Tag Archives: garden

{garden fresh strawberries}

10 Jun

aren’t these just the most beautiful strawberries you’ve ever seen?!

and i promise you, they taste better than they look, if you can imagine 😉

by the way, which background do you like better?! comment below…

fun food facts :

strawberries contain more vitamin c than oranges. they are also high in antioxidants and are super easy to grow! they self-seed and make a fun little patch to pick from. they are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. some strawberries contain over 200 seeds! they have a short season, so continuous harvesting is necessary for optimum enjoyment. also, to maintain the sweet flavour, strawberries are better served at room temperature.

 

 

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{garden update}

30 Apr

the weather here in Maryland has been so confusing for the last two months. i think we even had a frost last week! however, i do believe we are finally hitting that spring stride… and i’m so ready!

i’ve been steadily getting my garden ready, also! currently, i have lots of sprouts coming up, hooray! i also have a lot of weeds, boo! but i’m holding off on doing too much weeding just yet so i make sure not to pull any sprouts. typically i don’t have any weeds and i take pride in that… but i’ll just have to be patient for now. 😉

here are some pics to show the progress. {if you follow me on instagram, you’ve probably already seen these… and if you don’t, please do – here.}

Continue reading →

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{new garden season!}

15 Feb

hey y’all!

it’s a bit early in the year for such things, but this area in the northeast offered some nice weather this past weekend, so i was eager to get outside and get my hands in the dirt! as you know, there isn’t much that makes me feel happier than being in nature – and especially, being in a garden!!!

#farmeraudrey

it pleases me to say – that i finally found a community garden that is only about 15 minutes from where i currently live. i am so excited about it! i was also pleasantly surprised to discover that the plot i adopted is about 3 times the size of the last one i took care of in north carolina! this gives me so many ideas on what to plant, and i am feeling so grateful!!!

please stay tuned… as there will be more updates to come… but for now, here’s a brief overview of the work i did this past saturday when the temperatures were in the high 50s!

before…

during…

after…

the person who took care of this plot last season planted lots of beautiful garlic and onions… which apparently are mine now! and although i am very grateful to have them, i will have to figure out what to do with some of the crops since ultimately i will need to have access to the foundation before it’s time to harvest them…

also – i feel like it doesn’t look like i did much {haha}… and i still have a lot of work to do… but i was there for about 3 hours and i was able to clear out a lot of weeds, etc… i also brought a souvenir home, in the form of a slight rash on my arms from all of the random things i was pulling out of the ground and off the fence line, in my attempt to start prepping the soil {haha!} but fret not, my body and skin are just fine now… that said – next time, i ought to consider and/or be more conscious about wearing longer sleeves… sometimes i just get right into the thick of things, without thinking much… 😉

are you prepping for a garden this year? please comment and share what you plan on growing and any tips you may have! i love to hear from and talk with fellow gardeners! ❤

also – please follow me on instagram for more updates!

 

 

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{foto friday : farmers market flowers}

15 Jun

just another reminder to stop and appreciate the flowers.

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{saturdays in the garden : volume seven}

8 Jul

just a little update on the garden… my posts are not in “real time,” as it were… i’m several weeks behind in keeping up with what’s going on, currently.

for example, most of what you see in the following fotos, has been pulled from my plot. we are straight up in the heat of summer here in NC, and my tomatoes are just about all that remain. i pulled up all my broccoli, because i didn’t get it in the ground soon enough and it never formed a head. i harvested one beautiful cabbage that i’m currently making sauerkraut with. my cilantro is done… as is my dill and basil, but i planted more of both. i pulled my kale and planted arugula in its place. and my cucumbers are on their last limb, but i must’ve harvested around 200 of them this season. i have pickles for days! 😉

july will be focused on tomatoes. then in mid august, i will plant more cabbage and cucumbers and perhaps try again for more peas later in the month or toward september. i really enjoy making {and eating} sauerkraut, so i intend to plant a lot more cabbage for fall.

meanwhile, here are some pics of what late may/june were like in my plot :

so pretty and ALIVE!

still fascinated by pea tendrils… and i made lots of pesto with my basil!

oh kale, yeah!

harvest!

my beautiful cabbage! Continue reading →

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{a make-up blog : saturdays in the garden – volume six}

29 May

things are moving along quickly in the garden!! i actually harvested lots of kale this week and my dill is turning into a forrest! cilantro will only be here for a little while longer, and my peas are producing but will also begin to dwindle as the heat increases. i should be able to harvest some cucumbers next week. which means next month, i’ll be making some delicious pickles!! so so so excited about that!

on a community level, we have been donating over 15 pounds of collard greens each week and lots of radishes are going to donation, as well. our beans are starting to blossom, and the blueberries are coming in nicely. we also have tons of healthy tomato plants growing. june and july are the exciting months for gardening, as everything really starts to produce… i just love it.

