Go Get Your Gardens On

The weather is finally here folks to uphold a descent garden. I can't wait...this weekend I'm planning on getting crazy in the garden! Have you started your seeds or bought your plants? What are you planting? Get out there and get dirty!

I'm not sure what I'm going to plant...I have a zillion seeds. I don't want to crowd the garden this year. I want it to be simple, pretty, and refreshing. Veggies of course...but which ones? Any suggestions?

Tomatoes for sure and probably some zucchini. Zucchini bread with fresh zucchini is something everyone should try, especially fresh out of the oven.

I'm glad I didn't plant a winter garden because with the cold weather, everything would have froze. My instincts were right on.

Go get your gardens on...and enjoy your soil!

It Was Fate - Freezing Temps are Here

Highs in the 50's...Lows in the 20's...Because I tend to believe things happen for a reason or at least that's how I deal with life and the unexpected events that creep upon us. If I had planted my winter crops this season, the cold would have kept me from tending to them and they would have died. It's best that I didn't plant any seeds. Who would have thought there would be ice on the roof tops and the grass would turn into mini blades of ice? There would be no way my garden would have survived? I'm a wimp so I'm sure I wouldn't be out in the freezing cold laying plastic down over the garden and making sure they get what they needed.

For those of you who are able to go out in the freezing cold and take care of your Winter crops, more power to ya! Good for you...you deserve a pat on the back.

My Poor Little Garden

Here we are in 2007 and no lettuce, no carrots, and certainly no Fennel! The Fall passed me by and my garden was turned into a cemetary. We had tombstones lined up to decorate for Halloween and no seeds were sowed. I was sad at first but then quickly realized...I just don't have the time. It's better to have never planted a seed at all then to have planted the seed and let it die. Don't you agree?

I still have this hope that I can drop lettuce seeds into the ground and miracle lettuce heads will sprout up. This Winter is cold...really, really cold. I'm wondering if I should just get the soil ready for Spring and skip my Winter crops? I was so anxious to use my new garden bed for carrots but that didn't happen. I guess I have to listen to my intuition and just accept that it's late in the season and I can only hope to grow some veggies. I think I will attempt to drop some seeds and see what happens but not worry to much about it if nothing grows. That's a good way of going into the new year. Do my best and not worry as long as I know I'm doing what I need to do. Did that make any sense? This new year brings a whole new beginning...it's funny...it's really just another day but because we've made January 1st be the day a new year begins, in our heads, it's a time to start fresh and attempt to do all the things we set out to do the previous year but didn't.

A quick gopher update...the gopher is gone. Poor little critter...I hope he managed to move out of the neighborhood before he was forced out or worse.

Happy New Year...may you have plentiful fruit and veggies this coming year!

80's Flashback...Caddyshack

I don't know if I'm Rodney Dangerfield or Chevy Chase but I'm going to lose it on this gopher!
After months of thinking he was gone for good, I looked out of the front window as I was getting ready for work one day and saw a pile of dirt on the front lawn. I couldn't believe it...first the backyard was made into a pool table with all the holes ready for playing...only a real pool table top is greener than my grass is...all thanks to this rodent!!! I'm afraid it's going to completely destroy the front yard. The gardener put poison in the hole but fresh dirt was left after he put the poison.
I found this picture online...I feel bad poisoning the little fella...but seriously...I can't handle the front yard being dug up. The backyard is already suffering from all the digging the gopher did. We stopped watering the grass in the backyard because it was becoming pointless. Why can't these creatures do things that contribute to your yard like eat the weeds or turn the soil...rather than turn the whole freakin' yard upside down. Now, I'm nervous to plant my carrots.

Doesn't it make the whole ground weak after a gopher digs it's maze? I just learned their tunnels can run up to 800 feet and cover an acre of land. I guess life could be worse...I could live on an acre of land and have it covered with mounds of dirt right?

Oh, and seriously...Minnesota couldn't you have picked a better mascot? I Googled "gopher" and Minnesota popped up all over the place. I don't care if The Gophers will try to keep Ohio state winless. I'm trying to find the best way to get rid of gophers!

Wish me luck...I have a feeling I will need it!

Homemade Sauce...ooh la la

If you've never attempted to make homemade sauce, now's a perfect time to try. As the weather changes and Fall brings the crisp chill in the air, homemade sauce for your pasta really hits the spot. It may seem intimidating at first because a lot of people think to make a delicious sauce you need to simmer it for hours. It's true the longer the flavors embed into one another, the sauce taste better but that's not to say the sauce won't taste good after 45 minutes.

What to do with all those tomatoes you grew this summer...SAUCE...SAUCE...SAUCE. Here I've pictured the ingredients for a sauce I put together with veggies from my garden. I used three Brandywine tomatoes, a couple mini bell peppers, one green pepper(it's not spicy at all), and of course some basil.I also used some ingredients not from my garden such as onion and garlic.



I sauteed onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Once the onions were slighty translucent, I added the chopped tomatoes and peppers. I let the them all cook together until the tomatoes broke up easily. Meanwhile I boiled water, added my pasta and salt. Once the pasta was cooked, I added it to my sauce.







For the kids version I just topped with basil and parm. They loved it.












For the adults, I added a little jar of tomato basil sauce because the three tomatoes didn't give a lot of juice but the flavors of the three tomatoes dominated throughout the sauce. It was very tasty. This whole meal took about 45 minutes. The added ingredients from the garden really made the sauce take on a wonderful homemade flavor...ooh la la!