Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Strawberry Picking

One of my favorite things about May and early June is STRAWBERRY season. I have wonderful memories and some cute photos of myself picking at a young age and I'm so thankful the kids are already getting to experience this here in GA! We had the privilege of going twice this year to Washington Farms. The berries were plentiful in mid-May but harder to find towards the end of May. We left with great berries both times so, nothing to complain about. We enjoyed many fresh, in strawberry jam, and in strawberry ice cream. Definitely a tradition I hope to continue every year!






Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Planting a garden

Last year was our first attempt at planting a garden in the ground and before that I only had container plants. Since we moved, we had to start from new again. Jason and I decided we wanted to look into the square foot gardening method so we bought the book, All New Square Foot Gardening, and went from there. I have to give him the credit for reading the book since I just suggested it and planned the vegetables and herbs that would go in it. If you would like to read up on more about this, check out this blog for more details that I won't go into since it's already on his website.

Mixing the soil

Bed #1 with marigolds, dill, cilantro, strawberries, cucumber, peppers,
cilantro and parsley seeds.
Bed #2 with marigolds, two types basil, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, and carrot seeds.

Some hearty sage that has lasted three years in the container now! I also have some leftover thyme, oregano, mint, and chives. I was impressed that they all survived the winter and the move. These are some great additions to eggs in the mornings. Can't wait for more goodness to come from the backyard.

Happy Gardening ya'll!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Happy Cinco de Mayo

For Mother's Day last year, I received the Martha Stewart magazine from my stepmother (Thanks Erika!). This month's tear out menu was in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. I gave it a look, decided to go for it, and made all four recipes that were on it! It was a two course meal featuring Garlic-Jalapeno Shrimp, Mango and Radish Salad with Lime Dressing, Rice with Peas and cilantro, and Caramel Custards for dessert. I was very pleased with how everything turned out and the kids LOVED it too except for the radishes and cucumbers : ) Instead of typing the recipes out here, I found some other bloggers out there that posted them instead. It looks like I wasn't the only one thinking, "this would be a great dinner party meal." Now I need to decide who to invite over next time I make it.