Since When Is My Thumb Green?

I spent part of Sunday afternoon doing a little gardening. I'm not any sort of master gardener or even a good gardener. I'm still a novice and I'm still learning.

As I walked from front yard to back, working on various project, it struck me...

I have plants. I have things growing in dirt that I planted. And most of them are living and thriving.

I've made some mistakes. I planted way too many brussels sprouts and put them all way too close together. I did some transplanting yesterday from very crowded pot to backyard veggie garden.

I've made some discoveries. Keeping potted strawberries on the front porch makes for an easy and inviting munchie for critters. There was a gorgeous shaped green strawberry when I left for church and it was gone when I got home. So I moved the pot from front porch to the railing of the back deck- which is a good 7 feet off the ground. Not impenetrable but certainly more of a challenge.

I've made some progress- things are growing and looking big and healthy.

I even have things I can almost pick! My blackberries are going to be ripe pretty soon and I have my second banana pepper…

I still have this mystery plant that Teagan brought home… it almost looks like it’s going to vine upward so I wonder if I need to get a little trellis or something? Beans of some sort?

If you are in the Indianapolis area and don’t have a garden of your own, my friend Amy shared a great find over at Fit City!!

And I’m always inspired by Flartus and Miss Chef and their gardening success!

Anyone else gardening? I’m going to toss a little blog hoppy linky thing down there… share your gardening posts!

Dinner!

Dinner- beef stew meat bought at the Farmer's Market this past Saturday, potatoes, carrots cooked in a beef broth with fresh onion and "best"ershire sauce with a dollop of sour cream.

quick snack on mtg break!

Pretend this is a pic of a Lean Cuisine meal. Noodles & chicken & broccoli & edamame & peppers. Had to eat in 5 mins before mtg.

Horticulture (aka Purty Flowers)

Tales of a Guest Blogger

I did a guest post for Ca-Joh yesterday. Would've linked you to it yesterday but I was having too much fun at the State Fair! It was actually a challenge to write that post. I edited way more than I do here on my own blog. I was surprisingly concerned with how it would be received by Ca-Joh and by his readers. So go check it out and then come and tell me what you thought.

A Garden Report

Guess what we've been eating at my house? Fresh vegetables. From our garden. Organically grown (sludge free, anyway) without pesticides or other crap. A rich mix of topsoil and manure. Carefully watered, keeping an eye on the rain. Watching the tiny sprouts grow and blossom. And now we have squash. Sliced, sauteed in olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground tellicherry pepper. And a bounty of tomatoes. Teagan is especially fond of the yellow ones. We had 5 green beans on Friday but they were gobbled up at dinner. I found this last straggler on the vine this afternoon. My mom, who is largely responsible for the success of the garden, is rather jealous of my harvest. Her own garden- larger than my own- has been meticulously watered, fed, cared for... and routinely eaten away by deer and critters. She hasn't enjoyed a single bite from her own plants. But MY garden... my garden is providing a regular supply of tomatoes, squash, and now we are starting to see green beans and cucumbers forming. Maybe I can do this afterall!

blackberries

mmmmmm

blackberries they are already gone.

gobbled up by kids

and me

tomatoes should be ripe tomorrow

soon to be gone

maybe with cottage cheese

or just salt

yummmmmm

In the Garden

2 garden posts in a week? Seriously?

But much has happened.

Squash has happened- I went ahead and picked this fella. Teagan is so proud that she had to kiss the squash good night.

One of many tomato plants. Once these puppies start to ripen... we will be in tomato heaven!

Just starting to show a little yellowish-orange color change...

Flowers that will soon yield cucumbers.

And off on the side of the house- my blackberry bush. This I did all by myself. And my kids and I have enjoyed a total 3 ripe blackberries, plucked and eaten directly from the bush.

I suppose I can no longer claim a fully black thumb. With help from people wiser than I, my garden is fruitful and veggie-ful!

Green Stuff in My Yard

I thought I'd give a garden update.

We should have actual produce soon.

We've hired a gardener to help us keep up with watering.

We will soon have veggies we can pick and consume. The tomatoes are there but still very green. The squash plant is flowering (Christy says we can take the squash blossoms, stuff them with cheese, and deep fry them. I'm not going to do it... but it sounds... interesting!). I need to get out and give it a good watering again- sometimes the gardener slacks a bit. Any guesses on when we will have fresh picked salad on our plates?