Last Post before the New Year...

I still have not given up my dream of market gardening. As stated in my plans from my previous post, I fully intend on working this winter to put it all together. I was thinking last night about not getting any younger, and people thinking they are in a rut, but there is still room to grow and expand (mind wise, not waist wise, which I'm doing) and start living their dreams. This is mine. I am having a procdure done next week to help with my back. Which the prognosis has been changed several times now, to a bulging disc with other disc damage. I'm having a procedure to help alleviate the pain, hopefully with long term effects. As far as the nerve damage in my feet and legs, it's still there, but I feel more and more that it is related to my lower back. I found a digital camera that will be on sale, Thanksgiving. I'm getting that to use for my blog this spring. I've started ordering seed catalogs, trying to decide what I can start out with marketing, plants or seeds, and how to present them when I sell them. I'm getting some pretty good ideas. I want to deal mainly in fresh herbs, and some smaller unique or heirloom vegetables. My niece is excited about this also, and she may be of help. So that is it for now, getting ready for all the big Holidays coming up. Colts are sitting at 10&0 but I think the NFL angels are getting really tired of playing with them to keep them afloat lately. The last few wins, I know must have been divine intervention! God Bless till January...HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The blog and future plans....

My writing is in blue today for the Colts!! At least they won their game last Sunday and so far sit on top of the AFC South. The other teams in that division lost their games.

I thought I would share with you my future plans for the blog...First I'm going to post some flyers advertising my blog in my local area and hopefully get some input going from fellow local gardeners. I also will acquire a digital camera and add a lot more pictures! As I go through seed catalogs this winter and make plans for my 2010 garden I will share this with you. I grow my tomatoes and peppers from seed that I usually get from a nursery in Farmersburg. But if I want to make a business out of heirloom tomatoes and peppers I will need to order these from specialty catalogs. You just can't find that kind of seed around here. I get all these garden catalogs but I've not ordered a thing from them. Usually because I don't have the money at the time, or it's just so convenient to go to local places to get plants and seed. But then you don't have the variety. I think everyone should grow something food wise. Even if it's just container gardening. There is nothing like growing your own food. I'm not a health nut by any means but I've been reading and thinking about what really goes into commercial food that they ship or truck from many miles away. Besides the amount of fuel used, I have read articles where tomatoes are green so they will ship well, and then they are gased to turn them red. Reading about meat would scare you as well. I know it's an oxymoron because I work for a commercial fertilizer and chemical facility as well as being a Monsanto Seed dealer. I will write more on this, and other things that I would like to see done. For now I will post once a week. I've got about a month now until I see the neurosurgeon, so I'm not sure how that will all work out. So for now..see ya next week!

Tears in my eyes...

I've looked up at the clock three times already today. The first when the first plane went in, then when the second hit the other tower. The Pentagon and at approximately 10:20 I will look at the clock again and remember Flight 93. It seems (and I included at times) have forgotten the terror of that day. But when the anniversary get's closer it really sticks in my mind. That was one of those moments that you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and the initials feelings. I was on the phone here at work calling Graves Plumbing to pay a company bill. The office girl was not responding to me on the phone, so I said "are you still there?" She said she was sorry but she was watching/listening to the news, and that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. Initially she thought it was a big plane and a small one, so my first thought was that some air traffic controller really screwed up. Then she said it was two big ones and the news was saying it was deliberate. I told my boss and we turned the radio up and listened all day as the events unfolded. No work got done really. We were all in a daze. Watching planes fly over us and then learning that they had all been ordered to land. For three days the sky was eerily quiet. The first plane I encountered after that was on a camping trip. It was late and I was already in the tent trying to get to sleep and this jet flew over. It must have been flying lower than normal in that area and it was very loud. I was very disturbed by it but I did not look out at it. Let us all never, ever forget that day. The people that lost their lives, the rescuers that lost their lives, the passengers on 93 that did not let the terrorist hit their target.
Never forget.............

Various Ramblings of my Mind.........!!

