Lauritzen Gardens

Grandma Ellen had read that Lauritzen Gardens was having a beuatiful poinsetta show along with a mini train going all around the indoor garden. We planned to go before Christmas, but Grandma Ellen was really sick and we weren't feeling great either. Even after the holidays it was beautiful and everyone had a great time at least so I hear. Rob was able to spend time with him mom and the kids without me, while I worked on getting a few things accomplished at home with a quiet house! Did you hear those angels singing? I sure did! From the pictures they shared with me and the cute ones of Bryson exploring, no doubt a good time was had by all!

It was so nice out they even went up the stairs by the garden to see the train on exhibit from Union Pacific! HUGE

Harvest Time

The garden is producing this year. The bunnies and bugs ate all of my green beans, peas, and broccoli. We do have kale, egg plant, peppers, tomatoes, and green peppers. We have mini sweet baby girl tomatoes and you can pop them like candy. We have also been making jalapeno poppers on a regular basis. Sad thing about these egg plants are they will be the only ones this season, the wind snapped my plant.

Bunnies

Oh how I hate bunnies!

If you ask Mason and Ellery if I like bunnies, they will give you a firm NO! This bunny was too close for comfort on my raised bed garden! Since Mason is our early riser, he has now been given the title of "bunny watcher!"

Gardening Fun

We had such a huge success with the garden last year, that I thought we would start early this year with seeds. I have never started anything from seeds, so we will see how this goes. By the end, I will have three of these big black seed/plant holders. The kids had a great time helping me plant the seeds and then checking them everyday for signs of growth. They were thrilled to see them start growing. I might have to invest in some grow lights for next year!

You say Potato I say Potatoe

Can you believe this? Completely organic sweet potatoes straight from the Chaplin garden. We have had great success with the garden this year. I can't believe we payed money the previous year for a CSA when we can grow most of it in our own yard. Someone else in the family is going to have to start eating tomatoes in the future. I have given tons away and eat at least one everyday. Our pepper plants took off and I thought pulling carrots was fun until we started digging for the potatoes. I kept meaning to look up when I should harvest them, but we are heading out of town and they were overgrowing into the yard and taking over the garden I thought what the heck lets just see. This was my first go round on harvesting potatoes and it was pure joy. The kids loved helping dig and when we would find these whoppers they were even more excited to keep digging. This is just from 1 sweet potato plant that I bought for $2.99 and I broke that plant apart into 4 plants in the garden. I thought it was a bit pricey at the time, but it has payed off. We will be having organic sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving at our house along with other tasty treats in the months to come. If anyone has a sweet potato recipe, send it our way. We also have just had plain sweet potatoes with dinner and they are might tasty. I really wish we could have captured the joy of digging for these!

Mason showing off the cleaned off version. I was explaining to a friend that they were as big as his head and she thought I was kidding. I tried to tell her I wasn't and here is the proof.

I couldn't resist weighing the biggest one.

Produce

We had to weed the garden tonight and I was excited to see we have some produce. We picked a few radishes and I think Mason was excited. He enjoyed helping pull weeds and was thrilled to pick something. We also were able to make a yummy bok choy salad and eat some green beans with super all from our garden. I was impressed that Mason took a bite of radish. He ate all his green beans, but refused to try the salad. Ellery refused to try the radish, ate her green beans, and tried the salad. When Rob ate his green bean he said it was delicious and that market price would be about $5 a bean at this point. He thinks he is funny. The good news is that we can grow things and we are having fun.

CSA

We joined a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, here in Omaha and had our first vegetable pick up this week. I wanted to start a garden, but we have a bunny problem along with a time commitment problem on my part. I didn't find it worth the hassle this year, but maybe I will hire a bunny hit man so I can plant one next year. I am really excited about the CSA. We have the option to go out to the farm and volunteer if we want but no obligation and they deliver it to our local farmers market every weekend of the next 20 weeks. We won't know what we are getting until the pick up, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature. We got some bok choy, radishes, and lettuce. I had never heard of bok choy, but have found a yummy salad that we have been enjoying with it. We are also getting our eggs fresh every other week. Did you know when you get your eggs from the grocery store they are already 6-8 months old? I am not sure if that is true and plan to look it up. I could be starting a rumor or make you start thinking about the eggs you buy.
Check out the farm aka the Farmily.
http://bryanfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/

Bok Choy Recipe
Subject: Bok Choy Salad
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 white vinegar (I used 1/8 of a cup)
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbs soy sauce
2 bunches bok choy, cleaned and sliced
1 bunch scallions, chopped (I used shallots one time and green onions another)
1/8 cup slivered almonds toasted
1 pkg. Ramen noodles or you can just use 6 oz. Chow Mein noodles

Directions: In a glass jar with a lid, mix together olive oil, white vinegar, soy sauce, & sugar. Close the lid and shake until well mixed.
Combine the bok choy, scallions, almonds and ramen noodles/Chow Mein noodles in a salad bowl. Toss with dressing and serve.

Container Gardening

I had a dream on starting a garden and then it left me. Here a few of the excuses on why the thought of gardening left me; I'd have to prepare a place in the yard, I have to worry about the dog getting into it along with the large family of bunnies that live in the yard with the dog, I do have two small children, and I don't have any gardening experience. I am now thinking I could handle a container garden on our deck. I am currently in the process of getting books from the library to embark on the endeavour. It appears Ellery is in favor of containers and has gained some experience and might be able to help me out.