How Does Your Garden Grow?

Jay and I have been planting a garden for several years now, some more successfully than others.  We've learned a lot through trial and error, but there is still so much that we don't know.  Some years we'll get a huge crop of veggies and herbs, but then, just when I start to think I'm a master gardener (ha), we'll have a year where absolutely nothing grows.  I like to chalk a lot of the inconsistency up to mother nature, but, in reality, it's probably more due to user error.

This is our second summer with a garden at this house, and the first year was pretty pitiful.  We had luck with a few plants, but the majority died from the heat, got eaten by something, or just didn't produce any fruits.

We made a few changes this year (and have gotten lucky with better weather), and there has definitely been a big improvement.

Here is our garden when we first planted it back in April.  (Hi, Wendy!)

And here it is now. 

We tried a few cold weather veggies for the first time this year, and they did okay.  The broccoli Jay planted grew into a HUGE plant, but never produced anything that even remotely resembled broccoli.  We need to do some research before we try that one again.  The kale and spinach did much better.  We were able to use our spinach for a while until it started to get eaten by something, but the kale stayed strong for a really long time.  We got several beautiful bunches off of our one plant, and even now it is still alive.  I will definitely be planting lots more kale next year!

We also experimented with planting our warm-weather veggies a little earlier this year to give them a head start.  Jay built a hoop house over our bed that would keep the plants warm enough and protect them in case of a freeze.  Covered, it looked a lot like this.

(photo credit)

Unfortunately, we got a REALLY hard late freeze.  Even with the extra protection, a lot of our plants didn't make it.  I'm not sure if we will try that system again next year or not. 

Once the freeze threat had passed, we replanted what had died and added a few more things.  This is what we have growing now. 

We used this organic fertilizer as soon as we planted, and it really seemed to make a difference. 

Now some more info on the plants...

• Herbs - our dill and oregano came back from last year, and the dill in particular has grown like crazy.  We can't eat it or give it away fast enough.  We also plant basil every year, and it always thrives with no trouble.  In general, herbs are some of the easiest things to keep alive.
• Green onions - I am never buying these at the store again!  They came back up from last year, and I use them almost every day.  As soon as I cut some off, they just grown right back.  I love them!
• Peppers - We have always had luck with peppers of all varieties.  Once the weather gets hot, they take off with just a little watering. 
  
• Cucumber - Last year, the plant flowered and flowered but never produced.  I don't know what is different this year, but suddenly we are getting tons of cucumbers.  We added a small trellis so that the plant could climb up, rather than taking over the entire garden.  This thing grows a mile a minute!
  
• Eggplant - Last year, something started eating our eggplant, and it got sick and died.  This year, as soon as I noticed little holes in the leaves, I sprayed them down with this organic pest control.
  
   The plant seems to be much healthier, and we have pretty little eggplants starting to grow.
  
  
• Tomatoes - We usually have pretty good luck with tomatoes, and we are starting to get quite a few on our plants this year.  
  
  We've had trouble with spider mites in the past, so I will be keeping an eye out for those!
• Squash - Our yellow squash plant has taken off and is producing some fruits, but so far they are really small and bumpy.  I'm not really sure what the problem is.  
• Strawberries (not pictured) - We had a lot of strawberries come back from last year in the front left corner of the garden.  We were getting some tasty little berries early in the summer, but then the plants kind of got taken over by the exploding squash and cucumber.  Jay says we need to plant a separate strawberry patch so that they can have enough space.  Maybe next year...
• Marigolds - Not something you can eat, but they (supposedly) help to keep away pests.  Plus, they are quite nice to look at!

So that's our garden!  I am going to try to continue to fertilize, water, and keep and eye out for bugs, and hopefully it will continue to be a successful season.  There's just nothing better than eating food that you grow yourself!

Weekend + Roasted Cabbage Steaks

Hi there!

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Jay and I did a ton of gardening, only to be greeted by a wave of SNOW this morning.  Snow in April...whaaat?!  Hopefully, we got all the new plants covered in time so they can survive this random cold snap.