Still awaiting seeing a neurosurgeon in October, actually the end of October. No one ever seems in any hurry to help do they? Well, my ex husband and I had a blast from the past when I cooked a dish that we haven't had in well over 10 years and you'll die when I give the recipe!
Many years ago before kids, I lived the nice single life in Bloomington Indiana. I had a roommate named Missy and she fixed this dish one evening. I was sure she was actually an alien or had done some major drugs (she doesn't). All you do is brown about 2lb of ground beef with lots of chopped garlic, I'm saying at least 8-10 cloves. DO NOT drain the grease out of the skillet. Add enough ketchup (my ex says it has to be Brooks) to make it saucy and then add 1 small can of drained corn. Heat this through and serve over spaghetti. That's it. Now I know it sounds really gross, but it growns on ya and we thoroughly enjoyed it last night! My son would have ate most of it too and was proceeding to until I told him it had corn in it. He thought that was the garlic! Well that did it for him! I had some leftover today at lunch.

I've been thinking about my garden for next year. I have scouted various seed catalogs that I have from this year reading on organic pest controls. I have never used anything in that regard though my dad will dust my beans from time to time with Seven. I did notice a quite a bit of leaf damage, ect this year and would like to learn more about organic pest controls, so that will be a winter study subject or if anyone reading is an expert, please jump in!

And last but not least for now........IT IS FOOTBALL SEASON!! My son has his first 8th grade game tonight and next week the NFL will be in all it's glory. I am already looking up recipes to cook for Sunday the 13th. Colts play at 1:00!!!! Oh, that reminds me, in our newspaper yesterday there was in insert called Relish Mag. It was very interesting in the regards of food and recipes. I got on the online version earlier and was very impressed by the recipe database. I've already printed quite a few.

I suppose I should get back to work before I catch the glare of the boss!!! Till later........

Doctors have finally found something!

After another bout of pain, I had a MRI last Friday of my lower back. They have found some kind of protrusion and have referred me to a neurosurgeon. It could be a disc or something pressing on my nerves which would explain the nerve pain I have been having for the past year. It was almost a relief, but going to a neurosurgeon doesn't exactly sound good! But hopefully it is something they can fix and I can be in less pain! Well this weekend is supposed to be cooler and less humid so I plan on cleaning up my garden. I should have more beans to pick and the bigger ones that I've let go, I'll save for seed. I am really thinking about trying to start a little garden business next year if my health goes well. I would like to sell fresh herbs and heirloom tomatoes, peppers ect. I've been wanting to do this for some time. Gardening is such a passion for me, and I was so dissapointed this year because I couldn't really keep up with it. I hope next year is much better.

On the football front, my son is in eigth grade football and he loves it. The Colts looked good last night in their second pre-season game and I will soon be in football heaven when the regular season starts! I will post at least once a week on updates and garden ramblings. I appreciate everyone who reads this blog and welcome your comments.

On Hiatus...

I am sorry, but I'm going to take a little Hiatus from blogging for awhile. I will have a new round of medical testing soon to see what's causing the nerve damage in my legs. I haven't kept up with my garden like I wanted to. Next year, my plan is to use the little garden for herbs to sale and the bigger one to specialize in heirloom crops to sell. I will probably give up planting corn :( But for all the work and not having the space, it is probably a good thing. I have plent of farmer's around here who bring in truck loads of sweet corn they have grown and give it to us. I will return when I am finished with all this medical stuff and I hope to then have a digital camera and turn this blog into fun and educational reading material!! Till then...Wishing you all the best!

Being Lazy...

I am sorry that I have not posted for awhile. I have just gotten plain lazy the last couple of weeks! Not much new in the garden anyway but the beans are still kicking. I thought all my zuchinni plants were dying out, but the other day I noticed there was a resurrection! And I have more zuchinni coming on!

Well I have thought about this for some time and I think I'm going to conduct an experiment Saturday. I have several herbs in my herb beds that need cut and preserved, but I have always wanted to sell fresh herbs. My idea has been to cut and bunch up fresh herbs and sell them in front of my house for starters with recipes and hints. So I think I'll set up a card table and sell what I have just to see what happens. If it goes well and I get positive feedback I'll turn my little garden (after some soil conditioning ) into an herb garden with more varieties to sell. It's been my dream for awhile so I think it's about time I did something. I will let you all know how that goes so stay tuned!

There's more than corn and beans in Indiana...

But you wouldn't know it from looking at my garden. The beans are really coming on strong, and I need to keep up with them. I froze the last of my corn Sunday evening. And last night I made mock apple pie, using zuchinni. It turned out great! Since I'm at work, I'll post the recipe this evening. Just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth!!!

FINALLY!!

