Sharing Garden Pictures: First Fruits 2011

Strawberries are so super easy to grow; just be sure to give them plenty of room because they spread a lot every summer.  That is chocolate mint in the picture as well.  I decided to let it run like a weed in our herb bed and I have not regretted it.  This chocolate mint seems both the sweetest and tastiest of the mints, and it also seems happier and more lush in my garden than regular peppermint or spearmint.

Speaking of strawberries by the way, I have recently discovered how easy it is to make chocolate covered strawberries, and this has been our favorite sweet treat this spring.  To make them, I just empty a cup or so of semi-sweet chocolate chips (not Nestle!) into a glass measuring cup and melt them in the microwave.  On my microwave, this takes 3 30 second cycles (stir between each 30 second nuking).  Then you just dip the berries in he smooth melted chocolate and set them on wax paper.  Stick them in the refrigerator to chill; it really only takes a few minutes for the chocolate to harden.  Share them with someone you love, and enjoy!  Strawberries are loaded with healthy goodness, and dark chocolate has antioxidants and bromine and other good stuff for your heart....so I consider these to be a health food and we enjoy them often without guilt!

These blueberries are of the Emerald variety.  We bought four varieties of blueberries in the fall, and this variety has the largest berries.  I wonder how long they will take to turn blue!

Husky Cherry Tomatoes.  I know some folks in more northern latitudes may feel amazed to see our tomatoes fruiting already, but please realize that it gets so hot here that our plants peter out (at 10 feet tall, sometimes) usually in late July, and then we will have no fresh tomatoes until late September or so, if we plant a second crop. It looks like this year I might succeed in having lettuce and tomatoes to harvest together.  This is hard to do here as it is quickly too hot for the lettuce, which bolts to seed.  Last year they almost missed each other- tomatoes seem to take a while to ripen and as the first tomatoes were ripening on the plants, the lettuce was starting to bolt.  I think we got one big salad for a party, and then the lettuce was done just as the tomatoes got started.  This year I planted some lettuce later than usual, chose an all-season mix, and knock on wood, we should have a few weeks of lettuce and tomatoes harvested together for salads.

These are a variety of Passionflower that do not fruit, unfortunately.  But the flowers are amazing and the vines seem happy and want to run rampant in this hot and humid climate.

I hope to make time for a fun sewing post soon.  Until then, Happy Growing!

Spring Gardening

It's March already, and as we live on the warm Gulf Coast, our garden is already planted.  We are still waiting to see our zucchini and squash seeds break through the ground, but most everything else is up.  I planted a lot of heirloom tomatoes and pepper seeds, as well as quite a few hybrid peppers, too, in pots in the garden, but we also bought some seedlings from the garden center.

Here is the hot pepper patch so far:

There are Cayenne, Hot Bananas, Mammoth Jalapenos, and something known as "world's hottest," I think those are Habaneros.

And here are the sweet peppers so far, 3 each of green. yellow, and red:

There is space in between them for the seedlings I am growing, mostly a carnival mix of many colors of bells, along with my favorite heirloom, Chinese Giant.

And the tomatoes are on the other side in this garden.

So the back 10x12 garden will be full of tomatoes and peppers this year (and basil), and what was the pepper and tomato garden last year now has zucchini and squash, zinnias, black beans, garlic, sunflowers, chard, sequoia beans, and will have corn and eggplant (and more zinnias).  I am not showing pictures of that garden because it is just coming up (except for the garlic, which is a foot tall already).  It also is littered with leaves.  There is a Live Oak tree in my side yard that sheds its leaves in spring right onto that garden.  Since we planted the seeds we are having to hand pick the leaves frequently so that the seedlings do not get smothered.  This little garden is fenced in, though, so we are about to run a screen over the top and eliminate this problem.

I haven't planted luffa or pole beans yet, as we want to build a new trellis for these.

I did take some pictures in the herb bed.  The echinacea is up.

And here is a comfrey emerging:

This other comfrey is hardier and leafed out already:

The bee balm sure has spread and is looking nice.  I hope it will finally flower this year; I have had lovely flowers from bee balms in other yards, but it has not flowered at this address yet.  Bee balm is also known as Oswego Tea, by the way, and the strangely shaped flowers are really interesting.  I think it likes more shade than it gets in my yard.

The stevia is up and growing; it grows really tall and flowers; I want to better about using this herb (for sweetening tea) this year.

Oregano, one of a couple clumps in the perennial bed:

Lemon balm, aka Melissa:

The pineapple sage has not yet come back!

Pineapple Sage is my favorite herb in this garden, and we have been growing it here for 4 years; last year it was a huge bush with at least a 5 foot diameter all around, including tall.  It is the last thing to flower in the winter, and so I am thinking it is late to come back...but I read last year on the internet that sometimes they just don't come back, and so we are worried.  We bought a new one just in case:

Look how much blueberry flowers look like blueberries!

