A Very Veggie Garden

Every year for a very long time now, I've grown a garden behind my house. No matter where I lived there was something there that I was tending. Flowers, vegetables, fruit or herbs, I was out in the sun each morning checking on seedlings or pruning and weeding larger plants. I didn't always have a bumper crop, but I always had something to tend to. 

Tiny little zucchini.

Now that I've moved (and last year was close to the end of the growing season and I had to leave my garden behind) the yard is not so big and quite weedy. I also haven't had the time to devote to a full garden. I did have a large seed tray filled with plants, but when the time came to plant (and I was in the middle of that) my mother needed me to help during a brief illness and the planting window opened and closed quickly.

Tomato flowers ... soon-to-be-tomatoes!

No matter, there's no way I wouldn't have something growing, and I did get zucchini, green beans and tomatoes in the ground. The green bean leaves were eaten by the cutest bunny ever, so they were doomed from the start. Sad to me, because it's the one thing I've always been able to grow without issue.

A whole lotta mint!

The zucchini are starting and the tomatoes just now blooming. I'm happy with that. I lost some herbs to the recent heat, as well, but learning the new sun location has taken me a little time and if I'm here next year, I'll know better. I also have a bumper crop of wild mint and purslane is creeping everywhere! If you don't know about purslane, please do have a look here for more information - it's not just a weed!

Purslane creeping across the concrete walk.

Over the years, though, I've grown many things and I always had a little companion with me to check growth, pull weeds and harvest when the time was right. My kids love to get into the dirt (sometimes in a not-so-helpful way) and pick vegetables from the garden. And, because of their love for gardening, they also love to eat veggies.

Purslane closeup.

It's not really so hard to get kids to eat their veggies when you involve them from the ground up. They're proud of their accomplishment and really want to see if what they grew tastes like what they've only seen on shelves at the store.

This is in line with Country Crock's message that vegetables are delicious and shouldn't be hidden. I believe the same. Hiding veggies in recipes by pureeing or overcooking not only takes much of the nutritional value away, but doesn't really teach children to enjoy vegetables, setting them up for a lifetime of issues. They won't always have someone who will be willing to hide their veggies for them.

Make veggies the star - have a veggie tasting party with your kids - let kids take turns picking out vegetables at the store for meal time, or do what we do - Grow Your Own! Even if you don't have a yard, many vegetables can be grown in containers and kids love to watch things grow. Give it a try and see if you don't have not only budding gardeners on your hands, but veggie lovers, as well.

Before you go, check out The Country Crock Chronicle for more veggie tips and recipes!

*Disclosure: My posts for Country Crock are sponsored, compensated and/or reimbursed by Country Crock and Unilever. As such, all content and opinions are required to be honest and belonging wholly to myself.

Chive Blossom Vinegar

Years.

It took years for me to finally get a chive plant to bear blossoms. I'm not sure why I had such a difficult time, but my best guess (along with a bit of investigation) is that chives don't bloom until their second year. At least mine didn't. I had planted year after year in various locations and many times didn't even get basic chives. I was told often that they grew "anywhere, like weeds", without having proof of that at all.

Last year I grew chives in a container, but only the chives themselves grew. I put them to bed with the rest of the garden in the fall and this spring, sure enough, they grew with blossoms attached. Finally! My reasoning for attempting to grow them all these years was solely for the blossoms to make chive blossom vinegar with.

I was a happy camper this year.

So, here is a photo or two of the blossoms, the vinegar making, and a final usage in chive blossom mayo. Click on the photos to view them larger.

The method is as simple as it looks: Harvest the chives with blossoms intact. Rinse well and trim blossoms from stems. Set chives aside for another use. Toss blossoms into a glass jar with a non-metal lid. Add vinegar to cover, lid tightly and set in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks. Strain blossoms and keep vinegar in the dark to prevent the color from fading.

Vinegar on the first day, one day later and two weeks later. The strained and finished product on the bottom.

Homemade mayo is far easier than you think. I always make mine by hand, but feel free to search the web for blender and processor recipes - there a re quite a few out there.

Here is 1 egg yolk, 1 Tablespoon of chive blossom vinegar, a pinch of white pepper and salt to taste. Blend well and pour 1 cup of oil into the egg mixture in a VERY thin and slow stream while whisking continuously until mayonnaise forms. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Keep covered tightly in the refrigerator and use within 1 week.

Growing Black Beans

Boy, oh boy - the photo of my homegrown black beans in my last post has caused quite the stir so I thought I would share the very little I know about growing black beans with you.