I figured it out! This zuchinni isn't nearly as large as the ones I had last week. Those have been shredded up, bagged and put in the freezer for future zuchinni bread and other endeavors. My neighbor made a mock apple pie out of zuchinni yesterday and I'll tell you there is no difference. If you didn't know, you wouldn't guess. I am making one this weekend and I'll post a photo of the pie and the recipe. Sorry this is going to be a short post tonight, but I have corn to shuck and bag up. Tommorrow I'm going to cut it off the cob, cook it down and freeze it. We've had a few ears now and the corn is very good and sweet. I just wish I had a big field to grow it! Like I could keep up with all that. On a sad note a Worthington landmark burnt to the ground Sunday. My prayers are with the Reel family during this difficult time. I'm so glad no one is hurt and Worthington has a great team of volunteer fireman that put their lives on the line for times such as this.

Errrrrrrrrrrr.

I don't know what's going on with my phone but I can't seem to take a picture with it and send it to my computer anymore. I guess I'm going to have to seek my techno son's help. However he is staying all night at his grandmother's tonight. You all have got to see these monster zuchinni I got out of the garden. About six "HUGE" zuchinni. I plan on shredding them up in my food processor tommorrow and freezing it. Tonight for dinner we had the first corn on the cob!!! It was delish! I also fried a smaller zuchinni and I discovered that if you use equal parts of jiffy corn muffin mix and flour they turn out much crispier and less greasy than using flour alone. On another front I need to weed more. My legs have been giving me so much trouble lately I really haven't got into the garden, thus the huge zuchinni!! Next year I'm going to cover crop the small garden and not grown anything for that season. The soil really needs to be fed and worked up. I'm getting some ripe tomatoes but the plants still look awful. The ones in the big garden look great. So I'll close with the hopes I'll get a pic on here tommorrow of the zuchinni. I'm kind of tired tonight so see ya for now...

Technical breakdown...

I'm sorry I haven't posted as much. Still no internet at home but I am taking care of that this week. I've been trying to post pictures on here from my cell phone via my work e-mail, but that doesn't seem to be working either. We had the first batch of green beans yesterday!! My idea of green beans is to fry a couple of bacon slices till somewhat crisp and the skillet has a good coating of grease and then dump the beans in with some water and simmer for a couple of hours, adding more water as needed. I know some people like them tender-crisp or steamed but not me or my son. My neighbor's grandson likes to eat them raw! Also we will be eating corn on the cob by the middle of the week! Can't wait for that. I plan on having a cookout Sunday with my friend John and my neighbors. It will feature corn on the cob! My tomatoes in my smaller garden are looking weak again so I plan on tending to them this evening and surround them with compost. I know that soil in that garden needs built up big time. The big garden is doing great for its first till. I had better get back to work. I would like for everyone reading this to say a prayer for three local youths who had a atv accident last week. One is in very serious condition with a possible severed spinal cord, the other a badly broken leg. The driver was fortunate that he was not hurt as seriously. Keep these boys in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks.

Dreary Fourth..

This is the second year in a row we had rain all or most of the day on the 4th. Mitchell and I did not go to the parade. He slept in while I made breakfast and the macaroni and cheese I was to take to my mom's. I heard the jets fly over the house and I wanted to be there but I was not going in the rain. We had the cookout and I got to see several members of my family I haven't seen in a while. I was really tired after that and went home and took a nap until about 4:00. The fireworks got cancelled and it just didn't seem like the 4th. I hope next year surely it will be sunny. I don't even mind if it's hot because we can just get in mom's pool during the cookout. It's tradition! On the garden front, I've worked in my smaller garden and got all the tomatoes weeded and tied. Same with the peppers. I haver several peppers coming on and it looks like I'll have loads of tomatoes also! Still haven't gotten my cilantro planted. Need to do that! On Thursday evening I weeded the green beans and two neighbor girls came over and wanted to help. I grudgingly let them, I was hoping they didn't step on or pull plants up but these girls knew exactly what they were doing, and did it very well. I was impressed. They really enjoyed doing it too. I actually saw a few beans coming on yesterday. I'll snap a photo this evening. I also need to start freezing some zuchinni. I have mass amounts! I might have mentioned it before but I was told you can just slice and freeze zuchinni and then thaw it out sometime and fry it. I'll also freeze some shredded for future break. I'm taking my computer tower to someone this week so hopefully soon I can post from home instead of work. Stay tuned for a post this evening....

Good weekend..

