Oh The Perks Of Digging In The Dirt

Just so y'all know, I am addicted to these salads!

I've been making these salads every couple three days or so, they're SO delicious!

Although, I pulled and composted by cucumber plants several weeks ago, I still have about a dozen cucs in the fridge!  Home grown cucs, with my fresh homegrown tomatoes too, red onion, black olives, feta cheese, oil and vinegar, all makes this dish that much more scrumptious!

Of course I share the cucs with Trixie and she gives it two paws up!

#Blessed

Vine Ripen Love Apples!

OH, this is happen'n!

My tomatoes are finally starting to ripen and pop!

I can see oodles of tomato salads and BLTs in my very near future!

As a matter of fact, I made a tomato salad last night!  It's chill'n in the fridge and I'm already, at 6:55AM, looking forward to digging into this salad when I get home from work this evening!

#Blessed

Bush Bean, Not Poll Beans

And since I'm on the planting theme here, I planted about (30) of the below "Burpee Stringless Green Pod" beans yesterday (Memorial Day) afternoon -

I planted them in my tomato garden this year, up against the wire fencing I installed last year.  Hoping this will help deter the deer and rabbits from easy access to them.  Also, I believe tomatoes and beans are very good companion plants...

Ehh, What's Up Doc?

I planted a couple row of carrots on Sunday afternoon.

This year I planted them width wise versus length wise, so instead of one 8' row, I have two 4' rows.  Really doesn't make much of a difference other than I now have freed up half of the raised bed to plant something else and I'm thinking more peppers...

I planted the below "Touchon" carrots last year but they didn't do very well at all.  Even though I have half a package from last year, I tossed them and opted to try the "Nantes Half Long" above this year.  Gardening is all about trial and error to determine what works best for you.

We have oodles of wild rabbits again this year, UGH, and I've not yet seen any babies.  They're already doing a number on my perennials, like they did last year, and eating my echinacea, balloon flowers, spiderwort and even the milkweed, GRRR!

So, will need to fence in the above raised bed before the carrots take off, otherwise they'll become rabbit food...

Plant Tomatoes - Check!

Today turned out to be a beautiful sunny day!

It was also my day off of work!

So, after running my errands this morning and finally being able to enjoy a nice sit down lunch, I headed out into the yard and garden - my Zen!

I got my tomatoes, basil and several marigolds planted!

From front to back and left to right, I planted (3) Brandywine. In the middle (3) Better Boy and on the outside (3) Early Girl.  All planted in fresh compost, then using the grass clippings from mowing the lawn last night, I mulched around each planting.  This to help hold the moisture in and keep the weeds away from the base of each plants.

Once they settle and start growing, I'll set the stakes but for now I will sit back and enjoy my handywork!

#Blessed

More Planting In Queue

With all the rain we've been having and what's anticipated for the rest of the week, I chose to take advantage of yesterday being dry and mowed my entire lawn after work.  SO satisfying once done! It always looks SO nice and SO green with all the rain we've been having.

I was planning on planting my tomatoes - (3) different kinds; Early Girl, Brandywine and Better Boy, herbs and marigolds, after mowing but ran out of both time and steam.

Perhaps, this afternoon, if there's a lull in the scattered rain we're supposed to get today.

What A Treat!

I picked some of my peppers yesterday, the bigger ones. There are oodles more out there coming along too!

I cut most up into slices and layered them on a cookie sheet and into the freezer they went.  I'll take them out today and place them into freezer bags.  This way I will have them at my disposal and can grab any amount I need with ease -

I kept the BIGGER ones to be used in my Greek stuffed peppers recipe - 

Fresh out of the oven, piping hot and smelling SO awesome -

Helping #1 cut up and ready for devouring -

I got a bit bolder and modified the recipe as I went and to be honest, I NAILED IT!  OMG, they came out so tasty and delicious!  I ate two last night, BURP, and will freeze the rest for fall\winter meal when the days are shorter and I'm too lazy to cook.

Reaping the rewards of growing my own vegetables and making a nice home cooked meal.