Dried beans seem to be one of those things that nobody really thinks about growing. You head to the store or the co-op and buy them bagged or in bulk, take them home, clean through them, soak, and cook. It's pretty simple that way, really, but when I saw the packet of black beans for sale at my local gardening spot, I had to grab them.

GROW my own black beans? The hell you say. Really. I didn't know what to expect. The back of the package gave the usual spacing and depth instructions along with watering and light recommendations, but as any gardener knows, the packet tells so little.

I set them to seed in trays with the rest of my plants and then set them in the ground when it was time. The first surprise I had was the plant itself. It looks exactly like a blue lake bush bean and I had to be very careful about labeling so I would know which were which. Bush beans are one of the first successful vegetables I had ever grown and I look forward to them each year. No matter what else I'm growing, I must have green beans in the garden. The difference is, and I found this out quickly, black beans are like pole beans because they climb. I jabbed stakes into the ground and let them wind their way up.

I watered as I did my green beans, not too much, not too little. I set them in a sunny, but not too sunny, spot (vague enough for you?) and watched them grow.

The second surprise was the flower. Again, they look exactly like bush beans, but PURPLE! The first sight of one of those flowers was a truly breathtaking moment. As soon as I caught my breath I said, "Of course! Black beans have purple flowers!" Because, in reality, black beans aren't really black, they are a very deep purple. This can be seen any time they are soaked.

Then came the pods, which - again - looked like bush beans. Ever so slowly, though, they changed color and nearly looked like they were rotting. I was concerned. What if they were too done? WHEN were they done? Did I need to dry them once they were picked? Of course, I knew where the answer was: Google.

Sure enough I found that black beans are not ever really "fresh" because they are left on the plant to fully dry and darken. I popped open a pod and to my horror the beans within were snow white except at the very edge, where they were beginning to turn purple. Aha! They TURN black as they dry!

Those pods aren't rotten, they're purple!

Black beans in the pod.

So, I mustered up all the patience I could and let them alone. Sure enough, before I knew it each pod was full of hard black beans. Wow. Just wow. Now I have bushes full of drying black bean pods and once I harvest them and cook up something splendid I'll be sure and post it!

In the Garden Today

It's no secret that I love gardening and think the world should take it up as its next great move toward sustainabilty. I recognize that not everyone has the means to do it, though, and I'm OK with that. This is why I share my garden so often on my blog.

I check my garden daily, usually twice, to water, weed and just look at it. I'm never less than amazed at how things grow and get a real thrill from growing things from seed. Plants are good, especially in colder climates where it may be harder to start from seed, but I like watching the first seed leaves pop out and enjoy witnessing the whole plant mature from the first pod to the last fruit on our plates. That goes for flowers, too - food for the bees. It makes our harvest a little later than others, but I think it's worth it.

Here's what I photographed this morning:

Cantaloupe flower.

Zucchini flower.

Veggie Wednesday: Grow Your Own 2009

My very favorite part about spring here in the Lehigh Valley is the fact that I can once again garden. Each year I also make a point of blogging about it - sharing our bounty through pictures and recipes, and getting the word out that one of the best things anyone can do for our earth is to grow their own food.

Without knowing for sure where we would be living, I bought seeds anyway and planned to grow, even if it had to be in containers. To me, it doesn't really matter whether I've grown something in the ground or in a pot, but I do prefer having the space to grow more than a container would allow.

I won't have as big a garden as the past few years, but it won't deter me at all. Here is a small sampling of what I'll be growing this year.

Dill well on its way.

Mint transplanted from my old garden. I was really happy that it transfered so well.

Parsley from the old garden. This is having a harder time than the mint, but I'm confident it will take hold and get growing really well soon.

Cantaloupe, cabbage and carrots.

Morning glories from the seeds we harvested last year. I was so disappointed that we lost our seeds from a few years ago and had to start over, but I'm thrilled to have these growing so well now.

I have seeds sprouting for zucchini, eggplant, green beans, tomatoes, chives, cucumbers, sunflowers, cosmos, lavender, Canterbury bells and a set of tiger lily bulbs that I got for Mother's Day to plant. All is well when you're surrounded by so much green.

Veggie Wednesday: Grow Your Own IV

Part four! Yes, I'm going to continue this until I can effectively convince at least one person to attempt to grow his or her own veggies. I mean really, this is definitely one of those, 'if I can do it, you can do it' deals.

I'm no farmer Brown, and yet I've managed to grow my own vegetables and herbs in a very small plot for 5 years (non-consecutive). I've done it completely organically, as well, and I am of the mind that anyone can achieve the same.

