On our way to walk in the Park last week, we drove through the Methodist Church parking lot.  There is always something pretty blooming there.  

 

These bushes are Hydrangeas.  There is also a bank of them in Blairsville near the VFW intersection.  They are so pretty planted en masse like this.  

 

Be sure to look for them next time you're in Blairsville.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Do you love kale?  Not everybody does, but we do.  So much so that I plant about 15 plants of it every year.  This is one.  There are lots more.  

 

Sometimes folks don't like certain vegetables because they've just never had them prepared well.  Remember Granny's green beans cooked to death?  Or Brussels Sprouts cooked til they are brown?   If those were the only ways I'd ever eaten them, I would hate green beans and Brussels Sprouts too.   But it is worth it to try new recipes for vegetables, especially when they are described as Super Foods, ie. Kale.

 

Well, we have an excellent recipe for fresh kale salad.  I put it in the recipe section under vegetables.  There is one (possibly) unknown ingredient:  Nutritional Yeast.  You can find it in the Bob's Red Mill section of the grocery store, or in an online health food store like Vitacost  Or try the recipe without it to see if you like it, then add in the Nutritional Yeast if you plan to make it again.  

 

Try it, you might like it.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I thought you'd like to see our big Apple tree this year.  The others got hit by the spring freeze, so they have NO apples, but this one is doing great!!!  It is about 20 feet tall and loaded with apples all the way to the top.

 

When we were little, there was an Apple tree in the backyard.  We all have fond memories of Nanny and Momma and BeeBee sitting in lawn chairs in the backyard, peeling apples for apple sauce.  And then there is Ruby Whitman Apple Cake.  The recipe is in the recipe section under breads:  The Best Apple Cake.

 

We moved here in June of 2004, and on my next birthday, Momma asked me what I wanted for our new home.  I told her an apple tree.  She sent me money and we went to the Ace nursery in Blairsville, and bought this tree to plant just below our lawn.  We have been making apple sauce (just like Momma did) using apples from this tree since 2014.  We planted two other Apple trees, but this one still gives us the most apples.  

 

According to my Garden Journals, these apples should be ready to harvest in late September.  Fingers crossed the squirrels leave them alone til then.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

Now here is "a mess of beans."  This is three days worth of picking, and fills a gallon zipper bag.  

 

We blanch them:  steam the beans in a skillet with salted water for 5 minutes, then dump them in ice water until they are cold.  Then using the same pan, heat butter until it's foamy, and put the beans back in.  Add minced garlic and cook until they are hot again.  We serve them with cooked potatoes or cooked Chanterelles.  Yummy.

 

Good thing they are easy to cook, and delicious, because when they start coming in, we are inundated.  I've heard of worse problems.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Just look at all the Chanterelles growing IN OUR YARD!!!  With all the rain lately, they are popping up all over.  

 

My National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms describes Chanterelles as some of the most delicious wild mushrooms, and they grow on the ground under oaks and conifers.  It also warns of a poisonous look-alike, the toxic Jack O'Lantern.  We have read the descriptions of them, and compared pictures, and we are sure that these are Chanterelles.  We've picked a lot already, and have eaten them with our green beans and on pizzas.

 

Please do not use my picture to identify mushrooms you find in the wild.  Do your own research, and positively identify what you find before you cook and eat anything.  Foraging is not the safest hobby sometimes, but it can be great fun with the right guides.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

I checked on the peaches this week, and look at this one!!!  It is still hard as a rock, but the color is great.  It is about 4 inches across.

 

Unfortunately, we only have three peaches this year.  That freeze came through in March right when the peaches were blooming.  Last year we picked 80 peaches from our two trees.  Remember?  We had to keep the squirrels from stealing them.  The peaches and apples.  Well, this year the freeze took out most of the peaches and some of the apples.  And the squirrels don't seem all that interested in either one, yet...but we are keeping watch over these peaches.  

 

Every year is so different.  It is interesting to keep a journal and compare.  I don't get too scientific about it, I just record my observations.   It is always interesting to look back and see what happened and when.  

 

We are grateful for (mostly) everything that happens in our gardens.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Check out this weed patch.  The pot is full of Oregano that I got from Karen a few weeks ago.  It stands about 2 feet tall.  Not the pot, the oregano.  All the rest of that greenery around it are weeds.  

 

By "weeds" I mean they planted themselves.  They are not necessarily undesirable plants, they just pushed in where I didn't want them.  There is Columbine, Dandelions, Queen Anne's Lace, and Morning Glory.  The Oxalis I could do without.  

 

It looks kinda pretty though, doesn't it?  Maybe I'll just leave the whole mess, and call it my free garden.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Lookie here!!!  Jim and Roxanne's Stargazer lilies are blooming their heads off.

 

These lilies have the most intoxicating aroma.  We can smell them without even getting up close.  It is a gorgeous outside smell, but if somebody sat down next to me in a movie theatre smelling that strong I'd have to get up and move.  

 

That's OK though, in their garden they are absolutely lovely.  Go see them.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Here are the rattlesnake beans just before I picked them.  First picking:  25 beans, just enough for our supper.  Usually I get over excited and pick them when there are only about 6.  This time there were a lot more.

 

I took out the peas last week, and I'll replant that space with these beans.  That will extend our bean season into the fall.  

 

We love these beans.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Have you seen these trees blooming?  Maybe you have smelled them, especially early in the day when the air is heavy.  I usually smell them first, then look around to see if there are Sourwood trees close by.  It's a very distinctive scent.

 

It is Sourwood, Oxydendrum arboreum, and is quite common in our woods.  They are small trees, growing 30-60 feet tall, and blooming now.  

 

Look around, you will probably see a few on your walks or drives.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!