Tomato Trees

Oh the sad state of my tomato plants. The two cherry tomatoes bit the dust a couple weeks ago but my large tomato bush was holding on by a thin thread. I had to cut away the majority of the diseased and dying branches leaving just a sad looking tree where a nice full bushy plant should have been. Despite the miserable failure of growing tomato plants on the deck this year, my lone standing plant did bear a bit of fruit. Behold, my entire tomato harvest: These three tomatoes were the juiciest, sweetest, most delicious of their kind I've ever had. It was worth killing 3 plants to get these. Next year I'm hoping for a better survival rate. I guess we'll see.

Cutting cosmos

So veggies may not be my strong suit, but today's happy thought comes from my cutting garden experiment. I'm blown away by how my little seedlings have exploded in the last couple months: I was finally able to cut my first real bouquet. The last round was only big enough for a bud vase, but these were tall enough for the real deal: Maybe next year I'll skip the tomatoes and just clear a huge section for my cosmos. So much better for my soul than salsa.

My pathetic victory garden

At the outset of summer I was filled with grandiose ideas of being able to cook meals out of what I could grow on my deck. I was filled with hope, energy and a vow to grow some veggies and herbs and shop at the local farmer's market to fill in the rest. We have an utterly waterlogged yard, so I was limited to what would thrive in pots but that was no deterrent for me. I spent days at the local garden centers picking out a nice array of things to try. My jalapeno is finally growing and my only 2 red tomatoes: And then "summer" happened. Why is it that I forget EVERY DANG YEAR that summer in these parts consists of cooler-than-expected weather and long bouts of horribly rainy overcast days?! It's just not right I tell you. We're blasted with horrible winters, we should get some balancing out from June - August. Instead we are teased with the occasional traditional summer day, but in general this is just not prime veggie garden zoning in my opinion. Then this last week, my poor yellow spotted leaf garden got its final blow--the beetles descended. Thankfully they waited till I was able to harvest the last of the strawberries. The plant quickly made its departure from my deck and I'm keeping a watchful eye on what's left, which I'm sad to say isn't much. Just when I'm ready to toss in the towel, I stumbled across this totally inspiring couple who are living my dream. What gives me the most encouragement is they admit they've had their share of plant failures in their own victory garden. I love their directory of what has worked for them along with recipes to use their bounty. So maybe I just need to adjust my dream. I do have 2 tomatoes and a baby jalapeno, maybe I can make a tot-sized serving of salsa. That would at least be something.

In the gardens

Today was a rare treat. We made the pilgrimage over to the Chicago Botanic Gardens--my true happy place. I take the peanut there frequently to let her run around and burn off some energy, but trying to take pictures while keeping an eye on her is a total challenge. Today we went as a complete family so I was able to do my thing knowing that Tim would wrangle the wee one. I'm just simply not good enough of a writer to explain in words what this place means to me. All I can say is that it is my own personal slice of heaven, breathtaking views at every angle. Guess I'll let the photos do the talking. It was a perfect morning:

The last strawberry post

So I've been obsessing about my fruit this week. I had no idea how far 2 baskets of strawberries would end up stretching. I feel like I've been cooking with them for days and I still have the better part of a basket left! I thought perhaps you might be interested in the recipes I went with after all the teasing: 2 cups became strawberry topping for ice cream the first night. No recipe here, just mash with fork and sprinkle sugar and let marinate a few minutes. 4 cups went to a delicious strawberry pie that I totally screwed up. It wasn't the recipe's fault, it was me. Let's just say at the final crucial moment before entering the oven, the pie was whisked quickly back to the counter and re-opened. Don't ever try to lift a pie crust top off and then replace it. Trust me. I'm so sorry to dishonor you, "Joy of Cooking". Next time I'll watch what I'm doing. 2 cups went to 3 loaves of strawberry bread. Fresh out of the oven as I'm typing this. Haven't tasted it yet but it smells heavenly. 2 cups went to my first batch of freezer jam. I think I've eaten half a container on sourdough this afternoon. Oh. My. Goodness. Definitely a keeper and it may be where the rest of the berries end up. Another 2 cups or so have just been eaten fresh between meals. I definitely underestimated the capacity of these baskets. My third supply trip to the grocery store is in my near future. Honestly, I'm still not berried out. Guess that's a good thing since I'm definitely stocked for a while. Happily, my cutting garden is also coming along. I was able to cut my first "bouquet" this afternoon. The cosmos are much smaller than I had imagined, but I have these sweet little bud vases just waiting to be filled all around the house. Between the sweet berries and cute little cosmos, it was a fantastic way to end out the week. Happy weekend to you!

