Fall Garden!

I haven't posted anything from my garden this year so I thought I would post some things that are still growing now.

 First of all I grew this one tomato plant that was called a Biltmore highbred!  It was a nice growing plant, it didn't yield very many tomatoes but the ones that I did get were amazing.  Only one of them had cracks in it and they were all huge.  The last one I picked was 1 pound 6.6 ounces and it was amazing!  Here is a picture of the tomato and a picture of it on a BLT I made tonight.  It gives you an idea of how big around and meaty it was!  And it tasted so good.

I still have plenty of herbs growing!  I have a parsley pot and Oregano growing on the deck.  I also have Rosemary and Sweet Basil growing here with my Thyme (that never dies) and a small Lavender plant.

I have a couple of tomato plants struggling to ripen the fruit, a yellow cayenne, a Jalapeno, a purple Pino Nior and a sweet Orange pepper that have tons of peppers on them but it just hasn't been warm enough for them to ripen.  It is supposed to be in the mid 80's for a couple of days so hopefully that will help.

I planted my green beans in mid July and they are going strong and these Tomatillo's just won't quit.  I started with 4 plants, I made a batch of green enchilada sauce and now I am just waiting to get a few more to make some green salsa!

Now the last thing I will show you is the start of my beet plants coming up.  Hopefully the weather won't turn to cold before they mature.  This is the first time I have ever grown them.  Then look at these to lonely acorn squash's that are left.  I ended up with 5 all together from the one plant.

Well that is it for my Garden news.  I will let you know how my beets do and how the green salsa turns out.

I hope you have a happy and healthy fall!

Hugs,

Ronda

Where does your food come from?

Happy Labor Day!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend!  I did but not at a fun camp ground or a lake!  My vacation comes in a couple weeks.  But first I have to get all my canning done.  Why do I do this all summer, every summer?  Yes, I grow several gardens of flowers, herbs and vegetables!  And then after all the hard work of getting them planted I get a bit of a break.  We took a vacation up to Munising MI to see the Pictured Rocks and explored lots of water falls.

Yesterday I used up the rest of the cucumbers.  I had quite a few, but they get kind of bitter at the end of the season.  So I peeled them, chopped them and made some dill relish.  I have made it before just winging it but this time I went to Pinterest a got a recipe to follow.  So I have to give credit here.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/62768988542014463/

This is how it looks, along with a few jars of tomato juice I canned too.  I just used up what was in the house.

I hope it taste good.  There wasn't any left to taste.

I love to dry herbs too, so at any giving time, you will find this in my kitchen.  I dry them and the put them in jars.  Some times I crush them and others I just leave hole.  I store them in the basement and I give them away too.

Here is another picture of some tomato juice I canned.  I think it is so pretty!

I rescued this beauty!  It had tipped over by the wind so I had to bring it in.

That its for today!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Happy Healthy Life,

Ronda

Growing the garden!

How is your garden doing this year?  Mine sure is shaping up!  The raised bed we put in this year and filling it with organic soil and tons of compost from my bin and my Mom's has really paid off.  Here are a few pics to show you how it is doing!

 This tomato plant is growing out of my compost bin.  It has gotten pretty big and it is loaded with blossoms!

 These are tomato plants in the old part of the garden in earth bags and some in the ground and a random pepper plant.  One of these plants has 15 large tomatoes on it now.

 This is the new raised bed.  I planted Roma's in here and they are loaded.

 Here are some peppers in the new raised bed.  I don't know what kind they are because the birds took all the plastic labels.  But they are not doing to bad.

 My carrots are coming along quite well in the raised bed.  I am thinning them just about every other day!  I have one Brussel sprout plant.  I have never grown them before.  It is huge.

 Here are the red skin potatoes and the pole beans I am trying desperately to get going.  I keep putting seeds in every couple of weeks just so I'm sure to get some.  They seem to be taking off now.

and her are my cucumbers that I am hoping to get tons from.  I have 2 pickling plants.  My pantry is completely out, so I am hoping for a good crop.

Well there you have it for the veggie garden.  Good luck with yours and thanks for looking.

And like always, paperdivas.ctmh.com. has all your paper crafting needs.

Ronda

Garden news!

Well we are half way through the year.  I am so happy it has cooled down a little bit, but I sure wish we would have gotten some of the rain that other parts of Michigan got over the weekend.

I hope everyone enjoyed Fathers Day with there families, I know I did!

Despite the Hot dry weather we have had, my garden is doing quite well!  Here is a couple of pictures!

The new raised bed is doing really good.  Check out this broccoli I grew!  It is the first time I ever grew broccoli and it was delicious!

Well that's all for today!  Come back tomorrow for a look at some scrapbook pages I have been working on of my recent trip to South Haven.  I'm mixing up a current paper pack called No worries with a retired pack called sea side.  Here is a picture of the No Worries!  Don't forget to checkout my website at paperdivas.ctmh.com.

I almost forgot to tell you about the cardstock sale!  The sale runs through June!

Have a great week!

Ronda

Feed the Bee's!!!!

Happy June everyone!

Today I want to share some pictures of the herbs I have let flower.  In this little garden I have Sage, which is the one with all the purple flowers.  Behind it is Thyme with the little white flowers and to the left is Lemon Thyme which is just beginning to flower.

I don't normally let my herbs flower but I really wanted to feed the Bee's.  They love these sage flowers so much and they are beautiful.

On the far right you can see some garlic growing.  I usually have a lot more than this but I had such a huge crop of it last year and I am still using it, I didn't plant a lot of it.

In another garden I have my chives, which are a pain in the rear if they start seeding but I love these flowers.  Have you ever tasted one?  Spicy!

The Bee's really like these too!

When the herbs are done flowering I will cut them back and feed my compost bin with them, except for the chive flowers.  They go in a lawn bag because they re-seed like mad.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and I will post again soon.

And as usual, for all your paper crafting needs or ideas, please visit my website at paperdivas.ctmh.com.

Ronda

Memorial weekend

Happy Wednesday!  It has been a while since I have posted so I thought I would share what has been going on.  I have my veggie garden all planted.  Half of it is a raised bed.  I haven't taken a picture of it with the plants in it.  But this is what it looks like prepped and ready to plant.

Next year there will be another cinder block raised bed on the other side.  Thanks to my mom and my compost bin, this bed has tons of wonderfully screened compost in it.  I bought 9 bags of organic garden soil to help fill it up.  At the end of the garden is my strawberry bed.  Hopefully it will quit raining soon so the strawberries will ripen and the veggie plants won't die!

The plants are loaded with blooms and berries right now.  So come on warm sunshine.  Normally I would spend this weekend planting my gardens but now all I have to do is plant a few flowers and do a little clean up in some of the beds.

Tomorrow I am having 5 or 6 girls over for a scrapbooking/ card making crop/ workshop.  Here are a couple of the layouts they will be doing with the Live Beautifully paper pack for National scrapbooking month.

Please visit my website for more information of this paper pack at paperdivas.ctmh.com.  There is also a beautiful stamp set which is picture in the next photo.

And while you are shopping don't forget to pick up the awesome stamp set of the month for only $5 with a $50 purchase.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  don't forget to say a prayer for a fallen soldier!

Hugs, Ronda

Tulips, Tulips and more Tulips!

Wow, it has been a great spring for tulips here in Michigan.  They just keep coming on and the blooms are huge and lasting a long time.  I just wanted to share them with you!

Have a wonderful day and please visit my website for your paper crafting needs.  You can make some beautiful flowers out of paper too!  paperdivas.ctmh.com.