I had a fairly good weekend pain wise, I felt a lot better and it finally cooled down to a decent temperature. I went to work on weeding the garden. It looks so much better. The corn is putting on ears and my tomatoes are starting. I guess I better start my cilantro pretty soon. Can't wait to make fresh salsa! Also I have a bumper crop of zuchinni but luckily I have some eager folks wanting to take some off my hands. I also made zuchinni bread yesterday. It was awesome. I'll post some pictures soon. I still have no internet at home. I'm waiting until I can afford to have someone look at it. I've missed so many days at work it's been a struggle. I can't believe Saturday will be the 4th. Time goes so fast.. Here is my recipe for the bread I made yesterday...

2 cups shredded zuchinni
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Mix well in large bowl, divide batter into two loaf pans. Bake at 375 for about an hour.

Enjoy!

Powered By Ringsurf

Still no Internet

My internet is still not working and I'm going to have to take my tower in to someone to see what's wrong. But I'll try to post from work until I have it fixed. The corn has straightened back up! Several people said it might since the roots were still in the ground. I never did get a pic posted of the corn laying flat but I mean it was flat and so matted down. It looks good though and should be ready shortly after the 4th, probably a week or two after. I can't believe the 4th is almost here already! My son is looking forward to the carnival and then the big cookout/reunion we have at my mom's. I have my 25th high school reunion coming up on the 3rd also. It seems time flies by so quick. Soon school will be starting again and FOOTBALL!!!! I took a look at the Colts schedule the other day and there are 5 night games that don't start till 8:30 or so. I hate those. Because I absolutely have to stay up till the end and then I'm draggin butt the next day. But being the loyal fan that I am, I will keep doing it. It has been so blasted hot and I really need to get out in both gardens. It had been too wet to get in them to weed but they absolutely need it badly. So my plan for this weekend is to get out early in the morning as soon as it's light and get to work on those weeds. Mitchell, his friend Dalton and I went to Holiday world yesterday. I spent most of the day in the water and they did also. It's nice that they are old enough to run around and I can sit in the wave pool or lazy river. My legs just can't handle the walking and climbing anymore. With this peripheral neuropathy I never know from one day to the next how I'm going to feel. I have good days and bad days. I sure got burnt yesterday though!

Storm...

We have had a fierce storm move through here this morning. All my corn, which was about waist to shoulder high is lying flat. My dad says it will straighten up, but I don't know. I'll give it a week and if not I'll have to replant which means I won't have corn until the first of September, so I'm pretty upset right now. I think my zuchinni plants are going to eat the neighborhood...my plan today is to make zuchinni bread. But I'm upset about the corn. I'll post a pic of it later this evening. Bye

No Internet at Home

There was no post from me this weekend because my internet connection is not working properly. When I get it fixed I will fill you in. Sorry...

FIRST HARVEST!!!

CAN'T WAIT FOR CORN!

BEANS DOING GOOD

PLANTS

FRIED ZUCHINNI

Today Mitchell and I feasted on our first fried zuchinni of the year out of MY garden! It was delish. There is nothing like growing, harvesting and eating food that you yourself have grown! Laurie if you read this, I know you'll be proud!! Also I snapped photos of the corn and beans that have really taken off now that we got a little rain, unfortunately so have the weeds. So I was out hoeing and pulling a few this evening. I'm going to visit Orschelen Farm Store tommorrow to see if they have any buckwheat seed. This is a summer cover crop to plant in bare areas of the garden to choke out weeds and add organic matter to the garden when you till it in. This is the first year that I'm going to try cover cropping. In the fall I plan to plant a nitrogen fixing cover crop to till in the following spring. The corn is getting taller, can't wait to bite my teeth into that! Won't be long. It is a 74 day corn so it should be ready a couple of weeks after the 4th. My son was proud of our prize tonight and he is beginning to show some interest in the garden finally. Of course at 13 he is too cool for things like that, but eating it is a whole different story! Funny, story, his dad called him today and he didn't believe he had Mitchell on the phone. He thought it was a buddy of his and he kept asking for Mitchell. He finally hung up and Mitchell called me and told me, so I call Donnie and said That is your son, his voice is changing!!! Which it is. Oh, my I don't know if I'm ready for all this. Sunday, I plan on making That's Good Chicken which you will find in my older post. This will make good use of my herbs that are out of control! It taste great and is so moist. Look for a post this weekend. I'll share some more recipes!! Till then....

