Ready to Garden in the South!

It has been beautiful and warm with suddenly chilly early evenings and early mornings. The garden is tilled and waiting for the veggies to go in. My husband wants to run the rows so I'm now waiting on him to find the time. Looks like maybe Saturday.  I have corn, beans, okra, peppers, squash, cucumbers, watermelon and cantaloupe to plant. Oh yeah.... the tomatoes!!! I have German Johnson tomatoes. If you have never tried this variety, please do. They make very large, gnarly kidney shaped fruit that one slice overlaps the bread by a mile and the taste will win you over FOREVER! When I think of that juicy, fresh tomato sandwich of summer... this is the ONLY tomato I eat! My mouth is watering with anticipation even now! Try to find this variety and give it a try. You will not be sorry, I promise.

I am going to give potato sets a try in a very large, deep container on the deck. This is an experiment for you small patio gardeners to see how much it will produce. Pics to come and will keep you posted.

These are a few squash plants in waiting for the garden to be ready!






With these warm days and cool, wet nights our grass is growing at an alarming rate. I finally got my new lawnmower with the bagger attachment on the back. I can't believe how much grass I get for my compost now. The yard is so nice and finished when I look back and the compost heap is growing and growing and growing! Should be wonderful to till into the garden for the fall. Planning ahead for a bountiful garden has never been easier!

Enjoy this beautiful climate and don't forget the southern traditions it instills: sit on your front porch and just relax with a tall glass of iced tea. Watch the hummingbirds around your feeders and take in the smell of Carolina Jasmine creeping up the side rails.

Yall enjoy!

Garden Time

 Just Smell That Fresh Dirt!

I'm like a little kid watching the tiller breaking ground for my new garden.  Think of all the possibilities.  I see the perfect garden in my mind.  I taste the fresh beans, corn and whoa Nellie, the watermelons and cantaloupes!

It is a time of planning.  I have my gardening books around me with the notepad at the ready.  The rows are drawn out and ready to be assigned.  I have my plastic bottles saved from winter to make the bell jar covers to protect young plants from the occasional frosts that can pop up and my gloves are washed and hanging by the door!  My excitement builds as I pick this plant and then another.  I can already taste the veggies and I am soooo ready for that home grown tomato sandwich!  There is nothing better than that!

It's been a tradition in my family to garden.  I remember watching my Grandfather break ground, lovingly till week after week, string lattice, hoe, weed by hand and water, water, water the garden.    My husband loves it as much as I do and now our daughters are carrying out the tradition as well.

 It's a miracle to watch those tiny seeds you punch in with your fingers grow into plants that produce such wonderful tasting food on your table!

It is almost a competition to see who has the best garden in the south.  You want it to be perfect and weed free, organic and still pest free with the biggest and most flavorful delights you can imagine!

Keeping the deer out is a primary concern and there are as many strategies for this as there are gardens!  Last year, I hung the plastic grocery bags around the perimeter of the garden.  This worked until the very end and I let the bags get wet during the rains.  I think if I keep them changed out with that fresh crinkle you hear in the air... it just might work!

I'll keep you posted with pics as things grow.

Happy Gardening!

Southern Comfort at It's Finest: Sweet Tea

There are many things I love about the South. 

It is a comfortable place to grow up in and raise your own family.  I have a bountiful garden each year, beautiful flowers, lush green lawn and all the wildlife I care to see!  

But today, it's Southern comfort foods on my mind. 

Growing up in the South, food is steeped in tradition and goodness.  When you are sick, tired, happy, or just plain old hungry there is a list of foods that go through your mind that you just have to have.  A few of mine consist of a hot biscuit from the oven with homemade butter,  maybe that biscuit crumbled and smothered in delicious sausage gravy (from the fresh sausage we just made).   Warm cornbread straight from the skillet with a bowl of pinto beans and diced onions.. Pork shoulder slow cooked in the oven overnight, stringy and juicy..., creamed potatoes and gravy, green beans and crowder peas fresh from the garden.  Rib-eye steak seared on the grill just until medium rare with a grilled sweet corn.  A tomato sandwich with that big, beautiful German Johnson at it's peak on fresh bread with Duke's mayo!   Slow cooked pork BBQ with slaw and hush puppies.  Sometimes you just want to sit down to a big bowl of greens. My dessert menu is vast and delicious: homemade ice cream, pecan pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate chess, chocolate or lemon pie with meringue piled miles high, ice cold watermelon and home made wine!  

But always, always, my favorite drink of all times... there is nothing finer than:

a Southern tradition, total comfort, 

 

 

Sweet Tea!

Garden pics compliments of Elizabeth Dunlap photography.

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