Wine in the garden
gardening tips, simple recipes, wine,
and humble advice on how
to grow a little closer to your roots
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single petal zinnia
My Gardening 'Gnome'
gnome2
/nōm/
noun
noun: gnome; plural noun: gnomes
-
a short statement encapsulating a general truth; a maxim.
My goodness, who would have "gnome" that the adorable word "gnome" also stood for "tell me how you feel but keep it short".
Here is My Gardening Gnome.
Gardening, is something that has been around for thousands of years. The enclosing of a garden space was first described 10,000 BC. Just like eating bread and drinking wine. It has historic value. This explains the comfort level in your soul when you do something that others have done for many generations before you and, in just about the same manner. We depend on it and we feel accomplished by it. It gives back to our mental well being on all levels. It gives a feeling that you are connected to something much larger and older then yourself. Like walking through the same forest that your ancestors have hunted and survived in for hundred of years evolving and growing untouched.
Gardening brings you closer to the earth. Try pulling up onions with no gloves or, harvesting carrots barefoot in the rain so you can add them to your pot roast recipe. Tell me you don't feel closer to the earth. Being closer the earth brings us closer to ourselves. Digging in the soil, growing a plant from seed, harvesting your own food, connects you to your roots. Your roots being...your ancestors, your soul, and the earth itself.
La Vieille Ferme Selection Speciale Rose
Wine in the Garden
Ever wonder why everything taste better when we are in a new or foreign place. For example, I have never tasted better beer then when I was road- tripping around Germany with my son. When you go to your favorite Beachy spot, the seafood tastes amazing! Coffee in Paris? I don't know but, I am guessing it is probably pretty darn good. All because you are relaxed, living in the moment, enjoying your time on earth.
Your backyard can be that kind of place for you also. A place that lifts your spirit and eases your mind. A place that takes you away from your busy or stressful life for a little while.
And of course it doesn't have to be wine. Perhaps you enjoy a good cup of coffee, or hot tea, or Gin and Tonic with a squeeze of lime.
In Texas, most of the year is hot, so going outside becomes something to look forward to. This past year, I have been outside ALOT. Gardening, BBQing, relaxing with my family, playing with the dog, and drinking wine.
I have noticed that for some reason wine tastes better in my backyard then it does inside the house. It could be the fresh air. It could be my beautiful garden. I think a lot of it has to do with what you make of it.
No need to fix your hair or spend time picking the right shoes. In fact, forget the shoes. Just pour a glass and head outside.
Grace
Chickens go with Anything
This is definitely a little story that one might say "It is the simple things in life that bring us much happiness"
My mother-in-law, Eve, raised two baby "Polish Top" chicks for me. Once they were about 3 months old we introduced them to the backyard. I kept them in an enclosed pen for a week or so and then, I opened the door and left it open. They went in and out, as they pleased, gradually getting used to their new surroundings.
Grace and Marple enjoy the garden daily which makes me happy. I let them out in the morning and back into the coop in the early evening. I really love sitting outside with a glass of wine and watching them keeping busy. Scratching the ground, looking for bugs, and warbling to each other in their own little chicken talk.
They have recently starting laying which is really fun! Luckily Grace lays a creamy white egg and Marple lays a bright white egg so I can tell them apart. It is really a treat to go out about every two or three days and collect eggs. Talk about getting back to your roots!
Ms. Marple
Celebrity Tomato
The Tomatoes you probably need to grow
Tomatoes are most likely the first vegetable (I mean fruit) you think of when someone says they have a vegetable garden at home. Tomatoes have been around a long time, they are easy to grow and, go really great with just about any recipe you can think of.
Getting back to the "easy to grow" part. I realized in order for myself to want to continue gardening for the long term I needed to at least start by sticking with plants and varieties that were "proven". Proven meaning they have been around for a while and generally most people, even new to gardening, have success with them.
After I had built a couple of raised beds, my spirit, was full of optimism and the desire to stick with tradition, so I of course, planted all heirloom varieties of tomatoes and only grabbed couple of selections that were not heirloom.