Hot, Hot

The weather sure has turned hot. The fertilize plant is running like crazy right now. I could use the overtime. Well I'm tired of writing to myself. Trying to think of ways to get this blog more public. What I would like is feedback from other gardeners and kind of learn off each other. Sunday I weeded between the corn rows. Corn is looking so good. Still haven't planted additional beans yet but that is on my list. This evening I plan on fertilizing the peppers and weeding and mulching under my zuchinni plants. So far I have lots of pretty blooms but only see one tiny zuchinni starting to grow. I have been searching other gardening blogs. There are quite a few interesting ones out there. I plan on commenting on some of these and directing them to mine. Theirs seem full of good advice. Well I'm at work and I had better go. More later...

Beans!

The beans are finally up! However I think I could squeeze another two rows in between the rows my dad replanted! I kinda wanted more than three rows of beans. Since I seem inept at growing onions. I think I'll pull up what I have today and use them for green onions in some dish. I could probably plant two more rows of beans where they were. Today I'm mowing and doing gardening work. I haven't felt good the last couple of days. I'm sure we are going to get busy at work again if the temps stay up and it stays dry. I will post this evening and include new pictures of how the garden is doing. Stay tuned...

Short and Sweet

Not going to post long this evening. I have some medical recording I need to do on the computer. This evening I did to my zuchinni what I did last night with the tomatoes and brocolli. I also got the plow and ran through the rows between the corn. Dad retilled the area where my beans were and I plan on getting them planted tommorrow. Dad says he has a special way of planting them..so I guess I have a lesson to learn! I also watered all the plants. Tommorrow I also need to get in the back herb bed. It's getting weedy but the plants look good. Don't mean to be morbid but that is a spot where I think 3 pets were buried years ago. Things do grow good there. I wish I'd planted the tomatoes there like I did last year. They are not looking good in their new spot but their perking up some. See ya tommorrow I really need to get something else done on here before I crash!

Finally Pictures!

(Far Right Monster Sage!)

Monster Chives

Small Garden after Cultivating Herb and Pepper Bed

Big Garden (Corn) Small Garden Before Cultivating

I am so proud to get these pictures on here! Like I said I'm not technically advanced at all! But my son showed me how to take pictures from my cell phone and send them to my e-mail so I can download them! Now I know you techies are probably thinking DUH! But this is a huge accomplishment for me!

Well I've been thinking about soil amendments. As you can see both of my gardens are hard clay. I've read all along about compost and cover crops ect, adding organic matter and never really did apply it. But my soil is so poor looking now that I'm going to work on it little by little over the year and hopefully next spring it will be in much better shape. Today I started with the small garden that contains my tomatoes, most of my jalepenos, broccoli, and some lettuce that got a slow start. I bought 4 bags of humus/manure at Wal-Mart and took a hand cultivator, loosened the soil around my plants and worked in a good amount of the humus into the soil. I then borrowed my neighbors push plow/cultivator and loosened up the soil in the rest of the garden. What was left of the humus out of the 1 bag I've used I broadcasted all over so it can be worked in later. Tommorrow I need to start on the big garden and do about the same thing. My corn is looking good..so is my squash but nary a bean in sight. I believe it got too cool and wet after they were planted and they rotted in the ground. My dad said he would retill that side tommorrow so I can replant. I have some empty places in the small garden that I may grow some beans also. My herbs as you can see are doing quite well. I need to do something with those soon, cut the excess and preserve them somehow. I don't want them to go to waste. I am good and tired and sore now. I have not mentioned before but I've been going through some things that mimic MS very strongly and I have had various appointments and tests. No one yet has figured out what it is. I have a Neurologist appointment tommorrow. Will it be good news or bad news??? The thing I have with gardening is that I can just relax and focus in the dirt and tend my plants. It's a therapy kind of thing. I think it's what keeps me sane sometimes! I promise to try to update on here daily. I'll be back with a post tommorrow!!! Till then...

Okay..I haven't kept up!

