Spicing it Up

Our garden is dead right now but we're already planning on what to plant in the spring. If you can believe it, we had tomatoes until November and I just used up the last bag of frozen tomatoes to make my chili last week.

I still have one fresh squash left and I will probably cook that next week. Winter squash is a great storage food. It keeps without refrigeration or preservation. Its skin is it's own preservative! We also still have some frozen vegetables in the freezer that will probably stick around until the next batch start coming in early summer.

Now you see why we're excited to get to the backyard already?

A Fall Garden?

What are you planting this fall? Have you started your fall garden yet? We haven't. We're still in the midst of ending our summer garden as we harvest the rest of the tomatoes, squashes, peppers, beans and okras. Normally we would have already cleared a bed and planted some greens but this year my husband wants to re-do our back yard. He's removing a couple of the beds and moving them towards the back so that he can create a work area for himself. So we've been doing a bit of green shopping lately, finding materials suitable for our garden renovation.

In the meantime, here's what's languishing in our backyard. They're biodegradable pens and they're supposed to degrade and be absorbed back into the soil. We participated to review these green pens and have agreed to monitor their degredation rate. So far, not much has happened since we put them out a couple of months ago. But then, it's been a bit dry in our area. Maybe as we get more rain and they get more covered with dirt they will disintegrate faster.

A Productive Weekend

I had a very productive weekend at home; got quite a few things accomplished plus a few more. First, we (my husband and I) cleaned out the garden. Took out dead plants, harvested the last remaining tomatoes, squashes, swiss chard, and sweet potato tops. See, it's starting to dip below 32F at night and it's starting to scorch the cold sensitive plants. My husband dug up our sweet potatoes too and now I have a big bucket of sweet potatoes to cook. OH, and don't forget leeks. We got a bunch of leeks too!

By the time I finished washing, cutting and cooking everything up, our freezer is almost full again. I also managed to cook up some delicious banana muffins this weekend. I thought we'd have them for the rest of the week to take with our lunches, but I was wrong. *-*

Anyway, being that busy at home meant I didn't get to do much online. My facebook status was: harvesting for real and not on farmtown. lol! I had some reviews, blog maintenance and web directory submission tasks on my blogging to do list but I didn't get to them so I guess I will try to squeeze them in this week.

So here's to another busy week! Hope you have a productive one.

Tomatoes from our garden

The temperature has now dipped to an autumn like 70's during the day and could go as low as 40's in the evening. We are now keeping a watch for the first frost so we can take up the remaining tomatoes, basil, green beans and opo squash from the garden. Until that time, they are all still going strong and putting out a good harvest every week. I can't believe there are still a number of tomatoes on the vine that are green and healthy looking.

One of the drawbacks for having so much tomatoes in the kitchen is the gnats. It drives me and the girls crazy and don't really know how to get rid of them. We've tried washing the tomatoes before bringing them in, but since we don't put them in the refrigerator but rather leave them out on the counter when we're not freezing them, we still get those little irritating flies. I've also noticed that at dusk the moths, gnats and whatever other bugs are out there, start swarming. My husband has been talking about getting moth traps for inside the house. I don't think there's anything we can do with the swarm outside other than to stay away from them.

But, like I tell the girls. Bugs and gardening go together and one wouldn't exist without the other. We just have to live with them. A small price to pay for having fresh and home grown vegetables.

Chillin' in the backyard

My husband and I love spending time in our backyard and while the weather is still cooperating, we are taking in every bit of outdoor time as we can. From our garden we are still getting green beans, herbs, squashes and greens. Of course our fall planting of greens are just starting to come in, as are the snow and snap peas. There are also still tomatoes on the vine. We're leaving them on there to get ripe before the weather gets too cold.

When sitting outside, one of our guilty pleasures is having our wine. My husband is stuck on Merlot but I like mixing it up a bit. I would love to join one of those wine of the month club just to get something new and different once in a while.

Summer Cool Down

Summer is upon us with a vengeance and the girls and I have ramped up our dream of having our own pool in the backyard. If you are also on this same daydream, then Blue World Pools may be just the thing for you.

Consider having an above ground pool for the fraction of the price for an in ground pool. It's a great way to relax after work and cool off in the summer time. It's almost hard to believe, but the price for an above ground pool starts at $349. The $349 offer is for a limited time only and applies to the 15x24 oval pool. That's good enough to cool off in, but if you'd like something more fitting for your backyard landscape and one that matches the architecture of your house, you may opt for a midline pool or the classic pool. You certainly get a lot of flexibility in design and pricing with above ground pools.

The website is very intuitive. If you want a quote, they'll give you one for free and if you just want to know if they provide service in your area, they have that information online too. Even if they don't service your area, contact them anyway, they may still be able to help you. They have live online help, so you can get your questions answered right away. Blue World Pools has been in business a long time and they have a proven track record for providing good service. They not only make sure you receive excellent service in choosing and installing your pool, they will provide assistance with financing and maintenance after the installation so that you will enjoy your pool for years to come.

Check their website, and give them a call. They may just have the solution to this summer's heat.

