Quick growth update from the $5 Dinners Garden!

We have a number of yellow summer squash growing in.

And some hot chili peppers…these are growing like weeds!

The cucumber plants have sprung out of the garden and I’m trying to train them to grow up that wire fence you can see.

It’s been a battle. To say the least.

If I’m not careful, they’ll be all over my neighbor’s backyard!

The lone wild green bean plant has outgrown this wire fence, and I need to get a stick frame up for it. (I should go do that right now!)

And there are a number of these mini tomatoes growing in the tomato garden!

Now I’m outside all weekend…basking in the sun, watering the garden, resting in the hammock! Hope y’all have a lovely and relaxing July 4th weekend!

If you’d like to learn more about Square Foot Gardening, please check out the Square Foot Gardening books by Mel Bartholemew.

Tell us what’s happening in your garden this week…

Feel free to link up your blog post below…or leave an update in the comments!!!

Tilling

See those roots?!  Those are the reason that my hamstring muscles were sore from Monday through Thursday.  Those were the reason I was walking a little slower than usual on Tuesday. Those were the reason I could barely get through my 4 mile run on Friday morning…my legs still felt like lead!

As I started tilling the garden on Sunday, I quickly realized that I was in for it.  I pulled up quite a few “root systems” and they were tough…I ended up asking Steve to get some scissors to cut out some of them!  I’m glad to have pulled them out, as the soil is now nice and loose…ready for fertilizing!

I plan to till the other 4×4 planter this weekend, weather permitting.  And I plan to spend the rest of next week walking funny again!

Fertilizing

I have a new fertilizing plan this year!  I’m following Mel’s advice in his book Square Foot Gardening. I’m going to apply a strong fertilizer at the start of the season, and then apply a basic balanced fertilizer once a month throughout the summer. I’m excited about this plan and hope that it helps my veggies grow, grow, grow!

(No, I don’t have a compost. Yet. I hope to start one soon…it’s next on my “garden project” list!)

Planting

I have 3 kale plants (the funny spiky leaves) in the garden, along with 3 cabbage plants (forefront of the picture). I also planted some Buttercrisp lettuce, Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce, and spinach seeds. The seeds should be sprouting middle of next week and I hope that the warm weather doesn’t set in too quickly and kill them (like it did last year!).

And here we have the Brussels sprouts plants. I got 3. Because I am a “mean” mom and make my kids eat Brussels sprouts! I’ve never grown Brussels sprouts before, but I love how they grow and I’m hoping they turn out in the garden!

I also planted 3 new pollinator plants for my “squash garden,” which is in a small in ground patch next to our patio.  I planted yellow squash and zucchini seeds as well.

Square Foot Gardening

I follow the Square Foot Gardening method and have devoured the book from cover to cover a number of times!  The reason I chose SFG is because I have very limited sun space in my backyard and have had to build 2 planters that sit out our back patio.  We have 48 trees on about a half acre lot, so there any “in ground” space on our property that gets full sun.  So planters on the patio it is!

Gardening Expenses for 2011

• Bonemeal ~$10
• Bloodmeal ~$10
• Veggie plants and herbs ~$35 (thus far, I still need to get tomatoes)
• Critter Ridder ~$10
• 3 Pollinator Plants – $12

So how is your garden shaping up?!  Have you planted any cold weather veggies…or any and all veggies for those southern friends?!

Ever thought about how gardening can impact your child?!

I really hadn’t until last week…when Ryan shows up in the car after school with his garden “book.”  What you see pictured above is the cover of his garden book. He’s my little engineer…seeing things from different angles.

1. The blue sky.

2. The square foot planters, with their masking tape lines. (In brown.)

3. The green grass.

4. The brown planters from the side angle.

5. The 2 small plants. (Nevermind that there are 2, and that they are brown. The SFGs were much more colorful and full of growth than what he portrays.)

But here’s the real lesson. I knew that he enjoyed planting seeds with me. And picking green beans. And watching the green peppers turn from green to red. But I didn’t really know how much he has been digesting. It would appear that he “gets it” more than I thought.