Wendy is sure excited about the fresh veggies and herbs coming soon!

We also planted a new tree and some flowers, although the big stars right now are our tulips.  They were looking amazing this weekend!

Of course, we had to do our usual house cleaning and grocery shopping trip.  Here's a pic of our food for the short week ahead:

In other news, I have a new favorite roasted vegetable - cabbage!  On Saturday night, we made "cabbage steaks" to have with tofu and pearled couscous.  They were delicious.  And they taste just like steak.

Just kidding. 

But they are really good!!

To make these, we cut a small head of organic cabbage into one-inch thick pieces.  I rubbed down each side with some olive oil and seasoned with salt and fresh-ground pepper.  I also drizzled on a little balsamic vinegar.

We baked them for 30 minutes at 425, flipping once.

There were a couple "steaks" left over, so yesterday for lunch I heated them up and added them to some quinoa veggie burgers along with avocado slices and Sriracha.  What a burger!

We finished off our weekend of good eats with another artichoke appetizer and a tasty lentil dish from No Meat Athlete.  That book has the best recipes. 

When it came to exercise, I made time for my new favorite workout - spin class!  Bri, my friend from work, teaches at Moxieride in OKC on the weekends.  Moxieride combines traditional high-intensity cycling with upper body exercises.  My arms and shoulders are really feeling it today!

Bri does a great job of keeping the class pumped up with her motivating instruction and upbeat music choices.  It's hard work but a lot of fun!  I purchased a Groupon for a 10 class package, so I will definitely be going back on a regular basis.

If you are in the market for a great workout in the Oklahoma City area, you should totally check out one of their classes. 

See ya soon!

Weekend Highlights + Edamame Hummus

It was a pretty low-key weekend around here.  A few fun activities along with plenty of chores and errands. 

  

The 10k I signed up for is only a week away, so I was sure to get in one last long run this weekend.  I was scheduled to run 5.5 miles, but the weather was so amazingly beautiful yesterday that I went ahead and did a full six.  It's the farthest I've run in a while, and it actually felt really good.  

Although I haven't stuck to my 10k training plan perfectly over the last 8 weeks, I've made an effort to get in at least one longer run each week and to continually increase my mileage.  I definitely feel like I will be well-prepared for the run next weekend, even if I'm not the speediest one out there.

Last night, Jay and I attended a BBQ at my friend Zenie's house in honor of some other friends who were visiting from out of town.  Kari and Nick moved away to Chicago last summer, so it was great to catch up with them!

I brought along some hummus that I made using edamame beans instead of garbanzos.  I eat sooo much regular hummus, I thought it'd be nice to mix things up a bit.  It turned out great and was a big hit at the party.  Everyone was intrigued by the fun green color, too...next St. Patrick's day this will definitely be on my menu!

Here is the recipe:

Edamame Hummus
1.5 cups shelled and cooked edamame
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup tahini
Juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons water (as needed)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine edamame, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic in food processor. Process until smooth. Drizzle olive oil through feed tube and continue to process.  If the hummus is still really think, add in a couple tablespoons of water until you reach desired consistency.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

There was an amazing spread of food at the party, including eggplant paninis with pesto mayo and homemade bread, several healthy pasta salads, and a brisket that the guys stayed up ALL NIGHT smoking.  They even had their own homemade Sriracha Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce.  It was quite impressive!

 

Today has consisted of cleaning and laundry, plus a lot of time working outside and in the garden.  Jay built us a little mini greenhouse so that we can start growing veggies early, and he also worked on an irrigation system for all the flower beds in the back yard.  More on this to come!

I planted a couple flowers myself, but am trying to hold off on doing too much until I know the warmer weather is here to stay.

I'm getting so excited for spring!

We finished off our night with some Indian chana masala made with extra yams and chopped peanuts on top.  This meal is always a good one!  

I'm off to watch "House of Cards."  We are almost done with season 2...it's so addicting!