Let It Grow

 

The old folks always say to wait until after Easter to plant your garden, that's when the ground is warm enough to ensure that you won't lose any of your plants to frost or hail or whatever other weird spring weather might occur.  Since Easter was so late this year, I had to seriously fight the urge to ignore this old superstition and start planting sooner, my hands just itching to dig in the dirt.  But the voices of my grandparents kept sneaking into my thoughts, reinforcing that age old tradition, and so I waited.

On the Monday after Easter, we started planting with a vengeance: fruit, vegetables, herbs, and mosquito repelling plants.  We spent the whole week digging and tilling and putting seeds and plants into the ground, making more trips to the nursery and Home Depot than I can even count.  I love this time of year for its late sunsets and perfectly warm weather.  I love looking around after a hard day's work and seeing pretty green things everywhere.  I love seeing my kids so happy and free, dirt on their faces and bare feet running through the yard.  They are becoming excellent little gardeners and are so helpful around the yard.  Baby River is content sitting in his playard, watching us work like busy bees.  He takes it all in with his curious eyes: the colors of the leaves all blooming so green, the sounds of the birds nesting up above.  I'm thankful that "the witching hour" so perfectly coincides with watering time: nothing calms a teething baby down like a walk outside to water the plants.

I've made a conscious effort to plant more flowers this year.  I am such a practical and efficient person: everything has a purpose, fulfills a need, especially in my garden.  But this year, I've made a promise to myself to literally stop and smell the roses.  Because, sometimes, the only purpose that something needs to have is to just be joyful, to be so vibrant and beautiful that it brings you happiness when you are around it. So, more flowers. Namely hibiscus, marigolds, zinnias, begonias, and a bunch of other pretty flowery things that I know nothing about but hope to keep alive and thriving.

The girls were so excited this afternoon when they went onto the front porch and realized that their first orange daisy had bloomed.  They picked out daisies specifically because they saw pictures of them in their favorite book. They dug a little hole, just big enough, like I have showed them every spring before this one. They filled the hole with fresh rain water, placed their daisy plant inside, and then packed it down with dirt.  And then more watering, and even a special prayer.  They did it all by themselves, two little country girls learning about the earth and how things grow.  And then one morning, there they were, two little orange daisies, one on each side of our front door.  They were as excited about those flowers as they were on Christmas morning.  And seeing them so happy about something so simple: it made me happy.

Because this is where I am now: not just surviving, but really living.  Surrounding myself with beautiful things and learning a couple of lessons along the way.  This house and the land we call our own: it is our little oasis, the place where we find peace and comfort.  When you can find a place that you love enough to call home, and you do so with the people you love most in it, that is a good place to be.

The Family Garden: What We've Learned

Even as the temperatures reach the upper 90's here in Louisiana, our little garden that could
is still pumping out produce like a champ.  This was our first year venturing into raised 
bed garden territory and we've found lots of things that worked and a few that utterly 
failed.  We've lost plants, tried to tame those that grew beyond belief, fought bugs and 
pests, and enjoyed meal after meal of organic goodness.  It has been quite the adventure!  
Here are a few notes I made along the way:

1.  Next year, we plan to add on.  I will be the first to admit that we were a bit overzealous
with the number of plants we put into our humble sized box.  Though everyone thrived, we
had a few issues due to overcrowding including a few moldy plants.  Next year, we plan to
build a separate box for squash and zucchini and a narrow box with fencing for
cucumbers, giving us three separate boxes and plenty of room.

2.  Speaking of squash and zucchini, I had no idea what real estate hogs those plants are.
I TOTALLY underestimated how big they get and how much they spread out throughout
the garden and bully all the other plants.  We had to transplant three of our squash plants
and put them elsewhere when they completely covered up the tomatoes.  I went out one
night to water them and noticed that they were covered in a white powder: I later learned
this was mold and most likely caused by overcrowding.  I first had to prune the affected
leaves off the plants.  I then sprayed them with baking soda diluted with water.  Then,
I moved several plants out of the garden to give the other girls more room to breath.  They
all survived and even thrived after several applications of the baking soda mix.  Next
year, these girls will have their own raised bed.