Guess which ones produced the best. The non-heirloom varieties.
What does this mean? It does not mean plant all hybridized varieties. It just means, give it some thought. Are you new to gardening? You may want to start with varieties that are proven. There are certain hybridized tomatoes that are sold just about everywhere because most people have success with them. They grow and produce an abundance of tomatoes with fewer pest and disease problems. In order to stick with something long term it's probably best to start with the easier plants and then down the road start throwing caution to the wind and plant tomatoes that are perhaps a bit more "exotic" and slightly more finicky.
At this phase in my gardening experience, I like to grab half and half. Half my tomatoes are hybrid kinds that are consistent producers and the other half are heirloom that don't produce quite as much but give me color and shape variety and the sense that I am connecting with my great grandmother and her garden. I plant about 8-10 plants total so that when some aren't producing as much I have the others to harvest from.
My favorite Hybridized varieties of tomatoes: Celebrity, Sweet 100, La Roma, Sun Gold, Black Cherry and Better Boy.
A glass of "Back porch Red" Fiesta Winery
Fall is for gathering
in the garden...
May your glass be always full
A friend of mine and her lovely garden
They say a garden grows where there is love and, a garden not only grows, but flourishes, where there is regular maintenance. Water, fertilizer, and gentle concern for it's well being. We could easily compare this to the friendships in our lives. Friendships that if maintained positively, will grow and flourish, and give back to us two-fold. I have been so lucky to have a friend like this.
Her name is Marsha and she is absolutely beautiful inside and out.
Marsha has gardened ever since her Grandmother and Mother inspired her to do so. "My Grandmother was always working in her flowerbeds whenever my mother and I stopped by. She had the most beautiful Peonies!"
In Texas, our landscapes continue to grow through out the year with a dormant time usually during the heat of the summer when everything dies back waiting for Fall to come around and revive it.
In Nebraska, where Marsha's beautiful garden grows, snow typically begins to come down in November and the garden sleeps for the next few months. I can only imagine when the ground begins to thaw and the first Spring flowers begin to bloom. What a feeling of renewal!!
Thanks Marsha!
PS: Her favorite wine to enjoy outside, MEIOMI - Pinot Noir :)
"I love sitting outside and watching the beauty that God creates unfold" - Marsha
"Hydrangeas, Hibiscus, and Elephant Ears are my favorite!"
Lacy and Grace
Broccoli Happiness
Broccoli, as you can see from the picture below, was one of my first plantings in my brand new raised vegetable garden beds. It is in the bed closest to the camera, next to the carrots.
I was delighted with its success!
Here is how I did it. I planted the ones seen in these photos early Spring. This raised bed in particular I remember I used tons of actual potting mix. (with a smidge of enriched topsoil mixed in). The potting mix was partly miracle grow garden soil and Fox Farm Ocean Forest. FYI, After this bed I became much more frugal and used more enriched topsoil and 3-way mixes from the local soil and stone yard. I have, since after harvesting my broccoli added more soil to this bed, as the potting mix does settle quite a bit.
I started with transplants from the larger 6-pack containers. I picked the healthiest plants I could find at the local hardware store. The variety pictured is "Green Magic". This is a very well "proven" cultivar and that is what I was looking for at the time, to ensure I had a better chance of success.
I planted my broccoli about 8" apart, per my sister Laura's advice. I planted 18 plants in about a 1.5' wide by 6' long space. Everything seemed to work out well. The plants seemed squished together at the base, but all of them produced a head of broccoli. I wish I had "staged" my plantings for a longer harvesting period though. Since I planted them all at once that meant, all at once, I had lots of broccoli to eat but then... that is when a couple of really cute chickens come in handy!
I cut my broccoli at different stages of their production. Some of the heads were very small and tight and some of them, since they were in the ground a bit longer were larger and actually just on the cusp of flowering. (Which if you have never seen broccoli go to flower you should give it a try. It is unique and also amazing how many honey bees those yellow flowers attract!
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