RECIPES/ Sides

Simple Tomato Salad

It is that time of year. My girls are back in school & I’m starting to think fall thoughts, but I’m not quite ready for the cold that I know is coming here in the midwest! I find myself holding onto summer. The flavors of vine ripened tomatoes and fresh basil helps me savor these last few days of August!

I’m continuing to love my square foot garden. I practically ignore it all summer long and it produces amazingness with no weeds. It is my type of gardening. This year I kept it simple by planting just 2 types of tomatoes (early girls & cherry 100’s), one cucumber plant, one basil plant, and some swiss chard. I have had great success with no garden pests this year. Last year I was bugged by those ugly, squash bugs and it was dreadful!

We have had enough rain lately to give my tomatoes a huge growth spurt, and I’m super excited to make some Freezer Salsa & Henry & David Knockoff Onion & Pepper Relish with the abundance of tomatoes that I have.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying the tomatoes by simply slicing them, sprinkling them with ribbons of fresh basil, a bit of feta, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I sprinkle just a bit of garlic salt and pepper to taste. This could not be more simple or delicious! It tastes so fresh, the sweetness of the tomatoes and balsamic, the bite of feta and the freshness of the basil all come together to create a mouthful of flavor. It is simply delicious!

Do you have an abundance of tomatoes? Need some great ideas of how to use them? Then go visit my Recipes: Tomatoes! board on Pinterest.

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Simple Sliced Tomato

(a no recipe, recipe)

1 tomato

2-3 leaves fresh basil, rolled up then sliced into ribbons

a bit of feta cheese

a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

a sprinkle of garlic salt

a sprinkle of pepper

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Slice the tomatoes, sprinkle with basil, feta, garlic salt & pepper. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

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What are your favorite ways to use up those garden or fresh from the farmer’s market tomatoes?

Frugal/ Gardening/ HOME/ Homemaking

My Simple Potted Plants

Follow New Nostalgia

I kept my potted plants simple and cheap this year! My energy has been down and I really didn’t want to spend a lot of money on plants. I’d rather save it for making fun summer memories with my girls!

Here is what I did:

2 Green pots of Dalias to greet my guests at the stairs by my front porch

1 Galvanized Steel Bucket holding herbs and a Mother’s Day gift from my Mother-in-Law

1 pot of my favorite funky spiral grass named Corkscrew or Juncus effusus ‘Curly Wurly’ that I plant every year. It is so easy to keep happy and I love how fun it looks.

1 pot of plain jane red geraniums (pictured above). They are the cheapest way to add color and take very little care.

1 pot of snap dragons. They were on sale and I wanted to add a pop of yellow to my backyard.

All in all, I only spent $25.00 for potted plants for both the back and front yard. Not bad, huh? They are nothing fancy, but they sure make me happy and make our little yard look thought of and taken care of.

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What did you plant this year? Do you plant the same types of flowers every year?

DIY/Crafts/ FUN/DIY/ Gardening

11 Ways To Start Thinking Garden

Grow Food Indoors via Ebay

{microgreens, sprouts & more!}

Simple Painted Rock Plant Markers

{could not find the link to these, but they were too cute to not share! Could use a white or silver Sharpie}

The Ultimate Seed Starting Guide via Garden Therapy

{this truly is the ultimate seed starting guide. Click through for some awesome inspiration and how-to’s!}

Using Tubs As Greenhouses via Garden Web

{use paper cups instead of styrofoam to be more eco-friendly}

Herbs You Can Grow Indoors via Empress Of Dirt

{there is nothing like having something green and edible indoors, even while it is cold outdoors}

Use Coffee Filters To Line Flowerpots via This Old House

{could even double up for extra protection. Less mess!}

Start Seedlings In Egg Cartons Via Planet Forward

{love this simple way to recycle}

Grow Sprouts via The Thrifty Couple

{grow sprouts in a sunny windowsill indoors}

Square Foot Gardening via New Nostalgia

{I just love my square foot garden. This picture was taken of me right before I was diagnosed with stage 3b breast cancer. Oh how life changed! So thankful to be here for another garden growing season!}

Set Up A Mailbox In The Garden To Store Tools via Home and Garden

{I think this idea is great. It would keep tools handy and protect them from wet weather.}

How To Grow Plants In Mason Jars

{you know I had to include something with mason jars! I grow succulents in mason jars and they are wonderfully happy!}

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What about you?

Are you ready to start gardening? Is it cold where you live or are you able to work the dirt now?

Gardening

Square Foot Garden Update

I am seriously behind in updating you on the progress of my Square Foot Garden! It has been another great year of watching tiny seeds and seedlings become big beautiful plants full of heathy goodness for my family. This process never ceases to amaze me, especially when I am quite the neglectful gardener.

Square foot gardening takes so little work. The soil mixture is super absorbent which is quite forgiving of my infrequent watering. It also takes just one bag of compost each season, which gives my plants all the nutrition they need for the season. I don’t fertilize at all. Oh..and weeds? They do not exist in a square foot garden. There is no room for them.

I ate the above tomato on my favorite Tomatoes On Toast. The cucumber is going into this Sweet & Sour Dilled Cucumbers recipe…one I cannot wait to try!

The last time I wrote about gardening, it was spring and my garden looked like the above pic.

