How Does Your Garden Grow? {June 19, 2012}

The deer are back...through the netting. I'm not kidding. They topped my carrots and chard and took some of my precious kale. Yes, that came out, precious kale. They have started moving in on my raspberry plants and I HAVE to get my sprinkler system out tomorrow if I hope to save anything. They ignored the "Deer Away" bells o' stinkiness. They bit one of my onions...and spit it out. Bah. Sprinkler. Tomorrow.

My beautiful and delicious Lacinato Kale. Best. Ever.

My potato plants have gone W I L D! I have piled them up twice and then they exploded. Now I think it is too late to attempt another level. Thoughts?

Summer Savory. Oh. So. Good. Grow some, you will love it.

Trapped, but safe. We are eating these red rubies of juicy goodness daily.

Peas are another daily treat. I head out in the morning with the kids and they head straight for the snap peas...until they see me at the strawberries.

I can't believe these have not been in my life every Spring. The scapes are incredible. Lil Miss picks very last one off her plate. Tonight we sauteed them with a little Soy Vay and a mix of greens. Heavenly.

How could I have ignored these curly-Q's that are such a treat? I was taking pictures of them. That's all. Thank goodness we finally started eating them. It does make me wonder, what else am I missing?

Seascape Strawberries. I will plant even more next year.

We went camping this past weekend and the Good Apple thought it would be fun to make s'mores tonight since we had leftovers. Chocolatey marshmallowy melty graham cracker treat was pushed aside for a red, ripe strawberry. Atta boy. Then he found that chocolate and strawberries are a delicious combination. Uh oh.

 

Before I leave, I have to mention my little giveaway for this awesome item:

Click here to find out more. reCap Mason Jar lids. Yes. They are oh so cool. Go on...click.

So...how is your garden doing? What are you eating these days? Have a marvelous Summer Solstice!

 

Cherries

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Truth be told, these aren't from my garden, but they were just SO seasonal and SO beautiful and SO tasty.  I just had to share.

Besides just eating them straight up from a bowl, what is your favorite cherry recipe?

How Does Your Garden Grow? {May 1, 2012}

First things first. It is my mom's birthday today. Happy Birthday Mom! When she comes up to visit, I am going to take her on the Island Artists Tour all day and buy her something special. She is an incredibly talented artist and she appreciates my photos (because she is my mom) so I posted more than usual for her this week. Love ya Mom!

Wow. This last week blew right by me. It feels like the planets are aligning for me in so many ways. My garden is green, green and green and there is growth beyond just the weeds. My strawberry plants are booming thanks to our net/caging system we set up. The garlic looks like a group of sentinels around the garden's edge sending off alarms to curious noses as if to say, "There is nothing here for you." My onion starts are starting to look a little stronger. The herbs I planted inside have all germinated. The sunflowers the Lil Man and I planted last week have germinated. Our artichoke plant has it's first artichoke and you would think there was a new baby in the family. We are mighty proud. We have had three meals with asparagus. THREE! The peas are starting to send their tendrils out to search for the lattice work. Lettuce and spinach greens are almost ready to start plucking (I planted the seed really thick so I could thin by picking those tender baby leaves). My tulips are up and they haven't been chomped thanks to some deer repellent I put out...divine intervention or blood meal?

I have to be careful though. It would be easy to wallow in the offerings these spring plants are bringing forth, but there is more planting to be done. A lot more. Squash. A whole lotta squash. And gourds. Busy busy busy.

For those of you who didn't see my FB post, I had a bit of a hiccup in the herb department. The post went something like this: Note to self: make sure the pen you are using is indeed a Sharpie and not a dry erase marker when labeling your Mason jars full of seeds. Awesome, right? Well lovies, I have taken photos of all of them and I will post the pics later this week so YOU can help me tell them apart. I might have to give something away to the person who comes the closest to naming them correctly. There are a couple I can easily distinguish at this point. A couple. Did I mention that there are 8 jars with tiny little shoots in them? Ha ha ha ha.


Here is the photo montage from this week and please be sure to tell me how your garden is growing!

artichoke

garlic

leafy green lettuce

lemon balm, right?

oregano

young spinach plants

pea tendrils

young lettuce shoots

double white tulips - I really love these

Parrot tulips - these are one of my favorite flowers in my garden

Have a wonderful week and get some dirt under those nails of yours!
Click here if you would like to see previous weeks of "How Does Your Garden Grow?"

Farmers' Market in pictures

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These Moments {the week in color}

Blackboard Piggy

Going the distance

Balloon

The bunny is back

Red

Beeswax and Honey

Silver Vision

 

These Moments {in color}

Our focus in the photo challenge this month has been color. Here are my moments from this week. Enjoy!

I can't wait to see your moments! Happy weekend to you.

 

These Moments {in color}

 

All photos are taken by Val Curtis and can be used with permission only.