse in Canada… I cannot wait for my real garden tomatoes.)

Kristin posted this risotto in February, because risotto is known to be a heavy, creamy dish. Perfect for a winter night. But, with all my basil and spinach ready to go, and the fact that it looked delicious, I figured it could be great any time of year.

My mom used to make risotto from time to time, so I knew that it can be a tedious process. She would often have me or one of my siblings posted up at the stove top stirring the rice as she would swing by every five minutes or so and pour in more broth as we stood spinning a spatula around and around.

Kristin suggests you get a TV show going on your iPad. I suggest you have a wine bottle within arm’s reach because you will be there for a bit.

It took me about 45 minutes to completely cook the rice. I actually used Chicken Broth that we had in the freezer made from skinnytaste.com. Another one of my favorite blogs listed above.

Adam loves to make this broth in the crock pot. He says it is the most flavorful broth ever and it’s true. Plus, it beats buying broth at the store that is jam-packed full of sodium. (Culinary Side note: In simplest terms, broth is just from chicken meat; stock is from bones and meat.)

Spinning risotto, just like in my childhood!

As I added the last scoop of broth, I also put in the spinach and basil. When we harvested the spinach and basil we were sure to snip the plant close to the stem. We use a pair of garden shears.

Adam washed and dried the spinach and basil. The recipe called for torn basil and I could smell the enchanting smell of basil the instant he tore through the first piece. Both of us gushed in unison. A smell so distinct that it brings back memories of summers and delicious meals of your past. You can’t beat it.

Beautiful Basil

Garden veggies added to the risotto.

We sat down to our meal couldn’t stop talking about how great it was. And what was really great was that most of the ingredients were things that we typically have at the house, especially in the summer these days.

And what was really, really great about this dish was the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Link to iowagirleats.com Spinach and Basil Risotto: http://iowagirleats.com/2013/02/18/tomato-basil-spinach-risotto/
Link to skinnytaste.com Chicken Broth from the Crock Pot: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/homemade-chicken-stock-from-your-crock.html

PS- Follow me on Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/vaclaire13/boards/
I love to put notes on the recipes I make so you can see recipes that work well and pass on those that don’t.

Oh, Deer.

June 26, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 10 Comments

Written June 17, 2013.

So, remember how I wrote about the huge, beautiful heads of lettuce just a few days ago? Remember that photo of all the green heads of romaine?

Here’s are a photo to remind you:

Yeah, it now looks like this:

Not Pretty.

They were attacked by a deer overnight. They ate the Caesar Lettuce Heads, the Romaine Lettuce Heads, Strawberries and even my cute, yellow squash.

I was so upset. So, I started asking our family and friends how to combat this animal.

Adam joked that he could shoot it, but he didn’t want to make that news for poaching deer. Yeah, that wouldn’t be good. No thanks.

One of his friends joked we could “accidently” hit it with a car. I have done that before on an icy road, without a doubt by accident. It’s scary and expensive. No thanks.

I didn’t want to hurt this deer; I just wanted him to get out of my garden.

A neighbor, after a couple of beers, suggested using pinwheels. Pinwheels?! That seemed a little far-fetched and possibly alcohol infused (…?), but I guess at this point it wouldn’t hurt to try.

The next day, my sister-in-laws and I were relaxing at Adam’s parent’s home for Father’s Day. She was reading a home magazine that happened to have tips in keeping deer away from gardens.

The first tip was to construct a fence at least 10 feet high. This one made me laugh. Um, no.

The next was to use human hair. This one made me gag. Um, no.

The next was to get stakes and tie on plastic ribbon on it. The ribbon blows in the wind creating noise. This one got me thinking. Maybe creating sound like a pinwheel?

The next idea was to use repellent sprays. I was kind of wary about sprays as I wanted to try to keep this garden as natural as possible. Aimee, Adam’s oldest sister worked at a nursery in high school, said that they used to spray a repellent to keep deer away. She said it stunk, but it worked. The repellent wasn’t sprayed right onto the plants, just around the border.

So, today I hit the stores. I could not find pinwheels anywhere. I was shocked. I figured with the Fourth of July just around the corner I would be able to find at least some patriotic pinwheels. (I knew they might have looked silly. But if it worked, I was fine with the silliness.)

In defeat, I went to a garden supply store to look at the repellents.

There I found Liquid Fence, an eco-friendly spray that would not harm animals. The ingredients listed mainly eggs and garlic, just like some of the sprays listed in the magazine. This scent is unattractive to deer and rabbits, keeping them away from gardens and landscaping.

I figured at this point it was worth a shot. I purchased the bottle and sprayed it around the perimeter of the garden. I did get a whiff of the spray at one point, and PHEW! It did stink.

But, so far, it works!

(I still plan to stock up on pinwheels if I ever see them.) 🙂

“Lettuce” Eat Well.

June 26, 2013 by theblogbloom.com Leave a Comment

Written June 12, 2013

When I returned home from Virginia I found that I had a totally different garden. Thanks to the care of my lovely husband, the plants were so much bigger, fuller, and flowering to show that produce was coming.

Adam tending our growing, green garden.

Peas were climbing.

The cabbage was huge and full of color.

The carrots and green onions finally looked like they were doing well.

The tomatoes were so full and looked strong in their cages.

Zucchini’s were budding and I even had a cute, little squash growing!

Yayyy!

