Back to blogging......

Wow. I've let so much time go by without blogging! Things got very busy a couple of weeks ago and I haven't been doing much interesting cooking. Once I get out of the groove of cooking and blogging, it can be hard to get back into it. Ah well, hobbies - like blogging - should be fun and when they're only another thing to "get done", it's time for a break. Actually, we have been cooking, just not trying anything new - quick and easy meals to get us through those busy nights.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for us. I still have a sub job to work on Friday and then the boys and I should be done for the summer. Hopefully that will mean more time to cook, garden and then blog about cooking and gardening.

I have not had a garden the last two summers due to potential moves and actual moves. This year I have the time, but I don't have a proper garden yet. We've been so busy with sports and subbing this spring, that I really did not have time to get a plot going, so I decided to garden in containers. This way I can still grow a few things and then take advantage of my time off this summer to get a plot going, taking my time to do it well.

Here's what I've planted so far:

2 flat leaf Italian parsley

2 chives

4 Basil (2 per container)

1 Patio Tomato

1 Early Girl Tomato

1 Celebrity Tomato

1 Brandywine Tomato

I'm most excited about the Brandywine plant. In Indiana, none of the local growers carried Brandywine or heirloom tomatoes of any kind and I've always wanted to try to grow them. I was able to find the Brandywine at Lowe's of all places - not a place I would have thought to look for plants - I was actually there to look at containers. Brandywine tomatoes yield large plants and large tomatoes, so they probably are not well-suited for container gardening, but I couldn't resist one a try.

I also put in 4 Blue Lake Bush Bean plants, not pictured above - they have just sprouted. Oh yes, and my youngest son brought home a pumpkin plant that they started from seed, so we put that in the ground next to some of the containers. We didn't do any work to prepare the ground - just dug a hole and stuck it in - it will be interesting to see how it does.

These photos were taken on May 26, so the plants have been in for almost 2 weeks now. They are doing quite well thanks to the unusually warm weather we've been having recently with temps in the high 80s. Tomatoes and basil especially love the warmer temps - in fact, this is the first time that my basil plants haven't simply sat in the ground for 3 or more weeks, stagnant, convincing me that they were about to die. They really don't thrive until temps get up in the 80s.

This is my first time container gardening, so I'm pretty much just crossing my fingers, keeping a close eye on the plants and hoping for the best. The tomato plants are showing possible signs of disease, but I'm giving them a little time to get established before I spray for any diseases - it could just be transplant shock and/or heat stress. Tomatoes like heat, but most plants do not like that kind of heat at the same time that they are adjusting to a new environment.

Last night we had our first meal with parsley from the garden, but I'm saving that recipe for my SGOTW post.........