Here are my zinnias.  I planted a ton of them in pots to put in the garden later.  They are also springing up as volunteers in 2 of the three gardens and I haven't pulled any yet.  I love zinnias :)

And here is a surprise.  We have been shocked by this Gerber Daisy, which has not seemed very happy since we bought it a couple or more years ago.  It seems happy now:

That looks like summertime to me, but I took the photo today!
What are you planting in your garden this spring?

Rosemary Flowers

Our Rosemary is flowering now. 

 

If you don't have Rosemary growing at your house yet, it should be easy to find young plants at your local garden center right now.  Rosemary is one of my favorite plants to grow, as well as a favorite herb; we love it so much we named our dog Rosemary! 

They are easy to grow and thrive in full sun.  They tolerate humidity better than many other herbs, as they are used to growing near the sea.  A Rosemary bush will grow as tall as man, but not taller, according to a legend that centers around Christ.  This particular bush has been growing for us for four years now, and it was a couple or more years old when we bought it in a large pot; this is the first year that it has completely flowered.  We had small smatterings of blooms over the last two years, but this year it has blooms covering the whole bush.  Even if you don't have a garden, you ought to grow a Rosemary.  They will do well in pots outdoors, as long as they have plenty of room for their roots.  If your temps go down below 0, not just freezing, then you will want to grow it in a pot and bring it inside or somewhere protected to overwinter.  On the Gulf Coast, where we live, they are hardy and stay green all year.
Once you get some, besides cooking with it (it's particularly good with chicken, green beans, or potatoes), you can also use it to make things like flea dip for your dog, hair rinses for extra shine, and skin cleansing products.  Here is my recipe for facial toner/ astringent made with this herb and strawberry leaves.

Luffa / Loofah Gourds: The Best Dishscrubbers You Can Grow

I probably won't be loom knitting anymore dishscrubbers, lol, because we have a huge harvest ready of Loofahs.   Many folks don't know Luffas are vegetables.  You can eat them if you harvest them when they are small (I want to try them for making bread), but if you let them grow on the vine, they will mature into fat vegetable sponges, which you can slice and use to scrub dishes (they work wonderfully on pots and everything else), or to give yourself (or a loved one) a vigorous scrubbing.  This could remove all kinds of toxins and impurities that might otherwise stay in your skin!  *You can just throw them in your washing machine to get them clean, too.*

Loofahs are wonderfully easy to grow, although they need a strong trellis or support.  Mr. Green built that lovely 12' foot trellis this year using 4x4s, a shovel, wooden lattice, and nails and screws.  But I have grown loofahs once before on a wooden swing support, or a fence could work fine, too.

Luffahs can be washed right in your washing machine!

The flowers are large and attractive.

When I grew these years ago, I followed instructions I found online that said to leave them on the vine until the sponges and vines turn to brown at the end of the summer.  I did this, and it worked.  But this year, I read further online, and decided to start harvesting these as they just start to lighten and discolor on the vine.  This is much preferable to me because they are much easier to peel when still partially green.  I just harvested them and then sat them on a table outside for only a day or two, turning occasionally.  Then I whacked them a few times against a step.  This loosened the skin, and even cracked it open in places....the sponges are then VERY easy to pull out of the skin, which just peels away.  When I did this with already fully dried brown sponges, it would flake away into lots of tiny pieces that had to be scraped off and peeling them took a lot longer.

But this way they are still wet and sappy, so you have to use a strong jet from the hose to wash them out really well, shaking out seeds.  Then I put mine back on the table outside to dry a few days, again, turning occasionally.  As I said, you can then slice them into about 3" slices (or whatever you prefer) to use in the kitchen, or use a whole sponge for the shower or bath.  You can also stuff one into a clean, empty pringle's can and then fill it with melt and pour soap to harden inside.  Once the soap has cured, you simply peel away the pringle's container and slice the scrubby soap into bars.  I would like to make some of these for Christmas gifts this year again, too.

I snapped a red zinnia, too, in the garden just now.  I planted these Scarlet flame Zinnias from seed and now they are nearly 6 feet tall.  There is a hummingbird or birds who are loving these; I see them often these days.  Zinnias are my favorite flowers, I think, mostly because they grow so well for me.  Besides the red, my favorites have been candy cane striped ones this year.  I think I planted only 3 different zinnia seed packets and that has been enough for as many bouquets as I would want in my house, as well as enough to continually share bouquets with several neighbors, the teacher, my mom, etc.

 
I hope you all have a nice day!

Quick, Easy Upcycled Vase Idea (with Zinnias)

Here is a SUPER quick and easy gift to make without sewing a stitch:

My mom did me a big favor today, and so I cut her a bouquet of zinnias from my garden.  I picked up several glasses like this at the Goodwill outlet for a dime a piece, and I figured one would work just fine as a vase.  But it sure did look plain, so I grabbed some scrap felt and my glue gun.  I just pinked the edges of a pink felt strip to glue around the glass, and decided that here again was a perfect place to use one of these felt flowers.

