I would say, “If you can’t beat ’em; join ’em.”
However, my philosophy for the blackberries in the front yard bushes is: “If you can’t beat ’em; EAT ’em!”
I have been trying to get rid of these “brambles” for years. Countless yards of prickly vines have been pulled up carefully and discarded. Now I have pretty roses with blackberry vines intertwined in them.
This year, I did not get to the annual exercise in futility, and it is resulting in a small harvest.
I’m just going to eat them.
I hope you had a happy Easter! Seeds are sprouting and tomato plants are being set out into the warming soil.
Daikons are bolting, garlic is growing, mustard greens are providing final harvests, and a random volunteer collard plant is sending out pretty yellow blossoms.
The large garden has yellow, purple, and green beans sprouting. Kale still producing; it hasn’t started to bolt like the mustard on the other side and the collards in the back corner.
Corn and okra in center box have sprouted.
Not much to see this month- but what a difference a month can make! I’m excited to see the difference between the young seedlings of this month and the progress they’ll make in a month.
Look at all the greens I harvested! Their quality tends to decline with the warmer weather, so I wanted to get most of them harvested. I’m going to eat, freeze, and gift them away. I got a bag of collards, two bags of mustard greens, and two bags of kale.
My largest head of broccoli is underwhelming. I’ve determined to try again next year.
Tomatoes started on Valentine’s Day are doing well.
My to-do list:
1. Finish planting tomatoes.
2. Replace few straggling turnips with rows of bush beans.
3. Put up trellis for pickling cucumbers– they’ll be needing it soon.
4. Trellis tomatoes.
Pretty short list this month- mostly just let the seeds and plants grow. I made some strawberry-lemon marmalade that turned out really good. I’ll share that soon. 🙂
How is your garden? Thriving? Or are you waiting for the snow to thaw?
I’m ready for a juicy BLT! How about you?
We all need a dinner idea that just requires 5 minutes of hands on time. This recipe only has two ingredients. Ok, three ingredients, if you include the water.
This chicken and yellow rice recipe is one of my husband’s favorite meals and is a snap to throw together.
Ingredients: chicken thighs, Mahatama yellow rice mix, and water
I usually use 6 chicken thighs and a 5 serving bag of rice mix, but you can use smaller amounts as desired.
Don’t use generic yellow rice; you will regret not spending the 14 cents for the superior product. With some ingredients, brand doesn’t matter; it matters in this recipe.
Pour the rice mix into a 9×13 pan, then pour in the amount of water required on the package.
Lay the chicken thighs evenly on the rice and water.
Bake at 375° F for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Pretty simple: pour rice, pour water, place chicken, and bake.
It’s delicious, but doesn’t require much prep or time over a stove.
I like to serve this with a green vegetable, like some collards or savory sauteed mustard greens. It makes for a pretty plate and it’s an easy side dish to make too.
I love easy dinners, don’t you? Remember to pin this recipe for later. Feel free to share it with your friends on Facebook, too!
I love to throw together a stir-fry as a quick and healthy dinner. All you really need is rice, a meat, and some random odds and ends of vegetables to make it work.
Stir-fry with Mustard Greens
Here I used chicken, onions, bell peppers frozen last fall, carrots, and fresh mustard greens.
The mustard greens added such great flavor!
While the rice is cooking, I cook the meat, then begin adding vegetables. I start with the vegetables with the longest cooking time (like carrots), then end with those that just need a quick saute (mustard greens).
I typically just make my stir-fry seasoning to taste using the following: garlic, chili powder, soy sauce, pepper, powdered ginger, and a drizzle of sesame oil.
So quick, yummy, and nutritious.
If I didn’t think ahead to make something in the Crock-Pot (like fajitas!), I like to make something like this.
What’s your go-to quick dinner?
Last year, I had spring fever so bad that I was putting seeds in the oven to help them germinate. Remember that story?
Well, this year I stuck to the plan and waited until Valentine’s Day to start my heat-lovers like tomatoes.