We had a lovely conversation about why we grow food, and how it helps us. And where food comes from, and why we want to grow our own and eat as much as we can from local markets and farmers.  These are important lessons for our children.  These are important conversations to have.

I think a kiddie swimming pool garden will be in order for the boys!

What about your kiddos?!  What do they think about your family’s garden?!

Good Monday afternoon friends!  You all are in for a treat this fine Monday.  You’re getting a double bonus on recipes today! This one, plus another tonight for the $5 Dinner Challenge!

I was working on dinner over the weekend when Steve pops into the kitchen with a few handfuls of itty bitty tomatoes.

Huh?

I thought the garden was “done.”  I haven’t officially closed it down, but I thought it was finished producing!

I gladly took the tomatoes. And worked them into the meal.

• Homemade Pesto, from the freezer.
• Bread rolls, marked down on special, from the freezer.

And we’ve got ourselves the makings of a Pesto Bruschetta appetizer.

Since I’m all about being resourceful, I just cut the rolls in half…and they look just like slices of French bread loaf…right?!  (You’d probably never have known had I not told you!)  These are just multigrain dinner rolls that I got on Manager’s Special and stashed in the freezer.  Perfect, for a time like this!

Spread on the pesto. Top with the topping. Eat.

H.e.a.v.e.n.l.y. Heavenly.

Pesto Bruschetta

Ingredients

• About 2 cups cherry/grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1/4 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 multigrain rolls, sliced in half
• Couple knife-fuls of Homemade Pesto

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, toss the tomatoes, onion and garlic.  Drizzle about 1 tsp of olive oil over the top and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Lay out the sliced bread and spread a knife-ful of pesto over the bread.  Top with the tomato mixture.
3. Enjoy.
4. Devour.
5. Make another round.
6. Enjoy and devour again!

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

It’s that time.  It’s garlic planting time!

When it comes to planting garlic for the spring, here are a few guidelines you’ll want to follow…

• Plant in a location with full sun, that is well drained, with nutrient rich soil (from compost or fertilizer)
• Separate the cloves in the bulb, and peel apart individual bulbs.
• Use only the larger cloves from the outside of the bulb for best results.
• Place in the hole with the flat-bottom pointing down.

• Top with nutrient rich soil.
• Add layer of mulch, straw, leaves.
• Water.
• Watch and wait for sprouts.
• Harvest bulbs come spring time.

There you have it.  A few tips and tricks for planting garlic in your garden.

(Here’s hoping that the pesky chipmunks don’t dig it up.  At least I can rest knowing that they’ll have really bad breath if they choose to lunch on it!)

So I made these a few weeks ago…and I’m so sorry it took me so long to get them posted.  I used 2 of the smaller peppers from my garden, along with some of my cherry-like tomatoes.

And avocados. *swoon*

And I think these would be just as great with ground beef or ground turkey tacos.  Love the different flavor and texture that the avocado chunks brought to these tacos!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts ($1.66)
1 heaping Tbsp homemade taco seasoning ($.05)
1 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil ($.03)
2 small green/red peppers, seeded and diced from the garden
2 avocados ($2)
Handful lettuce ($.25)
Cherry tomatoes, quartered, from the garden
Taco Shells ($.69) Sale, store promo and e-coupon

Frozen corn ($.88)

Directions

1. Cut the chicken breasts into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes.  Toss in a mixing bowl with the taco seasoning.  You could certainly use cooked and shredded chicken too.

2. In a medium skillet, saute the chicken pieces in oil with the diced peppers.

3. Cut the avocado into 1/4-1/2 inch chunks and toss with the cooked chicken and peppers.  Place into the taco shells and top with lettuce, and tomatoes.  (Optional: Add shredded cheese and/or sour cream.)

4. Cook the frozen corn as directed on the package.

5. Serve Avocado Chicken Tacos with Corn.

Cost $5.56

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Picked a bunch of cherry-type tomatoes from the garden…opened the fridge to figure out what to do with them…and the $2 box of spinach practically fell of the shelf.  When that kind of thing happens, I take it as a sign…

And here’s the result…

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered (from the garden)
1/2 lb spinach ($2)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in a skillet.  Add fresh crushed garlic and let it sizzle for about 3o seconds.

