Mary Mary Quite Contrary

How does my garden grow?

Well here some updated pics of our perennial flowers we inherited:

See the teeny strawberry poking out? I don't think they're the edible kind, but still cute

Veggie Garden updates

Well it's a lot of green, so the pictures look a little silly in my opinion, if you look hard you can see a few tiny green tomatoes and a tomatillo in the last few pics, but everything is growing

My parents gave us this fantastic potting station as a 1 yr. anniversary present that will definately be utilized a ton! Dave's mom gave us a Home Depot gift card that is burning a hole in Dave's pocket. I think we'll be using it for supplies to stain the deck if we can ever decide on a color. I'm not sure if we should try to match the potting station or use a contrasting color.

Silhouette

Oh how I want one! I'm heading to the Paper Source next week for a Tutorial on how to use it, it's be great to win one. Check here for all the great ways you can use it!
http://www.qksilhouette.com/whatcanitdo.aspx?mid=HDSsh000987890nkjjnm89hyn9hh8989

Beet Obsession

(image from http://sunday-suppers.com/)

Yes I'm still on the beet kick, don't expect it to go away any time soon! I've also got the hubs hooked on beets, so you're just going to have to come to terms with the fact that at my house that's all we eat. kidding. So I need to add some to my garden, I'm just waiting to free up some space after I harvest the radishes and some lettuce and get some QT to spend away from work and outside. In the meantime, I found a recipe for Beet Chips I'm dying to try in addition to my other beet recipies in my repetoire.

I promise to post new garden pics this week, there's alot of growing going on (and critters stealing my tomatillos) and I have a lot of new found inspiration for alternative garden plans I can't wait to try my hand at, like this:

Just Beet it

I know, i'm super cheesy... i'm ok with it.
So I randomly decided it's time to start liking beets. I did the same thing with Tomato Juice one day, and now I'm addicted to bloody marys. I'm weird like that.

They can make a bit of a mess, but well worth giving a try. Just make sure to wash your hands right after your done working with them and clean up anything they've touched. If you want to avoid this problem, buy golden beets (yellow in color). They are sweet tasty vegetables not at all like the pickley image I had of them before. Some people online said the red ones affect the color of their urine, I've never experienced it, but thought i'd warn you!

Anyways, Martha sauteed the tops of the beets on her show the other day (the green leafy part) and in effort to eat healthier I decided to try it. I didn't really use her recipe, I just kinda threw in what I thought would taste good.

Sauteed Beet Greens
As soon as you get your Beets home from the store, you should twist the tops off the beet roots. Rinse the greens in a collander leaving some moisture on the greens and tear into smaller pieces. Save the beets for roasting as seen below.

In a large pan, heat about a TBS of olive oil until hot, and add 1/4 cup up to 1/2 cup of chopped shallot (preferred) or onion. After about a minute add some minced garlic (about 1 clove) and the beet greens, stir to coat the greens in the oil (it should be sizzling from the water on the green and the oil but not burning)
Liberally sprinkle with salt and add between 1/4 tsp to 2tsp of red pepper flakes depending on how spicy you like your food and 1 Tbsp of butter for a richer, less bitter taste (butter and red pepper optional)

I usually turn the greens with tongs instead of stirring them so they cook on all side until they have reduced significantly. Enjoy!


Roasted Beets
Rinse the Beets after you've removed the greens. Wrap each separately in tin foil and roast at 400 degrees for 50-60 min until tender.

Serve warm or cold. Taste great alone with a little salt or sliced up in salads, especially as a compliment to oranges

woMan with a Plan

I started planning out my garden before my plants were bought. I really liked this interface: http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KitchenGardenDesigner

however, my parents warned me about growing some plants so close together ie: tomatoes and zucchini. I still used this as a basic layout and then altered as I went along so that this:

became this:

The sun rises from the right of the pictures above to the left. I get virtually no sun until it's almost overhead so I put my tomato plants all at the east end so that they wouldn't shade the plants at the west end. People that get sun throughout the day would probably want to plant perpendicular to this, ie planting tomatos at the north end and shorter vegetable as the south end, but then again, this is my first year, what do i know? :)

It was easy to go overboard with the plants especially since some came in packs of four. Luckily I had the forsight to give my dad and sister some tomatillos, I wish I had brought them the extra zucchini as well, but for now, it's planted else where in the backyard. I kept the chives in a pot on the deck in attempts to avoid it overrunning the garden along with the lavender and cilantro and a few others I haven't found room for yet!



Now I just need to pray that I can keep at least most of it alive til it's big enough to eat!

Anniversary +1

I can't believe it'll be a year this weekend that we've been married. It's def. been a crazy year for us, we bought our first house, a new car, moved to a different state, began working from home fulltime ... sometimes I forget so much has changed until I stop and look back. Being married is an adjustment, we haven't gotten along all the time, but I feel like we are learning more and about each other and growing together. I love having my husband there for me and being here for him, I feel very greatful to have him in my life :)





















And even more here http://www.andrewrush.com/Hanne_England/