April 14th

It's me, again,
back by popular demand!
Not really.
😢
Here's my shout out to the 3 people that read this humble blog.
You guys rock!
I love the input and comments.
I got a personal request to post more garden picks.....
Here ya go.

This is a Meyer lemon.

We grew it from seeds.

Our neighbor has a tree and she shares her harvest every year.

He's a slow grower, but a sturdy little guy.

 

 

 

These are my Simon and Garfunkle plants,

Sage

Thyme

Parsley

Rosemary.

I crack myself up!

 

 

These are in the
"Grocery Store"

 area of the garden.

They've all been grown from leftovers.

Beets.

Grown from the tops we cut off after boiling them

and eating them in butter.

Yum.

Yellow and white onions.

In the background is garlic.

All planted from leftover tops or garlic buds.

We usually harvest the green parts so the plants keep producing.

 

 

 

The tomatoes weren't started from seeds.

We bought a few of those little starter packs.

Cherry tomatoes.

Its flowering, so it should start to produce soon.

We've planted heirloom tomatoes too.

 

Bell peppers.

There are actually 4 plants,

this is just a picture of one,

and all are sadly, in this shape.

The hens have decided that they like

bell pepper leaves.

Lucy!

You got some 'splainin' to do!

They are now sprinkled with cayenne.

Hens don't like that!

 

Potato flowers.

Pretty, huh?

Who knew?

Another planting of leftovers that we allowed to bud.

There are red russet and Yukon gold's in this raised bed.

 

 

More tomatoes...

These are Creoles,

Love to eat them, right off the bush,

warm from the sun.

Nothing like it!

Muscadine grapes.

This little guy only produced 2 clusters of grapes last year.

Hoping for more.

Grape jelly or maybe we'll learn how to make wine?

 

Mustard Greens - hens LOVE this stuff!

Us,

not so much.

Maybe it'll keep the girls away from the stuff we DO like!

 

Spinach

 

Cabbages

 

 

 

Greek Oregano.

We planted this in honor of my

Daughter in law.

😁

WTH plant.

(dunno what the hell this is,

doesn't taste so good,

and neither of us can remember its name)

But...

Chickens don't like it

and

Its pretty.

 

Moving on...

 

Strawberries.

We only have the two plants.

No flowering yet,

hopefully soon.

(The girls think strawberries are crack!)

 

Pickle plant....

AKA cucumber,

Full of buds!

Its already produced 2,

4 inch sized cucumbers

that I immediately put in my

special pickling spice jar in the 'fridge.

(leftover kosher dill juice. I always keep some to pickle veggies)

Currently there's some baby carrots, asparagus and now my 2 cucumbers in the jar.

In 2weeks,

Voilà!

It'll be a pickle.

 

Yellow Squash.

He's looking kinda sad,

but,

 he was also a rescue,

so we're hoping he'll rally.

Basil, Oregano, Thyme and my little Bay Laurel bush.

I'm drying some in the house.

 

French Lavender.

This is a remote relative of rosemary,

but,

the smell is divine!

I use this in my handmade soap.

 

 

 

Henny and Lucy chowing down.

 

Hand feeding Pepper, Nugget.

The black butt belongs to

Sandy.

 

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A small tutorial in drying herbs....

This is Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.

I wash them, then shake off excess water and dry on a paper towel.

I don't squeeze or crush them to release their fragrances.

I want that to remain in the plant.

I then gather the stems and hang upside down in a window.

(I save bread twist ties for this very purpose)

The natural light helps with drying.

(I use these in my homemade soaps as well)

 

 

This is Bay Laurel.

Same stuff the Greeks and Romans crowned their winners with.

I already have some dried,

but my plans are to put it and this bunch into a canning jar in the pantry

and use whenever it's needed.

 

 

 

This one in my bay window,

is rosemary.

I gave the bush a "haircut"

last week and this was a stray branch.

Rosemary is a woody, resinous, herb.

It is very fragrant.

I use it in cooking and in my soaps.

It has astringent and antibiotic qualities,

great dried and crushed in soap!

But,

 typically I use it when cooking fish.

Easy Recipe:

Pour some olive oil in a foil covered pan,

Then place the small branch of rosemary,

under the fish

(We like salmon, but any fish will do)

Sprinkle the fish with a bit more oil

and then

with lemon or lime juice and a bit of sea salt.

We sometimes add sliced tomatoes, potatoes or asparagus.

Bake

Eat

Yum!

When you're finished,

Ball up the foil and toss into garbage

(my favorite part of cleanup is literally no real cleanup!)

 

 

 

 

Peace out!

 

 

 

Just remember...

If you love what you do,

then its never a JOB.

and I love to garden!