I'm back!!!!!!

What a winter! It's good to be back on the blog enjoying warm, sunny weather again. I have a short, two week break before my classes resume for summer-more chemistry and math-yes!!!!!

I did my garden up a little differently this year in terms of spacing of veggies and herbs. I planted some from seed and some from plant. I still have to get my lettuce in and maybe a cantalope or watermelon plant. I also am "sharecropping" with a neighbor. She gave me a bunch of corn and cilantro seeds that are now firmly nestled into the soil and hopefully are germinating away. Thanks Allyson! I can't wait to share with you this summer!

We also took a different approach to landscaping this year. We decided the beds in the back are just too big and hard to manage so we cut them in half, tilled the soil and put down grass seed. What a difference. This past mother's day was gorgeous so I had a chance to get out and planted some of my favorites; sweet woodruff (a low grower), echinacea (or coneflower), shasta daisies and freesia.

In the veggies beds this year I have planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, corn, beans, peas, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, lavender, tarragon, chives, basil, dill and arugula. I also planted a blueberry and raspberry bush next to the back door.

There is a little bit of a change with the blog as I will be including great recipes I come across as well as nutrition tips and gardening ups and downs. Please stay tuned and leave a comment to let me know you stopped by!

Lag Time

Summer is officially winding down here in Delaware. The weather is still pretty warm but the angle of the sun is changing and the days are becoming shorter.... or so it seems. I know! it's the local garden stores that signal the start of fall! Richardson's up at the corner had mums, scarecrow lawn ornaments and ornamental cabbages on display nearly two weeks ago. Target, Wegmans and Super G are all stocked up and ready to go with halloween candy.
Ani DiFranco's album knuckle down was given to me back in the fall of 05 and ever since the song Lag Time reminds me of this time of year. Something about the music in this song evokes images of leaves changing, the rush of getting back to school and reminds me that cold weather clothes need to be pulled up from storage.

The garden.... overall a great experiment. Orion enjoyed helping me take care of our raised beds. The peas, cucumbers and cantalopes froze in fear when they heard the back door slam and Orion's loud, shouting voice follow; "mom, mom, mooooom!" The fun part was watching him get over the fence and then attack the veggies with reckless abandon. He would assure me he wanted a snow pea or a tomato and then quietly slip back up to the garage to hide the remaining evidence. Looking back it was a productive summer for the garden in the early months. We enjoyed peas, lettuce, and spinach before the heat set in. I was really good about watering so my efforts were rewarded in abundant basil, green beans and "sun gold" cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and oregano. Towards the end of july, the drought really took its toll and I lost steam keeping up with the watering. The roma tomatoes suffered as did the cucumbers and cantalopes. The cantalope leaves slowly began to be covered in a filmy white powder and now the leaves and stems are withering away. The cantalope we did harvest were tasty, very juicy and sweet.
I attended a composting class at the end of july so I am looking forward to starting my pile this fall with my new, simple composter. (open air model) I also cannot wait for next spring to get started on the garden again. I have a new found appreciation for the simple pleasures in life like a fresh tomato sprinkled with salt and pepper enjoyed over the kitchen sink.

The pursuit of higher education.... I finished up my Biology class! I was so relieved to be done and excited I passed. I started my nutrition class this past Wednesday.

I have come across some thought provoking articles and blogs the past few weeks and I am excited to share them.

http://www.everybodygoto.com/2007/10/12/what-people-eat-around-the-world/


The weekly money amounts are from 2005.


http://www.agriculturesociety.com/?p=5474

garden hijinks and pesto pizza recipe

Pesto Pizza
1 store bought refrigerated pizza dough or make your own
About a cup of pesto (recipe follows) you will have extra
3 tomatoes of your choice sliced into thin "wheels"
8oz fresh milk mozzarella, cut into thin medallions
Grilled, thinly sliced chicken breast
4 or 5 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade style for sprinkling over


Pesto (my original recipe!)
4 cups fresh basil leaves, not packed
1 garlic clove (you might like more garlic or less, if you want a hint of garlic, just remove garlic clove from oil and discard)
1/4 cup parm cheese
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
splash or two or balsamic vinegar (optional)

In a food processor chop basil with parm cheese and freshly toasted pine nuts. Put olive oil in glass measuring cup along with garlic clove and microwave for 20 seconds.
Pour oil and garlic slowly into spout of food processor or blender to blend with basil mixture.
Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasonings.

