Saturday, March 20, 2010

On the First True Day of Spring...


It has been such a beautiful couple of days, I though I'd share some highlights with you to celebrate the official arrival of spring!


Have I mentioned how much I love spring?


While working in the flowerbeds, Maisie thought she would wake up from her "I'll pretend I'm in Acapulco" nap long enough to protect the family...




...from this lil' guy!





Proof that Spring has officially arrived!


Meanwhile, in the greenhouse, the growing season is alive and well! Remember the lettuce I planted a couple of weeks ago?



I went to town and just had to stop at the local nursery. Had to. Couldn't stop myself.


It's still too early to put the herbs in the ground, but this well get us started!




Yesterday, my cousin-in-law, Jill asked me about artichokes. All I know about them is that they can be purchased, already marinated, in small jars at the grocery store.


And they taste great in salads.


In our quest to be more self-sufficient and eat locally, I decided to learn about artichokes and grow them myself.


Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out what to do with them once they are ready!



The rosemary, applemint, spearmint, peppermint and broccoli are all waiting to be planted.


I'll get more broccoli starts, but want to wait until our farmer's market opens.



This is the patio we built last summer. Now it is weeded and ready for some more plants!


I planted some lavender and plan on adding sweet peas, nasturtiums and petunias.



We also planted a hydrangea called "Annabelle". (It's in the corner!)



As I finish this, the sun has gone into hiding behind some very large, ominous looking clouds, so for the next couple of days, it looks like I'll be doing a little cyber-gardening instead.






3 comments:

Michaela Dunn Leeper said...

I was considering eggplant this year as a new thing (among other new things- check my profile for my 1/10th blog, to see my list- which needs to be updated). I decided against it, not knowing if we'd actually eat it. Baker Creek sent me Thai White Ribbed Eggplant as my FREE pack!! SQUEE!!!

Kim said...

We planted eggplant a couple of years ago and only a couple of us liked it, so we gave the rest away. My mom used to bread, fry and cover it in pasta sauce with parmesan cheese...it wasn't bad, but I didn't remember it in time to use it for my family...maybe this year? I've never heard of Thai White before...that could be fun!

Anonymous said...

Sis,
Grilled with a little olive oil is another great way to cook eggplant. But since I'm the only one who likes it at our house, it goes into the 'forbidden' category along with brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes (also yum!)
~Erin