Even the chicks had grown up! No longer little, fluffy adolescents, but now resembling real chickens. Their feet were so different; they were huge!

But the biggest change had been in the lettuce. It was big, beautifully green, and ready to harvest.

Trio of Greens!

That night we opted for some fresh romaine on the side of dinner. I snipped one of the largest heads of lettuce close to the base but not directly on the ground. Cut here, the lettuce will continue to grow so that we can use romaine from this head again. To cut the lettuce, I actually used shears that I received at a flower arranging class at West Elm. (Tons of fun and really informative! I can keep fresh flowers in my house going for nearly two weeks now. Check out your store. They typically do events once a month or so.)

Once I had enough for Adam and me, I headed inside. There I rinsed each head very well in the sink, tore the leaves into bite sized pieces and tossed them into the salad spinner.

I placed a couple handfuls of the romaine in bowls and topped it with a chopped tomato, a little crumbled feta, and a splash of balsamic dressing.

It was the perfect complement to our steaks.

As we took our first bites of the homegrown lettuce, Adam exclaimed, “It taste like lettuce!” I laughed. Umm, yeah? “I just was nervous. We have never done this.”

True.

But, not only did it “taste like lettuce,” it had a fabulous flavor. And knowing that it came straight out of our yard and had never been in contact with any chemicals or processing made it even better.

So, what’s in our Garden?

June 24, 2013 by theblogbloom.com 1 Comment

Written May 28, 2013.

Strawberries– Adam’s favorite. They probably won’t be that great until next year as they are a spring plant. However, the deer beg to differ. They seem to like the big strawberry leaves coming out of the ground. We are lucky there have not been more casualties with the other plants around the strawberry bed thanks to their hoofs and appetites. And, the deer are very lucky that it is not deer season, or else they would be seeing more casualties on their end thanks to my shot gun bearing, camouflage wearing husband.

Please note the deer tracks.

Spinach– We could eat spinach every night. We were able to transplant eight spinach plants that we started from seeds. We bought eight more from the store that had been started and transplanted them into the ground.

Caesar, Iceberg and other Lettuces

Cabbage and red cabbage– These plants are doing so well. They were one of the first plants we transplanted into the ground.

Broccoli– Another hardy plant that is thriving.

Zucchini and Squash– Since transplanting these plants have never looked 100%. Their leaves have gone from green to yellow and back to green again. I really hope these plants take off because I love zucchini and squash on the grill. Adam’s also a huge fan of chocolate zucchini cake. Yes, I am that sneaky wife who hides veggies in dessert. Just wait ‘til we have kids.

Peas and green beans– We tried to grow green beans a couple years ago and maybe got one serving out of our plants because it was so dry. Hoping for some better luck- and weather- this year.

Carrots– We planted these straight into the ground and have not seen anything happen since. I really hope there is some magic going on under ground…

Green onions– These were planted right into the ground and look great. I am so happy because this is the best addition to any stir-fry or Mexican dish.

Cucumbers and pickle cucumbers– This is my favorite vegetable. I cannot wait to see how they do. So far, it’s not bad, but that deer has made some close calls with his feet.

Peppers– Currently, we only have sweet and poblanos. Great, yes. But, I need jalapenos. For salsa, chili, appetizers, etc. etc! When I purchased the large amount of seeds at the home and garden store back in early April on packet was sucked under the conveyer belt. At that point, I probably had fifty seed packets so I wasn’t even going to try to begin to figure out which one was missing. But, it was my beloved jalapenos.

Tomatoes– The definition of summer in my book. We have roma’s, cherry, better boys, and best boys. I love a good, August tomato. With all these tomato plants we hope to give canning a good try. (… Things I have never done before. I am already a little nervous.)

Herbs:

All the herbs are in their own planters as herbs have a way of taking over if they are not contained.
We have basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, cilantro, and rosemary.

Potting soil really brings out the color in my mani.

I am sad because the rosemary is not growing like I wish I would. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. It is great for chicken, vegetables like carrots or asparagus, and even makes good kabob skewers for some extra favor.

I planted a tomato plant with the basil because I read that, if planted together, they help fight off bugs. So, it’s an experiment.

The parsley and cilantro did great in the starter kits, but I must have sent them into a little shock when they were transplanted into larger planters. The cilantro started to turn a little pinkish purple, which I read was a sign of stress. I am hoping they get used to their new homes. I would think they would have loved the extra root-room. But, as always, you learn something new every day.

My stressed out cilantro. Any one else have ideas on why it’s turning red?

Oh, and I can’t forget our chickens! We have twelve birds that made the move to their beautiful coop that Adam built in late May. The coop is about eight feet by eight feet with a little door so the chickens can roam in about a thirty foot long fenced in area. We still are not 100% sure how many egg layers we will have as they won’t lay eggs until October or November. At this point we are pretty sure we have about four boys. They are getting little crown combs on the top of their heads. And definitely have a stronger, more seeming to be testosterone fueled demeanor.

It’s a boy…?

I never thought I would say this, but we LOVE the chickens. They are a lot of fun to watch and have been pretty simple to take care of.

Adam could watch the birds for hours.

In fact, we love everything about this garden. We were afraid when planning it that we might be getting in over our heads. But, so far (knock on wood), it’s been enjoyable work and it’s really neat to see things change every day. Most nights, Adam and I catch up over a beer or a glass of wine as we walk through the garden. Sure beats sitting in front of the TV!