for the love of peas!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Here's a reminder that today is the day to plant your peas, a great little veggie for kids to plant, raise, and harvest all by themselves. Plant them in rows, scattered clumps (in a tomato cage), or as a tipi for a bit of summer shade and a nice little get away when the weather gets hot.



We've tried all those ways, so next on our agenda is planting mini tipis for the fairies in our life!

Do you need a little more guidance? Check out any of Sharon Lovejoy's books on gardening with kids, Sunflower Houses is a favorite, as well as Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots (our first book by Sharon that we bought in 2003. It's high time we replace it given that it is losing its pages from being so well Loved!) Thanks Sharon!

September 28th... A great day for PUMPKINS!

Who says it needs to be October to start harvesting pumpkins?



Can you say, "anxious"? Thing is, there's no tellin' who is more anxious, me or him! Can't wait for pumpkin pies, bread, jack o'lanterns, the whole shabang!

October, here we come!

Lunch with Daddy - Tomato Tart Style!

We don't often get Daddy at home in the middle of the day. But, lucky for us, yesterday he decided to work from home. He actually needed a bit of concentration time, so we took our play outside and found another bounty of tomatoes in the garden. Zeal picked a huge bowl of the cherry tomatoes, and then stayed outside to play while I went in and "did something with them."

Since we had a bunch of fresh dug garlic and these wonderful little tomatoes, I made this tomato tart. Since I had been making pie crusts lately, it was easy to whip out another. I think the Fontina cheese (and fresh organic tomatoes, of course) is what made this so good. I thought we could eat half for lunch and half for dinner, but alas, it got all eaten up with lunch.

I usually only share dishes Zeal makes with me here (or does on his own) but since he grew and harvested the main ingredient, I figure that is doing his part and it's okay to share.

This weekend, I will be going to a Harvest/Gratitude Women's Circle, and need to bring a dish representing the harvest. Since tomatoes and garlic are the only things I'm harvesting right now, this will be the perfect dish to bring.

Zucchini Whistles

Yet another reason to grow zucchini in your garden, or at least go raid your neighbors patch...Zucchini whistles!



Here's how:

1. Start by using a relatively sharp knife to cut off one stem of a zucchini plant from the very bottom (if you cut higher, the plant feels "stunted" and won't regrow the shoot).
2. Then, cut the stem to be about 12-14 inches long (or however long you want your zucchini whistle to be) - keep the top half with the leaf and compost the bottom part.
3. Cut the leaf off. Use the back side of your knife to scrape off all of the "pricklys" that might be growing on your shoot.
4. Just under the top (where the leaf was) cut a one inch long slit in your zucchini shoot.
5, Add 1-3 holes on the front of your whistles (leave the back hole off for easier playing). When cutting the holes, cut a small "v" shape rather than a semi-circle to prevent breakage.
6. Place your mouth over the entire 1-inch slit you've made on the top of your whistle and blow!

Now you have your own One Man Garden Band. Invite your friends for a real party!

Playing with Scraps

Before you plop the scraps into the compost, see what can be made of them. Here's a braid we made from the leftover pieces of a leek.



We can't wait to get going on some zucchini whistles! (more on that as the garden grows)