3.  Once we cleared up the mold problem, we noticed a family of slugs making themselves
at home.  First solution: stop watering the garden too close to sunset.  This is a tricky
situation in hot and humid Louisiana.  If you water your garden during the day when the sun
is still hot and high, you will fry your plants (literally) and lose everything.  But if you
water them TOO late in the afternoon, they will stay moist throughout the evening and
attract bugs, particularly slugs.  So, we had to experiment with watering times, finding
the perfect balance between late in the afternoon but not to late.  We also dug a few small
holes in the garden, buried shallow yogurt cups at soil level, and filled them with beer.
Slugs are attracted to these little beer jacuzzis and can be extracted from there.  Cheap
and easy solution!

4.  Next came the leaf footed bug AKA tomato killer.  These bugs are a member of the
stink bug family and swarm the tomato plants and eat their way through your beautiful
fruit.  These bugs appeared in early June and threatened to kill all of our plants.
Solution: spray the plants with dish washing soap diluted with water.  We had to do this
daily for several weeks to keep the bugs off but it actually worked.  Next year, we will
plant companion plants next to the raised bed garden to ward off these bugs: I've been
told that sunflowers are a sure shot to keep them away.

5.  We got the girls really involved.  They helped us water the garden every night, learned
how to prune, pulled weeds, and learned when to harvest the veggies.  Allowing them to be
so hands on was a big help to Shawn and I and an excellent learning experience for them.
I overheard Belle telling me mom the other day, "You can really taste the difference
between our home grown veggies and the store bought stuff.  It's from the earth and it's
real and good".  Bursting with pride mother moment.

6.  You don't need a lot of fancy tools to make a garden work.  We used bamboo sticks with
cut up t-shirts to hold our tomato plants into place, our own compost for fertilizer,
and homemade concoctions to take care of the pests.  The beauty of gardening is in
the mistakes, the experimenting, finding and fixing small problems and watching nature
work. Enjoy the process, make notes along the way, and enjoy the ride.

What To Do With All Those Veggies

Remember our humble little raised bed garden we built and planted this spring?  Well,
who knew that such a small area could produce so much?!  Our garden, thanks in large part
to our productive native soil and the amazing weather and sunshine here in Louisiana,
is literally overflowing with veggies.  I have been giving away green goodies to all
my neighbors, stocking up our freezer, and cooking up a storm with this overabundance
of squash, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes.  Not a bad deal, right?
I've been Pinteresting my little heart out and collecting tons of recipes to try and my family
is reaping the benefits.  Today, I'm sharing two super easy recipes that were a big hit and
made great use of a productive week in the garden.

What to do with all those cucumbers:

Bread and butter pickles

Bianca shared this recipe with me and it is amazing!  We have been picking 10-12
cucumbers out of our garden daily and this pickle recipe was the perfect way to utilize
them all.  Plus, I'm pregnant.  And anything with the word "pickle" in it sounds appetizing.  

Here's what you'll need:

5 1/2 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 cup thinly sliced onion 
1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
I also added two banana peppers, sliced and 1 cayenne pepper, sliced for some added Louisiana style flavor

1.  Thinly slice cucumbers.

2. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large bowl, cover, refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Remove cucumbers from fridge, rinse with cold water, drain, return to bowl, add onion 
and peppers, return to fridge.

4. Combine remaining ingredients in a medium sized pot on the stove.  Simmer over 
medium heat, stir often to allow sugar to dissolve.  Once sugar is dissolved, remove 
mixture from heat and pour over cucumbers in bowl.

5.  Allow cucumbers and vinegar mixture to cool at room temperature for about an 
hour.  Cover and return to refrigerator for 24 hours.  After 24 hours, serve your 
delicious pickles with any dish you wish!  This dish may be stored in an airtight container 
in your fridge for up to 2 weeks.  I used mason jars to store mine and they look so pretty 
and appetizing in my fridge!  Enjoy!

What to do with all those squash and zucchinni:

Baked squash and zucchini parmesean

A coworker shared this recipe with me and we have literally eaten it every night this week.
It is so simple and packed with flavor!

Here's what you'll need:

1 pound of squash or zucchini or both
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 Parmesan cheese

1.  Slice squash and zucchini into thin slices, place in a foil lined pan, coat with olive oil.

2.  Mix bread crumbs and Parmesean cheese in a separate bowl. Sprinkle mixture over 
veggies, covering them as much as possible.

