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Peppers Planted
I found an interesting method of growing peppers called “Pillar of Peppers“. To construct this, Joe lined a tomato cage with chicken wire and landscaping cloth, pushed the cage into the ground and filled it with a vegetable potting soil. Today, I cut slits in the cloth, dug out small recesses for my plants and tucked them in. I thoroughly watered pillar and will wait two days to see which peppers survive and replace those which don’t. The peppers are…
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Tips on Saving Money in the Perennial Garden
I am not a very experienced or skilled gardener. However, there are a couple things I have found to save money while building up a perennial garden. 1) Buy plants on clearance after their peak. Last year I bought (at 50% off) several containers of Easter Lilies that had lost most of their flowers. I planted them, let them die back and they have multiplied this spring. 2) Cut and root clippings and replant. I have a huge Black and…
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Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken
Many of the meals I cook are accidental. Last night I wanted to cook Greek Chicken Pasta, but unfortunately, I forgot to buy red onion at the store – red onion is essential. I ended up doing a recipe search with the ingredients I had on hand: chicken, feta, but no red onion. I browsed through and found one with spinach, and having just read an article on superfoods, I was craving spinach… or at least feeling guilted into eating…
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Favorite Banana Nut Bread
Bananas almost always go bad in our house, especially since Joe and I both prefer them slightly green. The following recipe (tweaked from allrecipes.com) saves those bad bananas and makes one loaf of my favorite banana nut bread. It won’t disappoint, but pay no attention to how unhealthy it is.1 cup all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking soda1/4 cup applesauce (I use Mott’s natural.)1/4 cup butter, softened1 cup white sugar (This can be reduced to 3/4 cup if you choose.)1…
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Container Gardening Tips
Last year I grew several containers of tomatoes and peppers. The Anaheim, Cayenne, and Jalapeño peppers (in 10” deep pots) did great. The Patio Tomato (in a 16” deep pot) was very bushy, produced well and didn’t need vertical support, but the birds often beat me to the crop. The better boys (in 12” deep wood barrels) were no good and gave me only 1 tomato, likely because they were planted too late and the roots needed deeper soil. This…
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Gardening Weekend
This weekend was full of hard work and planting. Some of our plans changed. We were originally going to plant along our South boundary where we planned on installing a fence in the future, but our neighbor had planted a line of Crape Myrtles. In 5-10 years the fence line would probably be too shady for a vegetable garden. We decided to relocate to the area in front of the pines in the back yard, the area that still gets…