Tomatoes

I forgot to mention tomatoes in my last post! Egads!

Well, scarlet runner beans are between the tomato plants and Marcel’s shed. Asparagus plants are between the fence and the tomatoes. In amongst the tomatoes are calendula, parsley, borage, basil, and sweet potato. Yep, another jungle.  Today’s job is tie the tomato plants up to the frame.  There are 5 varieties, 2 of each.  Keepsake, Mortgage Lifter, Bonny Best, Cold Set and Sasha’s Pride.

Oh! I almost forgot, I have some perpetual spinach underneath the wooden saw horses.

Now, just to make sure I get enough of a crop to preserve some of the bounty!

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Garden Pictures, June 18th, 2011

Its been a while since I posted. Busy in the yard and work… So, I thought I’d better take some pictures to show everyone how the yard is coming along!

Here is the front garden bed. The Catmint and Poppy has really overtaken the left corner, and I’ll have to break them up this fall and spread them across both sides of the front garden.  Right below our window is Joe Pie Weed. Its wonderful, even though it will reseed itself quite readily, it is easy to pull out to control its spread.  I have to keep on top of deadheading it so it will bloom consistently throughout the summer.








Here is a tomato basket outside my back door. The variety is 100’s of 1000’s from Sutton Seeds.  I planted sweet alyssum and nasturtium with them.














View of the garden heading towards the back yard. Its really become a jungle.















View of the clematis trellis. Out of the 6 plants, 5 have started to come along quite nicely.  The nectarine tree suffered terribly with peach leaf curl this year. I will have to be on top of getting the dormant oil and lime sulphur spray on it promptly this year.










Views from and around the new deck.  Marcel says no more planters on the deck!


I planted some blue star creeper between the cement foot rest (slabs) in front of the bench. It is so pretty, I hope it takes over that area!


This sweep panoramic picture of the back garden area only looks good when you zoom in on it and scroll to the right. Let me know if it works for you! I’m growing peppers on the straw bales, and lettuce, peas, beans, potatoes, raspberries sprinkled with a healthy amount of calendula a violas in the garden bed.



Pictures of the plants on the west side of Marcel’s shed.

My new favourite vegetable, crimson coloured broad beans – Thanks Allison!



Cody enjoys the yard, and checking out all the planters too! Behind him are some english cucumbers which will hopefully take over that corner of Marcel’s shed.

And finally, the back corner which is a “work in progress”. I’m showing the picture now, as I really hope it will look so much better in a month or two!  If the weeds come back, grass is going back in, along with a fruit tree! The corner has been warned! LOL


That’s all for now. Hope everyone has a great day!
Shelley

Friday’s Dinner ~ Spicy Italian Sausage & Polenta

Woke up early enough to make dinner, ready for my husband to heat up for dinner tonight. It is quite easy to make too! I used Bob’s Red Mill Corn Grits (or Polenta), which is a coarser ground corn than the cornmeal you can readily buy in Canada.  It really makes a difference in the final product!


Here is what I used:

3 cups water
garlic salt
Cajun spice mix
handful of dried peppers (red & yellow)
1 cup of grits
2 tbsp margarine
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 lb of spicy italian sausage meat (I took the casings off some sausage links)
1 cup of roasted garlic and pepper pasta sauce (reserved the rest of the sauce from the jar for serving on top at the table)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup old cheddar cheese (you could use anything, mozzarella would be more appropriate)
Directions:
Bring water to boil, season with garlic salt and spices, slowly stir in polenta and dried peppers. Bring back to boil and reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 5 minutes.  I cooked my mixture on low for a total of 15 minutes. You have to be careful as the polenta can really burst bubbles when it is so thick!  You want to cook it until your wooden spoon will stand up in the mixture. Blend in margarine (or butter), and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
Divide the polenta equally into 6 large muffin cups that have been sprayed with oil spray.  Allow to rest (they will become firm and hold their shape as soon as they cool)
Fry the sausage, breaking it up into large chunks. Cook thoroughly. Add approximately 1 cup of pasta sauce, and simmer until thick (reduce by 1/3 to 1/2) .
Spray a 2 quart casserole bowl with oil.  Arrange the polenta “cakes” in it, and spoon the sausage mixture overtop.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.
Cool, cover and refrigerate.  Reheat in a 350 deg. Fahrenheit oven for approx 3/4 hour, or until hot and bubbly.  You can reheat 1/2 of the time covered (safer than drying things out IMHO).  Heat remaining sauce and serve alongside.
I’m really looking forward to dinner tonight!  I think the only thing that would make this better would be to have it loads of roasted garlic with toast along with a Caesar salad.

May 7th & 8th Weekend projects

We had fun in the back yard this weekend.  Felt like we accomplished lots anyways!
Cody was busy supervising this weekend. He loved the sunshine that appeared on and off throughout the weekend.


Marcel worked and finished his project of replacing the fire screen mesh on our outdoor fireplace. It looks better than new!

I worked on my gardening. Filled three of the five earth boxes by Marcel’s shed.  The three on the left have crimson broad beans and celery in them.  I will probably put some nasturtium seed in them to jazz them up and make them look pretty.  I still have three more earth boxes to make and plant around Marcel’s shed… they will be full of scarlet runner beans and such.
 

The greenhouse is chock full of plants to get out… had no room left for the hanging baskets I made, so the tomatoes will have to tough it out in the ground!


Behind the tomatoes are some violas that reseeded themselves, with some chives and asparagus. I’ve planted 5 varieties of large tomato plants, and two types of cherry tomato plants. The varieties are:  Mortgage Maker, Sasha’s Pride, Coldset, Keepsake, Bonny Best, Tumbler (cherry) and 100’s of 1000’s (cherry).  I also planted some lettuce, dill, oregano and yukon gold potatoes.

That’s all for now!
Lots more gardening to come!

Shelley

Just an intro...

Hi! I'm Shelley! If you are around yahoogroups, I post as shelley_marcel..... other places I am bbubbles.  I have always considered myself a jack of all trades, but master of none. One year I hope to create a montage using all the crafts I've done on one wall in my spare bedroom/craftroom. I might need a bigger craftroom though LOL

This blog will follow my interests throughout the year, and you should see the seasonal interests. Right now, gardening is starting, and I won't be around on the computer as much as during the winter.  I will try to post some neat things that are happening in my garden, and around the area I live in.

Of note, the background picture of my blog was taken by my sister Arlis, at Sproat Lake last week, when we planted a tree in our sister Barb's honor. Thanks sis!