3.  Place pan of veggies in oven, bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes or until 
golden brown.

4.  Sprinkle with a little cheddar/Monterrey Jack cheese mixture right before pulling pan 
out of oven, allowing cheese to melt on top of veggies.  Serve right away for maximum 
flavor!  

5.  Attempt to take a finished product photo for your blog before your children devour 
your  dish.  Fail miserably.  Take it as a compliment.  Be thankful your kids eat their 
veggies.  The end.

Green Gifts

It's Friday, it's Friday!!  And, more importantly, it's almost the end of school and start of
sweet summer!!  We are all so excited about the end of school around this house that we
are about to burst!  No more homework, no more 6 am wake-ups and rushing to the bus
stop, no more evenings burning the midnight oil preparing projects.  We will have a
whole summer ahead of us to slow down just a little bit, something we are all in need of after
a very busy school year.

This weekend, we spent an afternoon preparing a gift for Isabelle's teacher in appreciation of
a wonderful school year.  Teachers are such an influential and essential part of our
children's development, spending their days nurturing and empowering our little ones.
They are literally preparing future generations for the big bright world and I don't think
they get the recognition they deserve.  I am so thankful for the amazing educators Isabelle
as had in her life: her teacher this year was the most patient, compassionate, and
inspirational woman.  I know that Isabelle will look back on the third grade and remember
her teacher with great admiration and respect.

As a small token of our appreciation, we made a little succulent garden in a ceramic pot with
a handmade card.  I love the idea of giving plants as gifts: it's something the teacher can
keep on her desk or at home and remember my child by.  I decided on succulents because
they are so easy to care for and require very little green thumb ability: an important
element when you're not sure whether the recipient of your gift is actually a gardener or not.  

We also made green gifts for Mother's Day and for my cousin's wedding.  I purchased 
ceramic planters at our local nursery and made mini-herb gardens that are perfect for 
kitchen windowsills.  I planted herbs that are common and easy to care for, herbs that 
my loved ones will be able to use on a daily basis like basil, rosemary, parsley, cilantro, 
and oregano.  For the wedding gift herb garden, we made a card with the inscription, 
"Marriage is like a garden".  I wrote a note on the inside about the need to nurture a 
marriage, to give it the attention it deserves, the importance of everyone involved to feel 
as though they are getting enough love and light.  I love the idea of this little garden finding 
a home with this loving couple as they start this new journey in their lives together.

 

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without 

feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity.  

~Lindley Karstens

Exploratory Garden

One of my goals for our yard this year was to make an exploratory garden for the girls.
I've seen the idea in several different forms floating all over Pinterest and decided to make
it our own.  It was a very inexpensive and simple project that the girls are LOVING.
Here's what we did:

Step 1:  I picked this shady, unused flowerbed for a couple of different reasons.  I wanted
the garden to be in the shade because Louisiana summers are brutally hot and this play
area will give the girls respite from the heat.  It's also right next to our back patio and
Brees' outdoor kitchen, making it easier for us to keep an eye on them.

Step 2: I raked up all the mulch, moved the existing stones to create a barrier from the rest
of the flowerbed, and then tilled the soil.

Step 3: I added a hefty amount of dirt to the now barricaded play area, enough for the girls
to do lots of digging and burying and sorting.  I planted a few shade loving plants to add
texture and so that the girls would have living things to water and nurture.  In reality,
these little plants will most likely get trampled and/or picked apart by Brees so I made sure
to find plants that are pretty hardy and inexpensive.

 

Step 4: I added lots of fun little do-dads, some things that we already had around the yard
and a couple of new items that I picked up in the dollar section of the supermarket. 

Pretty rocks leftover from Isabelle's fish aquarium, perfect for sorting into patterns, burying, and building watering holes.

Jungle animals, dinosaurs, and plenty of shovels and trowels.

Sand sifters for finding buried treasure.

Pretty pinwheels for decoration and a best friend to oversee all the creativity.

I barely had enough time to get everything in and ready before the girls pushed me aside
and got to work making the space their own.  I gave them buckets of water and a couple of
lawn chairs, made myself a cup of tea, sat back and watched them go.  They played for a
little over an hour, a lifetime in kids's time, and I never heard a single argument, complaint,
or demand.  I hope that this little play area will encourage their imaginations, stimulate
their senses, allow for plenty of role play, and serve as an excellent source of learning
about plants and insects and all things green.  Happy exploring, my little gardeners!!