A little bit of gardening

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A little bit of gardening

Not many sugar snap peas made it into the kitchen last spring. 

I soaked these overnight, then planted them in soft soil. I’m hoping they do really well.

I planted some turnips too, but I’m interested to see how much the rain moved those seeds. They’re probably all in one huge congested puddle.

I love the delicate blooms on my alyssum, don’t you? My snapdragons have a while to go before they bloom, but these are are nice blur of color now. I may splurge on some pansies soon.

It seems to be a great year for citrus, and thanks to someone very kind, I have lots of lemons. I have been juicing them and freezing it by the tablespoon in ice cube trays. 

I’ve also made lemonade, and have been enjoying tart lemon water.

The juice cubes will save me some money when I’m canning jam and applesauce this year. 🙂

I’ve also been tossing them in sweet tea and water. 🙂

So good.

Speaking of good…

On New Year’s Day, we had Hoppin’ John for lunch, with greens that I had frozen. It doesn’t look very appetizing, but it was very good, especially with pickled habenero peppers on top, and the vinegar drizzled on top. I’m getting more Southern in my cooking and tastes over time. 🙂

I even have bacon grease in my fridge.

My greens are not ready yet in the garden, but I’m anticipating great things from my cabbage collards. 

My orchid is blooming again on my kitchen windowsill. Makes me feel fancy.

Are you able to do any gardening? Or are you drooling over seed catalogs and carefully planning your garden for next year?

8 responses »

  1. I’m definitely gardening here in Texas. Cabbage collards? What are those? I’ve heard of each separately but not as a plant together—interesting. Will have to look it up.

    • The seeds were given to me by a friend who has passed away. I believe he gave me some of the collards a few years ago- they were huge! Hoping to get some this year.

  2. No gardening here right now, just trying to stay warm! 3 inches of snow today and a high temp that didn’t get above freezing. I envy you southerners this time of year! I’m pouring over seed catalogs and dreaming of warmer days. 🙂
    What is Hoppin’ John? It looks like beef stew on a plate?

    • Hoppin’ John is a super yummy version of black-eyed peas, but with ham, onions, peppers, and stock. It’s really good with pickled peppers on top. I like to serve mine over rice. Hope you get your garden all planned out!

  3. Happy New Year! We managed to harvest a few lemons and the cilantro is going crazy. Carrots in the ground are coming along nicely. My southern family asked me if we had Hoppin John but we only eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day. She reminded me that we always have that when I was a child but since I become a California girl many years ago, it is simply Black Eyed Peas for good luck!

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