This Saturday I was ambitious and ventured to make my first batch (ever) of cinnamon buns! Of course, I adapted the recipe so that they would be a bit more healthy....though I'm not sure how that's possible! I used 100% whole wheat dough, cut the sugar, and used coconut oil in my glaze. They look kind of sad, but they tasted great! They only lasted until Sunday after church, and I stopped counting how many Brent ate....but that's the best compliment of all, right?! I think I need some lessons, Cass!
A snack break before these boys get back to work in the garden....
Vegetable garden in progress....
This is what I've planted as seeds in my long porch containers....a recommendation from my dear Mother-In-Law who had great success with them in her pots last year. I'll have one on either side of the porch....we'll see if they end up looking like this at the end of the summer! Best of all, you don't need to fertilize!...but you do need to dead-head (remove all dead flowers). I've never used seeds for my annuals other than marigolds, but since it's such a cost effective way to go...I hope it turns out!
Here's the scoop on this plant:
Godetia "Godezia"
Special "Azaela European Blend"
- A blend of many colors and bicolors. Plant habit is base branching and overall habit and flowering time between many different colors is VERY uniform. Flowers heavily. Annual. This West Coast native is also known as Farewell-to-Spring, bidding the season goodbye with its dramatic display of blooms from spring to early summer. Slender, upright plants bear double, cup-like flowers in shades of pink and lavender. Good for fresh-cut bouquets. Days to Sprout 7 - 14, Plant seeds outdoors in early spring as soon as soil can be worked. Godetia needs well-drained - even sandy - soil without fertilizer. (Seeds may be started indoors in peat pots 6 to 8 weeks earlier.) Where winters are mild, seeds may be planted outdoors in fall. Sow seeds, cover lightly with soil and keep moist until seedlings are established. Water when the top 3-inch layer of soil is dry. Do not fertilize. Remove faded blossoms to prolong flowering. For cut flowers, cut when top bud opens.
Yep...they're all tomato plants...anyone want some? Last year it was so fun to watch Josiah harvesting the cherry tomatoes...he ate them all....even the green ones! It's kind of nice knowing that they won't go to waste, but I wonder what the potential side effects of too many tomatoes are....anyone? The other challenge is finding the space to put them....I have a feeling that our coming soon raised beds will fill up fast!
Here's a happy little container recipe for you....mostly all just greenery, one with flowers, just because I'm trying to broaden my tastes.
- the purple one with green edges is coleus.....there are so many varieties of coleus....it's variegated foliage is fun to add to containers.
- to the left of that is a taller variegated leafed 'licorice splash'...
- the grassy thing in the middle is something that was multiplying in another part of the garden so I took a bunch out to put in baskets....It looks proportionate now, but I'm concerned that the other plants will overshadow it later in the summer....it doesn't get very big....Sorry, I don't remember the name...
- the one in the front is a 'lotus' (berthelotii) and it will trail down the front of the container, with spiky red flowers
We'll see how this does throughout the summer....in the past the slugs have voraciously attacked my coleus, so I'm hoping that they won't find it so quickly on my front porch!
This is a happy little variegated boxleaf euonymus that I found for $5 at Walmart...I'm going to try my hand at pruning it to maintain a compact rounded shape...and I've seen them as topiaries...which look really nice...we'll see!
Hi friends...I've been out in the garden nearly every spare moment...we're preparing a raised bed for veggies this year, plus there's lots of weeding to be done...plus, Josiah loves to be outside and we can work together!
I love our house in the spring time...everything is green but not soggy, we have several trees that blossom to brighten up the yard, and plants that I've forgotten about all of a sudden pop out of the ground much bigger than they were last year! I also can't wait to be outside after being cooped up all winter...so I get so motivated this time of year to plant...and I'll be the first to admit that my gardening style and preferences have changed drastically since being a homeowner and busy mom. When we first moved in I wanted color, color, color....well, several springs of high cost gardening with annuals (plants that die in the winter...never to return again) and nothing to show from it the next year, I've changed my tune. I'm building up our garden one year at a time with a few perennials (some die in the winter and then come back in the spring, others stay green all winter long) and a few dressed up hanging baskets and containers. Are you just dying to say, "I told you so", Dad?
