Gardening: Basil & Onions & Peas, Oh My!

Every summer I look forward to planting my garden because (1) I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with every grown vegetable and (2) I love food. My garden is essentially my child in which I'm incredibly proud of. When plant shopping, I pick my seedlings with precision and a critical eye. It would probably be unbearable for anyone to accompany me because I've been known to scan a single section for 15 minutes...or more (I have a tad case of veggie OCD) in hopes to adopt the perfect addition to my garden family. I am also prone to buying more vegetables than what will fit in my garden. It's like being at an animal shelter and having all of those adorable animals tug at your heartstrings, how can you say no?

This year my 3rd year so I've gotten an idea on what works and what doesn't (zucchini = huge success and broccoli = epic fail). I bought tomatoes (Early Girl and Cherry), cucumbers, yellow straight-neck squash, zucchinis, sweet banana peppers, baby eggplant, white and yellow onions, Brussels sprouts (curve ball), Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce, sugar snap peas, green beans and basil. Holy cow!

Here's the forest I had to cut down before I started planting:

After I broke out my machete and anaconda repellent, I finally had a blank canvas to color with basil and onions and peas (oh my!):

My boyfriend is like my personal landscaper and garden expert, he was a huge help in leveling my back bed, topping off my soil and planting. He grounds me (no pun here) when gardening because I get planting-happy and he reminds me that my children need space to thrive. I have an issue that I can't leave a lone seedling unplanted, so I had several extra pots full of tomato and pepper plants. We worked in the full sun for a solid 3 hours and I have the sun burns to prove it.

The backyard supermarket is open and ready for business:

I can't wait for everything to grow because that means new recipes and tasty new summer dishes! 

What do you plant in your garden?

                               

Grounds for Grounds: Starbucks' Sustainability Initiative

While sipping on my sophisticated venti, italian roast, ice coffee with soy milk through a green straw, I was surprised at what I found at the Starbucks' entrance. At the base of the door was a tree accompanied with a basket of what looked like very large coffee bags. Initially I thought Starbucks was getting a tad carried away with its product line and loyal customers were slowly becoming borderline candidates for caffeine rehab. I was wrong, look how cool this is:

Here's a closer look:

:

My initial reactions were: (1) free, I love free!, (2) is it really free? Oh wait, it says "free", (3) I didn't know you could use coffee grounds as a fertilizer, (4) I'm definitely taking one, and (5) yay Starbucks!

This is such an innovative concept (and marketing campaign)! I love Starbucks in general, but was even more in love with this idea. Who would have put coffee grounds and gardens in the same category? Not moi, so I'm glad they did and I'm excited to try it out. Here's a blurb from the Starbucks Web site about its composting goals with Grounds for Your Garden:

"We introduced Grounds for Your Garden in 1995, which offers customers 
complimentary five-pound (2.27-kilogram) bags of used coffee grounds to enrich garden soil.  And where commercial composting is available, many stores are able to divert other food waste and  coffee grounds from the landfill as well."

I love the Go Green-ness of this idea! I reused my O'soy yogurt cup as the perfect fertilizer scooper. My garden now smells like a coffee bar and I feel more like a barista than a gardener; but what a great way to recycle and help the planet in perfect unison! Maybe if I'm lucky, the  Starbucks coffee grounds will help my produce grow venti-sized and make them as addictive as its' coffee!


*Update* Every since using the grounds, my plants have increased in size! I kid you not, I really think the coffee grounds gave my garden an espresso turbo boost! Go to Starbucks pronto and try it out! If you do, let me know about your experience :) Bravo Starbucks, bravo!

Homemade Sweet Pickle Recipe

I love pickles. When my mom and I went grocery shopping at the beginning of the summer, I rushed to the pickle aisle. Upon discovering me, she almost endured a small heart attack before asking "you're not pregnant, are you!?". No Mother, who says I have to be preggo to enjoy a pickle?--what an awful and misunderstood stigma that a Claussen pickle has to be associated with. Pickles are everyone friendly, knocked up or not.

Since I'm becoming quite the farmer and living off the land, why not make my own pickles. Plus, my cucumbers are latching onto everything in sight (my tomato plants, trees, small children) and I need a good reason to harvest 'em. So, I've acquired a nifty, little, sweet pickle recipe from a friend. All you have to do is shove 'em in the fridge for two weeks and they're ready to munch.

I have never pickled anything. The only thing I think that should be pickled is, well, pickles (hence the name).  The pickled beets, pigs feet, eye balls, etc. in the grocery aisles just seem to float in their jars like something from a Potions class at Hogwarts, aka they skeeve me out. I never saw myself as one to pickle anything, but I suppose there's a first for everything. I'm going to document my pickling experience with pictures from my high-tech Blackberry, 3.2 MP, camera (note the sarcasm if you missed it). Here we go.

Ingredients:

Cucumbers

Kosher salt

Onions

Sugar

White vinegar

Celery seeds

Whole cloves and;

A jar

...pretty simple, I like.

 I didn't have a jar so I'm recycling! The onions are from my garden, I used red and white ones. I cut up the cucumbers and, luckily, left enough after kidnapping a few for a snack...so good!

The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of salt mixed with 12 sliced cucumbers. Well,  my garden isn't industrial sized (yet) and I didn't have 12, I had 5; and unfortunately, I read that little detail after I added my salt; so my pickles will either be salty troopers or salt blocks, oh well. If using less cucumbers, guesstimate the amount of salt but I would say about 1 tablespoon. Then mix in about a cup of chopped onions. After all is mixed, let it stand for 1.5 - 2 hours while you twiddle your thumbs.

While waiting, mix 3 1/2 cups of sugar (remember!, this is only when using 12 cucumbers! I only used 1 cup for 5 cucumbers), 2 cups of vinegar (I scaled down to a cup), 1 tsp. of celery seeds and ground cloves in a separate bowl.

My co-chef

2 hours later...

Drain the cucumbers and then place them in the jar...and finally(!) pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers and screw on the lid. Give it a shake, and place that puppy (jar, not my dog) in the refrigerator.

Viola!--my perfect pack of pickled pickles. See ya in two weeks! 

*Update!* Just tried my pickles and they're delicious! Pickle perfection :)

Organic Gardening: My Backyard Supermarket

Update! I took advantage of the first sunny day we've had in the past week and a half, and I finally got my garden up and running. Blimey, ain't she a beaut! I bought most of my plants at a local greenery (which proved to be the cheapest and best quality) and a few at Home Depot (which was almost double the price of the greenery). I've impressed myself for not going plant-buying overboard, but I definitely crammed in as many vegetables humanly possible. I've got lettuce (I've had some already and it's incredibly crisp and delicious), red and yellow onions, zucchini, and eggplant in the front bed. Then my back bed is pretty much an ode to tomatoes (Early-girl, Roma, and Celebrity), and then some cucumbers and bell peppers (yellow, green and red) squeezed in. Hopefully my grid layout proves successful but only time will tell. I feel like an expectant mother (Try me, Octomom), and now all I can do is wait.

I love having my own fresh food source right in my backyard. Having a garden has increased my cooking ability (like a Sim who fulfills a skill point), and taught me patience and hard work; every vegetable is an accomplishment. Hopefully my green thumb expands into a full arm accessory.