Pat out pizza dough in whatever pan you use whether it is a stone, cookie sheet or round pizza pan.
Slick the pizza dough with a very light layer of olive oil.
Slather on the pesto.
Layer with mozz cheese and tomatoes and then add chicken.
Sprinkle with basil chiffonade and a pinch of salt especially on the crust.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Dietetics and the Garden

I took a hiatus from the blog to go to summer school. What am I nuts?
Tonight, I finished Biology 150. The very first class I need to take in order to get a bachelor of science in dietetics. I have an even longer road ahead of me....roughly 3 years of classes. Most of these classes are based in science; biology and chemistry, statistics and math. Anyone who knows me knows that math has never been my strong suit and although I have always had an interest in science my grades in high school never reflected that interest. Yes, that's where it seems like I am crazy to go back to school to learn the very stuff I feared and banged my head over so long ago.
So, back to the garden!
And what a garden it is. I don't have a lot of pictures for this post but I can tell you I have cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes growing like mad. Unfortunately, this past july was so dry and hot that when I left for 4 days with no watering the garden, my sugar *SNAP* and snow peas died. It was sad but I thoroughly enjoyed them in the early part of spring and summer. I will definitely grow them again next year. I can't wait to take pictures of the 3 cantaloupe I have growing. How cool is that! I can't get over the cantaloupe. You know who else can't get over the cantaloupe? Orion! I am so excited to chop that melon up with him in a few weeks. Herbs are doing well except for cilantro. I let it go to seed and then it burned out. I have got the seeds and will plant them next spring. Last but not least carrots. I have got quite a few of them and I am waiting and watering hoping for the best. The soil we ordered is not very nice to the carrots because it is full of stones and rocks the carrots have to work extra hard to grow. When I pull a random carrot up to check on them most have hit a hard patch of soil and stopped growing or they hit a stone and split or have even grown around the stone. I have heard carrots grow best in sand. hmmm. Idea for next year.
I will also post a recipe for a pesto pizza that I made with tomatoes and basil from the garden...it was to die for delicious and simple! (not to mention pretty-i love the intense emerald green of pesto)

Snowpeas and Chicken Involtini

Made another tasty meal the other night. It was basically chicken stuffed with prosciutto ham, provolone cheese and fresh basil from the garden. I pounded out the chicken until it was a uniform flatness. I then sprinkled it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then layered the ham, the cheese and then the basil. I rolled them up and secured them with a toothpick and grilled! It was a fairly easy, super tasty dinner.
I love going out to the garden and snacking on the sugar snap and snow peas. I discovered Edamame hummus from Trader Joe's recently and I can't get enough of it- soo good to dip fresh veggies in!

Lots to share

First of all, I harvested some Swiss chard the other day and made the most amazing meal from it: Sauteed Polenta cakes with Portabella Ragu on a bed of sauteed Swiss chard.

Really interesting article from the backyard gardener in the news journal the other morning. I like this woman because her articles are helpful to the backyard gardener like me!

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100624/LIFE0402/6240329/1091/LIFE04/Scorched+earth+accelerates+harvests++pest+count


I must have lucked out in the lettuce department because mine isn't bitter or bolting but it is in a partially sunny spot and I have been watering the garden everyday like clockwork. Tomatoes are coming out in droves, I have been harvesting the heck out of the peas and lettuce. The beans and cucs are just starting to take off. I built a cool net contraption with the help of a neighbor. Originally I was going to buy some stakes and use some of my leftover fencing but when the guy at Always the Garden recommended this nylon netting I took him up on it. Works great so far. The cucs and cantaloupes are climbing it like mad. Perks of the netting are that it is reusable every year, won't break down and holds up to 60lbs of fruit and veggies.

Discovery Vegetables

Wow, it is so cool to see how much growth the garden has undergone in the past couple of months. Tonight I added a handful of fresh snow peas and a sprinkle of cilantro to our Thai Coconut Shrimp dish.
The coolest part about having a garden is watching the flowers bloom and then eventually turn to fruit. The peas are coming out in droves. The pepper and bean plants have tons of flowers but no fruit yet. The chard and lettuces are ready for harvest. The cucs, cantaloupe, squashes and watermelon need a bit more time although you can see they are looking for somewhere to climb and have flowers. My goal is to get out to Always the Garden tomorrow and get some more tomato cages and some stakes so I can build something for the cucs and melons to climb on. (They are "bush" varieties but they are looking like they need a lot of room to climb)

Orion actually ate a raw snow pea this morning and liked it so I think my experiment is turning out well. The kids were having fun digging in the beds and tasting the dirt.

I have a project in the works where I am taking pictures of my neighbor's gardens. I hope to highlight how gardening can be as easy or elaborate as the gardener wants. I have talked to neighbors who simply throw a few seeds in the ground and watch what happens to people who meticulously sow their seeds indoors during the Winter for transplant at just the right time to their beds in the Spring. The two green pepper plants are from the neighbor who sowed them indoors.