I did not get pictures of the garden this weekend as promised. Been busy and had doctor appointments ect. ect. My tomatoes aren't looking that great. They are still too small to stake and the leaves were getting yellowish looking. I fertilized them yesterday and today they seem a little perkier but I don't want to fertilize them too much or I'll have all blooms and no tomatoes. Everything else is looking good. I cultivated the big garden and the small one. My beans aren't up yet and that concerns me but maybe it's just not been warm enough. So I'm still waiting on those. I absolutely will get some pictures on here soon since I've cleaned the gardens up! Today I was looking up herb recipes online. I've got to do something with my monster herbs that are just outside my back porch. I also planted borage around the tomatoes and corn today. It's supposed to make the flavor or tomatoes better and keep tomato worms and corn worms at bay. I do not use pesticides or herbicides, artifical fertilizer on my gardens! So I've been researching companion planting where one plant helps another in different ways.

CORN IS UP!!

I noticed on Monday the tiny grass-like stalks of corn coming out of the Earth! It is so exciting. Now at least I can run through with my cultivator and get some weeds out of there! Haven't seen anything out of my green beans yet, but it usually takes two weeks. My tomatoes are looking fairly well and I fertilized my brocolli and it is looking quite well too. This will be a short post tonight, I have an appointment with a rheumatologist tommorrow. We'll see how that goes. My main mission for this weekend is to get hold of a digital camera and get some pictures posted of my gardens.

Weekend is Over...

I got most of my tomato plants out in the small garden but not in the back part. It was still a muddy mess. So today I stuck three here and there in the big garden and I think I'm done. I am worn out today. It seems like I was doing something all day but never got anything done. But I did get my van finally cleaned out. That was a huge accomplishment! Tommorrow my plan is to cultivate and fertilize my broccoli and get some stakes in the ground next to my larger tomato plants. I'm bone weary right now. Probably didn't help that my son and I had a huge meal and then a thick shake from Wendy's! For Sunday dinner, we had tacos which I only make with the Chi Chi's meat seasoning mix (How I miss Chi Chi's!) rice, corn on the cob and fried jalepenos. Now..these jalepenos are awsome and so simple I would never have thought about. Last week Mitchell, his father and I dined at a Mexican restaurant in Lyons. Donnie wanted a hotter salsa and the waiter asked him if he wanted some jalepenos. I thought they would bring chopped jalepenos to mix in with the salsa..No...they brought a dish of simply sliced jalepenos, sauteed until crisp (in I guess Olive oil) and sprinkled with lots of salt. These were awesome. Even my son ate them and he hates spicy stuff. Thing is they didn't really burn that bad. I never would have thought of that, but I tried making them today and they were still good! Also my plan this week is to clean up this pile of debris that I had intentions of making a mulch pile years ago that now looks like a jungle. I'll take a pic to post before I clean it up. Now that I've read and read how to make a real mulch pile (actually I'm going to get a bin of some sort) I will start one the right way. Other than that, I'll just pray for a dry spell so I can get some more work done. See ya tommorrow...

The Tomatoes!

Today is the day. The plants are going in the ground. My problem is I have twenty two tomatoes and no cages. I did have about 8 cages but they are mysteriously missing! So I guess I'll have to come up with some stakes. I've never staked tomatoes before, I've always used cages. But then again I've never had this many plants! So here about noon, I will be out in the dirt. At least I'll get them in the ground. The little ones I don't have to worry about staking right this minute. I'll come up with something. So speaking of tomatoes...here is my favorite fresh salsa recipe!

About 10-12 Roma tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 Cloves garlic
A good handful of Cilantro stems and all
1 lime or lemon
salt
A touch of brown sugar
2 - 3 spicy peppers (depending on your heat desire!)

Cut off stems of tomatoes. Put all tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain. When cool, peel tomatoes try to get out as many seeds as you can. Run through food processor until desired consistency. Put in bowl. Separately run through your onion, garlic, lime or lemon juice, peppers and cilantro. Put in bowl with tomatoes, mix and add salt to taste and a hint of brown sugar. Refrigerate at least an hour, preferably all day. Stir again and serve with tortilla chips.

Okay, I'll try this again. I was in the middle of posting when the power went out. It's been doing that for several days now. And just my side of the street. My neighbors across the street have power...strange. I heard there are some transformers down the road that have been having problems. Well I was originally posting about all the rain we are still getting and don't need. I wish it would dry out now through Sunday. I have got to get my tomatoes in the ground this weekend. They are outgrowing their little peat pots! Since I'm tired now..I will cut this post short. But I did promise a recipe! Here is one of my son and I favorites. We don't have a name for it but we always say "that's good chicken" when we have it so the name of this recipe is...

