We've Been Busy

Bubba is "deschooling" and so is momma. We've been busy ... good days, bad days, Tartan Days, building garden days, sensory days, soccer days, lunch break days, filling garden days, experiment days, lots of days [not blogging].

The fruits (er, vegetables) of my labor

When I came back from vacation, there was a handful of green beans left and a surprise zucchini.



The zuke doesn't look as nice battered and fried, but it tasted damn good!



The garden did not die while I was gone, though the vines took over since no one was around to keep them in line.





Tomatoes are on their way.



Something likes the broccoli. Yes, that is a broccoli plant!



Beets, carrots, lettuce.







Moosie approves of the carrots.



I couldn't bare to throw away the carrot greens just yet, so they became the inspiration behind an impromptu flower arrangement.

How does your garden grow?

We've got tiny bean sprouts now, probably ready to harvest when we are ON VACATION! Ugh. But I did collect the arugula this afternoon and had some nice greens in my wrap. Rachael Ray would be proud; she likes her some arugula. Time to cut the Green Ice lettuce as well...so at least I'll have eaten something besides radishes before leaving the tendering (and eating) to our neighbors while we're gone.

Some of the cucumbers and one of the pumpkin plants has grown like 2 feet in a week. I have a lot of pretty herbs growing, and a basil plant that is the size of a large Mum! I think I could smell basil all day long... mmmmmmmmmm.

Even so, all I can think of is the new Thin Mint GS cookie Blizzard at DQ. If it's even half as good as the Edy's packaged version, I am all over it.



The flowers don't really show up on the cell phone pictures, but, I really enjoy sitting on the porch surrounded by them drinking a beer with Hubby when he gets home from work. That's our new summer tradition. I like it. Back in the day I was adamant that we wouldn't have beer in our fridge, since I didn't want the husband in the recliner drinking a beer kinda marriage. Instead I got the husband hunched over the computer/cell phone with only his mouse/keypad hand moving kinda marriage...


Last week








This week

First Harvest

After a month of growing, I harvested the first crop of the season...RADISHES! I was so proud, pulling the little purple-red roots out of the ground, cleaning the greens and the root, and then preparing them into something possibly edible.

The thing is, I don't particularly like radishes. I wouldn't choose to buy them at the grocery store. But I decided to plant them since Hubby likes them and I had heard they were pretty fail-safe, so I had a good chance of growing something successfully my first year.

I googled "radish recipes" and "radish green recipes", and came up with radish salsa and pickled radish greens. Radish salsa good, pickled radish greens nasty!

The radish salsa had a little lime in it and I was also able to use some fresh mint from the garden.



The pickled radish greens didn't even taste good with the soy sauce the recipe recommended. I did put some fresh greens on my sandwich, and that worked out nicely.



Hubby has yet to cease teasing me on how proud I am of my little garden. I am not sure if he appreciates me bombarding him at the door when he comes home with: "Eat these radishes, eat them, eat them, EAT THEM!!! I grew them, you must eat them. Now."

I am thinking my garden has too much nitrogen since I have the "mostly green, less root " issue that I read about somewhere. So I wrote it down in my little handy dandy garden notebook, right next to "Radishes are spicy" and "Do not pickle radish greens."

At least they are healthy. And I've heard they help reduce flatulence.

Going Green

No, this is not about the Green the Vaccine rally (what does that mean, anyhow?), but rather something more productive to this family.

We have been gardening, and I am absolutely a gardening addict. No doubt about it. It's therapeutic and I feel like I am accomplishing something, so I don't feel like I am "wasting time." I've had some battles with critters (the neighbors' dogs, some pesky rabbits, my children), but things are still growing. And because we did raised beds (well sort of) and filled the beds with "Mel's Mix," we are only growing what we want to grow. So no pulling weeds. How cool is that?!?!??!

I am in love with the carrot sprouts. They are seriously the cutest little sprouts I have ever seen. Yes, I think my carrots are cute. I have issues. But look...they're all feathery and cute like.



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More pictures for the record...

Flower bed, April showers bring May showers?







Flower bed, Summer is coming!






Vegetable garden, The beginning




Vegetable garden, Still planting and building.





Vegetable garden, They haven't died yet, and niether have we!