Summertime Locavore {sort of}

Summertime is here which means one of my favorite things is happening: farmers markets! We have our own garden, but all of the farmers markets are a few weeks ahead of us when it comes to having vegetables ready so I am shopping there for now. I consider myself a summertime locavore. I do realize that all-year "true" locavores would be disappointed in me since I only buy local beef (from a family member's farm) and produce, but you have to start somewhere right?!

Two weeks ago week we ate our first plain tomato. We simply washed it, sliced it and ate it plain and to the delight of my taste buds, it was incredible. The tomato came from an orchard less than one mile away (very lucky for me).

So, reap what you sow (if you have a garden of your own)! We have been eating all homegrown lettuce from our garden for a couple weeks now. The flavor is unlike anything I've ever tasted, but don't come to our house if you don't like lettuce that packs a punch.

We're actually going to plant more in place of our onions, which are very strong and pungent as onions should be, so we can have lettuce longer through the summertime.

I have been picking and shelling peas everyday and sometimes we put them in hot water for a short time to soften them up or we put them raw into our salads.

The cucumbers are ready too!

Tour of the Gardens

Since we moved into our home in November 2009, this is only our second spring/summer growing season. In April 2009, my husband did build and plant a vegetable garden on our property even though our house wasn't built yet.

Our vegetable garden has really grown...extending well beyond the borders of our original vegetable garden area. This year, we actually planted the tomato plants outside of the fenced in area since their scent typically makes them deer resistant (we did lose two so far). Since the tomatoes grow so large, this gave us more fenced in space to try new plants and more of them.

My flower garden has grown since last year. A few months ago I did a brief post about my early spring flowers. Well, those flowers have passed their prime and others have continued to grow into beautiful summer blooms. This is a photo of my flower area (which really needs to be weeded). We have two rose bushes, a red and a light pink. Right now, several groups of gladiolas (purple, orange, and pink) are growing and will probably bloom in a few weeks. Those are the tall plants in front of the roses in the photo below. Last year they were beautiful. Then, the leafy plant in front is a daisy and the really small plant is a lily, next to the other variety of lily on the end.

We also planted berries this year! We have blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. Two plants are growing fruit already so hopefully we'll at least get to taste a few berries this summer. Like many plants, the berries will be more bountiful the second year after planting. Next to the berries on the side of our house, my husband planted 11, yes, eleven, pepper plants. There are at least five varieties of peppers and if you have never tasted a homegrown one, you are missing out. My garden taught me how flavorful green peppers can actually be.

The front of out house is all flowers: lilies, sweet pea, spiky purple flowers, a boxwood and white otto lucan. We also have some basil mixed in. I am all for symmetry in the front, so that is the same on both sides.

Along the other side of our house, next to the driveway, is where my three birthday hydrangeas live along with some sedum, catnip and several herbs including rosemary, tarragon, mint and oregano.

Versatile Blogger Award

I have been given the Versatile Blogger award! Pretty impressive since I have been MIA for 4 weeks. Let's just say it came from a good friend with kids of her own so I thank her for that :) 

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
Stevie, mother of Moore Babies has been my friend since a few days into college at Clemson. I was her bridesmaid, she was my matron of honor, she became a mom (twice) I became a mom (once), and she now has a blog where she writes about fun activities she does with and for her daughters. Too bad for me she lives all the way in Florida which is not close to Maryland!!

2. Tell seven things about yourself.

 1. I am currently on maternity leave with my son. He is wonderful and amazing and all of those things new moms think about their children. There are select photos of him here and here (he had a little jaundice after birth).

  2. My husband and I donated the home we purchased to the Smithsonian and it is going to be in the new museum of African American History. No, I am not kidding. Our name is going to be on a plaque and everything :).

  3. I like gardening...flowers and vegetables, but this year everything is slightly on the back burner due to the new baby. I know my husband wishes I'd be more into the gardening this year, but it is tough. Last year we had some beautiful flowers and delicious vegetables.

  4. I'm not a big fan of driving at night.

  5. This past winter I hit a deer (at night), but since my driver's door was damaged, I had to climb over the center console of my Pontiac G5 with a long puffer jacket on 6 months pregnant to survey the damage. That was a sight to be seen on the side of the road!

  6. I love my Kindle! It was a Christmas gift from my husband after I was a sore loser in a holiday raffle and didn't win one at a holiday party. It i great, especially with the baby since I can read one handed.
  7. I cherish my friends...there are a few that have been with me through all sorts of times and they mean the world to me. I hope they know who they are!

  3. Pay it forward and award the Versatile Blogger to 15 bloggers. I am selfishly cutting this back to five (awful I know...) because I awarded a handful of bloggers the stylish blogger award before and W is up from his nap and I want to finally finish this post!...

Go check out these fabulous blogs!!
 1. Hanna @ Bouffe e Bambini
2. Emily @ Choose Joy
3. Abbi @ Dear Abbi
4. Lyndsy @ lgriffis
5. Billie @ The Unexpected Mother


4. Contact your everyone and let them know they've been awarded! 

Spring has Sprung

As my family and friends in Connecticut experience a fluke end-of-March snowfall, I can't resist sharing photos of our spring blooms at our home in Maryland. I know it doesn't look like much now, but considering most of the plants were rescued from choking vines in our woods and "split off" from a friend, I am very happy to see everything coming back strong since this is the first year we have seen them come up on their own. Maybe I am better with flowers than I thought :).

I am still waiting on our trees: cherry blossom, peach, apple and walnut, but here's a glimpse of the signs of spring so far.

Daffodils

Hydrangeas

Lilies

Sedum

tree (don't know the kind)

another tree

We planted our vegetable seeds a few weeks ago indoors in a Burpee container that was successful last year. This way, our veggies have already started growing by the time we put them outside in early May (depending on the weather). We start everything from seeds except for our Butter Boy tomatoes. This also makes it practically free. We also planted carrots, onions and lettuce into the vegetable garden already as seeds since they are more hardy.

Crazed Fan Weekend Hop

Garden is Growing

We have vegetables (and flowers)!! We have been enjoying zucchini, yellow squash, snap peas and tomatoes from our garden. After biting into a tomato from our yard, we are forced to ask: Why do store bought versions taste so awful??

  

  

Garden Update

Short post - only photos, well besides this intro and two questions: What do you have growing? Do you prefer to grow fruits/vegetables or flowers??

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Ours grows with lots of hard work and the help of my expert gardener husband!!

If you saw the last issue of Southern Living and the beautiful hydrangeas maintained by one southern man (yes, I said man), then you know why I love these plants. When we moved to Virginia in 2007 I was surprised by a large hydrangea that had the deepest periwinkle flowers in June and I knew I wanted to plant my own. This weekend, after reading about the type of light they like best, etc, we bought three of them. Consider them birthday gifts for me :). Last year we planted trees and this year we opted for two beautiful deep pink hydrangeas, a blue one, and a bright pink peony for the sunny side of the house.

Did you know that hydrangeas are known to bloom right around Mother's Day? Well, this was exciting news for me because that means they should always look nice right around the time of my birthday (May 10th). As you can see, our pink ones are in full bloom right now and our blue one is a few days behind. Last night I noticed some of the flowers opening up so I will take another picture once that happens.

In order to plant our new bushes, we had to till the ground, dig an edge, and mulch the flowerbed. Brad is a perfectionist, which is usually quite helpful, so he did the edging and I raked, shoveled and planted everything. I even buried an old rusty hook in the hole for the blue plant since it is supposed to make the color of the flowers better due to the acid content.

I am happy with how it looks and can't wait for them to keep growing. It sure is nice to see them everytime I pull into the driveway!