Now…it looks like this:

Whoa, right? Amazing. Those tiny swiss chard plants have been growing leaves bigger than my head. They are great for juicing, blending into green smoothies. Basil is sitting pretty right next to it, and will be made into pesto this week. There is dill in there, taller than my waist. My cucumbers are super happy and just keep growing up, up, up and producing much fruit. I used a pallet as support for my cuckes and it has worked great. There is a pepper plant in there…which is hard to see. I replaced kale with baby pumpkin after the cool weather growing season of spring.

Speaking of kale…I grew a ton of it, but was very disappointed that squash bugs got to it. This is my first time dealing with squash bugs and they are nasty little things! They lay a bazillion little eggs to the underside of leaves. I spent a few evenings out there with duct tape, dabbing at those dumb eggs. I won the battle without insecticide, but they ate most of my kale and one summer squash plant before I won. They have tried to get to my baby pumpkins, but I was not having it and drowned the few adults I found and then went after their eggs with my weapon of choice–good ol’ duct tape.

The above picture is my second 4×2 bed, full of spring time plantings of kale and chard.

I replaced the kale with tomatoes, pepper, more swiss chard and a squash plant. All have done beautifully except my squash plant. May he RIP.

I planted just one cucumber plant, and it has kept us in supply of cucumbers for all of July and August, and it is still producing.

My tomatoes are not as productive as last year, but still holding their own and doing just fine. Ahhh…I’m so gonna miss the deliciousness of a still-warm from- the- sun, vine-ripened tomato. I just made freezer salsa, which made my entire family very happy!

So much leafy beauty and texture! The red veins of this Rainbow Chard is just breathtaking.

The vine of mini pumpkins is just going crazy and taking over my deflated wheelbarrow. I can’t wait to use them as fun fall decorations in a week or so. I envision large glass vases full of mini pumpkins adorning my dining room table.

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What about you? Are you a gardener? Do you want to be? What flourished in your garden this year? What bombed?

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More on Gardening From New Nostalgia:

Square Foot Garden Progress & What To Do With All Those Tomatoes

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

Gardening/ Healthy Eating/ RECIPES/ Sides

Swiss Chard From My Garden

This photo was taken about a week 1/2 ago. You would not believe the size of the swiss chard leaves now! I have been very pleased with how fast and easy it is to grow swiss chard. I’ve enjoyed it raw, cut up in a salad,(using the lettuce pictured above), and just recently I learned how to cook it.

I scoured the internet looking for ways to cook swiss chard. I have heard stories of swiss chard tasting bitter once cooked, so I was skeptical that I would like it, much less my kids!

I found a recipe at Simply Recipes, (recipe below). It caught my eye because it was simple and easy to prepare, plus the author had this to say about it:

” I never liked Swiss chard, until several years ago I had some that had been freshly picked from a friend’s garden. It was so sweet and buttery I couldn’t believe it was actually Swiss chard. It was then I learned that freshness was the key determinant to whether chard was delectable or detestable.”

“Sweet” and “butter” is all I had to hear to get motivated to cook up these garden greens.

I think swiss chard is such a beautiful vegetable! The stalks come in different colors and the leaves are such an amazing bright green. The stalks remind me of celery, but a bit more bitter. I didn’t care for the stalks, but I liked looking at them!

These nine, good sized leaves cooked down to one palm sized serving of chard. I was flabbergasted! Guess I need to plant more next year! Can you imagine the content of vitamins and antioxidants in that one palm full of cooked chard?? Impressive.

Nutritional Profile

Swiss chard is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron, vitamin E and dietary fiber. It is a very good source of copper, calcium, vitamin B2, vitamin B6 and protein. In addition, Swiss chard is a good source of phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, folate, biotin, niacin and pantothenic acid.

Here is the palm full of the finished product. I loved it. It was mild, sweet and buttery. I told my girls that I made it for me, but I would let them have a taste. They skeptically tried a small bite, and within seconds I had 2 (my oldest one was not into the texture) little bird mouth hanging open for more bites. Now that excites me!

Here is the recipe:

Swiss Chard Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
1 small clove garlic, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp water
Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon butter
Salt

METHOD

1 Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. Remove the toughest third of the stalk, discard or save for another recipe (such as this Swiss chard ribs with cream and pasta). Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.

2 Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper. Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover. Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again. Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the swiss chard to a serving dish.

This post is linked to:
Made It Monday @ The Persimmon Perch
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Making The World Cuter Monday @ Making The World Cuter
Tasty Tuesdays @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Gardening/ RECIPES/ Sides

Growing Radishes

We had a yummy salad last night, made with lettuce, swiss chard, and radish from our square foot garden. I can’t believe I’m actually succeeding at growing food! My girls little fingers planted the radish seeds and it was their little hands that pulled the radishes from the soil last night, so they were pretty excited to eat them. I’ve never been able to get them to eat radishes, but their curiosity got the best of them and they gobbled them up! (as long as they were drenched in dressing:))

Click here for another square foot garden post.

Radishes are not at all hard to grow. They like cooler temperatures (below 75 degrees), so they were one of the first vegetables we planted. They can be started 4-6 weeks before the last frost date. Plant the seeds 1/2 inch deep, 2-3 inches apart (I fit 16 in a square foot of my garden.) They germinate quickly, (3-10 days), and mature quickly (20-40 days.) They can be grown in containers due to their shallow root systems. They are super easy, and a great way to start out our gardening season!

This post is linked to:

Do It Yourself Showoff Parade @ Do It Yourself Show Off
Finer Things Friday