THAT'S GOOD CHICKEN

1 Whole chicken (about 5lb)

1 Lemon

A handful of sage, oregano, thyme, and rosemary

1 Large rosemary twig

3 cloves of garlic

salt & pepper

Butter

In cavity of chicken insert a half of lemon (sliced) and the handful of herbs and garlic.

Salt and Pepper chicken and roast in oven in a large roasting pan at 350 to 375 for about an hour. Baste the chicken occasionally with butter using the large rosemary twig. DELICIOUS!!

I don't think I included the green beens or my zucchini in my other post on the vegetables that I'm growing. The beans are Top Crop bush beans and I plant them every year. Very dependable and very good. I will probably live to regret planting eight zuchinni plants but I do love zuchinni bread, my son loves fried zuchinni and my new neighbors promised they'd take some!! I once read somewhere where the only time people used to lock their cars was in August so that neighbors wouldn't put their extra zuchinni in their car! This evening I put out some lettuce. I dug a trench and filled it with some good organic soil and scattered the seeds. Then I went through and covered the seeds lightly with some more organic soil. It's a bit late to be getting lettuce out but I planted a kind that would stand up to the heat. Other than that, I'm just waiting on the big garden to start sprouting! I am not a professional at this, but I like to try new things and learn as I go along. I read a lot about gardening on the web and my magazine, Mother Earth News. My dad used to come by and say "you ought to do this or that" but I told him to just let me do it. If I make a mistake, I'll learn from it. Most of my gardens have turned out good. Except the year I got a hold of some hog manure and thought that would be great to soak into my soil before I planted. Well the corn was great, but everything else burnt to a crisp! Or the time my friend come by with a few pumpkins in the back of his truck and I took them for Fall decorations. When the season was over I threw the pumpkins in my mulch pile (another story on that later) then some kids got a hold of them and smashed them in the garden. Well that next summer I had pumpkins everywhere! Well the vines anyway. I let them grow. I did get a couple of nice pumpkins but the best part was the pumpkin blossoms! Pick them, clean them, dip in milk and egg, and cracker meal like you would mushrooms and fry. Delicious!! Believe it or not dandeloin flowers are the same way. My son loves those! Tommorrow I will share some recipes using the produce out of my garden. Till then!

Another big rain!

Well we've had another big rain and it sounds like more is on the way. I've worked at a fertilize company for 9 years so we are usually running crazy but not so much this year because the rain keeps stopping us. I know it's frustrating for our farmers. Well there wasn't much I could do in the garden yesterday. At least it got a good soaking. I walked through and checked all the plants and they are still looking good. I think this evening I need to mix my organic fertilizer and water and fertilize my broccoli. I could also trench rows for lettuce and dill, fill the trench up with some good organic potting soil and plant those seeds. I am not very technically advanced but I am attempting to put some images of all the crops I'm growing this year. And when I get a digital camera (and learn to operate it)! I will regularly post my garden pictures...oh okay..I went to post the images and it goes to the top, hmmm

The Beginning

On Friday, April 24th a very nice man with an awesome John Deere tractor came to my house to till up a very big portion of my back yard where our swing set once stood. My 13 year old son was weirdly upset to get rid of it and upset that I was going to make that whole part of the backyard a big garden. He never hangs out back there anyway! And certainly does not use that swingset at his age. My neighbor across the street has a huge sideyard and that's where all the action takes place with all the boys in the neighborhood playing some type of ball there. But anyway, he'll get over it. I gave the swing set to the new neighbors that moved in next to me about a month ago. They've ended up being great neighbors, and they are excited about my new garden as well. In fact on Sunday when I wanted to put the corn and beans in, my friend John marked all the rows. I started planting beans and my neighbor came out and was chomping at the bit to get out there so he ended up planting the rest of the beans, John did the corn and they both covered the rows and it was done! I also set pepper plants in my smaller garden (about 20 of them!) and planted my herb plants and extra peppers in a 4x4 (maybe) little tilled area south of my big garden. I will have pictures posted soon and will keep photos updated as the garden grows.

WELCOME TO MY OWN PLOT OF EARTH!!!

This is my new blog about my new garden. I was so excited to get our old swing out of the yard so I could till a bigger garden than the one I've had for 10 years! Pictures of the new and old garden and my crops as they grow will be posted and I will blog about my experiences with growing, soil, good days/bad days, recipes and anything else that my rambling mind thinks about!