I have made probably several dozen of these felt flowers, and attached them to barrettes, hair bands, pins, a bag, and now a vase.  I made them from red felt and made the petals a bit pointier, and made them look like poinsettias, which I glued on lapel pins to make "corsages" for the ladies at Tall Sprout's school, last year for Christmas.  I think this vase would look nice with blue felt around the glass, and poinsettias like this....and that this would make a thoughtful, sweet gift for a teacher or neighbor, or anyone.  These can be used as votive holders, for candles, when you don't have flowers for the vase.

If you don't already grow Zinnias in your garden, I really recommend it.  Zinnias grow easily from seed, come in many colors, and can withstand drought and extreme heat.  Our heat index has been 199 every day for at least a month, and many plants in the garden kinda poop out about this time of year, but the zinnias stand tall and happy and are flowering profusely.  I didn't plant more than a packet worth of seeds (I planted parts of several packets, for color variety), but I have had enough zinnias this summer to keep several vases always full in my house, and have shared bouquets with several neighbors, and now my mom.

You don't have to have a green thumb or much garden space at all to grow zinnias.  They are for certain my favorite annual flower to grow, because they are so prolific and their beautiful flowers make me happy when I see them in the garden or the vase.  And I LOVE having flowers to share, so they can make loved ones happy as well.

I am linking this easy upcycle at The T-shirt Diaries, for Upcycled Awesome this week; head over there for lots more creative upcycle ideas! Here is the button that will take you there:

Portrait of an Herb: Echinacea

I want to showcase some herbs for you here on these pages.  The idea for this series started with pineapple sage, our favorite plant in our gardens.  There is not a lot of information available online about this plant.  There is almost no information about its medicinal properties (which are important and strong) and nowhere have I seen this plant properly praised.  We are waiting on it to flower before I showcase that herb.  But our echinacea is starring right now in our medicine garden, and so this is the herb I have chosen to showcase in installment one of my series "Portrait of an Herb."  These essays will include uses and growing conditions and culture for important medicinal herbs.  

I am happy to tell ya'll that Yahoo! has just bought the right to publish the first of this series of herbal portraits. 

 Read it at Associated Content
 Portrait of an Herb: Echinacea in the Perennial and Medicinal Garden
Please and Thank You!

Mr. Green bought me that solar butterfly as a gift, for Mother's day in the first year of that garden.  It changes colors at night, and we love it so much that he has now bought a total of three of these for our gardens. He would have gotten more if they hadn't sold out. But they are available again now at Amazon, so you can order one of these whimsical accents for your garden, too.




 Portrait of an Herb: Echinacea in the Perennial and Medicinal Garden

Today's harvest

Those are asparagus beans, which are just beginning to produce.  I measured one; it was 19 inches long!  Also pictured are our very first cayenne to turn red yet this year.  There are 30+ long, still-green cayenne in the garden, as we are growing nine of these pepper plants this year. Other peppers pictured include red hot cherry, hot bananas, mammoth jalapenoes, an anaheim chili, and some sweet bells.  Those are also the first ichiban eggplants we have pulled off the plants and the largest onion we have harvested yet.  I had to cut back the basil heavily today, as they are already wanting to flower, after which they will be too strong to eat.

We made salsa last night and so started with an empty bowl this morning; this was harvested today.

We are so thankful for and blessed by our garden, which is not particularly large (our 2 vegetable beds encompass approximately 250 square feet).  We didn't have a lot of experience when we started our first garden together, and we have never used any chemicals in growing our food.  We love gardening and know that it is easy and so much fun and we really encourage everyone to grow pure, clean, healthy and organic food.

Here is a great reference to get you started:

We have learned a lot from this author, use a lot of his methods, and refer to his book regarding spacing requirements and organic fertilizers and other things.  We do not adhere strictly to the square foot method, nor is it necessary in order to learn lots from this book.  This is definitely the first book I recommend to anyone interested in beginning vegetable gardening.

We are going to make our special garden recipe "Irish Flag Chicken Chili" with much of today's harvest tonight.  I will be posting the recipe later.

Welcome to my new home online...

This is my first blog, and I will be learning as I go.  I am moving in now and hoping to get comfy quickly.   Helpful comments are welcome if you see something I should be doing differently!

I will start with a picture, our harvest from today:

(blurry photo removed!)

it's blurry because i have A LOT to learn about digital photography. For now, i am just happy to be able to share.

I wanted a sweet bell pepper in that picture, and in our dinner. But these are destined to be orange bells, and my sweet gardening guy admonished me to please leave them to turn on the plant.

I tried to show you all FIVE of the fruits growing closely together, but look how i focused on the one i wanted for dinner....

and speaking of dinner; it is time to get on that. I will be back soon.