The tomatoes germinated well, the dill and cilantro are doing great, and I even have some zinnias.
I like to use inexpensive methods of labeling seedlings, and this time I had a yogurt container on hand.
Will these labels last forever?
No, but I really just need them to last a few weeks or until I can get the plants into the garden.
I actually have daffodils this year, and they make me so happy! I love tulips and crocuses too, but North Florida is not cold enough for them.
I have already started planting my green beans, wax beans, and UFO squash. Pickling cucumbers have been planted with some dill. Homemade pickles are the best!!!
Hopefully my ‘Royal Burgundy’ beans will be in the ground soon. I have never grown purple beans, and figured this year would be a great year to try them. Have you had them? What did you think?
If you are new to starting seeds, you may want to check out my posts on the basics of starting seeds, DIY plant labels, and how to prepare your seedlings for transplant.
Also, if you haven’t started a compost pile yet, my post Coffee to Compost- Literally! is a good place to get information.
Let’s get growing!
It’s nice to have a random holiday in the middle of the week. We don’t go crazy celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, but we do like to eat corned beef and cabbage.
Cooking our corned beef in the Crock-Pot saved me time and made a very tasty dinner.
Simply place the beef, spices, and a few chunked carrots, potatoes, and onions into the Crock-Pot. Do not add water.
Cook on High for 3 hours. Internal temperature should be at least 160 degrees.
As for the cabbage, you could put it in the Crock-Pot about 30 minutes before the beef is done, or you can steam it in a pot with some of the Crock-Pot liquid for 7-10 minutes. I got so involved with planting some wax beans that I went the steaming route tonight. 🙂
It felt a little strange to be eating a green vegetable that I did not harvest from my garden, especially after all of the winter greens that I have been harvesting and cooking lately.
Yummy!
I have been planting seeds and babying some seedlings and will let you know how that is going very soon. It seems as though we are transitioning into summer quite quickly here in North Florida.
I have more planting on the to-do list for tomorrow, so a quick dinner is on the menu- Reuben sandwiches made with the leftover corned beef!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!
If you’re looking for another quick Crock-Pot dinner (maybe for Cinco de Mayo?), try some Busy Day Crock-Pot Fajitas.
Who says celebrations have to be a lot of work?
Even though the weather is chilly, we can still enjoy warm savory meals from our North Florida gardens.
Greens and root vegetables, though humble compared to glorious tomatoes and crisp pickles, are still a comforting part of winter meals.
I have compiled a list of some simple yet nutritious ways to prepare some seasonal vegetables.
Even if you do not have a garden, you will find that the main ingredients are easy to find and economical too. Eating seasonally is good for your health and your budget!!!
Just click on the picture, and it will take you to the recipe. 😀
1. My Favorite Kale Recipe If you love to eat a hearty breakfast, this is for you!
My Favorite Kale Recipe
2.Savory Sauteed Mustard Greens This is a great way to prepare the greens that are so abundant at this time. If you have only ever had collards or turnip greens, this is a great way to try something new.
Savory Sauteed Mustard Greens
3. Colorful Roasted Turnips, Carrots, and Radishes -This preparation is so easy, but the flavor that roasting gives to these vegetables is amazing!
Colorful Roasted Turnips, Carrots, and Radishes
4. Kale Chips – Classic. You can dress these up with different spices or Parmesan cheese.
Kale Chip Recipe
5. Daikon Radish Recipe -Try something new from the farmer’s market! I can’t seem to grow carrots, no matter what I try; but I can manage to grow daikon radishes, which are shaped pretty much the same. Go figure. This is a delicious way to serve this unique vegetable.
Daikon Radish Recipe
Of course, if you need some dessert to offset all that healthiness, you could also bake up some fresh cookies. 🙂 I love to eat Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cranberry Walnut Cookies on these cold winter days.
