Gardening

 

I have especially loved throwing parsley into my green smoothies or juicing it.  I grew both flat leaf parsley and curly.  The flat leaf seems to be most happy & that has made me happy! Parsley is a very cleansing a detoxifying herb, and I use it in almost every dinner dish I make.

My rosemary is also growing happily. It is such an earthy and beautiful herb.  We love it on roasted vegetables, especially roasted potatoes.

 I grow a lot of basil every year.  I use it in my simple spaghetti sauce, to make pesto, and my favorite…tomatoes on toast ,which is an easy version of bruschetta.  I also use it in creamy avocado dip, which is a $100 prize winning recipe, thanks to a contest I won with Avocados From Mexico.

 Dill is one of my most favorite herbs.  I use dill on roasted potatoes and in quiche.

Square foot gardening is one of the BEST projects I have ever done.  I cannot tell you how much joy it is to grow fresh herbs and vegetables with minimal amount of work!  I have two, 4×2 feet garden beds along the side of my home.  It is the only place other than our front yard that gets enough sun, so we were limited, but thanks to square foot gardening I can still grow an abundance of organic food for our family!

I built these beds 3 years ago, other than the initial work of building the beds and mixing “Mel’s Mix” (the KEY to square foot gardening & my gardening success), square foot gardening is one of the easiest things I have done.  There is NO weeding.  Watering is minimal as the Mel’s soil mix absorbs and retains moisture, and the only thing I do each season is add one bag of compost to each bed at before planting.

In this bed I have 4 tomato plants, 5 pepper plants, and a squash.  Not bad for such a little space, huh?

My tomato plants are looking happy.  I cannot wait for tomatoes straight from the garden!

My Avery was excited about this Patty Pan Squash plant.  They look like little flying saucers! She has delighted in watching it grow.

Just 3 short weeks ago this squash plant was tiny with just a few little leaves.  Now the leaves are as big as my head!

We eat a lot of bell peppers around here, so seeing the pepper plants flower makes me anticipate a great crop.

In my second bed, I have 2 types of lettuce, which is ready to harvest and will be replaced with swiss chard.  I love using these greens in my green smoothies or juicing them.  I also love going out right before dinner and snipping off a few leaves for a dinner side salad.

Beautiful leafy textures, showing off as light bounces off.

I grow a lot of basil every year.  I use it in my simple spaghetti sauce, to make pesto, and my favorite…tomatoes on toast ,which is an easy version of bruschetta.  I also use it in my creamy avocado dip, which is a $100 prize winning recipe, thanks to a contest I won with Avocados From Mexico.

Dill is one of my most favorite herbs.  I use this on roasted potatoes and in a quiche.

Rosemary is such an earthy and beautiful herb.  We love it on roasted vegetables, especially roasted potatoes.

Parsley is an incredibly detoxifying herb.  I am growing a lot of it and will use it in juicing and to flavor just about every dish I make.

Do you garden?  What is your favorite thing to grow?  Have you ever thought about square foot gardening?

—————–

More on Gardening From New Nostalgia:

Last Years Garden Progress

Swiss Chard From My Garden

Square Foot Gardening –Just beginning to grow

Harvest From Last Years Garden

My Square Foot Garden with Dio

Garden Markers

Past Highlights of My Garden

Growing Herbs In Pots

Growing Radishes

I will be growing lots of herbs and greens this year.  I have been juicing vegetables for green drinks and it takes quite a bit of kale and spinach, so I will be growing both this year.