Homegrown

2015 planning.

Seattle spring garden plan - cultivatedrambler.com

I know my fiance will just shake his head at this post – planning for something that’s 6 months down the road?! I’ve officially entered the nut house as far as he is concerned šŸ™‚

Above, is my rendition of my 2015 veggie garden plan (the red star burst things are flowers). I’ve taken what I’ve learned this year and made adjustments accordingly with a lil crop rotation. I’ve read that you should move plants around every year as to not strip the soil of it’s nutrients since different plants need different things. I’m so scientific, I know…

I also plan on adding a small, raised bed by our shed which will give me more growing room. Not sure what’s going to go there quite yet – such important decisions to make I know! It’s North/South facing, but is on the side of the building so it won’t get the morning sun, but will stay nice and toasty in the afternoon. Open to suggestions if you have ’em! I’m also trying to figure out other potential garden add on space. This girl can’t get enough!

Other goals I have for the upcoming gardening season:

  • figure out our stupid gutters – add 2 rain barrels to our house
  • add dwarf apple and pear trees along the fence line
  • add blueberries – not sure where these will go…
  • build a raised bed next to shed
  • add WAY more flowers for pollinators plus create a mason bee house
  • work on patio garden – add stuff ie. perennials that are purdy
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Zealous Zucchini.

The first of the season!

As most gardeners know, zucchini is just one of those “plug and play” veggies in the garden. They don’t need a ton of TLC or babying and they produce like a mo-fo. It’s a total ego booster, so if you’re new to gardening, def plant one or two! Even after trading and giving most of them away, I’m still left with a few each week. I’ve been trying out a few new recipes lately with these green monsters and here are the ones I’ve liked the best!

Zucchini Corn Pancakes
Oh ma gawd! These are good! Great flavor and interesting texture though they don’t re-heat very well so eat them all while they are hot off the stove.

Three Cheese Zucchini Rollups
Easy to make so double the batch while you are at it! They freeze well too.

Zucchini Bread
Duh. Like a total no-brainer. I like mine heavy on the cinnamon and nutmeg. This savory bread looked pretty delish though too…might have to try it out this weekend!

What are your fav zucchini recipes?? Care to share?

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Before/After.

Gosh, what a difference 4 months and a lil love makes! And to think that I wasn’t sure if I could fill the entire space…sheesh. I’ve learned many a lesson thus far and I still have a good part of the growing season left.

Things I’ve learned lately:

  • Birds love peas. Birds eat peas no matter how big or small. Peas get annoyingly netted for life.
  • Weeding for 5-10 minutes per night is better than taking up half your Saturday to do it.
  • Weekly visits to the farmer’s market are only necessary for fruit now. Yay!!!
  • Squash trading with co-workers rule! (I can’t believe that just came outta my mouth – who am I?)
  • You actually need to water your compost pile too.

I’m hoping to get both a pear and apple tree planted this fall along the fence line. I dearly miss having fresh apples like we did back in the day. Nothing was better than those tart apples from the yard! And once those trees get a bit bigger, they will give us a bit of extra privacy from the neighbors.

I’d also like to try my hand at a winter garden but this year isn’t the year my friends. With a wedding quickly looming, I know I’m just not going to have the bandwidth for that. BUT, I’ve been reading up on it and will be fully educated and ready to go come the summer of 2015.

How’s your summer gardening coming along??

Early March of 2014
Mid-July of 2014
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Harvest.

You guys, my mind is seriously blown. I can walk outside to my garden, pick a few things then have dinner side dishes and dessert going just minutes later. I know that’s how a garden should work, but this newcomer is totally in awe these days! I suspect the fiance is sick of me yelling to come outside and take a look at how big (fill in the blank…with veggies you dirty minded people) got!

I sauteed these snap peas and carrots in a lil butter and made fritters with the zucchini, which is growing a mile a minute. I swear, each time I’m out in the yard, there’s another huge one waiting for me. I’m starting to give them away because I just can’t eat that much zucchini. I’m all too happy to share!

We also have a bunch of blackberry bushes behind our house in an overgrown alley and they are already plumping up. Since no one can access them but us, I know they haven’t been sprayed with chemicals and have been eyeballin’ them all summer. Jams, pies and blackberry mojitos fill my dreams – yum.

I quickly picked about two cups the other night to make this slab pie thing to get my fill though I did cheat and use store bought pie dough (organic of course so that counts right?) A girl has her weeknight limits, you know? A friend and I are picking this weekend and plan on making some wicked jam. Can’t wait!

My harvest from the other night. So freakin’ awesome!

 

I rounded up just enough blackberries for this rough lookin’ pie thang.
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Pea Party.

The garden is totally kicking butt right now…I’ll have to post an update soon. In the meantime, please enjoy a photo of Stella munching on her first snap pea from the garden! I planted a huge patch just for her and she’s seriously lovin’ it right now. I’ve even taught her how to eat them from the vine! Can you say spoiled?? #thisdog

 

 

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