Gardening Fun & A Few of Recipes

Weather means more when you have a garden.  There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans.  ~Marcelene Cox

Summer has brought some sun to our fun and a lot of rain to our garden.  We have had to water very little this year due to all the rain.  The garden is producing quite nicely.  Brody is loving the picking part.  So far we have picked carrots, potatoes, squash, zucchini, blueberries, and cherry tomatoes.  The miracle of watching things grow is such a wonderful gift to give to a child.  And of course his stomach also reaps the benefits of his labor.

Ryan built a net to go over the blueberry bushes to keep the mockingbirds away from our delicious berries.  Mockingbirds are very smart, and they still find a way of getting into the net.  It has become an activity of keeping the birds away and freeing the birds daily. 

Want to make an easy Blueberry cobbler?

In a 9x13 lightly greased pan, put in around 5 cups of blueberries.  Toss them in 1/3-1/2 of cup of sugar depending on your like of sweetness.  Pour a box of yellow cake mix evenly on top.  Drizzle a stick of melted butter over the top.  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes until topping is brown.  This is so so easy and good!  Just add ice cream! 



Something I make during the summer is squash casserole.  I get asked often for the recipe so I thought I would share it with my bloggy friends.


Cristy's Squash Casserole

1 lb. yellow squash
1 chopped Vidalia onion
1 egg
Salt
Black pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Dash(es) of hot sauce
shredded sharp cheese
Small sour cream 8 oz.
Cream of celery
Stick of butter
Ritz cracker crumbs

Cook squash in boiling water 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and mash.
Sauté onion.
Add egg, sour cream, cream of celery, cheese, hot sauce, and seasonings in medium bowl. Stir in squash. Mix cracker crumbs with melted butter. In 9x13 pan, coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle half of ritz cracker mix in bottom. Pour mixture. Sprinkle more cheese on top. Top with remaining cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

It freezes great! I just put clear cling wrap on top of the crackers before covering with foil to make sure there is no freezer burn.  This allows our family to have a great squash dish during the winter time.

Tomato plants are growing up the netting.

My mother in law, Becky, has a great recipe for frying zucchini. 

She slices zucchini into very thin pieces. About 2 zucchini.
In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs and add 1/4 cup of milk.
In another bowl, mix 1 c. of Italian bread crumbs (Progresso), 1/2 c. Flour, salt, and pepper.
Dip the slices individually in the egg mixture then in the bread crumb mixture.
Fry in oil till lightly browned. Drain on paper towel.
Should be eaten right away!!!

Happy Summer and hopefully Happy Gardening to some of you!

Everyday is a New Day

Enjoying our first watermelon of the year on the front porch.

No two gardens are the same.  No two days are the same in one garden.  ~Hugh Johnson

It's true gardening is cheaper than therapy, and you get tomatoes.  There is always something to learn that helps us grow in life.  I walk out to our garden a couple of times a day.  The first thing Brody does when he gets home from school is go check on his carrots.  Ryan gets home from work, and he goes to the garden.  Why?  Because it's changing daily.  The plants look different every day as they grow.  

Everyday is a new day.  It's different.  This growing and changing brings hope.  Hope in that no matter what yesterday was like, it will be different today.  And tomorrow brings change as well. 

There are still consequences that will be carried over into each day.  Like when I don't water the plants they will die.  Just as if we do not take care of our bodies we will suffer too.  And when heavy rains comes, like last week, sometimes things get broken.  So we will replant and start again.  We don't just leave a section in our garden empty because something bad happened.  Just like in life, when bad things happen we pick ourselves up and start again. We know tomorrow will bring sunlight and water and everything we need if we just plant the seeds.

beans

I've enjoyed watching our beans grow the most. They really are different every day.

The potatoes in the back left are over a foot long now.  Brody planted carrot seeds, and he keeps track of their growth on the top right in the picture. 

 The salsa box is looking pretty good. 

 The boysenberry bushes are growing everywhere!

 We planted four Azaleas in the front to add some color.

Our porch where I like to sit more than any place in the world. I become more thankful for it with each day that passes.

This garden was an investment, and it is giving more than just vegetables and fruit.  So many life lessons are taught through watching things grow.  I'm proud to be sharing these lessons with my family.  It's refreshing to be reminded daily that tomorrow will be different!

Planting and Growing

We've finished up the last of the planting over the weekend.  Some things we have brought and some have been grown by seed.  Now it's time to watch them grow.

 Brody is planting bean seeds.  We have four types of beans growing.

 We've learned a new way to plant tomatoes.  You make a trench and plant it sideways.  The tomato plant we planted a few weeks ago is growing great this way. 

 Some of my herbs: two types of mint, dill, and parsley.

 eggplant, zucchini, and squash

 two types of cumbers, okra, beans, and herbs

 carrots

potatoes

These have been really fun to watch grow.  Every time they get bigger, we cover them up with more dirt. 

Notice Brody's shirt?  He is a big brother now!  Our family is also growing in number.  

Check out our adoption blog for the Big News!

Garden Experiment- Irrigation System

Happy Birthday Ryan! Even on "his day," he was out working!

Part II

In All New Square Foot Gardening, Mel says, "With Mel's Mix you cannot overwater. I repeat: you cannot overwater."  Ok Mel, we are holding you to your word!  His mix is made like a sponge. Each little piece can hold moisture so a plant root can grow around that piece and take out the moisture when needed.  When that little sponge gets saturated, the rest of the water drains out through the bottom.

The Brice family is using a drip irrigation system to water our plants.  Here is our building process.

 The timer- can put out 300 gallons as hour. So far we are up to 11 gallons an hour.

50 feet of hose.  Yes, we will put the hose underground.  HOA would not be happy with us.  By the way, our plant boxes were HOA approved so maybe you could try this in your neighborhood.

 First we put drips at the blueberry bushes.  We have six of those.

 Next is the first box. Known as the salsa box. More plants coming next week.

 This is where the potatoes and carrots are.

 Drip system in action

 Brody learning about irrigation.

 The boys cutting off the extra hose.

Next, they added "The grid."

The Brice Family Gardening Experiment

Ryan and Brody in the backyard

For the past couple of years, our family has had a few vegetable planets every summer.  This year we are taking it a step further.  Our garden experiment is Square Foot Gardening.  We brought Mel Bartholomew's book "All New Square Foot Gardening."  Because if you can read it you can do it, right? Maybe?  So I'm going to blog along for the next few months on this adventure.  The Brice Family makes no claims to being gardeners.  We are average folks wanting to eat healthy and have a family hobby.  I think many life lessons can be taught through gardening. So keep checking back in on us to see how this works.

Step 1

Build boxes

     4x4 Square feet garden boxes (16 square feet)

     Six inches deep

Hubs used 2x6 lumber for a sturdier box.

Step 2

Soil Mix

     1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, 1/3 blended Compost

We mixed the 3 components on a tarp.  Yes, this takes time. 

Step 3

Plan the garden

Now because we want to grow carrots, an extra 6 inch box was added to one of our boxes.

We left Yukon Gold potatoes out of the bag for a couple of weeks until they sprouted.

Step 4
Plant!
     It's still a little early in Spring so we have only planted 2 things.  Last night's low was 31.  It's supposed to warm up next week.  Then some more planting fun will be begin!

carrot seeds

potatoes

Brody really enjoys planting.

Add a little more dirt on top of the potatoes.

Even Maggie comes out to help...or sunbathe. 

Step 5
Water and Wait

We are hoping this will be a fun, yet rewarding journey!