This post sponsored by Blue World Pools

Cold Backyard Living

Fall is surely upon us. By the time I get home at the end of the day, the sun has set and the garden is dark. That doesn't stop me from sitting out to enjoy the twilight though. Thank goodness to outdoor lighting, we still spend a lot of time in the backyard. Now we are seriously considering getting one of those fire pits. The Clone for sure, is looking forward to roasting marshmallows.

My Garden Visitor

He visited our backyard a few weeks back. He is the most adorable and friendliest pup I’ve seen in a while. He wanted to stay and rub up against our legs.

Read about our garden visit>>>>

It's an acorn, not a corn

We had lost the original seed package for this squash and we had so many that didn’t come up that we really had no idea what variety of squash this was. We had to wait and see what came up to see if it was butter nut, spaghetti or one of the other packs we bought last spring. Their blooms look pretty much the same so it was hard to tell what it was at first. Then, the fruit started developing and started taking shape.

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Zucchini for Little Gardeners

One of the easiest things to grow in your garden is zucchini. If you have young kids, aside from green beans, this is one of the best plants for children to plant because it is fast growing and fast bearing. It germinates fast so the kids can see within a few days the plantling break through the ground. You can see the leaves and stalks grow a measurable length daily. My girls did this and would actually bring out a measuring stick to see how much their plants grew in a day.

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Zucchini for children’s garden

One of the easiest things to grow in your garden is zucchini. If you have young kids, aside from green beans, this is one of the best plants for children to plant because it is fast growing and fast bearing. It germinates fast so the kids can see within a few days the plantling break through the ground. You can see the leaves and stalks grow a measurable length daily. My girls did this and would actually bring out a measuring stick to see how much their plants grew in a day.

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Travel with Ginger

No, Ginger is not a sexy chick. But it could be darn hot and spicy when it wants to be! Most of us who love to travel but are too poor to go to exotic locales or fancy resorts do our own traveling at home, in the comfort of our kitchens. Ginger is one of those spices that can transport you. Wherever in the world you may be house bound, ginger can take you, even just for the moment of a meal, to places that you've only ever dreamed of or read about in glossy travel magazines.

That's what we do in our kitchen. Now I found I can do this imagining in my backyard too!

Read about ginger in our backyard....

Unfinished

Today's Photo Friday theme is UNFINISHED. Want to see my unfinished portrait? I may hang it in the dining room. What do you think?

Another photo meme this week is for Thursday Challenge. This week's theme was Yellow. I posted a yellow star...it was a squash flower.

Starters

We usually start our garden from seed, starting to buy seed packets even before the last frost is pushed away by the warmth of spring. This year however, many of the seeds did not come up for some reason. So earlier this summer, when we just happened to be walking through the garden center at Wal-Mart, without intentions of buying anything, we spotted these Japanese Eggplant seedlings and, of all things, sweet potato plants!!

If you plant a little something...

Gardening can be addicting as you can see In Our Backyard. You start out by planting a few things, and it makes you happy and satisfied. Then you think to yourself, I should plant something on the other side of the yard to, just to even things out. So you plant and you sit some more admiring your work. The next thing you know you are adding a water feature because the sound of rippling water would complete the serene ambiance you've started going for in your garden's design. Then you listen to the soothing sound of running water and you realize the whole garden just does not look "natural" without rocks. Preferably the craggy, natural looking types to make the look of your garden more authentic. Like you've suddenly been transported in the middle of some secret garden in the middle of the forest.

The problem is, you find out it's not as easy to bring these beautiful rocks into your garden as the pots of plants or pond equipment. They weight a ton! And you'd either have to call in all the manual labor favors you've given out over the years or hire some heavy duty equipment to move in some rocks into your landscape. This is where the Artificial Rocks Factory comes in. A solution to your rock problems. They can provide your garden with artificial rocks and boulders without you having to strain a muscle. They make realistic looking rocks out of construction grade cast stone. They aren't going to fly away with the next wind storm, but they won't be breaking your back or your wallet either. The boulders look and feel like the real thing but they are hollow inside so they are not as difficult to move. They can be shipped anywhere by FedEx and can be at your doorstep within weeks. So if you're looking for another option than rolling the rocks around yourself, this may be the solution you're looking for!

The Lily Garden

I have to say our lilies are were looking great this year. That is until the thunderstorm that came through a couple of days ago and knocked off some of the blooms. I'm glad I took this photo when I did.

Can you believe we brought these plants with us eleven years ago when we moved to Durham from Los Angeles? We had these growing around our house there, so we decided to bring a few plants with us to remember our old garden. My husband first had them in pots but they weren't doing so well. We were down to three plants when he finally decided to put them in the backyard and see how they will fare. Lo and behold, they took off! We now have probably over a hundred plants and still growing every year. They provide color in the garden but they also serve as a privacy fence for us since they are so tall. They make a nice border to the garden, and a nice reminder to our old house.

Wordless Wednesday

See more Wordless Wednesday participants here.

Have something to eat then relax

That's pretty much has been our routine since the weather has turned warm. Eat something good, then retire to the garden to relax or work if off weeding the beds.

I've been remiss about updating all my other blogs lately so this morning I thought I would get them caught up some. Visit our backyard to see what's growing there, and if you get hungry, have a taste of this...

Chicken Thighs and potatoes in Our Kitchen.