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!