Add the quartered tomatoes and saute with the garlic for 2-3 minutes.

When you see the juices begin to brown in the skillet, add about 1/4 cup of water to deglaze, and then steam the spinach.

Let the water bubble up, then quickly stuff the spinach into the skillet.  Stir a few times and then cover as soon as it has wilted down enough.  Let cook over medium low heat for 2-3 minutes.  Stir after a minute or so. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm as a side dish.

Cost $2.20

Super Simple Supper!

This is a one dish dinner.

(That brings up an important question…when you hear one dish dinner, do you think of it being a dinner that is SERVED in one dish, or COOKED in one dish?!)

So this is technically a one dish served dinner…as the whole meal is in one bowl.  But it was cooked in 2 pots…a pot for the pasta, and a skillet for the sausage, then the veggies.

Would love to know you thoughts!

Now for the recipe…but be warned…it’s a $6 dinner! The key to this meal…it uses an expensive lean all natural sausage that costs nearly $5…but when paired with inexpensive pasta and veggies all from the garden, it’s not as terribly priced as it could be! It’s all about the balance!

Ingredients

1 lb. Italian sausage ($4.85) WHAT?!? I know…this is the 100% all natural, grass fed sausage from the farmer’s market.
1 lb. Rigatoni pasta ($.79) Manager’s special
1/2 yellow onion ($.15)
1 red pepper, from the garden
1 green pepper, from the garden
1 banana pepper, from the garden
2 medium tomatoes, from the garden
3 garlic cloves, crushed ($.15)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese ($.25) Optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Brown the sausage in a skillet. Once browned, place onto a plate with paper towels to drain/absorb the grease. Pour off any excess grease, leaving just a little to saute the veggies.

2. While browning, start the pasta. Cook the rigatoni according to package directions. Set aside 1/3 cup pasta cooking water and drain.

3. Chop all the veggies and crush the garlic. In the same skillet that you browned the sausage, saute the veggies for 5 to 7 minutes, or until peppers begin to soften.

4. Toss the cooked rigatoni, the 1/3 cup pasta cooking water, browned sausage and the sauteed veggies in the saucepan or in a large mixing bowl. (Optional…sprinkle in some parmesan cheese.)

5. Serve Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Red Peppers.

Cost $6.19

Looking for something to grill this weekend…look no further!!!

I’ve been making all sorts of burgers this summer.  As part of my quest to grill more. (‘Cause Girls Grill Too, you know!)

And this might just be my new favorite. I *think* I enjoyed it better that a Guac-Topped Burger. I *think*.

Here’s the deal. Make your favorite burger, and while it’s grilling, saute some onions with a “condiment sauce.” Give the “condiment sauce” some zing.

Your taste buds will thank you.

Ingredients

Favorite burger or cheese burger
Garden Tomato

1 onion, sliced into circles
1 tsp vinegar
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp mustard
Hot sauce

Directions

1. Make your burger as you like it. Slice up that garden tomato. (Check out my big boy below!)

2. To make the Spicy Onions: Add the sliced onions to a skillet and begin to cook over medium-low heat.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, ketchup and mustard. Add to the onions. Then add 1, or 2, or 9, drops of Tabasco or other smoking hot sauce. Zing!

3. Serve Burgers with Spicy Onions on top! Double Zing!!

(Rainbow Radishes from the Farmer’s Market in Point Reyes, CA.  Pretty, huh?!)

So I can’t believe we are in the middle of August…but that means it’s time to start planting for the fall.  I had every intention to get some seeds into the ground by the end of July, but that just did not happen!

I’m hoping that my fall garden will make up for what I missed out on this spring!  I’ll be pulling up my lettuce, tilling in some fertilizer and planting some seeds for the veggies that failed me this spring.

(More pretty-ness from Point Reyes, CA Farmer’s Market! Rainbow Chard)

Here’s the Fall Garden Plan:

• Spinach
• Radishes
• Swiss Chard
• Brussels Sprouts
• Onions
• Garlic (Later…October-ish)

What about your fall garden?!?  Have you thought about it? Have your planted any seeds?!