Impending doom

Perhaps my flair for the dramatic is a little over the top today, but that is how I feel. The dang weatherman has decided we're in for another 5 straight days of thunderstorms and overcast skies. I'm going batty with this ugly "summer" weather. Coming home from our morning errands, I stopped and noticed my blooming flowers at the end of our front walk. I know in theory that overcast skies are perfect photography weather, but usually I just remember the bad weather the day the photo was shot. Oddly enough, this morning my flowers just seemed a little brighter than normal so I went and grabbed the camera before the torrential rains arrive. I thought having a reminder of the flowers in the yard over the next few days might brighten my spirits. 

I just made this photo my desktop and I plan on staring at those bright pink petals till my eyes go numb. Maybe then I'll have a shot at not realizing what it's doing outside on days we should be spending at a pool. Anyone else have tips for surviving a very wet summer?

Cutting Garden Project

Every year I am bombarded with the worst case of Spring Fever. Living in the Midwest, I know I'm not alone in this particular affliction but I swear I get it worst than most. To take the sting out of the last snowy days of "spring" the peanut and I decided to get a jump on the planting season by starting our own cutting garden project indoors at the beginning of April. Within days we had glorious lime green sprouts filling our windowsill container. It was completely addictive to check how many had appeared every morning. Final count was around 72.

After a few weeks of outdoor weatherization, our little seedlings finally made their way into the garden plot over the weekend. Thank goodness for a very willing husband able to till the ground. This was previously the ugliest little weed patch in the neighborhood and now we are waiting patiently for pink and white cosmos, bells of Ireland, and purple zinnia. 

Some of the seedlings didn't survive the outdoor transfer. We had to restart the bells and zinnia from seed so I'm crossing my fingers they'll work better being planted straight into the ground. And now that we are facing yet another drizzly and overcast week, I have visions of hand-tied homegrown floral bouquets dancing in my head to tide me over until the real start of summer.

Strawberry Surprises

After a week of nothing but overcast skies and drizzle, we finally got a peek at the sunshine this afternoon. I had some leftover planting to finish off with a freshly bought package of potting soil. To my overwhelming delight, I discovered that in the last week our strawberry plant has started to bloom and the fruits are at last turning red! What a perfect way to start off the weekend. This must be a sign of good things to come.

Preferring PVC to pearls

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! This was the first time I've celebrated Mother's Day with just my little family since my own mom is on vacation and mom-in-law is in another state. It was a very relaxing day filled with plenty of time to work on my own hobbies with the help of my darling hubby. After an hour at Lowe's, Tim devised a way to bring easy access to water to our second story deck so I can handily water my new garden, fill the peanut's paddling pool, or hose down the dirty dog  before letting him back in the house. This will spare me endless trips back and forth to our kitchen sink in the coming summer months. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day gift this year! Here's to PVC plumbing and a handy husband.

Planting season

The first year the peanut was here, I was too overwhelmed with her tininess to even consider dealing with growing plants. Last year, her main goal in being outside was to run away from me as fast as possible so I was too busy chasing to find time to water flowers. This year, we've finally reached a stage where I knew she'd love being outside and tending to a garden together. We spent this week scouring stores for herbs, veggies, and flowers that will work on our deck. There's more work to be done, but this afternoon proved every ounce of effort will have been worth it.