I don't get bumper crops, but I do get enough to extend our food stores for several months in the summer, and that's good enough for me. Everyone should grow some type of food whether it's in a container, the ground or hydroponically. If we all did it, there would be quite an impact on our not-so-happy-at-the-moment earth.

So, here's what is going on in my backyard:

Lovely mint. It grows all by itself with very little need for me at all. I make the most killer Mint Pesto from this and dunk it in almost everything I drink.

A zucchini flower...
...and another. Beautiful.
Flowering cucumber vines - and dirt under my nails! It's actually one of my favorite things.

Remember those week-old bean plants? Look at them now! Flowers galore means beans galore.

Our lettuce is all eaten up - by us! It made a delicious salad. The radishes didn't fare so well. I hadn't turned over the ground deep enough and they didn't get very big. Live and learn; I'll definitely try them again next year.

Now, stop sitting in front of that computer and go out and grow something!

Veggie Wednesday: Grow Your Own - III

My garden is coming along nicely, if a little slowly. We don't get a whole lot of sun in the backyard, but I won't let that deter me from growing what I can. Here are some photos of what's going on out there:


This is baby leaf lettuce. I start them out close together, and when it's time to thin them, the baby lettuces are the perfect size to harvest and eat. I let the rest stay in the ground until they're big enough to pick.

Zucchini plants doing well. I'm hoping the earwigs leave it alone this year.

Parsley on the upward climb. I can't wait for this to really get going.

A brand new green bean. These have come a long way since that first week!

While I'm out checking on the garden and minding my own business, this furry little guy starts chattering away at me and seeming very annoyed that I'm anywhere near his home. He just needs to stay away from my greens.

Grow Your Own - II

I've already brought this subject up, but each year I feel like it needs to be reprised, and now more than ever it's important to grow your own food. The less we depend on food grown elsewhere and trucked or flown in, the better for us all.

I have a mere 48 square feet for vegetable gardening and I make the most out of it. The sense of accomplishment when harvesting something I've grown myself is awesome.

These are week-old green bean plants.



I love the little "dance" that chives do before continuing on their upward path.

Plants amaze me. I love watching them grow from seed. I grow nearly everything in my vegetable garden from seed and the flowers are a combination of plants, perennials and seeds. This year we're growing nasturtiums from seed and they are very different. Most seeds turn into the very first leaves of the plant. Nasturtiums grow roots from one point, and the plant itself comes from another point. The seed is simply the seed and never turns into leaves. It's very neat to see and if you get a chance to sprout a nasturtium you'll see what I mean.

So far we have about 80 plants ready to go into the ground as soon as the danger of frost has passed, which is May 15th here in PA. I'm excited to get out there and get my hands in the dirt; to make my morning rounds of the garden and see how the plants have grown overnight; to harvest the fruits of each. We have zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, basil, mint, chives, parsley, lavender and flowers, flowers, flowers!

How's your own garden coming along?

Grow Your Own

My last post was an excellent reason to have your own vegetable garden. It honestly is not expensive and doesn't take a Master Gardener or a degree in agriculture to do. It is a bit time consuming but very much worth the effort.

This is partial haul from one weekend:



This is leaf lettuce. We planted 8 plants and at first I forgot that I planted leaf lettuce and kept waiting for heads to form. It could have been harvested a bit earlier but it was still great.

This is our zucchini, mint, parsley, dill and bush beans. I knew we wouldn't have problems with bush beans since we had grown them quite easily at another home. At that place they were the only thing to grow! The next door neighbor wasn't able to grow zucchini because they had worm problems but so far ours have been growing like weeds. We pulled our first cucumber yesterday and my pickiest kids were all over it. They love cucumbers but are very particular about how they taste. It was gone before I was done slicing it!

I don't use pesticides and weed control was all done by hand (ugh!). Our yard is not in the sunniest of locations either so where you may already be putting up your harvest, we are still waiting on some things. The peas we planted got too much rain and sort of petered out, the carrots are taking longer than anticipated and the radishes...well, 20 days may be normal for other areas but here they just didn't go at all.

This is also our first year here and most of everything we planted was experimental just to see if it would bear fruit. I did plant strawberries but the plant was no good and it didn't root. I also have pumpkin vines, a watermelon vine, tomato plants, pole beans (a friend gave me extra plants), sunflowers, oregano, basil, chives and lavender in addition to too many flowers!

If you don't have a garden or haven't tried because you're afraid it won't work, give it a second thought. It's not as hard as it looks and I am always of the mind that if your yard grows weeds well it can grow almost anything well.