...And Living Here Doesn't Mean I Can Grow Corn

GARDEN UPDATE.
Peter and I have had a lot of fun watching seeds grow into massive tomato "trees" and food giving vines. All the hard work seems to be paying off, but when you look close at our garden you can tell...we're no Kansas farmers.


Our most recent addition, which is my favorite...he is low maintenance.


Our big boy tomato plant has about five others tomatoes growing, but none as big and beautiful as its very first...


These are the first of our Chocolate Jaspers, this plant along with the non pictured stripped roma tomatoes have been the most difficult.


Our first pepper off one of three pepper plants, the garden pepper.



Our first small harvest of bush green beans.


The first "premature" red onion, while its small it will still taste just as great after 2-3 weeks of curing.


This is onion flower, not what I was hoping to sprout from my onion bulbs but due to fluctuation in weather it caused some onions to bloom. The reason why I wasn't hoping for this is because the moment this stock sprouted it took nutrients away from the onion bulb, all energy goes to the flower to produce seeds, and in nature reproduce onion bulbs. I have harvested some seeds and will plant them in september which will remain dormant through winter and grow early spring.


Our pole green beans started to show signs of Halo Blight which is a disease that there is no cure for. Small brown spots appear on the leaves and each one is surrounded by a yellow "halo". Unfortunately this causes our growing Green Beans to produce fewer pods and the plants themselves become stunted.
This issue has nothing to do with over watering or poor soil...its was in the seeds that we purchased and sowed. These plants have to be pulled in order to protect the bush green beans from catching the disease.

And who said this would be easy?!?!

...And My Cooking Skills Came With

I have to start off by acknowledging all those great cooks I have in my life.

There is my Dad who is often imitated but never duplicated by me. He is the master of baked mac n cheese (my Grandma G's recipe) and rotisserie chicken, honey mustard grilled Brussels sprouts, and his many other mouth watering talents that have included lamb, from scratch Cesar salad dressing, and bacon wrapped shrimp.

My grandma Mary whose spaghetti sauce is a favorite of my childhood. I remember weekends at her house, spaghetti on Friday nights, pizza on Saturdays, and grandpa Bills pancakes on Sunday. I always asked for extra butter on those, typical butter obsessed me.

Then there is Grandma G who I constantly call asking "what temperature to I bake chicken at?" or "how do I make that one thing you made that one time?". No offense to my dad or anyone one else but Grandma G has my heart when it comes to home cooked meals. Every birthday she makes my favorite Swiss Steak and mashed potatoes. She also has the best stuffed bell peppers and salmon patties anyone has ever had.

Then there is my newest mentors in the world of cooking. David and Paula Burger. I secretly stalk them during their cooking endeavours. If its David manning the grill or Paula making homemade pizza sauce...I am taking it all in. Asking for recipes and advice, storing all the information to claim it as my own.

So with all of them being credited to my "cooking education" here or some of my own kitchen projects that I am proud of.





(Baked Garlic and Herb Chicken with from scratch creamy pesto sauce and angel hair pasta)



(Sorry for the foggy picture, it came out steaming hot, from scratch chicken Parmesan in tomato and garlic sauce, and farmers market sourdough wheat bread)


(Ribeye steak courtesy grilled by Peter with sauteed garlic green beans)



(Broiled lemon salmon with seared zucchini and brown rice)



(Sausage and bell pepper omelets with country potatoes)

...And Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

(Garden Update)

I m an extremely impatient person, so it's obvious I have been overwhelmed with the slow progression of our vegetable garden. For months I have dealt with relentless weeds and issues like blossom drop, early bright, and poor pollination. I've watched two plants wither from erratic weather, poor soil drainage, and issues I can't seem to pin point...

But like I have always been told "good things come to those who wait" and finally good things are coming.

Here are a few pictures to show our growing vegetable garden, and all the good things that will turn to better things...like peppers, tomatoes, and green beans!

(Big Boy Tomato)

(Fresno Chili)

(Okra, prior to its slow withering death)

(Carrots)

(First blossoms on our Salsa Pepper Plant)