and since i have fallen behind a little bit on updating on the garden, i am putting these fotos in gallery form, so i can squeeze them all into this post 🙂

{click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through gallery}

 

 

a {sort of} pano of my plot…

from left to right, counter-clockwise-ish :

jalapeños {hidden, back row} basil {back row}, peas {along left trellis}, lacinato kale, tomatoes {middle}, cilantro, celery, more tomatoes {middle}, cabbage, more kale {middle}, romanesco, more tomatoes, {middle}, cucumbers {along right trellis}, and dill.

i kind of planted in a zig-zag pattern…

i also squeezed in a few spinach plants throughout, but i’m not sure how they’ll fare.

thanks for following along!

how is your garden looking??! 🙂

 

 

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{saturdays in the garden – volumes four & five}

13 May

i have been slightly slacking with updates on the garden. i have so many fotos to share, that i’m lumping {2} volumes together 🙂

a couple weeks ago, we had some eagle scouts come help in the garden. it was fun to see the boys get so excited about digging and planting.

 

as we prepped some of the community beds, we found some sweet potatoes! the boys were super excited about this part of the day! they collected probably 3 dozen or so, and i overheard one of them saying, “we are going to donate these!” – so charming. 🙂

i personally got so excited about this little frog i found under one of the tarps… i moved him away from the garden and let him go on his way…

planting beans!

planted okra in these plots…

radishes are so rewarding because they grow so fast!

we also planted some green onions and swiss chard…

i love it when someone brings coffee!

our garden leader shared some honey from last years harvest!! nom nom Continue reading →

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{saturdays in the garden – volume three}

15 Apr

things are moving along nicely at the community garden…

it’s so rewarding to interact with other people who are just as passionate as i am about gardening. having us all come together and work as a team to prep the beds and tend to the crops is just such a marvelous reality. it’s something i really wish that every single person on the planet could and would experience.

last week, we had some eagle scouts come and help work in the garden. it was quite fun seeing their excitement as they helped move tarps and logs and plant seeds. we uncovered some potatoes from last season and the boys were very eager to collect them all and “donate them” – which was so endearing.

i am forever grateful to be a part of this community garden and it pleases my soul so tremendously to engage in it all. my cucumbers, along with other plants, are sprouting and the peas are growing quite nicely… i can’t wait to share those fotos next week!

in the meantime, here are some fotos of recent days at the garden… i hope you enjoy.

 

things are growing!! radishes and lettuce…

kale and peppers…

tools!

laying mulch around the blueberry bushes…

looks so good!

transplanting raspberries…

i can’t wait to get my paws on some of those!!

fig trees! oh my, i’m excited about these, too!!!

happy bees!

side note : would you believe i got stung AGAIN!? this time – right on my nose! – i was shocked. the garden leader thinks it may have been my sunscreen, so i switched to an unscented version. let’s hope that helps! if you follow me on instagram, you saw the story. annoyingly hilarious.  Continue reading →

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{saturdays in the garden – volume one}

25 Mar

do you love gardening as much as i do?!

i recently discovered that gardening is one of my most favourite things ever!

last summer, i participated in a community garden when i still lived in denver. unfortunately, i wasn’t able to blog about it due to crazy scheduling conflicts and lack of good computer/internet access. thankfully, that has all changed as of late.

this year, i am fortunate to again have found a community garden to participate in… and it’s right up the street from my house! my plot this year is only half the size of the one i had last year, but i am still super thankful and i can still grow a ton of food in this 4 x 8 plot. last year, i didn’t exactly know what i was doing, and i kind of over-planted. a lot of my neighbours jokingly called my plot the “cucumber farm” because i literally had to give away about half my harvest due to having such an abundance! {which was obviously a good thing, overall!}

this year, i am planting similar items, just not as much of it. i am eager to share the pictures and the experience as i go along, so i will be posting about it on saturdays.

and without further ado, here are some fotos from the journey thus far. i hope you enjoy… and please do leave comments if you wish, as i love to discuss gardening just about as much as i enjoy discussing and sharing fotography.

 

here’s what i’m planting this year…

last year, i made lots of pickles and tomato sauce with my harvest. this year, i’m planting romanesco, which i’ve never grown but as you may know, i’m in love with!

our community has an herb garden, and the mint is already coming up, and {of course} taking over!

there is also a blueberry patch, which i’m so excited about!

lots of little critters make this garden their home, as well…

we also keep bees, which makes me sooooo happy!

getting the garden ready for the season…

laying fresh compost, clay, and manure…

pulling weeds and admiring the kale…

that’s my plot! Continue reading →

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