Do you try to eat seasonally? I love harvesting vegetables in the afternoon to go with dinner. I don’t live on a farm, but it does make me feel pretty domesticated to head out to my backyard garden with a colander and scissors to get part of our supper. Quite the satisfying feeling, wouldn’t you agree?
I’m thinking of trying to make some type of turnip-rutabaga-cheesy casserole type dish next. Maybe with a toasted breadcrumb topping?
Or maybe I will try wilted mustard greens in a creamy cheddar sauce??
Although I have started some seeds already (more on that later), still being able to harvest most of our dinner vegetables from the garden is putting a little hold on my typical rabid spring fever. 🙂
Which one of the recipes looks the yummiest to you? If you try one of them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. If it looks like something you’d like to try later, you can pin it using the buttons.
If you know of another crazy gardener, feel free to share my blog with them and to also like me on Facebook! I love to hear from other gardeners!
I love spring! I think the cold nights forecast for the next 2 nights will be the end of the cold nights, so I have some gardening plans.
The garden by the shed has given me great harvests for mustard greens, and I am looking forward to harvesting 36 cloves of garlic later this year!
The large garden is still producing plenty of kale, collards, and mustard greens. The pole bean teepee is gone; this year I’m going to try ‘Merit’ corn in that square. Anybody tried that variety?
If nothing else, I hope it looks neat. I plan to have ‘Purple Queen’ zinnias and marigolds around the box.
The ‘White Egg’ turnips have done fantastic for me. I need to let some go to seed, but it’s hard to stop pulling them once you start!
Time for more roasted veggies– yum!!
Here’s my to-do list:
1. Plant green beans, squash, cucumbers and corn. I’m going to plant seeds from cucumbers that I grew last year- they made great refrigerator pickles!
2. Harden off tomato plants. If you are starting your own plants from seed, you can check out my seed-starting tutorial here and then read about hardening off seedlings.
3. Start eggplant and peppers.
4. Plant flowers like zinnias, marigolds, and cleome. I love to have flowers in my vegetable garden! They are beautiful and attract pollinators.
5. Plant out my sugar snap pea plants. I had so much trouble last year with the squirrels that I decided to start my peas in flats, even though direct seeding them technically is better. My local seed source did not get any in time for me, so I just planted the few that I saved from last year. We’ll see if I get any, as it’s going to be getting too warm for them soon.
6. Hang netting on the fence for cucumbers.
Wow. Was that really my garden last year? I love being able to look back and see what I grew last year, and to plan to improve this year.
I hope you plan to grow something this year. Start small, and enjoy the journey!
Are you excited for spring to come? What are you anticipating the most? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Know anybody in North Florida or in zone 8 that is thinking about starting a garden? Feel free to email them this post or share it with them on Facebook using the buttons below this post.
Happy gardening!
Somehow my orchid given to me last year is blooming again.
I can’t take much credit for its success.
I just stuck it on my north-facing kitchen windowsill, watered it, and rotated it occasionally.
I didn’t expect it to actually bloom again. I don’t think I even fertilized it.
It’s nice when plants do better than expected.
Yay for easy care orchids!
Have you ever had a plant exceed your expectations or thrive in spite of you? Last year I even had a potato plant volunteer in my compost pile. Gardening is such an adventure!
BRRR! The weather in North Florida has been hormonal!!!
Looks like we have a few more chilly nights left before spring comes to North Florida. If you have young or tender plants that you want to protect from the light frosts predicted for this area, check out this nifty idea.
All you need is an old fitted sheet and a few sticks taller than your plants. Poke the sticks into the ground at a level higher than your tallest plants and stretch the sheet over the bed.
The sticks keep the sheet off your plants, and the fitted sheet helps to hold the edges down. This is great idea from the owners of the Florida raised beds seen on this site.
Easy to install, easy to remove.
If you can place the sheets in the afternoon, it will give the sun a chance to warm the trapped air, giving the plants a bit more frost protection.
Who’s ready for spring?
Coffee to Compost 