#Blessed

It's Right Around The Corner!

I picked up some veggie seeds this past weekend, can't wait!

I'm starting to give some thought to what I'm going to plant and where.

These items here I'll plant directly in the soil when the time is right.

Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and perhaps some others, I'll pick up at a local farm already started.

Gemista Stuffed Peppers

My California Bell Peppers did fantastic this year!  Oodles and oodles of them; more than I could even use, although I've been trying!  I've prepped and frozen bags full. I've been cooking with them regularly, putting them on my pizzas, in my fish dishes, in my steak and cheese sandwiches and more.

Yesterday, for dinner, I made my mother's Greek stuffed peppers!  I took my time to enjoy the process and reminisce about my mom. 

I don't want to brag but UNBELIEVEABLE!  They came out SO good; delicious, and so easy to make too.

It's 7AM as I write this and I'm already thinking about tonight's dinner and these leftover stuffed peppers, mmmmm!  I can't wait!

Gemista or yemista (which in Greek means 'filled with')

What's Up, Doc?

I harvested my carrots yesterday afternoon!

I planted an 8' row back on June 10th and they took off, see first pic. The challenge was keeping the deer and rabbits away all summer long.  Did you know that carrots are related to parsley, which explains why I had Black Swallowtail caterpillars dining and enjoying both my carrots and parsley!

Carrots seeds are so tiny, making them a challenge to plant. I gently shake them out of their package directly into the dirt and try to space them evenly, which is near impossible.  Once they start growing, you should really go through and thin them out but I didn't do that. Perhaps why there were so many different sizes, from small to large, too crowed but that's fine and about what I expected.

Here's one of the many clumps I pulled -

Half filled a basket with my haul -

Some of these will be used in my crockpot for tonight's dinner!  A nice pork loin and carrots along with some of my freshly grown potatoes, beans, peppers and garlic, mmm mmm good!

Let the peeling and dicing and chopping and preparing begin!  The aroma as it cooks will fill the house and be such a tease all day. I can almost taste it already and can't wait!

A Bumper Crop Of Peppers!

This past Sunday, after a rainy couple of days, I was finally able to pick some of my Sweet California Bell Peppers.

What's pictured came from only 4 of my 12 plants, WOW!  The other remaining plants are loaded with peppers too!

I plan to cut this batch up and freeze them.  Oh so good, pulling them out to add to my pizza, steak and cheese sandwiches, fish, whatever, mmm mmm good!  I just hope I can find the space in my freezer to store all of this.

The next batch, which I will need to pick in a week or so, I will give a go at making stuffed pepper, using my mother's recipe, giddy up!

Clearly I have more than I need or that I can use, so if you're in the area stop in and take some.

** UPDATE **

I processed about 15 of the peppers last night and separated them into smaller bags for freezing!

More to come!

As Fresh As Fresh Can Be!

Last nights dinner was a delicious and perfectly grilled New York sirloin steak that melted in my mouth!  However, the more satisfying was my very own, home grown Yukon Gold potatoes!  The overall potato haul this season was a tad disappointing with many of the spuds golf ball sized but they were still scrumptious!

Saturday morning I washed them and cut off the imperfections -

Diced them up into fry size, added olive oil, garlic and other spices, covered then let them marinate in the fridge for the day. I would occasionally give them a stir -

The cooked results, which were so so good -

#blessed

Tater Tower Bust

Yesterday was the day I decided to harvest the potatoes I planted in my "tater tower".  

I've been super curious to see how growing potatoes in this fashion would turn out.

I like the concept, as well how little space a tower actual takes compared to planting them directly in the soil in rows.  Also, a lot less work utilizing a tower versus in the ground.

All that being said, I must admit that I'm disappointed in the end results - not nearly as many potatoes as I was expecting or hoped for!  I thought there would be more potatoes growing along the stalks that got covered as I added sides and more compost but that too was not the case.

