Monday, May 28, 2012

Not very exciting but necessary garden list

Here is what we have planted so far:

Garden list

Dill
2 Aristotle basil
2 large leaf basil
Rosemary
Parsley
Cilantro
6 cherry tomatoes
6 yellow tomatoes lemon boy
6 heirloom tomatoes
6 early girl tomatoes
6 cucumbers half seedless half pickling
12 red beauty bell peppers
6 eggplants
4 can't elope scoop ii hybrid
4 honey dew melon
6 kale

Here are the changes we have made to the yard so far this year:
Moved hydrangeas to side bed
Added cutting garden
Moved lillies to corner of yard


And here are some fun photos!
The yellow lily pictured is from Eric's uncle and aunts in Maine. This was the first time we got them to bloom :)

Memorial Day weekend

This is our third Memorial Day in our house, and our fourth as a married couple. Since we were married on Memorial Day, this weekend is always special to me. The first Memorial Day here, Eric built me the garden bed for our vegetables. The next, he planted an apple tree for me. This year, we spent the weekend in the yard working and planting.

The seeds pictured are from my baby shower ( they were one of the favors) that our families threw last weekend.

Changes for this year include splitting the garden bed in half, and adding a cutting garden behind the garage with some beautiful perennials. Grandam's peonies are coming in beautifully and i have already used basil, cilantro, and parsley from the herb garden.

We bought some fennel this year, but it's more finicky than we realized, so we need to have a plan for that.

Garden list to come!

Friday, May 18, 2012

This week

So far this week for garden/home things...

I have frozen some basil in oil. I used it I make a dip last night so preserving it didn't last long. I really love basil!

The dip was very easy. Blended a large handful of basil, some olive oil (maybe a third of a cup) and 8 oz of cottage cheese with some salt and garlic.

It made a creamy dip with the consistency of hummus. It was delicious and I plan on trying it on pasta soon!

I also made up some croutons from leftover bits and pieces of bread on the freezer. I noticed that the bread was still in really good shape, so I may try freezing some whole loaves of homemade bread in the future.

Last night I also made microwave simple syrup (1:1 ratio) that I can keep in the fridge for iced tea. I hadn't made it before but how simple! I made it in a large mason jar, so not even any dirty dishes!!

I am craving some homemade lemonade. If the price is right I may pick up some lemons tonight! They are never local so I feel a bit guilty, but I guess it's my little indulgence.


That's about all! Seedlings are growing, slowly. We will be planting the garden next weekend and I can't wait!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

What an amazing day!

My first (kind of) Mothers Day was absolutely lovely. Brunch with my family, including my auntie who is the only person that understands my love of crafting and DIY-ing. She is an amazing woman!

Then spent the afternoon in the yard with my fabulous husband, and went to my mother in law's for a great BBQ!

This preggo mama is all tuckered out!

Ps: I think the gift baskets were a hit!

Happy Mothers Day!

I am spending my day with my mom, mother in law, and grandma in law. I wanted to do something special so I spent yesterday making some DIY spa gift baskets.

They included some bath salt tea bags, bubble bath, homemade soap, and an oatmeal scrub.

They took some time but hopefully the reaction will be worth it!

I am pretty lucky to have these amazing ladies in my life :)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Freezer cooking

Tonight the big project was cleaning out the freezer! I wanted to get an idea of what I had & make room for a few freezer meals I am hoping to make before baby.

So I pulled everything out, and realized how much was freezer burned and gross :( I clearly need a plan!

What's a girl to do? I'm not sure but I started with planning three meals out of what is in there now! This week we will be having French onion soup, butternut squash soup, and pulled pork. The best part is that we already have the food so I can save some money! My plan is to take that money and stock up on some sale items that we can use often, like ground beef and shredded cheese.

I guess I need to keep some kind of inventory but that seems like a lot of effort and I'm not sure I'm that organized!

That's about all here!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Summertime

It's not close to summer here yet, but we stole one warm night a few weeks ago. Nothing beats family and a campfire. Especially with s'mores.

Back!

I am back. As the garden gets into full swing, I am inspired to post again and officially stop hibernating.

Here is what's going on in the garden!

Still pretty barren. But we have some amazing seedlings going strong (open pollinated.). They seem to be pretty tough as the weather does its New England thing and changes often. I received a beautiful greenhouse as a gift and it has been serving us well. We started parsley, tomatoes, zucchini, kale, cucumbers, and basil. I have not followed typical seed starting technique (no grow lights) so we will see how they do. I encourage and water them daily, though. : )

The peonies are going strong, and many of the perennials we added last year are coming up now. This always feels like a little miracle to me. We have hosta, phlox, and lillies well on their way. This year we added a honeysuckle to add some privacy and hopefully some butterflies.

The mint is coming back slowly, as are the chives. I bought some basil plants and started seeds. I can never have enough basil!

On the preservation front, we now have a dehydrator and Food Saver. More on that as we see how useful they are!

That's about all. More to come as the season progresses and we see exactly what our little yard can do for us!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Hibernating

So my blog went into hibernation.  But for a GREAT reason- I'm pregnant!!  We're due July 21 with a baby boy :)

Along with pregnancy comes some not so great symptoms...like acne.  I have always had great skin, so this was a whole new thing for me.  BUT I found a miracle:
Pin This

Burt's Bees Blemish Stick is amazing.  It's not homemade (because I don't have every essential oil ever at my fingertips...)

Check it out!





No I didn't get anything for free...I bought my herbal blemish stick at CVS like everyone else.  :)