Two of the four sides removed -

Here is the harvesting results.  Just barely covers the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket, with the majority of the taters about the size of a golf ball, BOO - 

I "harvested" about as many grubs, in my tater tower, as I did potatoes!  These grubs were jumbo sized too -

As disappointed as I am with the turn out, I'm thinking I'll give this one more try next season but time I'll plant a different type of potato.  Seems that these Yukon Gold, which are so delicious, might not be the best.  

I saved all the tater tower pieces and will rebuild again come next season.  Stay tuned...

Oh SO Fresh, YUM!

I'm now reaping and eating 🤤 the rewards for all the work I put into my garden!

It's SO gratifying to go to the garden to pick your diner!  To know that what I planted is chemical free, safe and as fresh as fresh can be!

I'm enjoying endless BLTs, tomato and feta salads like my mom used to make and homemade pizza covered with fresh sliced tomatoes -

Bean casseroles, sautéed and baked bean dishes.  I've also prepared a and have frozen bags full too -

My favorite, silver queen corn!  Picked these last night, shucked and into the boiling water they went. I was SO excited to sink my teeth into these that I burnt the roof of my mouth for not waiting for them to cool.  No worries though, small price to pay for how scrumptious these are -

Looking forward to how my potatoes and carrots turn out!

"Kitchen King"

I picked my first batch of green beans yesterday!

They did great this season, as you can see and once I took care of the rabbit issue 😉.

There are oodles more coming from this planting AND I have a second planting I sowed about a month after this one, so I will have more beans that I can use or know what to do with.

I'm looking for some tasty and different recipes to try.

#blessed

Tater Tower - Update

This is what my tater tower looked like back on June 18th.  Nine of the ten potatoes I planted sprouted and have taken off -

Fast forward to July 27th and you can see the incredible growth of these plants, pushing 6 feet! 

I added (3) 4" sides as the plants grew and each time I filled the area and around the plants with compost.  In hindsight I should have added more side board levels and more compost but honestly, I had no idea the plants would grow this much and this tall!

I cannot wait to harvest these and to see if this 'tater tower' was worth the effort.

Tater Tower Is Growing!

My tater tower is doing fantastic!

The plants are growing like gang-busters!

Time to add the second side boards, another 6".

I added 5-gallons of compost around the plants and filled the first layer - 

Then added the second layer of side boards -

Exciting!  I can't wait to see the results come harvest time.

Replaced And Upgraded!

Sadly, I decided to stop raising strawberries.  I'm just too tired of fighting with chipmunks and catbirds for the fruit.  Covering the bed in an effort to keep the critters out never really worked and make it that much more difficult for me to pick the berries.

As a part of this decision it was then time to replace the raised bed the strawberries had been in for the last umpteen years, as it was rotting away.

I replaced the old 4'x'8"x8', above, with 4'x10"x8', below, so taller -

I will be planting carrots and beans in this new bed in the coming weeks.

Also, I will continue my assaults' on the chipmunks, as a matter of principle and the thrill of the chase. 

Annual Color Added!

I took a drive yesterday morning to my favorite local nursery and picked up a couple flats of plants - annual flowers, herbs and veggies! I will tell you, like everything else, the cost of plants have gone up this year, OUCH!  

I then spent a couple hours washing my flower pots, mixing some compost and a bag of Miracle-Gro potting soil and getting most of annuals flowers and herbs planted!

I also planted peppers, curly parsley and marigolds in the ground, in their perspective gardens. I'm gonna hold off on putting the tomatoes in just yet, maybe give it another week or two, just to be safe.

This cement planter was my mothers.  I always look forward to pulling this out in the spring and getting something planted in it.  Always brings a smile to my face, which I enjoy all spring and summer long.

A Surprise Harvest

Early summer, and much to my surprise, I noticed a handful of potato plants popping up in my garden.  Actually, I shouldn't be all that surprised, as I planted Yukon Gold potatoes in that same garden last season.  Seems I missed digging up all of the spoils from last year, which turned out to be a reward for me this year.

Certainly not a big haul, not like last years harvest, but I'm pleased nonetheless for these beauties.  Once my new stove is installed, scheduled for this coming Wednesday, I will be using some of these taters to make fresh fries!

Can't wait!